Tag Archive | giraffecall

Carrying

Aug8

After Any Port

Baram looked between the short girl and his… his Viatrix. “You want her in here?”

“I don’t know if she wants to be in here. But she’s better in than out.” Via frowned for a moment. “Neska, right? I wasn’t there when you were Named.”

“Pocket Claws.” The girl shrugged; Baram didn’t blame her. “I, ah, someone pointed me in this direction.”

“Come in, if you mean me, mine, no harm.” Baram was managing to make that sound more and more coherent. He was getting far too much practice. “Not a safe house. But…” He let Via handle the rest.

“But if you don’t mind sleeping stacked or can help us build an addition, if you can work and will work, and if you’ll do what the Boss tells you with no orders, promises, or bond – then you can stay as long as you’re useful.” Via shrugged. She always shrugged at that part. Almost nobody stayed longer than a week. “It helps if you’re good with kids – where’re yours?”

Everyone who left Addergoole had kids. Some of them just didn’t have them. Baram’s house appeared to have more kids than anyplace else. He was drowning in children.

“Safe.” She stepped inside, keeping Baram between her and Viatrix. “With my mother.”

“Smart. You have a safe place already, then…?” Via stepped out of the way. “Let me give you the short tour.”

“I have a place I can keep them safe for a day or two. People… someone said that this place could be safe long-term.”

“Not a foxhole.” Baram fell in behind the girl. “Yes.”

The girl glanced back at him. Neska. Pocket-Claws-Neska. He would probably forget, but the more he worked at remembering the more bits he could hold on to.

“You don’t like people much, do you?” She had that quaver in her voice. Baram didn’t understand the quaver. He didn’t think it was fear, and it didn’t really sound like disgust, probably. He glanced over her shoulder at Viatrix.

Via snorted, and shrugged. “Baram doesn’t do people well. That’s part of why he has us.”

“Us?”

“Me. Jaelie, she left before your time, I think. Sa’Briar Rose. And Alkyone.”

“Alkyone? The Spear?” Her skin was pale all over again. “This place is run by the Life and the Spear…?”

“And the Briar. But no. This place is run by the boss.” She patted Baram’s shoulder in the way he only ever let her do. “It’s just managed by the three of us.”

“I thought you said this was a safe house.”

Now, Baram laughed. He could remember the skinny spider-girl – Callista-Bladed-Dervish – could remember her saying that.

“No. Not a safe house. Just a house that is safe.”

“..is it?” She looked around her; she was in a narrow hall between Via and Baram. No real exit. “For who?”

“For people who help out and carry their weight.” Via was big on that. Baram agreed.

“For people.” He put his hand on her head, splaying the fingers so that he encompassed the top of her head. “What I do. What I do is protect.”

She swallowed hard and stepped forward, so that his hand slipped to the back of her head. To her neck. “You’ll protect my children?”

“Yes. You carry your weight, I will protect your children.” Baram shrugged, and tried again. “Will protect children no matter what. Will protect you if you carry your weight.” His hand encircled most of her neck. She didn’t move. He glanced at Viatrix; she nodded.

Pocket-Claws-Neska made a quiet noise, like a hum. “Then I’ll pull my weight.” It sounded like an oath. She glanced up at Viatrix, and then back at Baram. “I’ll do what I have to.”

“Good.” Viatrix sounded just as serious, like she was collaring someone. “So will we.”

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This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/560738.html. You can comment here or there.

Still in the Family, a story of the Aunt Family for the Giraffe Call

Aug1

To [personal profile] lemon_badgeress‘s prompt.
After Family Uncle, which is
after Visit (Footnotes), which is
after Genre, which is
after Sidekick, and so on.

Everything about her uncle’s body language changed. He looked at Evangaline again, as if confirming that she’d actually spoken, and then turned to stare at Rosaria. “You brought her here because of a nephew?“

“I brought her here.” Rosaria had regained all her tartness. “Because she is an Aunt, because she deserves the mantle, unlike some, and because the family needs her understanding. She brought herself because of her nephew.”

Eva wasn’t sure if that was entirely true, but it made Willard smile. “Well. Pleased to meet you, niece. Aunt Evangaline, you said?”

“Yes.” She took his proffered hand and shook it, noting that it was hard, calloused, and huge. “And Aunt Rosaria has it pretty accurately; there’s a lot about the family that Aunt Asta didn’t explain.”

“Didn’t know, is more like it. Asta didn’t like getting her head out of her ass for anything short of a major holiday or an earthquake.”

Evangaline couldn’t argue with that. Asta had been, if they were being melodramatic about it, everything that Eva was trying not to be as an Aunt.

Willard smirked at her. “You’re easy to read.”

“I could be more enigmatic, if it helps, but being easy to read makes the teens in the family more relaxed.” She found she was snapping off answers the way she never could with her aunts or mother. Was it because he was male?

