Wapsi Square Forum

If Glytch were any less of a gentleman, Nadette would owe him a favor. She doesn't, but she would.

At Alexander Harvesters' personnel department, the tall, skinny black youth nervously waited his appointment with a Miss Flanagan regarding the Journeyman Engineering Position. His recent grades in math showed a remarkable effort over the past month, particularly in logarithmic scales and calculus... as well as some preliminary classes in structural engineering. It opened a whole new world for him, in that NOW he was understanding why things were designed the way they were designed... and it was quite exiting...
"Cody Williams?" came the soft voice of Colleen Flanagan, "Right this way please,"
Cody sat in front of the desk where indicated while Colleen perused his paperwork- which didn't take long-
"Well...in truth, Mr. Williams- you do not yet have the qualifications of a journeyman in this field... but in the short time since our FIRST encounter, I have to admit I am... impressed... no, shocked... at what inroads you have met. I cannot yet put you into a journeymanship- but, I am hesitant to loose you. What did Mr. Alexander offer you, exactly?"
"$15 an hour, $17 an hour once I have it ... 'figured out', or something like that," he was angry at himself that he did not remember the exact words.
She studied him for a moment... these wages were chicken feed... Buck was ready to vouch for an apprenticeship with this man. She studied the grades and teacher's notes again... "astounding change of performance and attitude"... "suddenly my best student- in several years" ... "driven" and variations thereof echoed a common theme. "A brave fellow looking for a direction" was among Buck's comments.

"I can start you in an apprenticeship program- but not at $15 an hour... that's not anywhere near equitable. I'm afraid Mr. Alexander is a bit behind the time with wages- you will start at $18 an hour until you serve your apprenticeship- your journeymanship will probably start at $21 and hour or better. Raises are based on performance...

- when can you start?"

"So princess, what brings you here today?" Emerauld said without turning around as a small sigh erupted behind her in the small hut she made for visitors.

"Eme', how do you get someone to listen, 'specially when you're little?"

"It depends. What you are trying to say, and who are you saying it to?"

"Glytch. Atsali tried to get him to show us his new armour and clothes you made for the wedding, but he just does-does-doesn't under-understand what we're talking about."

"Some males are embarassed to....what is the phrase...'show off' to pretty ladies."

"No, I don't think he knows they are in there."

"I see. Let us see if I can assist with that." Emerauld said thoughtfully, taking out scroll, quill, and ink. Writing on the parchment, dipping into the inkwell as needed, she scrawled a note, to which she poured sand over to catch the excess ink, then bound it with ivy to an arrow with red feather fletching...

"Okay."

"Follow me, little princess." she replied, expending a small amount of energy to make them light and fast.

Quickly moving across the fresh white blanket that had fallen, they soon paused in front of a window.

"Watch." she said, drawing shadows around the window, and the ground surrounding them.
Castela, face pressed against the glass, watched as a vine holding the arrow stretched into the room and gently set it down on the sleeping form, who fidgeted slightly, then began to gently snore.

"Let's go back to camp. I have a new tea I believe you might enjoy, and some fresh seed cakes." Dispelling the shadows, they returned to camp, giggling. Once there, they had a small tea party before Atsali came to claim her, collected one more hug from Castela, and sent them back with enough seed cake for all, saying all should be well soon.

The note was simple:

Glytch,

You need to examine your pack thoroughly.
You have missed a few things I put in there, as well as things you have put in there, and need to organise it before you have as many issues as I do with mine.

Safyr may be able to help if asked nicely...she's very good at it.

As always,

Emerauld

jwhouk wrote:

GlytchMeister wrote:

jwhouk wrote: No, it's just that Buck has changed his ringtone for Al to the Monty Norman theme...

(And admit it, you just heard the DUN-Uh, DA DA fanfare in your head, reading that...)

...no? Gawd, y'all are leaving me so far behind...

Try this (for one), Grasshopper.

And is this Glytch's ringtone?

That would be more appropriate for John... He's the Salamander with dark energy-to-fuel conversion... But when John finally gets around to customizing his ringtone, it will probably be "Fuel" by Metallica.

Thirty two pages? No shit?
... and this was supposed to be a simple wedding originally. No complaints, just suddenly looked at the page number and nearly swallowed my teeth...

You think there is truly such a thing as "a simple wedding"?

Sgt. Howard wrote:Thirty two pages? No shit?
... and this was supposed to be a simple wedding originally. No complaints, just suddenly looked at the page number and nearly swallowed my teeth...

It's yer own damn fault, mate... you had to put together a critical mass of the craziest, post powerful characters in Wapsidom.. with us thrown in for good measure.

