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In Which Reynard Goes Back To School

Sep4

First: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/753621.html
Previous: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/923397.html

The hallway was a strange off-green that looked naggingly familiar to Reynard. When they passed the second display case, this one showing off a variety of long-dead cell phones, he began to understand where they were. When they passed a fire door, both doors wedged open with pieces of wood, he was certain.

“You took over an elementary school?” That explained the chalkboard…

“Actually, we buried it. It had survived the collapse almost entirely intact.”

“Buried?” Reynard looked around at the soft, indirect light that infused the place. “But the – the classroom we were in, there was a view.”

“It’s a really neat Working. One of my crew did it in a lot of the windows; it keeps it from feeling tight and claustrophobic down here.”

“You buried an entire school. And then you put in windows.” Reynard shook his head – carefully, because he could still feel the prick of hawthorn, even with all the vines gone. “And you went to school the same time I did?”

“We’re overachievers,” she answered lightly. “Burying the school was the easy part. Doing it so groundwater didn’t seep in everywhere was the hard part. We’re almost there, by the way.”

“Principal’s office? I know I’ve been a bad boy…”

“That’s tomorrow.” She smirked at him, the first playful expression he had seen on her face. It made her look far less severe; he found he liked it.

Of course, he reminded himself, she Owns you. Probably. She’s going to look attractive no matter what she does.

He cleared his throat. He had not been this far off his game in – in ever. “Tomorrow, Mistress?”

She chuckled at him, the laughter after the smirk sounding almost joyful. “Didn’t I say to call me Elle?”

Reynard nearly stumbled. “Shit. Shit, I’m sorry…” He considered dropping to his knees, but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to get back up. “I – I forgot.”

She tapped his nose lightly. “You’ll have to work on that. Tonight – tonight, let’s just get you cleaned up and into a bed before you fall over, all right?”

“All right. Okay.” He swallowed. His head was spinning. “That, uh, that sounds like a really good idea.”

“Right through here.” She took his arm, holding him up as much as guiding him, and steered Reynard into one of the classrooms.

Which had, he noticed quickly, been transformed. A giant bed, four-poster, covered in quilts, dominated the room. An old, chipped dresser was flanked by mismatched chairs.

One bed. Reynard wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or worried. He’d gone to Addergoole, where everyone assumed you slept with your Kept. After all, that was more than half of what Kept were for. But he’d also been out in the world, where some people had some funny ideas about Kept…

…or about slaves.

“Running water was easy.” Elle continued to move Reynard, so he continued to stumble forward. “Getting the water heater to work properly was a little harder. But hey, some of us just cheat.”

The bathroom was as much a mismatch as her bedroom. It had clearly been part of the school’s lavatory before. Now, a claw-foot tub sat between two old toilet partitions.

“Hot… hot water?” He wasn’t sure he dared dream. “I haven’t had a proper hot bath in…”

She let go of his arm. Slowly, Reynard sank to the floor. Idiotically, the words of the old pledge went through his head.

“I pledge allegiance… to the shower…. and to the mistress for which it stands…”

Next: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1181009.html

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/980691.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable

Sharing the Infliction, a story continuation of Addergoole

Sep3

After Inflicting Change, beginning of Year 20 of Addergoole

“Director Regine doesn’t ever take Students. My mother said she never has.“

Jack punctuated his words with lazy sneers and casual touches, patting Senka’s arm, shaking his head as if she was being foolish.

Senka pulled away. She had only been here for a week and a half, and she was already sick of Jack and the dozen others that were remarkably similar to Jack while looking nothing like him. “I did not say she had.”

“Your mother was wrong, anyway.” Perth was not like Jack. He was so completely not like Jack that Senka was unclear why he was friends with him, “crew” with the loud, obnoxious, self-satisfied, touching her again Jack. “She’s taken one Student. It was when my mom was here. Maybe your mom missed it.”

“Senka?” The Director’s secretary showed up just in time to forestall yet another fight between Jack and Perth. Senka wondered if Perth had seen the woman coming and timed it that way. “Director Regine would like to see you in her office after your magic classes today.”

