Harry Dresden (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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ten_fwd2015-01-22 09:47 pm
dresdensluck) wrote in ten_fwd2015-01-22 09:47 pm
Entry tags:
It's time to Dresden the place up Some
It's not the kind of thing that's supposed to happen. Not that this phrase really means much in my life, but still, it's really not the sort of thing that's supposed to happen. It's not against any of the laws of magic, but that's only because no one thought of it yet. And when it happened that night, well, I had no idea how many laws of magic it would break before even the first day was over.
When you're a wizard who's been seen as a troublemaker and a problem all your life, you try to avoid these things. Try. My life, well, many times, I've failed those tries.
I suppose I should start with the fact that i was recovering from a cold. Im not supposed to get colds as the Winter Knight, but I think Mab likes inflicting new little miseries on me just to make clear I'm not being sly when I do the things I do. Hells Bells, a mere mortal's got to do whatever they can to maintain some integrity when they work as the number one henchman for the Queen of the Winter Fey.
So, yes, I had a cold that night, a cold that was making me sneeze, and worse, interrupting my concentration. If anyone thinks that might make their job hard, think about what happens when someone who is very magical suddenly has trouble concentrating. If you're thinking that it's not pretty, you'd be right. But that night? I was just plain miserable. I had taken a case, Winter Knight or no, in the wake of my little adventure into Hades, and I was working against a deadline to find a kidnapper. But every time I got close with a scrying spell, I would sneeze, and then my magic would spasm, and I'd freeze the room, or burn up some napkins, or suddenly find a target, but have it be a rare giant skunk, instead of the guy I was looking for.
The cold had just about defeated my attempt to finish that night when I managed to lock in on the target. I lifted a coke to drink, and my phone with the other hand, in order to dial up Murphy, who was helping out this time around, when there was a flash of light. And I sneezed.
The moment seemed to freeze and I found myself looking down to see myself slowly disappearing. My feet were gone, and my legs were slowly vanishing, but it was literally creeping along. My senses felt something like a way spell, but infinitely more powerful and I tried not to panic. Right now, that lost guy needed someone, and If i was about ti be stolen off on an adventure, then i needed to get him safe, first. I finished dialing, and thankfully, Murphy was home.
Karrin Murphy, sometimes partner, ex-cop, purely mortal friend and tough lady, could handle this, now that I had located him. I rattled off his address quickly, trying not to sound panicked as the vanishing crept past my knees to my hips. It didn't hurt, but it surely felt odd. It was like I was being just... pulled apart, but somehow, it wasn't painful.
And then, suddenly, the phone was falling through my fingers, and I was sneezing again.
There was a brighter flash of light, and I was elsewhere. For a moment I didn't realize where, but then it became clear. I was somewhere that couldn't actually exist, not really. It had to be a set, or a convention.... right? Around me, people moved, seeming not to notice the man who was standing there, coke in one hand, large coat hanging down, and a confused look on his face. Man, and they say New Yorkers are blase! I turned to ask the person next to me where I was, because this could absolutely not be the Enterprise, and it could especially not be Ten Forward. Not a chance.
But it sure as heck looked like it was. Paneling, and carpet and whoosh sound when the doors opened to let someone else in. Tall, and short, and all the other sizes of humans, and yes, aliens, too, walked around and mingled. Some of them were even in Starfleet uniforms.
I'd just managed to ask where I was, and hear the start of that word, "Enter-", and then I sneezed, and there was another flash of light.. Just before I vanished, my eyes caught on a chronometer, reading ship's time, and part of me somewhere blessed Molly for impressing on me how to read Stardate information. And then I was gone.
I think it was only an hour or two later that I suddenly was in the same room, the same person speaking to me and hearing that word, "-prise, actually. NCC-1701-D. Are you okay, sir?" I'd been bouncing around and around and around, and yet more around, for that time. I had a pounding headache now, and really just wanted to lie down, but I knew a lot more about what was going on, and where I was.
I was doomed.
"Hell's Bells."
When you're a wizard who's been seen as a troublemaker and a problem all your life, you try to avoid these things. Try. My life, well, many times, I've failed those tries.
I suppose I should start with the fact that i was recovering from a cold. Im not supposed to get colds as the Winter Knight, but I think Mab likes inflicting new little miseries on me just to make clear I'm not being sly when I do the things I do. Hells Bells, a mere mortal's got to do whatever they can to maintain some integrity when they work as the number one henchman for the Queen of the Winter Fey.
So, yes, I had a cold that night, a cold that was making me sneeze, and worse, interrupting my concentration. If anyone thinks that might make their job hard, think about what happens when someone who is very magical suddenly has trouble concentrating. If you're thinking that it's not pretty, you'd be right. But that night? I was just plain miserable. I had taken a case, Winter Knight or no, in the wake of my little adventure into Hades, and I was working against a deadline to find a kidnapper. But every time I got close with a scrying spell, I would sneeze, and then my magic would spasm, and I'd freeze the room, or burn up some napkins, or suddenly find a target, but have it be a rare giant skunk, instead of the guy I was looking for.
The cold had just about defeated my attempt to finish that night when I managed to lock in on the target. I lifted a coke to drink, and my phone with the other hand, in order to dial up Murphy, who was helping out this time around, when there was a flash of light. And I sneezed.
The moment seemed to freeze and I found myself looking down to see myself slowly disappearing. My feet were gone, and my legs were slowly vanishing, but it was literally creeping along. My senses felt something like a way spell, but infinitely more powerful and I tried not to panic. Right now, that lost guy needed someone, and If i was about ti be stolen off on an adventure, then i needed to get him safe, first. I finished dialing, and thankfully, Murphy was home.
Karrin Murphy, sometimes partner, ex-cop, purely mortal friend and tough lady, could handle this, now that I had located him. I rattled off his address quickly, trying not to sound panicked as the vanishing crept past my knees to my hips. It didn't hurt, but it surely felt odd. It was like I was being just... pulled apart, but somehow, it wasn't painful.
And then, suddenly, the phone was falling through my fingers, and I was sneezing again.
There was a brighter flash of light, and I was elsewhere. For a moment I didn't realize where, but then it became clear. I was somewhere that couldn't actually exist, not really. It had to be a set, or a convention.... right? Around me, people moved, seeming not to notice the man who was standing there, coke in one hand, large coat hanging down, and a confused look on his face. Man, and they say New Yorkers are blase! I turned to ask the person next to me where I was, because this could absolutely not be the Enterprise, and it could especially not be Ten Forward. Not a chance.
But it sure as heck looked like it was. Paneling, and carpet and whoosh sound when the doors opened to let someone else in. Tall, and short, and all the other sizes of humans, and yes, aliens, too, walked around and mingled. Some of them were even in Starfleet uniforms.
I'd just managed to ask where I was, and hear the start of that word, "Enter-", and then I sneezed, and there was another flash of light.. Just before I vanished, my eyes caught on a chronometer, reading ship's time, and part of me somewhere blessed Molly for impressing on me how to read Stardate information. And then I was gone.
I think it was only an hour or two later that I suddenly was in the same room, the same person speaking to me and hearing that word, "-prise, actually. NCC-1701-D. Are you okay, sir?" I'd been bouncing around and around and around, and yet more around, for that time. I had a pounding headache now, and really just wanted to lie down, but I knew a lot more about what was going on, and where I was.
I was doomed.
"Hell's Bells."