I didn't actually realise that we were close enough to the end of the month that you might be worrying about the year-long prompt! All this being in multiple countries and having to count numbers of days of so-called quarantine (Malta is astonishingly backward in this respect) means I'm not really tracking the actual date and hadn't realised we only have one week of February left. I shall expect the year-long prompt this week then :)
Release Fabian paused at his office door and noticed to his annoyance that his coffee was trembling in his cup. He would have sworn that his hands weren't shaking and that he wasn't worried about a little spider-elf magic, especially since he hadn't known about it before and it clearly wasn't affecting him. But here he was, hesitating to go in and his hands were shaking just the tiniest little bit. It took more of an effort of will than he would ever admit to to turn the handle and go back inside his office, and when he was there and nothing had exploded, fallen on him, or tried to eat him, he put the coffee cup down and picked his tablet up. Dread was busy, said the automated message, and would get back to the caller as soon as he had some time. Fabian let his pent-up breath out in an explosive sigh, which release made him feel slightly better. Almost immediately his tablet pinged. "Morning Fab," said Dread sounding indecently cheerful in Fabian's opinion. "This is going to be another busy day I'm afraid, but I am keeping tomorrow lunchtime free and wanted to tell you anyway to keep it free yourself. Because the rest of the week is also looking busy." "Thanks," said Fabian. "That's good to know actually. But first," and he launched into a quick account of Rystin's warning. "I'll send a junior over," said Dread. "There's basically a magical release spell that every kid learns that removes residue and cleans up any lingering influences. It'll take a couple of minutes and you won't have to worry about it again. Well, until the next time." "Next time?" Fabian's voice was oddly hollow. "It's hardly an accident," said Dread. "I'll get the kid to estimate how long the residue's been there for you, but it's probably recent as you've got plenty of magic-users in and out of that building. So someone's been doing something outside your office." "Something," echoed Fabian. "Probably just trying to sneak on the paperwork," said Dread. "Considering how dull it all is I think they should just ask. I'd certainly put them to work reading and replying to it, just to release me from the tedium, but some people like to do it in secret. It must be a fetish of some kind." Fabian giggled, the tension that had been building finally releasing. "Yeah," he said. "Maybe Cass has been teaching herself spider-elf magic to eavesdrop on me!" The silence at the other end was ruminatory. "You don't think...?" "She might," said Dread. "You've said before that she's uncannily good at learning things faster than seems possible." "Can you do anything about that?" Dread sighed. "Maybe, but not by sending the kid over. Magic-proofing your office like that requires paperwork, proper tracking and responsibility. Let's clear up the residue first, find out how old it is, and then consider our next move. Over lunch, tomorrow. The kid will be along in twenty minutes or so."
Greg - yes, well, fair enough. And... Sunday is looking to be the likely candidate at this point, isn't it.
Ah, thank goodness for Dread. I'm a little curious to meet this kid he's sending over, and whether or not you'll allow us to have an introduction or just have them do their work and be gone.
2 comments:
I didn't actually realise that we were close enough to the end of the month that you might be worrying about the year-long prompt! All this being in multiple countries and having to count numbers of days of so-called quarantine (Malta is astonishingly backward in this respect) means I'm not really tracking the actual date and hadn't realised we only have one week of February left. I shall expect the year-long prompt this week then :)
Release
Fabian paused at his office door and noticed to his annoyance that his coffee was trembling in his cup. He would have sworn that his hands weren't shaking and that he wasn't worried about a little spider-elf magic, especially since he hadn't known about it before and it clearly wasn't affecting him. But here he was, hesitating to go in and his hands were shaking just the tiniest little bit.
It took more of an effort of will than he would ever admit to to turn the handle and go back inside his office, and when he was there and nothing had exploded, fallen on him, or tried to eat him, he put the coffee cup down and picked his tablet up.
Dread was busy, said the automated message, and would get back to the caller as soon as he had some time.
Fabian let his pent-up breath out in an explosive sigh, which release made him feel slightly better. Almost immediately his tablet pinged.
"Morning Fab," said Dread sounding indecently cheerful in Fabian's opinion. "This is going to be another busy day I'm afraid, but I am keeping tomorrow lunchtime free and wanted to tell you anyway to keep it free yourself. Because the rest of the week is also looking busy."
"Thanks," said Fabian. "That's good to know actually. But first," and he launched into a quick account of Rystin's warning.
"I'll send a junior over," said Dread. "There's basically a magical release spell that every kid learns that removes residue and cleans up any lingering influences. It'll take a couple of minutes and you won't have to worry about it again. Well, until the next time."
"Next time?" Fabian's voice was oddly hollow.
"It's hardly an accident," said Dread. "I'll get the kid to estimate how long the residue's been there for you, but it's probably recent as you've got plenty of magic-users in and out of that building. So someone's been doing something outside your office."
"Something," echoed Fabian.
"Probably just trying to sneak on the paperwork," said Dread. "Considering how dull it all is I think they should just ask. I'd certainly put them to work reading and replying to it, just to release me from the tedium, but some people like to do it in secret. It must be a fetish of some kind."
Fabian giggled, the tension that had been building finally releasing. "Yeah," he said. "Maybe Cass has been teaching herself spider-elf magic to eavesdrop on me!"
The silence at the other end was ruminatory.
"You don't think...?"
"She might," said Dread. "You've said before that she's uncannily good at learning things faster than seems possible."
"Can you do anything about that?"
Dread sighed. "Maybe, but not by sending the kid over. Magic-proofing your office like that requires paperwork, proper tracking and responsibility. Let's clear up the residue first, find out how old it is, and then consider our next move. Over lunch, tomorrow. The kid will be along in twenty minutes or so."
Greg - yes, well, fair enough. And... Sunday is looking to be the likely candidate at this point, isn't it.
Ah, thank goodness for Dread. I'm a little curious to meet this kid he's sending over, and whether or not you'll allow us to have an introduction or just have them do their work and be gone.
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