Emily (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
iluvroadrunner6) wrote2023-12-13 09:05 am
iluvroadrunner6) wrote2023-12-13 09:05 am
Entry tags:
- canon: heroes,
- canon: leverage,
- canon: october daye series,
- canon: original,
- canon: teen wolf,
- canon: whoniverse,
- heroes: claire bennet,
- leverage: alec hardison,
- leverage: eliot spencer,
- october daye: tybalt,
- prompts: get your words out,
- ship: allison/lydia/scott,
- ship: claire/jack,
- ship: malia/parrish,
- teen wolf: allison argent,
- teen wolf: jordan parrish,
- teen wolf: lydia martin,
- teen wolf: malia tate,
- teen wolf: scott mccall,
- whoniverse: captain jack harkness
get your words out { 2024 } challenge tracking
Directory:
PERSONAL GOALS:Yearly Goals Reading Goals House goals
OFFICIAL CHALLENGES:2/22/24 WIP Challenge COMPLETE 2/22-23/24 January Challenge: Roll the Dice COMPLETE 2/23/24 February Small Challenge: Stop COMPLETE 2/29/24 Leap Day Challenge COMPLETE 3/4/24 February Challenge: Pick a Trope, Any Trope COMPLETE 3/7-8/24 February Small Challenge: Two-Day Challenge COMPLETE 2024 Yahtzee INCOMPLETE 3/22/24 Time Management Challenge COMPLETE 4/23-24/24 April Small Challenge: Two-Day Challenge COMPLETE 5/13-14/24 May Small Challenge: Roll the Dice IN PROGRESS 5/13-19/24 7 Days, 7 Stories COMPLETE July 2024 Mid-Year Marathon INCOMPLETE 6/25/24 Time Management Challenge COMPLETE 7/1/24 January Challenge: Tarot Cards COMPLETE 2024 Build-a-Bingo IN PROGRESS 7/2/24 Five Minutes Challenge COMPLETE 7/22/24 March Prompt Challenge: It's a Cat-astrophe COMPLETE 7/22-28/24 July Small Challenge: Catch Up Challenge INCOMPLETE 7/23/24 WIP Challenge COMPLETE 7/24/2024 April Challenge: Take Your D&D Character to Work COMPLETE 7/25/24 May Challenge: Playlist Roulette COMPLETE 7/26/24 June Small Challenge: Stop! COMPLETE August 2024 Mid-Year Marathon INCOMPLETE 7/29/24 June Challenge: What's in a Name? COMPLETE 7/31/24 July Small Challenge: Five Minutes COMPLETE 9/2/24 August Challenge: The 8d20 Challenge COMPLETE 10/9-10/24 September Small Challenge: Two-Day Challenge IN PROGRESS 10/14-18/24 October Small Challenge: Your Minimum Word Count Challenge INCOMPLETE 10/11/24 September Small Challenge: WIP Challenge COMPLETE 10/14/24 GYWO Holidays in July COMPLETE 10/31/24 August Challenge: Dear Diary COMPLETE November + December 2024 Year End Marathon IN PROGRESS
yearly goals
reading goals
house goals
2/22/24 | wip challenge | tvdverse/teen wolf | 11 | COMPLETE
2/22-23/24 | january challenge: roll the dice | goal: 1,806 | COMPLETE
RUNNING COUNT: 2,045
2/23/24 | february small challenge: stop | teen wolf | 461 | COMPLETE
For a while, he wasn’t sure she had a place of her own. Thought that maybe she was living with Derek and Eli and going home for the activities they’re doing is not ideal in a house full of supernatural ears. But, no, she has a place, she just usually has some kind of excuse to spend time at his. His place is closer. His couch is comfier. She can already move through the layout backwards and forwards with her eyes closed, so why break up a good thing?
Last night, though, she whispers the coveted “My place is closer.” It always feels like a surge of victory every time she suggests her place instead of his, because it gives a hint that she wants him in her space, in her life, and maybe this friends-with-benefits situationship he’s inadvertently stumbled into maybe means as much to her as it does to him. That she wants his scent to linger, and doesn’t immediately forget him as soon as she walks out the door.
Being romantically interested in Malia Tate is a minefield, but Jordan is determined not to blow himself up. Not just yet. He takes each step as carefully as he can, and so far, he’s kept himself on solid ground.
He wriggles out from next to her that morning, pulling on enough clothes to be respectable if her neighbors peeked through her windows, and goes to make coffee. He blames his lack of caffeine for his poor awareness of his surroundings, because what happens next makes him embarrassingly jump ten feet in the air.
“Hello, deputy.”
“Jesus!” He spins around to see Peter Hale sitting at the kitchen table, eyeing him like the cat that ate the canary. “What are you—”
“Why are you the worst?” drifts out of the bedroom, and soon Malia appears in the entrance to the kitchen, wearing Jordan’s shirt and a pair of shorts, narrowing her eyes at her father. “We talked about this.” When Peter gives a slight shrug in response, she rolls her eyes. “This is why we usually go to your place. Hales have no concept of boundaries.”
“I’m noticing that,” Jordan nods. While Jordan isn’t scared of Peter, necessarily—he’s pretty sure in a one-on-one fight, hellhound trumps werewolf, no matter how crafty—he still doesn’t like the idea of being caught by surprise. He takes his coffee and decides to give them some privacy. “I’m going to go take a shower. You two can catch up.”
“Nice seeing you,” Peter calls after him, and Jordan fights the urge to turn back around again. He knew what he was getting into when he started pursuing Malia. He can handle Peter.
He hopes.
2/29/24 | leap day challenge | goal: 36 minutes | COMPLETE
Grand Total: 859
3/4/24 | february challenge: pick a trope, any trope | leverage/october daye | 1,635 | COMPLETE
It comes out of Eliot’s mouth before he can stop it, but fortunately Hardison is the only one nearby to hear it. He’s not sure why he thinks it. Nothing about her behavior has been particularly out of the ordinary. But there are some very distinctive things that make Parker, Parker, and the total of what he’s seeing here isn’t adding up.
Hardison, however, flares up in a wave of protectiveness next to him, trying to see what Eliot is seeing. “What do you mean?”
“I mean it’s not Parker.” The response is stubborn, but he isn’t sure how else to articulate it. He’s new to the magic world. He’s always been aware of it, true. You can’t get asked to retrieve some things he’s asked to retrieve and not brush up against it. But understanding it is difficult when he has no magical talent himself. That being said, looking at Parker right now is making the hair on the back of his neck stand up and he will not stop trusting his instincts just because he doesn’t know why. “Something about her isn’t right. What are our options?”
“Beyond Parker just being more Parker than usual?” It’s glib, but Hardison still sounds like he’s taking things seriously, making noise to fill in the space between the magic he knows and answers they need. “Doppelgangers, visual illusions, straight up shapeshifting.”
“How do we find out which one?”
“I don’t know,” Hardison admits weakly. “This isn’t exactly my wheelhouse. My skill set doesn’t turn me into a magic bloodhound.”
“Do you know someone who is?”
Hardison glances from him to Parker and back again, his face looking like he has regrets about the thing he’s about to do, but he still turns away to head out the door. “C’mon. We have to go find a cat.”
Eliot blinks as his eyes follow Hardison, before his face schooling into something akin to concern. “What?”