He certainly took it better; he laughed, a hearty guffaw. “You’re nothing like Asta, that’s for sure.”

“Thank you.” She bowed to him. Sometimes she felt disloyal, accepting compliments contrasting her with Asta. But Asta really had been… lesser, when it came to their family.

Uncle Willard laughed. “You’re something else. Come on in my house, ladies. If you want to talk, we can talk.”

Did Rosaria hesitate? She did cough, Eva was sure of that. “You’re more welcoming than I would have anticipated, Willard.”

“It’s not a trap, Aunt Rosa. Not that sort of trap, at least.” The big man shrugged. “We’re family people, in the end. And I may have left the family, but it doesn’t mean I don’t miss them.” He fell in between the two of them and started walking towards his house.

“You never married?” Eva couldn’t see her aunt’s face through her uncle, but she thought Rosaria sounded sad.

“Oh, I did. Married with three children, but you know, there’s family and then there’s family.”

“Mmm.” Rosaria might know. By the nature of her position, Eva really didn’t. But she was only nominally part of this conversation, anyway. “And your family?”

“Grown and left me, or just left me. I’m not an easy man to get along with, or so I’m told.”

“I remember that. But your kin miss you.”

“You mean Argie.” The big man’s steps didn’t falter, but his voice almost did. His power definitely did.

“Among others. But I mean myself, Willard.”

“You know why I left.” The walk to the house was taking quite a while. It barely pulled on the power in the farm, either. Impressive. And stressful.

Evangaline tilted her head at her uncle. Her Uncle. But waited to see what her aunt had to say.

“I know why you left.”

“And has she told you the story, Evangaline?”

“In a sense.” She shrugged, unwilling to let him get under her skin. She had enough family there, like tattoos on her veins. “She told me that you had the power, which is obvious. And that the family could not accept that, which is… the family.”

He barked out a laugh. “You’re something else again, aren’t you?”

“That, Uncle Willard, is my job.” She put the capital letter on Uncle; he deserved that respect. But she met his eyes, as well. “What are you waiting to determine?”

“Waiting to… ha. Be careful, Rosaria. This one’s going to be-“

“I know. That was… anticipated. We don’t think it will be a problem.”

“You don’t think it will be a problem.” Evangaline turned on her aunt. “Perhaps I’m not trying hard enough.”

“Ah-ha, there it is. She has the spark, for sure.” Willard patted her shoulder in a companionable way. “Try not to let them get under your skin, Evangaline. They will, you know.”

She took a breath, and another one, the second one more shaky than the first. The third one steadied her, and the looked at her Uncle with new eyes. “You did that. To see if I could be triggered.”

He nodded, rather than arguing the point. She found herself smiling. She could see what he meant – the spark. Not just the power – but the mind to hold it. “And what did you find?”

The power of farm released with a snap. He gestured up the front steps of his porch. “I found strength, Evangaline. Which is what they never found enough of in me.” His voice gentled. “I’m proud of you.”

Next: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/865037.html “The Powers That Be.”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/558141.html. You can comment here or there.

Post Apoc 101 – Second Lesson

Jun18

To [personal profile] rix_scaedu‘s prompt.

After Post-Apoc Studies 101, which is after story-didn’t-work-bit. Set in the Fae Apoc ‘verse, just after/during the apoc.

Potential energy

The pebble, tipped over the edge of the building by Tomas, tumbled down a long ways. They’d climbed – sometimes on the stairs, sometimes making up their own path – quite a ways to get up here, using gifts and tricks that Armona barely understood on the hardest parts.

She listened for its eventual smash against the pavement below, tiny as it was. “I’ve got height.” She looked down, for a moment, at the empty wreck of a street below. “You’re saying my lack of having stuff, right now, is a potential to have stuff?”

“You have energy. Your food-like thing.”

“Just done.” She pulled it off the fire and tested it with two peeled twigs. “Want some?”

“I ate, thank you. You have energy, and want. Want is a very strong force.”

“Strong enough to make things happen?”

“Well, what is it that you, ah, want to happen?”

“I want food, and shelter. A door between me and the rest of the world.” She ate a few bites of pork and beans. “Real food, not just cans. And a real roof. One that doesn’t leak.”

“But not deer you bring down yourself?”

“Mayyyybe. Still working on that one. And I want to not have to be pushed around.”

“And there we get to the crux of it. Who don’t you want pushing you around? Me? Your parents?”

“Anyone!” She thought about that. “Strangers, mostly. Guys. People who think they own the place. Jackasses.”

“And would you rather push them around?”

It was a very good question. It took Armona a moment to answer. “Yes.”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/542328.html. You can comment here or there.

