My first official fanfiction. Don't worry, the story will pick up and get more interesting, the first couple chapters are just for introduction. Feedback is appreciated, thanks for reading! :)
He thundered up the stairs past the neighbors' doors, giving no thought to the peace he was disrupting. Then, Compeyson burst through Arthur's already rickety door furiously, Arthur following close behind. He closed the door behind him, and turned just in time to duck from a flying book.
"Christ, Arthur, what the hell were you thinking? Do you realize what would happen if were we to be caught?" Compeyson fumed.
"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't know he would-"
"Well it doesn't matter now, does it? Soon everyone will be talking about it and they'll all be suspicious of us. You raging idiot…" Compeyson muttered to himself as he pressed his temples with his fingertips and sat down in a chair, breathing angrily.
It was only minutes earlier, while they were at Mr. Hoffman's purchasing new coats, when Arthur decided to pay for a new, very expensive, waistcoat with a stack of cash. To pay for such items that way at Mr. Hoffman's, or anywhere with such a large sum of money, was very unorthodox and was also cause for great suspicion. The people who usually paid with such a grandiose act were found guilty of putting out forged notes; a serious crime.
The tailor was quite shocked and called Mr. Hoffman to the front room, where he whispered in his ear with a serious expression. Mr. Hoffman immediately began asking questions, obviously very skeptical.
Compeyson came in from the back fitting room, curious, and instead saw a very anxious Arthur shaking in his boots. With a cool air and sly tongue, Compeyson managed to get them both out of there before they were caught or called in.
"You know the rules," Compeyson said quietly. "Why did you go and do that? Never mind. Before the sun sets, there won't be one person in town who hasn't heard about our little…incident. We can't possibly keep forging, not with everyone waiting around. That would be incredibly daft." He looked out the window into the rainy gloom, searching his scheming mind for ideas.
"What do you intend we should do then?" asked Arthur from the other side of the room, still cowering even though his commander had calmed down relatively quickly.
"Hell if I know. I told Mr. Wicker that I would have the money for the estate by the end of the year. Now that our…livelihood has been terminated, where the hell am I supposed to get the rest of the money?"
"We could…get jobs?" Arthur suggested apprehensively, as if he already knew the answer. Compeyson would never demean himself in such a way.
"There's no point. We wouldn't even be able to come up with a quarter of the amount by the deadline. Even with two wages." Another irksome thought dawned on him, contorting his face into a twisted chagrin. "Maria."
Compeyson's fiancé was a beauty beyond compare and a well-to-do young woman. Her skin looked as though it was made of marble, yet it was still supple. Her hair was made of wiry tangled curls, yet it was still tame.
Moreover, she was charming with a pleasant disposition, but could snap an arm if need be. She was full of contradictions, and Compeyson loved her. They were engaged to be married only 6 months ago and Compeyson wanted to have the house in his possession by the time they were wed.
"I told her the deed would be mine by the time the year was out. I refuse to live in my shithole of a home with a new bride." Compeyson became more tense as each minute passed, pushing his face further into his hands in hopes that the world around him would disappear and he would wake in a lustrous new world, swimming in his riches. But when he peeked through his fingers, he still saw the world with streets made of mud and manure, grime and smoke seeping into every last corner.
For a while they sat in silence; only the sound of the rain hitting the roof permeated the muggy air. Arthur sat in a chair by the table while Compeyson leaned against the wall, looking through the window at the filth outside.
"We could leave town for a while, keep our business going. Then come back once everything's quieted down here," Arthur suggested, this time with a little more enthusiasm.
"That would just make it look worse. The two of us, suddenly suspected of counterfeiting, leave town out of the blue without any warning or reason. I won't be seen as a coward. If we leave, it'll only confirm their suspicions. Besides, I have a party to go to with Maria at the end of the week, and I can't leave her," Compeyson explained.
Though he was still irate, Compeyson was starting to become slightly more anxious. Where was he going to come up with the money in time? If he didn't meet the deadline, the house would go to someone else.
He also needed the money to pay for the wedding, and if he didn't make the payment deadline, Compeyson and Maria would have neither a house nor a wedding. He couldn't do that to her, he needed to get his hands on a large sum of money some how. Real money. Really soon.
The small apartment fell into silence again, only this time it was calmer. Shouts from the street vendors could be heard along with the horses pulling carriages through the mud. The wind was picking up and whistled through the cracks in the walls, rattling the small window through which Compeyson glowered.
After a few minutes, he finally spoke. "Well…I suppose we'll just have to find another way to get the money."
And with that, Compeyson took his hat from the table, moved to the door, and departed without another word, leaving Arthur alone with the dense air clinging to the walls.
Thanks, let me know what you think!