#this question is hauting me

[witchreflection]

I have a question!

Since Yang Yixuan is Liu Qingge's only personal disciple, and (as per the Airplane extras) Ji Jue (and all other Bai Zhan disciples i suppose) is LQG's shidi and he call's the other peak lords shixiong...

Does Yang Yixuan calls Ji Jue shixiong or shishu?

[ihavesomejays]

IT'S US IT'S US FR FR (except i'm lifting up the blankets to freeze you and touching my ice toes to yours)

Little moments

[eroscomet]

Make it Right

Chapter two- Hauting for Home

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Paring: Astrid Deetz x Fem!Ghost!Reader

Warnings: Mentions death, a bit angsty, bad writing. (Let me know if I missed anything!)

Word count: 3k+

A/N: Hello, lovelies! I'm so sorry that this chapter took a while to make. I was busy on the weekend; however, I found time to finally finish the chapter for you all! I really do hope you guys enjoy this one! I will try to get a specific schedule for updates on certain stories. If you guys are wondering about updates for 'Picking Up Pieces That Aren't Yours,' I will try to update that as soon as possible. I will also be doing a couple drabbles on different characters and or drabbles of characters I've already written for. I would also like to thank you guys so much for all the support you all have been showing me! I am so thankful and grateful for each and every one of you! Thank you so much for every like, reblog, and comment, it means a lot to me!

Not proof read

╰┈➤Series Masterlist

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"You talked to my dad?!" Astrid had exclaimed with an amused smile on her face. There it was, that twinkle in her eye that you had missed so much. She hadn't been very happy recently, with you not around and everything else in her life that had been happening.

"Yeah, when I had first died. I got sent to the immigration office, and what do you know? There he was behind the glass. He's just as kind as you always told me he'd be. Surprisingly, he immediately recognized me. He told me that he had been watching after you and practically watched our love 'blossom,' as he put it." The two of you continued walking outside.

You couldn't help but think about how people must be seeing this. Astrid looked as if she were talking to herself from an outside perspective. Aware of her past, you knew people had a tendency to bully her, so when nearing Miss Shannon's School for Girls, you tried to get her to talk as much so that others wouldn't look at her funny. So, you took up most of the time on the way there, talking as much as she could so that she didn't have time to talk. Which was odd because she was usually the one who'd talk while you'd listen.

"He said he liked me, which is a relief. Sometimes, I feel like your mom is more confused but is trying to be supportive. I mean, remember when I had first come over, and she started talking about how she too 'experimented' as she said. Anyway, that isn't the point. I met your dad, and we actually frequently visited you together. It's funny, sometimes we'd bond over how much we missed you."

Astrid's eyes had furrowed as she had begun to notice that every time she began or wanted to speak, you only spoke faster, almost sputtering out information. A frown tugged at your lips as she had caught on.

"I just don't want people to look at you even more weirder than they already do. If you're talking to yourself, they'll find that an easy target. Try...putting on some headphones and pretending you're on the phone? Or you can just put your phone up to your ear?"

She smiled as she took her phone out of her pocket and brought it up to her ear.

"Thanks, you're right. So, what else did he say about me? Did you see my grandfather? What's the afterlife like?" Astrid felt like she had a million different questions to ask.

"Your dad says he's proud of you and that he sees himself in you all the time. As for your grandpa, no. I mean, I feel as if it's harder to find him since he did lose his head to a shark. The afterlife is a bit weird. I can't tell you much about it since I haven't exactly crossed over. I basically only know what headquarters and a few shops look like. I mean, there's a 'Soul Train' which essentially takes you to the 'Great Beyond,' but I never went because I don't want to risk not being able to watch over you."

You grabbed Astid's shoulders, moving beside her to walk toward the street end of the sidewalk. Even though you were dead, the sidewalk rule never really left you, even while Astrid couldn't even see you.

"Yeah, I figured. I almost can't believe that a shark bite ended his life, I knew my family wasn't normal, but we can't even have a somewhat normal death? The Great Beyond, huh? Soul Train is a clever name though. Does no one know what's on the side?"

"I mean, I've never seen someone leave then come back from the train in the full year, almost two years that I've been here. I'm not taking the risk and crossing anyway, I can't lose you again after we just got back to each other."

"You're right..." Her eyebrows furrowed, her attention on the sidewalk as they continued to walk. She thought to herself for a moment before speaking again.

"So, you don't have any ghost tricks you learned?"

