Sunday’s Dinner: very indicative of the Thorne household shopping

May12

Dinner Sunday was shrimp alfredo with pan-roasted asparagus on the side:

Asparagus and tomato from a local farmstand
Shrimp from the restaurant supply store
Pasta from the Bulk Store
Spices bought online
Alfredo and Parmesan from BJ’s Club
Wine from Six Mile Creek Vineyards, bought during the Cayuga Wine & Herb trail last weekend

And then a pecan quickbread from the same place we bought the tomato & asparagus for dessert (with cream cheese from BJ’s.) Just needed something from Wegmans to fill out our normal shopping. 😉

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/712510.html. You can comment here or there.

“Does this always smell like this,” the adventures of Lyn’s nose, weekend edition

May12

This weekend’s new smells were:

McDonald’s (their milkshakes don’t taste right if you can smell them, apparently)

and

Shrimp (raw)… I was actually worried because it smelled /so fishy/.

Asparagus, on the other hand, tastes a lot better when you can smell it~

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/712446.html. You can comment here or there.

Escape From Rochester (Camp Nano July’14 project) Character Profile 2

May11

This is the second in a series of character profiles for my upcoming July Camp Nano Project.

The story follows a group of friends and acquaintances as the faerie apocalypse destroys Rochester, NY

Emmett has never been comfortable anywhere, and R.I.T. was no different when he showed up.

He’s older than the rest of the students, for one – although you wouldn’t know it to look at him – starting at twenty-two instead of finishing there. He chose to live in the dorms anyway, in hopes that he might find some sort of community there, and had some luck, although not quite the way he’d hoped.

The guys down the hall started playing a Shadowrun game on Friday nights in the lounge; the first couple times, they played around Emmett, who was watching TV in the corner and did not really mind. The third time, one of their number was out somewhere else and they invited Emmett to sit in.

Emmett, who hadn’t played any sort of game since Jr. High, found he liked it, and quickly found that there was more of this sort of thing going on on campus. That’s how he met the gaming club, which is how he met Jo and Cadey, which is how he ended up hanging out at Anelle’s Samhain party, the confused date of two avowed lesbians.

Emmett is small and skinny, barely over five foot tall, with straight hair past his shoulders in an unbelievable red, hazel eyes, and skin that freckles if you look at it funny. When he actually pays attention to what he’s doing, he can be very good at swaying a group of people, or, especially, a single person when alone with them, but he rarely tries.

He’s never been particularly strong, nor will he ever be, but he’s robustly healthy. He enjoys spending time hiking when he has the opportunity, and spends a lot of time in the nearby parks and cemeteries.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/712036.html. You can comment here or there.

Balancing Lazy

May9

This is a continuation of a piece chosen by random-date-choice.

It follows

Laziness as an Art Form, Laziness X4, and
Lazy Bidding.

Merton and Zuleyma did not want to be sold. Roanna couldn’t really bring herself to blame them – she didn’t want to be sold either.

But Segenam had grabbed four of them on Hell Night, and four, he thought, was a little too much work. So he’d ordered Ro to auction them off – and she’d found buyers for Merton and Zuleyma.

“She’s nice, Merton. I wouldn’t have said it was a good idea if I didn’t think she was nice.”

“But…” He bit his lip. “I was just getting comfortable here.”

“I know. And you can get comfortable again with Kianna. It’ll be okay, Merton.”

“I guess…”

Zuleyma wouldn’t talk to Roanna at all. She blamed Ro for making the deal – which wasn’t all that fair, since Ro’d been ordered to do it – and sulked in her corner until Segenam dragged her out bodily.

He left Roanna and Tamberlain in the room while he took the other two to the market, as it were. “You, boy,” he pointed, “do cleaning things. Ask Roanna what to do.”

“What should I do?”

“Supervise. And…” Segenam did another strange thing with his face. “Try to relax, if you can.”

Roanna didn’t do “relax,” but she tried, because she’d been ordered to. It helped to sit back on the bed – once Tamberlain had made it, twice – and sip a drink while she directed.

“Why am I doing all this? You’re good at this.”

“Because the boss said so, of course.”

“But you’re good at cleaning, you and Merton.”

“Merton’s gone.”

“So why aren’t you doing the dishes?” He hesitated. “And why are they gone, and not us?”

Roanna wasn’t really feeling kind. “Nobody bid on you, Tam. Do the dishes like a good boy and if they’re all clean I’ll help with the floor.”

“The boss told you to relax.”

“Lucky for you, I find mopping floors very relaxing.”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/711901.html. You can comment here or there.

Escape From Rochester (Camp Nano July’14 project) Character Profile 1

May8

Let’s be honest, Lewis didn’t go to R.I.T. to meet girls, and he didn’t go to party. You don’t go to a tech school for either, especially when you’re paying more than 50% out of loans and summer job money, and you don’t aim for partying with a Biomedical Engineering major.

