Our stupid freaking garage door is broken.
And really, that's all the news I have at the moment. Other than NaNo. My but my life is boring as shite. See? This is why I never updated before...nothing good to say. oh well. On to NaNo.
Word Count: 36,409/50,000
The short short story I was doing was very possibly the hardest out of all of them. 8 pages took me three days to write and lost me a day's advantage or more. But I'm on the next one now, and I think it's gonna turn out fun. If nothing else, the boys will be celebrating their 21st birthdays in it, so that will be interesting. Okay, done rambling. What I'm posting is still a good three stories behind (I haven't been very good with keeping updates, have I? At least I'm doing well with the actual writing)
Char shoved open the door to Cat’s Cradles, smiling fondly as the smell of sandalwood and musty books hit him, bringing up strong memories of childhood. The woman behind the counter glanced up as he came in, a large smile breaking out on her lightly lined face, dark green eyes shining happily. “CJ, love, it’s been a while.”
Grinning back at her, he leaned over the counter to give her a peck on each cheek. “Hey mom, how’ve you been?”
“Fair to middlin’, kiddo. And you? Please tell me there’s a reason your face hasn’t shown up ‘round for weeks?” Char cringed, guilty.
“Um…I’ve been busy?” he squeaked. She raised an eyebrow at him and he cringed more, dropping his head to the countertop. “Okay, there’s no real reason, but I have been busy,” he said, watching his breath condense on the glass. He lifted up slightly, eyes narrowed. “Hey, are those Mustika pearls?” he asked, tapping the glass above some dull reddish brown stones with dark rings in them. “Aren’t those kind of rare?”
“Yes they are, and yes, they are. Want to tell me about it?” Char stifled a sigh and smiled at her.
“Sure, but only if you’ll let me look at those.” Snorting, she spoke the lock spell on the glass counter and pulled out the tray of stones. As he examined them, he explained about his newfound house-mate, the problems with Elina, and Cole’s absolute determination to simultaneously organize and ruin his life. His mom chuckled, shaking her head.
“Well he certainly sounds like a character,” she said mirthfully, “but I think he’s probably good for you. Actually,” she cocked her head to one side and pressed a finger to her lips. “I take that back. Anyone who can manage that rat’s nest you call a home and office is definitely good for you.” Char stuck his tongue out at her . “Careful boy, or I’ll hex you to look like that permanently.”
Char rolled his eyes; she’d been threatening that since he was old enough to remember. “I actually came for a reason other than to complain about my homeless boy’s freakish cleanliness issues.” A knowing look came over his mother’s face as she nodded sagely.
“Elina?” Char grimaced.
“Yeah. I have a theory, but I need your help with the particulars. You have a copy of the Sympathia?” She nodded and reached under the register to pull out a ‘back in five’ sign that she handed to him to tape to the door, then pushed through a beaded curtain to her back room, where all of her real magical supplies were. He followed her back after locking the door, and the cloying smell of incense abruptly faded; his mother didn’t like the smell interfering with her spell work.
He spent nearly forty-five minutes going through his plan, taking her suggestions and incorporating them. It took them another hour to fashion two pairs of earrings, one for Cole and a pair for himself as a caution. When they were done, his mother held up one pair and looked on them with a look of satisfaction. “These are beautiful,” she said with just a hint of smugness. “Lapis Lazuli, amethyst for healing, quartz to amplify, sesame oil beads, and silver wire to conduct the spirits from the stones to the body. All we need is to invoke the spirits and add a hearing aid spell and they’re perfect. I should sell these.”
Char leaned back on his hands, arching his back to release the kinks from sitting in one position too long. “Mmn. It’d probably be better to make some general use ones, then offer specialization,” he said. She nodded.
“Good idea.” She smiled fondly at him and leaned forward to ruffle his hair. “You know, I miss this. It’s been a while since we’ve worked together on anything.” He shrugged, pushing his messy hair back into place as well as he could. “You’re good with spell-making. You know, if you started selling this stuff in your free time…”
Char barked out a laugh. “Since when do I have free time?” he asked, amused. “The time I’m not spending on cases is spent recovering from them. Or more recently, keeping my various strays in line. In fact,” he looked at his watch and made a face. “I told Cole I’d be back almost an hour ago. We should probably do the spells now.”
His mom made the ‘worried parent’ face but didn’t say anything, merely got the things needed for the spell ready as he wrote out the sigils and set the earrings on top of them. The spells themselves didn’t take long, and soon enough Char was putting his jacket and hat back on. She kissed him on the cheek again and fixed his hat. “Don’t let so much time pass next time,” she admonished. He nodded.
“Oh!” he said, suddenly remembering, “Talked to dad, said he’s taking vacation and coming up in…well, a week, now. Sorry,” he glanced down. “I forgot.”
He could hear her frown in her voice. “How long have you known?”
“A couple weeks,” he said lowly. She let out an exasperated sigh.
“CJ!” she groaned and he winced again.
“Sorry. Like I said, it’s been…busy.”