Hardison leads the way into a nearby alley, crouching down around the dumpsters. Eliot doesn’t follow suit at first, confused by the process here, but magic is weird and usually Hardison explains what he can explain. He’s not sure if this is one of those times.
“Hardison?”
“Yeah.”
“Why are we looking for a cat?”
“Because that’s what Parker is.” Hardison looks up from where he’s crouching. “Like, my thing…the Colbynau are artificers, and I’m only a changeling as it is. Most faerie courts wouldn’t give me the time of day. But Parker’s a pureblood Cait Sidhe. She’s important, and the King—or Queen—of Cats should be able to tell us if we’re dealing with a real Parker or a fake one. Magic signatures are distinctive, and they should be able to smell it.”
“And looking for a cat helps us how?”
“Because all cats belong to the Court of Cats. Even the ones that don’t change.” There’s a scuffle nearby and Hardison drops into a crouch, holding out his hand towards a shadow in the darkness. “They’ll be able to get a message to the King or Queen of Cats to ask for their help.”
The cat in question steps forward, brushing their head against the outstretched hand with a soft, rumbling purr. Hardison smiles, before giving them a soft scritch behind the ears. “Can you do that for us? Can you go to your regent and tell them that Parker may be in trouble and we need their help?”
The cat gives his hand another brush before slipping back into the shadows and disappearing. Hardison stretches back up to his feet and Eliot moves to stand next to him with a sigh. “Will they come if I’m here?”
“You belong to Parker. I don’t think it’ll matter, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
Eliot makes a face at the idea of belonging to anyone. Especially since he doesn’t understand what the strange faerie rules mean, because every time something like this comes up, Hardison gets to tell him something new and horrific about the world that’s lurking just beyond his reach. But if it’ll keep him safe in this upcoming conversation with this Regent of Cats, then he’ll trust Parker.
“Do you know who the regent is here?”
“We’re close enough to the Mists that it’s probably—”
“Me.”
The voice comes from behind him and Eliot whips around, on edge, fists up, but he restrains himself enough not to swing. The silence hangs between them for a moment as the tall man with a curious expression stands in front of him, almost as though issuing an invitation to see what he would do, but Hardison reaches forward first, pushing Eliot’s hands down from the challenge.
“Eliot,” he begins slowly, “do not pick a fight with the King of Cats. I know you think you’re Chuck Norris on a good day, but you will lose.”
The king smirks. “I would listen to your friend. He is quite right.”
Eliot relents, but he doesn’t relax, stepping back from the group with a huff. Hardison takes a deep breath before offering the King a type of deference that Eliot rarely sees Hardison show to authority.
“King Tybalt, thank you for coming.”
“You said this was about Parker?”
“Yes. We think that something is wrong and Parker isn’t Parker.” Hardison pauses, choosing his words carefully. Whoever this is, he scares him, and Eliot doesn’t like that. But he keeps his mouth shut and lets Hardison do what he needs to do.
“And you called me to verify this?”
“Your wife-to-be is the most famous magical bloodhound in the Mists,” Hardison says carefully. “And given who Parker is, if something happened to her, I would think that even if you don’t want to be involved, you might ask October.”
Invoking the King of Cats fiancée is clearly not the play as Eliot can see the Tybalt’s shoulders square and he steps into Hardison’s personal space. Eliot quickly steps forward again, prepared to shove himself in between, but Tybalt doesn’t go further than that—yet.
“That’s quite a gamble. Thinking that I would simply send my betrothed into danger at your behest.”
“Not for me. For Parker.”
Tybalt’s eyes narrow as he leans closer. His nostrils flair, and he smirks. “You reek of her. You must care for her a great deal to get my attention. And what makes you think Parker isn’t Parker?”
Hardison hesitates before looking back at Eliot. The faerie’s attention turned on him is not what he wanted, but he’s the one who noticed that Parker was off. He sighs. “She’s wearing too much jewelry.”
Tybalt frowns. “Women wear jewelry.”
“Yes, but cat burglars don’t. At least not this one. Parker’s whole thing is sneaking up behind you so you can’t hear her and scaring you to death. The only time she wears jewelry is when Sophie tells her to for a con. Now she’s wearing this gaudy gold piece all the time that jingles every time she moves.”
“Mmm.” Tybalt seems to consider that before nodding and turning towards the mouth of the alley. “Then let’s set this to rest, shall we?”
Hardison takes a deep breath, before turning to follow the King of Cats into the restaurant nearby. Eliot hangs back next to him some and turns to Hardison, keeping his voice low. “Is he always this much of an asshole?”
“He can hear you.”
And that seems to be answer enough. As they step inside the bar, Parker glances across the room. Her eyes land on Hardison and Eliot first, then glance to the man standing next to them and her eyes widen. Surprise, then concern as she slowly makes her way to the middle of the room.
“Tybalt. What a surprise.”
Tybalt’s head tips to the side before nodding to Eliot. “Seems you were right. This indeed isn’t Parker.”
Not-Parker suddenly goes stiff with fear, then her eyes turn yellow and her skin gray. “How—”
“Parker never calls me Tybalt, except in formal court. And you reek of acid. I know a doppelgänger when I smell one.”
Her fear face turns to a snarl and Parker grows, limbs stretching unnaturally as the two of them square off. “Guess this has to get messy, then.”
“Eliot, we should get out of here.”
“Are you—”
“Yes, I am very sure. Let’s just get all the people—”
Between the two of them, they get all the humans out of the bar as Tybalt and the doppelgänger go to town. They hang out outside the door and eventually the more powerful faerie emerges, wiping his hands on a towel as the acid sizzles on his clothes.
“Thank you for bringing this to my attention.”
“Did they tell you where the real Parker is?”
“No. I don’t think they knew. They were hired to distract you, but clearly, they didn’t expect your observant human. My question would be—is there a faerie bridge you’ve burned recently? Because I think that would be a good place to start.”
Eliot looks at Hardison. “I can go through our last few cases,” Hardison nods. “See if there’s anyone of note that we may have pissed off.”
“Good. And while you do that, I will go fetch my beloved. When kicking down fae doors, there’s no one better to hide behind.”
The king disappeared into the shadows again, and Hardison takes Eliot’s arm to lead him down the street. “Is that a good or bad thing?”
“Good. Very good.”
“So, who exactly is his girl?”
“His girl is October Daye.” Hardison grins. “And she’s—well. You’ll see.”
From the way Hardison is smiling, Eliot isn’t sure he wants to. But as it stands now, it doesn’t seem like he’ll have much of a choice.
3/7-8/24 | february small challenge: two-day challenge | goal: 2,400 | COMPLETE
RUNNING TOTAL: 2,545
2024 | get your words out yahtzee | 7/8 | INCOMPLETE
3/22/24 | time management challenge | goal: 60 minutes | COMPLETE
RUNNING COUNT: 900
4/23+29/24 | april small challenge: two-day challenge | goal: 1,200 | COMPLETE
RUNNING COUNT: 1,200
5/13-14/24 | may small challenge: roll the dice | goal: 2,102 | COMPLETE
RUNNING TOTAL: 2,112
5/13-19/24 | 7 days, 7 stories | goal: 7/7 | COMPLETE
RUNNING COUNT: 8,080
july 2024 | mid-year marathon | goal: 25,479 | INCOMPLETE
WEEK 2:
WEEK 3:
WEEK 4:
RUNNING COUNT: 9,514
6/25/2024 | time management challenge | goal: 60 minutes | COMPLETE
RUNNING COUNT: 903
7/1/24 | january challenge: tarot prompts | teen wolf | 471 | COMPLETE
Allison is adjusting.
