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Post by starrzchylde on Jan 11, 2007 10:12:49 GMT -5
Enchanted Investigations 203 Harrington Avenue Cincinnati OH, 45201 Phone: (555) 555-6598 Fax: (555) 555-6599 State License Number: 0256322152-0078
Specializing in security escort services, missing persons, spell work, and much more.
Rates available upon request.
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Post by starrzchylde on Jan 11, 2007 10:13:13 GMT -5
Rhia turns on Harrington Avenue and makes her way down the long, tree-lined street. Out of habit, she starts to pull into her old driveway. She catches herself and laughs, shaking her head, then makes her way to the end of the street. Old habits die hard, she thinks to herself as she turns into the driveway of Enchanted Investigations and parks in the garage.
She had been living at the house that doubles as the office for a little less than a week now. She and Michael both figured she spent more time there than at her house and might as well just move in.
Grabbing her things from the passenger seat, Rhia smiles. Her life had completely changed since moving to Cincinnati. Since leaving the family restaurants behind in New York, she had become a blues singer and now a runner. She didn’t sing at the Blue Note much any more, but Scat always let her have the stage when she came in to see him.
Still riding high on the thrill of the run she had just finished, Rhia heads into the house.
“Michael, you here?” she calls out.
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Post by FrankTheTank on Jan 11, 2007 10:19:30 GMT -5
Michael was not having the best of days so far. His morning run had turned into a complete wild goose chase that had lead him in circles around a quiet neighborhood in the Hollows searching for a missing girl. It turned out the child wasn’t so missing, as just simply misplaced.
He’d returned home around midday in a bad mood only to be comforted by Prax’s mad family that had decided that it had been a little to chilly in the garden that morning, so had taken it upon themselves to move into the house. When the constant noise had become too much for Michael to handle, he’d jumped in the car and had headed out to the local DIY store for tools and materials.
Now sitting back on the garden porch surrounded by lengths of ply and numerous fixings, he was desperately trying to make sense of the instructions that would allow him to construct a large dollhouse for Prax and his monsters. The front door slammed and Michael heard Rhia throw her keys down before calling out to him.
“I’m in the garden.” Came the muffled reply followed closely by a string of expletives when the hammer Michael had been holding had slipped from his grasp and landed on his foot.
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Post by starrzchylde on Jan 11, 2007 10:35:16 GMT -5
Rhia raises an eyebrow at the muffled foul language coming from the back porch. A few pixy children fly past her. “Hi Miss Rhia!” they shout out to her in their high pitched tones. Rhia laughs and says hello, then heads through the kitchen and lays her bag down on the counter before walking out the back door.
She looks from the pile of wood in front of him to the directions in his and, then down to the hammer still lying on his foot. She reaches down and picks up the hammer, holding it out for Michael to take as she leans forward to give him a soft kiss on the cheek.
“Bad day at the office, honey?” Rhia says with a slight grin. “What’s the matter?”
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Post by FrankTheTank on Jan 11, 2007 10:40:04 GMT -5
Michael took the hammer from Rhia’s hand and stood frowning at her while she looked at him, amusement clearly on her face. Knowing full well that the dolls house was a mission impossible, he tossed the hammer to one side with the rest of the tools sprawled over the grass.
“Lets see if you’re still grinning in about an hours time,” Scowled Michael as he brushed the sawdust from his jeans. “Those little buggers have been screaming non-stop for the entire morning. I can’t even ask Prax to shut them up as I gave him the afternoon off to take Cinder’s out.”
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Post by starrzchylde on Jan 11, 2007 10:47:46 GMT -5
“I’ll talk to Mara and see if she can get her siblings in line,” Rhia says. Mara, the eldest of Prax’s children, seemed to have a good handle on how to keep the others in line. She looks over the tools and wood laying haphazardly on the ground, then looks back at Michael.
“Let me guess. The entire pixy clan moved inside once it got chilly this morning and they have been driving you mad since.” Rhia takes Michael’s scowl and silence as a yes. “You know, my house is still sitting empty down the street. I haven’t even called the realtor to put it on the market yet. It’s completely paid off, so why don’t I offer the place to Prax for his family to move into. They can have the entire garden when the weather is warm and the house to themselves when it gets cold outside.”
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Post by FrankTheTank on Jan 11, 2007 10:50:24 GMT -5
“Give an entire house and garden to a pixie clan. That has to be the craziest thing you…no, make that anyone has ever suggested.” Remarked Michael, a look of complete disbelief running over his features.