“Thank you, Miss Hayley. I’ll see her there..” Senka barely resisted the urge to smirk at Jack.

She did, however, give in to the desire to gloat. “Perhaps,” she commented as they left the table for afternoon classes, “Director Regine will have one more student.”

~

Four students sat in the office, looking at each other. Two of the three, a boy named Mirek and a girl named Lianshi, were in advanced calculus with Senka. The third, a slender boy with lapis-blue eyes, she shared a Russian class with. Sumner.

They were alone in the room, despite having been called in by Director Regine. Senka, at least, was uncomfortable, and she could guess from the way that Sumner was shifting around that he was too. Lianshi was staring at the wall; Mirek was watching Lianshi – and Senka. Was every boy in this school prepared to be obnoxious?

“You’re all on time. Very good. That is a very good quality in a student.” Director Regine stepped into the office and closed the door behind her. “I am here to offer the four of you positions as my Students. I do not often take on new Students, but I have decided to make a change. You four would be my first Students in many years.”

“You want us to accept you as our Mentor?” Lianshi leaned forward. “Why us?”

“You are universally brilliant. You have at least one Grigori ancestor, which increases the chances that we will get along and be able to understand each other. And you have expressed in interest in one or more of my own areas of interest.”

“And why you?” Mirek was leaning back, looking like he was proud of himself. Senka rolled her eyes. “Why should you be our Mentor?”

“Well.” It struck Senka that the Director had not thought this through. “I am skilled and experienced in many things you have expressed interest in – the workings of Intinn, biology and genetics, mathematics and statistics.”

“No thanks.” Mirek stood up. “I think I’ll stick with Professor Fridmar. Thanks for the offer, though.”

He walked out, leaving Director Regine clearing her throat uncomfortably. “Well, ah, then. And the rest of you…?”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/979033.html. You can comment here or there.

Help fill the Roster – Addergoole year 20 (& 19,18,18)

Sep3

The year is (fictionally) 2014. The world started ending in 2011. Tell me something/as much as you want/ everything about an Addergoole student beginning school this, the 20th year of Addergoole.

Existing students in year 20 are:
Adalbert (Anda/Ciro)
Alewar (Sarita/Finn)
Ankara (Aggie/Bowen)
Berry (holly/Tristan)
Chaney (http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/123052.html)
Eryk (Shiva/Ty)
Lidah (Ivette/Anwell)
Rasputin (‘Lisha/Vlad)
Selena (Oralee/Meshach)
Semiramis
Willow (Acacia/Carter)

This is still early enough for 1st generation characters, however!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/978837.html. You can comment here or there.

A Double-AU Crossover, part the third: Explanations

Sep2

First: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/955989.html
Second: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/958239.html

“Tony.” Pepper was not amused. She was clearly the opposite of amused. Tension was vibrating from every fiber of her bring. “Natasha. What is going on?”

When in doubt, tell the truth. It had gotten Tony through any number of situations, including “I am Iron Man.” He lifted his chin, aimed his best smile at his… whatever noun one could attach to Pepper these days, aside from “boss.”

“Pepper, I’m a fairy.”

Natasha snickered. She really should have known better. Pepper didn’t even bat an eyelash—of course she didn’t.

“First, I don’t think you can say that any more. Second, if this is about that thing with Bruce, I don’t think that’s a concern. Third, what does that have to do with this ‘Council?’ Don’t change the subject, Tony. This is a very angry-looking letter.” She shook the letter at him.

“Well, you’re, ah, a very angry-looking woman. It doesn’t always do to take things at face value, for gods’ sakes, Romanoff, stop laughing! You’re not helping!”

Romanoff smirked. “Go on, Tony. Tell her how you’re a fairy. While she’s shaking a letter from the Council. I’m sure that’s going to make everything better.”

Tactical mistake. Natasha Romanoff had made a tactical mistake. Tony took a step back as Pepper whirled on the Widow.

