Link to prompt post one (closed for prompts, still open for fills)
Link to prompt post two (currently open)
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( 1. ) For
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
araknifae, in response to the prompt:
Any, Any, catching an inconvenient cold, written 1/10/25
Common and Ordinary Woes (185 words)
Fandom = Nine Worlds-----
The first sneeze caught me by surprise -- wetter and somehow drawn from deeper in my airway than usual -- and I frowned as I pulled a handkerchief from my coat pocket, for there was no pollen or dust here in Elderflower Books, nor had Mr. Dart given me any warning of strange magic afoot when I passed by Dartington on my morning run.
"Did I hear-- ah, so I did," said Mrs. Etaris as she emerged from the back room with a handful of recently purchased books she had been skimming through to decide on their pricing and shelving; "Jemis, go upstairs, make yourself a pot of tea, and take the rest of the day off to rest -- hopefully that will cut this off at the pass and you'll feel recovered enough to host the knitting circle tomorrow night as planned."
She seemed to catch my confusion for she smiled somewhat wryly and added, "You've caught a cold -- best prepare yourself to listen to at least a dozen well-meant lectures about this being only the natural consequence of running in the snow without a proper coat."
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( 2. ) For
templefugate, in response to the prompt:
DC, Barbara Gordon/Dinah Lance, sexting, written 1/12/25.
The Direct Approach (95 words)
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O: I'm quite certain that sending me videos of yourself masturbating is well beyond the boundaries of a professional relationship, even if you did include several pieces of actionable intelligence in your "incoherent" babbling
BC: listen a girls gotta make do when her usual lines of communication arent working -- no shade to your gadgets or hacking, but we both know sometimes theres no substitute for a personal touch š
O: ...Fair play. I'll expect you in the Clocktower in ten
BC: babe im already at your window. kill the lasers and let me in
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( 3. ) For
scytale, in response to the prompt:
Any, any, fox (metaphorical or demonic or ordinary), written 1/12/25.
Mushrooms and Mischief (330 words)
Fandom = Nine Worlds-----
"Jemis, have you heard that your twa-tailed vixen has begun answering questions from children?" Mrs. Henny the Post asked from behind her desk as I scraped snow off my boots in the doorway and fished out the letters I had come to mail. "What times we live in!"
"That sounds somewhat, ah, concerning," I said, trying to convey my confusion and worry without seeming too alarmed, since I assumed Mrs. Henny would have opened more directly if anything truly dire had occurred. "Dare I ask for details?"
Mrs. Henny beamed at me. "Oh, it was grand ridiculous nonsense, from what I've been told. Young Daphne Overmorrow found the fox sitting on her doorstep when she stepped out to fetch in the day's milk delivery, and promptly asked the fox where she could find mushrooms to add to an omelet. To which the fox replied, 'Where have you found mushrooms before?' Whereupon Daphne said, 'But mushrooms don't grow in the winter,' which is not properly a question, but nonetheless the fox replied, 'When do mushrooms sprout?'"
I began to develop an idea of where this tale was leading, and gestured (with the hand not clutching my letters) for Mrs. Henny to continue.
Delighted, she did so: "For her third question, or perhaps statement, young Miss Overmorrow said, 'They sprout when it's warm and everything is muddy and rotting,' and the fox winked and asked, 'Where can you bring earth and wood to stay warm?'"
"And now the Overmorrow house is full of muck from the forest floor?" I asked.
"Indeed it is, and both Mr. and Mrs. Overmorrow are in a right state but don't feel quite safe telling their daughter to ignore answers from a fairy fox," Mrs. Henny concluded. "Naturally they consider it your fault, so I expect one or the other will stop by the bookstore to complain. I suggest you have a book or two on mushroom farming on hand to help them sort out the mess."
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( 4. ) For
be_themoon, in response to the prompt:
The Nine Worlds, any, we'll set something ablaze / a trail for the devil to erase, written 1/12/25.
Illumination (100 words)
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"When all of Alinor rests in my hands, I think I shall set Morrowlea alight," Lark said in the cold, thoughtful voice Violet had learned to both love and dread; "Or perhaps only the staff -- the structures could easily be repurposed into a stronghold from which to govern the surrounding country, and I do dislike waste."
"The flames would surely prove most instructive," Violet agreed, "especially if paired with your generous sponsorship of other, less impractical, universities."
She left unspoken that the lessons one might draw from such a conflagration might not be solely the ones Lark meant to teach.
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( 5. ) For
anonymous, in response to the prompt:
any, any f/f pairing, that thing you did with your tongue, written 1/12/25.
Absence Makes (160 words)
Fandom = Nine Worlds-----
My dearest Violet (and I do hold you dear, though I know you will either dismiss the sentiment or think to yourself that any possession may be dear to its owner), do not burn this letter until you have read its entirety; you may hand it to Jemis to search for codes if you like, but I think neither of you would take pleasure in the resulting conversation, and in any case I have no need to bother with subterfuge.
Instead I am writing to say that I have yet to find anyone else who can properly manage that trick you did with your tongue: neither the one where you pressed the tip up into my heat like a spear and drank me as though I were water to a woman dying of thirst, nor the one where you spoke two truths but only allowed me to hear the one I expected.
Have you yet found anyone to equal me?
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( 6. ) For
topaz_eyes, in response to the prompt:
Any, any, My pirate days are over, written 1/13/25
What Marian's Bound To Do (220 words)
Fandom = Nine Worlds-----
Jullanar wonders, now and then during slow days in her bookshop, or when forced to smile and play happy families with her blackmailing mother-in-law, what it might have been like to raise children in the midst of the Red Company rather than Ragnor Bella -- would her friends have reached out to lift the babies from her hands so she could fight or argue or cause a distraction, or would she have found herself relegated once more to the background she had struggled so long and hard to leave behind? What would those hypothetical children have learned on those hypothetical journeys? Would the forces of Astandalas have caught them in the end? Would they have survived the Fall?
But might-have-beens are no place to dwell for long, so she folds those half-spun dreams and lays them aside for the next day when the thought of spending the rest of her life tied to Benneret Etaris and a twenty-mile slice of South Fiellan makes her teeth itch and her skin feel too tight for her soul.
Her outlaw days are done for now, though she hopes she's raised her children to face adventures with more composure than she mustered in her own youth, should some strange fate befall them.
And as for her own future -- well, might-yet-bes are a different beast altogether.
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More to come!
