The Night The Lights Went Out...

Clickclickclick, taptaptap,click,clack,click, tappitta-tappitta-tap... Neffydd's talloned fingers were tapping along, with unprecidented speed, as her mind raced to pour out the ending to one of her eppic stories.

clickitta-tap-taptaptap... WHIRRrrrrrrr... BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! whirrRRRR!

The monthly generator test had gone off without a snag... except...

"What the..." Neffydd muttered as she toggled the switch on her aether-com. "Oh... You have got to be kidding me!"

"What?" Andure, her ancient gnome of a co-worker asked as he, too toggled the power on his unit.

"It's not re-connecting." She growled while glaring at the offencive device.

"Oh..." He turned his back on and waited... and waited... and waited... "Mine either." He finally announced.

Neffydd unplugged her unit's power and aethernet connection, held the power button to the count of twenty, replugged everything, toggled it on... and nothing. DAMMMMMIT!

She had been one, ONE, sentence from finishing.

"I think I'll go on my break," Andure announced, "When I get back it should be fixed."

Yes! Neffydd thought to herself Because these things regularly fix themselves in your absence!

Thirty minutes passed, Neffydd tried to reset both units to no avail. Andure got back and the coms were not magically fixed. Big surprise... So he called the support tech desk. The support tech, being a generally helpful fellow, told the duo that in order to repair their units they would have to reset them.

Neffydd wanted to rip her glossy brown hair out. Neffydd pulled plugs and pushed power buttons, again, instead. She had been on the tech's end of the line before, she knew that this was just a step to really getting somewhere.

This step was not working so the support tech called an on-site repair tech, who promptly told everyone that The Pit's central communications hub was not important enough to warrant a night visit and she would be there in the morning, good night.

This did not fly very well. This reasoning had no wings at all.

But wait! There's more!

The Night Supervisor called into the office, "Can you look something up for me?" She asked in her usual, harried voice, "My connection's not working." Then the fourth floor, and the third floor, and the peace officer desk... calling in to report the disconnection.

Andure placed another, more urgent call to the support tech desk. The support tech was absolutely delighted to contact the surly repair tech. The repair tech called in again, requesting to speak the the Night Supervisor again, thinking that we were over exaggerating the severity just to get her to repair our computers. Boy... was she set straight!

While this was taking place, Andure and Neffydd devised a plan. She would take an auxiliary desk at a console that had no external line and was half way across The Pit, while he would man the phones and public address system. In the case of an emergency, Andure would page, overhead, and Neffydd would use the terminal to enter the information so all the pagers would go off.

This was a silly work-around, for an extreme circumstance, so Neffydd logged into the remote terminal and chatted with a passing fellow about the "crisis".

While she was chatting, Andure started paging: "Code Two! Code Two!" Neffydd swiveled her seat to face the terminal, inputted the information and sent it to the appropriate pagers before her fellow could finish his chatter.

"Wow!" he said, wide-eyed, "Good thing you thought of this!"

Yes, the buddy system relay worked. A person got their proper care.

Thankyougoodnight!

On the go... Or: How to shoe-horn this in?

"What are you writing tonight?" The message buzzed in on her new mobile com. "More fiction? Maybe your blog??" her Moon Elf friend, Jaeredd's excitement was almost palpable.

"I'm not sure..." She tapped out on the smooth silicate screen. Then she thought to look in her apps appropriation list for her blogging program. She installed the appropriate app and was typing this entry by the time the public transport carriage pulled into the shiny, efficient new transfer station.

Lots of people didn't like the change to the new station; but Neffydd was of the opinion that their dislike was more due to the completely inane way the powers that be had re-arranged the transit schedules to be the most inconvenient possible and less that there was a brand-spanking-new building to house the chaos that used to reside in (& almost completely clog,) an intersection a few blocks down the street.

Neffydd skittered off the first bus and hopped onto the next, slipping her transfer voucher into the automated conductor machine then finding a harmless-looking college student to sit next to.

She opened up her solid context messaging applet to continue her conversation.

"I should really get the whole crazy weekend into the blog..." She told him. "But that will take more than one post."

Trying to fit one weekend in a single blog post when it barely fit in the four or five day weekend was beginning to become insane. Neffydd decided that she would have to either split her weekends into each day, or major events to save the trouble of having a league-long post every other week.

