solstice rpg

Who: Corwin and Cordelia
Where: Out and about
When: Midday or thereabouts

Corwin pulled up to Cordelia's house and hopped out of the van. Davey, who had insisted on coming along, hopped out and trotted after him. It would be interesting with Davey and a new cat in the car, but... well, Corwin would deal with it somehow. He headed up to her door and knocked lightly, bouncing a bit on his heels-- which only had the effect of making him look taller, and sillier-- while he waited. It'd been a long time since he'd gotten to help someone adopt a pet. It was, he had to admit, one of his favorite things, second probably only to a successful spell or adopting a pet, himself.

( What is that, an over-sized yorkie? )

Who: Corwin and Maria
Where: The phone, then Corwin's place
When: Evening

After shutting down the shop for the day, and pleading introversion to the golems, Corwin spent a few good hours at home with the cats and Geordi and the rabbits and lots of video games. It was a nice way to spend an afternoon and a good chunk of the evening, especially after spending a day hurriedly copying the last DVDs for Sofia only to have her never show up. Disappointing, but he supposed it was only fair, since he'd forgotten before.

Except after he heard his phone ringing-- he let it go to voicemail, since he didn't really want to talk to one of his customers right then, dammit-- he remembered he couldn't in good conscience be completely solitary tonight. He'd promised Maria he'd call, and keep in touch, and hadn't he promised to teach her how to play a board game or video game or something? He didn't remember, but he did owe her a phone call, at least.

So he sighed, paused Mass Effect, and retrieved his phone to dial her number.

( I like the rain. It is, how do you say? Romantic? )

Who: Corwin and Art
Where: Corwin's House
When: Late Afternoon

Art had been fidgeting during the day, trying to keep busy but finding he was getting tasks accomplished in record time and would then have nothing to do until the next customer arrived or until Corwin found him a project with which to occupy himself. He had resorted to counting the stock and even did some dusting. He'd stopped tapping his pencil on the counter when Corwin told him the third time and resigned himself to thinking about which item in Corwin's workshop he'd ask to explore first. Now they were at Corwin's place and Art had some kitchen tasks to take care of first, then it was workshop time. Mixing the hamburger meat my hand, he looked over his shoulder at the mage and said, "I hope you're hungry." It wasn't as if he could eat any of this, though left-overs could always go to Sen. She was working on a project back at their apartment.

"I'm always hungry," Corwin answered absently, sitting at the kitchen table with his glasses perched on his nose and one of his magical tools in hand, prodding at the broken statue of the bird in an attempt to trace the outline in the air of what was missing from it. He was pretty sure this statue had no magical properties, at all, so he felt moderately safe bringing it up from the workroom as Art worked in the kitchen. All he wanted was to see what the statue was supposed to look like, whole. "It'll be fine. Just don't make enough to feed an army. I can pawn some off on the animals, but not all of it."

As if to prove him wrong, Geordi was sitting at Art's feet, looking up and making his best starving-dog impression, licking his chops every now and then.

( I'm like Pinocchio, only I haven't met the Blue Fairy yet. )

Who: Cordelia and Corwin
When: Lunchtime
Where: Darkwater Computers

Cordelia was having a pretty slow day at the studio, which meant she could likely get away with taking a long lunch rather than trying to finish a salad or sandwich in between scheduled appointments. She'd almost been late to work that morning, having left Noah's house at dawn and driving home to shower and change. She was in a fantastic mood, however, so she didn't care so much that the only jobs she'd had that day were a screaming newborn baby and then a mother with her surly looking teenage boys. With Joanie taking over for Cordy's lunch, she stopped by to pick up some Chinese take out before driving to Corwin's shop. She had no idea if he'd already eaten lunch, but if not, she had plenty of Wor Su Gai to share.

( Desire not what is beyond your reach )

Who: Sofia and Corwin
When: mid-morning
Where: the computer shop

Sofia had not forgotten the tall and awkward sweet man who was burning Star Trek to DVD for her. With the Solstice and everything that had been going on, it was mid-week before she'd made it to Darkwater proper to pick them up, but she'd wanted to make time for it. The spa was running fine with the girls behind the counter, and she'd told them she would be in sometime in the afternoon if she came in at all. There had just been so much going on, she needed a bit of a break. A break that wasn't her thinking very inappropriate thoughts about her new client.

