Debts Called Due [original; PG]
Aug. 24th, 2012 07:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
invoking_uraniaTitle: Debts Called Due
Fandom: Original Fiction
Rating: PG
Genre: Fantasy
Words: 430
Notes/Warnings: Isidore is loosely based on a tabletop character, though that one was a detective. And about 12 years old. And living in a fairy-tale world. I haven't decided if this incarnation is in a bog-standard Hidden Magic Urban Fantasy or some other sort of city-based fantasy series. Or if I want to continue this.
Summary: A selkie walks into a lawyer's office.
Isidore looked at the woman who had entered his office. "If you need to retrieve a missing sealskin, you'd be better off with a private eye. Or the police."
The woman stopped her approach to his desk. "How did you know I was a selkie?"
Isidore met her eyes, which were dark enough that he couldn't make out the pupils. Her hair was pulled back, but he could see the dampness, as if she had just stepped from the shower. Add in a complexion that looked like it never saw the sun, and it wasn't that hard to figure out. "It's what I do." He might be a novice advocate who made his living out of a glorified closet in the dock district of town, but his other job -- the one he didn't put on his business cards -- was working to keep the peace between land and water.
She nodded, uncertainly. "May I sit down? It's not…" she clutched her purse. "I chose to leave the sea. This isn't… I left the sea long before I met my husband. This isn't really a theft case."
Oh. Well, that was a bit embarrassing. The problem with being famous for variations on a single legend is that people forget that you have other problems as well. "Yes, please, sit. There's tea on the side table, but it's probably cold. Sorry. I'd assumed that Muir had mentioned me." In addition to more mundane work, Muir ran an awareness campaign for supernaturals stuck by magical bindings. He'd directed people to her before, and she occasionally sent cases his way. Usually messy divorces and civil suits. "What are you here for?"
The woman sat, still keeping her purse in her lap and trying to take up as little space as possible. Maybe it wasn't just her nature that led Isidore to make assumptions, he thought. "Well, actually, it is about my sealskin. When I came to the land, a decade ago, I came for an education. My parents don't really trust humans, so I didn't exactly have money; barely enough to get the right documentation. So, I had to take out a few loans, and my skin was the only collateral I had." She shook her head. "I was on time with all my payments; they had no right!"
Isidore nodded, taking notes. "Well, ma'am, I think I can help you with that kind of problem."
Fandom: Original Fiction
Rating: PG
Genre: Fantasy
Words: 430
Notes/Warnings: Isidore is loosely based on a tabletop character, though that one was a detective. And about 12 years old. And living in a fairy-tale world. I haven't decided if this incarnation is in a bog-standard Hidden Magic Urban Fantasy or some other sort of city-based fantasy series. Or if I want to continue this.
Summary: A selkie walks into a lawyer's office.
Isidore looked at the woman who had entered his office. "If you need to retrieve a missing sealskin, you'd be better off with a private eye. Or the police."
The woman stopped her approach to his desk. "How did you know I was a selkie?"
Isidore met her eyes, which were dark enough that he couldn't make out the pupils. Her hair was pulled back, but he could see the dampness, as if she had just stepped from the shower. Add in a complexion that looked like it never saw the sun, and it wasn't that hard to figure out. "It's what I do." He might be a novice advocate who made his living out of a glorified closet in the dock district of town, but his other job -- the one he didn't put on his business cards -- was working to keep the peace between land and water.
She nodded, uncertainly. "May I sit down? It's not…" she clutched her purse. "I chose to leave the sea. This isn't… I left the sea long before I met my husband. This isn't really a theft case."
Oh. Well, that was a bit embarrassing. The problem with being famous for variations on a single legend is that people forget that you have other problems as well. "Yes, please, sit. There's tea on the side table, but it's probably cold. Sorry. I'd assumed that Muir had mentioned me." In addition to more mundane work, Muir ran an awareness campaign for supernaturals stuck by magical bindings. He'd directed people to her before, and she occasionally sent cases his way. Usually messy divorces and civil suits. "What are you here for?"
The woman sat, still keeping her purse in her lap and trying to take up as little space as possible. Maybe it wasn't just her nature that led Isidore to make assumptions, he thought. "Well, actually, it is about my sealskin. When I came to the land, a decade ago, I came for an education. My parents don't really trust humans, so I didn't exactly have money; barely enough to get the right documentation. So, I had to take out a few loans, and my skin was the only collateral I had." She shook her head. "I was on time with all my payments; they had no right!"
Isidore nodded, taking notes. "Well, ma'am, I think I can help you with that kind of problem."