However... Having this new Blogger app was going to help immensely. With this new mobile com she was able to do more and more on the way to work, during that hour-long ride. She had an app for her document editor, she could access her eathernet mail, she could post on her FFN account and do the prerequisite goofing off all from her com.

Maybe she would be able to shoe-horn a bit more in...?

Fair Fun, Flair Faun

"Aunt Aine... Can I come to your house too?" Mini asked into Neffydd's mobile com. Aine had offered to bring the boys to her new rental house for an over-night and Mini had begged her mother to go too. Neffydd put in Aine's extension and handed the com to Mini.

Aine showed up a few hours later, her children in tow, to gather the children and some more of her stuff. They soon departed, leaving Neffydd, Warder Sullens and Tomoe to wallow in the silence.

"What are we going to do?" Neffydd asked Sullens.

"I don't know..." Sullens shrugged.

"You know..." A slow grin spread across Neffydd's face, "We have no minions and there's a free show at the fair tonight."

"You wanna do that?"

"Yessssss..." Neffydd's grin widened and she turned to Tomoe. "You wanna go too?"

"I haven't got the money." Tomoe shrugged.

"I can cover you." Neffydd was practically bouncing now, "You should come!"

"OK!" Tomoe grinned, "Let me get showered and stuff."

Two hours later they were showered, painted, dressed and stepping off the public conveyance into the fair. They paid the troll and walked through the turn-style, grabbed a map from the information booth and planned their route through the people clogged maze of buildings, temporary structures and pavilions.

They grabbed milk from the Dairy Products building and drank it while staring at a huge sculpture made entirely of butter. They then crossed the court to find out what was in the Center Of Progress. The CoP had many different vendors hawking so many different things that Neffydd's head started spinning. They bought a couple large slices of fudge and went back outside to sit and eat some.

After they had eaten enough of the rich fudge to get a slight sugar buzz they headed off toward the next attraction.

"I gotta pee!" Tomoe whined.

"Geeze! You're as bad as the minions!" Neffydd teased.

They entered the Theater Museum and found the first floor bathroom. The wait was surprisingly short and the bathroom was pretty clean for something that must have been used a million times that week. It was over-hot... but not too hot to use the room and cooler than outside so no one was complaining.

Neffydd and Tomoe reunited with Sullens in the hall just outside the lavatory.

"Everyone done?" Sullens asked and received nods from the girls. "Where are we going next?"

"Horticulture Building!!" Neffydd answered excitedly. "Mmmmmaple..."

"O.K...." Sullens agreed suspiciously. He was beginning to think his Life-Mate was going into crowd-shock, but was hesitant to suggest a time-out.

They whisked down the crowded walkway and into the Horticulture Building. They had been on the lookout for places to capture an image and now they were confronted with the perfect shot.

Right between the center entrances was a huge sand sculpture with the Fair logo carved into it. Warder Sullens and Neffydd stood before the huge mound of carved earth and Tomoe captured the obligatory double image.

They whisked through the building glancing at random interesting things and dodging slow-moving creatures as Neffydd pulled them further toward her goal.

Finally they were standing in front of the Maple Products booth deeply inhaling the rich scent of boiled tree sap.

"What should we get?" Tomoe asked, knowing her sister would want something.

"You just said you're thirsty," Neffydd reminded her, "You wanna try the Maple Iced Tea with me?"

"Sure! That sounds good..." Tomoe trailed off since her a-typically hyper sister had already turned away to consult Sullens.

"Will you buy us a tea and a bag of Spun Maple Sugar?" She was bouncing in her excitement now.

"I suppose..." Sullens sighed and rolled his eyes, then slipped up to the counter to place their order.

"We should have just waited to buy the fudge here." Neffydd remarked and when her sister shrugged she added, "There's Maple fudge." There was Maple everything in the sizable booth. Ice cream, candy, cookies, candles, tea, coffee, dog treats...

Sullens returned with a bag of Spun sugar twice the size of his head and a covered cup full of thick dark liquid and nubs of ice. They each took an introductory swig and reveled in the perfect blend of strong black tea and buttery-sweet maple.

"Lets go outside to drink this." He suggested to them. "It's nicer out there."

They walked out the large door beside the Maple Booth and Tomoe suggested that they visit the Log Cabin. The Cabin was closed for the day, already, but they enjoyed the shade of the porch and looked in through the windows.