So, she'd taken the ferry over to Darkwater, and strolled into Corwin's computer repair shop, a smile already on her face. Something fluffy and maybe a nice chat would be just the ticket.

( Next time there would have to be cookies. )

Who: Corwin, Art, Sen
Where: Corwin's house
When: Late afternoon

After opening all the windows and turning on all the fans to help clear out the smoke from a failed spell attempt, Corwin decided it was time for a break. They'd made some progress in getting things organized, identified, and cataloged-- though some items defied identifying, and Corwin's spells didn't always work, as evidenced by the smoke currently filling the workroom in his basement-- and Art was making noises like he wanted them to come eat already.

So he shooed Sen upstairs, following hot on her heels and still coughing, with the threat, "I'll choke if I stay down here another minute, and Art will start hitting us with his ladel, anyway. It's time to eat."

( Smoke and spells. )

Who: Corwin, Art, and Sen
When: Right around midday, when the rain stops!
Where: The beach

Corwin parked the van in the parking lot of one of the various beachfront shops and killed the engine. "Here we are!" he told the golems cheerfully, one in the passenger seat and one in the middle seat, on the driver's side, to keep everything balanced. "Everybody out."

Geordi, in the furthest back seat, barked excitedly, ready to get outside and inspect the new smells of the storm-littered beach.

Of course Corwin was going to bring his dog on an outing like this, looking for "buried treasure", like seashells or broken bottles or old bits of shipwrecks, after a storm. It would be silly to suggest otherwise.

( And magpies. )

Who: Corwin and Cordelia
Where: Cordelia's house
When: Afternoon

After killing time at the house for a few hours, waiting for Cordelia to get off of work, Corwin headed out again. The weather was breezy, but still bright, so he wasn't too concerned about driving into a storm in the next hour or two. You never knew, with Darkwater, but you could at least be reasonably certain it wouldn't turn from clear to wild in the span of half an afternoon.

He parked in front of her house, climbed out-- Davey in tow, because the little siamese had snuck in after him; it was a pretty common occurrence, really-- and headed up the walk to knock. This time, he'd brought food, though it was just muffins and coffee, like last time. It was hard to go wrong with a muffin and coffee, no matter what time of day it was, and it was one food one was usually in the mood for, unlike if he'd decided to pick up Mexican or Chinese or something. Knock was exciting, since he had a cat under one arm, and the back of muffins in the other, balancing the coffee carton at his elbow.

( Stop being stupid or I may have to kick you. )

Who: Corwin and Sofia
When: Mid-morning
Where: Darkwater streets

Sen would probably be furious with him for being out and about when there were supposedly dangerous, insane criminals about... but it was a nice day, at least right now, and Corwin wanted to enjoy it before the weather got crazy. Not to mention Geordi needed a walk, and he was tired of being cooped up inside.

So out he was, with his big dog on a leash and wandering through the main drag of town. Geordi was content to wander along, himself, not pulling or rushing him, just happily walking and pausing to sniff things-- and people who happened to come too close-- while Corwin basked in the sunshine.

It was beautiful for the moment, but Sofia was continually getting murmurs from the spirits that the weather was going to change, and change drastically. She'd done a reading earlier in the day that had turned up rather dark. Though that wasn't terribly surprising, considering that the next day was the Solstice. Which meant that she had errands to run. Sofia had taken the ferry over to the mainland, a couple of large hemp bags tucked into her roomy purse. There was shopping to be done, both of the mundane and the more ... eclectic variety.

( I could've geeked at you way before now. )

Who: Corwin, Sen, Art, Maria (NPC)
Where: Peterman's Seafood
When: Early evening

Corwin pulled the van up to the take-out parking spots, shutting off the engine and sitting back in the driver's seat. "You two wanna come in with me?" he offered. He'd already called in their order, so it'd just be picking it up and chatting briefly with whoever was at the take-out counter-- or, well, with Maria, once he'd asked after her.

"I've got a friend working in here now," Corwin added, whether as incentive or just reason for offering, "and I can introduce you all around...." Or, well, sort of a friend. He'd only met Maria once, but he'd liked her well enough, and she seemed so lonely. Art and Sen did such a great job keeping him from being lonely, he wanted to at least make the effort with poor Maria.

