Posted here – http://www.addergoole.com/9/2013/12/december-drabble-so-you-knew/
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Archive | December 2013
Orig_fic Bingo – Aunts Verse
Story: An Argument of Magic
Prompt: Magic
Series: The Aunt Family
Summary: Evangaline and the Grannies are not in agreement about teaching magic to the next generation. Eva’s the Aunt, though…
Evangaline was having an argument with the Grannies.
She wasn’t having it directly, of course. One did not simply walk into Mordor; one didn’t simply confront the Grannies. At least, it wasn’t often done, and she hadn’t quite gotten up the nerve yet.
But she was doing things they were telling her not to, in ways that they were certain to find out about eventually.
“Let the children come to their magic naturally. The time for formal training is once they’re older, and once they’re more certain in their power.” That was the line every single one of the grannies – except Rosaria, who just smirked – had given. Implicit in the instruction were two things: that the “children” were female, and that learning either happened on one’s own or via formal instruction. Evangaline was kicking both of those assumptions in the teeth.
She’d started the “lessons” over something that nobody actually called “baby-sitting,” because the children were in their teens or tweens, and certainly old enough, by normal standards, to be left on their own. Beryl and Stone had started them, actually, by asking questions. It had taken Evangaline a couple visits to realize exactly how intent the kids were, and by the fourth lesson, she was prepared for them.
“Why do you think we save everything?”
She could tell by the way they looked at each other – five of them, Beryl and Stone first among them, but the rest no less magically-inclined or bright – that they hadn’t been expecting her to catch on so quickly.
“You can consider me practice for the Grannies. You need to work on your subtlety, but we can focus on that another time. Why do you think we save everything?”
Anessa answered, cautiously. “The grannies – that is, Grandma Karen – said it wasn’t time to teach us, yet.”
“And I’m just asking you questions. Why do you think we save everything?”
Anessa’s brother Matthias finally answered, every bit as cautious. “Because there’s a lesson in everything?”
“Exactly. And I need you five to help me clean out the storage room, so I have room for my own stores. Let’s go.”
She might be having an argument with the Grannies, but she was going to give herself plenty of wiggle room, until she was too far into this for them to call her off. She might be the Aunt, but she knew where the family power came from.
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BINGO: Row
This is a fill for my Dec 12 2013 card. I’ve been using the card as a prompt call, so the first Bingo has been posted free.
Column G Prompts (five stories) – freedom, lost in translation, grace, now and then, change of pace
Title: Freedom
Series: Stranded World
Prompt: Freedom
Rating: G
Warnings: Supportive family
Notes: Two of the RoundTree siblings discuss freedom
Title: Lost in Translation
Series: Addergole (Fae Apoc)
Prompt: Lost in Translation
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Story – none. Setting – all
Notes: Addergoole is a long-running setting, including two web-serials and dozens of short pieces; the setting is dystopic. This story is set apart from much of the problems of the world, however.
Title: Falling from Grace
Series: New: Fall from Grace
Prompt: Grace
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: self-harm/body modification
Notes:
Title: Then and Now
Series: Dragons Next Door
Prompt: Then & Now
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Notes: none
Title: A Change of Pace
Series: Tír na Cali
Prompt: Change of Pace
Rating: G
Warnings: story – none. Setting – all
Notes: Tír na Cali is a long-running setting that involves kidnapping, slavery, and occasionally incest. This particular story involves absolutely none of that.
This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/621315.html. You can comment here or there.
A Change of Pace, a story of Tír na Cali for the OrigFic Bingo
To thnidu‘s prompt to my orig-fic card. This fills the “Change of Pace” slot.
This is set with new characters in my Tír na Cali setting; its landing page is here.
This is a Cali storywith no slavery. 😉
The Duchess’ family did not often eat together.
Her children were, all but the twins, grown adults, and since they were all but the twins male, they were mostly married as well.
Niles, who still lived at home, helped his mother’s head of household plan the meal; Jeriel and Lauriel, the twins, helped the head of the maids arrange the seating. The Duchess had seven children, five daughters-in-law, and eight grand-children; the seating arrangements took a bit of planning to get everyone where they needed to be. Add in that Achishar wasn’t speaking to Emlen’s wife (nobody could remember why anymore) and a half-dozen other feuds, and seating the family for dinner became rather good training for some day running a fractious and wild Duchy.
“Do you think it’ll work out?” Niles was the twins’ go-to for questions. He had far more free time than the Duchess, and was old enough that he knew everything.