GlytchMeister wrote:That would be more appropriate for John... He's the Salamander with dark energy-to-fuel conversion... But when John finally gets around to customizing his ringtone, it will probably be "Fuel" by Metallica.

Well, I was thinking more about the whole firewall/computer/security/technology aspect... (Reboot does take place, after all, inside a computer...)

(And if anyone does not know what Reboot is, they owe it to themselves to see what they can find on YouTube!)

We interrupt your regularly scheduled shenanigans to bring you the following touching family reunion:

---

The door buzzed, and Cavin Foxglove pushed it open, into the waiting room of Rochester PRC.

There, waiting for him – with smiles as big as the one on his face – were his parents and his little sister, Calista.

Calista nearly tackle-hugged him after he emerged through the door.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there, Cricket," he said, somewhat in jest. "I'm still having some headache issues."

"I don't care," she said, smiling at him. "I'm just glad you're coming home."

"Oh, Cave!" Lorraine Foxglove, the crown princess of the Seelie clan, took her turn at hugging her son. "You look absolutely wonderful!" She gave him a kiss on the cheek – which made him turn about three shades of red.

"Mo-ooom," he replied, embarrassedly. "The staff can see us on the cameras."

His father, Prince Ralph, came over and shook his hand – unable to pry him away from his mother's hug.

"Grayson has the Grand Cherokee waiting out front," he stated.

"Wait – you guys drove here?" The foursome headed towards the front vestibule, where a staff member waited with his personal belongings.

"Well, whadja think we were gonna do, poit here?" Calista teased as the door buzzed open. "'Sides, Library's kinda off limits for ya 'til you're fully off papers."

The staff handed his father the personal goods bag – "Couple of shirts and a pair of New Balances," he explained – and then he escorted them out to the main entrance.

Grayson, the Foxglove's personal servant since their transfer to the Twin Cities, put the bag in the back hatch, and assisted Lorraine into the rear passenger seat. Calista and Cavin climbed in behind Grayson, while their father took his customary place in the front passenger seat.

----

EDIT: Dangit, I hate when Pablo names a character out from under me.....

...What, you thought I was going to put it all in one post?

---

The ride home to the Twin Cities was an enjoyable one for the four of them. Even Grayson, who didn't speak, was sporting a smile at seeing Cavin looking and feeling better.

The Jeep pulled up into the parking structure of the high-rise condo. "I don't think I've actually been here since ya moved from New York," Cavin mentioned as Grayson maneuvered the SUV into their private parking area.

"It's not bad," Calista stated. "Wind can getta little fierce sumtimes, but it's got a great view of the Lake 'n downtown."

Calista helped Cavin get settled in his room. "I had ta help clean it 'n everything," she mentioned.

"Is that why you put that Justin Timberlake poster on the back of the door?" he pointed out.

"Awright, ya got me, this was the computer room. But dad got us high-speed Wi-Fi for the whole 'partment, so we don't need wired stuff for our laptops 'n such."

"Yeah, I had a crash course in usin' an iPad at Rochester," Cavin said. "Course, I 'spect dad and mom won't let me have one 'til I can…"

Calista only pointed to the top of the desk. There sat a boxed iPad mini, next to a portfolio case and a Bluetooth keyboard.

"Merry Christmas, three weeks early," Calista said. "Mom 'n dad went in on the keyboard and case; I got the iPad from a… OOF!" The rest of her words were lost in the long hug from her brother.

Oh, isn't that touching?

Wait a minute... there's more...

---

Cavin settled in to a routine for the first few days he was back. He was slated to enroll at Gryphon for his senior year – he had passed all of his GED classes, but his parents wanted him to finish up his PSE (Paranormal Scholastic Education) degree work. The Gryphon High school counselor had talked to him while he was still at Rochester; if he started on the 7th, he'd be able to graduate that June.

The rest of the week was just getting used to being "on the outs" for the first time in years. He got some clothes shopping advice from Calista – though Gryphon had a dress code, of course.

He was getting the iPad set up with a few apps when Calista knocked on his door. "Hey, I'm going over to a dinner at a friend of mine's from Gryphon," she explained.

"Is she that siren you were tellin' me about?"

"Yeah – they're livin' over in at her step-dad's estate out in Maple Plain. Really nice place, and her gran'ma's a fantastic cook. I think I'm still full from the last time I ate over there!"

"Sure, count me in… did you say Maple Plain?" Cavin said, suddenly.

"Yeah, why?"

"Eh, it's probably nothin'."

