It was remarkably uncomfortable as William slowly eased back into consciousness with the feeling of pins and needles darting over his body. It was worse than than the time his twin nephews fell asleep on his knees on the couch after an impromptu movie night, it had taken several minutes to restore blood flow to both his feet. What had happened and where was he, two key questions that floated around his fuzzy brain as the room slowly came into focus. An impressive theater with velvet red curtains and all..why was he in a theater. Slowly the very recent past began to reform as a mixture of emotions settled in his gut. Anger, shame and shock as the woman in front of him explained why he had been practically dragged away from a client without a second to even clean the grit and blood from under his nails. She had mentioned dinner..how long had he been out for..
His day had been ending like any other as he soothed strained hands under clean, but chemical tinted water from his sink. His latest client was now looking like a strapping young man as red rose button hole delicately accented his crisp black and white suit. Not even his mother would be able to see any sign of a bullet that had pierced her child's chest in an ill-fated shoot out in the slums. No, people would at best glance over the carefully pressed white shirt lovingly done by his mother. A sigh escaped the blonde as he looked from the corpse to his own reflection in the cracked mirror, fatigue making him look almost a corpse himself. Dark bags rested under crimson eyes as William had been pulling an all-nighter on this particular client after his client's mother presented him with her choice of burial close..anything less than his best work would be shameful. Still, pride in his work didn't exactly stop him from gritting his teeth in pain as a muscle in his stiff neck jumped obnoxiously. Gently returning the made up corpse to it's proper station until it's final descent during the funeral in the morning. There was only so much cleaning the simple sink could do as William hummed under his breath exiting the building, with a hot and steamy shower in mind to get rid of difficult filth.
At least that was the plan until the sudden fatigue sunk into his body with each step. It was like a warm blanket when he was a child, fresh from the dryer as his mother hummed under her breath tucking it around him. Even the cool air had felt warm and hazy as the ground was suddenly much to close as his face brushed against asphalt. Even the faint buzzing of his cell phone flashing the name Amy became blurred as darkness finally took over. Finally all the pieces fell into place as the woman explained several things as his hands gripped either side of his seat in a clear display of anger as his tongue still felt sluggish and he doubted his choice words would be ideal. This was the reason he never came into his magic as his siblings did and their children..the pitying looks from strangers, mocking words from colleagues in college. Yet, the worse had come from client's families grieving for a loved one on top of being told their loved one would be taken care of by a professional..without magic. During his first week, it had taken several deep breaths to hold his tongue as potential clients were literally whisked out the door without a second glance. He had always wanted to help those grieving..but held in his own problems buffering them away through hard work until he couldn't recall them.
His eyes narrowed into a glare at the pristine glass of water in front of him. It did not have that slightly off smell like his sink's tap..it was too pure and fresh..nothing came without a catch as William merely tapped the floating rock out of the way. To grant magic to summon beasts of the past sounded too good to be true..even then it wasn't HIS magic. It was something given to him..blocking off his natural calling, what gave this little girl and her father the right to manipulate his fate. Still his anger warred with something else..greed..all the girl wanted in exchange for this gift was to perform in a few shows. A circus? A charming fantasy to please the masses. It seemed the shards still needed to be unlocked, that was a key problem as William slowly mulled over his options. Unlock this gift and attempt to slip his way out performing in her silly notion..a possible option. If he refused to even attempt this magic, his gut sank at the possible consequences of refusing someone who had managed to kidnap him twice. A wry smile curled on his face at the morbid thought of himself ending up on his slab to be found by some poor soul. A coroner's coroner..he could only hope his corpse would be treated as well as he serviced his own clients.
His expression became neutral as three of the 'guests' agreed to strange offer with surprising enthusiasm. Adventurers, idiots or followers..or all three would be good words to represent them. Only the black haired woman remained silent in quiet suspicion, at least one of them was trying to connect the dots beyond the offer. Clearing his throat as he crafted a wry smile drawling sarcastically "Well, my niece has always wanted a puppy..like an actual puppy..Think I can become the favorite uncle with it?". Crimson eyes narrowed as his next words were careful and hesitant like he was already attempting to calm down a ferocious beast "What if...we refuse..your offer..I doubt you can remove the shards..painlessly..". In the physical medical field, a bit of pain was expected from a stray scalpel or something...but not literal brain surgery.