( There he is... your heart's dream. )

Who: Corwin and Sen
Where: The local Jack in the Box
When: Midday

Since Art didn't need to eat, Corwin left him in charge for the hour it took for him and Sen to go out to grab some food and to chat a while. He hadn't really talked to her since Monday and the explosion with Jake, and since he'd had time to chat with Art, he felt like he needed to keep up with her, too. He loved them both dearly, but he did try very hard to keep the time he spent with each equal, when they weren't all three together. He never, ever wanted one to wind up feeling left out, or jealous of the other.

Besides, well, Art didn't have to eat, and he and Sen were both starving by lunchtime. They walked, since it wasn't far, and Corwin tried to spare the van golem-weight when he could.

( Srs discussions ensue )

Who: Noah and Corwin
Where: Darkwater Computers
When: 10:30 a.m.

Noah had foregone a morning run in order to get his computer looked at, as he'd been planning to do since before he'd met Corwin on the beach the previous Saturday. Consequently, he was still feeling sluggish even though he'd had half of a 20 ounce bottle of Mountain Dew he'd found in the refrigerator on his boat. The caffeine apparently hadn't kicked in yet. He walked out of the marina grounds and headed toward the shopping strip, dressed in a t-shirt, running shorts and flip-flops, carrying his laptop wrapped in a thin leopard-print computer case. So sue him, he found that amusing. Panther... leopard skin... Yeah. Sometimes it didn't take a lot to entertain him.

He took his time walking to Darkwater Computers, and by the time he got there, he felt more awake. At least he'd stopped yawning, which was always a plus. He pushed open the door and headed inside, laptop still held beneath one arm in its handleless case.

( I guess that means you haven't done one. )

Who: Corwin and Art
Where: The shop
When: Late afternoon

It was later than he'd have liked when Corwin got in at the shop, but he knew what he wanted to do, so hopefully it wouldn't take him long when he got started. He pulled the van up to the back of the shop and hopped out, Jade trotting along amiably at his heels, still. He unlocked the back door and headed in.

"Art?" he called into the shop as he crossed the back room, looking around for the golem who was supposedly cleaning things and probably would be cleaning things up until the last minute before the store opened in the morning. "You still here, Art?"

Jade just bounded on ahead without bothering to announce himself.

( And a date? )

Who: Emmanuel, Emmaline, their parents and sister (NPC), Corwin
Where: Emmanuel and Emmaline's house
When: Morning, shortly before eight

Earth elementals usually got an early start to the day. Despite the clinging fog and the harrowing night, the night before, today was no exception. It wasn't very heartening that when they did get up, Emmaline and their mother were still stuck in animal forms, but since his father's mage friend was supposed to be coming by once the storm let up-- or in the morning, if the storm let up in the middle of the night, which it had-- at least everyone had something to look forward to as Daniel and Emmanuel made breakfast and waited for the mage to show up.

( what if it happens again? )

Who: Corwin and Olivia
When: Afternoon
Where: Bar & Grill

Olivia had gotten her grocery shopping finished and back home to be put away by lunch time. Oddly, she hadn't felt like actually making herself lunch by then and opted to head out to the bar and grill where she worked. Generally Olivia wouldn't be caught dead going to her place of employment on her day off, but she got a discount on her meal, and she was craving some chicken fingers and fries. At least chicken fingers that weren't from her freezer.

After finishing off her cigarette, Olivia wandered into the bar and grill and ordered her lunch before sitting at the bar. She was given an iced tea, and sipped it thoughtfully, thankful to be able to eat lunch there without rushing back to work right after.

( They can get along! )

Who: Corwin and Lola
Where: Lola's cottage
When: Late morning

Taking advantage of his time off before the shop opened up again on Friday, Corwin took the morning to check in with Lola. The shop was almost ready, anyhow. He had one computer put together, and one ready to assemble that afternoon, and then whatever machine or two Jake brought him, so they'd be fine. Three or four was more than enough to work with.

So he crossed over to the island and drove the van, along with one of the cats who had inadvertently gotten a ride by having been asleep inside when he started it up, down the little road towards the out-of-the-way cottage. Jade hopped out when he opened the door and followed him up the walk. Oh, well. He hoped Lola wouldn't mind....

He came up to the front door and knocked lightly. He had a few tools in a bag, in case things needed tuning up a little, but hopefully he wouldn't need them.

( All Tuned Up With Nowhere To Go )

Who: Corwin and Maria (NPC)
Where: Darkwater Computers
When: 1 p.m.

When are you going to actually speak to him?

