Leave of Absence
Prompt 080: Attic
Leave of absence (LOA) is a term used to describe a period of time that one is to be away from his/her primary job, while maintaining the status of employee. This term is in contrast to normal periods away from the workplace, such as vacations, holidays, (…), in that they are considered to be exceptional circumstances, rather than benefits. Generally such an arrangement has a predefined termination at a particular date or after a certain event has occurred.
"Again!" Cried Balthazar, arms crossed over his chest and staring at Dave, who just groaned.
"Man, I should have taken Veronica as Master."
"I offered. You refused. Again!" Dave groaned and tired and sweaty as he was he got up straight and started his forty seventh attempts in summoning. Now that Balthazar seemed to be cheering up but after loosing his ring he was been harder on Dave; they practiced longer and harder than before, he encouraged Dave to read the Encantus every second of the day, to make up for lost time. Since Balthazar had not yet found a decent ring forger among the clans of helpers Veronica demonstrated the spells for him to follow, but they had gotten into fights once or twice; she did things very differently to Balthazar after all. She was fresh autumn, Balthazar was harsh winter. And Dave hadn't been able to go out on a decent date with Becky in a week.
After deciding that the paintings were safe in the large touring collection, things had fallen into a dull monotony of school, training, sleep and start all over again.
Balthazar was sipping a cup of tea Veronica had delivered, and set another cup for Dave next to the open Encantus. She then proceeded to go clean the dishes.
"You are not concentrating Dave." Cut Balthazar sharply into his thoughts, making Dave drop his arms.
"I'm tired man. I had a nightmare for a test today and I need to sleep." Balthazar started at him, finishing his tea; and then sighed.
"Come have tea, Dave." That was his cue to finish training. The fire lighting around the circle died, and Dave hurried out of the grounds, for the first time in his life staring at the cup longingly. "We'll pick things up here tomorrow, understood? I want you concentrated to finish this spell, so we can move forward, you're behind schedule."
"You're keeping a schedule?"
"Matter of speech." He said, closing the Encantus and sliding it towards Dave. "And read the chapter about duels again, I know you've already gone through it but just to see if you have any questions, alright?"
"Yes, sure." Dave sipped the glorious lavender and chamomile tea, knowing he would sleep like a baby tonight, thanks to Veronica's care, and sighed happily. "Can Becky drop by tomorrow?"
"Did I say I need you focused?"
"Come on Balthazar, I haven't gone out with her in a week and Veronica's always hanging out here."
"Unlike you I am a master already, and Veronica is helping due to the circumstances." Dave nodded, a little crestfallen, and finished his tea. Balthazar noticed the change in his mood and took a deep breath. "Bring her for dinner we'll see what happens afterwards, alright?"
That brightened Dave's mood. "Thanks, Balthazar."
"Just read the chapter and come ready for another long session, alright?"
"Yeah." Dave looked down at his clock and literally yelped. "I've got to go! I have to get up early tomorrow."
"Will you be alright on your own?" asked Veronica as the young one gathered his things, and proceeded to fold the Encantus to pocket edition.
"Yes, I live close by. I'll see you guys tomorrow." And he hurried up the stairs.
"Be careful!" Cried Balthazar after him, New York was full of thugs and Morganians, so he still worried. Veronica finished cleaning the dishes, picked Balthazar and Dave's cups and hurried to clean those two. "We should leave also, beloved, it's growing late."
"Indeed, my lord. I shall finish here and accompany you to our castle." She said with laughter in her eyes, rinsing her soapy hands. Balthazar put on his coat, and blew the candles around the table he then proceeded to pick up Veronica's gloves and coat and walked towards her. "It's chilly tonight, huh?"
"Here," He handed her the gloves and she quickly covered her dry hands, then he offered to hold the coat as she snuggled into it. "It smells like snow." He commented making her smile. "You have always loved snow, I believe you'll love New York City during the winter."
"Becky said there are some light shows during winter, I can't wait to see them with you." Balthazar smiled, as Veronica turned and hugged him; he quickly returned the hug, feeling guilt tugging at his heart. He swallowed hard. "You are always so warm." She said, rubbing her nose against his bare neck.
"Veronica?" He said against her hair. "You wouldn't hold it against me if—If I took a decision that would affect us both, won't you?" Veronica looked up at him smiling.
"What are you talking about silly? You always consult me before taking any decision."
"I do, don't I?"
"Now, come, let's go to our castle and smooch."
"Well since you offer so kindly."