"Of course, you'd ask that, would you be disappointed in me if I said I didn't?"

"I mean, you've been gone for a year almost two, I'd expect you to know at least something to make me feel better for all the time you've been gone."

"Okay, uhhh... I can walk through walls and, I guess, float a bit."

"That sounds like every other ghost."

"Just because i'm a ghost doesn't mean I have super powers, Astrid."

"Just saying."

"I mean, I do have this nasty scar from the accident." You lowered your shirt neckline, showing the scar on the lower part of your neck. Astrid winced at the scar before looking away.

"Right. Weird how all it took was one neck twist for you to die.

"Well, it's more like my neck twisted as if I was a cartoon character that got punched, and my head began spinning-"

"Ew, shut up. Don't talk about it like it's something light."

"I'm sorry, you're right."

It was silent for a bit as you guys walked into the school, Astrid opened one of the doors while you phased right through the other door. Astird put her phone back into her pocket as she walked upstairs and past the other students. You followed after her, your eyebrows furrowing at the other students nearby her dorm. Some of them whispering to each other while giggling.

That's when Astrid opened her dorm room's door, a bedsheet attached to the ceiling by a rope coming straight towards her. The bedsheet makes out a ghost with a 'Boo' sign in its chest area. Astrid stumbled back before turning around and looking at the other girls, who began to burst out into laughter behind her.

"When you're all driving carpool and banging your pilates instructor to fill the empty voids in your life, we'll see who gets the last laugh."

The girls smiles and laughs quickly died as she finished speaking. Astrid turned around as she went into her room, shutting the door behind her. You smiled proudly, a laugh escaping you as you saw the looks on the girls faces as they disburst from Astrid's door.

"Witty as always." You said as you phased through her dorm room's door. The make-shift ghost on the ceiling startling you a bit as you had almost 'ran' into it. Sometimes you forget you're a ghost even if it's been a year.

"They have not toned down with the comments? You had always been careful about this topic, not wanting to bring it up too much with Astrid.

"No." It was a simple and straightforward answer that made you not want to question further. A part of you felt angry that you were helpless to all of it now that you're dead. You had gotten so used to defending her against everyone but now your words would only fall on deaf ears.

You sighed as you plopped yourself onto her dorm room's bed, thinkiing for a moment on how to steer away the conversation of bullying that she obviously did not want to talk about.

"Did you hear that my sister's pregnant? I know that I shouldn't bother looking over them since they're perfectly fine.."

"I'm not surprised."

"She's naming the baby after me."

"God, that's ridiculous! Naming their kid after a relative who isn't even dead yet-" Astrid's voice faltered for a moment. The fact that you were dead and have been for almost two years was still a punch in the gut after all this time.

"That's what I said, baby." You offered her a small smile as you played into the bit that you were still alive for Astrid. She still wanted to make her at least feel a bit better.

'Baby.'

Your words - and your smile, even if it was for her benefit - just made Astrid's heart twist further in her chest.

"You're killing me here."

"Why?" Your head tilted to the side as you looked at her.

"Because you're supposed to be dead." Her voice came out in a strangled whisper as she looked down at the papers scattered on her desk.

You bit your lip, you didn't want to show that what Astrid had said hurt you. Even if you were dead, you still had emotions and feelings. You paused for a moment before deciding to drop the topic.

"So, they're having a baby shower. You should go."

"Oh god, a baby shower? Is it too late to make you disappear again?" Her face had immediately scrunched up with distaste at the idea of being forced to go to a baby shower - especially your self-centered sister's baby shower where she'd name her child after you for her own gain.

"Come on, you couldn't see me for a whole year, and now that you're finally able to, you already want to get rid of me? That's cold, babe, even for you. Even for me who's dead cold. Get it? Huh? Dead cold. Because i'm dead? And i'm cold now because I have no blood. No? Okay."

"Oof, that was horrible." She said as she shook her head and grumbled in response.

"Come on, admit you missed me. I heard all your late-night talks that you thought weren't reaching my ears."

"I did miss you - I've missed you for a whole year." She confessed, sounding a bit surprised by her own confession. The room fell silent, the weight of everything that had happened falling onto the both of them. Neither of them wanted to address it, though, they didn't want to have to deal with it now.

"Did you ever-" She paused for a moment as she thought of the right words to say, "When I'd lay in your bed and mope, were you just...watching me?"

