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  • Aditus

    Talk Talk

    By Aditus

    Conversations. Sometimes it’s too much, sometimes too little, formal, informal, clumsy, artificial, with another word: difficult. Let’s practice, Shall we? #253 Someone is on the bus. The guy beside them fidgets the whole time with an irritating tinkling bangle while telling them, it seems, their entire life story, including very personal things. It’s time to pop in the earbuds. When it’s time to get off the bus, the talker has disappeared and the strange bangle is now on th
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Toymaker, part 2

[Hrm. Looks like my tendency to mushy background stuff is getting in the way. 1700 words and nothing's exploded! Have to fix that in the next piece...]   William finished dressing himself a few minutes later. Gone was the barbarian prince, and in his place was an ordinary, unremarkable merchant. He was wearing a tunic and brown overshirt, belted at the waist, and a pair of dark green leggings. He'd exchanged his doeskin boots for a pair made of sturdy leather. He tugged at the collar of the sh
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Dirty Basement's done!

And up, thanks to Joe. Ben and William are back, and as domestic as Heroes ever get.   Go read, and marvel at the joys of home ownership.
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Toymaker chapter 01

[i'm feeling the need for some good melodramatic monologuing and denoument (it's all Dio's fault!). Ben and William are always good for that, so while I'm sitting on Busted, and polishing up the last draft of Dirty Basement (the second complete Ben and William story) I give you... Toymaker! Or, rather, the first draft dump of it. That seemed to work pretty well with Busted. My son likes these, so this one's going to be PG, at worst]   William reined in his horse as he crested the hill. The mid
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Busted end notes

Right, some notes for the end of the story, and (hopefully) an entry to hang people's comments about things that need fixing or addressing. Yeah, it's quiz time -- please weigh in with the problems you had with the story. I've got my list, but I can't fix what I don't realize is wrong. (This is not the time to be nice)   I need a title! I don't know that 'Busted' really fits all the way through. The folder on my hard drive's labelled "Ghost Cop" but that's not all that good either. You've got
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Busted chapter 74 + 75 (fin!)

[Ah, I can't wait, so instead I edit and re-release. I'm done. Yay!]   Snuffles may have cleared Chris head, but he also broke the spell that hid Joe. The maniac stiffened as he realized they weren't alone any more.   "You! How are you
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Busted chapter 73

[Damn, this is slow going. Sorry...]   From the kitchen to the upstairs took Joe all of seven seconds. He heard the nasty laughter as soon as he'd rounded the corner and hit the stairs, and it led him right to the master bedroom.   He gave a strangled little cry as he stopped in the doorway. Chris was sprawled out on the floor next to the bed, his head against the nightstand. He looked dazed, his eyes a little unfocused. The lamp that stood on the nightstand was wobbling, throwing odd flashe
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Busted chapter 72

[Only one or two parts to go. Racing to the end now]   That sent a chill down Chris' spine and left a lump in his stomach. 'Hungry' was always bad with the violently insane. Not that he had a whole lot of experience with those. He was a detective in a small city police department. He had to deal with drugs and gangs and the occasional psychopath. As deep as he'd dived into the case, the state guys were right. He hadn't ever dealt with this stuff. Not that they had, but that was a problem for a
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Busted chapter 70

[Y'know, simultenaety isn't so much of a problem when you're writing first-person...]   Chris was swearing at himself the whole way home. He'd f**ked up, and he knew it. That meant it was time to break the news to Toby. He wasn't looking forward to that.   He parked his car and walked around the back of Steve's house. Steve's car wasn't in the driveway, which probably meant he hadn't gotten back yet. He felt a twinge of guilt for leaving Steve with the paperwork, but better Steve than him. H
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Busted chapter 69

It took Joe seven minutes to make the drive, and they were the longest seven minutes of his life. A half block away from Chris' house he threw his car in neutral, cut the engine, and coasted into Steve's driveway. It was probably pointless, but he didn't want any noise to give away his presence.   There was a car in Chris' driveway, a blue Jetta he didn't recognize. It had New Mexico plates, and seemed vaguely familiar.   Joe grabbed his keys and eased himself out of the car. He left the do
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Busted chapter 68

[This one's a bit more ragged than I'd like. The shouty bits don't hang together as well as I want 'em to. Damn this 'no sleep' thing anyway...]   Joe was trying to bring himself to eat dinner when his cell rang. He'd picked up Chinese on the way back to the hotel, but his stomach just wasn't up to it. The food sat, cloyingly sweet sauces congealing as it cooled. The suite was filled with the smell of overcooked pineapple and garlic.   The day had been pretty much a total loss
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Busted chapter 67