That’s what she tells everyone anytime they ask. It’s hard to think about all the things, all the years she’s missed, but she’s figuring things out. When Lydia moves them to San Francisco, it’s something akin to a fresh start, and she’s not bombarded with questions or looks of pity. Honestly, it’s the best thing for all of them.
Lydia moves them into a penthouse apartment, with plenty of space for the three of them to not spend their time tripping over each other. It also is down the street from a shooting range, which truly steadies Allison more than anything else. The repetitive pull of her fingers against the bowstring, the tension and release. It reminds her that things are real, and she’s no longer dead.
Something that can be both a blessing and a curse.
Scott is good at being steady.
Ever since he became an alpha, it’s become like second nature. There’s a kind of confidence in a power like this, a sense of being the strongest person in the room, in bringing security to your friends. He usually spends most of his time trying not to let that go to his head, but he’s been an alpha for close to fifteen years at this point. He hopes that he finally knows what he’s doing.
Lydia and Allison don’t really need him to be an alpha, though. They just need him to be Scott. So he takes care of his friends. Cooks dinner in the evenings when they’re all home. Makes sure Allison has someone to lean on when she’s feeling overwhelmed. Ensures that Lydia takes care of herself when she’s swinging towards the side of overworking.
And if a few local omegas find him at the shelter, then maybe that’s another good reason to be here.
Lydia walks back into work with a sense of victory she hasn’t found in a while.
She has her best friend back. Every night, she comes home to a house full of people she loves. She feels like she has a handle on her banshee abilities again. If she could have gone through all of that without having to take on the Nogitsune again, she would have jumped at it, but she can’t say she’s upset with the way things have landed.
As she returns home from a long day at work, kicking off her heels at the door and seeing Scott and Allison waiting for her in the kitchen, she feels like for the first time since she became a banshee all those years ago, she’s hopeful for the future. She sees a path forward that doesn’t end in pain.
Death may always lurk around every corner, but she feels like she has the strength to face it.
2024 | gywo build-a-bingo | 6/6 | running count: 6 | IN PROGRESS
RUNNING COUNT: 6
7/2/24 | five minutes challenge | original | 214 | COMPLETE
Darlene regrets the words the second they come out of her mouth, echoing up into the empty rafters of the warehouse. She’s surrounded by shelving of product and darkness, and in the distance she hears the shuffle of footsteps. She’s supposed to be alone.
You don’t let something sneaking around in the darkness know where you are.
She takes a deep breath and tries to retreat further into the shadows, wanting to see if there’s anywhere she can hide. Darlene tries to keep her breathing low and steady, doing her best not to panic. She’ll be fine. This will all be fine. She just needs to get to the door and out to her car.
She slowly inches her way through the building, head spinning wildly around to try and keep savvy of her surroundings. A few more antsy footsteps, and her eyes lock on the exit door, and hope surges through her. She can get out of here. She can make it.
Then Darlene feels something appear behind her. It isn’t there, and then it is, a presence at her back that makes her skin crawl. She tenses as it leans forward, then whispers in her ear.
“Hello, Darlene.”
She whips around, but in the end, all she sees are fangs.
7/22/24 | march prompt challenge: it's a cat-astrophe | original | 757 | COMPLETE
The trill of Trina’s voice floats through as she throws open the door to their shared room. The melodious voice of Millie’s roommate matches everything else about her—her flowy dresses, her perfectly coifed hairstyles, her crisp makeup—everything about her fitting into the expected aesthetic.
Millie, however, is not nearly as put together. Not un-cute, as far as she’s concerned, but not Insta-ready. Despite her influencer appearance, Trina is a sweetheart, so she gets some grace as far as Millie is concerned. Millie studies the other girl’s face before raising an eyebrow.
“That look means trouble.”
Trina ignores the implications of the statement before flouncing her way closer. “I got us invited to a party.” The trill returns and Millie briefly wonders if she’s going to end every sentence that way.
“What kind of party?”
“A house party! Down by the lake. Morgan said he’d give us a ride.”
Millie hesitates, turning to face her friend more. “Can we trust Morgan to take us home? Because getting a ride share out there is going to be next to impossible.”
“Yes, absolutely.” Trina nods as she goes through her stuff, trying to find things to get ready for the party. “I told him that if he left us up there, he has to pay for our car service or however else we get home.”
“Does he know how much that will cost?”
“Yes. Trust me. I was incredibly clear about the consequences of his actions. He swears he will get us to the party and back to our dorm. He’s not even going to drink.”
Millie studies her friend, trying to ensure how much she can rely on that. If Morgan promises he will not drink, then maybe he can actually be trusted. Trina smiles and holds her hands out at her sides.
“So. Party time?”
Millie grins before nodding her agreement. “Yeah. Party time.”
Trina squeals happily, clapping her hands together. “Nice. Okay, he’s picking us up in ninety minutes, so clean up, get dressed, we gotta go, go, go!”
Millie shakes her head before pushing off the bed and heading towards her closet. She had a party to prep for.
They spend the evening dancing the night away, having fun with friends and immersing themselves in being young and having fun. As the party tapers down, they head out into the maze of cars at the lake house, trying to track down their ride.
“We’re looking for a tree!” Trina says as she follows Millie’s lead, one finger hooked into the belt loop of her shorts to keep the two of them together. They wander down the beaten down path and Trina bounces behind her. “There! That’s the tree!”
They round the corner to the tree, and they’re both forced to stop and stare when they see a blank spot where Morgan’s car should be. Millie blinks, before throwing her head back in frustration.
“You gotta be kidding me.”
“Hey, where’d the car go?”
“He left us!” Millie says back to her friend. “I knew we shouldn’t have trusted him.”
Trina sighs as she pats down her pocket for her phone. “I’ll call him.” Millie grumbles and goes to pace next to her friend, waiting to see whether she gets an answer. Eventually Trina pulls her phone away and sighs. “Voicemail. I’ll text him.” A beat. “And call an Uber.”
Millie flops down on a nearby log as she waits. “I knew it.”
“I’m sure he just forgot.”
“I’m allowed to be mad that he broke his promise and we’re stranded here.”
“Yes. You are. But we don’t know what happened, and it’s possible that something came up and he had to go.”
“He still should have told us, so we could have found another ride.”
“You are right. I will stop trying to defend him.” Trina sighs. “Car should be here in forty minutes.”
“Great.”
They sit on the log, waiting as the time passes, when footsteps sound toward the beach house. Both their heads pick up, and Millie reaches for her pepper spray, just in case it’s an axe murderer come to kill them, when a familiar form steps into the moonlight.
“Oh, hey guys. There you are.” Morgan’s familiar voice echoes through the quiet of the trees. “I was just about to—” There’s a pause as he glances around, before straightening up. “Where the fuck is my car?”
Trina looks at Millie before the other girl nods. “Okay, you’re right. I take it back.”
7/22-28/24 | july small challenge: catch up challenge | goal: 7,800 | INCOMPLETE
RUNNING COUNT: 3,802
7/23/24 | wip challenge | teen wolf/tvdverse | COMPLETE
7/24/24 | april challenge: take your d&d character to work | original | 612 | COMPLETE
“Nope.”