“Natasha! If you know what is going on, so help me God, if you have helped Tony in this nonsense…”

“Gods.” Natasha stood up a little straighter. “Tony said ‘fairy.’ The proper word is ‘gods.’“

“I don’t care if you’re sleeping with him. He sleeps with everyone, eventually.” The change in her voice, the slow drop in tone, told Tony that Pepper did really care, still.

“Technically, I rarely sleep. With anyone.” He held up a hand. “No, it’s not a technicality. And I am not entirely suicidal, and thus no, I have never gotten in bed with Agent Romanoff. That way lies madness. Further madness,” he amended.

But clarifying Romanoff’s oh-so-helpful clarification had not calmed Pepper down, although it had at least re-targeted her.

“Tony. Nat. If you do not tell me what’s going on in one minute, I…”

Tony had not been pushing Pepper past her limits for this long without learning to recognize said limits. He stepped forward, took her arms, and gave her his best apologetic face. “Pepper, I’m sorry, I really am. The truth is — the truth is, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you, and I really don’t know how to prove it to you. And it’s not often I admit to not knowing something, so you can tell how serious I am. Romanoff, some backup here?”

“Perhaps this would help.” The Black Widow stepped forward — stalked, really, oh, fuck, she was on target and that target was Tony. He was going to find out really fast if he could take her in a fight or—

“Tony?” Pepper’s voice had shifted once again. This was her small-and-worried voice. “Tony? I think you should look at Nat. I…”

Tony turned. Carefully, very carefully, not letting go of Pepper and not making any sudden movements.

“Oh. Oh, is that all?” Tony found himself grinning. “She has horns. Of course she has horns, of course, nothing else would make sense.”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/978324.html. You can comment here or there.

Walls, a response storylet

Aug24

Started in [personal profile] inventrix‘s DW here (and the comments)

Then here.

Now, below.

Cya left Leo’s house slowly. She walked out of the yard as if she was still, somehow, thinking he’d say “no, wait, come back.” She walked down the road, ignoring people, ignoring animals, ignoring the little voice in the back of her head that was always suggesting improvements to the city.

He sticks around because he’s crazy. THAT voice had always been there, even when it was pretty obvious Leo wasn’t so much sticking around as being tethered by ill-thought-out promises and Cya’s habit of Finding him whenever he got too far off. He sticks around because he’s tethered.

If his insanity was changing, evolving, would there still be room for the Protagonist’s Friends?

She walked to the wall around her city and climbed the ladder. It was her city; nobody was going to tell her not to be there.

“You built a real city,” he’d said. She chewed it over. Yes, yes she had. It wasn’t New York City or even Chicago or Milwaukee, but it was a city. She’d set out to make one, and she had.

“We aren’t teenagers anymore.” It was hard to argue with that, either. After all, they had grand-children who were past the teenaged years.

That was where something had gone wrong. Then he’d asked if something was wrong with him. Then he’d asked if he was insane.

She stared out at the mountains beyond her city, and the road snaking its way past Cloverleaf. She looked inwards, at the growing city she’d wrought. It would hold, she thought, even if she didn’t. It could grow now, with or without her.

Leo… Leo wasn’t exactly predictable, but he, Howard, Zita, even Gaheris, Mags, they’d always had a set of behaviours they could be trusted to act within. Cya too, of course; Cya was The Calm One.

Which explained entirely why she was crying. She bit her lip and raised her chin. Nobody would ask why the mayor of the city was sobbing on the walls, but it wasn’t particularly great for morale, either. The Mayor made things go, just like Cya always had. She didn’t bawl her eyes out.

She certainly didn’t bawl her eyes out over her friend the insane samurai. And absolutely not because he might not be insane anymore.

The drop from the walls was a long one, too long to make safely, but making the earth soft and bouncy was an old trick by now. Cya slid down to the ground and let the soft space between inner and outer walls cradle her. Nobody would see her breaking script here. Nobody would be worried by her crying.

Leo… Leo was changing.

“How bad…” It had been bad, sometimes. It had been awful sometimes. But selfishly, Cya had not minded as much as she should, because it let her be useful. It let her be needed.

