The Dresden Files / Bob / #13. Crystal
Title: Message in a Bottle
Author: Cyloran
Fandom: The Dresden Files (tv-verse)
Character: Bob, Harry
Prompt: 13. Crystal
Word Count: 1,104
Rating: G
Summary: Harry tries to use a little clutter to his advantage.
Notes: Spoilers for What About Bob.
Disclaimer: The Dresden Files do not belong to me; just passing through.
Table: Here There be Ghosts
"Tannis leaves," said Bob.
Harry looked up from the notepad. "I thought we still had plenty of those left."
"There are exactly three leaves left in the box."
"That's plenty," said Harry with a dismissive wave. "Next?"
"It is hardly 'plenty.' It takes at least five leaves to fashion a truly effective elixir."
"Those things are expensive, Bob."
"Nevertheless-"
"Seriously, what are the chances of my meeting a reanimated Egyptian mummy in the dead of winter in Chicago?"
"The way your luck has been of late?" replied the ghost archly. "One will probably come knocking upon the door at any moment."
"Tannis leaves," Harry sighed and added it to the list.
"At least two."
"Right."
"Preferably a dozen." At Harry's answering glower, Bob shrugged. "It was just a suggestion." He turned once more to regard the shelf of ingredients. "Cactus needles, wormwood, asclepias, nettles, cat hair… heaven only knows we have more than enough of that..."
"What about spider silk?"
"You still have an entire vial full."
"Good. That stuff takes forever to clean."
"You will need to replenish the jar of used coffee grounds."
"I'll make a pot later," said Harry, adding it to a separate list of components he could create himself.
"And scales."
"What kind?"
"Gecko, I believe. They're-hullo. What's this?"
"What's what?"
"That jar. I don't believe I've ever seen it before."
Harry looked up from his notes to discover Bob on his toes, trying to see over the collection of bottles, jars and boxes. "There's nothing back there, Bob," he said quickly. "Let's start on the next shelf, okay?"
"There doesn't appear to be a label that I can discern," continued Bob, as if he had not heard. "It's quite liberally covered in dust, as if it has been there for years." He frowned. "But that isn't possible."
"If it's been there for years then it can't be that important, can it?" said Harry reasonably. "How's our supply of newt eyes?"
But Bob was not to be dissuaded.
"It cannot have been there for 'years'," he said as he tilted his head to one side and then the next in an effort to identify the contents of the mysterious container. "There are entire weeks when I am confined to this room with nothing better to do than to wander about and inventory the contents. This was not here a week ago."
"Look, it's nothing, okay?" said Harry. "It's just something I picked up when I - Bob, stop!"
But it was already too late, as the ghost finally choose the most direct approach and stepped through the obstacles to thrust his face into the jar in question.
It was a disconcerting sight at best but that wasn't why Harry closed his eyes and shook his head.
"Harry!" exclaimed Bob when he had seen enough. "There is a skull within that jar! It is obscured but I am quite certain that is what I saw."
"I know."
"You know?"
Harry shrugged. "I put it there."
"You did?"
"Yeah."
"And obscured it from view?" Bob glanced at the jar in question and frowned. "Plain sight and magical sight, I assume?"
"Something like that. It's in a potion made of squid ink, bug repellant, and a few pages of one of those old Star Trek novels, shredded," he admitted, a touch of pride in his tone. "Kind of my own version of a cloaking device."
"And the dust was to make it fit in; just another one of hundreds of innocent containers."
"Hiding in plain sight."
"Even from me."
"Even from you," he confessed and had the good grace to look guilty. "What you don't know can't be forced under questioning."
"Only the owner of the skull can compel me to answer a question against my wishes."
"Exactly." Harry pushed himself to his feet, dropping the pencil onto the notepad. "I'm not giving them a handy excuse to take you away from me," he said, retrieving the jar in question. "So I'm going to have to hide it again; someplace where you won't find it."
"I see," said Bob evenly, not certain whether he should be hurt or insulted. "And might I ask what, exactly, 'it' is?"