She tapped him lightly on the top of the head. “Not that busy. But fine. I’ll accept your apology if…” she trailed off and he leaned back against the front door, tensed as he waited for the ultimatum. His mother was the queen of coming up with punishments that wouldn’t seem like punishments until they actually came to pass.
“If?” he prompted. She smiled serenely and his stomach dropped.
“If you bring your lovely new stray to family dinner next week.”
Char groaned loudly. “Mom, in case you don’t remember, he’s already met dad. They disliked each other. Immensely, and I don’t really blame Cole. Dad’s an ass sometimes, especially to the dead.” His mom raised an eyebrow and gave him a stern look.
“Don’t call your father an ass, at least not behind his back. And I haven’t met your friend yet. Bring him, or I’ll tell your father you forgot to tell me.”
“Fine. Can I go now?” he whined. She smirked and reached behind him to unlock the door.
“Go. I love you.”
“Love you too,” he said, and pushed out of the shop. Sending a prayer up to the gods of whatever that Cole hadn’t hexed himself or blown up his office, he pulled his jacket close and hurried down the street.
________________
The being in front of Cole smiled complacently at him. “I can be blue if that’s what you wish,” it replied, the look on its face never changing. Cole’s eyes widened almost comically and he pointed his finger repeatedly at it as he skipped back.
“Ah! Ah ah ha no freaking way, I know that game. How stupid do you think I am?” The being’s smile widened a tiny bit.
“In my humbled experience, most humans show an appealing lack of foresight and intelligence,” it said serenely.
Cole scowled a bit, but ignored the comment, mostly because he agreed with the statement. “Just…to make things utterly clear, you are a genie, right?” The being’s eyes lit up a bit, the first touches of annoyance shifting across its face.
“I am a Djinn of the second class, and strong enough to rip your body and soul to shreds without so much as blinking an eye. You will not trivialize me, human. Now. Make your three wishes, so that I may go.”
“Go where?” he asked, edging just a bit further away. The Djinn took a deep breath, then smiled.
“Do you wish to know?” Cole raised an eyebrow, finding himself intrigued in spite of himself.
“No,” he said calmly. “And I won’t make any wishes until you tell me the answers to the questions I ask. So, where do you go after I make my three wishes.” He paused, cocked his head. “And what’s your name? Ooh, and why is it always three wishes? Why not four? Or two?”
The Djinn’s eyes flashed again and it growled. Cole suddenly realized it wasn’t the only thing growling. Lae stood between him and the Djinn, hackles raised and practically slavering. The Djinn threw the hound a superior sneer and raised one hand. Panic tightened Cole’s chest. “Don’t!” The Djinn froze in mid-air and threw Cole what was possibly the cruelest look he’d ever received. Cole shivered, breath stopping, then started again with a start as the look disappeared back into blankness and it lowered its arm.
“When I am done here, I will go where I please. I have been trapped in that bottle for far too long, though not as long as my previous vessel. It is three wishes because that is how it has always been, and because the one who bound me deemed it so. And as for my name, you may call me Jareem. Any other questions, master, or will you take your first wish now?”
Cole stared at the Djinn, carefully running his hand before Lae’s face before petting her so she wouldn’t attack him out of surprise. She continued to growl, but her hackles lowered a bit and she sat. “Sorry,” he said finally, “But I really don’t need any wishes right now. Thanks though.”
Jareem let out a sudden roar and leapt at him, morphing in mid-air to a jackal. Cole shouted and backpedaled as fast as he could, but tripped over one of Char’s piles, scattering books and papers everywhere. He brought his arms up to protect his face and waited for the pain. Instead he heard the awful sound of fighting dogs. He pushed himself up, heart pounding, as Lae and Jareem snapped viciously at each other, rolling around the carpet.
“Stop!” he bellowed, just as Lae gave a high pitched yelp, the jackal’s jaw sunk into her flank. The jackal let go and backed up a bit. Lae whimpered and limped over to Cole. He hugged her tightly to him, disturbed as blood slid across his forearms from her small body. “Christ,” he said in a high pitched voice, trying to staunch the blood flow. Lae whimpered again and tried to wriggle away from him. “What the fuck did you do that for!?”
Jareem sat on it’s haunches, licking at the blood on its maw. “If you wish, I can heal it,” the Djinn said, voice garbled in its current form. It smiled a horrible, tooth-filled grin, its tongue hanging out. Cole bit his lip hard as tears prickled his eyes, and wanted to curse the stupid thing to hell and back. But for the first time, fear coiled in the pit of his stomach.
“You’re a dirty, rotten, evil…”
“Conniving, cruel, and powerful being, yes. Thank you. As you see, it would be in all our interests for you to make your wishes and bid adieu.” The Djinn shook itself and returned to its humanoid form. “I suggest you do so quickly though; I bit through the bitch’s femoral artery. She’ll bleed out in a few minutes.” Cole glanced down; blood stained his jeans and the floor underneath him, papers soaking up the puddle. Lae was no longer squirming, just laying across his lap and whimpering quietly.
Taking a stuttering breath, Cole closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath, thinking hard. Laelaps would never make it to a vet’s, even if he knew where one was in the magic district. He could see no other option than to make a wish, unless he wanted to let Char’s dog die.