"No, I hated that. I'd still do what I would've done if I were alive. I tried holding you and whispering sweet nothings into your ear that never got to you."

"Sweet nothings, huh?" She teased, which earned an eye roll from you. Again, the room had fell silent as the two were lost in thought before Astrid spoke again, breaking the silence.

"How bad did it hurt?"

"Uh.. Well... I just remember being on the ground one second, then in the air the next. I landed, and well- You know what. It had hurt for that second that I was alive, but it had been an instant death if anything."

Having to talk about your death wasn't an easy topic. It was a reminder of how quick you had lost it all. The blood in your system, the beat of your heart, Astrid. The sight of you nervously fidgeting with your own fingers made Astrid's heart ache.

"I hate that." She muttered, her voice coming in strained, almost as if she was forcing herself to get the words out.

"I'm sorry." Your words were mumbled as she continued to fidget with your fingers, now more anxiously than before. The apology caused Astrid to shut her eyes, trying to hold herself together. She felt that now was not the time to start breaking down.

"Don't. Don't apologize." She had almost snapped at you as she opened her eyes to shoot a glare at you.

"Okay." You were never one to go against her word, you didn't want to start a fight. Especially not now. All you could do was bring up one of your hands, beginning to gently pull on the hairs on the back of your neck as you avoided Astrid's eyes.

"Is that a nervous habit of yours now? Pulling your hair." She asked as she reached her hand out idly to brush your hair out of your eyes.

"I had gotten it when I first reached the afterlife. When you watch the people you love hurting, and all you can do is ghost around them..." Your voice had faltered, forcing yourself to clear your throat and then begin to speak again.

"You feel so helpless. Watching everyone who used to be around you and love you so miserable about your death. It makes you feel guilty but, most of all, useless. There's no way to hold, touch, talk to, comfort them... It's hard."

The room had fallen silent after your words. Astrid's fingertips gently brushed along the back of your head - tracing the place that you usually pulled at. She let her hand rest there, trying to keep you from pulling at your hair again.

"How cold am I?"

Your words made Astrid pause for a moment. Leaning closer to you as she wrapped an arm around her now ghost girlfriend. The chill of your skin made her shiver involuntarily - but Astrid tried not to show the way her body automatically wanted to shy away from the cold.

"Really damn cold. It's like you're an ice cube almost." Her words a mumble as she got closer to you, laying next to you as she rested her head on top of yours.

"I'm sorry that I'm not warm anymore." Your own words come out as a mumble as well, instinctively, your head rests on her shoulder.

"I know you don't much like when it's really cold. I thought I was keeping myself with this sweater but now that someone's actually able to touch me, I realize it's doing nothing for me."

"Gosh, you don't have to apologize for that. At least you're here." She pulled you closer against her, her arms wrapping around your waist - burtying her face into your shoulder, even if your skin was freezing and caused a slight burn against her own warm skin. She ignored the way that her body had involutarily shivered at the contact - focusing instead on the fact that her girlfriend was here.

"Barely." You mumbled quietly as you gently pulled away from your girlfriend, knowing that you were probably burning Astrid's skin with your own cold, dead skin that was now a pale blue hue.

"Don't be like that. You're talking as if you have no more hope."

"Death has a way of doing that."

Astrid let out a quiet huff at your words. Her eyes flickered back and forth from you and her own hands that were now gripped tightly on her bedding - but in the next moment, she let go. Almost as if with a full burst of speed, she darted to you. Her arms wrapping around your body, hauling you into her bed in a tight, crushing embrace.

"Astrid-" You had said in surprise and protest. You knew that you were cold. Dead. The cold would burn Astrid at one point, and you didn't want that. Not when you used to be alive and warm for her. You used to keep her warm and now you can only burn her with your icy dead skin.

"Don't even think about complaining. I don't care if you're cold." Astrid snapped as she held you impossibly close against her. Her body shivered once again as your cold skin was like a bucket of cold water dumped over her body - but she ignored the cold, focusing on the sensation of her girlfriend in her arms.

A frown had tugged at your lips, knowing that eventually, Astrid would get too cold, but after a year of being a lone ghost who watched your loved ones move on or suffer because of you, you couldn't help but be a little selfish. Your arms wrapped around her as tightly as you could.

You missed your girlfriend so much. Watching over her for a year, her suffering for a full year over your death, had done a number on you. You'd cry if you could, but all you felt was this deep internal sadness. You had no heartbeat, you had no blood to warm your body, you had no tears to shed from your dry eyes. Your chest was the most still it had ever been, you had no air to breathe anymore.