"It's a kind of magical homing device. Morgan gave it to me when I was trying to figure out where Tara'd taken your skull."
"The wench who stole it from you?"
"Yeah. Fat lot of good it did her in the end." Harry gently shook the jar, listening to the sound of the tiny crystal skull inside as it lightly tapped the glass. "Thing is, if Morgan remembers I have it, he'll want it back."
"I thought you said he gave it to you."
"Technically, he did. But knowing him, he'll say it was just a loan. Magical artifact and all of that crap."
"So by concealing it, you hope he will continue to 'forget' that you have it," said Bob, clearly dubious.
"Not forever," Harry assured him. "I'm not suicidal."
"At times that is debatable."
"I'm just going to keep it for a little while. Long enough to figure out how to duplicate the charm and put it on something a little less obvious, like a book or a paperweight." Harry lifted his gaze to meet the ghost's pale blue eyes. "Finding your skull missing and not knowing who had you or what they might do to you… I'm not going through that again, Bob. Okay? It's not happening. Ever." He held up the jar. "So I'm going to make my own insurance."
"I am deeply touched by the sentiment and your determination," said Bob sincerely. "But keeping that lodestone from the Council is like holding an unstable explosive. It could backfire on you at any moment, especially if Morgan suspects subterfuge."
"They haven't come looking for it yet."
"But they will."
"Eventually."
"Then might I suggest we be prepared to return it to them?"
"Nothing doing." Harry shook his head, emphatic. "Not until I've made a copy."
"So you have said." All business, Bob glanced about the laboratory. "There. That should do nicely," he said, pointing to a teardrop-shaped crystal prism hanging from a candlestick. It caught the light of the candle's flame and turned it into rainbow motes of color. "It is roughly the same base material."
"What, you want to do this now?"
"There is no time like the present."
Harry grinned. Pushing aside the 'grocery' list they'd been working on, he set the jar with the concealed crystal skull in its place. "Right. What do we need first?"
Bob's lips quirked in a tiny smile. "Three tannis leaves."
Author: Cyloran
Fandom: The Dresden Files (tv-verse)
Character: Bob, Harry
Prompt: 13. Crystal
Word Count: 1,104
Rating: G
Summary: Harry tries to use a little clutter to his advantage.
Notes: Spoilers for What About Bob.
Disclaimer: The Dresden Files do not belong to me; just passing through.
Table: Here There be Ghosts
"Tannis leaves," said Bob.
Harry looked up from the notepad. "I thought we still had plenty of those left."
"There are exactly three leaves left in the box."
"That's plenty," said Harry with a dismissive wave. "Next?"
"It is hardly 'plenty.' It takes at least five leaves to fashion a truly effective elixir."
"Those things are expensive, Bob."
"Nevertheless-"
"Seriously, what are the chances of my meeting a reanimated Egyptian mummy in the dead of winter in Chicago?"
"The way your luck has been of late?" replied the ghost archly. "One will probably come knocking upon the door at any moment."
"Tannis leaves," Harry sighed and added it to the list.
"At least two."
"Right."
"Preferably a dozen." At Harry's answering glower, Bob shrugged. "It was just a suggestion." He turned once more to regard the shelf of ingredients. "Cactus needles, wormwood, asclepias, nettles, cat hair… heaven only knows we have more than enough of that..."
"What about spider silk?"
"You still have an entire vial full."
"Good. That stuff takes forever to clean."
"You will need to replenish the jar of used coffee grounds."
"I'll make a pot later," said Harry, adding it to a separate list of components he could create himself.
"And scales."
"What kind?"
"Gecko, I believe. They're-hullo. What's this?"
"What's what?"
"That jar. I don't believe I've ever seen it before."
Harry looked up from his notes to discover Bob on his toes, trying to see over the collection of bottles, jars and boxes. "There's nothing back there, Bob," he said quickly. "Let's start on the next shelf, okay?"