Visit (Footnotes), a continuation of the Aunt Family for the Giraffe Call

Jun11

For [personal profile] kelkyag‘s prompt. After Genre, most recently. Yes, there will be more: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/543285.html

Aunt Rosaria had declaimed her declamation, and then she had fallen silent. Not just quiet – silent. Eva had to check three times to be sure her elderly relative was still breathing.

She’d tried to ask questions a few times, but Rosaria stopped her with a raised hand each time. Finally, Eva fell silent as well, focusing on the road. “Drive straight” was an easy enough direction to follow, after all. So she drove straight, and worried at the feeling “archetypes” left in her mind.

“Left at the stop sign.” Rosaria’s voice broke the silence. Eva jerked the wheel but caught herself quickly. “And then the first left. Stop at the gate.”

Left, left, stop. Eva didn’t answer. It didn’t seem the time for unnecessary words, and, besides, her heart was in her throat. Left, at a stop sign holding down three cornfields and a wheat field. Left, into a gravel driveway that went two car-lengths before stopping at a high iron gate.

Iron. Eva stopped the car, turned it off, and tilted her head to Rosaria. Now what?

“Use your words, Evangaline. Now we wait. Willard will either come get us, or he won’t. If he doesn’t, we leave him a message. If he does – well, then, you are educated further on what it means to be of this family. Something Asta sorely neglect-“

The gate swung open.

“Very good. We walk, of course. Don’t bother locking the car.” Rosaria swung out of her seat. “Well? Come on.”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/540379.html. You can comment here or there.

Early June Giraffe Call Open: Finish It!

Jun6

I have opened a Prompt Call!

The theme is Loose Ends; that is, pick an unfinished piece of mine, anywhere in my archives, and I will write approx. 250 more words on that piece.

Prompt as many times as you want; I will write one prompt per person, more as donation/prompter/signal boost incentive allow.

As always, prompting is free; donations will get you 500 more words per $5 donated, on the piece of your choice.

Prompt Away!


Donations go towards summer renovations: still working on the foyer! I want to make a new bench, a storage area, and a slippers-for-guests arrangement. It’s an 8×4 space; budget is $300.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/538875.html. You can comment here or there.

Any Port

Jun5

To [personal profile] clare_dragonfly‘s prompt.

After Signal Fire, which is after Safe House (LJ), which is right after
Company LJ) )

They were not running a safe house.

Baram was firm on that. They were running, if anything, a refuge for children, a place for those that had no parents anymore or couldn’t find them.

They were not running a safe house for every wandering fae. He protected his vassals, but that was what he did. Those people, his people. Not everyone who came by.

And many came by. The skinny one and the small one hadn’t stayed. For them, Baram had offered, but their memories of the monster he had been – had been known as – were too strong, and they could not bear to stay.

The others came in many flavors. They all saw the tall walls, the thorny plants, the happy children playing. Some wanted to own; some just wanted to shelter. Some wanted both; some just wanted the warmth of companionship.

“We are not running a safe house.” Baram looked at the latest of them. She was short, her skin tan and her hair black, and she was looking up at him with no fear at all. No fear of him; when she glanced over her shoulder, she was clearly worried.

“Boss.” Viatrix stepped up to one side of him. “Boss, there’s something on the horizon.” She looked at the girl on the step. “You’re a Thirteenth, aren’t you?”

“And you’re The Life.” The girl bowed; now she looked scared of what was in front of her. That was a new one. “I didn’t know you were here.”

Via grinned. Baram liked that grin; it was her hunting smile. “Maybe you’d better let her in, boss?”

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This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/538505.html. You can comment here or there.

S is for Summary – an annotated summary of the last Giraffe Call

Jun5

This is my alpha call’s summary in whole.
Those marked with an ** are Addergoole setting; those marked with a * are in the greater fae apoc setting.

A is for Alpha
B is for Beryl and her Boys (Aunt Family)
C is for the Cats’ Cruise *
D is for Dances Down in that [Dystopic] Underground School **
E is for Euphoric
– F is for Friendly Fiend Forgetting
G is for Great Deals!
H is for Holy Hot Hell Night, Batman **
I is for the Individual
J is for the Last Jubilee *
K is for Stolen Karma
L is for Llama Lawyers
M is for Mimosas in the Morning ** (Shahin & Ty Post-apoc)
N is for Notice
O is for the Open Order
P is for the Possum Postulate (Science!)
Q is for the Queen’s Quilt
R is for Runaway (Tír na Cali)
S is for Shahin (see Mimosas first) **
T is for the Impossible
U is for Under the Weather Unexpectedly
V is for Vindicated (Viatrix, Baram’s House-Elves) **
W is for Whisk(e)y (Ninefold)
X is for Xeno-Everything
Y is for Yoshi (Boom, apoc-era) **
Z is for Zoology Sparks (Aunt Family, Zenobia)
– A is for Antlers (Tilden, 3rd generation Boom) **
B Bizzare Beetles
C is for Creation
D is for Dungeon
E is for Emrys – Harder than Diamonds (Post-apoc) **
F is for Feisty Friend Felines of the Family (Aunt family, Beryl, DamnCat)
G is for the Gate (Facets)
H is for (I don’t know why you say Good-Bye)
I is for Icarus Fallen (Third generation)**

Continuations
K is for Kleptēs(after Karma)
R – Running Away (Tír na Cali)
I – is for the Interloper (After Individual)

Þ – The Þorn-Giants (Aunt Family)

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/538350.html. You can comment here or there.

