yrindor (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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writetomyheart2020-08-03 07:39 pm
yrindor) wrote in writetomyheart2020-08-03 07:39 pm
Entry tags:
[Team Three]
Back at writing more Twisted Wonderland. This time featuring more of Azul's negotiations, and Crowley driving a hard bargain. Spoilers for the Octavinelle main story chapter. 1k, G.
"Rise to the challenge?" Azul stared at Crowley. Shock did not show on his face, but that was only because expressing such things openly only ever hurt one's negotiating power.
"Of course," the headmaster said with his signature smile. "Here at Night Raven College, we develop the whole individual, not just academic knowledge. Your facility with contracts and negotiation has been noticed by all of the faculty, and so because I am a nice person, I am giving you this opportunity to develop those skills in a more realistic and meaningful way."
"And what are you willing to offer in exchange?" Azul asked. "It is standard practice in this sort of negotiation for the one making the request to also make the opening offer. I'm sure that it simply slipped your mind due to everything else."
"Yes, yes, of course. I cannot begin to describe how chaotic it has been since the boiler system failed and began flooding the college proper. For those of you in Octavinelle, perhaps it is not so dire a situation, but many of our students are not strong swimmers, if they even know how to swim at all. For some students, such as young Mr. Ortho, it could be downright catastrophic should the water level in the buildings rise dramatically. The college and its reputation could be ruined!"
"I understand that this is quite the predicament for you; however, I fail to see where we come in. As you said yourself, those of us in Octavinelle are already well-suited to an environment such as you describe. In fact, it would benefit those of our students who are less facile with the transformation required to attend courses on dry land."
"But it would be a disaster for the College!" Crowley cried. "Not only would we have to send all of the students home, the cost of repairing the damage would be astronomical, and even if everything were cleaned up as expeditiously as possible, there's no guarantee that students would wish to return after such an incident. And that's before we even mention the negative publicity such an occurrence would bring. Night Raven College's reputation could be ruined forever!"
Azul shrugged. "That sounds like a concern for the Headmaster. If publicity is your concern, perhaps you should be approaching Cater for advice. As for me, I have still not been presented with an offer commensurate with the involvement you are requesting. Should we succeed in repairing your boiler trouble, then life at the College will continue with no further mention of the incident; however, should we fail, we become a convenient scapegoat for what is, at its core, a maintenance issue under your oversight. Night Raven College is far from the only magical college around. With my academic record, it would be a simple matter to transfer to another school. You have still not offered anything that makes this deal worthwhile from my perspective."
"As the Headmaster of this school, I hoped that simply appealing to a dear student's better nature to help his fellow students would not be in vain, but since it appears such hope was misplaced, I find I have no other option. Oh, how I wish it had not come to this. Azul Ashengrotto, you are aware, are you not, of certain less-than-savory incidents that have taken place in your immediate vicinity during your time here at Night Raven College?"
"I'm afraid I do not understand what you are implying," Azul said with a smile. Finally, the negotiating was becoming interesting; there was no thrill to the process when nothing was at stake. "You know better than anyone that I was officially cleared of any wrongdoing before the full assembly of the Faculty. An attempt to dredge up old accusations again could easily be taken as a sign of instructors holding grudges, no?"
"Of course," Crowley replied, "which is why I would never dream of doing such a thing. I am a nice person after all. No, I was simply referring to a certain incident involving an old photograph. The incident was closed to the satisfaction of all affected parties, of course, and no one is suggesting it be resurfaced right now, but did you know that some around the museum still hold a grudge against the individual who robbed their museum of one of its display exhibits? If Night Raven College were to flood, then under inter-kingdom agreements, it too would join the jurisdiction of Atlantis. In all of the paper-shuffling involved in such a transfer, one could imagine that it would be possible that some internal records of the College might accidentally be misplaced and inadvertently transferred to the archives in the museum, no? All supplementary admissions materials would also be transferred to offsite archives. Night Raven College prides itself on carrying out thorough background research on any student prior to admission in order to ensure we provide the best possible learning environment. This naturally leads to extensive student files, frequently with photographic documentation among other reports. Did you know that we have at least three photographs of every student in this school dating to at least five years prior to their application date?"
Azul took a sharp breath, then hid it behind a cough. Where had Crowley found those photos? He was certain he had destroyed every copy and negative in existence. He hadn't though Crowley had it in him to bargain so hard. "What are you proposing?" he asked.
Now it was Crowley's turn to smile. "In the case of a catastrophic water incident affecting the entire main campus, it's entirely understandable, and perhaps even expected, that even in the best case scenario, some records might be damaged or even lost entirely. So what do you think, Ashengrotto-kun, would you be willing to assist the current boiler incident?"
