Feb 16 2010

After Ascent

Mikael had wings. The wings themselves were not exceptionally new, but he still caught himself sometimes marveling at the fact that they were there, attached to his back like they’d been there all along. He’d passed the phase where they were an odd, sometimes uncomfortable weight on his back that made him trip over himself like the gangly teenager he’d once been, and technically he still was but the gangly part had at least fallen mostly away. He was on the tail end of the phase where the mere sight of his own wings was a distraction, but the novelty was slowly wearing off. He actually went some days with them concealed.

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Feb 14 2010

Letting It In

There were quite a number of places in the world that Draco Malfoy considered ‘his’. The second booth from the back door of the Drowning Dragon was one such place, and he’d spent the last three hours there, alone in the near-dark, nursing an unhealthy number of pale ales. If he’d been at home, his drink of choice would have been firewhiskey, but that was no longer an option.

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Feb 14 2010

Parting Ghosts

Hogwarts seemed to have shrunk in the years since the war. Harry knew that it was his perception that had changed rather than the building, but part of him couldn’t let go of the idea that somehow the magic in Hogwarts had actually made the castle smaller, as if the loss of Professor Dumbledore and the ravages of the final battle with Voldemort through its halls had made the castle less than it once had been. It was less, though not by any measurable quantity. It was also, at the same time, more and different, no longer the place of adventure and danger that he’d known as a child, but someplace safe and familiar that he could count on while he figured out what to make of the years he’d been left with. Everything seemed different through the eyes of an adult – buildings, people, responsibilities.

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Jan 01 2010

Electricity

“Have you seen my blue shirt with the white stripes? It’s missing, along with…” Terry trailed off as he realized d’Schane wasn’t listening. The image on d’Schane’s screen flickered as d’Schane hid whatever he’d been working on. He didn’t look away from the terminal, didn’t even glance in Terry’s direction.

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Jan 01 2010

Coming to Rest

Tsuzuki was still half-asleep when he answered the door at just past three in the morning. He hadn’t bothered to turn on the lights yet, hoping that whoever it was could be shooed away and he could get another five hours of sleep before opening the shop. It took him a minute to recognize the wet, shivering figure huddled under the awning. The rain was coming down hard. He had heard it through the thick cement walls of his apartment, and the wind was blowing the rain onto the veranda, bits of the spray hitting his face as he opened the door.

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Jan 01 2010

The Boy in the Tower

Roughly two miles outside of the village of South Glenn stands a tall stone tower. There is no road through the forest to the tower, and some wonder how all of that stone came to stand in the center of their forest. There is no door in the tower, only a small arched window set just below the gable, leaving many questioning how someone would enter or leave the tower without a ladder. When the villagers speak of the strange tower, which they do as little as possible, they do so in hushed whispers lest the witch who inhabits it overhears.

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Dec 28 2009

Thorns Have Roses

This was not going to end well. Kakashi slowly lowered his book and glared at the special jounin standing in front of him. Genma was lucky that Kakashi considered him a friend, and that they’d been friends since they were both teenagers, otherwise Genma would have gone through the wall by now. He straightened himself up to his full height.

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Dec 02 2009

Death’s Shadow

Something was wrong.

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Dec 02 2009

Legends Reborn

Merlin felt the entire world freeze as the arrow pierced Arthur’s heart. He wasn’t entirely certain that the world hadn’t frozen, that his magic hadn’t stuck everyone in their place. All he knew was that he couldn’t move, couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. Arthur’s fingers relaxed, breaking the stillness that had fallen over the area. Suddenly there were more sounds and movement than Merlin could track. None of it mattered.

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Nov 27 2009

Publicity

The entrance to the club was hidden down an alley between a ramen bar and a bookstore. Isaka followed Usami, still skeptical that the younger man knew where they were going. About halfway down the alleyway stood a door, sunken below the street with a short cement stairwell leading down to it. There was no sign on the door. Usami confidently descended down the stairs and knocked on the door, rapping his hand twice on the door, pausing, then knocking once more.

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