The Dresden Files / Bob / 06. Resign
Title: Liberty and the Pursuit
Fandom: The Dresden Files (tv-verse)
Characters: Bob, Harry
Prompt: 06. Resign
Word Count: 760
Rating: G
Summary: Harry has a cunning plan.
Disclaimer: The Dresden Files do not belong to me. Just passing through.
Table: Here There be Ghosts
Harry suddenly smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand.
"I'm an idiot!" he exclaimed.
Bob arched an inquisitive pale eyebrow. "I would not go so far as to say that," he replied, regarding Harry through the formula he had inscribed upon the air in glowing runes. "Foolish at times, perhaps, and incautious most assuredly, but idiotic? I think not."
But Harry was too caught up in his epiphany to banter with the ghost. "How long have I had your skull? You know, since the Council made me the official owner?"
"Five years, nine months, twenty-four days, seven hours and thirteen minutes."
Harry snorted a laugh. "Not that you're counting."
"Not at all." Bob frowned. "How does your ownership of the skull make you an imbecile?"
"An idiot."
"Yes, of course. An idiot."
"Because it never occurred to me to free you!"
Bob blinked at him without comprehension. "I beg your pardon?"
"It's been there in front of me all the time!" Excited, Harry ducked under the runes and snatched the sigil-inscribed skull from its shelf. "I'm the master of the artifact, right? If I order you to do something, you've got to obey. That's part of the curse."
"If it is within my power to do so, yes," said Bob warily.
"So why can't I order you to be free?"
"You cannot simply 'order' a curse to dispel itself unless you are its author."
"I know that," said Harry with an impatient wave of his free hand. "But what if I command you to never let another master use you against your will? Or against someone else, the way my uncle did? Free will, Bob! That's a kind of freedom, isn't it?" He began to shuffle through the scraps of paper littering the lab workbench, looking for one with some blank space to write on. "I'll have to word it just right so it can't be undone, kind of like a spell-"
"--Harry--"
"-because the last thing I want to do is have some bastard like my uncle making you-"
"Harry."
There was something fatalistic and infinitely sad within the ghost's cultured voice. Frowning, Harry glanced up, the skull tucked almost possessively under his arm.
"It cannot be done," said Bob quietly.
"Why not?" Harry demanded. "Has anyone ever tried before?"
"No master has ever so much as considered such a thing, much less attempted it."
"Then you can't know that it won't work."
"Alas, I am afraid that I do know." Bob nodded toward the skull. "Look at the rune inscribed within."
"Rune? What rune?" Harry brought the grisly relic closer to the candlelight, tilting it so that the glow of the flame caressed the roughly contoured interior. "I don't see any … aw, crap."
"Precisely."
"I only see the one."
"One is more than enough."
Harry frowned at the previously hidden rune. Why had he never thought to look inside the skull before? "It's an entropy curse, isn't it?"
"In a manner of speaking." Bob lifted a finger and inscribed the sigil in shimmering gold in order that Harry might see it more clearly. "It is crafted to fall upon any master who attempts to emancipate the servant of its bonds or tries to grant it free will, thus robbing the artifact of its potential usefulness to future generations." He dispelled the rune with an abrupt gesture. "I do not think the Council ever expected anyone to actually contemplate what you are proposing, but that did not prevent them from taking precautions in the unlikely event such a thing should come to pass."
"Dammit, Bob! That's just not fair!"
"No, it is not." The ghost shrugged, resigned. "Life is seldom fair, as well you know."
"Yeah. I do."
"However, I do thank you for the thought and the intention," said Bob with sincerity. "It means much to me that you considered affording me some modicum of freedom."
"Wrong tense, Bob." Harry carefully set the skull back on its shelf, nestled between uneven stacks of paperback romances. "I'm not only still considering it, I'm going to find a way to do it and make it stick."
"I have just explained that you cannot. Must not! The consequences should you oppose the Council's failsafe--"
"--Is just another reason to try all the harder." Harry regarded the ghost with a mixture of determination and affection. "Since when have I ever let a bully tell me what I can or can't do?"
"Never," Bob admitted.
