Searching for perfect notes and Haven drabbles
A while back I was going to make a post entitled "I have three problems" but then one problem was personal and actually resolved, but took over the post, and I have subsequently forgotten what my third problem was. But the second problem is still around and is this:
I don't listen to a whole lot of music, and while I randomly poke around and now have a Pandora, I would lovelove recommendations! What songs are the epic? What bands can you put on and listen to entire albums with a smile? What makes the world break under your feet? I pretty much listen to anything and know pretty much nothing so it's ALL GOOD!
Also: 9 Haven Drabbles
All Rated PG, none containing information from the last episode
All written for "I Love You Like Pancakes," a BINGO challenge at scifiland
An Ode to “Haven,” Drabble Style
A Pair
What a pair they made, and if she turned her mind to channeling Eleanor, she could imagine smacking them both upside the head and dragging them off by their ears.
“It's completely illegal!” Nathan shouted, so loudly a nearby family fled, wide-eyed children ushered on ahead.
“It's not!” Came Duke's reply, equally loud. “Any permanent structures are fair game!”
“On the course!” Nathan was waving his putter to punctuate his point. “The trash cans are out of bounds!”
“Fine!” Duke pushed roughly by, and swiped his ball from it's position near the hole. Squinting briefly at the ground he dropped it neatly into the cup. “There. Gravity did it. And gravity is permanent.”
As the two glared at each other, collecting their thoughts and breath for another round, Audrey sighed and retreated to the snack bar. Sometimes, really, there was nothing to do but let the boys be boys.
Villain
A career in the FBI tends to imply a certain world view, in which some people are criminals (effectively, villains) and everyone else is something else. The FBI, of course, is comprised of the heroes.
It doesn't take Audrey long to notice that Haven lacks a formulaic villain. Now and again one crops up, like the dastardly bastard from the “case” she had affectionately labeled “Sketchy,” but for the most part conflict stemmed from your average citizen having to learn to recognize and mediate the unintentional (though sometimes directed) consequences of being exceptionally different. It wasn't as satisfying, and she didn't feel as powerful as she had in the past, and there was rarely anyone to put in jail. But somehow, it was a lot more interesting.
Green
It was as if some sort of mania had struck the town. Nothing, and no one, was safe. They tried to make a stand within the Police Station - after all, they were the law and they had a system - but even there paranoia took hold. Nathan lost his patience the day a new recruit grabbed a file from his hand, leaving him with a papercut which dripped blood slowly onto the floor.
“Really?” He snipped, tearing back the file while trying to staunch the blood with his jacket. “Okay, THIS HAS GONE FAR ENOUGH.”
Audrey followed, bemused, as her partner stalked to the middle of the floor and kicked a desk until he had everyone's attention.
“Okay, listen up! Going green is one thing, but the next person who “recycles” something that isn't there's is getting a pair of these,” he held up his handcuffs menacingly “and a weeks vacation in a cell. Got it?”
So unexpected was his outburst, and so crazy the gleam in his eye, that no one even picked up empty pop can later that day, and it stood for nearly a week, in defiance of the appropriate bin.
Hair
It wasn't how she would ever admit to spending her evening, but Audrey had to admit it was rather pleasant. Almost like being a girl, a little girl with friends and no worries beyond what colour tights to wear the next day and if Billy from math class liked her. She tosses another kernel of popcorn into her mouth as Julia did something which pulled her head back and on of the Desperate Housewives did something that required running through the house half naked.
“There, take a look” Julia said with pride, passing Audrey a mirror.
She took a look and had to laugh - her hair was now braided into tiny snakes, and piled on either side like she had rabbit ears made of straw.
Utterly ridiculous and completely pointless. But now, it was her turn. She wondered what Julia would look like with a beehive.
Your Choice
Audrey had never believed in fairy tales. She liked to read them, that was true enough, and daydream of the impossible perfection, the certainty of a story. Heroes and quests and true love. And sure, she'd always seen how the real world could be like that, just a little, exciting and new and once and a while, perfectly amazing. And of it all, Haven was the most wonderful.
But she'd never believed in love, not as something that would happen to her. At least, not the way she imagined it would go.
Because if she were perfectly honest, she was at the center of a story herself, and anyone reading about her would see, quite clearly, that she had two options. And one of them would be right. Nathan, or Duke. It was her choice.
Repeat
It happened three times before she noticed. The suspect looked down, twitched his finger, tapped his toe. In that order, at that pacing, five minutes after he'd done that very same thing.
“Oh, shit!” was all she could say, grabbing her gun off the table and dropping her takeout in its place. “Nathan, they've looped the recording, he's gone.”
She ran out the door without checking to see if Nathan was following - she knew he was. That was another sort of pattern, one of trust in each other and belief in the law. She only hoped they weren't too late.