But he didn’t have to be stupid about it. He’d seen way too many movies and read too many books about Djinn, or genies, and based on his limited experience with this one, he would have to word his wish very carefully.
“I wish,” he said slowly, and Jareem leaned forward, looking eager, “for you to heal this dog’s wounds completely, is returned to full health immediately, clean up all the spilled blood in this office, and then return to your bottle.” Jareem slumped a little and tossed him a glare.
“Technically, I should count that as more than one wish,” it said bitterly. Cole raised his chin and gave it a challenging stare. They looked at each other for several seconds, before the Djinn gave an exaggerated sigh. Cole waited for it to snap, or nod, or even twitch its nose or something, but it simply disappeared. Cole blinked and looked around in surprise, eyes drawn downward as Laelaps twitched in his lap. She lifted her head to stare at him, then twisted out of his grip so she could sit next to him and lick at the previously wounded leg. Cole inspected her carefully but she seemed to be perfectly fine, perhaps in even better spirits than a few minutes previously. The blood spatters were gone, and the champagne bottle sat a few feet away from him, cork replaced.
Cole gave a sigh of relief, seeing as the sky hadn’t fallen on his head yet. He was still extremely leery, however, and the coiling feeling in his stomach hadn’t left. This was not a good situation. It was made worse upon hearing the telltale jingle of the front doorbell. Cursing, Cole leapt to his feet, scooping up the champagne bottle and lunging for the closet. He shoved it back up onto the shelf just as the second door opened and Char called out. Cole popped out of the closet with the biggest grin he could manage. Lae barked and bounded over to his master, jumping up on him as Char laughed.
“What’s got you so hyper, girl?” He shed his coat and hat, then picked her up, cradling her and laughing some more as she licked his face enthusiastically. Cole grinned at the sheer sugary sweetness at the scene, going over to collect the hat and coat from where the other boy had dropped them across a hall table pushed up against the wall. His nerves were already starting to calm with the necromancer back; even the knowledge that he had unleashed a being of ‘cosmic, phenomenal power’, seemed suddenly much more manageable. Char raised an eyebrow at him, grinning as he noticed Cole staring.
“I didn’t think it was possible, but I’m pretty sure this place is even messier than it was when I left,” he commented wryly. Cole rolled his eyes at the boy and lifted the winter ware with raised brows. He walked silently to the closet, opened it, and gestured to the neat row of sweatshirts and jackets inside. He hung up the jacket and placed the hat on one of the nails, finishing with a little flourish and bow.
“Ta da,” he said flatly. “The closet was a complete mess. You’ll have to excuse the fact that it threw up on your floor. I’ll go through it later.”
Cole was surprised when Char frowned, a worried look crossing his face. “Nothing broke or anything, did it?” he asked, setting Lae down and going over to poke at the pile that had come from said closet. Cole’s nerves immediately jumped back into hyper drive and he couldn’t stop a quick glance to where the bottle was just barely visible.
“Um, no,” he hedged. “Why?” Char simply shrugged.
“I keep the more dangerous stuff in there.” Cole’s heart dropped somewhere to the vicinity of his knees. “I think it’s best if you stay away from this stuff; I’ll go through it myself, kay?” Cole managed to nod, throat closed tight. He briefly contemplated spilling what happened to the necromancer, but if he did, there was no doubt that he’d be fired. The other boy had been patient with him enough as it was. When he didn’t answer, Char glanced up, searching his face. Cole stared back impassively, twisting his face into what he hoped was an innocent look.
“Right,” he said slowly, and stood up. “Anyways, I’ve got something for you.” He reached into one pocket of his jeans and pulled out a white box like the ones people used for jewelry or breakables. He came towards Cole, taking the top off, and stopped in front of him. He lifted up what looked like a piece of jewelry and Cole assumed it was one of the earrings the necromancer had been speaking of. It didn’t look like any earring he’d ever seen before though.
It was larger, for one, vaguely oval shaped and made of intricately woven silver wire with small silver beads tucked in. A largish blue stone was centered in the web with smaller purple and clear stones hung throughout. One entire side curled in on itself, a thin chain attached to the top and Cole could see how the curved part would wrap around and follow the shell of his ear. He gaped at it, marveling at how well crafted it was. He said so to Char, whose pale cheeks flushed a bit.
“I didn’t want to have to re-pierce your ears, so I made it so it could hook around kind of like one of those cordless headsets. See-” He tugged Cole down so he could fit the earpiece on his ear. The blue stone fit firmly against his inner ear, cool to the touch but warmed quickly. As Char put the other one on and affixed the chains to keep them in his ears, Cole blinked. The vertigo he’d almost become accustomed to faded and the ground settled firmly under his feet. He stood back up and tested them, turning his head gingerly and first and then more sharply. He grinned.
“They work,” he told Char. The necromancer nodded, fitting his own ears with another pair.
“Can you hear okay?” he asked. Cole nodded; the sound through the earpieces was better than the earplugs, though still slightly muffled in comparison to normal hearing.