Adrian pushes past the gawking young man on the pier as he makes his way down to the boat sitting at the end. He has buckets of gear in hand and doesn’t have time to deal with the fans. Bold of him to assume that even with many years of being retired from adventuring behind him, people still try to ask him about his so-called “glory days.” Never mind the fact that he never wanted to be an adventurer. He just was on the wrong boat at the wrong time.
It’s all the bard’s fault. It’s always the bard’s fault.
Regardless, as he reaches the boat, Moran, his partner, is smirking at him. “You could be nicer to the kid, you know.”
“Could, sure. Want to? No.” He slides his legs over onto the boat next to his fellow fisherman, before dropping his gear to the deck. “I didn’t even want to be on their stupid quest.”
“Fair,” Moran sighs. “But they don’t know that?”
Adrian makes a face, before glancing back to his friend. “If you actually want to catch anything today, I’m gonna have to ask you to agree to disagree with this one.”
Moran’s eyes narrow. “You can’t just threaten someone’s livelihood because they disagree with you, Adrian.”
“Watch me.”
Moran tries to stare him down, eyes meeting his, but in the end Moran flinches first, the need to feed his family a higher priority than proving himself right. It’s possible Adrian should feel like a jerk about that, but he is really sick to death of talking about the one adventure he ever went on.
It was a mistake, and he just wants to go fishing.
They manage putting together the rest of their trip in silence, before they’re joined by the other two additional members of the crew and push off into the sound. Adrian leans against the edge of the boat as he takes in a deep breath of the fresh sea air.
This always is his favorite place to be. The gentle rocking of the waves eases the tension in him far better than any conversation. Soon there’s no sign of land at all, nothing but open sea and calm waters. He’ll have three days on the open water, doing his part of the job, and then he’ll have to return to land again, but he’ll take what he can get.
They take a few hours to make it to their destination, and the men set out the nets and lay their lures. Adrian takes his position at the foremost part of the deck, shifting his focus to his magic and beginning to hum under his breath.
The sea has always called him home. He’s felt its power since he was old enough to realize it was magic he was tapping into, not just himself. He has just enough respect for its power to know that the waves will consume him one day—that this power isn’t something for him to own, simply borrow for a while. But for now, he’ll use it to feed those who need it and protect the creatures under the waves that need it.
The nets slowly fill as the fish respond to his call, taking the bait and drawing into the center of their nets. Moran and his crew pull the nets up onto the ship and sorting through their catch. Soon, they’re heading off to the next catch point and Adrian heads down to use his magic to preserve the catch.
It’s a simple life, and there are no dragons are demons, but it’s his. And he’ll take that over anything else.
7/25/24 | may challenge: playlist roulette | curse of strahd | 997 | COMPLETE
Daniel moves smoothly behind the bar, filling tankards for Molly to take out to the rest of the room before shaking his head. “Not part of the plan.”
Molly raises an eyebrow as she watches the halfling as he gets to work. “The old man never lets you have any fun, huh?”
“Not him,” Daniel smirks back at her, finishing loading up her tray with tankards. “I just like to work.”
“So you’re just boring then,” she teases, and he laughs.
“I enjoy taking care of people,” he shrugs. “Nothing wrong with that.”
“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take a break sometimes, love.” She sweeps off across the tavern floor. “You work all the time, you’re going to burn yourself out.”
“She’s not wrong, Danny.” Corrigan, the old man who runs the tavern, says as he steps up behind him. “You deserve to go out there and have a good time.”
“Deserve is an interesting choice of words,” Daniel points out, and Corrigan rests a hand on his shoulder.
“I’m serious. Go out and spend a night at the carnival. If I wanted someone who only existed to serve drinks, I would pay money for a simulacrum.”
“That’s not an actual word.”
“There are wizards that would tell me otherwise,” Corrigan takes the rag from Daniel’s hand and points to the door. “Go. I’m giving you the night off.”
Daniel wants to protest, but he knows the old man well enough to know that he won’t be swayed. He sighs, slumping his shoulders and nodding. “Alright, alright. Fine. I won’t be out too late.” And before Corrigan can counter that he can be out as late as he wants, he slips into the kitchen and out the back door.
The carnival is awash in a sea of people, though it’s late enough that most of the children and young ones have gone home for the day. He gets himself a drink and a carnival snack as he wanders, taking in the various sights. There’s a lot of games designed to take your coin and so-called “fortune tellers” looking to do the same. He ignores them to the most part, simply content to wander until he catches the sound of music coming from one of the nearby tents.
He makes his way through, nudging the much taller patrons to the side until he is close to the stage. His eyes follow to the lights in the center and he sees a halfling woman with long red hair hanging loosely around her shoulders. She has a lute strapped in front of her and is strumming along as she sings. Her voice cuts through him in a way that nothing has in a long time, and he can’t help but feel like he’s getting drawn into her like a magnet.
Her attention remains on the crowd, but when she glances his way and green eyes meet his brown ones, it feels like a zing of connection between them. A small smile stretches across her face and she tosses him a wink before she turns back to the crowd. He’s drawn in, unequivocally, and finds himself unable to move from his spot for the rest of her set.
When the show ends and the magic fades, he blinks and not knowing what to do next. He shakes himself back to normal, planning to wander his way back to his room at the tavern and sleep away the rest of his night off, when a voice calls out from behind him.
“Hey, handsome! Where are you running to?”
He spins around and the redhead is standing behind him, watching him with a gentle smile. He doesn’t know what to say at first, before jerking his thumb over his shoulder. “I thought the show was over.”
“Oh, it is. For everyone else.” Her smile turns, teasing as she makes her way closer. “But since you only showed up halfway through, I thought you might like to see the parts you missed.”
He stammers briefly, not sure he’s quite ready for the focus of a one-woman show, but he also certainly doesn’t want to waste the opportunity to spend more time with her.
“Not a show, necessarily,” he finally gets out. “But perhaps I could buy you a drink?”
At that, her smile widens to something more appreciative. “Drinks it is. I’m Sabrina.”
“Daniel.”
“Lead the way, Daniel.”
Drinks wind up lasting much longer than Daniel thought they would. He would have thought that she would have gotten bored with him fairly quickly, but the conversation flows smoothly and easily. They talk about Sabrina’s music and the kinds of songs she loves to sing, and he tells her about the plans he has for the old man’s tavern when it’s finally passed to him. It seems like their loves are on two different trajectories—her on the road with him staying in place, but that doesn’t mean they don’t take advantage of the moment while they have it.
He wakes the morning after to her, pulling her clothes back on, and she glances over her shoulder at him with a smile.
“Time to get back to work,” she sighs. “We’re only here for a few more days, but … could you come see one last show before I go?”
“I’ll try,” he says with a nod. Corrigan might fall over in shock if he willingly asks for a night off, but he has a feeling he won’t say no. “If not, you’re welcome to come back to the tavern after your show’s over?”
She nods, before leaning in to kiss him again. “If you come, I’ll sing something special for you.”
With that, she finishes dressing and bounces out the door, and he flops back against the bed with a smile. Maybe Molly’s right—he should get out of the tavern more often after all.
