Delivery

Posted on Wed Jan 1st, 2025 @ 12:30 by Gabriella Baxter & Alastair Temple

Chapter: Besieged
Location: Bakery, New Cresthill
Timeline: Late afternoon, Friday, January 5th, 1993
2650 words - 5.3 OF Standard Post Measure

A shadow smoothly gliding along with the sound of wings announced the arrival of a now relatively common sight in New Cresthill, the large raven that was Alastair Temple's alternate form. The creature landed outside the bakery, being careful not to damage the letter even more - some minor scratching and creasing had been unavoidable, by virtue of needing to carry it in his claws. Now though he gingerly took the letter in his beak as he waited for a leaving customer to open the door, allowing him to hop on in.

Having only just wished a good day to the departing customer Gabriella had her back turned to the door, trying to take in some fresh oxygen to be able to cope with the stress of the day. The radio had just reported on the arrest of Claire, then she got interrupted by the customer that had only just left. She'd have to wait for the news to come back around to get more information, then she heard the automated bell indicate a new customer had come in. When she spun around she saw nothing. Frowned and stepped closer to the counter to look into the room properly spotting the massive corvid hop around her establishment. Her instinct was to grab a broom and usher the beast out but she saw a white bit of paper in its beak. "Ehm. Hello?"

The large bird considered the situation for a moment, looking up at Gabriella peering over the counter. There was enough room to spread his wings and fly up to said counter, and he was fairly confident he could do it without knocking everything down as well, but probably not without upsetting the proprietor of the bakery, a woman whom he'd met before when he visited for baked goods, but who was wholly unaware of Alastair's abilities. As such though he simply carefully placed the letter on the ground before hopping back and - with a POOF and some black feathers flying this way and that, the large bird was replaced by the large man, who then dutifully bent down to pick up the letter and straighten it a bit before offering it to Gabriella. "Post service," he smiled, one small, downy black feather landing on his shoulder.

Taking a big step back as the creature suddenly poofed out of existence Gabriella held her hand to her chest in a way she had mocked her mother for doing when startled. "Alastair, right?" She pointed at him, then at the letter, then at the feather that came slowly to land on his shoulder. "That's. That was. You were. Pfff.." She shook her head. She knew kind of what she was getting herself into when it came to the people at Avalon but coming face to face with it in such a fashion always took a moment to process.

"That's right," Al nodded. "I'm the music teacher at Avalon. And I turn into a large raven," as he placed the letter on the counter. The poor woman seemed to still be processing what just happened, and he didn't want to seem impatient by continuing to hold out the letter for her. "The process takes a lot of energy though, and there are always some errant feathers when I change back." as he collected the one from his shoulder. "Claire asked me to deliver that letter. I'm sorry I didn't get around to it before she was taken in but I wasn't able to find the time until now."

"Large is an understatement." Gabriella remarked offhandedly before looking at the letter he had put on the counter. She was a bit apprehensive about reading it, afraid of what it might contain. "I heard she was arrested, what happened?" They had spoken to each other over the phones quite a bit, but Claire had never mentioned giving herself up. They had talked about the warrant, and the blockade, but not this move she had just made.

"Well, she ... prepared the staff and faculty, delegated duties, prepared this letter for you, asked me to deliver it, dressed her rich-folk finest, and then marched onto the bridge defiantly," Al explained. "Some of the students came out and sang a song of protest, in support of Claire and against fascism and oppression. I think I saw her smile when she heard them."

Gabriella's jaw tightened at that. So everybody in her life knew about how she was going to do this except her. It made her doubt the part she played in Claire's life. Of course she could never quite comprehend all the things the Head Teacher went through in her life. Being a closeted gay woman in Northern Scotland was a far cry from being a purple skinned figurehead for mutantkind connected to the very aristocracy seeking to cordon your kind off. "I see." She swallowed the lump in her throat and then gave a slight smile of appreciation, "I'm sure she appreciated the support fae the students." Another glance at the letter. What could possibly be written to make up for being kept in the dark like this. "How is everyone doin' inside the castle walls?"

