Exercises & Drabbles
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Summary
The Uthodurn scene with the shopkeeper and residuum got me thinking, what if Caleb thought the residuum might still be there? How would he deal with that knowledge? (Not well)
There’s gold in his arms. Well, not exactly gold, but maybe better (maybe worse, definitely worse). He heard it from the nice lady at the store, residuum is better than gold — worth more — it’s right there in the price, several gold for just a bit and he knows his exchange rates, that means it’s better than gold. Simple math. His skin itches and well, it’s itched since he got out, that’s not new. It itched before too, but in an excited, young way, a magic-waiting-to-get-out way, not a get-it-out-please-take-it-out way. What itches must out, is that a thing people say? He doesn’t know; words rotted in his mouth when he was locked up and now they skitter away from him like roaches. That’s what happens when you lose a decade.
Series
- Part 1 of Exercises & Drabbles
- Part 4 of Fresh Horrors (Eternal Whumptober)
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Common had always sloshed about in Caleb’s mouth like dirty water, or perhaps like a bad beer, all fizz and fuzz with no depth. Speaking it was a journey — one had to sit about and construct feelings and sensations, when in Zemnian he would have plucked the perfect word straight from the air.
A brief meditation on language, love, and the dialect of home.
Series
- Part 2 of Exercises & Drabbles
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Essek is trying to figure out how to atone for what he has done and forgets to take care of himself. Beau was intending to give a shovel talk, but ends up intervening.
“Well, we could use your help when you’re available. Ideally soon. Caleb said you were coming to visit anyway and you’re welcome to stay with him.”
He twitched, a little ear flick. It just confirmed my suspicions.
His voice was apologetic, but firm: “Could I have a few days? I have another commitment imminently, but then I am happy to help.”
More secrets. Great. I leaned forward, making a show of my scrutiny. “What kind of commitment are we talking?”
His ears flicked down. I was frustrating him. “If you must know, I agreed to help a family with their taxes.”
That was not anywhere on the list of things I expected him to say. “I’m sorry, what?”
Series
- Part 3 of Exercises & Drabbles
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There are freckles on Caleb’s back. Essek traces his finger from point to point, like he is trying to find the most efficient way to gather them, collect them on the tip of his finger and steal them for his own. When he reaches the last, he starts over. It is good to try multiple paths. Pathfinding is, after all, an algorithmic challenge. Essek’s canvas twitches, a flex of muscle along the ridge line of a shoulder blade.
“That tickles a bit.” Caleb’s voice is muffled by the pillow.
“I am way-finding,” Essek says, finger looping back to his starting point again.
Series
- Part 4 of Exercises & Drabbles
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Summary
Forgiveness is a service she performs, like leading prayers and counseling the Queen, and so once a month Deirta Thelyss clouds her light with somber clothes and walks to the Dungeons of Penance to hear the last confessions of prisoners. The dark grey cloak always feels heavy, but this week she checks her feet twice to make sure she is not about to step on it as she walks. Her closest servant, a goblin woman who has been with the family for years, trails behind her with a basket of supplies. She walks through the streets as if in a dream. People part before her, bowing their heads. It is more sympathy than awe, today. She was a mother before she became Umavi. It is not a title that can be taken from her.
Series
- Part 5 of Exercises & Drabbles