"Okay, big brother, spill," Calista said, shutting the door. "What's up?"

"Back when I was… well, doing my 'business' for Tempelhoffer, I ran into this… Well, you remember that first time I got caught, over in Hudson?" Calista nodded, though the memory was a bit painful. "Yeah, well, seems my contact was usin' willow wood to burn in his still."

"Wait, was that that one guy who…"

"Yeah," Cavin nodded. "I don't think they found the body yet. Anyway – this wood elf, she was the one who obliterated him. She didn't attack me, just warned me off – which resulted in me runnin' right into the sheriff deputies that were investigating some poaching claim." He stopped, the memory of the rest of that night an unwanted memory. "She did tell me that if I ever tried to harm one of the sacred trees, she'd unleash all of the fury of the deepest Hell upon me."

"Sounds like a dark elf," Calista replied. "So what's that gotta do with Maple Plain?"

"Before I left Rochester, there were a few paras who were claimin' there was a whole buncha dark elf activity goin' on over there. Lotta weird stuff. Think there was even a dragon sighting. Wunna the new jacks mentioned a name – an' it was the same as the girl who chased me off that night.

"She called herself 'Emerald', or somethin'…"

PM sent.

"Wait a minute - Emeraud? That one girl we met at Para day at Galleria, when we..."

"Yeah, back before the accident," Cavin said. "Took me a bit to remember her, too. I wonder if she was protctin' me that night."

"Wow... Think we might run inta her?"

"Never know with drow. You know how they get."

FreeFlier wrote:Oversized Mini-14 . . . would that be a Maxi-14?--FreeFlier

I might use that... it actually makes perfect sense.

In a secluded wood near a frost covered willow tree...

"Eme',"

"Hmm?"

"A word, sister mine. I met a friend of yours a bit back. I wanted the whole tale before telling you."

"Who? What tale? Do they still breathe?"

"The fae boy, Cavin. There was an accident and one of his antennae broke...this would be after you met. He lives, but for treatment, he became addicted to human poisons before they had a donor to replace the lost one."

"Where did you see him? How is he?"

"I saw him before the human called Joe Houk helped him to safety with family, and the treatment for his new antennae. It is why he is being hunted."

"Continue."

"Cavin reeked of poison. He was there, no doubt for a way of acquiring more.
I was hunting for the willow tree you wanted a shoot of, and there was a human making the poison, cutting down all the willows. He would not be warned off. He will...no longer fuel his greed with our Trees."

"So that is why you brought Her stump. Continue."

"Cavin saw, and yet did not. I filled him with fear and frightened him into a house of law."

"All good, but why are you hesitant. 'Tis not like you."

"After slaughtering the poison maker and scaring off the boy, I did wonder if he would not mistake me for you in the dark. It seemed like he recognised me, yet said nothing... I only knew him from your sketches, though he has grown. I worry he may be afraid of you when you next meet."

"Okay. Find Atsali and Lady Monica too. Get them here. I'll distract the sproutling, because you know she will come--you tell them you need to speak with "Cricket", and tell them all you have just told me."

"...."

Hugging her sister, who was clearly upset, she sent her off with a not so gentle, yet friendly shove.

"Go! Go now! The wedding draws near, and they need you to be clear minded!"

Meanwhile...


John listened to the old, huge house, eyes closed as he rested on his knees in his room. He had already begun to memorize the various creaks and groans. Every time he heard the sound of one of the other guests stirring, he restarted his count to six hundred seconds.
He waited... And waited... And waited...
Five hundred ninety eight, five hundred ninety nine... Six hundred. There. Finally. Everyone should be asleep now... Damn kid and his messed up circadian rhythm made me wait an extra two hours.
John stood and silently crept through the house barefoot, making sure he made no light or sound as he made his way to the bathroom... Testing every step gingerly, sometimes balancing on one foot for more than three minutes as he searched for a non-creaky floorboard.
The bathroom was just ahead now - the tiled floor didn't creak... John could relax in there for a moment before making the second part of his nightly journey.
The welcome touch of cold stone brought John a wave of relief as he planted both feet firmly on the floor, savoring the feeling of standing on both feet for a long moment.
Then, a creak... Just thermal contraction...
John waited for a few seconds to make sure before grabbing an oversized Egyptian cotton towel and carefully stepping back out onto the wood.
I would hate to try and rob this place... This old wood floor is a better alarm system than anything the kid or the other clever guy... I think his name is Stan... Could dream up. At least for things that can't float.
John slowly made his way to the stairs into the basement, planted his hands on one wall, his feet on the other, and carefully wedged himself between them, shuffling down several feet before returning his feet to the actual stairs... Several of the top stairs creaked if he so much as looked at them funny, and he couldn't just jump down.
The hard part over, John tiptoed down the rest of the stairs until he found the hard, rough stone basement floor. This area was usually only used by the service staff. Food and wine storage, clean tools and supplies, replacement floorboards, trim, banister spindles, and a huge set of shelves filled with half-used paint cans were the main attractions... But off in the corner were two old, off-white cubes with knobs at the top.
A laundry washer and dryer. They weren't the main ones - they were probably replaced long ago and moved down here for only the service staff to use... But they served John's need. They both had the added advantage of having broken buzzers.
John stripped and tossed his clothes into the washer, tying the towel around him to keep himself covered, and splashed a little detergent in before turning the washer on.

