Private Joy (Adem)

[Bran Viola]

Bran frowned. Were all fae residences so excessive? It was a question he really needed to stop asking. The beautiful vista hanging in the dormitory window like a painting was the whole reason he was able to do this. The empty scenery was the only thing that saw him scale the wall of the housing building, a task that was also made easier by the structures many unnecessary flourishes. Even so he’d chosen to wear more casual fae clothing in case anything else happened to find him stalking the gaps in the academy grounds.

Bran held the windowsill and slid his leg across the threshold, followed by the next as he landed on the dormitory carpet. Was that a hearth? Fire hazard. The room stank of cedar. Bran looked around the room and slipped his hand into his pocket to graze the smooth surface of the object it held. He assumed it was enchanted somehow, the mechanical bits necessary to manually activate a bomb wouldn’t operate properly in the faewild, yet the objects’ sibling, a smoldering spot on the ground switched on as the users head was removed, had burst into a blossom of flame that still glowed behind brans eyes. The development that had brought him here was a relatively new one.

He’d been on the grounds of iris academy for other reasons, but the boy he’d seen at the party hosted by the faerie Bran had selected to fulfill his monthly quota was walking about the academy as well. Bran hadn’t really concerned himself with the discussion the boy had with his host, nor what had exchanged hands between them. Maybe he should have. It certainly would have come in handy if he’d been aware what the dead faerie tried to toss at him as he fell was a bomb. Poison was fairly common, but pyrotechnics were something new.

Bran pulled a rough sketch from the innards of an open schoolbook on the desk to his right, and compared it to the bomb in his palm. The same. As was the apparent identity of the dormitory’s willowy tenant. Bran couldn’t imagine what the boy was doing out this late but it didn’t matter. He’d be back soon. He glanced around the room again and held out his hand in front of his face to measure his view of the floor. If he was full fae, which was highly likely, he would be able to trap him in the room with some proper iron nail placement. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. Bran considered preparing some of the borders of this trap preemptively, but thought better of the noise it might create. He was confident he’d be able to dispatch him and then set it up if that even became a necessity.

Bran sat down in the chair next to the writing desk, and rolled the bomb back and forth across the desk’s surface. Adem… Yadav? Yadev? Hadn’t that family perished in a fire? Odd. It’d be nice if he knew a little more about this artisan. But then again, that’s why he was here.

tags- Adem Agni Yadav

[Adem Agni Yadav]

    It was fully dark out, and Adem needed to get back to his dorm before he was seen. His heart was pounding so fast that he needed to stop several times on the walk back to try and calm himself down. Ever since Suki had disappeared, he’d spent most of his time cooped up in his dorm experimenting. And when he wasn’t experimenting, he was going to parties, talking to the more unsavory fae, the ones that knew Suki. All of this party-going had made him connections he didn’t necessarily want. One night, he’d let slip what he did in his spare time, and the boy he was talking to suddenly felt like being nice to him. One thing led to another and he was being payed to make one of his creations for the boy. Adem didn’t ask questions, he didn’t want to know. He just wanted to make the bomb, deliver it to the boy, get paid, and hope he’d be forgotten and never asked to do the same thing ever again.

    It was hard for him to feel guilty about the transaction, when he’d spent so long feeling guilty about his brother. The events of the night simply didn’t compare to the day Teo lost his leg, which made Adem feel slightly better about them, in some twisted way. He relaxed a little bit more once he made it to the corridor that held his dorm room. The rest of the way was a blur, and he realized how glad he was to be back. He was exhausted, ready to take off his shoes and go to sleep. He didn’t bother to change clothes when he slept anymore. They would be rumpled either way.

    Adem pushed open the door to his dorm room and stepped inside. Something was terribly wrong. He froze, barely through the threshold. The lights were on and the window was wide open. Someone was sitting at his desk, looking through his papers. Someone mortal. He wondered if he should just leave, sleep in the hallway and wait for the stranger to leave. Perhaps it was one of the local noble’s servants, befuddled by whatever enchantments had been put on him. But the stranger looked up when he entered and Adem knew he’d missed his chance to slip out. He swallowed, trying not show his suspicion. “I—” he began, not sure what he should say. He was too tired for this. “I’m sorry, who are you? And what are you doing in my room?”

TAGS: Bran Viola

★fai

All you have is your fire
And the place you need to reach

[Bran Viola]

“Hey.”