"You drive a hard bargain, Crowley," Azul said, holding out his hand. "It has been a pleasure doing business with you, as always. Jade! Floyd! I need you here. Please call for Iidia Shroud as well. We will need his technical expertise before this is over."
You're up,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
alchemicink
"Rise to the challenge?" Azul stared at Crowley. Shock did not show on his face, but that was only because expressing such things openly only ever hurt one's negotiating power.
"Of course," the headmaster said with his signature smile. "Here at Night Raven College, we develop the whole individual, not just academic knowledge. Your facility with contracts and negotiation has been noticed by all of the faculty, and so because I am a nice person, I am giving you this opportunity to develop those skills in a more realistic and meaningful way."
"And what are you willing to offer in exchange?" Azul asked. "It is standard practice in this sort of negotiation for the one making the request to also make the opening offer. I'm sure that it simply slipped your mind due to everything else."
"Yes, yes, of course. I cannot begin to describe how chaotic it has been since the boiler system failed and began flooding the college proper. For those of you in Octavinelle, perhaps it is not so dire a situation, but many of our students are not strong swimmers, if they even know how to swim at all. For some students, such as young Mr. Ortho, it could be downright catastrophic should the water level in the buildings rise dramatically. The college and its reputation could be ruined!"
"I understand that this is quite the predicament for you; however, I fail to see where we come in. As you said yourself, those of us in Octavinelle are already well-suited to an environment such as you describe. In fact, it would benefit those of our students who are less facile with the transformation required to attend courses on dry land."
"But it would be a disaster for the College!" Crowley cried. "Not only would we have to send all of the students home, the cost of repairing the damage would be astronomical, and even if everything were cleaned up as expeditiously as possible, there's no guarantee that students would wish to return after such an incident. And that's before we even mention the negative publicity such an occurrence would bring. Night Raven College's reputation could be ruined forever!"
Azul shrugged. "That sounds like a concern for the Headmaster. If publicity is your concern, perhaps you should be approaching Cater for advice. As for me, I have still not been presented with an offer commensurate with the involvement you are requesting. Should we succeed in repairing your boiler trouble, then life at the College will continue with no further mention of the incident; however, should we fail, we become a convenient scapegoat for what is, at its core, a maintenance issue under your oversight. Night Raven College is far from the only magical college around. With my academic record, it would be a simple matter to transfer to another school. You have still not offered anything that makes this deal worthwhile from my perspective."
"As the Headmaster of this school, I hoped that simply appealing to a dear student's better nature to help his fellow students would not be in vain, but since it appears such hope was misplaced, I find I have no other option. Oh, how I wish it had not come to this. Azul Ashengrotto, you are aware, are you not, of certain less-than-savory incidents that have taken place in your immediate vicinity during your time here at Night Raven College?"
"I'm afraid I do not understand what you are implying," Azul said with a smile. Finally, the negotiating was becoming interesting; there was no thrill to the process when nothing was at stake. "You know better than anyone that I was officially cleared of any wrongdoing before the full assembly of the Faculty. An attempt to dredge up old accusations again could easily be taken as a sign of instructors holding grudges, no?"
"Of course," Crowley replied, "which is why I would never dream of doing such a thing. I am a nice person after all. No, I was simply referring to a certain incident involving an old photograph. The incident was closed to the satisfaction of all affected parties, of course, and no one is suggesting it be resurfaced right now, but did you know that some around the museum still hold a grudge against the individual who robbed their museum of one of its display exhibits? If Night Raven College were to flood, then under inter-kingdom agreements, it too would join the jurisdiction of Atlantis. In all of the paper-shuffling involved in such a transfer, one could imagine that it would be possible that some internal records of the College might accidentally be misplaced and inadvertently transferred to the archives in the museum, no? All supplementary admissions materials would also be transferred to offsite archives. Night Raven College prides itself on carrying out thorough background research on any student prior to admission in order to ensure we provide the best possible learning environment. This naturally leads to extensive student files, frequently with photographic documentation among other reports. Did you know that we have at least three photographs of every student in this school dating to at least five years prior to their application date?"
Azul took a sharp breath, then hid it behind a cough. Where had Crowley found those photos? He was certain he had destroyed every copy and negative in existence. He hadn't though Crowley had it in him to bargain so hard. "What are you proposing?" he asked.
Now it was Crowley's turn to smile. "In the case of a catastrophic water incident affecting the entire main campus, it's entirely understandable, and perhaps even expected, that even in the best case scenario, some records might be damaged or even lost entirely. So what do you think, Ashengrotto-kun, would you be willing to assist the current boiler incident?"
"You drive a hard bargain, Crowley," Azul said, holding out his hand. "It has been a pleasure doing business with you, as always. Jade! Floyd! I need you here. Please call for Iidia Shroud as well. We will need his technical expertise before this is over."
You're up,
alchemicink