Something was wrong. Dave knew it since he woke up, during the three lectures he took and then during late lunch with Becky. But he figured it had to do with Balthazar when he received three phone calls from Veronica. He didn't notice the woman had called because he was in his forth and final lecture of the day, scribbling quickly away and trying to keep up with the professor. It was Friday so everyone was in a hurry to get out, and while they did Dave put his bag together and found his phone, the calls and dialed right back. The phone beeped twice, and when Dave checked the screen he discovered he was out of the usual coverage area so he had no signal. Quickly he packed and hurried out the classroom, only to find Veronica anxiously standing close by, apparently searching for him.
"Veronica, what are….?"
"I can't find Balthazar."
A moment of silence.
"What do you mean; like he's lost or something?" It seemed highly improbable, Balthazar knew his own limits and now without a ring he knew he shouldn't be around without someone to take care of him… Now that Dave listened to his own thoughts it sounded as if Balthazar were a dog, a spoiled hairy one at that.
"I left early this morning to pick up some packages at the post office, and when I came back he was nowhere to be found. No note no nothing."
"That's so unlike him." Even when he was off to fight Morgana and Horvath on his own he stopped by Dave's apartment to drop him a note, why not leave a not for his wife? "Did he mention some place he would like to visit, someone he would like to see?"
"No, nothing. Last night we went home after practice and then to sleep."
"How about this morning?"
"He was complaining about stomach aches, nothing serious, so I offered to pick up the new boxes of antiques. Then I got home…" She trailed off, closing her eyes, and hiding her pain with a sigh. Dave hated to see any girl in pain, especially if so close, so he touched her elbow and pulled her towards the exit of the building.
"Let's go. We'll find him." She followed, not really surprised by his actions, comforted even. "Why would Balthazar leave like that? Doesn't he understand he's not alone anymore?" Growled Dave out loud, angry at his master for worrying them like that. Dave had to cancel dinner with Becky because of the weir happening, his girlfriend offered to help but since they had no idea where to begin he told her he'll call if anything should happen. Veronica searched Balthazar's bed side table, while Dave checked the Encantus for some sort of tracking spell to find his master.
"What worries me is that he's unprotected. He would never accept the small charm I made to keep evil away from him." Said Veronica after a while of searching, walking slowly to the kitchen. Dave could see she was worried, especially how she paced and seemed lost.
"Don't worry, Veronica, we'll find him."
"Why would he leave like that?" She asked him suddenly, turning to look at Dave's eyes. "We are –were- happy, right? He didn't seem to be mad at me…"
"Don't you dare blame this on you, Veronica! It's his fault!" The sudden outburst made Veronica's eyes widen, worriedly so. "That dammed man!"
Dave walked towards the walk in closet, wishing to kick something, and noticed a part of the ceiling open at the very end of the hallway. He hadn't notice before, nor would he have if there hadn't been light filtering through the small slit it created. He frowned, and reached to pull at the opening; revealing a small staircase that lead to a hidden attic. He let out a yelp as the stairs lowered and presented themselves for him to climb, Veronica's name quickly leaving him. From the living room Veronica stood and hurried to see the stairs. "Oh, you found the attic."
"You have an attic?"
"Yes, Balthazar fixed it so he could use it as his studio." His studio. Balthazar kept a studio. What for? Usually busy with the store, Dave or Veronica (sometimes even Becky) why would he keep a studio? So Dave took hold of the stairs and started to climb them. To his surprise Balthazar was as messy as any other undergraduate student; the desk was littered with books and old looking parchments. To one side a whole wall served as bookcase, to the other a hundreds of scribbled papers were pinned to the wall, along with photos and some blueprints. It looked like the hidden room of a serial killer. Veronica followed shortly, amazed at the mess. "No wonder he wouldn't let me up here."
"No kidding." Dave neared the scribbles and soon realized two things: Balthazar's handwriting was horrible, and they weren't written in English. "What's all this about?"
"It's in Latin. Notes of things, but they don't make sense." Said Veronica, studying several of the pages. "Something about smithies."
"Smithies." His mind wasn't clicking, so Dave made his way to the desk, sitting on the tall chair, amazed at how comfortable it was. It must be; by the look of things Balthazar must spend countless hours going through things in this room. There were lots of old books, some leather bound, handwritten, most of them with maps and spells. "Smithies." Dave repeated, as Veronica continued to try and make sense of the mess her husband had left behind. "Smithies."
Dave leaned over the books, realizing that at some point he might have to learn to at least read Latin, and scanned the pages. "He wrote something here about a ring he'd seen at that Arthurian Collection we visited. Apparently he found a ring, similar to the one Merlin inherited to you; but this one was broken." She was holding the piece of parchment, frowning at the paper when finally Dave's mind clicked.
"A smithy! Ring forger! He must have found someone to forge him a new ring!" He said getting up and slapping the book closed.