Sunday Snippet: Maybe This Seems Familiar

Even though March is my birth month and the birth month of my mom and one of my best friends, I'm kind of glad to kick it to the curb. It's been a wild ride this month. That said, it's also been intensely productive, so I'm really not complaining.

The weather is still drunk, wildly surging one direction then lurching back only to zing forward again. My sinuses hate me right now. And my throat has that I just swallowed glass with a gravel chaser sound at the moment.

Still buried with work but I'm making great progress on all fronts. I added another new hourly project to the pile and made a big dent in that one yesterday.

Not a bad week for viewing. I got through my usual slate and did a marathon watch to finish out the week.

Ended up watching two episodes of Elementary and both were actually terrific. I'm very interested in seeing how things with Kitty play out in the next few installments.

Caught two episodes of Batman Beyond. Always happy to see the Royal Flush show up and I liked the throwback to Bane.

Also enjoyed two Classic Rugrats episodes. I'm about halfway through the final season and I think I'll pick back up with the new reboot once I'm finished up.

Caught another episode of Death in Paradise and I'm enjoying having Darlene working with the team. She's a great addition. Also glad to see Neville's sister exit. Maybe she'll grow on me, but I didn't enjoy her at all.

Watched the first official episode of season two Beyond Paradise. Really enjoyed the way the mystery unfolded. Also loved the resolution.

I ended up not quite finishing the episode of London Kills but I should have that one completed this week.

That's it for the life update. Tonight's post is from Maybe This Seems Familiar, a novella that pulls a couple together after a big loss.

Here's the miniblurb:

A tragic death sends Inyx Pic, an Adept Major, into a brittle shell of self-doubt. When Philo Batson, her Adept Master, pushes Inyx to get back to teaching, her armor of disillusionment cracks and anger and grief come pouring out, leaving Philo to handle the fallout.

And a preview snippet…

Adept major Inyx Pic cast a recall spell. "No, Marlax. You're skipping steps and your ass is really gonna hurt when you get knocked on it from backlash." She absorbed the random energy from calling in the attempted conjure.

Marlax Tillie snarled. "I'm not a baby mage. I don't need the training wheels, Major Pic." Her eyes flashed with anger. "You're holding me back, and it's not fair." She flounced to her worktable.

Inyx bit back a string of curses. "Fair isn't why we're here. You can't move on to the next class if you don't master the finer points of conjuring." How many times had Inyx listened to lectures about finesse?

And how many times had she wanted to smash her fist into Philo Batson's face because he never shut up about learning the basics forward, backward, and upside down? Probably as many as she'd wanted to strip him naked and make him passionate about something other than conjuring. Too bad she'd never pushed harder to make that happen.

Then again, she had very good reasons for not doing so. Even if he'd made it clear he'd be interested…

"Major Pic? Am I free to go?" Marlax arched her winged brows.

Inyx blinked and shook off the cobwebs. "You can leave after you've listed the ten steps to safely conjure. Then come back tomorrow and we'll start again." She made her way to the stool sitting at the head of the classroom. "The rest of you are dismissed. See you tomorrow." Sinking down, she tried to recalibrate and find her center.

Next time, she'd send the random energy out the window instead of taking it on. She'd spend the rest of the day wired one moment and dragging ass the next. At least she didn't have to teach any more this afternoon.

Marlax slapped her notebook open and huffed out sigh. She scribbled the assigned list down the page, tore it out, and brought it to Inyx. She reviewed the steps and gave a nod.

Marlax rolled her eyes. "It's not that I don't know what they are. It's—"

Inyx finished the thought for her student. "You think they're stupid. I don't need to be an oracle to figure that out." She folded the paper and tucked it into Marlax's shirt pocket. "Come in tomorrow, do what you need to do, and you'll be golden." If Marlax tried to leap ahead again, she'd be wearing the list on her forehead.

Marlax snorted, whirled around, gathered her stuff, and stomped out the door, nearly running Philo over when he entered.

His brows went up. "Do I want to know what that's about?" He propped his hip on the worktable across from her desk.

Inyx sighed. "It's been a day. That one wants to fly before she can walk." And damn if the plebe didn't raise a bunch of red flags.

Philo smirked. "That sounds familiar."

I think I finally have the tone I want for this story. Philo and Inyx have a long history of dancing around each other and it's fun to write them edging closer together.

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye