Characters and concepts belong to Disney. Here's my response to the ever-popular Balthy 100. This will be a collection of unrelated snippets, some outtakes from my longer fics, some plotless in-character ramblings about how this fandom's canon works (at least in my head), and occasionally something of actual merit may emerge.
If the chapter consists of more than 1000 words or so, I'll label it by character and genre.
Unless otherwise specified, assume each individual snippet has no relation to any of the others, or to any of my longer fics.
I should add that the rating may rise on this collection, mostly due to language, but also violence, and possibly sex. Any relevant warnings will be placed at the top of each chapter/prompt. I usually write canon relationships for this fandom, but slash and femslash, implied or explicit, may creep in (I don't have any plans as of yet, but basically I'm not going to limit myself). I will warn for this sort of content also, and if there is no warning, you may assume the content is Gen.
01. Arcana Cabana (557 words)
"Six? Did you really just…are you serious? Six?" Dave couldn't seem to pick his jaw up off the tabletop.
"Yes, four offshore and two in American banks," Balthazar answered calmly. "Four plus two still equals six, last I checked. But I may not be able to reclaim them all."
"Why so many?" The younger man managed to get out after a moment. "They ran out of room…?"
"What? No, it doesn't work that way. After the Great Depression I thought it might be a good idea to diversify. I have some things lying around in caves and old wells, too, unless they've been plundered. Nothing is truly safe from time, in the end. But what I'm saying is you can stop worrying about where Veronica and I will be living. I can afford a nice place in the suburbs. We can talk about your student loans later. But I need a week or so to get things back together."
Dave nodded slowly. "Okay. Well…I guess the turnaround's livable for a week." He wasn't touching the comment about his student loans. Mostly he tried not to think about them in the first place, but the idea that someone could just swoop in and take care of them for him was overwhelming.
"It's fine." Balthazar leaned back in his chair and sighed. "I'm sure you want to get on with your life, and it should be safe enough to go back to your flat. But I strongly recommend wards on it, and maybe a tracker on Becky until we're sure of what Horvath is up to."
"You think he'd go after her again?" Dave's stomach clenched painfully.
"He's…tenacious. And ruthless. I think assuming he's beaten would be a mistake."
"Should we have let her and Veronica go off shopping like that?"
Balthazar smiled faintly, because he, too, had his doubts about letting the women out of their sight, but he recognized them as irrational. "Veronica is more than equal to Horvath in power, skill, and cleverness. Probably they're at the mall asking one another if it was safe to let us stay here all alone. But you don't 'let' a woman do anything, Dave. Except sometimes in the sense that you get out of her way before she mows you down."
"But you can put a tracking spell on her?"
"…if you ask nicely."
Dave smiled a little. After a moment's thought, he asked, "Will you be trying to get the Arcana Cabana back?"
Balthazar sighed. "I don't think so. It served its purpose. It was a diversion, ultimately, when the years weighed on me the heaviest." His eyes went distant and a little dreamy. "I wouldn't mind a farm. A garden and some trees…"
"You don't seem much like a farmer."
"My father was a farmer." He focused back in slowly. "We had an apple orchard, and chickens, and goats. Times were different. But I thought I'd grow up and have some flocks and seven or eight children."
Dave couldn't picture this, and didn't want to say so.
After a moment, Balthazar went on. "I suppose that ship has sailed. But we'll see what Veronica wants. I doubt we'll manage 'normal life' but maybe 'lack of constant battle' will be enough."
"You don't ask for much." Dave smiled weakly.
"That's why I'm so rarely disappointed."