Early June Giraffe Call: Finish It!

Jun4

Today’s Prompt Call is on the theme of Loose Ends; that is, pick an unfinished piece of mine, anywhere in my archives, and I will write approx. 250 more words on that piece.

Prompt as many times as you want; I will write one prompt per person, more as donation/prompter/signal boost incentive allow.

As always, prompting is free; donations will get you 500 more words per $5 donated, on the piece of your choice.



Donations go towards summer renovations: still working on the foyer! I want to make a new bench, a storage area, and a slippers-for-guests arrangement. It’s an 8×4 space; budget is $300.

If I get two new prompters or one new donator, I will write a setting piece (setting chosen by poll) explaining something about one of my universes.

At $20 in donations, I’ll order pizza! (or Indian or Chinese)

At $25 in donations, I’ll finally have enough to get accessories for the area.

At $40 in donations, I will choose 1 non-donater at random to receive an additional continuation as well.

At $50, anyone who donated $7.50 or more will have a copy of “Alder by Post” mailed to them if they wish.

For every $50 donated, I will do a one-hour livewrite on Etherpad or googledocs during the next month.

At $65, I’ll write a third continuation to the prompts of everyone who donated.

At $75, I’ll buy art and hardware for the door. And post pictures!

At $80, I will write two extra 500-word continuations – chosen by prompters picked by random number generator.

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1000 words $10.00 USD
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2000 words $20.00 USD
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This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/538027.html. You can comment here or there.

R is Running Away, a Continuation of Tír na Cali for the Giraffe Call

May23

For Rix_Scaedu‘s commissioned continuation of R is for Runaway.

If you dislike the Tír na Cali setting, this is going to be everything you dislike and more.

Rique woke up in a cold room, half-covered by a blanket.

He remembered the woman, the hot dog – he knew better, damnit, he knew better – then falling over into her arms. He remembered waking briefly, tied up and in some sort of moving vehicle. He remembered the prick of a needle.

Drugs. He’d done his damndest to avoid anything remotely drug-like in the three months he’d been out on the street – not so much as an aspirin had crossed his lips, and he hadn’t let a needle get anywhere near him. After his dad… that wasn’t important now. What was important was getting out of here before things got really fucked up.

More fucked up. A quick peek told him he was naked under the blanket, a quick exploration of the room told him that there was absolutely nothing in there except him, the bed, and a dresser. No clothes. Not even a water glass. And no window.

The door was locked, but it took him five minutes to take apart a bed spring enough to make a lock pick. The bedroom outside the first room – which could have been a closet, really – revealed clothes, women’s clothes but they would fit, and he wasn’t in any state to be picky.

They also revealed that his head had been shaved while he slept. Not just his head – his hair was a finger-thickness long now, but he had no hair at all from the neck down anymore. Not even stubble.

What kind of sick fucks had he ended up with?

A glance in a mirror answered that, too. In addition to his stolen clothes, he was wearing a collar. A metal collar, skinny, light, and locked around his neck.

Five minutes with his lock pick left him shaking his hand, swearing, and convinced that fucking with the collar was going to take different tools and a pair of rubber gloves. He was also damn certain that he was in California.

California. He stared at the mirror. Shaved head. No beard, but he’d barely had one of those to start with. Slave collar. It all looked like he was getting sold into the sex trade.

But he was in someone’s fourth-floor walk-up, which really wasn’t the place you tended to stash sex slaves, as far as he knew. And he’d been left unguarded and unrestrained.

The collar would be tricky, but the woman’s closet revealed a supply of high-necked things, including one that didn’t make him look quite so much like he was covering up a collar. He slipped on the shirt, stole her jacket, and tried the front door.

Unlocked. These people had to be the most inept kidnappers ever. Rique bopped down the stairs, took the back door, and headed out onto the street. He could lift some cash, get a set of bolt cutters and be in the wind before they even noticed he was gone.

~

Reggie glanced at her phone. “He’s on the street. We’ll give him twenty minutes.”

“You are one sick fuck, Reg.” Roberts was grinning at her; he liked this as much as she did.

“Of course I am. Do you think I made it too easy?”

“Maybe a little. Next time make him work for it.”

And, taking a page from Rion’s book:
If you want to see more of this scene (And there’s more just itching to be written), it can be unlocked for a $5 donation!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/535800.html. You can comment here or there.