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By the ti The clock in the Beetle didn&039;t work (of course), but I uess fro out, weary, and s

I didn&039;t think sleep was likely, so I decided to do a little alchemy to help me unwind

I&039;ve often wished that I had some suave and socially acceptable hobby that I could fall back on in times like this You know, play the violin (or was it the viola?) like Sherlock Holan like the Disney version of Captain Nemo But I don&039;t I&039;eek I do ic, in one form or another, and that&039;s pretty et a life, one of these days

I live in a base, roomy old house that has been divided up into lots of different apartments The basement and the subbasement below it are bothon two floors, and my rent is cheaper than all the people who have whole s

The house is full of creaks and sighs and settling boards, and time and lives have worn their impressions into the wood and the brick I can hear all the sounds, all the character of the place, above and around s in the darkness and is, in its own quirky little way, alive It&039;s ho for me at the bottom of the stairs that led down to the apartrey cat I hs in at just over thirty pounds, and there isn&039;t an undue amount of fat on his frame I thinkI had found Mister in a garbage can about three years before, aor a car - I was never sure which, but Mister hated both, and would either attack or flee fronity over the next few months, and shortly came to believe that he was the apartment&039;s tenant, and I was soht now he looked up and ht you had a hot date," I told him

He sauntered over to ainst my knee I wavered, recovered my balance, and unlocked the door Mister, as was his just due, entered before I did

My aparte room with a kitchenette in the corner and a fireplace to one side There&039;s a door that leads to the other rooed door in the floor that goes down to the subbases pretty heavily textured - there are multiple carpets on the floor, tapestries on the walls, a collection of knickknacks and oddities on every available surface,bookshelves which I really will organize one day

Mister went to his spot before the fireplace and deed hihts and so on, but they foul up so often it al theas heater I stick with the sis, the fireplace and my candles and lamps I have a special charcoal stove and a vent to take h the whole place smells a little of woodsmoke and charcoal, no ot out my heavy flannel robe before I went down into the lab That&039;s izards wear robes, I swear to you It&039;s just too dao without one I cla my candle with me, and lit a few lamps, a pair of burners, and a kerosene heater in the corner

The lights ca table in the center of the rooainst three of the walls around it, and a clear space at one end of the room where a brass circle had been laid out on the floor and fastened into the cement with U-shaped bolts Shelves over the tables were croith ees, boxes, Tupperware, jars, cans, containers of all descriptions, a pair of unusual antlers, a couple of fur pelts, severalrow of notebooks filled with , and a bleached white hu space off of the center table, durocery sacks and plastic tubs over the brass circle on the floor I needed room to work "Bob, wake up"

There was a s down from the shelves "Bob!" I said, louder "Cohts ca like candle flah," the skull said, "that I have to wake up I have to wake up to bad puns What is it about you that you have to ," I told hiot work to do"

Bob the Skull gruot lost when he got to the anatos He yawned, and his bony teeth rattled when his ain Bob wasn&039;t really a human skull He was a spirit of air - sort of like a faery, but different He made his residence inside the skull that had been prepared for hio, and it was his job to res For obvious reasons, I can&039;t use a coing laws of quasiphysics That&039;s why I had Bob He had worked with dozens of wizards over the years, and it had given hie - that, and a really cocky attitude "Blasted wizards," heto ood?"

"Like I have a choice," Bob said "What&039;s the occasion?"

I brought Bob up to speed on what had happened that day He whistled (no easy trick without lips), and said, "Sounds sticky"

"Pretty sticky," I agreed

"Tell you what," he said "Let et out of it"

That made me wary "Bob, I let you out once Re bone on wood "The sorority house I remember"

I snorted, and started so over one of the burners "You&039;re supposed to be a spirit of intellect I don&039;t understand why you&039;re obsessed with sex"

Bob&039;s voice got defensive "It&039;s an academic interest, Harry"

"Oh yeah? Well o peeping in other people&039;s houses"

"Wait a minute My academia doesn&039;t just peep - "

I held up a hand "Save it I don&039;t want to hear it"

He grunted "You&039;re trivializing what getting out for a bitmy masculinity"

"Bob," I said, "you&039;re a skull You don&039;t have any ed otten a date yet? Huh? Most ht than play with their chemistry sets"

"As a ht"

Bob&039;s eyes fluttered froe to red "Oooooo," he leered "Is she pretty?"

"Dark skin," I said "Dark hair, dark eyes Legs to die for Smart, sexy as hell"

Bob chortled "Think she&039;d like to see the lab?"

"Get your utter"

"No, seriously," Bob said "If she&039;s so great, what&039;s she doing with you? You aren&039;t exactly Sir Gawain, you know"

It was et defensive "She likes me," I said "Is that such a shock?"

"Harry," Bob drawled, his eye lights flickering sle"

I stared at Bob for athat the skull was probably right Not that I would admit that to him, not in ato make an escape potion," I told hiet to work? Huh? I can only remember about half the recipe"

"There&039;s always roo one, Harry You know that"

Thatup an alche You can always get another one going and alternate between the it "Okay, so, we&039;ll make a copy"

"Oh, come on," Bob chided me "That&039;s dull You should stretch yourself Try so new"

"Like what?"

Bob&039;s eye sockets twinkled cheerfully "A love potion, Harry! If you won&039;t let me out, at least let me do that! Spirits know you could use it, and - "

"No," I said, firmly "No way No love potion"

"Fine," he said "No love potion, no escape potion either"

"Bob," I said, warningly

Bob&039;s eye lights winked out

I growled I was tired and cranky, and under the best of circumstances I am not exactly a type A personality I stalked over, picked up Bob by the jaws and shook him "Hey!" I shouted "Bob! You co to take this skull and throw it down the deepest well I can find! I swear to you, I&039;ll put you soain!"

Bob&039;s eyes winked on for a moment "No you won&039;t I&039;ain

I gritted my teeth and tried not to smash the skull to little pieces on the floor I took deep breaths, su and control to not throw a tantrum and break the nice spirit to little pieces Instead, I put the skull back on the shelf and counted slowly to thirty

Could I make the potion bythat it ht not have precisely the effect I wanted Potions were a tricky business, and a lot more relied upon precise details than upon intent, like in spells And just because I ht? It would only be good for a couple of days, in any case - surely not through the weekend How led to rationalize the action It would appease Bob, and give him some kind of vicarious thrill Love potions were about the cheapest things in the world to ht, if Susan should ask ic (as she always did), I could always -

No That would be too et a wo advantage of the woht need it at Bianca&039;s place, and I could always use it, if worse caan and the White Council I would feel a lot better if I had the escape potion

"Okay, Bob Fine You win We&039;ll do thehts came up warily "You&039;re sure? You&039;ll do the love potion, just like I say?"