On the other hand, when his roommate decided that Lewis needed more socialization, Lewis wasn’t about to argue, and when Rob dragged Lewis to parties and the parties happened to involve girls, Lewis wasn’t going to argue with that either. Which is how he met Anelle, which is how he met the Oak and Rowan group, which is also how he ended up joining a Tuesday Night D&D group… which is how he ended up spending Thursdays drinking with Raven’s group out in the swamp.

Lewis is tallish, an inch over six foot. He’s muscular – even after a few months of college; he hits the gym four times a week. His eyes are dark blue, his skin fair and freckled, and his pride and joy is the mane of sandy-brown curls he wears down past his waist.

He thought about going into geology – he really likes rocks – but it was go into Biomed and pay 50% or go into geology and pay 100%, and that pretty much decided itself.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/711440.html. You can comment here or there.

“Does this always smell like this,” the adventures of Lyn’s nose

May8

For most of my life, I’ve had a relatively stunted sense of smell. I can get very strong odors, some very pungent ones, and a few random smells, but for the most part, I didn’t smell stuff. It just didn’t happen.

I recently (last year) started going to a new doctor, and she prescribed an over-the-counter supplement – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercetin – for my asthma/allergies, hoping to eliminate Singulair.

And I can smell!

I mean, things I’ve never smelled at all before suddenly have nosefeels. It’s very strange – although it makes for some odd conversations.

“Do mushrooms always smell like this?”

“Does Spinach always smell like this? It smells like bad fresh-cut grass!”

and so on.

Appears yes, spinach always does smell like that. And, go figure, shit actually does stink.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/711324.html. You can comment here or there.

Can’t you See

May8

I asked for fun Addergoole-related prompts here; this is from @capriox’s prompt.

Addergoole Year 36, early in the year.
“I hate it.”

Taurus stared at the mirror; over his shoulder, Aldara stared at him. He was wearing nothing except the chain collar she’d put on him and a miserable expression.

“The collar?” She thought it was a relatively nice collar; she’d Worked it a lot lighter than it looked, and it matched his coloration nicely.

“No!” He glared at her in the mirror; she bit her tongue and reminded herself that he couldn’t actually hurt her, not unless he’d found a way around his orders. “No…” He softened his voice, but only barely. “No, I hate this stupid Change. Why couldn’t I just stay human?”

“And not have magic…?” She brushed her hand over the soft fur running down his spine. “I like this. It’s soft.”

She could see the conflict on his face, where he wanted to soften for the praise and struggled against it. “One point in its favor, I guess. But it still sucks.” He lifted one hoof and then the other. “I liked being human. I liked being normal. And come on, my name is Taurus. This is a goat Change. I am not a goat!”

Personally, Aldara thought it was more sheepy than goaty, but she was pretty sure that wasn’t going to help the situation One Bit. “Well, you’ll get used to it eventually? I got used to my Change…”

“Your Change is nothing like this! It’s nothing compared to this mess! I hate it. I mean, how am I going to wear shoes?”

“You don’t need to now?”

“Lovely, my ankles will still get cold. I mean, even pants are going to be hard.”

“Kilts?”

“No! Gods, what are you, stupid?” He shook his head, making a whistling noise as the air moved around his horn-buds. “Gah! There’s got to be a way to… yessss….”

“Yess?” She ought to be saying nooo, shouldn’t she? But he got so bent out of shape when she said no…

And now it was too late. He was shouting out a Working, one she only recognized half the Greek to, something about bending light, something about…

The world was white, only white. There was no contrast, no distance, no shadow.

Aldara sat down with a thump, not bothering to feel for a chair. “Taurus.” She was mortified to find her voice angry, but she couldn’t seem to stop it. “Taurus, what have you done?

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/711027.html. You can comment here or there.

Paying, Forward

May7

This is a continuation of a piece chosen by random-date-choice.

It follows Cost of Living and Paying the Rent in the Baram’s Elves story-set of the Fae Apoc: Addergoole setting.

It made Jaelie nervous to be away from the family this long.

Not that it was, in the grand scheme of things, all that long: two weeks at Addergoole, and a two-day drive in each direction.

But it was long enough that just about anything could happen. In two weeks, their portion of the city had fallen to pieces. In two weeks, Chicago had been reduced to rubble. In two weeks, she’d gone from being a relatively happy, normal girl… to being Amadeus’ pet.

In two weeks, what would happen to her family? What would happen to Aloysius?

At the moment, she didn’t need to be drawn a diagram; she knew what, in general, was happening to and with him and a tall, dark woman with a scarab-beetle Change.

“You have a very nice young man.” Dr. Avonmorea – Regine – took a seat next to Jaelie at the bar. Jaelie swallowed a startled reaction – she hadn’t expected to see the Director here, of all places. “Genetically, as well as in demeanor and appearance. I would be interested in purchasing his contract from you.”

