It doesn't take much to change the course of a life...

http://community.livejournal.com/paradisa/8497576.html

[Having taken up almost permanent residence in the library, he actually decides to leave in search of tea and maybe a bite to eat. After all, he's been too busy, too curious to realize his stomach was growling and he doesn't have Evey around to prod at him to join her and Paul for lunch anymore or any such nonsense...]

[Pushing aside the wistful little pang that comes with remembering his team, he opens his journal and gets to the task at hand, speaking in a clear, businesslike tone as he wanders through the halls heading for the kitchen.]

In the last four weeks, we've all dealt with an onslaught of strange occurrences both subtle and extreme in nature. I, for one, am quite curious about the nature of these events, and Cair Paradisa herself. Frankly, I can't believe I'm alone in my desire to know more...and I'd like to meet my like-minded brethren.

To that end, any parties that would care to learn, to understand this living puzzle may locate me in the kitchen. My name is Alva Keel...and I look forward to meeting all of you.

{ooc: wiiiide open, Alva's recruting! :P}

http://community.livejournal.com/paradisa/8090728.html

[Curious!Alva is curious and happy as a pig in slop when he awakes the next day and after a cup of tea (graciously provided by the castle on request...along with a bit of cake because he missed out for the most part yesterday), he sets to work on the task at hand: learning all he can about his new temporary home.]

[As the day progresses and he takes note of those with and without tags on their heads, he finds himself missing Evey and Paul for the first time. From the halls of the tenth floor, a wistful sigh can be heard through the pages of the journal.]

[Unfocused, directed to the castle at large] I don't suppose you'd bring a couple of people in if I asked, would you?

[a beat, then a laugh]

No, of course not. We all lose something when we come here...ah well.

She's sweet and innocent
too beautiful to leave alone
Draw you near to her
and crush you like she's made of stone
It's a war that we're heading for
and it starts here tonight
Wipe you clean like a memory
Put up a fight

( Trouble On The Horizon )

Muse: Alva Keel
Fandom: MIRACLES
Words: 712

Rick frowned thoughtfully as he stared at the piece of paper in his hands, turning it first one way then another. “I’ll admit...this is odd, and kinda disturbing, but I don’t understand exactly what has you so up in arms, old man.”

“It’s really quite simple, Rick.” Alva bit off quietly, taking the sheet from him. “This is a sign that something much larger and far darker may be afoot.”

Moving across the tiny office, Alva reached up slightly to pin the sheet to the whiteboard mounted on the wall. It was fairly innocuous on its own: a simple piece of green construction paper, the kind most often found in schoolrooms. The difference with this one was the message it bore.

Words that had appeared spontaneously during a fifth grade lesson that morning...words that had no place in a child’s classroom.

IT TEARS ME UP TO TEAR YOU DOWN

“This is more likely than not a sign from an angry spirit.” Alva went on, trying very hard not to let the icy fist of fear close over his heart. “And, as we all know, there ought not to be any angry spirits within the city limits of Stars Hollow.”

Rick’s features registered surprise, then understanding a moment later. “Jesus....I didn’t even think about that. My God...but I thought those magickal...things, the protections...I thought they were rock solid?”

“They were...are.” Alva replied, folding his arms as he faced the board. “So there are one of two possible explanations...either those wards are fading, which isn’t likely given the power that was poured into them...or that there’s something out there that’s managed to breach them.”

He was aware of Rick moving up alongside him to look at the scrap of paper, and for the first time Alva could feel Rick’s tension...not as a presence, but in its reality. He felt the concern, the fear, the cold finger of apprehension sliding down his spine.

For the first time, Alva was worried for more than his project...his supernatural utopia, perfectly preserved and ripe for research and study. Now, he was worried for his family...as a man and a father, he was afraid that the darkest corners of the world had risen up to invade his new home and claim those he loved.

“Well,” Rick sighed, folding his own arms to mirror Alva, “I guess this means we just got our first real case...right, Boss?”

A moment passed before Alva sighed and nodded. “Yes...I just hope we can solve it before something other than a piece of paper is torn apart.”

Muse: Alva Keel
Fandom: Miracles
Words: 440

Muse: Alva Keel
Fandom: Miracles
Track: 7 - Something
Artist: The Beatles
Album: Artist Compilation: The Beatles
Summary: Alva studies the ghost lights of Star Lake...and Lorelai Gilmore.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 895
Notes: Takes place a few weeks after Lorelai and Alva first meet, and shortly before their first kiss. Dedicated to my own personal Lorelai, rogueapprentice. :P


( Something in the things she shows me... )

ALVA KEEL

Artist Compilation: The Beatles

1 - I Saw Her Standing There
2 - No Reply
3 - I’ll Follow The Sun
4 - Nowhere Man
5 - Think For Yourself
6 - Eleanor Rigby
7 - Something
8 - Here Comes The Sun
9 - In My Life
10 - Within You Without You

Songs in italics have been completed.