Then, he got back onto his knees and waited...


Bud had definitely decided she didn't like sleeping alone. She had gotten used to it, after she and Brandi got their own rooms... But now? Her bed felt colder without Kevin sharing it with her.
Sighing, she got up, pulled a robe on over her pajamas, and headed over to Kevin's room, wincing with every creak of the floor below her...
Wait...
There was a different sound. A slight rattling and sloshing... From below?
"What the hell?" She whispered as she reluctantly turned and headed for the stairs.

A chorus of creaks signaled the arrival of a visitor. John stood and opened his eyes, now fully adjusted to the dark.
Two conical beams of light suddenly cut through the darkness from the stairwell, shifting as if they were mounted to someone's head.
"...John? What... What are you doing down here?"
John recognized Bud's voice... He had sparred with her a few times during his training. "I could ask you the same," he began, his voice deep and quiet, "But I won't. I am doing laundry."
"I can see that... But why? The staff will do everyone's laundry tomorrow..."
John shrugged. "I only have one set of clothes. I don't want to be smelly, so I'm washing."
"...every night?"
"Every night." John nodded.
"I was wondering why you kept wearing the same stuff... I thought it was just a thing you did."
"No, no... I just don't have anything else to wear."
"You aren't thinking of wearing that outfit to the wedding, are you?!?"
"I... Wasn't thinking I'd be going. I thought I'd just sit on a curb somewhere outside or something."
Bud stared at him for a moment. "No... You'll be in there with everyone. Oh, boy..." She turned around and headed back upstairs. "Somebody's taking you shopping tomorrow!"

John suddenly found himself feeling rather nervous about the prospect.

GlytchMeister wrote:Meanwhile...


John listened to the old, huge house, eyes closed as he rested on his knees in his room. He had already begun to memorize the various creaks and groans. Every time he heard the sound of one of the other guests stirring, he restarted his count to six hundred seconds.
He waited... And waited... And waited...
Five hundred ninety eight, five hundred ninety nine... Six hundred. There. Finally. Everyone should be asleep now... Damn kid and his messed up circadian rhythm made me wait an extra two hours.
John stood and silently crept through the house barefoot, making sure he made no light or sound as he made his way to the bathroom... Testing every step gingerly, sometimes balancing on one foot for more than three minutes as he searched for a non-creaky floorboard.
The bathroom was just ahead now - the tiled floor didn't creak... John could relax in there for a moment before making the second part of his nightly journey.
The welcome touch of cold stone brought John a wave of relief as he planted both feet firmly on the floor, savoring the feeling of standing on both feet for a long moment.
Then, a creak... Just thermal contraction...
John waited for a few seconds to make sure before grabbing an oversized Egyptian cotton towel and carefully stepping back out onto the wood.
I would hate to try and rob this place... This old wood floor is a better alarm system than anything the kid or the other clever guy... I think his name is Stan... Could dream up. At least for things that can't float.
John slowly made his way to the stairs into the basement, planted his hands on one wall, his feet on the other, and carefully wedged himself between them, shuffling down several feet before returning his feet to the actual stairs... Several of the top stairs creaked if he so much as looked at them funny, and he couldn't just jump down.
The hard part over, John tiptoed down the rest of the stairs until he found the hard, rough stone basement floor. This area was usually only used by the service staff. Food and wine storage, clean tools and supplies, replacement floorboards, trim, banister spindles, and a huge set of shelves filled with half-used paint cans were the main attractions... But off in the corner were two old, off-white cubes with knobs at the top.
A laundry washer and dryer. They weren't the main ones - they were probably replaced long ago and moved down here for only the service staff to use... But they served John's need. They both had the added advantage of having broken buzzers.
John stripped and tossed his clothes into the washer, tying the towel around him to keep himself covered, and splashed a little detergent in before turning the washer on.