Neffydd spotted a preparedness shelter and her eyes lit up. She dashed over and ducked into the small building, but was disappointed with the sad displays. Her country-dwelling compatriots had better stuff in their living rooms. Sullens followed her around the small, quiet room and back out into the westerning sunlight.

As they stood in the trampled grass between the Log Cabin and the Preparedness shelter high-flying motion caught Tomoe's eye.

"What's over there?" She pointed at the air behind the Preparedness shelter and a bungee-corded bench with two people strapped into it bounced into view.

"I dunno!" Neffydd spun on her toes and started to walk around the building toward the odd sight. "Let's see!"

They watched as the ride slowed and was caught by a Giant who secured it to it's scaffolding dock. He helped the people out of their harnessing then beckoned and secured the next couple.

They quickly tired of watching the people bobbing on their strings and set off down the parkway bordering the midway.

Neffydd was in the middle of the midway crowds when the panic attack hit. The lights were too bright, the barkers too loud, the people too close and touching her as they passed in every direction. The air was too hot and clung thickly in her throat as she tried desperately to get enough air into her lungs. Smells assaulted her nose and mouth, attacking her delicate senses as she dragged air in through both.

Warder Sullens grabbed the back of her shirt and she shook him off as she tried to get out of the crowd as quickly as possible without trampling anyone. If there had been room to spread her wings she would have violated the no-fly moratorium just to escape. Sheer will-power kept her mind from diving into a completely blind panic.

Off to the side, behind a few food vendors Neffydd spotted a clearing next to the huge wall of the Dairy Products Building. She cut through the heavy foot traffic and almost ran toward the clearing.

"Are you OK?" Tomoe asked as she caught up to Neffydd and Sullens.

"I will be..." Neffydd managed to gasp out as she exerted a conscious effort to slow her breathing. "Just gotta sit..."

"Well," Sullens inserted, "There's a leged against the wall over there."

They each took seats on the ledge, then Sullens got hungry and went in search of a snack. He came back carrying a large cup filled with fries, gravy and melted cheese in one hand and a bottle of cold water in the other.

After their quick snack they decided that it was time to head back for the show. They cut through the Dairy Products Building again, exiting the opposing side. There they stood for a few moments, gaping at the site. It the hour or so since they had left the entire court had filled to capacity and spilled over onto the other common spaces that had line-of-sight to the stage and even some that didn't.

After a bit of a huddle, the trio decided that they could head back over to the commons where they had eaten their fudge earlier to watch the show.

They cut through the court again where there were brownies, pixies and centaurs posted to keep traffic moving along the main thoroughfare, then cut across the intersecting pathway and into the small, elevated grotto. There was an open space right in front of the tertiary projection screen so they settled into the crabby grass to watch the show.

Not too long after they sat down, the show's hosts greeted the eager fans. They introduced themselves, talked for a short while then introduced Theory of a Deadman.

The band took a little longer to actually get to playing but when they did, the show was outstanding. Their format was engaging, with interaction fun for the crowd; the filling monologue was kept to a minimum and the regional favorites were sprinkled liberally into the set list at a fairly even spacing.

For the last few songs Neffydd and Tomoe dragged Sullens closer to the stage pit. (As 'closer' as they could get at least.) They were hopping and singing along in ecstatic enjoyment, much to the consternation of the surrounding attendees. The girls didn't care if they looked like idiots, they were there to have fun and enjoy the live music. If people had issue with that they could suck it.

The show wound down and the trio made their way back to their transport. They rode the bus downtown and transferred to their next bus. At the downtown depot they met up with their neighbor and they all went back to the Houshold to drink a bit & unwind.

Alll, in all, it was an awesome trip to the fair.

Sky High

A pervasive hissing sound invaded Neffydd's long, pointed ears, ruining her calm.

She and her friend Jatos Cobode were floating above were the city sat nestled in a lush green valley, sending urban tendrils into the wilderness like a brick and technology zucchini plant, (with a secret evil plan.) The air was warm, the breeze light and the sun was sparkling gayly off the small lake casting splotches of light and Shadow on the skin of Jatos' dirigible.

She opened her large blue eyes, then squinted up at the ovoid, cloth covered framework.

"FUCK!" She cursed, "The dirigible has sprung a leak again!"

Her Encantado companion glanced up at the floatation device. The vehicle wasn't actually that big, being a pleasure craft and not a commercial carrier. It could comfortably hold eight people.