Bran flicked his wrist and batted the small bomb off the desk into the palm of his other hand, holding it up so the faerie could see it. Bran didn’t know if this person made any effort to mark their own inventions, perhaps so he could keep track of what he gave to who, but based on the makeshift laboratory they found themselves in, Bran severely doubted this boy was writing up serial numbers.



“Do you know what this is? You should. You made it, right?”



Bran pulled back his hand before Adem could reach for his invention, and placed it lightly back on the desk.



“Your name is Adem, I forget what your last name is exactly, but the estate it belonged to burned down in a fire. It’s weird that you’re making your own but I’m not interested in psychoanalyzing you. I am interested in what methodology you’re using to make bombs in an environment where pins, fuses, and charges refuse to work. I’m assuming it’s enchantment based?”


Bran picked up the drawing and straightened its contour with a quick flourish.



“You should be more careful about who you sell your merchandise to. Though who knows, maybe knowing this bomb was useless for him makes you feel a little better?”


Bran tossed the drawing towards the door, where it cascaded gently down to the floor at Adem’s feet.



“Tell me about your inventions. You might have a new client. I should also warn you- don’t come too close to me. Your skin might start to blister.”

tags-Adem Agni Yadav ,

[Adem Agni Yadav]

    Hey? This random boy, a mortal no less, barely older than Adem himself, breaks into his room and starts out with ‘Hey,’? He was bewildered. It was odd enough to see a mortal at an academy that was primarily for the fae, but odder still to see that the boy seemed to have his wits about him. Normally, whatever mortals one did see walking around were heavily glamoured. Adem winced as the bomb prototype rolled around his desk, carelessly falling into the mortal’s hand. Good thing it had been a failed model. Some of the earlier versions had exploded at the littlest bit of pressure. This mortal was walking on thin ice, and he didn’t even know it. “It’s a bomb.” Adem muttered, wondering why he asked a question he obviously knew the answer to.

    Yes, he had made it, but he wasn’t about to admit that to a total stranger. Apparently, this boy had also tried to do some research on him, and failed in finding the truth. Adem was fine with that, really. He’d rather not have his entire life’s story on display for all to see. “My name is Adem. But my family never owned an estate. My parents are servants.” He raised a brow, hesitant to answer any of his questions. He certainly felt the need to ignore his comment about the estate burning down. There was an estate and it did burn down at Adem’s hands, but it was abandoned. Nobody owned the place. “Why should I answer any of your questions?” Who was he to tell Adem that he needed to be careful. The boy was a mortal. In Faerie. How hypocritical of him to encourage caution on someone else’s life.

    Adem took the warning, not that he’d planned on getting cozy with the stranger at his desk. He picked up the drawing at his feet, and studied the slight edits that had been made. No one ever looked at his things. No one even knew they existed. This was an invasion of privacy of the worst kind, and it made him want to shrivel up and hide under his floorboards. Adem didn’t want his bad habits to become a business. He’d thought that the transaction made that night had been one and done, but what if it had put something more into motion? He was starting to feel slightly sick. “What makes you think I want clients in the first place? I don’t even know who you are.”

TAGS: Bran Viola

★fai

All you have is your fire
And the place you need to reach

[Bran Viola]


“Correct, which means you probably made it, because this amalgam of metal looks less like a bomb and more like an abstract sculpture. That’s not even mentioning that people tend not to use bombs in the faewild anyway. Catch.”


Bran tossed the orb in a short, soft arc across the room. Hopefully the boy would catch it right side up. Otherwise he’d end up burning himself on the long nail piercing the device’s core. Paying no attention to whether Adem managed to catch the bomb properly, Bran continued.



“I broke it. Admittedly I have no clue how you activate it so I figured better safe than sorry.”



Bran paused. Adem wasn’t noble? He didn’t often hear much about servants and lower classes of fae. It was generally a safe assumption that anyone Bran knew anything about in the faewild was a nepotism baby. Why did the name Yadav, that was it, Yadav, ring a bell? Something about a fire. Maybe there was a noble family that owned the estate and died in the fire? And the servants survived? Bran pushed the thought aside, it wasn’t necessary to worry about the false hierarchies of dogs, he could check the families records for a fire when he got back to his world. If there was a reason it stuck in his head he’d know, and if not he could discard the information. Honestly, he might not even bother to check. The apology bran gave wasn’t exactly disingenuous, he was indeed sorry for himself that he’d forgotten something that seemed important 



“Sorry, maybe I mixed you up with the dead.”