[Mmmm, remorse!]   Chris took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. He'd spent the whole day Friday either on the phone or digging into police databases. He hadn't anything to show for it but a headache and some vague offers for people to call him back. It wasn't enough
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Busted chapter 66

[This is longer than it actually seems, since there's a lot of missing non-dialogue. And Snuffles makes an appearance courtesy of very clever readers. Thanks guys!]   When Chris got back to the station he found the place in a buzz.   "What's going on?" he asked Steve.   Steve gave him a cold glare. Chris flinched, but not much. He'd been beating himself up the whole drive back to the station, and there wasn't much Steve could do to make him feel any worse.   "Yes, fine, I f**ked up," Chr
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Busted chapter 65

Thursday morning Chris was in a foul mood. He'd half-hoped that Joe would be at the house when he got home Wednesday. Maybe Joe would bitch him out the way he deserved, he could apologize, and they could work something out. The possibility of make-up sex occurred, though he wasn't sure he was ready for that, even if Joe hadn't been hurt.   Joe hadn't been there, of course. Toby had cheerfully let him know that he and Aunt Mary had dropped him off at his apartment, then asked when his new Daddy
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Busted chapter 64

[Kind of a transition chapter. And setup for the future. The guys have been nudging for a vacation. It feels like a good spot for a plateau, before we race into the finish]   Thursday morning Joe woke up and felt like hell. His left arm was stiff, his shoulder hurt like hell, and his whole body ached. The hotel bed had been fine as hotel beds went, but it wasn't his, and it wasn't Chris'. Not that he was going to end up in Chris' bed again. The closest he came was Snuffles. It wasn't the same.
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Busted chapter 63

Joe stood on the sidewalk of his apartment complex and waved at Toby as Mary pulled away. It hurt, watching them go. It was the last time he was going to see Toby. He had a lump in his throat he couldn't get rid of, and it was all he could do to keep from crying. It was better this way, though.   He'd been honest when he told Chris he wasn't going to hide. But Chris had been honest with him, too, at the hospital. He wasn't Joe's boyfriend. And that had hurt. It was a really shitty day when the
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Busted chapter 62

Steve was quiet the whole drive back to the station. That worried Chris. When Steve was quiet it was a sign he was thinking, and Chris really didn't want him thinking about Joe. That was something Chris himself was trying not to do, not that he was managing it.   He'd really f**ked up at the hospital. He knew that. Joe had needed him and he'd pulled away. Need might've been a strong word; Joe clearly could take care of himself. Chris was sure he didn't really need him. Still, he'd seen the hur
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Busted chapter 61

[Ah, you knew it was too good to be true]   "Well, I'm all done," Nurse Dave remarked as he gathered up his things. "Someone'll be along in a bit to take care of you."   "Thanks, Dave," Chris said absently. His fingers were stroking Joe's hand. He wasn't paying much attention. Steve was, and he caught the wry smile the nurse had.   "So what happened?" Steve asked. He'd pulled out a notebook and pen. "Why'd you get carved up?"   Something flared inside Chris. He was feeling suddenly very
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Busted chapter 60

[i keep feeling like I ought to have Chris have a harder time with all this. I dunno, it feels a little too easy]   "What's going on? Dammit Steve, where the hell are we going?"   "Hospital," Steve said. He was driving like a madman. The car's lights were on, and he was weaving in and out of traffic.   "Why ware we going to the hospital?"   "Busy driving here," Steve said as he cut off a green SUV.   Chris spent the next fifteen minutes worrying. There wasn't any point in pressing Stev
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Busted chapter 59

[This probably will end up getting rearranged and merged with chapter 57, but I was feeling cliff-hangery]   "Toby! You shouldn't open the door for
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Busted chapter 58

[Mmmm, banter. And some background, though I'm not sure if maybe it's too late in the book to be adding in background at this point]   Chris and Steve sat at the back of the scruffy conference room. There were two dozen people in it with them. Some of them were other detectives from the city, some of them were detectives from the state police, there were a couple of guys from the Attorney General's office, and some PR guy from the state. They always got one of those whenever something that mig
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Busted chapter 57

[i'm not sure whether I should have Joe have more stuff he pulls down. I do need to go back to the part where Steve stops by and make sure more of this is mentioned]   Joe pulled into his parking spot at his complex. He'd almost parked in the visitor's spot
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Busted chapter 56

[Ah... I got nothin']   "Yes," Joe said. It was a reflex, the word coming out before his brain was at all engaged.   "Don't I get a say in that?" Chris said from behind them. His voice was almost a growl. This was how things had gone with Megan. She'd always done what she'd wanted, and made sure he'd done it too. Whether he wanted to or not. He'd hated that, how insignificant it made him feel. How insignificant he'd let it make him feel.   Joe turned and gave Chris a smoldering look. "Alwa
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