Jatos shook his head and bent down to rummage through the repair kit. He handed Neffydd a patch for the inner gas envelopes, a container of cleaning wipes and some rubber glue, then went to the controls to control their decent.

Neffydd grabbed a satchel out of a bench cupboard and stuffed the patching materials into it along with a knife and extra lacing for the access flap.

"I told you not to name the damn thing Titanya," She grumbled at Jatos as she leaned over the rail and spread her wings to hoist herself aloft. "But Nooooo..."

She threw her leg over the edge and pushed off the air craft, pumping her wings firmly downward a few times to gain altitude before matching the decent of the over-grown balloon.

She heard Jatos chuckling as she grabbed hold of the guy wires strung along the framework, folded her wings and swung onto the dirigible.

"You're lucky I'm here!" She screamed at him.

"Why do you think I always ask you!?" He yelled back, still laughing.

Don't drug an Elf... We don't like it.

Neffydd's body was shaking as she tried to stand. This wasn't a normal hang-over... this was way worse.

"Sullens?" she croaked through her abused throat, "Baby, get Tomoe to help? I can't stand."

"OK," came his worried reply, "We'll be right there."

The night before had started out as normal as a night at their home can be. Friends from out of town had stopped in for dinner and a board game before taking their kids home early. Neffydd and one of her best friends, Taechi, a Fairy met at the shop where Taechi worked and walked down the street a couple doors to the bar/bbq joint on the corner where they were well known because some of their friends worked there.

There was a wonderful band playing lively jazz tunes, people were dancing and smiling, drinking and enjoying the night. People came and people went, friends and strangers alike chit-chatted with them as they smiled and flirted.

A couple hours into the evening they headed out to walk the three blocks to Neffydd's bank to get cash for another round. On the way out Teachi spotted the guy she'd been crushing on for a while and started gushing about him. On the way back to the bank they cooked up a rather simple plan. They would buy their beer and talk to the guy.

They bought their round and walked outside to the bench the guy was sitting on, talking to a friend of his. The friend seemed to be very drunk and was acting belligerent and got in Taechi's face when she tried to talk to her crush. Neffydd did what she was best at, distracting the drunkard and defusing his temper. They nursed their beers to death and got another round, the drunkard paid. Taechi's crush rejected her and Neffydd decided it was time to depart at 11:30.

Taechi called her Naga friend who pulls a rickshaw, he whisked them home for a nominal fee, wished them good night and slithered away. Neffydd started to feel sick.

Warder Sullens thought that Neffydd feeling ill was from the alcohol, (and Neffydd didn't question his fine medical opinion,) so he made a sandwich for her & Taechi to help counter the effects.

They ate, watched a show and Sullens poured Neffydd into bed. Neffydd could barely remember the sandwich, much less the show or the bed when she woke to be sick, over and over again.

Tomoe and Sullens pulled Neffydd back to her suite then Sullens called the hospital who recommended that Neffydd be brought in for evaluation. He arranged transport and they waited through a few more waved of sickness for their friend to arrive.

At the hospital a pretty vampire put an IV in Neffydd's arm, drew blood for testing and hooked in a fluid bag. They waited for the testing results and a gnome came to administer a vial of medication to combat the nausea.

The verdict came in, Neffydd had been drugged. Her body was already burning through it so there was nothing that they could do that wouldn't make her worse, beside the fluids and the nausea med. They gave her a prescription for the medication she could take at home and sent her away in a medical transport.

Needless to say there will be a new creature inhabiting The Pit of Hell if Neffydd's friends ever find out who drugged her.

Whoopse!

Neffydd settled into the first seat on the public carriage going to The Pit. She settled her wings around her shoulders to keep the damp chill off and turned up the music on her portable player. She opened her mobile com as it buzzed and replied with a smile. The transport bounced and weaved in its familiar pattern as it sped down the city streets. The bus slowed to a stop and she looked up from the solid transfer on her com as she scented an overly familiar presence.

She ground her needle-sharp teeth resisting the urge to trip the half troll and watch her fall smacking her ungainly face on the carriage seats. The tall, unsymmetrical, hunched woman had wispy thin hair and a bit of drool sliding out of the corner of her gap-toothed half smirk. Neffydd's nemesis and ex-best-friend, Nikolah would have her day... but Neffydd had to be to work so couldn't risk being incarcerated. At least not tonight.