It had begun to feel like too much for the both of them. Being this close to each other after a year of thinking they'd never be able to have contact again, feeling each other's skin despite the feeling of a small burning on her own skin from your own. It was almost enough to make Astrid cry.

The cold was beginning to seep into her skin - making her shiver and leaving her skin prickled. But Astrid wouldn't - couldn't - let go of you. Not when it had been a year since she was able to hold you. You had only frowned as you held her tighter. A small hiss escaped Astrid from the cold contact as she tried to get herself impossibly closer to you.

"Damn it, it's getting too cold." She hissed, speaking between clenched teeth as she tried to bury her face into your shoulder further.

"Warm up with the blankets, I'll just lay beside you. I promise I won't disappear." You pulled away, gently moving Astrid off of yourself as you carefully pulled her bedsheets over her body. When you finished tucking her in, you lay beside her, admiring every detail you could land your eyes on.

She only huffed a bit, feeling oddly petulant about the fact that she had to let go of you However, she did as she was told. A small shiver rattled her body as her eyes locked onto yours. She managed to mumble something incohereently as she reached for you, trying to tug you close again.

"Too cold, baby. Just give it a moment. I'm here, you see me." You tried to reassure her as you gently tugged a strand of hair behind her ear.

'Baby.' The soft nickname only made her want to pull you close again, but she knew that you were right. Her body was cold - skin still pricked and burned from being in contact with her girlfriend. She snuggled further into the bedding, her hand gently reaching out to yours. Linking her own pinky with yours, causing you to smile. Her eyes looked into yours as if asking if it was okay to which you had nodded.

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A/N: I don't know why this felt like such a short chapter to me despite it being the most words I've written so far?? I might have some filler chapters for this and 'Picking Up Pieces That Aren't Yours' sometimes. Then again, there is still a lot to write for the storyline themselves. Thank you, lovelies, for all the support on my posts! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'm so sorry if some days I do not have time to update. Also, if there's anyone that wants to be tagged for updates on this story, leave a comment saying so! Bye, loves!

[giuseppe-yuki]

fashionista

zhou guanyu x teacup pig shapeshifter!reader

w.c.: 1.5k

warnings: none :)

part of my shapeshifting!reader series

summary: you get a new outfit (ft. a trip to the convenience store)

pictures credits from pinterest :)

as one of the unofficial fashion moguls in the paddock, it was your job to serve face whenever you appeared in the paddock. the sound of paparazzi camera shutters clicking were almost always a sure sign that you were near. 

today, you entered the paddock hand-in-hand with your boyfriend zhou. he, of course, was dressed to the nines next to you. your baggy parachute pants paired with a tight cutout top and zhou’s baggy jeans with an almost see-through mesh top looked like the pinnacle of haute couture streetwear. 

you smile directly at the cameras following you both, sending a small wave at a man dutifully taking what looked to be at least twenty pictures of you per second. continuing down the paddock, you stop a few times in order for zhou to sign a few pieces of merch. you adjust your slim sunglasses on the bridge of your nose to hide your eyes from the blazing hot texas sun. as you pass the vcarb motorhome, you spot daniel ricciardo dressed in a cowboy outfit. he clicks his tongue and sends finger guns to you and zhou when you walk by.

zhou leans towards you and whispers into your ear, “baby, we should have dressed more like that, for cota!” 

you turn to face him, wrinkling your nose. “no way am i ditching my outfit for cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, zhou!” you tilt your head, looking at him with a questioning look. “i mean, would you rather wear that or the outfit that marc jacobs sent you tomorrow?”

he sends you a chagrin smile. “point proven, i guess.”

before you could continue your walk, a snow white samoyed bolts out the mercedes motorhome next door. it sniffs zhou twice before plopping itself in down. lewis runs out of the motorhome a second later, skidding to a stop next to the dog. 

“holy cow, you need to calm down,” he says pointedly to the dog. he bends, hand on his knees, panting. “i’m getting old, and i swear im not going to be able to catch you anymore!”

the dog shoots lewis a look, as if rolling its eyes. lewis looks up, as if just noticing you two standing if front of him. 

“well, if it isn’t the best dressed couple on the grid,” he says, chuckling. he scans both of you up and down. “nice outfits, by the way! i think you two are possibly the only people that can outdress me.” 