“It’s nice.” And she’d done what she always did and given him what he might possibly at some point need. She’d built him a house with her own hands and Workings. She’d stocked it with food in case he visited. She’d done a bigger version of packing him a go-bag. And, sane, or becoming sane, or differently insane, whatever was going on with him — whatever she’d triggered in him — Leo had cared about as much as her angrier Kept had cared about their go-bags.

She stared blankly at the walls of her city. What in hell was she supposed to do next?

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/975867.html. You can comment here or there.

Field Trip, a story of Fae Apoc, posted on Patreon

Aug24

Posted on Patreon for Patrons-only, a story of the Faerie Apocalypse:

Field Trip

“The Invader threat meter said it was all clear.” Mr. Hopkins leaned his head back on the broken concrete. “They said it was safe. I’m so sorry. I’m so—”

His head lolled to one side…

Want to read this and many other stories? A Patronage of just $1/month will give you access to everything posted on Patreon. That’s just $1 for $36 worth of fiction!

Want input into the story prompts? A Patronage of $5/month lets you prompt in the monthly prompt calls. For $15/month you get your own personal story!

Check it out!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/975449.html. You can comment here or there.

“A Storm over Addergoole East” posted on Patreon

Aug19

Posted on Patreon for Patrons-only, a story of Kailani, Regine, and Addergoole East:

A Storm Over Addergoole East

August 2008
The school looked very much the same. That was, Kailani supposed, reasonable. It had not changed in the three years she’d been there; only her viewpoint had.

The halls were empty. There would be nobody here except teachers she recognized anyway, but she still found herself looking in the corners and niches, peeking into the classrooms. That’s where Rozen had grabbed her. That’s where she’d first met Taro. There was the dining hall, where she’d first found out she was in a school of faeries.

This was Director Regine’s office…

Want to read this and many other stories? A Patronage of just $1/month will give you access to everything posted on Patreon. That’s just $1 for $36 worth of fiction!

Want input into the story prompts? A Patronage of $5/month lets you prompt in the monthly prompt calls. For $15/month you get your own personal story!

Check it out!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/973936.html. You can comment here or there.

Jenny’s, a story beginning of Fae Apoc

Aug18

The place was called Jenny’s, and it would always be called that.

In 1889, the widow Jenny macOwen had bought a small pub, not much more than a bar along one side and a row of tables along the other, renamed it Jenny’s, and begun doing rousing business among the rough trade and the half-breed mutts. When she’d grown tired of the business, she’d passed it along to her daughter Muirín.

When Muirín was ready for a change, Jenny came back for a few years – under the guise of a cousin, also named Jenny – until Muirín’s daughter Anna was ready to take over. And so it had gone, until Jae had taken over the bar from her “cousin Jenny”.

Along the way, it had expanded quite a bit. Grandma Jenny had started by buying the place upstairs and putting in a stairway; Grandma Muirín had knocked out the wall between Jenny’s and the failed restaurant next door. The place Jae had taken over was five times as big as the original Jenny’s, and had a chef, a dining room, and a black market trade in Ellehemaei goods and promises.

Jae knew the story by heart. She’d grown up sleeping in a wine crate behind the bar, learned her letters reading menus, and started to walk holding on to the dining room chairs. This bar had stood through two world wars and several police actions. Some johnny-come-lately Law-breaking dragon wasn’t going to change anything.

“Molly.” She gestured brusquely at one of the waitresses. “Go upstairs and ask if any of the Law can shift Force. Use those words exactly, okay? Tara,” she gestured at the other one. “Make sure everyone’s inside. This is going to get rough.”

There were monsters flying overhead, but the regulars were still sitting behind the bar, playing poker at the tables, upstairs making deals. Jae stood on the bar, for the best sense of the whole place, and began muttering Workings. “All right.” She nodded at the Ellehemaei coming down the stairs behind Molly. “What we’re going to do is put a force field around the whole block. That ought to do it.”

The place was Jenny’s, and it would always be called that.

Started reading LKH, designed a sub-setting. Here’s Jenny’s.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/973327.html. You can comment here or there.