Just then Rand came thundering out of the kitchen door and started running panicked circles around Michael and Rhia’s legs. Riding on the poor ferrets back was a young pixie. It appeared that Prax’s kids had fashioned themselves a saddle out of an old matchbox and a couple of lengths of string.
“When can they move in.” Grinned Michael as Rand high tailed it back inside the house accompanied by the excited woots of young pixies.
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Post by starrzchylde on Jan 11, 2007 10:51:02 GMT -5
Rhia shakes her head. “ASAP,” she says with a groan, turning to chase after her poor familiar. She calls out to Mara, sighing in relief when the pixie lands softly on her shoulder. “What’s up, Miss Rhia?”
“Mara, could you do me a favor and wrangle your brothers and sisters. They broke Rand out of his cage again and are riding him around the house. I’d really appreciate it if you could calm them down a bit,”
“Sure thing, Miss Rhia,” Mara says, her small pixie face smiling at her. She flies off, calling to her siblings in a voice too fast for Rhia to hear.
A few minutes later, she has Rand in her arms and a young pixie hovering a few inches from her face as she apologizes.
After calming Rand down and setting him back in his cage, Rhia makes her way through the now quieter house back to the porch.
“All is well,” she says to Michael with a smile. “Whatever would you do without me?”
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Post by FrankTheTank on Jan 11, 2007 10:52:50 GMT -5
“I’d probably run away and join the circus.” Laughed Michael as he gave Rhia a thankful hug. Mera was doing an admirable job of controlling the brat pack, but she was no Knox. That boy had really known how to lay down the law and keep the rabble from rioting. Unfortunately after his successful stint looking after my old next-door neighbors tomato plants, Prax had finally agreed to allow him to set up his own garden.
I looked down at my unsuccessful project lying in a pile on the lawn and smiled at Rhia. “Well at least we don’t have to look far for the kindling for the solstice fire. So how did the run go?”
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Post by starrzchylde on Jan 11, 2007 10:53:39 GMT -5
Rhia laughs, happy to see Michael's mood lightening. She reaches into her back pocket and pulls out a check.
"The run went great. The vamp girl's mom and dad were right. She had been skipping out on school and spending all her time at a bloodhouse. I found her and brought her home. Mom and dad are going to pay extra for a few lie-detecting amulets and wards to use to make sure she stops sneaking out," Rhia says. "Too bad I didn't get to beat anyone up though," she adds with a small giggle.
Rhia puts her hands on the railing behind her and pushes herself up to sit on it. "So, it looks like I have some spell work to do. I stopped by the charm shop on the way home and picked up supplies, so I'm all set. How did your run go?"
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Post by FrankTheTank on Jan 11, 2007 10:54:55 GMT -5
The smile Michael had been wearing slipped into a scowl as he thought back to the morning’s events. “It was a complete nightmare.” He groaned as he turned around and propped himself on the railing next to Rhia.
“I thought I’d try out that new location charm I’ve been working on to get a fix on the missing girl. The damn thing led me on a merry chase around half the lower Westside of the Hollows. You’ll never guess where I ended up after an hours aimless wandering.”
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Post by starrzchylde on Jan 11, 2007 10:55:29 GMT -5
Rhia leans over, laying her head on Michael's shoulder and snaking an arm around behind his back.
"Where'd you end up?" she asks.
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Post by FrankTheTank on Jan 11, 2007 11:01:12 GMT -5
“Back where I bloody started that’s where.” Michael grinned as he shook his head from side to side before tilting his to rest lightly upon Rhia’s.
“I thought I’d messed the spell up so I started again, in the process making myself look like a complete plonker in front of the client. Well I followed the spell a second time, which was now taking me in a completely different direction to before. I'll let you have one guess where I ended up after another hour.”
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Post by starrzchylde on Jan 11, 2007 11:02:20 GMT -5
Rhia smiles, sighing contentedly as Michael lays his head on hers. Through the corner of her eye, she can see him grin. Happy that he's in a better mood in spite of his rocky morning, she listens as he tells her what happened.
"Back at the beginning again?" Rhia asks, stifling a giggle.
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Post by FrankTheTank on Jan 11, 2007 11:02:56 GMT -5
“Ten points to the pretty witch in the garden.” Laughed Michael a little to enthusiastically, almost losing his balance and pulling Rhia down with him. Quickly regaining his balance, he smirked an apology at Rhia and wrapped an arm around her for a little more support.
“I was pretty convinced that I couldn’t have messed the spell up twice in a row. In the end I came to the conclusion that the house must have been the last place the girl had been. The mother was getting pretty frantic at this point and almost completely lost the plot when I suggested that we search the house again. For all I knew the girl might have just been hiding under a bed and no one had bothered to check.”
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