"D'you think they'll be okay together?" Marcus looked anxiously over Blaine's shoulder at the two girls playing beneath the trees. "Amata hasn't exactly had what you might call a...normal upbringing."
Blaine slumped down on the bench and covered his face with his hand. "Well, I don't know, Marcus. Birdie plays with knives and dreams of growing up to be a mass murderer some day."
"I think 'Mata is the reincarnated soul of my brother," Marcus said somberly, eyes wide. "Also, she can set things on fire with her mind."
"I think they'll get along just fine." Blaine gestured to the chessboard between them without removing his hand from his face. "It's your move, Your Grace."
"We never really used titles like that," Marcus muttered. He peered at the chessboard, eyebrows swooping together. The tiny bells hanging from his eyebrow rings jingled. "I was always just 'High Priest,' generally...sometimes 'Lord of the Seventh Hour,' if people were being really formal. You know, I think you're going to win this one." He moved a bishop, and raised an eyebrow with a faint chime.
Blaine looked down at the board, then at Marcus, then back down at the board. "I think you might be right." His mouth quirked to the side, an almost smile. "I thought you were some sort of warlord? Master tactician and strategist, that sort of thing?" He was getting that uncomfortable, itchy sensation in the back of his head that meant he was probably being flirted with. He hated that feeling.
"I...I was, once. I think." His eyes went slightly out of focus. "You start to...lose track of the details, after the first dozen lifetimes or so."
"Hm. I wouldn't know." He moved one of his knights, capturing a rook and cutting off Marcus's bishop. Marcus's well meaning glances were making him twitch; he took out his wallet and started rolling a cigarette.
Marcus stared at the board, frowning again. "I'm usually better at this, really." He glanced up as Blaine began rummaging through his pockets for a match or a lighter. "Here, let me." He held out his hand, offering a flame on the tip of his finger.
Blaine froze, staring at Marcus's hand. This was really not his area of expertise. Images of Greymalkin flashed through his head. "I-"
Behind him, a tree exploded. He dropped his unlit cigarette and vaulted over the back of the bench, heading towards the sound of hysterical giggling at the center of the smoke. Marcus was right behind him.
He was never more thankful for Foxbird's ability to get into trouble.
-----
Ahahaha, I just remembered Marcus was full of ridiculous body mods as well. WHAT, ME, PREDICTABLE? NEVER. He's only got a bunch of ear and eyebrow piercings, though.
It's just- they're both single fathers, their kids are redheaded prodigies, and they're high priests of corrupt religious orders.
Blaine gets so uncomfortable when people act like they're attracted to him, it's hilarious. The more hilarious part is that Blaine really isn't Marcus's type- but Marcus gets attached to anybody who seems to have thier shit together.
Heh. Stay tuned for CTSNB part 2- Boffo vs Toggle: When Stupid Acronyms Attack!
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Monday, September 03, 2007
Internet! Why have you not provided me with dozens upon dozens of angry Jeffrey Coho/Brad Chase rival slashfics? Because seriously. They need to screw and get it over with already.
*sigh* I should not, perhaps, mainline this show quite so heavily. And the third season is nowhere near as good as the second- more stupid gags, fewer sharp political statements. The midget thing got old very, very quickly. And the way they wrapped up the Daniel Post thread was weak and mildly upsetting. And Alan has felt out of character since the beginning- though it occurs to me that I need to finally watch The Secretary, if only to see if James Spader is attempting to reprise his role in that.
*sigh* I should not, perhaps, mainline this show quite so heavily. And the third season is nowhere near as good as the second- more stupid gags, fewer sharp political statements. The midget thing got old very, very quickly. And the way they wrapped up the Daniel Post thread was weak and mildly upsetting. And Alan has felt out of character since the beginning- though it occurs to me that I need to finally watch The Secretary, if only to see if James Spader is attempting to reprise his role in that.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Love to have your cake and eat it too
Their voices are a little off; I've gotten used to writing them as adults, and not as teenagers. But they are- Tyler is seventeen, Opal is sixteen. And in this version of the story, they've been dating for two years- since Opal's freshman year of highschool.
I would like to rewrite the whole story eventually. A lot of the original revolved around the changing dynamic between Opal and Tyler- but that original dynamic was based a lot in where I was, emotionally, in ninth grade, and I like them much better like this, even if the lack of awkwardness is, perhaps, unrealistic. I'm reasonably certain I've matured a bit since then- and if not, at least my writing has.
(That said, I hadn't quite realized the two of them were so...musically inclined.)
====================================================
"Hey, babe." Tyler lounged in the doorway, smirking.
Opal made a face at her boyfriend and tightened the tuning pegs on her cello. "What's up?" Her bow slid across the strings with an eerie shriek.
Tyler fliched at the noise and wiggled a finger in his ear. "You're sharp."
She stuck out her tongue at him. "So's your face." She fixed the string. "Seriously, what are you doing here? I thought you were leaving for Florida or Italy or somewhere ridiculous."
"And leave my favorite person in the whole wide world behind? You must think me a cad! Or something." He pushed off the doorway, closing and locking it behind him. Her bed squealed with protest when he flopped across it. "Plans got changed; dad's coming home for Christmas this year. Wanted to know if you wanna hang out or something- and you're invited for Christmas, of course, and New Years. Unless, of course, you have some other dashingly handsome man to spend it with."
"Well, there was this guy passing me notes in math." She raised an eyebrow. "I don't know that I would consider him dashingly handsome, but he's certainly not bad."
"Pshaw, you're not going to settle for "certainly not bad" when you could have me."
She rolled her eyes and opened the folio on her music stand. "Variety is the spice of life." She ran through a few quick arpeggios, fingers moving easily across the strings.