“thanks!” zhou replies. “i honestly think you are still the undisputed fashion icon of the paddock, though.” 

you nod, agreeing. 

“why thanks!” lewis says, beaming. he then glances at his watch, and frowns. “oh shit,” he says, “i think fp1 is starting soon! i gotta go. you guys should probably run to the garages too.” he waves at you both and starts sprinting away, samoyed at his side.

“you ready to go?” your boyfriend asks, smiling at you. 

you take a second to fix your sunglasses again, and give him a quick nod. zhou grabs your manicured hand, and you both dash towards the kick sauber garage.

“omg, wait for me!” your boyfriend shouts, hands still on the driver’s wheel. but, you had already leaped out of the barely stopped alfa romero 33 stradale, clutching your snakeskin birkin.

the sun had already set in the texas sky, painting everything with a dark blue haze, including the white car that you had just jumped out of. by the time zhou had turned off the engine and hopped out of the car, you were already in front of the convenience store, giddy with excitement. he lightly jogs to you, briefly turning his body to lock the alfa romero with the car key lob. you press a light kiss on his cheek when he arrives next to you. 

after getting a pretty good result in both fp1 and fp2, you had promised zhou that you would both go on a run store, pick out a ton of snacks, then go back to the hotel to watch a movie and possibly “celebrate,” if you get my drift. unfortunately, after multiple meetings and an unplanned dinner with valtteri, it was too late to go to any normal store, so the next best choice was the convenience store that was open 24 hours. 

you grab his hand and run into the store, dragging zhou behind you. you walk past the candy aisle, hot dog warmers, and stunned cashier, arriving at the chips aisle. the colorful packages jump out at you, advertising for you to “face the intensity” or warning you that it was “dangerously cheesy.” 

“which one should should we choose, zhou?” you ask, turning to him. he too, is looking through the wide variety of snacks in front of him. 

after a few seconds of pondering, a grin spreads across his face. “my trainer is probably going to kill me, but all of them!” 

after fetching a big basket from the front of the store, you and zhou fill it to the brim with different kinds of chips. next, you walk over to the drinks area. both of you choose your favorite drinks, all the while giggling at the blue printed pictures of checo and max on the redbull cans on the shelf. 

your boyfriend walks over the cashier counter with the basket with the snack and is about to start checking out, when you spot the slurpee machine in the corner of the store. 

“zhou, come look! they have the famed slurpees here!” you exclaim, pointing at the thrumming machines stirring brightly colored concoctions. 

“i know we have a few drinks in the cart, but we should totally get some,” he says, looking at the bright letters spelling out SLURPEE.

you nod in agreement, and grab a cup from the row of cup bottoms sticking out from under the counter. when you hold up a cup, your eyes grow the size of saucers. “there is no fucking way. this cup holds fucking 22oz of liquid and it is only the second largest size there is!” you cry. you look next to you, and sure enough, zhou is holding a cup that says MEGA on the side that holds 40oz of liquid. he laughs at your reaction, but starts laughing even harder when he spots another cup to the right of you. it has bubble lettering spelling out DOUBLE GULP on the side, and it holds a whopping 50oz of liquid. 

after a laughing fit and a slurpee overflow mishap, you both walk to the counter to check out all your snacks. 

the cashier, still stunned, slowly scans the mountain of snacks next to him. gathering up his courage, he looks at the two of you shyly. “you’re zhou guanyu and you’re his girlfriend, right? i’m a really big fan of you both and i always love your paddock outfits.” 

zhou thanks the cashier, and you give him a warm smile in appreciation. 

after bagging the snacks, you and zhou load everything into the trunk of the alfa romero. it looks out of place next to the few battered chevy pickup trucks still in the lot at the dead of night. instead of climbing into the car after,  you and zhou take your giant slurpees and a few bag of snacks and sit on the edge of the sidewalk. from an outsider walking by, you both looked like a typical couple, (albeit very fashionably dressed one at that) with zhou’s arm around you and your head on his shoulders. 

later, when your tongues are stained with blue and you brush chip crumbs off of your baggy parachute pants, you find yourself looking at the plaza opposite of the convenience store. zhou, strolling back to you from throwing away the empty chip bags and melted slurpees, nudges your shoulder.

“watcha looking at?” 

you gesture with your head towards the store on the other side of the street, where a sign blares in bright red, “Pet Shop.” 

he shoots you a smile tinted with blue food coloring and takes your hand in his.

right as you enter, you are pulled by zhou into a random aisle. 

