(no subject)

[zen_monk]

And suddenly checking other college websites has revealed that I got accepted into UC Santa Cruz.

WAI-WAI-WAIT, WHAT?

8'D suddenly I see a beacon of light at the end... Is this the start of my sparkling adventures into Northern California and the Bay Area?????

Comments

[novel_machinist]

FUCK YEAH!

A sorta something drabble.

[zen_monk]

Fog rolled in over the mountains in the dead of night. The yellow lamplights glow in the gloom like weary, baleful eyes looking up from a small glass. Condensation obscured the windows made of artificially fogged glass and enhanced the cozy feeling of being inside and not out in the cold, and that suits the man fine. The low lights illuminated the bar as the bartender went around to turn off the lights for the rest of the establishment. The universe shrank to just him, his glass of light beer, and the way the low lights twinkle the bottles like stained glass windows.

"You really don't mind?" asked Will, and she really doesn't seem the sort to rescind an invitation to crash the night, but he minded a little more and he just wanted to hear it again.

"Nope," she answered back from across the room. "It'd be against the law and my conscience to leave you out in the dark and cold. Even if all you got was a light beer. Don't worry; I got a room in the back with clean sheets and pillows just in case someone thought it's smart to leave a bar impaired."

"Thank you," he said to the reflection of the bartender in front of him and he looked back into the dregs of his glass. "When I said that I was going on a vacation in California to my boss, he was giving me all these recommendations for which beaches to go to. I'm not much for surfing, really."

"So you go for the mountains and redwoods?" she asked as she stepped back behind the bar and approached the till.

"Right. And the facilities."

"Then it's not *really* a vacation if you're looking to go to a university research lab without a hangover."

"I think it counts if you have conversations with the hippies that live in tree branches." Will got a smile out of her and for a moment he forgot about the darkness and fog outside. He could feel the brightness emanating from her and thought it's been a long time since he could find reflect back a Will Graham that isn't a vulnerable man but someone who lingered pleasantly.

[lassarina]

congrats!

I respond via drabble speak

[zen_monk]

In his travels, Kain encountered a collection of colleges nestled in tall groves of trees like a coven near Troia. Upon arriving and resting at an inn, he inquired over the town's presence in regards to the rest of the known kingdom and was stated to be a place of research regarding the natural world.

"We may not be as as hoity toity as them Epopts in yonder castle and town, for we dig deep into the earth and climb high into the trees to know the natural order of things," drawled the barkeeper.

"Is this not unlike the study of elemental magic? Such as the black mages or the study of higher aether such as the white mages, like in Mysidia?" asked Kain, taking a swig of dark ale. The taste nearly made him squeeze his eyes shut, its scent like a field in night.

"Pfaugh, folks here aren't so concerned with the magicks and magery of others; no, we be measuring and equating with the natural wits the gods have given us and as vast as the hidden energies of the crystals. If we don't calculate and find out how to measure things appropriately, how can we understand this world, aye?"

Kain "hmm-ed" into his cup. "Then those people lounging outside..."

"Are they smoking or...?"

"Yes."

"They're students."

"What are they doing?"

"See, we have this ritual called 4/20, and..."

Soon after, Kain paid and took the opportunity to explore the town wishing he had known less.

The redwoods, however, are a personal treat. Towering as high as the battlements of Baron, he leapt from trunk up the shaft and found satisfying footing at the branches far above. Fog had rolled in from the nearby ocean, and the light shining through the boughs was as soft as being inside a chapel.

A voice called out from below. "Nice view up there?"

Kain looked down to see a grizzled-faced old timer wearing begrimed robes and a weathered pack.

"Indeed," he called back down. "Are you a scholar, mayhaps?"

"What? No! I live here. Now, if you're looking for a researcher, you're thinking about Joey a grove over. Tell him Aloysius says hi!"

And Kain had thought that black mages were the more peculiar lot of study.