"Yeah, whatever. Are you going to play, or can we just skip straight to the sex?"
She glanced at him sharply; he was still sprawled across her bed, with his t-shirt rucked up above his navel. She bit her lip, eyes flickering from her music stand to the strip of exposed skin above his jeans. He grinned.
"I'm only teasing, babe. As music is the food of love, play on!" He made a grandiose gesture with one arm. "Not that I'm gonna object to the sex later. But right now, I'd like to hear you play. And you've got that audition coming up, so you should practice."
Opal could feel her face turning red. She still wasn't entirely used to Tyler's open appreciation of her, for all that he'd be doing it for years. "I was thinking I'd warm up with some Hindemith before moving on to the Paganini."
"Mmm, Hindemith. I love Hindemith." His voice had turned low and gravelly around the edges. Opal shivered slightly.
"That's because you're weird," she muttered, and did not look over to her bed. Instead, she began to play, and the rest of the world- the empty house below her attic bedroom, the boy lounging on her bed, the trees beyond her window- just faded away.
Outside, it began to snow.
I would like to rewrite the whole story eventually. A lot of the original revolved around the changing dynamic between Opal and Tyler- but that original dynamic was based a lot in where I was, emotionally, in ninth grade, and I like them much better like this, even if the lack of awkwardness is, perhaps, unrealistic. I'm reasonably certain I've matured a bit since then- and if not, at least my writing has.
(That said, I hadn't quite realized the two of them were so...musically inclined.)
====================================================
"Hey, babe." Tyler lounged in the doorway, smirking.
Opal made a face at her boyfriend and tightened the tuning pegs on her cello. "What's up?" Her bow slid across the strings with an eerie shriek.
Tyler fliched at the noise and wiggled a finger in his ear. "You're sharp."
She stuck out her tongue at him. "So's your face." She fixed the string. "Seriously, what are you doing here? I thought you were leaving for Florida or Italy or somewhere ridiculous."
"And leave my favorite person in the whole wide world behind? You must think me a cad! Or something." He pushed off the doorway, closing and locking it behind him. Her bed squealed with protest when he flopped across it. "Plans got changed; dad's coming home for Christmas this year. Wanted to know if you wanna hang out or something- and you're invited for Christmas, of course, and New Years. Unless, of course, you have some other dashingly handsome man to spend it with."
"Well, there was this guy passing me notes in math." She raised an eyebrow. "I don't know that I would consider him dashingly handsome, but he's certainly not bad."
"Pshaw, you're not going to settle for "certainly not bad" when you could have me."
She rolled her eyes and opened the folio on her music stand. "Variety is the spice of life." She ran through a few quick arpeggios, fingers moving easily across the strings.
"Yeah, whatever. Are you going to play, or can we just skip straight to the sex?"
She glanced at him sharply; he was still sprawled across her bed, with his t-shirt rucked up above his navel. She bit her lip, eyes flickering from her music stand to the strip of exposed skin above his jeans. He grinned.
"I'm only teasing, babe. As music is the food of love, play on!" He made a grandiose gesture with one arm. "Not that I'm gonna object to the sex later. But right now, I'd like to hear you play. And you've got that audition coming up, so you should practice."
Opal could feel her face turning red. She still wasn't entirely used to Tyler's open appreciation of her, for all that he'd be doing it for years. "I was thinking I'd warm up with some Hindemith before moving on to the Paganini."
"Mmm, Hindemith. I love Hindemith." His voice had turned low and gravelly around the edges. Opal shivered slightly.
"That's because you're weird," she muttered, and did not look over to her bed. Instead, she began to play, and the rest of the world- the empty house below her attic bedroom, the boy lounging on her bed, the trees beyond her window- just faded away.
Outside, it began to snow.
Watching Boston Legal again- picking up the rest of season two, so I can move on to season three. Haven't been able to obtain season one, but I'm hoping I can netflix it at some point in the future.
I dearly love this show- the actors all seem to have so very much fun, all the time. And Allan and Denny are so completely in love with each other, it's adorable. ...completely in love. "Denny's my friend. He takes me nice places, buys me nice things...we dress up together."
And I dearly love Allan, in general. "I'm sorry, I sort of pencilled in sex for five thirty, and now that I've missed out on Jessica, I'll have to have it alone, which is fine, just- predictable."
However, episode 21 pings on a couple of issues that are twitch points for me- polygamy and video games. The polygamous trio is portrayed as being healthy, stable, and committed- kids and everything. It's a bit awesome. I'm less a fan of the video game bit, which is about video games being physically addictive, and dangerous.
It seems like the polygamous plotline is mirroring the gay marriage debate; given that the show takes place in Boston, I'm assuming this episode was filmed and aired before Massachusetts legalized gay marriage. (Also, LoL, Boston Marriage, even if that's not what this is.)
Love this show so, so much.
I dearly love this show- the actors all seem to have so very much fun, all the time. And Allan and Denny are so completely in love with each other, it's adorable. ...completely in love. "Denny's my friend. He takes me nice places, buys me nice things...we dress up together."
And I dearly love Allan, in general. "I'm sorry, I sort of pencilled in sex for five thirty, and now that I've missed out on Jessica, I'll have to have it alone, which is fine, just- predictable."
However, episode 21 pings on a couple of issues that are twitch points for me- polygamy and video games. The polygamous trio is portrayed as being healthy, stable, and committed- kids and everything. It's a bit awesome. I'm less a fan of the video game bit, which is about video games being physically addictive, and dangerous.
It seems like the polygamous plotline is mirroring the gay marriage debate; given that the show takes place in Boston, I'm assuming this episode was filmed and aired before Massachusetts legalized gay marriage. (Also, LoL, Boston Marriage, even if that's not what this is.)
Love this show so, so much.