"There doesn't appear to be a label that I can discern," continued Bob, as if he had not heard. "It's quite liberally covered in dust, as if it has been there for years." He frowned. "But that isn't possible."
"If it's been there for years then it can't be that important, can it?" said Harry reasonably. "How's our supply of newt eyes?"
But Bob was not to be dissuaded.
"It cannot have been there for 'years'," he said as he tilted his head to one side and then the next in an effort to identify the contents of the mysterious container. "There are entire weeks when I am confined to this room with nothing better to do than to wander about and inventory the contents. This was not here a week ago."
"Look, it's nothing, okay?" said Harry. "It's just something I picked up when I - Bob, stop!"
But it was already too late, as the ghost finally choose the most direct approach and stepped through the obstacles to thrust his face into the jar in question.
It was a disconcerting sight at best but that wasn't why Harry closed his eyes and shook his head.
"Harry!" exclaimed Bob when he had seen enough. "There is a skull within that jar! It is obscured but I am quite certain that is what I saw."
"I know."
"You know?"
Harry shrugged. "I put it there."
"You did?"
"Yeah."
"And obscured it from view?" Bob glanced at the jar in question and frowned. "Plain sight and magical sight, I assume?"
"Something like that. It's in a potion made of squid ink, bug repellant, and a few pages of one of those old Star Trek novels, shredded," he admitted, a touch of pride in his tone. "Kind of my own version of a cloaking device."
"And the dust was to make it fit in; just another one of hundreds of innocent containers."
"Hiding in plain sight."
"Even from me."
"Even from you," he confessed and had the good grace to look guilty. "What you don't know can't be forced under questioning."
"Only the owner of the skull can compel me to answer a question against my wishes."
"Exactly." Harry pushed himself to his feet, dropping the pencil onto the notepad. "I'm not giving them a handy excuse to take you away from me," he said, retrieving the jar in question. "So I'm going to have to hide it again; someplace where you won't find it."
"I see," said Bob evenly, not certain whether he should be hurt or insulted. "And might I ask what, exactly, 'it' is?"
"It's a kind of magical homing device. Morgan gave it to me when I was trying to figure out where Tara'd taken your skull."
"The wench who stole it from you?"
"Yeah. Fat lot of good it did her in the end." Harry gently shook the jar, listening to the sound of the tiny crystal skull inside as it lightly tapped the glass. "Thing is, if Morgan remembers I have it, he'll want it back."
"I thought you said he gave it to you."
"Technically, he did. But knowing him, he'll say it was just a loan. Magical artifact and all of that crap."
"So by concealing it, you hope he will continue to 'forget' that you have it," said Bob, clearly dubious.
"Not forever," Harry assured him. "I'm not suicidal."
"At times that is debatable."
"I'm just going to keep it for a little while. Long enough to figure out how to duplicate the charm and put it on something a little less obvious, like a book or a paperweight." Harry lifted his gaze to meet the ghost's pale blue eyes. "Finding your skull missing and not knowing who had you or what they might do to you… I'm not going through that again, Bob. Okay? It's not happening. Ever." He held up the jar. "So I'm going to make my own insurance."
"I am deeply touched by the sentiment and your determination," said Bob sincerely. "But keeping that lodestone from the Council is like holding an unstable explosive. It could backfire on you at any moment, especially if Morgan suspects subterfuge."
"They haven't come looking for it yet."
"But they will."
"Eventually."
"Then might I suggest we be prepared to return it to them?"
"Nothing doing." Harry shook his head, emphatic. "Not until I've made a copy."
"So you have said." All business, Bob glanced about the laboratory. "There. That should do nicely," he said, pointing to a teardrop-shaped crystal prism hanging from a candlestick. It caught the light of the candle's flame and turned it into rainbow motes of color. "It is roughly the same base material."
"What, you want to do this now?"
"There is no time like the present."
Harry grinned. Pushing aside the 'grocery' list they'd been working on, he set the jar with the concealed crystal skull in its place. "Right. What do we need first?"
Bob's lips quirked in a tiny smile. "Three tannis leaves."