Inside Maria's head, Tiger's voice always sounded clipped and urbane, albeit with a strong Brazilian accent. She rolled her eyes as she stood on the corner outside Darkwater Computers, holding a small patent-leather purse and a shopping bag, looking as if she might be waiting for someone, perhaps a companion who'd stopped in one of the nearby shops. "Soon," she murmured. Long ago-- more than a century ago-- she'd perfected the technique of speaking by barely moving her lips when she spoke to one of the voices in her head. "Do not rush me." Her soft whisper was melodic and yet staccato, musically accented. "I do this my way."

Your way does not work, Tiger told her, actually sounding irritated. You do not have time to waste.

Sometimes she wished she could rip them all out of her. She felt that way right now as she stood hoping to catch a glimpse of the man she'd been watching for a couple of weeks now. Before she could say anything else, however, the darkening sky opened up and began to discharge hail, some of it large and quite painful as it hit the exposed skin of her forearms. Maria screamed and looked for somewhere to run.

( Ba-da-BOOM! )

Who: Corwin and Lola
Where: The van, then Portland!
When: Evening

While many people might've been disturbed by the rolling thunder and crashing lightning on the night of a major magical working, Corwin was actually pretty excited. The prospect of having actual lightning to try and summon, rather than having to black out half of Portland, was a good thing.

And he felt much recovered from the night before-- and the morning, in fact, since he'd had to rework all those spells he'd ruined in saving Jake and that'd left him feeling worn enough to nap all afternoon-- which was a very good thing. He needed to go into this alert and refreshed, so he could be as effective for Lola as possible. Everything he'd need-- and a few things he might not need, but had just in case-- was in the back of his van.

He pulled up to Lola's little cottage on the tiny little road, parked, and climbed out without bothering to shut off the engine. There didn't seem to be anybody for half a mile; nobody was going to steal his van. He came up to her front porch and knocked lightly.

( Read more... )

Who: Corwin and Senturion
Where: The phone
When: Late evening

Finally, after dealing with the firemen, being hit with his own magical exhaustion, and trying to get Jake home despite Jake's horrible, horrible paranoia that kept her from letting him take her all the way home, Corwin tottered into the house, got startled looks from his animals, and collapsed onto the couch. Damn, was he tired.

And still wet. He started stripping off wet clothes right there-- the windows were closed, it was "safe", and there was a robe draped on the armchair anyhow. Then, half-naked but at least not soaking into the couch, he reached for the nearest phone. He might even need a new cell phone, after it being in his pocket during all this excitement.

But he had the landline, and that worked for his purposes. He punched the golem's speed dial and slumped back onto the couch, letting Geordi put his head on his knee and Victoria slide over onto his lap while he waited for one of them to pick up.

( How to make your golem unhappy - a guide )

Who: Jake and Corwin
When: Monday, late afternoon
Where: Jake's place and then Corwin's shop.

Jake didn't really remember waking up. Or rather, she remembered waking up a half dozen times throughout the afternoon. Each time she woke up, rolled over to answer the phone only to hear a fax machine's tones. She'd get up, turn on her monitors and go to the bathroom. She'd flick on her coffee maker and sit down at her massive rig. Two double tall towers sat on either side of her stately desk and four twenty five inch flat screen monitors were wall-mounted before her. Two ergonomic keyboards and two laptops took up the surface of the desk. The modem was tucked toward the back. The whole thing glowed with LEDs and blinked blue or green light. With the whole thing water cooled and Jake's careful sacrifice of warmth in her apartment, everything purred with perfect function. That is, until she opened her eyes on her ceiling and the phone ringing - again.

Pressing the button to kill the call from the fax machine once more, Jake scrubbed her hands over her face. Why did she feel so tingly? She pressed her forearm to her forehead, testing for a fever. She decided that if she had one, she couldn't tell herself. She rolled out of bed for the seventh time that morning and went straight to the fridge instead. She drank down a few gulps of orange juice and noticed a strange coppery taste to it. She turned the bottle to see if maybe the date had expired on it and she hadn't noticed. Inside the fridge, the bulb suddenly burst, discharging a blue arch of energy which struck Jake in the side. Shock, more than pain, caused her to drop the carton of juice and the orange fluid sloshed over her bare feet. She stumbled back from the fridge, the condiment heavy door swinging shut, as she clutched her side. Eyes wide, she turned and stumbled back toward her bedroom.

( A rescue from cyberspace. )