Cold
The ocean licking at the Maine coast was crisply beautiful but cuttingly cold. The rain had felt like an attack of icicle spears - sharp and stinging - but moments into a sudden immersion and she was praying to take a nap naked in the snow. It was the salt, her mind supplied, in a detached, calm voice. The salt lowered the freezing temperature of the water, and down here, away from the warming sun there was no reason for there to be any heat, any light, any air, no ground instead you fly and her lungs were starting to burn and she was she was opening her mouth to take a breath when something caught at her arm and spun her around and she remembered not to try and breathe.
But her lungs were on fire and she wasn't so cold, not anymore, and her head was spinning and as she opened her mouth she slipped away.
I Love You Like Pancakes
Growing up in an orphanage meant that if there was one thing you were unlikely to become, it was a picky eater. After all, you only tasted food for a few moments, but an empty stomach would growl and complain all night long. Even as an adult Audrey caught herself eating things that weren't very good, just because they were available. But when she sat down and thought about it, really paid attention to her tongue, the taste and the texture, she found it easy to distinguish was okay versus excellent, what she liked versus what she could tolerate. It was both freeing and confining - what if she became a picky eater, only to end up back where she began, stomach aching in the dead of night?
That thought, ironically, had kept her up the night before, as it had so many times. She finished pouring rivers, waiting until the waterfalls created a small shallow lake around the edge before dragging her fork in a lazy criss cross pattern and looking up to pass the syrup to Nathan. If she was tired, he looked worse, and they both grabbed eagerly for the coffees Mary Alice brought by. She sipped immediately, tiny little drops so she wouldn't burn her tongue as she watched Nathan drop ice cubes into his mug and contemplated doing the same. Because she had come to Haven liking pancakes okay, but now, she thought, the loved them the most.
Smarter Than
Contrary to public opinion, law enforcement officials were generally not head and shoulders smarter than the average citizen. It mostly came down to experience - like Sherlock Holmes, if you know what crime generally looks like, you have a good pattern to follow for any new instance. And because you only needed one break, and the criminal only needed one screw-up, the odds weren't that bad.
That was why she was valuable in Haven - the local cops were fine for the day to day, but no one who hadn't seen the Troubles before had any hope of predicting what was going on. Except her. Though she didn't flatter herself it was because she was any more intelligent than anyone else - she just had a good imagination, and a rich library of unusual stories in her mind.
But really, she thought, as the suspect rode the bike straight off the dock, she hoped she was smarter than wearing sunglasses at night.
I don't listen to a whole lot of music, and while I randomly poke around and now have a Pandora, I would lovelove recommendations! What songs are the epic? What bands can you put on and listen to entire albums with a smile? What makes the world break under your feet? I pretty much listen to anything and know pretty much nothing so it's ALL GOOD!
Also: 9 Haven Drabbles
All Rated PG, none containing information from the last episode
All written for "I Love You Like Pancakes," a BINGO challenge at scifiland
An Ode to “Haven,” Drabble Style
A Pair
What a pair they made, and if she turned her mind to channeling Eleanor, she could imagine smacking them both upside the head and dragging them off by their ears.
“It's completely illegal!” Nathan shouted, so loudly a nearby family fled, wide-eyed children ushered on ahead.
“It's not!” Came Duke's reply, equally loud. “Any permanent structures are fair game!”
“On the course!” Nathan was waving his putter to punctuate his point. “The trash cans are out of bounds!”
“Fine!” Duke pushed roughly by, and swiped his ball from it's position near the hole. Squinting briefly at the ground he dropped it neatly into the cup. “There. Gravity did it. And gravity is permanent.”
As the two glared at each other, collecting their thoughts and breath for another round, Audrey sighed and retreated to the snack bar. Sometimes, really, there was nothing to do but let the boys be boys.
Villain
A career in the FBI tends to imply a certain world view, in which some people are criminals (effectively, villains) and everyone else is something else. The FBI, of course, is comprised of the heroes.
It doesn't take Audrey long to notice that Haven lacks a formulaic villain. Now and again one crops up, like the dastardly bastard from the “case” she had affectionately labeled “Sketchy,” but for the most part conflict stemmed from your average citizen having to learn to recognize and mediate the unintentional (though sometimes directed) consequences of being exceptionally different. It wasn't as satisfying, and she didn't feel as powerful as she had in the past, and there was rarely anyone to put in jail. But somehow, it was a lot more interesting.
Green
It was as if some sort of mania had struck the town. Nothing, and no one, was safe. They tried to make a stand within the Police Station - after all, they were the law and they had a system - but even there paranoia took hold. Nathan lost his patience the day a new recruit grabbed a file from his hand, leaving him with a papercut which dripped blood slowly onto the floor.