“I can hear fine,” he said, mostly so the other boy could hear as well. Cole took the opportunity to study the jewelry against Char’s ears; he’d thought they would look like some strange version of hearing aids but instead they looked more like a piece of art, fitting closely to the boy’s ear and covering it like a delicate spiderweb. They looked neat. Cole wondered if they looked that good on him as well.
“How do you feel?” Char asked, pressing a bit at them and shaking his head, obviously unused to the sound dampening. Cole shrugged.
“Fine,” he answered. “Dizziness is completely gone. I feel as if I could almost face the little brat again.”
Char grinned. “Great. Then let’s head over to Shea’s and test these suckers out.” He leaned around Cole to grab his coat from the closet, grumbling half-heartedly about how much easier it had been before. He headed for the door, calling for Laelaps to come along. Cole shot one more uneasy glance at the closet and the bottle it held before following reluctantly behind.
_____________
When Shea opened the door to his small apartment, he was holding Elina on one hip while she gnawed on one of his horns. Char smothered a smile as the satyr threw him a long suffering look and sighed. “Oh thank gods. Cole said you weren’t coming until tomorrow.”
Char took pity on the man and took the little banshee as he and Cole sidled into the apartment. “Got done with the charms faster than I thought,” he said, bouncing the girl a bit. He tilted his head to show Shea the spell-jewelry attached to his ears and the man leaned in to look closer. He whistled lowly and stepped back, stroking his goatee thoughtfully.
“That’s a pretty powerful working,” he said finally. “I take it you worked with Astele, then?” Char nodded wordlessly, then tensed as Elina finally caught sight of Cole. Her mouth screwed up as she glared at him, and before she could open it he clapped a hand over her mouth and shot her a warning glare. Shea shot him a grateful look. “Thanks. Don’t particularly want to have to hear her without one of those earrings on.”
“Is Brianna here?” Cole asked from behind Char. Shea glanced over at him and nodded.
“In the kitchen,” he said, nodding towards the swinging door. With a little wave to the Satyr, Cole skipped off to visit with Shea’s wife, a maenad who had taken to the homeless boy on their first visit to Shea’s house. Laelaps bounded after him, following the smell of food. “Are you staying for dinner?” the Satyr asked now. “I’m sure the little ladies are cooking something good in there.” Char rolled his eyes. The easy friendship between Brianna and Cole, as well as the boy’s determination to take over the household, had led Shea to jokingly start referring to Cole as Char’s ‘wife’. The necromancer stuck his tongue out at the man, privately amused.
“Cole couldn’t cook himself out of paper bag, you know that,” he replied sardonically and Shea shrugged. “No, we aren’t staying. Don’t trust Ellie to stay quiet that long.” Speaking of the girl, she was currently staring, enraptured, at the earrings. He shifted her a bit so she would be less likely to try and grab at them. “Besides,” he threw a glance at the kitchen where they could hear laughing. “Cole did something in the office today, and I think it would probably be better if I dealt with it quickly.”
Shea frowned a bit. “What did he do?” he asked. Char shrugged and shifted Elina further from his ears as she reached for them.
“Not sure yet.” Char smirked and rolled his eyes. “Kid thinks I didn’t notice something different. Too bad he hides things about as well as he cooks. Whatever it was, though, it was in the closet.”
Shea tsked, looking alarmed. “That’s…not good. Shouldn’t you be asking him about it? You keep some pretty serious shit in there.” Char smacked one of the banshee girl’s hands away and gave her a warning look.
“Nah,” he said easily. “And not everything in there is life or death. I glanced over the pile he’d made of the stuff in there and saw most of the really dangerous stuff, so I’m not too worried.” Shea looked unconvinced. Char gave an exasperated sigh. “Relax, okay? I’ll bring it up to him eventually. But if I want him to start actually helping me with cases, I need to see how he handles problems. He’s just scared I’ll fire him right now; if it was something that dangerous, he’d come to me. He’s not stupid, you know.”
Shea was still frowning. “I think you’re overestimating a street kid’s sense of honesty,” he muttered. “Not to mention his fear of authority.”
“And you’re underestimating him just because he’s human,” Char shot back. Shea gave him a withering look, which the necromancer returned with a small smile. “I know Cole. I trust him. And if that fails, I’m not an idiot; I’ll be keeping close watch the next few days.”
“Alright,” the satyr said with an air of resignation. “I suppose if you all die, you can just bring yourselves back.” Char grinned at him and clapped a hand on Shea’s shoulder.
“Exactly. And we better be going. See you later?” Shea nodded and Char called out to Cole and Lae. A few goodbyes later, they were out the door and back on San Francisco streets. As soon as they got back to the apartment, Char set Elina down on the floor and gave her a look.
“Okay, now you can scream. Just once,” he added as her eyes lit mischievously. Nodding with big eyes, the banshee girl turned to look directly at Cole. Laelaps ran for the bedroom as she smiled, opened her mouth, and screamed.
The good news was, their earrings worked.
The bad news, however, was that Elina had learned to break glass.
PS. Lynn said that the description for the earpieces was confusing as fuckall...and having written but not re-read it, I'd have to say she's probably right. Any opinions on this? Because I can see it pretty clearly in my mind, but am having a hell of a time describing it.
