Starter from plotting @mirokusaki
The owl arrives after breakfast, the letter flopped onto the table with all the significance of junk mail.
It takes Ryuken more than little while to notice it. There’s other, more pressing things on his mind, and it’s not as if he’s expecting post of any significance. It’s not as if he’s made many friends since moving to England, and keeping in touch never has come easy to his family. Solitude has always suited him, even more so since leaving Germany.
Today, the newspaper steals his attention. Skimming the headlines is a morning ritual of sorts, so the front page doesn’t come as a shock so much as it adds to the sinking feeling that’s been building up over the last few months.
Ministry of Magic declares marriage law
Of course it’s come to this, he thinks, skimming the headline again with its ominous black letting and the smiling picture of the minister himself posing for the cameras. Out of all the ways they could possibly solve an emerging population crisis, they would have to go for the worst possible one. Searching for some beacon of hope in this mess, he searches the text for the key points, a mix of sick and angry by the time he looks up and realises it really is as bad as he feared. He’s on the hook just like everyone else between a certain age, and staring down a prospect he’d hoped to leave behind in Germany. It’s the definition of a worst case scenario. He doesn’t need this. It’s too soon and far too inconvenient.
It’s then the owl gives out an impatient hoot, ruffling brown feathers in it’s desire to be on its way again. Putting aside possible escape plans and loop holes, Ryuken takes the post and flaps the bird away. It snaps at his fingers, but heads on its way, leaving Ryuken with a thick sheave of parchment which makes his blood runs cold.
They’re not playing around
The letter’s seal is his first clue that simply going back to Germany won’t get him out of this mess. Tearing open the envelope does nothing for his dwindling hopes for an escape. It doesn’t mention a match, although the wording makes it all but explicit that one’s been picked out for him, merely a meeting, along with a date and time. He notes it down, mentally checking it off against his schedule, already resenting the time this is going to take away from his work. He doesn’t want to contemplate what might happen if he tried to skip it.