7/26/24 | june small challenge: stop! | original | 525 | COMPLETE
“Look, I don’t want to give this speech. Jessica is a good person and David is great. We all love David.”
“David is the best,” Karina agrees, nodding along with the rest of the group.
“We all know that the two of them deserve for this event to go off without a hitch, and with no drama. Unfortunately, it’s everyone else who can’t get their shit together.” Helena ticks off a finger as she mentions each of the problem players. “First, we have Janet: the mother-in-law, who has been shady towards our girl since jump. Second, we have Serena, the friend who we all know is a little in love with David. While on the bride’s side, we have Gloria, the self-obsessed cousin who needs to make everything about her.”
“And let’s not forget Antonio, Jessica’s ex who somehow got himself invited to this wedding,” Lawrence, the best man, points out and Helena nods in agreement.
“Now, we all hope that these people are not animals who know how to behave at someone else’s wedding and are just here to be happy for our bride and groom. The actual mechanics of the wedding, we don’t have to worry about. Marissa is fantastic and she will hold things down.” Helena pauses and points her bouquet out at the rest of the group. “But our mission, as members of the bridal party, is to keep these problem children in their place, and to not let the bride and groom know any of it. White dresses will find themselves victims of red wine. Any objectors will find themselves silenced. We are looping in partners to manage crowd control. This is Jessica and David’s special day, and we will let none of these liabilities fuck this up.”
If Jessica knew she was giving this speech, she would be horrified. She’s the most non-confrontational person who Helena has ever met and is always kind and accommodating of everyone around her. And more to the point, she believes the best of each of these people. Helena doesn’t want to dent that worldview. What she wants is to just give her best friend the wedding of her dreams and she will make it happen.
“Are we clear?”
The room nods, and they all get to their feet to head out to the ceremony. Before she reaches the door, however, Jamie, the bride’s sister, catches her arm and pulls her close. “You know, at first, I was a little hurt that she picked you over me to be her maid of honor, but after having seen you in action? I totally get it. You have balls of steel, and I respect that.”
Helena laughs before nodding in agreement. “Thank you, Jamie. I appreciate it.”
august 2024 | mid-year marathon | goal: 25,479 | INCOMPLETE
WEEK 2:
WEEK 3:
WEEK 4:
RUNNING COUNT: 9,330
7/29/24 | june challenge: what's in a name? | original | 391 | COMPLETE
No, the halfling rogue—
No, the tabaxi rogue uses her delicate cat’s grace to slip over onto the opposite side and silent feet. Moonlight glints off her orange fur—
No, gray tabby fur—
No, calico fur as she whisks her way through the courtyard towards the guards. Her party is waiting for her on the other side, needing liberation from the clutches of the local guard. Pinning herself against the brick walls, she watches the rotation of the guards, slowly inching her towards the door until—
“Miss Chambers!”
Mindy’s head snaps up, snapping out of her fantasy as she turns her eyes on Mrs. Deerborn at the front of the room. Her eyes blink briefly as she reorients, shoving her current player character for her friends' RPG out of her mind and smiling at her math teacher.
“Yes, Mrs. Deerborn?”
“Would you like to join the rest of the class instead of staring at whatever is so interesting outside?” The stern woman raises an eyebrow as she watches her.
Mindy plasters a thin smile across her lips and nods. “Of course. Sorry, Mrs. Deerborn.” The woman seems to take the apology for what it is and turn back to teaching. Mindy lowers her eyes to the notebook in front of her, where she had sketched Kicyli. She quickly rubs her eraser across the page and shifts the form to be more tabaxi than elven and can’t help but smile as the character really comes to life.
She nudges Jonathan, her dungeon master, with her elbow and holds up the drawing with a raised eyebrow. He looks over the drawing before nodding and giving her a thumbs up. The grin stretches further across her face, and she settles into her seat, counting down the seconds until school ends and they can go off and play some Dungeons and Dragons.
This campaign is going to be the best.
7/31/24 | july small challenge: five minutes | original | 279 | COMPLETE
“Millicent has picked up a lovely purple frock that rather suits her figure, which is a change for her. I’m wondering if she hired a personal shopper.”
“About the case, Kevin.”
“Oh.” Kevin spins around in his chair to face his boss, Moira, who is leaning over him with a raised eyebrow. “You mean this case I just got an hour ago and haven’t even gone through all the discovery yet?”
“How much discovery could it have?” The junior partner glances over his shoulder at the file. “It’s a housing dispute.”
“Sure it is.” Kevin gets to his feet. “Follow me.”
The associate leads the way through the glossy exterior of the firm until they reach a main conference room, before pushing open the door to reveal the piles of boxes delivered by opposing counsel. Moira’s eyes widen as she takes it all in.
“What the—” She blinks before turning back to him. “Pull Millicent and Robbie to help you with this.”
“What?” He startles. “You said this was my case, end to end.”
“Yeah, but something doesn’t smell right. They’re burying you in paperwork for what? A rent dispute?” She shakes her head. “There’s something they don’t want you to find. And I need you to find it fast.”
“But—”
“It’s still your case. I promise. You’ll still be first chair. But you can ask for help.” Moira gives his shoulder a squeeze. “You’re doing great. Keep me posted.”
Kevin turns and watches her as she walks away and then turns back to his pile of boxes. He doesn’t quite know what he’s gotten himself into, but already he’s very curious.
9/2/24 | august challenge: the 8d20 challenge | COMPLETE
RUNNING COUNT: 2,341
10/9-10/24 | september small challenge: two-day challenge | goal: 2,000 | COMPLETE
RUNNING COUNT: 2,011
10/14-18/24 | october small challenge: your minimum wc challenge | goal: 820/day | INCOMPLETE
RUNNING COUNT: 2,193
10/11/24 | september small challenge: wip challenge | teen wolf/tvdverse | 1,305 | COMPLETE
10/14/24 | gywo holidays in july | original | 839 | COMPLETE
Cassidy pulls her coat tighter around herself as she stumbles out through the snow towards where her boyfriend has put up the tent for their holiday celebration. Considering she’s overwhelmed every other day packing their time with family Christmas shenanigans, she promised him they would have one quiet night just to themselves.
When she finds out that Robert’s quiet plans involve snow camping, she has half a mind to take it back.
Still, she plasters on a smile once she’s close enough to be in earshot. “That tent better be really warm!”
Robert pokes his head out and his genuine smile is enough to warm some of the chill out of the air. “It’s not that bad.”
“It’s below zero.”
“It is not below zero.”
She huffs as she moves to slide into the tent next to him, flopping down comfortably on the bed of sleeping bags. “I am wearing three turtlenecks and I can still feel the chill.”
“Didn’t I promise I’d keep you warm?” he replies as he zips up the tent and they settle in. He pulls out a thermos and two mugs, placing one mug in her hand as he deftly screws off the top. The hot liquid fills her mug, and she makes a happy noise, pulling it in to her chest to preserve the warmth.
“You did. And I will suffer because I love you. But I am cold.”
“I know.” He snuggles in next to her with his own mug of hot chocolate. “But your suffering will be worth it. I promise.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Cassidy shifts to rest her head against his shoulder. “Hopefully nature will put its money where its mouth is. How long until we can see this thing?”
Robert shifts to check his watch, taking a deep breath as he nods. “They said peek time was around midnight, so we have a couple of hours.”