“Really?” He snipped, tearing back the file while trying to staunch the blood with his jacket. “Okay, THIS HAS GONE FAR ENOUGH.”
Audrey followed, bemused, as her partner stalked to the middle of the floor and kicked a desk until he had everyone's attention.
“Okay, listen up! Going green is one thing, but the next person who “recycles” something that isn't there's is getting a pair of these,” he held up his handcuffs menacingly “and a weeks vacation in a cell. Got it?”
So unexpected was his outburst, and so crazy the gleam in his eye, that no one even picked up empty pop can later that day, and it stood for nearly a week, in defiance of the appropriate bin.
Hair
It wasn't how she would ever admit to spending her evening, but Audrey had to admit it was rather pleasant. Almost like being a girl, a little girl with friends and no worries beyond what colour tights to wear the next day and if Billy from math class liked her. She tosses another kernel of popcorn into her mouth as Julia did something which pulled her head back and on of the Desperate Housewives did something that required running through the house half naked.
“There, take a look” Julia said with pride, passing Audrey a mirror.
She took a look and had to laugh - her hair was now braided into tiny snakes, and piled on either side like she had rabbit ears made of straw.
Utterly ridiculous and completely pointless. But now, it was her turn. She wondered what Julia would look like with a beehive.
Your Choice
Audrey had never believed in fairy tales. She liked to read them, that was true enough, and daydream of the impossible perfection, the certainty of a story. Heroes and quests and true love. And sure, she'd always seen how the real world could be like that, just a little, exciting and new and once and a while, perfectly amazing. And of it all, Haven was the most wonderful.
But she'd never believed in love, not as something that would happen to her. At least, not the way she imagined it would go.
Because if she were perfectly honest, she was at the center of a story herself, and anyone reading about her would see, quite clearly, that she had two options. And one of them would be right. Nathan, or Duke. It was her choice.
Repeat
It happened three times before she noticed. The suspect looked down, twitched his finger, tapped his toe. In that order, at that pacing, five minutes after he'd done that very same thing.
“Oh, shit!” was all she could say, grabbing her gun off the table and dropping her takeout in its place. “Nathan, they've looped the recording, he's gone.”
She ran out the door without checking to see if Nathan was following - she knew he was. That was another sort of pattern, one of trust in each other and belief in the law. She only hoped they weren't too late.
Cold
The ocean licking at the Maine coast was crisply beautiful but cuttingly cold. The rain had felt like an attack of icicle spears - sharp and stinging - but moments into a sudden immersion and she was praying to take a nap naked in the snow. It was the salt, her mind supplied, in a detached, calm voice. The salt lowered the freezing temperature of the water, and down here, away from the warming sun there was no reason for there to be any heat, any light, any air, no ground instead you fly and her lungs were starting to burn and she was she was opening her mouth to take a breath when something caught at her arm and spun her around and she remembered not to try and breathe.
But her lungs were on fire and she wasn't so cold, not anymore, and her head was spinning and as she opened her mouth she slipped away.
I Love You Like Pancakes
Growing up in an orphanage meant that if there was one thing you were unlikely to become, it was a picky eater. After all, you only tasted food for a few moments, but an empty stomach would growl and complain all night long. Even as an adult Audrey caught herself eating things that weren't very good, just because they were available. But when she sat down and thought about it, really paid attention to her tongue, the taste and the texture, she found it easy to distinguish was okay versus excellent, what she liked versus what she could tolerate. It was both freeing and confining - what if she became a picky eater, only to end up back where she began, stomach aching in the dead of night?
That thought, ironically, had kept her up the night before, as it had so many times. She finished pouring rivers, waiting until the waterfalls created a small shallow lake around the edge before dragging her fork in a lazy criss cross pattern and looking up to pass the syrup to Nathan. If she was tired, he looked worse, and they both grabbed eagerly for the coffees Mary Alice brought by. She sipped immediately, tiny little drops so she wouldn't burn her tongue as she watched Nathan drop ice cubes into his mug and contemplated doing the same. Because she had come to Haven liking pancakes okay, but now, she thought, the loved them the most.
Smarter Than
Contrary to public opinion, law enforcement officials were generally not head and shoulders smarter than the average citizen. It mostly came down to experience - like Sherlock Holmes, if you know what crime generally looks like, you have a good pattern to follow for any new instance. And because you only needed one break, and the criminal only needed one screw-up, the odds weren't that bad.
That was why she was valuable in Haven - the local cops were fine for the day to day, but no one who hadn't seen the Troubles before had any hope of predicting what was going on. Except her. Though she didn't flatter herself it was because she was any more intelligent than anyone else - she just had a good imagination, and a rich library of unusual stories in her mind.
But really, she thought, as the suspect rode the bike straight off the dock, she hoped she was smarter than wearing sunglasses at night.