“I think…” He folded several napkins while he considered his answer. “Whatever our Lady Mother is wishing to work out here will work out. The informal place settings are a cue, and the mid-week date. She’s looking for a ‘family dinner,’ not something states-like.”
The twins shared a look. Jeriel led for the next question. “Why?”
“I don’t know.” Niles almost never admitted that. It was enough to shut his sisters up.
~
“I thought we could use a change of pace.” The Duchess looked around her assembled children, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren. “I thought all of us could use an hour or two where we were not statespeople but simply family.”
Boone’s wife Lady Dorseigh, the Countess of South March, said what many of them were thinking. “I don’t understand how that can be, your Ladyship.”
“Hannah. Today, for the next hour, I’m just Hannah, or, if you want to be very informal, you can call me ‘mom.'”
Lady Dorseigh, finding herself the designated spokesperson for the table, sounded as perplexed as most of them felt. “…Why? Why… Hannah?”
“As I said, I think you could use a change of pace. I think I could use a change of pace.”
It was Niles who finally figured it out. “Think of it,” he offered, “like taking your shoes off and falling down in your private sitting room. This is that, only with a handful of other people who understand. A breather.”
“A breather.” Lady Dorseigh nodded slowly; the others followed suit, in time with their ability to understand. “This is a lovely Yule gift. Thank you… mom.”
This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/621255.html. You can comment here or there.
About That…
This story is in response to Guesty’s request for “more sexy/romantic Fridmar” in my December Drabbles post here (and here).
It follows directly after Fridmar and Love and And Then There’s You.
Damn the Daeva, but it didn’t let go once it had something in its teeth. Agmund had, in the end, had to make promises to get Mikhaíl to leave.
As if Agmund was the only one who needed in his life some companionship. As if Mikhaíl was not staring woefully like a dog who could not have its bone. But no, it was into Agmund’s life that there would be meddling.
He had made the promises he had to, to get Mikhaíl to stop… being so very Mikhaíl all over his office. And now he was sitting in that same office, wondering how one could not be awkward about such things. How had Doug handled it? Indeed, how had any of them handled it? Agmund knew things about his fellow teachers that he did not think they knew anyone knew.
“You wanted to see me, Professor Fridmar?” Fairuza flopped into the chair with insouciant grace.
“I did say when time allowed.” You couldn’t very well call a student to the office for this.
“Yeah? Well, time allowed.” She smirked at him. Unafraid. Agmund liked that about her. “You have something on your mind?” She shifted into Farsi. “Is there something your Student can do for you, Professor?”
“The name is Agmund, please.” He managed to find his voice, although it took more effort than it should have. “It’s your fourth year here at Addergoole.”
She leaned forward, both feet on the floor now and suddenly not nearly as casual. “I didn’t know you had a first name, Professor. Agmund. Or is that your Name?”
“It’s the name I was given.” He tilted his head at her. “Do you not wish to call me by it?”
“It sounds serious, if we’re doing first names. You’re not usually this serious.” She tried a smile. It only made it as far as her lips. “If you’re here to yell at me about not having a second kid yet, Professor, you can save your breath. I’ve got a few months. I’ll figure it out.”
Agmund cleared his throat. “Actually…”
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Then and Now – Audrey and Sage, Dragons Next Door
To ![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kelkyag‘s prompt to my orig-fic card. This fills the “Then and Now” slot.
Audrey, Sage, and Jin are part of my Dragons Next Door setting; its landing page is here.
Then
“The centaur next door is foaling.” Sage came home late at night, his sleeves rolled up to his shoulders. “And the pixies in the mailbox could use some help… oh. Oh, Audrey, blessings from the bottom of the world, what…”
That had not been the reaction I’d been expecting, but I would take it. “It appears…” My voice was a little more shaky than I’d thought. I coughed, sipped my soothing infusion one-handed, and tried again. “It appears it’s going around. Kidding season, perhaps?”
“Kidding…” I had never, never in our years, heard Sage’s voice do that, that thing where it squeaked at the end. Never seen his composure shaken. “Audrey, did you do this on your own?”
I lifted up the tiny baby so he could see own firstborn. “Nonsense, Sage, you had something to do with it.” He was so distraught, I had to throw him a bone. “Mistress Gnomen served as midwife.”
“I was going to…”
“Plans change, my love. It’s all right.” Everything was all right. We had each other, and we had our son.
Now
“Plans change, my love. It’s all right.” I lit the candle in the warmer and tried not to glance out the window.