“Mmm.” She takes a sip of her hot chocolate before nodding. “So, what will we do until then?”
“I brought travel Scrabble.” He raises an eyebrow. “You ready for a showdown?”
She laughs, before pushing herself up and reaching to take the game from him. “You’re on.”
Robert’s phone beeps as Cassidy plops down a couple letters with a grin. “Hah! Jukebox!”
“No way.” Robert snaps his eyes back to the game in front of him. “Jukebox?”
Cassidy grins. The spirit of competition isn’t keeping the cold away, exactly, but it’s certainly keeping her distracted, and getting the chance to play one of the highest scoring words in Scrabble is one of her white whales. “Merry Christmas to me.”
“You’re such a nerd.” He reaches to pick up his phone and his face lights up as he goes to scramble towards the front of the tent. “Oh! It’s time!”
“Who’s the nerd now?” She laughs, as a blast of cold hits her as Robert scrambles out to look at the sky.
“C’mon, c’mon.” His gloved hand waves to her from the front of the tent and she sighs before taking that hand and letting him help her out. She zips up the tent behind them, but when she turns to look up at the sky, she can’t help the gasp.
“Oh my god.”
Above her, besides the sparkle of stars swirling in the night sky, a beautiful swirling aura adds a mist of links and greens to the mix. She’s struck by the beauty of it, one hand resting across her chest as she just allows herself to be absorbed in the beauty of it.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” Robert asks softly.
Cassidy turns to face him, pulling her eyes from the scene above her to take him in. The quiet look of amazement on his face, the brightness of his eyes, the softness of his smile. It reminds her all too well of everything they’ve been together with each other, all the things they’ve supported each other through, and how much she loves her gentle, nerdy partner. Even if he drives her out into the middle of nowhere when it’s too cold to be outside.
He glances over at her before raising an eyebrow curiously. “What?”
She takes a step in closer, looping one arm around his waist. “I love you.”
His smile stretches wider as he wraps his arms around her to pull her closer. “I love you too. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.” She kisses him softly, before burrowing in closer as the chilly wind picks up. “This is beautiful, but can I go back into the tent now?”
He laughs before nodding. “You go ahead. I want to get a few pictures for later.”
“Okay.”
“And it’s my turn! Just because you just landed seventy points—”
“One forty, it was on a double world score.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever, this isn’t over.”
She grins before ducking down and letting her back into the tent. She honestly can’t think of a better way to spend her holiday evening.
10/31/24 | august challenge: dear diary | original | 357
Gertie says there’s something up, and I’m not sure whether I believe her. She says she’s trying to help me, but Gertie is always trying to help Gertie first, so who’s saying if it’s actually true? The only way to say for sure is to prove it to myself, so here it goes.
The Warton case:
Edgar Warton, 34, local factory worker.
COD seems to be a knife to the chest. A dagger, maybe? It doesn’t seem to be standard kitchen knife; the marks say it’s sharp on both sides. Went through Warton’s desk and found some letters, most of them pretty standard business fare, but there was a threatening letter typed. Might be worth looking into.
March 13
Went to talk to Warton’s widow. She said that a pair of Alton Detectives who definitely did some threatening had visited him. Wendell seems to think that they’d be a good lead, but personally, I think it’s bias. Alton Detectives are strikebreakers, but they’re not murderers. Killing off the opposition wouldn’t look good for the businesses they’re trying to protect. There’s something else here.
While Wendell talked to the widow, I looked through the home office. There were several more typeset letters saying similar things to the one we found at his other desk, but no other distinguishing clues. Will take them to read through and compare later tonight.
March 15
Turns out the lead wasn’t in the letters themselves, it was the paper they were on. The paper was a strange weight, like it was designed for a specific purpose. I did some digging and found the printer that sold the paper, and said that the people who bought it usually sold it for bulletin notices that have to stand up to the weather outdoors. Not sure what the connection is there, but going to talk to some of the other union members and see what I can find out about who posts their fliers.
March 16
The lead with the fliers panned out. I followed it back to the—
March 21
There are pages missing. I didn’t rip them out.
Maybe Gertie was right.
11/1/24-12/31/24 | year end marathon | goal: 15k/month | IN PROGRESS
DECEMBER:
RUNNING COUNT: 16,069
11/11-12/24 | november small challenge: roll the dice | goal 3,372 | COMPLETE
RUNNING COUNT: 4,014
12/19/24 | september challenge: truth or dare | 2/2 | COMPLETE
truth: name someone you've pretended to like but actually couldn't stand. | original | 560
“Oh yeah. My sister is here. That’s not going to be a problem, is it?”
“No. I love your sister.” Penny realizes she might be laying it on a little thick, but her boyfriend doesn’t seem to notice. He simply smiles and turns back around to face her again.
“Good. Because that makes things so much easier.” Cole wraps his arm around her shoulders. “She can be a bit of a pain sometimes.”
Only sometimes? This is only Penny’s second holiday with Cole’s family, but at every family event, Krista has become a land mine difficult to navigate. It isn’t anything she explicitly says or does. It’s just this energy, when she and Krista are having conversations one on one. Something uncomfortable about how everything she does is being judged. She loves her boyfriend. He’s the sweetest man she’s ever met. She cannot tell him that his sister hates her.
Cole leads her through the party, reintroducing her to family that hasn’t seen her for longer, and for the most part, things were fine. Krista keeps to her corner and Penny stays close to Cole, and for the moment, things are fine.
Until Cole is get called into the dining room to help set the table, and Krista seizes her opportunity to pounce.
“Hi, Pen.” She perches on the arm of the couch, before gesturing with one perfectly painted fingernail. “Love this whole getup you’ve got going here.”
“Thanks, Krista.” Penny glances down at her ugly Christmas sweater. “I was just trying to stay on theme.”
“Well, I think you killed it.” Her nose wrinkles in a way that some people find cute but Penny can’t help but read derision into the gesture.
“You look great too,” Penny falters, trying to get back on her game. “How’s life been?”
“Oh, it’s been great.”
“Really? I thought I heard Tom and you split up. I was so sorry to hear it.”
Her face flickers briefly. “We did, but honestly it was best for both of us. I am super stoked for the new year. Brand new year, brand new me. Going to grab life with both hands.”
“Wow, that sounds great. I’m so happy for you.”
“Seems like things with you and my brother are still going well.”
“Oh, yeah. We’re really happy.”
“He given you any hints on if he’s going to propose?”
“Oh, we’ve only been together like … eighteen months.” Penny waves a hand. “We’re not ready for that yet.”
“Eighteen months is a long time! I can’t remember the last relationship I had that lasted eighteen months.”
“Yeah, well, we’re still figuring things out. But we’ll let you know if that changes.”
“Alright.” Krista reaches over and gives her shoulder a squeeze, with one last nose wrinkle. “I’m gonna go grab a drink. Can I get you something?”
“No, no, I’m good.” Penny plasters on a smile that deflates as soon as Krista rounds the corner and she’s left alone. First encounter down, now all of dinner to go.