Word Count: 36,409/50,000
The short short story I was doing was very possibly the hardest out of all of them. 8 pages took me three days to write and lost me a day's advantage or more. But I'm on the next one now, and I think it's gonna turn out fun. If nothing else, the boys will be celebrating their 21st birthdays in it, so that will be interesting. Okay, done rambling. What I'm posting is still a good three stories behind (I haven't been very good with keeping updates, have I? At least I'm doing well with the actual writing)
Char shoved open the door to Cat’s Cradles, smiling fondly as the smell of sandalwood and musty books hit him, bringing up strong memories of childhood. The woman behind the counter glanced up as he came in, a large smile breaking out on her lightly lined face, dark green eyes shining happily. “CJ, love, it’s been a while.”
Grinning back at her, he leaned over the counter to give her a peck on each cheek. “Hey mom, how’ve you been?”
“Fair to middlin’, kiddo. And you? Please tell me there’s a reason your face hasn’t shown up ‘round for weeks?” Char cringed, guilty.
“Um…I’ve been busy?” he squeaked. She raised an eyebrow at him and he cringed more, dropping his head to the countertop. “Okay, there’s no real reason, but I have been busy,” he said, watching his breath condense on the glass. He lifted up slightly, eyes narrowed. “Hey, are those Mustika pearls?” he asked, tapping the glass above some dull reddish brown stones with dark rings in them. “Aren’t those kind of rare?”
“Yes they are, and yes, they are. Want to tell me about it?” Char stifled a sigh and smiled at her.
“Sure, but only if you’ll let me look at those.” Snorting, she spoke the lock spell on the glass counter and pulled out the tray of stones. As he examined them, he explained about his newfound house-mate, the problems with Elina, and Cole’s absolute determination to simultaneously organize and ruin his life. His mom chuckled, shaking her head.
“Well he certainly sounds like a character,” she said mirthfully, “but I think he’s probably good for you. Actually,” she cocked her head to one side and pressed a finger to her lips. “I take that back. Anyone who can manage that rat’s nest you call a home and office is definitely good for you.” Char stuck his tongue out at her . “Careful boy, or I’ll hex you to look like that permanently.”
Char rolled his eyes; she’d been threatening that since he was old enough to remember. “I actually came for a reason other than to complain about my homeless boy’s freakish cleanliness issues.” A knowing look came over his mother’s face as she nodded sagely.
“Elina?” Char grimaced.
“Yeah. I have a theory, but I need your help with the particulars. You have a copy of the Sympathia?” She nodded and reached under the register to pull out a ‘back in five’ sign that she handed to him to tape to the door, then pushed through a beaded curtain to her back room, where all of her real magical supplies were. He followed her back after locking the door, and the cloying smell of incense abruptly faded; his mother didn’t like the smell interfering with her spell work.
He spent nearly forty-five minutes going through his plan, taking her suggestions and incorporating them. It took them another hour to fashion two pairs of earrings, one for Cole and a pair for himself as a caution. When they were done, his mother held up one pair and looked on them with a look of satisfaction. “These are beautiful,” she said with just a hint of smugness. “Lapis Lazuli, amethyst for healing, quartz to amplify, sesame oil beads, and silver wire to conduct the spirits from the stones to the body. All we need is to invoke the spirits and add a hearing aid spell and they’re perfect. I should sell these.”
Char leaned back on his hands, arching his back to release the kinks from sitting in one position too long. “Mmn. It’d probably be better to make some general use ones, then offer specialization,” he said. She nodded.
“Good idea.” She smiled fondly at him and leaned forward to ruffle his hair. “You know, I miss this. It’s been a while since we’ve worked together on anything.” He shrugged, pushing his messy hair back into place as well as he could. “You’re good with spell-making. You know, if you started selling this stuff in your free time…”
Char barked out a laugh. “Since when do I have free time?” he asked, amused. “The time I’m not spending on cases is spent recovering from them. Or more recently, keeping my various strays in line. In fact,” he looked at his watch and made a face. “I told Cole I’d be back almost an hour ago. We should probably do the spells now.”
His mom made the ‘worried parent’ face but didn’t say anything, merely got the things needed for the spell ready as he wrote out the sigils and set the earrings on top of them. The spells themselves didn’t take long, and soon enough Char was putting his jacket and hat back on. She kissed him on the cheek again and fixed his hat. “Don’t let so much time pass next time,” she admonished. He nodded.
“Oh!” he said, suddenly remembering, “Talked to dad, said he’s taking vacation and coming up in…well, a week, now. Sorry,” he glanced down. “I forgot.”
He could hear her frown in her voice. “How long have you known?”
“A couple weeks,” he said lowly. She let out an exasperated sigh.
“CJ!” she groaned and he winced again.
“Sorry. Like I said, it’s been…busy.”
She tapped him lightly on the top of the head. “Not that busy. But fine. I’ll accept your apology if…” she trailed off and he leaned back against the front door, tensed as he waited for the ultimatum. His mother was the queen of coming up with punishments that wouldn’t seem like punishments until they actually came to pass.