“It’s his birthday.” Sage was pacing. My beloved was not very often distressed, but when he was, it was a sight to be seen. I was, truth be told, a little surprised that there weren’t sparks coming from his fingers. “He’s late.”
“He’s our son, Sage. Something probably came up.”
Sage’s cheeks darkened. No, that was not what I’d wanted. “Like his last birthday?”
“Sage, darling.” What to say to that? Yes, like his last birthday. Like the day Jin was born and many of the birth-days in between. But that would not help matters, when Sage was waiting impatiently to gift his firstborn with his adulthood, and that firstborn had, in the time while we were busy, gone and taken it on his own.
Sage sighed. “I know. But it’s his eighteenth birthday. And you made his favorite meal.”
“Sorry I’m late.” The door slammed. When you had teenaged boys, the door often slammed. “We got stuck in the middle of a pixie debate, and you know how those are. Oh, Mom, Dad… this is Bianna.”
A sip of a soothing infusion calmed me; by the time Jin and Bianna made it into the dining room, I was smiling and ready. Our son was home; everything was all right.
This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/620399.html. You can comment here or there.
Friendly Reminder
That if you’re not reading Shadow Unit (http://www.shadowunit.org/index.html), you really ought to give it a try.
Warning: You may lose several days. Totally worth it.
This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/620095.html. You can comment here or there.
Jasfe Unutu, a story bit of Fae Apoc
Inspired by these pictures
Given their options after school, hiking through the wilderness that had once been suburbia had seemed like a good idea to the Goldilocks Crew. They didn’t often run into people, and, while there wasn’t much food left, a decade after the apocalypse, sometimes there were useful tools.
Well, useful to someone who had Repair and Worked Objects as their best words, which was Nadette; Orsa could use the words and Beirne was okay with them. But Beirne could find clean water or clean it for them, and Orsa could make food happen anywhere. They made a good team, and not just because they were the Three Bears.
They’d been picking their way through abandoned houses and creepy forests for five months when they came across the hotel; they hadn’t made it very far south, winter was coming, and they wanted a place to bring their kids home to.
And the hotel was a mess. More than a mess, a straight-up disaster.
“This has to have been empty longer than just since the war.” Beirne poked at the moss growing on a mattress. “The houses we’ve seen…”
“Some of them were nearly this bad.” Orsa ran her hand over a broken window. “But there’s graffiti here. I imagine this was empty for a while before things went to shit.”
Things went to shit was the way they phrased it, usually. It seemed less terminal than when the world ended, and, after all, they were still here. Things had only ended so much.
“The roof’s still sound.” Nadette had been muttering Idu Unutu Workings under her breath, Knowing the structure of the building. “And it’s got a well, so there could be water if we can figure out the plumbing.”
“‘Dette, there’s moss on the beds.”
“Abatu Huamu.” Orsa gestured over the bed, and the plant life was gone. “Abatu Huamu mikróvia. That ought to take care of any bacteria.”
“It’s still a saggy mess with saggy wallpaper and a hole in the floor.” Beirne didn’t sound as doubtful as perhaps he ought to, given the circumstances.
“Jasfe Unutu kreváti, Jasfe unutu sanidó.” Nadette shifted as the floor planks knitted themselves back together under her feet. “The walls are sound.”
Beirne looked between the two of them. Finally, he sighed. “Jasfe Unutu paráthyro.” He gestured at the window, and it was whole again. “All right. This can be our cottage.”
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Fill the Tower – bid on my auction
Bid Here –
and part of my upcoming webserial, Edally Academy: the Angry Aetheist, will forever be named after you or your choice of character.
Mechanics and Engineering House
“My parents knew them.” Tairiekie wasn’t trying to brag; it was just on her mind. “[NAME HERE], the one they named our House after. I heard it had something to do with [STORY].”
“Are your parents upset? If they went to school with [NAME HERE], then they probably knew all their exploits. Probably did something with them, too.” Taikie’s roommate Iesovyenyie leaned forward. “I heard it was pretty intense, too. What [NAME HERE] did.”
What did [NAME HERE] do? bid here to tell me!
This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/619740.html. You can comment here or there.
Crowdsourcing/Crowdfunding opportunities:
My December Prompt Call is a Bingo Card; stop in and prompt any open square. A square a day, if you’re so inclined.
My Be a Part of My World Auction is open for another day! Name something in my ‘verse after a friend for the winter holidays!
This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/619479.html. You can comment here or there.