“...speak now, or forever hold your peace.”

Alva felt his breath catch...just for an instant, as he listened to the deafening silence of the small crowd gathered around the gazebo in the heart of Star’s Hollow.

The minister smiled. “Then, by the power vested in me by the state of Connecticut, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Alva grinned, watching as Rick moved forward and lifted Evelyn’s veil...then deftly pulled her close, dipped her, and kissed her soundly for the whole town to see. Off to the side, Alex rolled his eyes, covering his face with the ring pillow he’d been carrying.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please congratulate Mr. and Mrs. Rick O’Connell on the renewal of their vows!” the minister announced, eliciting a roar of applause and whistling from the people of Star’s Hollow.

From his place at Rick’s side, serving as best man, Alva applauded the couple enthusiastically. He thought it was rather fitting that the displaced archaeologists renew their vows in the present as a way to celebrate their wedding anniversary...a new start in a new time, as it were.

Gazing across the way, he watched Lorelai cheer the happy couple, standing at her own place as matron of honor. She was due in just a few weeks, but she was still a vision that made his heart ache and his stomach clench with a love and desire he’d never known in his lifetime. In just about a year, his life had grown, blossomed, and been turned inside out in ways he never thought possible...ways he never dreamed he could ever want.

But here it was...this woman carrying his child. This woman he was going to marry.

And as they stood at another couple’s renewal of their marriage vows, Alva had found himself silently reciting those vows along with Rick as he watched Lorelai. Already, he was making his promises...he was ready for this. And that notion scared him a little. How had he never known this about himself, that he could want such a simple life so badly?

Maybe it was the blending of worlds...a wife and a child as well as the pursuit of truth. He didn’t have to give one up to gain the other...not when he found the combination that just *fit.*

And as Rick and Evelyn walked back down the aisle, arm in arm, Alva imagined himself in Rick’s shoes, and Lorelai in Evie’s.

It was going to be a long few weeks to wait until the baby was born...and Alva couldn’t wait to marry the girl of his dreams.

Muse: Alva Keel
Fandom: Miracles
Words: 442

And all the roads that lead to you were winding
And all the lights that light the way are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say to you
I don't know how

“Keep it simple.”

Alva snorted softly, still staring at the notepad in front of him. “Bugger you. This is one occasion where I won’t get away with simple. No man can.”

Luke sighed in aggravation, a state that seemed to be a permanent one for him. “Look, Keel, I’m telling you right now: if you two are writing your vows, Lorelai will joke, jibe, and strike right through hers. She won’t know what to say, so she’ll just say what she feels. If you try to dress it up, you’re just going to make her feel guilty.”

“Excuse me, but I couldn’t help overhearing,” a sultry female voice interjected as Miss Patty stepped up to the counter with a dazzling smile at Alva, “but are you writing your own vows for the wedding?”

Alva glanced up finally, smiling at Miss Patty in return as he took her hand and kissed it gallantly. “Indeed you did, dearest Patricia.”

Patty preened at Alva’s attentions...just as she did when she got pretty much any special attention. “Such a charmer...ooh, you’re lucky Lorelai snatched you up first, or I’d be tempted to risk another marriage myself.”

Alva chuckled as he released her hand. “Thank you...you truly flatter me.”

Patty chuckled again, then shook herself a bit. “Look at you, distracting me...I overheard you two talking and I have to agree with Luke, honey. If you and Lorelai are writing your own vows, just...write what you’d say. Just listening to you talk in that *accent* is pure poetry, Alva, and if you just tell her what’s in your heart? She’ll be absolutely touched.”

“Who’d have thought we’d agree on something...me and Taylor’s second in command?” Luke deadpanned, earning him a humored look from Patty.

Alva could only smile at the both of them, then look down at his otherwise blank notepad. To write what he felt...the easiest, and the hardest thing he’d ever done. Everything about his relationship with Lorelai had been a study in contradictions...difficult and inevitable, sweet and painful, peaceful and tempestuous at turns. What they had was so complicated...but so blissfully simple at the same time.

And with that in mind, Alva took a sip of the tea Luke had just brought him, slipped his pen from his jacket pocket, and began to write.

Muse: Alva Keel
Fandom: Miracles
Words: 391