Hullo, and thank you for calling Sodalitas Quaerito. You've reached Alva Keel, general manager and founder. Please speak clearly and leave your name, the time you called, and the nature of your message. I will get back to you as soon as possible...thank you for calling.

*beep*

[ooc:Please contact muse and mun here. Don't worry, we don't bite! :P]

http://community.livejournal.com/paradisa/8634920.html

[Since his arrival, Alva has been subjected in small part to the whims of the castle during the whirlwind month of August, but otherwise has escaped the machinations of Cair Paradisa...or so he thought, until he woke for his morning cup of tea and spent five minutes (or five years, it felt like) being sick in the bathroom.]

[Now have a very testy, still somewhat pale Alva holed up in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and as deep a frown on his face as anyone has seen as he toys with his cup and mutters by his open journal.]

Clearly I've upset someone with my search...

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/8130719.html

[It's been a very busy morning for Alva, witnessing the next in a string of events that have been taking place since his arrival. Really, the guy's happier than he knows what to do with...even today, sleeping in a straw bed and witnessing the change in the castle that has clearly taken a turn in favor of praising the gentler sex. Not that he has a problem with it, Alva's all about equal rights...but the crick in his neck from the change in bedding and the lack of a pillow is bothering him some.]

I would ask only one request of the ladies residing in Cair Paradisa today: watch carefully the things you say in the presence of those males who are respectful and considerate enough to be undeserving of the scorn Paradisa's showing us.

Aside from that? Enjoy yourselves...and please, if you'd care to share any particularly unusual stories of the day's events, I will be in the library. My door, time, and journal, are at your service.

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.

http://community.livejournal.com/paradisa/8073606.html

[He walked into the other room over an hour ago to fetch a set of backup batteries for his tape recorder...and found himself in an entirely different world. It's a distressing situation, yet as always curiosity overwhelms fear. Through the open journal on the nearby table, perhaps some sounds can be heard...feet shuffling, pages turning, breathing...but otherwise, it's a full hour after his arrival before any sign of the castle's newest denzien can be detected.]

[A button clicks...it becomes clear that he's dictating, into the tape recorder that can't be seen.]

I am no longer in Boston.

My surroundings are well-appointed and lavish, yet I do not know how I came to have them. I have not left the room, but I know that wherever I am, it is not a modern construct. The walls are stone, well-built and very quaint.

If I did not know better, I would say I’d gone back in time and found myself in some forgotten king’s great castle bedchamber.

[A pause, footsteps. He's pacing a bit, measured and calm.]

I intend to make a full exploration in order to better ascertain what I am dealing with…but first I will search the immediate area. If I am still in the country, I hope to make my way home. If not…wherever I am, I pray I am not in danger.

[Another pause...a little laugh]

To be honest, if the rest of my location is anything like this room…I wouldn’t mind doing a little investigating.

((Note: Takes place after his abduction here.))

So beautiful but ice runs through your veins
Slowly draining all my life away
Perfection in a shell devoid of life
Cause you leave a trail of broken dreams behind

He’s doing the best he can to hold on. It’s burning him alive from the inside out, this alien force that wants his life. It’s a fire not of earthly origin, alive with deadly intent and set on nothing less than his total submission to its will.

He pictures her face...it doesn’t help.

The words are leaving him...words he has to fight, the first thing the fire seeks out. Rob him of his weapons, take his one chance at survival. Demoralization and ineffectuality...render him impotent and focus on breaking his will. One incantation, and he could have stopped it...but for the life of him, he can’t remember...

He tries to hear her voice...it fades in the roar of flames.

There’s death in the power moving through his blood, preparing his body for the coming invasion...the ultimate sacrifice, the final rape of his spirit. It’s the devil waiting on the sidelines, ready to step in and claim everything he is. He knows the devil...recognizes its origin and its form. This is not the demon that took hold of Rory...no, this demon demands more than flesh. It can’t live without life and heart...it needs to invade his soul and make it his own before it can animate his flesh and assume his likeness.

He remembers her touch...and finally, at last...he feels something.

The flames rise high again, but this time they are of his own making. They warm the flesh and fuel the blood rather than freezing it, stilling it for the parasite inside. He commands the torch this time, pushing it forward into the invasion with a roar of fury and passion...passion and love, black rage born of pure love.

Imhotep. The name of the demon is Imhotep. That’s what he needs...to know his enemy. Know his enemy...fight his enemy.

With the last of his strength...the memory of soft hands on his body, a lover’s touch that fills him with remembered strength...Alva begins to fight.

Muse: Alva Keel
Fandom: Miracles
Words: 340

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

NOTE: set shortly before Lorelai's pregnancy.

Alva peered at the small bag in the front seat, then glanced up at Lorelai with a small smile as she drove. They were taking the Jeep, which he didn't mind...nor did he mind the presence of the paper bag with its odd assortment of items, all of which had been hand-picked by Lorelai herself.

"Lorelai, darling," he finally sighed with a patient smile, picking up the bag off the floor and setting it in his lap, "While I applaud your rigorous sense of caution, I believe that there are certain facts that need to be addressed."

He pulled out the cross she'd stashed in the bag, waving it lightly. "Firstly? Crosses don't *actually* harm vampires, and I think that, given the fact your mother was capable of birthing you, she's *not* one of the walking dead."

Setting the cross down, he moved on to the next item, pulling out a small sewing kit. "Secondly? You can't sew her lips shut...that's simply tacky. And while I'm well aware that tacky is a personal favorite of yours, I'm fairly certain there are other ways of keeping your mother from saying anything too upsetting."

After laying down the sewing kit, he reached in to pull out the final item. "And finally, my love, if you think I'm going to let you empty this tabasco sauce into your father's cognac, you're mad."

As they pulled into the driveway of her parents home, Alva reached out and laid a hand over hers on the steering wheel as she killed the engine. "Lorelai...please don't be nervous or upset about tonight. I've no intention of doing anything to embarass, even by their standards...and there's really very little your mother can say to upset me. If I can handle a Latin exorcism, I can handle this."