12/23-30/24 | december small challenge: catch up challenge | goal: 4,300 | INCOMPLETE
RUNNING COUNT: 2,920
october small challenge: stop drop write | d&d backstory | 809 words
Johanna was born several years into Gregor’s reign, and was followed by her brother, Ethan, a few years later. Johanna showed promise as an exceptionally bright child from a young age, and wanted to become a scholar like her mother and potentially a wizard like her father, but Gregor did his best to quash Johanna’s ambition, realizing quickly that she’s far more willful than her mother. Duncan doted on Johanna, teaching her to use a sword and defend herself, and Natasha encouraged her daughter’s scholarly pursuits, but as Johanna wanted to delve more and more into magicks, Gregor put his foot down. If she wished to learn magic, she could move to the cloister, and seek the favor of the divine. But he would not pay for magical schooling for wizardry, and there was an implicit understanding that Gregor would force the issue if needed.
Not wishing to contest wills with her father, she agrees to become a cleric, and as she studied her options, Mystra was intrigued by her ambition and drive. Mystra offered Johanna the power she sought, within her father’s terms, and Johanna agreed, but told her parents that she was following the Morninglord instead to not provoke her father’s ire. This also offered her a considerable amount of freedom, as she was “requested” to be cloistered to the abbey, were collective clerics are raised and trained, and gave her some freedom to grow and mature into her own person, outside of her father’s influence, though she did keep close correspondence with her mother.
When Johanna came of age, her father informed her that he wanted her to marry one of his promising lieutenants—Matthias Ambrose. Johanna, who has never taken anything more than an academic interest in sex and has even less interest in being a kept wife for a man who wants her only to gain her father’s favor, refuses, but Gregor informs her that he was not actually giving her a choice. Johanna manages to put him off until she completes her studies, which she proceeds to slow down as much as she can. While at school, she caught the interest of a bard in the library, Wit, who unbeknownst to her was a Harper sent to investigate her family. When he starts to flirt with her, as many often did, she said that if he could tell her something about the world that she didn’t already know, she would let him into her bed. It was an offer she’d made before, but no men had ever been able to succeed or simply decided not to try.
Wit succeeded. In fact, he succeeded three times. And Johanna is nothing if not a woman of her word.
In some ways he was a bit of rebellion from who her father expected her to become, along with who he expected her to be with. In others, she appreciated that he recognized what she was looking for and engaged her mind, not rather than leaning on hormones to seduce her. In their trysts, they would also talk, and he would tell her stories about his travels and myths and legends (his focus of study), and she would delude herself into thinking that she will be able to go see these places one day herself.
Maybe a year or two before the campaign starts, Johanna is woken in the night by a sending from Wit. He informs her that a rebellion has broken out in her father’s kingdom, and her father and brother are dead. Duncan has gotten her mother to safety, but they’re coming for her next. Johanna flees the abbey, taking only what she can carry and the sword her uncle gave her. She’s been on the road ever since, staying under the radar and keeping her identity as secret as she can. She hasn’t seen her uncle or mother in that time, and relies on her negative 1 charisma and the kindness of strangers to keep her off the radar of both the rebels and the remnants of her father’s loyalists, led by her “betrothed,” who would use her to try and retake her father’s throne.
dare: put on a blindfold and touch the other players' faces until you can figure out who it is | 581
He is in a closet. That much he expected. He isn’t entirely sure why he’s blindfolded.
“Uh—I thought that we were just supposed to go into the closet and kiss?” He’s already allowed himself to be blindfolded, so protesting now is kind of pointless but he does it all the same, wanting to make sure he understands the rules.
“That’s boring. We’ve decided to make it more fun.” Dylan’s voice sounds like he’s enjoying this far too much.
“Oh. So … why the blindfold?”
“Well, you’re going to wait, and we’ll put someone in there with you. If you can guess who they are by touching their face, then you get to kiss them. If you’re wrong … well, don’t be wrong. The girl probably won’t like it.”
Danny still doesn’t think that this plan is what he signed up for. “Do they know that this is how the game is being played?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Danny does not trust that statement, but he’s too far in to back out now. He just nods and he can imagine the malicious smile on Dylan’s face as the door closes.
“Be back soon.”
Silence falls in along with the darkness and Danny takes deep breaths to try and not feel like the world is closing in on him. He’s not claustrophobic, exactly, but he’s finding that not being able to see where the limits of his space are makes it feel even smaller, the darkness sitting on his chest as he waits and waits and waits …
The door eventually opens, and a warm body is pushed into the closet next to him. He catches an arm, before pulling his hand back quickly. “Sorry.”
“Why are you wearing a blindfold?”
Immediately his brain is already starting to whirl trying to see if he can place the voice without seeing her face. But unfortunately a lot of fifteen year-old girls sound the same, and he doesn’t have any immediate answers.
“Dylan said that part of the game is that I have to guess who you are by touching your face.”
“… That sounds so dumb. You’re going to ruin my makeup.”
Well, that definitely narrows it down some. Danny sighs, before shrugging. “We don’t have to do it. I mean, we could just sit here.”
“No, no. He’s never going to let you out of here if we don’t.”
That statement confuses him again, all of his potential prospects going out the window, but whoever she is, she clearly understands Dylan, which he appreciates. He holds up his hands gently starting to lean towards her, but is quickly course corrected when her hands wrap around his wrists and lift them a little more up.
“Right. Sorry.”
His hands gently run over the planes of her face, finding her nose, the apples of her cheeks and down to her chin. He tries to picture the face in his mind, and eventually he does try to throw out a name.
“Jessica?”
There’s a small pause, and the tenor of the closet shifts. She pushes slightly closer to him, and gives him a brief kiss on the lips just as the buzzer rings outside the closet.
“Not bad, Danny.”
He pulls the blindfold off his eyes, and Jessica flashes him a smile as she walks out of the closet, and he grins, before following close behind her. Not bad at all.
12/26/24 | october challenge: we can be heroes | heroes/whoniverse | 819 | COMPLETE
Claire supposes that it still is, in it’s own way. Coffee isn’t really a thing anymore, not in the way it used to be. If you want real coffee you have to pay an exorbitant amount of money that most small coffee shops can’t afford to get the real beans. And if they don’t have coffee, they can’t really call themselves a coffee shop, now can they?
So the “Caff Shop” that she’s finding a table in provides lab-grown coffee that mimics the flavor for people who never had real coffee, but Claire can taste all the richness of flavor it lacks. Still, the cookies aren’t bad, and it’s close to the Cardiff hub of Torchwood, which makes it easy for Jack to slip away and gives him less of an excuse to cancel on her. She’s learned, over her long years, that Jack will avoid things that are difficult for him if you give him a slip of an opportunity, and while she’s sure that a meeting with her would be quite pleasurable if he’s taking care of himself, Jack Harkness does not often spend his time taking care of himself.
At least, not as far as his immortality is concerned.
Jack, in her opinion, has far too many touchstones among the living. Those touchstones do a dangerous job where all of them could wind up dead at any given moment, and often do. But Jack doesn’t. Jack can’t. Which is why Claire comes to him, reminding him that there is still someone in the world who knows him, and isn’t so easily taken away.
He walks into the caff shop, all roguish charm, and he smiles as he makes his way closer. “Claire Bennet.”
She can’t help but laugh, and shake her head. “I haven’t heard someone call me Claire Bennet in a long time.” Her hand reaches for his as he moves to sit, because she’d be lying if she said that this isn’t as much a touchstone for her as it is for him. He wraps his hand in hers, giving it a small squeeze.
“You’ll always be Claire Bennet to me.” He leans back in his seat with a sigh. “You’re also early.”