She was still envisioning the ugly woman's face hitting the solid seats and exploding into a gooey, bloody mess as she thanked the transport driver and stepped off the carriage.

Perhaps one day all her dreams would come true...

Walking in The City

Neffydd stepped out into the bright morning light and winced. "UGH..."

It was almost painfully bright, but considering how often she actually saw the Bright Orange Ball it was a wonder she could stand it at all. Most of her kind never even stepped a foot into the light of the BOB as it was ever so uncomfortable. Not deadly, by far; just more light than they would like to have shone upon their bodies.

Warder Sullens stepped out behind her and and slid his favorite darkened glass spectacles onto his face. "A little bright, huh?" he quipped.

"A little..." Came her snide reply.

They walked a short block down to the public transit stop, chatting and enjoying the cool breeze that contrasted the warm light of the BOB so well. 

The transit ride was pleasant and they reached the mid-city transfer with enough minutes to spare to do their banking and catch the carriage to their destination. 

The carriage bell rang when Neffydd pulled the Stop Request cord and the driver maneuvered the vehicle out of traffic and into the temporary parking stop at the curb.

"Are you riding down the street to your stop," Neffydd asked Sullens, "or are you disembarking with me and walking down?"

"I'll go with you." Sullens said with a smile.

"Are you sure?" Neffydd made sure as they rose from the bench, "Your stop is just down the street..."

"Then I'll walk." He motioned for her to precede him out.

"OK." She grinned and thanked the driver as she stepped onto the walk.

Their vehicle had stopped right in front of the salon that Neffydd wanted and she strutted up to the door. Warder Sullens grabbed her and pulled her into an embrace before walking off down the street. Neffydd walked into the salon and was greeted by heavy smells of acrylic and acetone. 

"Can I help you?" a middle aged Chin-chin Kobakama asked from her seat where she worked on a largish Brownie's feet.

"Yes." Neffydd affirmed. "I need a trim and fill..." She held up her hands for the woman to inspect from afar.

"Go to table four, please?" The Kobakama directed and Neffydd sat to wait... and wait.

She listened to the other women chatter amongst themselves about their day-to-day lives and smiled a bit. She watched people come and go as the smallish creatures trimmed, ground, buffed, repaired, tweezed, and cut to their hearts content. Warder Sullens came to check on her at one point but quickly left again stating that the acrid smell was already giving him a headache.

Finally a Chin-chin Kobakama man sat in front of her and held out his hands for hers. She placed her hands in his and relaxed into her monthly routine. 

Grind. Trim. Pluck. Sand. Repair. Smooth. Buff. Condition... She got up to wash her hands off when she was directed and picked a lacquer color that would look cute on the tips of her claws. The Kobakama woman sat in front of her and Neffydd described what sort of design she wanted.

"Just the tips in the green," She motioned toward the vial of lacquer. "Then a thin purple swish where the tip meets the bed?" It was quickly done as they chatted about Sullens and the woman's daughter, then the woman took her payment.

Neffydd sat herself at the drying tables and waited for the thin layers of polish to set and harden. For about half an hour she sat, relaxing and watching the bustle then gently stroked the lats painted nail to check how dry it was. She deemed the paint dry enough, turned off the fans she was using, got up from her chair and pulled out her mobile com to call Sullens as soon as she was on the street again.

She thanked the couple working the shop and reached for the door while looking at her phone. The door opened before she could reach it and she looked up.

"Hey you!" She smiled at Sullens and he held up a bag to her. "Perfect timing; I was just going to call you!" and they walked out the door.

"Shall we walk?" Neffydd offered, "Or wait for the bus?"

"We can walk while we wait." Sullens replied.

They walked down the street took a turn about a block away and walked across the bridge, under the over pass and past their favorite curio shop. 

Neffydd had now been up 20 hours. She had wanted to spend time with Sullens as they did their chores but her body was starting to have an issue with the exercise without enough sleep. Her legs, stomach and back were beginning to cramp as she pushed on. It was nothing like things she'd endured in the past, just a mild discomfort, really. Sure did make it hard to walk, though.

A half mile walk more and she could lay down in her bed. A quarter mile; three blocks; a parking lot and a street; a set of steps and a hallway... Finally she stepped into the cool comfort of her sleeping suite, feeling so much better to be out of the light of the BOB.

@}~

There we go, people! Sorry it's been so long!