“If?” he prompted. She smiled serenely and his stomach dropped.
“If you bring your lovely new stray to family dinner next week.”
Char groaned loudly. “Mom, in case you don’t remember, he’s already met dad. They disliked each other. Immensely, and I don’t really blame Cole. Dad’s an ass sometimes, especially to the dead.” His mom raised an eyebrow and gave him a stern look.
“Don’t call your father an ass, at least not behind his back. And I haven’t met your friend yet. Bring him, or I’ll tell your father you forgot to tell me.”
“Fine. Can I go now?” he whined. She smirked and reached behind him to unlock the door.
“Go. I love you.”
“Love you too,” he said, and pushed out of the shop. Sending a prayer up to the gods of whatever that Cole hadn’t hexed himself or blown up his office, he pulled his jacket close and hurried down the street.
________________
The being in front of Cole smiled complacently at him. “I can be blue if that’s what you wish,” it replied, the look on its face never changing. Cole’s eyes widened almost comically and he pointed his finger repeatedly at it as he skipped back.
“Ah! Ah ah ha no freaking way, I know that game. How stupid do you think I am?” The being’s smile widened a tiny bit.
“In my humbled experience, most humans show an appealing lack of foresight and intelligence,” it said serenely.
Cole scowled a bit, but ignored the comment, mostly because he agreed with the statement. “Just…to make things utterly clear, you are a genie, right?” The being’s eyes lit up a bit, the first touches of annoyance shifting across its face.
“I am a Djinn of the second class, and strong enough to rip your body and soul to shreds without so much as blinking an eye. You will not trivialize me, human. Now. Make your three wishes, so that I may go.”
“Go where?” he asked, edging just a bit further away. The Djinn took a deep breath, then smiled.
“Do you wish to know?” Cole raised an eyebrow, finding himself intrigued in spite of himself.
“No,” he said calmly. “And I won’t make any wishes until you tell me the answers to the questions I ask. So, where do you go after I make my three wishes.” He paused, cocked his head. “And what’s your name? Ooh, and why is it always three wishes? Why not four? Or two?”
The Djinn’s eyes flashed again and it growled. Cole suddenly realized it wasn’t the only thing growling. Lae stood between him and the Djinn, hackles raised and practically slavering. The Djinn threw the hound a superior sneer and raised one hand. Panic tightened Cole’s chest. “Don’t!” The Djinn froze in mid-air and threw Cole what was possibly the cruelest look he’d ever received. Cole shivered, breath stopping, then started again with a start as the look disappeared back into blankness and it lowered its arm.
“When I am done here, I will go where I please. I have been trapped in that bottle for far too long, though not as long as my previous vessel. It is three wishes because that is how it has always been, and because the one who bound me deemed it so. And as for my name, you may call me Jareem. Any other questions, master, or will you take your first wish now?”
Cole stared at the Djinn, carefully running his hand before Lae’s face before petting her so she wouldn’t attack him out of surprise. She continued to growl, but her hackles lowered a bit and she sat. “Sorry,” he said finally, “But I really don’t need any wishes right now. Thanks though.”
Jareem let out a sudden roar and leapt at him, morphing in mid-air to a jackal. Cole shouted and backpedaled as fast as he could, but tripped over one of Char’s piles, scattering books and papers everywhere. He brought his arms up to protect his face and waited for the pain. Instead he heard the awful sound of fighting dogs. He pushed himself up, heart pounding, as Lae and Jareem snapped viciously at each other, rolling around the carpet.
“Stop!” he bellowed, just as Lae gave a high pitched yelp, the jackal’s jaw sunk into her flank. The jackal let go and backed up a bit. Lae whimpered and limped over to Cole. He hugged her tightly to him, disturbed as blood slid across his forearms from her small body. “Christ,” he said in a high pitched voice, trying to staunch the blood flow. Lae whimpered again and tried to wriggle away from him. “What the fuck did you do that for!?”
Jareem sat on it’s haunches, licking at the blood on its maw. “If you wish, I can heal it,” the Djinn said, voice garbled in its current form. It smiled a horrible, tooth-filled grin, its tongue hanging out. Cole bit his lip hard as tears prickled his eyes, and wanted to curse the stupid thing to hell and back. But for the first time, fear coiled in the pit of his stomach.
“You’re a dirty, rotten, evil…”
“Conniving, cruel, and powerful being, yes. Thank you. As you see, it would be in all our interests for you to make your wishes and bid adieu.” The Djinn shook itself and returned to its humanoid form. “I suggest you do so quickly though; I bit through the bitch’s femoral artery. She’ll bleed out in a few minutes.” Cole glanced down; blood stained his jeans and the floor underneath him, papers soaking up the puddle. Lae was no longer squirming, just laying across his lap and whimpering quietly.
Taking a stuttering breath, Cole closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath, thinking hard. Laelaps would never make it to a vet’s, even if he knew where one was in the magic district. He could see no other option than to make a wish, unless he wanted to let Char’s dog die.