Jaelie swallowed her drink and, with more effort than she’d thought it would ever take, looked the Director in the eye. “He’s not for sale. I promised him that.”

“Ah, well.” There was, as always, very little expression on the older woman’s face. “Would you consider ‘renting’ him to me again, at the very least?”

“How frequently, and for how long?”

“Ideally, every six months for fourteen days each time, as long as I can find willing partners for him. I would continue to pay the same stud fee, of course, with a potential renegotiation as we see what sort of children he breeds, and with the same caveat you asked for in this session, with parental rights reverting to you if the mother does not want them.”

Baram would like that. They were getting paid a hefty fee for the studding, and all in very useful goods for their little enclave.

What would Aloysius think? Jaelie took a sip, found her drink empty, and set the glass down. “I can agree to one more session, in six months, and then we’ll renegotiate. I have to consult with the rest of the crew.”

Crew. She tasted the word on her tongue, and found she liked it. What’s more, the Director was smiling.

“Very good. I think we’ll all be pleased with the results.”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/710878.html. You can comment here or there.

Continuation Chosen by Random Numbers – Three Glass Beads, Peacock-Blue

May5

A continuation/extrapolation/etc. of Estate.

Rhoda Burks – three beads from a fringe, glass, peacock blue (in wine glass) – October 27th, 1929

The note was handwritten on an index card – no, the back of a library card, the old style – yellowed, the ink faded. The card was clipped to an even older-seeming ledger book, the book itself tied about thrice with silk ribbon.

Three-times tied with silk meant do not touch in every lexicon of the family; Lilyah knew she ought to put the book and its card back where they’d come from – in a glass box, on a bed of obsidian, covered in a virgin’s handkerchief, deep in the archival layers of the family house – but she was not really known for a lack of curiosity.

Besides, she reassured herself, it couldn’t be that old. The family had only branched off three generations ago. It wasn’t like the Root Family, where the stuff in the Aunt house went back to pre-emigration England.

But Lilyah had only had the house for a week… and she didn’t really have it; Aunt Kelly wasn’t dead yet, no matter what the Grannies kept saying.

She settled for copying every piece of information she could into a nice, safe, Staples-brand spiral notebook. The name, the three beads from a fringe, the type of ledger book & the company that had made them. Everything she could get, including the type of knot.

Finally, she thought to turn the library card over.

Protective Burke, Rhoda
Sciences Limits on and Protections from
299.99 Witch-Craft, New York, NY, 1928

Suddenly in a hurry, Lilyah locked the book back into the glass case. She wrapped her notes in a ziplock bag, shoving a few sprigs of rue in there for good measure, and put the case back in the chest it had come in.

She failed to notice the small envelope that had, impossibly, fallen out of the ledger book. If she had, she might have noticed that it held three peacock blue glass beads.

Hidden History, Misplaced Beads

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/710632.html. You can comment here or there. comment count unavailable

Moth to the Flame

May5

I asked for fun Addergoole-related prompts here; this is from [personal profile] thnidu‘s prompt.

Year 47 of the Addergoole School

—

Go to Addergoole, her mother had said. Get an education, she’d said. There’s food and power there, you’ll be safe there, she’d said.

Naeema’s mother had failed to mention the fae part; she’d failed to mention the and you’ll learn magic part; she’d definitely failed to mention and some boy is going to put a collar around your neck.

Gwalchmai wasn’t all that bad, she supposed. No, that wasn’t right. He was pretty bad, but he thought he wasn’t bad, and he kept saying it. It was giving her a headache, the sort of thing where she felt like her head was going to split.

“You have to understand,” he was saying, which was difficult, because she didn’t really understand at all, “things were different before Luke’s daughter got herself in trouble. Now they do spot checks of the all the rooms. If you ask me, you’re not getting a proper sense of what slavery is supposed to be like. Not the way it was back home.”

Naeema had grown up in a walled compound; for all that her mother had said Addergoole is safe, slavers were not allowed in her home town and slaves were freed on entry. “It’s not like that everywhere,” she protested. Her skull was cracking open. It had to be.

“Did I say you should talk? Oh, shit, are you Changing? Right here? You can’t, you can’t…”

Gwalchmai was darting, back and forth, back and forth. He had a bird Change, didn’t he? Professor Valerian had said something about that. He looked like a panicked bird, now, squawking orders than meant nothing, orders she could barely hear.

Her tongue tickled. She stuck it out, and found it forked. She blinked, and found she could blink again, a second set of eyelids.

She caught Gwalchmai’s eye. Bird, bird. He was freaking out – no. No, he wasn’t. He was staring at her, intently, hypnotized.

Naeema smiled, and her fangs brushed against her lips. This had just gotten interesting.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/710331.html. You can comment here or there.