“Am I?” She tips her head to the side.
“You are. By nearly a year.”
Their check-in have become more disparate over time—now they’re at around once a decade. Maybe he’s right to call her out on being early, but she thinks it’s better not to be on a timetable. That being said, however, she is here for a reason.
“A little birdie told me that you were having a hard time. I thought it might be a good idea to move up our visit a bit early.”
“That birdie wouldn’t happen to own a little blue box, would they?”
“I can neither confirm nor deny.”
Jack sighs. “Well, I neither confirm nor deny that I’m having a difficult time, but I did recently lose a few members of my team.” Claire’s face must begin to fall, but he shakes his head. “Not dead. Just … moving on.”
“Mmmm.” Is that better or worse? Claire knows that Jack considers his team his family, and death isn’t a question of whether or not he was worth staying for. Choosing to leave is something else entirely. “The job you do is hard, Jack. Not everyone could do it forever. It’s not an indictment on you.”
Jack nods slowly, letting the conversation lull as the waitress brought over Claire’s baked goods and Jack’s coffee-substitute. As she reaches for her cookie, she can’t help but see the shrewdness of his gaze as he leans in closer to meet her gaze.
“Could you stay for a little while?”
Claire blinks, surprised. “Stay?”
“Fill in the empty spot on the team. Take on a few cases?” Give me someone who I don’t have to worry about is the silent statement under the request, and Claire can’t say she blames him. The job he does is dangerous. Someone who can heal themselves is a boon. It also wouldn’t be Claire’s first time in a clandestine organization.
“Jack—”
“Please, Claire. I think I just need some … consistency.”
Claire pauses, before swallowing with a hard nod. She can’t say she doesn’t understand that need, of having someone who knows you. Someone you can’t hide from.”
“Alright,” she nods. “I can stay for a little while.” She won’t promise forever, but for immortals, a “little while” is more than mortal people would consider. “How will the rest of your team take it?”
He shrugs with a smile. “I think you’ll all get along just fine.”
Claire isn’t sure about that, but at least she’ll be doing something productive for a little while. She’s due to do some good for the world.
Hopefully she won’t get too attached in the process.
12/27/24 | november challenge: tfln | original | 388 | COMPLETE
Michael looks down at the text message in his hand and sighs. He knows that giving his father a phone was a mistake. Also teaching him computer slang. He takes a deep breath, before getting up and moving across the room to see which universe he happened to be viewing.
“Which universe?”
His father points to the screen in front of him, before resting his chin under his hands. “Things aren’t playing out the way I hoped they would.”
Michael nods slowly. “That isn’t what you agreed to.”
His father makes a face. “I know, but—”
“Free will is what you agreed to. You agreed to let them make their own choices. You don’t get to just restart it because you don’t like what they’re choosing.”
There’s a dramatic sigh. Father reaches up and scratches at the back of his neck as he tips his head to the side. “I could do another flood?”
“And what would that solve, exactly? Isn’t that just a reset of a different color?”
“People would appreciate me more.”
“People ‘appreciating’ you is part of the problem. And I don’t think added suffering will go over well with the upcoming demographic. Also you promised that you wouldn’t do a flood again.”
Father grumbles. “People appreciated me more when there was more suffering.”
“Because they wanted you to stop the suffering. If you keep implementing suffering, it’s not going to drive away viewership.”
“Suffering has always brought people together!”
“For a little while. But eventually some people come out better than others in terms of suffering and the disparity increases, and you know that Lucy loves to take advantage of these things.”
He grumbles again, before shaking his head. “Lucy thinks they’re so smart. You know, if you would just let me do a reset, I could fix all the loopholes they keep exploiting.”
Michael just gives Father a look. A long, slow stare that conveys exactly what he thinks about that plan. Father sighs dramatically, again, before shaking his head and starting to leave the control center.
“They’re dooming themselves. I hope they realize that.”
“That’s the choice you agreed to give them!” Michael shouts after him, before turning his eyes back to the screen. “Not our fault they’re making the wrong ones.”
12/30/24 | december challenge: gywo yankee swap | the unsleeping city-ish | 323 | COMPLETE
There’s a grumble from the taxi driver as he realizes how far she’s expecting him to take her in almost rush hour traffic, and she sighs, before smiling pleasantly, and leaning forward to meet his gaze in the rearview mirror.
“I’ll make it worth your while.”
He raises an eyebrow, almost as though he’s intrigued by the challenge, and she raises one in return. His smirk turns salacious, and she fights the urge to roll her eyes. As they pull away from the curb, she leans back in the seat, closing her eyes and tapping into the magic of the city as she sets the course she wishes to take. She’s been living in New York for so many centuries that it rises to her hands, before whisking ahead to get the cars off the road, turn the lights in her favor and lets her move through the city with ease.
The taxi driver starts to realize his mistake when the traffic starts to pick up and openings start being made for him. He had hoped it would be a fare that he could milk for all it’s worth, upping the charge for time spent sitting and lingering in bumper to bumper traffic. But before he can blink, they pull up in front of Madison Square Garden, and Greta smiles.
“Thanks for the ride.” She reaches into her purse and leaves him with a sizeable tip, before stepping back onto the sidewalk again. “Told you I’d make it worth your while.”
“Hey, lady,” he shouts. “Who the hell are you?”
“Your new favorite fare,” she shouts back before heading down the stairs to the train station and disappearing into the crowd.
12/31/24 | december small challenge: five minutes challenge | original | 425 | COMPLETE
I glance back at my partner and she gives me a thumbs up from the field. I wish that they had given this part to literally anyone else, but I here I am and I gotta play the part of the red shirt knight to the best of my ability.
Can you combine fantasy and sci-fi metaphors like that? Hard to say. I’ll have to ask Cheryl later.
“We are the adventuring party Vox Maleficum. We are here to loot the castle and lay claim to it’s treasure.” The paladin straightens up in his heavy armor. “Step aside or your life will be forfeit.”
I do know what I’m supposed to do. Challenge the paladin and die as a result. When I said I wanted to try LARP, Cheryl offered to let me be a one off NPC so I could get a taste for it. This NPC is not what I had desired but if it’s like any other TTRPG I’ve played, maybe the desire is in the arms of the beholder. I pause, straighten some, and give him some consideration.
“What’s in it for me?”
The paladin blinks. “What I said. Step aside or die.”
“Eh, I think I could take you.” I most certainly could not, but no one ever said I couldn’t bluff. “And it’s not like this job really means that much to me in the grand scheme of things, so if you make it worth my while, I could make it worth yours.
The paladin continues to be confused. The rogue pokes his head out from behind him and grins. “Oh, I like you already. You’re my kind of people.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be honorable,” the paladin frowns. “This is your sworn duty.”
“Sworn duty only gets you so far without benefits.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” the rogue grins. He reaches into the paladin’s coin purse and starts counting. “We’ll give you twenty gold.”
“Twenty five and throw in one of those big juicy gemstones when you get inside and you’ve got a deal.”
“Done.” Rogue slaps the gold into my hand and I step aside, letting them into the next part of the field. The paladin is still confused. The wizard and monk are rolling with it. Cheryl is dying laughing somewhere across the field, and the DM just blinks.
“Well. I guess I have to add in some gemstones.”
I pocket the gold and smile to myself as I watch over the rest of the game. Maybe this will be fun after all.