"Difficult to say," Al considered. "There is worry. A lot of that. There is anger. There is defeat. There is hope. Perhaps not much of it, but some. Restlesness. A general feel that this is a watershed moment," He stifled a yawn, holding his hand in front of his mouth. "'Scuse me. Most of them feel - ... Locked in. Like prisoners. I'm one of the few who can go in and out unchallenged, but it wears me down a lot. It's just - ... Difficult, on all of us."

The baker nodded at that, "Fancy a brew an' a bite? Something tae fill the tank?" She grabbed the letter and pocketed it in her apron before making her way back around the counter, grabbing a scone and a roll from the display and putting it on a plate. She didn't bother to wait for an affirmative, this was the least she could do for the man who risked life and limb to get her a letter from her lass.

"That would go down a treat," he managed a tired smile, as he found a ledge to sit on. It wasn't comfortable, but it was good to be off his feet for a moment, at least. "So, you and Claire good friends?"

Gabriella took the moment that the kettle was boiling to formulate an answer to that seemingly innocent question. "When Claire first came around to New Cresthill she found our little corner bakery. Over the years I helped her get in touch with local producers and suppliers." She poured a cup of tea for both of them and walked over to one of the few seats in the front of the bakery. Placing the baked goods in the middle and sitting down, pushing out the chair across to allow him to sit down. "She kept coming back, did a lot of administration here, away from the Castle, so she could file it with the post office or bank immediately." She took a sip of her tea, no sugar, no milk, and then nodded, "We've gotten close over those years and hours spent here."

"That's such a nice story though," Al mused, taking a sip of his tea as well, closing his eyes to enjoy and savor the flavor and the moment. "Tell you what," he then started, hearing the unspoken words, remembering the way Claire spoke of Gabriella and the diplomatic manner of Gaby's response just now. "If any news about Claire reaches Avalon, I'll make sure word gets to you as well. Though I can't guarantee I'll always change out of raven form for a regular conversation, depending on how exhausted I am. That work for you?"

A slow nod from the baker, "I would really appreciate that." She then contemplated the offer. "How would that work exactly? Can you speak in Raven form?" Of all the topics Claire and her talked about, the different abilities of herself and her coworkers really wasn't one of them. There was so much more to discuss that was way more pertinent to their interests. That wasn't to say Gabriella wasn't interested or curious. It just seemed like a bit of a social minefield.

"I can speak simple, single words. One, two syllables. I can understand just fine, read just fine, and if you have a computer with a word processor I can even type to an acceptable level, if you're patient enough," Al explained. Truth be told, communication in his raven form was always a problem, and although he could do well enough for simple messages, that was never going to change. It frustrated him some times about his raven form, but then, there was more about his human form that frustrated him than vice versa. Though, if asked, although he would say he felt more kinship with his raven form, he wouldn't give up either as it took both to complete him.

A careful sip of her tea, followed by a contemplative nod. Gabriella didn't quite know what to respond to that other than, "I don't have a personal computer. Unless you want to ring up something on the register." It was just going to be numbers, so it was a question as to how useful that would be. "How much can you carry back to the Castle?" She looked over the baked goods that were left over at the end of the day, wondering if it was going to be of any help for a group of more than a hundred people. She didn't want to cause any discord among them either by giving too little so that it couldn't be evenly distributed.

"About two pounds, give or take. I'm only a ten pound bird," the two hundred pound man smirked tiredly. "So, not enough to supply a whole castle of hungry kids. And whatever I carry isn't gonna arrive warm either, it's about a half an hour flight," Another sip of his tea. He really liked this flavor, though knowing himself he was probably going to forget to ask what it was. "So, how are you holding up under all this - ... this?" He vaguely motioned outside, meaning the whole anti-mutant sentiment.

