Counting Coup (Prequel)
Tuesday, March 25th, 2014 06:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
challis_2070 posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
mindcrackloveHello! This is a prequel to the two Counting Coup stories, links to part one and two are at the bottom of this one!
Pause pulled back the blinds again and sighed.
“The mail is always here by 10, why isn’t it here yet??” he said, swearing softly.
He started to pace around the living room, trying to avoid crashing into the various pots and plants he had set up inside. He wasn’t certain these were the right things even, but the books the mailman was bringing would tell him that. After all, he knew as well as anyone that just because you could find info online, didn’t make the info good or correct.
“So why can’t he…”
“Oh!” he exclaimed as he heard the sound of the mail truck pulling up to the house. He quickly hurried to the door and yanked it open, startling the mailman in the process.
“Ah, Alex! I, um. Here, you have some letters and these two media mail items.”
“Thanks, Tom. I’ve been waiting for those two. Probably get a few more over the next few days.”
“Ah, okay, I’ll keep an eye out for them.”
Pause sighed as Tom finally continued back to his truck and left. As soon as he had, Pause ripped into the wrapping surrounding the books. He giggled as he pulled out the two books, one being Traditions on Counting Coup and the other being Modern methods and Ancient Traditions, or How to make Coup Sticks in the Modern Age.
“Just what I need. Now I can get started properly.”
Pause yawned slightly and sat himself down on his pile of pillows he had rescued from his continuously flooding basement. It was a comfy nest, if you ignored that the pillows smelled faintly of dust and moth balls from having been previously stored in the basement. He hoped that the smudging would additionally help the pillows as well as helping with the coup stick.
-----
After several hours, Pause slowly stood up and stretched.
“Wow, they are a bit denser than I thought they’d be! I’d better get some food before Andrea has to remind me again.”
He puttered around the kitchen for a bit, making himself a sandwich. He was contemplating all of what he’d need for the coup stick that he’d learned about thus far.
“Better make a list.”
“First, I need some good thin branches. Maybe Cedar? Naw, that’d smell too much like the moth balls! Some kind of pine or birch would be better, I think.”
He laughed softly at the thought of constantly smelling like moth balls, before continuing his list.
“So, next. Paint. Bah, I bet Andrea can help me find some hippy place with natural paint, I know how it’s made, and I ain’t doing that myself.”
Pause shuddered slightly at the thought of making his own paint.
“I know there are plenty of birds and bird feathers around, so that shouldn’t be a problem. Likewise, finding beads should be easy enough, what with same said hippy place likely having some.”
Chewing on his lip, he tried to remember what he had read.
“So, do the smudging, and then carve the stick if it needs it, paint it, attach the…oh. I’ll need some leather strips or maybe thin rope. String! Aha, get it from the hippies. Oh. And then finish attaching it, smudge everything again, and, well, break in the coup stick!”
-----
Pause whistled to himself as he arrived back at his house, pleased with the haul he had made today.
He’d gotten himself some nice birch wood sticks, about two inches wide and between two and three feet long. He figured he could cut them down easier than trying to find something longer, after all.
The feathers he had gathered as he had gotten ready to head out with his fiancée, who had helped him obtain both the paint and the thin hemp rope that he’d been looking for. He’d also gotten some thin leather strips or string, so he could have some of the feathers attached that way as well.
“It’s a good thing I just ordered a smudging kit, haven’t seen any around here, sadly.”
He giggled to himself, noting that he was pretty sure that the smudging kit had actually arrived today, judging by the package that had been left at his door for him.
Scooping up the package, he headed inside to the kitchen, before pulling it open and grinning at the smudging kit lying before him.
“Excellent! Let’s get started!”
-----
Several hours later, Pause lay on his couch, staring at the ceiling. He was currently waiting for the coup stick to dry after having painted it. He thought that perhaps he shouldn’t have waited to paint it until the end, as keeping the feathers and beads all clean of paint had been something of a pain.
“Well, now I know. I suppose I’d only need to know that if one of these broke, of course…”
Pause shrugged to himself before checking if the paint was finally dry. Low and behold, it had finally finished drying while he waited.
“Aha! Now, to do the second smudging, and go test them out!”
With that, he headed off with his newly made coup sticks to go break them in on the people he’d pranked on the server, as they surely deserved to be properly counted coup against.