Then, he got back onto his knees and waited...


Bud had definitely decided she didn't like sleeping alone. She had gotten used to it, after she and Brandi got their own rooms... But now? Her bed felt colder without Kevin sharing it with her.
Sighing, she got up, pulled a robe on over her pajamas, and headed over to Kevin's room, wincing with every creak of the floor below her...
Wait...
There was a different sound. A slight rattling and sloshing... From below?
"What the hell?" She whispered as she reluctantly turned and headed for the stairs.

A chorus of creaks signaled the arrival of a visitor. John stood and opened his eyes, now fully adjusted to the dark.
Two conical beams of light suddenly cut through the darkness from the stairwell, shifting as if they were mounted to someone's head.
"...John? What... What are you doing down here?"
John recognized Bud's voice... He had sparred with her a few times during his training. "I could ask you the same," he began, his voice deep and quiet, "But I won't. I am doing laundry."
"I can see that... But why? The staff will do everyone's laundry tomorrow..."
John shrugged. "I only have one set of clothes. I don't want to be smelly, so I'm washing."
"...every night?"
"Every night." John nodded.
"I was wondering why you kept wearing the same stuff... I thought it was just a thing you did."
"No, no... I just don't have anything else to wear."
"You aren't thinking of wearing that outfit to the wedding, are you?!?"
"I... Wasn't thinking I'd be going. I thought I'd just sit on a curb somewhere outside or something."
Bud stared at him for a moment. "No... You'll be in there with everyone. Oh, boy..." She turned around and headed back upstairs. "Somebody's taking you shopping tomorrow!"

John suddenly found himself feeling rather nervous about the prospect.

Or somebody could talk Emerauld into creating fireproof britches...challege accepted?

Speaking of, Glytch find that arrow note yet? Al wants an excuse to have him dump out that backpack...

Shelly looked at her photo from before when she entered the time forest- clueless and carefree, back when she and Monica stumbled through existence unaware of any of what now surrounded her. Back when she still had a lingering crush on Owen. Back during that whole debacle with Heather. Back when she cut off her hair again to get rid of the pain from loosing her Mother... only to find out much later that her Mother wasn't dead.
A refrain from the 'Grateful Dead' came to mind- "... what a loooooong, strange trip it's been,".
She looked over at a sleeping Justin- "Officer Tight Buns"- this whole fiasco started when he was forced to shoot a drug dealer. From there, it turned into something totally different. Now a re-awakened Golem has taken over the drug gang and intends to use whatever powers he can muster to have his process completed. Everybody and anybody connected with May or Jin is at risk- before, it was anybody connected with Justin or herself.
Poor Jin, she thought to herself- finally mortal, pregnant and married. At first she was excited that she would eventually die... now the full beauty of her life is just beginning to unfold and she has become an object of extortion to an immortal with the morals of a reptile. And May- rescued from the demon world, gets back her daughter, just starting to exist in obscurity and happy that golems will never again be made- and now her own flesh and blood will be her greatest liability.
All she wanted was for her Father to walk her down the aisle and play with his Grandchildren before he died, a very simple, common request one might make of life. For this, the lives of several people have been turned upside-down.
A soft knock on the door caught her attention- "Yes?" she softly answered.
The door opened slightly and Monica peeked in- seeing Justin tangled in the sheet, she smiled and beckoned Shelly to come out. Shelly draped a bathrobe over her nightgown and padded out.
Once outside, Monica grabbed her hand and hauled her forcibly down the hallway to the billiard parlor at the North end of the wing- busting through the doors, she saw she was surrounded by all the females that the estate had to offer- and all were in their morning casuals, lounging comfortably with the men serving coffee, farmer's toast, bangers and orange juice- Daisy and Cinnamon were there in human guise, munching happily on hash browns and pickled carrots. Rosmarita was there among the ladies, as were Janet and Diane, the two youngest maids... all in pajamas and robes. Edward, Neil and Al were busy serving them all while Greg, Glytch and Kevin did proud service in the kitchen. Alan kept busy bussing the dishes while Buck manned the phones and security.
Amanda was there, and immediately hugged Shelly while whispering "Happy Bridal shower!"- then she backed off and started the assault with the camera.
Only Bud was missing-
"Where's Bud?" She asked.
"She had a special mission- she'll be back this afternoon,"

*blinkblink*

I... Hadn't thought of that option. Ok. Yeah, I can work with that. Bud takes John shopping... Ok.

...

Hang on, now I gotta go re-familiarize myself with Bud's character... And do another time warp with Glytch reading the letter before getting dragged, half-asleep, to the kitchen...