‘Why should I answer your questions?’ Bran had heard that several times in the last two days and was beginning to tire of it. Anxiety and tension, it seemed, were much more effective at making his targets indignant than anything else. If only bran could kill the boy, take his things and leave. It wasn’t a great idea, he’d have to get the research team on decoding an academy students inane scribblings, and bodies left a trail, but bran had already left a body in his trail. Why not another? A noble could be anyones target, a schoolboy raises questions, he reminded himself. Business it was.



“You don’t want clients? How do you think I found you?”



Bran waved his hand to the mangled shell of the bomb.



“Of course you don’t know me, that’s for the best. Clearly I don’t know you very well either, and honestly I don’t intend to. I doubt the man you sold these to did either. So let’s start with a price. I’d like you to provide me some clearer diagrams and make a physical casing without a charge in it. Afterwards, as clearly your creations are based in your own magical ability, I’ll want to commission some things from you. In return, I can offer a few things, but that depends on what you think your work is worth.”



Bran frowned and looked around the room.



“We could always start with a workshop that’s a little more discreet than a dorm room. We could also start with a workshop that doesn’t have a giant open hearth a few feet from where you keep several pounds of explosive material. You don't seem to have a very good handle on the idea of fire safety."

Tags- Adem Agni Yadav,

[Adem Agni Yadav]

    This boy spoke so matter-of-factly. It unnerved Adem. How much did he know about him exactly? His stomach lurched again as he tossed the bomb through the air and towards Adem. He caught it, but fumbled, lurching back from the sphere as if burned. No, he had been burned. The bomb clattered to the floor, and based on the fact that both of them were still standing alive and well, he registered the fact that the mortal must have done something to it. Gingerly picking it up so as to not burn himself again, he saw the iron nail sticking out of the center. Now he was getting really annoyed. “Why would I know anything about the faewild?” he asked. It was a valid question. But the bigger question was why he, a mortal would know anything about it. “Why do you know anything about the faewild? You’re a mortal.”

    Adem tossed the forlorn bomb onto his mess of a bed. Once he figured out how to extract the iron, he could probably just use it for scraps. “Right,” he responded to the boy’s comment about the dead. There were no dead relatives that he could confuse Adem with. He really doesn’t know anything about me, he realized, and I don’t think he cares either. It only added to the unease he was already feeling. It wouldn’t be normal to come into this situation and not know anything about the person you were speaking with. “That boy was an accident. I wasn’t looking for him. He found me.” It was a mistake he wouldn’t make again. He needed to get this boy out of his dorm and forget this night ever happened. “I have no intention of going through the same situation ever again.”

    He knew he’d promised himself the boy from the party was a one-time thing, but the mention of a workshop enticed him greatly. He’d never thought that his hobby could become his line of work, or that it had any material worth. “I have to admit, your offer does entice me. How can I be sure I can trust you? How do I know you aren’t trying to get something to use against me?” Adem needed to be cautious, especially with a mortal. He wasn’t glamored, he could see that, so he hadn’t come in the service of any fae noble. But it didn’t make any sense why a mortal would ask for something like this. “I want a name. Your name. It can be your given name or your surname, I don’t care. I just want a name.” He considered the mortal before him. “Consider it your down payment.”

TAGS: Bran Viola

★fai

All you have is your fire
And the place you need to reach

[Bran Viola]

“You should know about the faewild because you live here. You go to school here. Maybe you need to focus more on your studies than making weapons. I only know what I know because I pay attention.”



Bran pushed at the floor with his foot, the other crossed over his knee just above, tapping the carpet as he looked around at the student’s dormitory.



“An accident… you make bombs. Why are you building them if they aren’t intended to be used? You can’t make a blade and expect it to never draw blood. You have very odd hobbies.”



Bran smiled. It did seem like this little private joy of his, whatever it was, was as important as he’d guessed. There wasn’t any need at this point to be particularly antagonistic.



“You’re a student. I know you don’t know anything about me, but there’s really no reason I have to blackmail you. No offense but you’re not really that important. Neither am I. You can continue your hobby, I just want to know more about it. You don’t need to worry about what it’s used for, and it won’t be traced back to you. I can do a much better job than your last customer at being discreet. That’s the way it should be. You aren’t responsible for other peoples actions.”



Bran looked up at the ceiling for a moment before standing up and stretching his neck. The people that these were used for wouldn’t know his name, and the ones who did were far and few between in the faewild.



“That’s fair. Bran. My name is Bran. I can get you a space to work in not too wildly far from here, materials as well. I just want a copy of that diagram. In addition I’d like you to supply me with some of these as well. We can arrange that once you settle in.”

tags- Adem Agni Yadav,