-----
Links to Counting Coup Part One- http://mindcracklove.dreamwidth.org/376365.html#cutid1
And Part Two- http://mindcracklove.dreamwidth.org/377865.html#cutid1
Pause pulled back the blinds again and sighed.
“The mail is always here by 10, why isn’t it here yet??” he said, swearing softly.
He started to pace around the living room, trying to avoid crashing into the various pots and plants he had set up inside. He wasn’t certain these were the right things even, but the books the mailman was bringing would tell him that. After all, he knew as well as anyone that just because you could find info online, didn’t make the info good or correct.
“So why can’t he…”
“Oh!” he exclaimed as he heard the sound of the mail truck pulling up to the house. He quickly hurried to the door and yanked it open, startling the mailman in the process.
“Ah, Alex! I, um. Here, you have some letters and these two media mail items.”
“Thanks, Tom. I’ve been waiting for those two. Probably get a few more over the next few days.”
“Ah, okay, I’ll keep an eye out for them.”
Pause sighed as Tom finally continued back to his truck and left. As soon as he had, Pause ripped into the wrapping surrounding the books. He giggled as he pulled out the two books, one being Traditions on Counting Coup and the other being Modern methods and Ancient Traditions, or How to make Coup Sticks in the Modern Age.
“Just what I need. Now I can get started properly.”
Pause yawned slightly and sat himself down on his pile of pillows he had rescued from his continuously flooding basement. It was a comfy nest, if you ignored that the pillows smelled faintly of dust and moth balls from having been previously stored in the basement. He hoped that the smudging would additionally help the pillows as well as helping with the coup stick.
-----
After several hours, Pause slowly stood up and stretched.
“Wow, they are a bit denser than I thought they’d be! I’d better get some food before Andrea has to remind me again.”
He puttered around the kitchen for a bit, making himself a sandwich. He was contemplating all of what he’d need for the coup stick that he’d learned about thus far.
“Better make a list.”
“First, I need some good thin branches. Maybe Cedar? Naw, that’d smell too much like the moth balls! Some kind of pine or birch would be better, I think.”
He laughed softly at the thought of constantly smelling like moth balls, before continuing his list.
“So, next. Paint. Bah, I bet Andrea can help me find some hippy place with natural paint, I know how it’s made, and I ain’t doing that myself.”
Pause shuddered slightly at the thought of making his own paint.
“I know there are plenty of birds and bird feathers around, so that shouldn’t be a problem. Likewise, finding beads should be easy enough, what with same said hippy place likely having some.”
Chewing on his lip, he tried to remember what he had read.
“So, do the smudging, and then carve the stick if it needs it, paint it, attach the…oh. I’ll need some leather strips or maybe thin rope. String! Aha, get it from the hippies. Oh. And then finish attaching it, smudge everything again, and, well, break in the coup stick!”
-----
Pause whistled to himself as he arrived back at his house, pleased with the haul he had made today.
He’d gotten himself some nice birch wood sticks, about two inches wide and between two and three feet long. He figured he could cut them down easier than trying to find something longer, after all.
The feathers he had gathered as he had gotten ready to head out with his fiancée, who had helped him obtain both the paint and the thin hemp rope that he’d been looking for. He’d also gotten some thin leather strips or string, so he could have some of the feathers attached that way as well.
“It’s a good thing I just ordered a smudging kit, haven’t seen any around here, sadly.”
He giggled to himself, noting that he was pretty sure that the smudging kit had actually arrived today, judging by the package that had been left at his door for him.
Scooping up the package, he headed inside to the kitchen, before pulling it open and grinning at the smudging kit lying before him.
“Excellent! Let’s get started!”
-----
Several hours later, Pause lay on his couch, staring at the ceiling. He was currently waiting for the coup stick to dry after having painted it. He thought that perhaps he shouldn’t have waited to paint it until the end, as keeping the feathers and beads all clean of paint had been something of a pain.
“Well, now I know. I suppose I’d only need to know that if one of these broke, of course…”
Pause shrugged to himself before checking if the paint was finally dry. Low and behold, it had finally finished drying while he waited.
“Aha! Now, to do the second smudging, and go test them out!”
With that, he headed off with his newly made coup sticks to go break them in on the people he’d pranked on the server, as they surely deserved to be properly counted coup against.
-----
Links to Counting Coup Part One- http://mindcracklove.dreamwidth.org/376365.html#cutid1
And Part Two- http://mindcracklove.dreamwidth.org/377865.html#cutid1
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