Gabriella shrugged, she'd be lying if she said it had been smooth sailing. The paintjob on the storefront window had only just dried when there was fighting in the streets again. Luckily, it avoided her bakery this time. "It's not so bad." She remembered the slurs left by the vandals during the winter break. Rumours always flew in small communities like these. Luckily nobody had truly connected Claire and her. "I must admit though, it's a lot easier to navigate with a.. good friend by your side." She took another sip, "Ach, shite! I should've asked if ye were a European or African raven. Claire's nae gonnae let me live that doon for missin' that chance."

"I'm not sure there's much of a dif - " he trailed off, an annoyed, defeated look on his face. "... Respectfully, your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries."

Gabriella smiled, she was glad the reference hadn't gone over his head. It would've been awkward and difficult to explain. "I'll be sure tae let them know." She finished her tea and leaned back in the chair a bit. "I can give you two loafs of bread. Not sure if that'll do ye much good. Unless ye were planning on bringing something else back to the castle."

At the mention of two loaves Al looked very concerned as he glanced outside. "That's - ... With this weather, this distance, two loaves is a bit more than I dare bring with me. The weight alone would make it very difficult, but any bag large enough to hold two loaves would also catch all the wind and work as an air brake, making any forward progress a struggle. That and the temperature, the wind chill - plus, I'm already pretty knackered from changing forms twice in a day, with two more to go."

Gabriella would be lying if she was to say she'd understand. "That's alright then. If you're ever in town, low on energy, feel free to drop by. Even in your other form I can give you some fuel for the road." She then motioned for the roll and scone, "I'm told my Shepherd's Pies are quite good as well."

Al smiled a genuine smile at that. It was good to have a proverbial haven in a potential storm, so to say, and ravens ate just about anything so any scrap would help him. For now though, "If I could trouble you for some of that great tea, that would be just fine. Packed tightly so it doesn't flap around in the wind as I carry it, if possible."

"Aye of course. Nae bother." Gabriella got up from the seat and made her way to the back of the establishment. Grabbing the canister that held this particular blend. She looked around to think about what she could put it in that would be at least slightly aerodynamic. "We should get ye one of those messenger pigeon things, ye ken. Or a wee backpack." She joked just as she ducked under the counter to grab a small cardboard box that a set of her business cards had come in, she lined it with baking paper and poured in a proper helping of the tea. Closing it she grabbed the scotch tape and wrapped it around the box in every direction before grabbing a bit of twine and binding that around the box as well, creating something for a Raven to hold on to. "Will that dae ye?"

"That'll do fine, yes. Thank you," Al smiled, setting the now empty tea cup aside and rising to his full height again. Both a messenger pigeon capsule and a little backpack had massive drawbacks that precluded him from ever using them - most notably the fact that in bird form he had no way to put them on or take them off without help and when shifting they got in the way. No, he was fine just carrying things in his claws. As such he took the little package, considered it for a moment and then did the least productive, least efficient thing he could think of. Rather than carrying the packet outside, shifting there, picking it up and taking flight, he decided to shift right then and there, in the shop. Another poof, another two or three small feathers fluttering about (he felt kinda bad about giving her more mess to clean up) and there stood the large raven again.

"Thank," it spoke in an approximation, an imitation of a human voice, fluttering its wings as if in a gesture meant to convey gratitude, before folding his wings on his back and taking the twine in his beak.

Gabriella was still perplexed at what seemed to be an impossible transformation. The large man suddenly morphing into a larger than average raven. The approximated human speech only added to weirding her out. She reached inside her apron and got the letter he had delivered to her. "No. Thank you." She stepped past him and opened the door, allowing him to leave freely.

Al~bird sashayed out of the door, tail swishing behind him in that way a walking corvid's does, carrying the little packet in his beak. Another glance behind him and a nod when he was outside, the small package put down on the ground, string nabbed with a claw, and with the spreading and beating of impressively large and powerful wings, the oversized raven took to the skies, on its way back towards Avalon.