"Right. And I'm not about to start now."
Fandom: The Dresden Files (tv-verse)
Characters: Bob, Harry
Prompt: 06. Resign
Word Count: 760
Rating: G
Summary: Harry has a cunning plan.
Disclaimer: The Dresden Files do not belong to me. Just passing through.
Table: Here There be Ghosts
Harry suddenly smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand.
"I'm an idiot!" he exclaimed.
Bob arched an inquisitive pale eyebrow. "I would not go so far as to say that," he replied, regarding Harry through the formula he had inscribed upon the air in glowing runes. "Foolish at times, perhaps, and incautious most assuredly, but idiotic? I think not."
But Harry was too caught up in his epiphany to banter with the ghost. "How long have I had your skull? You know, since the Council made me the official owner?"
"Five years, nine months, twenty-four days, seven hours and thirteen minutes."
Harry snorted a laugh. "Not that you're counting."
"Not at all." Bob frowned. "How does your ownership of the skull make you an imbecile?"
"An idiot."
"Yes, of course. An idiot."
"Because it never occurred to me to free you!"
Bob blinked at him without comprehension. "I beg your pardon?"
"It's been there in front of me all the time!" Excited, Harry ducked under the runes and snatched the sigil-inscribed skull from its shelf. "I'm the master of the artifact, right? If I order you to do something, you've got to obey. That's part of the curse."
"If it is within my power to do so, yes," said Bob warily.
"So why can't I order you to be free?"
"You cannot simply 'order' a curse to dispel itself unless you are its author."
"I know that," said Harry with an impatient wave of his free hand. "But what if I command you to never let another master use you against your will? Or against someone else, the way my uncle did? Free will, Bob! That's a kind of freedom, isn't it?" He began to shuffle through the scraps of paper littering the lab workbench, looking for one with some blank space to write on. "I'll have to word it just right so it can't be undone, kind of like a spell-"
"--Harry--"
"-because the last thing I want to do is have some bastard like my uncle making you-"
"Harry."
There was something fatalistic and infinitely sad within the ghost's cultured voice. Frowning, Harry glanced up, the skull tucked almost possessively under his arm.
"It cannot be done," said Bob quietly.
"Why not?" Harry demanded. "Has anyone ever tried before?"
"No master has ever so much as considered such a thing, much less attempted it."
"Then you can't know that it won't work."
"Alas, I am afraid that I do know." Bob nodded toward the skull. "Look at the rune inscribed within."
"Rune? What rune?" Harry brought the grisly relic closer to the candlelight, tilting it so that the glow of the flame caressed the roughly contoured interior. "I don't see any … aw, crap."
"Precisely."
"I only see the one."
"One is more than enough."
Harry frowned at the previously hidden rune. Why had he never thought to look inside the skull before? "It's an entropy curse, isn't it?"
"In a manner of speaking." Bob lifted a finger and inscribed the sigil in shimmering gold in order that Harry might see it more clearly. "It is crafted to fall upon any master who attempts to emancipate the servant of its bonds or tries to grant it free will, thus robbing the artifact of its potential usefulness to future generations." He dispelled the rune with an abrupt gesture. "I do not think the Council ever expected anyone to actually contemplate what you are proposing, but that did not prevent them from taking precautions in the unlikely event such a thing should come to pass."
"Dammit, Bob! That's just not fair!"
"No, it is not." The ghost shrugged, resigned. "Life is seldom fair, as well you know."
"Yeah. I do."
"However, I do thank you for the thought and the intention," said Bob with sincerity. "It means much to me that you considered affording me some modicum of freedom."
"Wrong tense, Bob." Harry carefully set the skull back on its shelf, nestled between uneven stacks of paperback romances. "I'm not only still considering it, I'm going to find a way to do it and make it stick."
"I have just explained that you cannot. Must not! The consequences should you oppose the Council's failsafe--"
"--Is just another reason to try all the harder." Harry regarded the ghost with a mixture of determination and affection. "Since when have I ever let a bully tell me what I can or can't do?"
"Never," Bob admitted.
"Right. And I'm not about to start now."