But he didn’t have to be stupid about it. He’d seen way too many movies and read too many books about Djinn, or genies, and based on his limited experience with this one, he would have to word his wish very carefully.
“I wish,” he said slowly, and Jareem leaned forward, looking eager, “for you to heal this dog’s wounds completely, is returned to full health immediately, clean up all the spilled blood in this office, and then return to your bottle.” Jareem slumped a little and tossed him a glare.
“Technically, I should count that as more than one wish,” it said bitterly. Cole raised his chin and gave it a challenging stare. They looked at each other for several seconds, before the Djinn gave an exaggerated sigh. Cole waited for it to snap, or nod, or even twitch its nose or something, but it simply disappeared. Cole blinked and looked around in surprise, eyes drawn downward as Laelaps twitched in his lap. She lifted her head to stare at him, then twisted out of his grip so she could sit next to him and lick at the previously wounded leg. Cole inspected her carefully but she seemed to be perfectly fine, perhaps in even better spirits than a few minutes previously. The blood spatters were gone, and the champagne bottle sat a few feet away from him, cork replaced.
Cole gave a sigh of relief, seeing as the sky hadn’t fallen on his head yet. He was still extremely leery, however, and the coiling feeling in his stomach hadn’t left. This was not a good situation. It was made worse upon hearing the telltale jingle of the front doorbell. Cursing, Cole leapt to his feet, scooping up the champagne bottle and lunging for the closet. He shoved it back up onto the shelf just as the second door opened and Char called out. Cole popped out of the closet with the biggest grin he could manage. Lae barked and bounded over to his master, jumping up on him as Char laughed.
“What’s got you so hyper, girl?” He shed his coat and hat, then picked her up, cradling her and laughing some more as she licked his face enthusiastically. Cole grinned at the sheer sugary sweetness at the scene, going over to collect the hat and coat from where the other boy had dropped them across a hall table pushed up against the wall. His nerves were already starting to calm with the necromancer back; even the knowledge that he had unleashed a being of ‘cosmic, phenomenal power’, seemed suddenly much more manageable. Char raised an eyebrow at him, grinning as he noticed Cole staring.
“I didn’t think it was possible, but I’m pretty sure this place is even messier than it was when I left,” he commented wryly. Cole rolled his eyes at the boy and lifted the winter ware with raised brows. He walked silently to the closet, opened it, and gestured to the neat row of sweatshirts and jackets inside. He hung up the jacket and placed the hat on one of the nails, finishing with a little flourish and bow.
“Ta da,” he said flatly. “The closet was a complete mess. You’ll have to excuse the fact that it threw up on your floor. I’ll go through it later.”
Cole was surprised when Char frowned, a worried look crossing his face. “Nothing broke or anything, did it?” he asked, setting Lae down and going over to poke at the pile that had come from said closet. Cole’s nerves immediately jumped back into hyper drive and he couldn’t stop a quick glance to where the bottle was just barely visible.
“Um, no,” he hedged. “Why?” Char simply shrugged.
“I keep the more dangerous stuff in there.” Cole’s heart dropped somewhere to the vicinity of his knees. “I think it’s best if you stay away from this stuff; I’ll go through it myself, kay?” Cole managed to nod, throat closed tight. He briefly contemplated spilling what happened to the necromancer, but if he did, there was no doubt that he’d be fired. The other boy had been patient with him enough as it was. When he didn’t answer, Char glanced up, searching his face. Cole stared back impassively, twisting his face into what he hoped was an innocent look.
“Right,” he said slowly, and stood up. “Anyways, I’ve got something for you.” He reached into one pocket of his jeans and pulled out a white box like the ones people used for jewelry or breakables. He came towards Cole, taking the top off, and stopped in front of him. He lifted up what looked like a piece of jewelry and Cole assumed it was one of the earrings the necromancer had been speaking of. It didn’t look like any earring he’d ever seen before though.
It was larger, for one, vaguely oval shaped and made of intricately woven silver wire with small silver beads tucked in. A largish blue stone was centered in the web with smaller purple and clear stones hung throughout. One entire side curled in on itself, a thin chain attached to the top and Cole could see how the curved part would wrap around and follow the shell of his ear. He gaped at it, marveling at how well crafted it was. He said so to Char, whose pale cheeks flushed a bit.
“I didn’t want to have to re-pierce your ears, so I made it so it could hook around kind of like one of those cordless headsets. See-” He tugged Cole down so he could fit the earpiece on his ear. The blue stone fit firmly against his inner ear, cool to the touch but warmed quickly. As Char put the other one on and affixed the chains to keep them in his ears, Cole blinked. The vertigo he’d almost become accustomed to faded and the ground settled firmly under his feet. He stood back up and tested them, turning his head gingerly and first and then more sharply. He grinned.
“They work,” he told Char. The necromancer nodded, fitting his own ears with another pair.
“Can you hear okay?” he asked. Cole nodded; the sound through the earpieces was better than the earplugs, though still slightly muffled in comparison to normal hearing.
“I can hear fine,” he said, mostly so the other boy could hear as well. Cole took the opportunity to study the jewelry against Char’s ears; he’d thought they would look like some strange version of hearing aids but instead they looked more like a piece of art, fitting closely to the boy’s ear and covering it like a delicate spiderweb. They looked neat. Cole wondered if they looked that good on him as well.
“How do you feel?” Char asked, pressing a bit at them and shaking his head, obviously unused to the sound dampening. Cole shrugged.
“Fine,” he answered. “Dizziness is completely gone. I feel as if I could almost face the little brat again.”
Char grinned. “Great. Then let’s head over to Shea’s and test these suckers out.” He leaned around Cole to grab his coat from the closet, grumbling half-heartedly about how much easier it had been before. He headed for the door, calling for Laelaps to come along. Cole shot one more uneasy glance at the closet and the bottle it held before following reluctantly behind.
_____________
When Shea opened the door to his small apartment, he was holding Elina on one hip while she gnawed on one of his horns. Char smothered a smile as the satyr threw him a long suffering look and sighed. “Oh thank gods. Cole said you weren’t coming until tomorrow.”
Char took pity on the man and took the little banshee as he and Cole sidled into the apartment. “Got done with the charms faster than I thought,” he said, bouncing the girl a bit. He tilted his head to show Shea the spell-jewelry attached to his ears and the man leaned in to look closer. He whistled lowly and stepped back, stroking his goatee thoughtfully.
“That’s a pretty powerful working,” he said finally. “I take it you worked with Astele, then?” Char nodded wordlessly, then tensed as Elina finally caught sight of Cole. Her mouth screwed up as she glared at him, and before she could open it he clapped a hand over her mouth and shot her a warning glare. Shea shot him a grateful look. “Thanks. Don’t particularly want to have to hear her without one of those earrings on.”
“Is Brianna here?” Cole asked from behind Char. Shea glanced over at him and nodded.
“In the kitchen,” he said, nodding towards the swinging door. With a little wave to the Satyr, Cole skipped off to visit with Shea’s wife, a maenad who had taken to the homeless boy on their first visit to Shea’s house. Laelaps bounded after him, following the smell of food. “Are you staying for dinner?” the Satyr asked now. “I’m sure the little ladies are cooking something good in there.” Char rolled his eyes. The easy friendship between Brianna and Cole, as well as the boy’s determination to take over the household, had led Shea to jokingly start referring to Cole as Char’s ‘wife’. The necromancer stuck his tongue out at the man, privately amused.
“Cole couldn’t cook himself out of paper bag, you know that,” he replied sardonically and Shea shrugged. “No, we aren’t staying. Don’t trust Ellie to stay quiet that long.” Speaking of the girl, she was currently staring, enraptured, at the earrings. He shifted her a bit so she would be less likely to try and grab at them. “Besides,” he threw a glance at the kitchen where they could hear laughing. “Cole did something in the office today, and I think it would probably be better if I dealt with it quickly.”
Shea frowned a bit. “What did he do?” he asked. Char shrugged and shifted Elina further from his ears as she reached for them.
“Not sure yet.” Char smirked and rolled his eyes. “Kid thinks I didn’t notice something different. Too bad he hides things about as well as he cooks. Whatever it was, though, it was in the closet.”
Shea tsked, looking alarmed. “That’s…not good. Shouldn’t you be asking him about it? You keep some pretty serious shit in there.” Char smacked one of the banshee girl’s hands away and gave her a warning look.
“Nah,” he said easily. “And not everything in there is life or death. I glanced over the pile he’d made of the stuff in there and saw most of the really dangerous stuff, so I’m not too worried.” Shea looked unconvinced. Char gave an exasperated sigh. “Relax, okay? I’ll bring it up to him eventually. But if I want him to start actually helping me with cases, I need to see how he handles problems. He’s just scared I’ll fire him right now; if it was something that dangerous, he’d come to me. He’s not stupid, you know.”
Shea was still frowning. “I think you’re overestimating a street kid’s sense of honesty,” he muttered. “Not to mention his fear of authority.”
“And you’re underestimating him just because he’s human,” Char shot back. Shea gave him a withering look, which the necromancer returned with a small smile. “I know Cole. I trust him. And if that fails, I’m not an idiot; I’ll be keeping close watch the next few days.”
“Alright,” the satyr said with an air of resignation. “I suppose if you all die, you can just bring yourselves back.” Char grinned at him and clapped a hand on Shea’s shoulder.
“Exactly. And we better be going. See you later?” Shea nodded and Char called out to Cole and Lae. A few goodbyes later, they were out the door and back on San Francisco streets. As soon as they got back to the apartment, Char set Elina down on the floor and gave her a look.
“Okay, now you can scream. Just once,” he added as her eyes lit mischievously. Nodding with big eyes, the banshee girl turned to look directly at Cole. Laelaps ran for the bedroom as she smiled, opened her mouth, and screamed.
The good news was, their earrings worked.
The bad news, however, was that Elina had learned to break glass.
PS. Lynn said that the description for the earpieces was confusing as fuckall...and having written but not re-read it, I'd have to say she's probably right. Any opinions on this? Because I can see it pretty clearly in my mind, but am having a hell of a time describing it.