“wha-?” you splutter out as he continues to pull you down the walkway. your voice echoes throughout the deserted shop. that’s when you notice the products around you. pet clothes. you recognize his intent immediately. “absolutely not, baby,” you declare disgustedly, pulling against his grip. “those cheap costumes are not going an inch near me.”

“come on,” zhou says, trying to reason with you. “it’s not that bad!” 

he points to a little cowboy outfit on the sea of costumes, that has a little red hat, blue bandana along with four little cowboy booties. “perfect for cota, no?” 

you glare at him.

you find yourself in front of a horde of photographers and camera people the next morning when you arrive in the paddock. zhou adjusts you in his arms, tilting the red cowboy hat in a fashionable way and tightening the bandana on your neck while also smoothing down his brown leather jacket. you let out an oink as a sign of appreciation. you know what, you think contently, this outfit is starting to grow on me.

a reporter, holding a mic out, approaches you both. “martin brundle, for sky sports. excellent drive yesterday, for fp1 and fp2 yesterday, zhou. also, you and your erm- teacup pig here, fantastic outfits. may i ask, who is the designer behind her outfit for today? is it perhaps ralph lauren? or tom ford?"

taglist: @ilivbullyingjeongin @ale-522 @formula1-motogpfan @aceyalonso @my0hmary @mbappebby @madkohi @ralshatos @heartsforleclerc

[cool-fancier]

Threads of Love

Jennie Kim x Fem Reader

Synopsis: When Jennie Kim, a famous fashion director, invites her doctor wife to model for her magazine, love, vulnerability, and dazzling couture redefine their beautiful bond.

Word count:1.4K

Thank you so much for requesting and I hope I did good :)

The rain fell softly over Paris, the gentle tapping against the windows muffling the city’s usual hum. You stepped through the door of your shared apartment, utterly drained after your shift at the hospital. It had been one of those days—a string of emergencies, endless paperwork, and the persistent ache of being on your feet too long. All you wanted was to see Jennie and let the warmth of her presence wash away the chaos.

Before you could even shrug off your coat, Kuma came bounding toward you, his fluffy tail wagging furiously. His tiny paws scrambled on the hardwood floor as he skidded to a stop in front of you, barking his usual enthusiastic greeting.

“Kuma!” you exclaimed, crouching down to scoop him up. He licked your face eagerly, making you laugh despite your exhaustion. “I missed you too, buddy. Were you good for Mom today?”

Jennie’s voice floated from the living room, warm and teasing. “He was perfect. But I’m not sure about you, running off and leaving us alone for fourteen hours.”

You straightened, still holding Kuma, and turned toward her. She was leaning against the doorway, her arms crossed and her head tilted slightly. She wore an oversized hoodie—yours, of course—and her hair was tied up in a messy bun, a few loose strands framing her face. The soft light of the candles she always insisted on having lit cast a warm glow over her, making her look effortlessly beautiful.

“You’re right,” you said with a grin, walking toward her. “How could I leave my two favorite people for so long?”

“Good question,” Jennie murmured, stepping closer. Her eyes flicked to Kuma. “Okay, Kuma, let Mom have her turn.”

Kuma wiggled out of your arms and padded off, content to find a spot on the couch, leaving you alone with Jennie.

Before you could say anything, Jennie wrapped her arms around your waist, pulling you in for a kiss. It was soft and lingering, her lips brushing against yours in a way that melted the tension from your shoulders.

“Better?” she asked, her voice a quiet murmur against your cheek.

“Much,” you replied, your hands resting on her hips.

She studied you for a moment, her fingers idly brushing against the fabric of your shirt. “Rough day?”

“Long,” you admitted. “But it’s over now.”

“Good,” Jennie said, tugging at your hand as she led you to the couch. “Come on. Sit down and let me spoil you a little.”

— — — — —

The two of you settled into the couch, Kuma hopping up to curl between you. Jennie pulled a blanket over your lap, tucking it in with care before leaning back against you. Her fingers lazily traced patterns on your arm as the steady rhythm of rain filled the silence.

After a while, she tilted her head up to look at you. “I was thinking about something today,” she said, her voice casual but tinged with anticipation.

“Hmm?” you hummed, your eyes half-closed.

Jennie shifted so she was sitting up, tucking one leg beneath her as she turned to face you. “You know how I’ve been working on the next big issue for Haute Lumière?”

“The one that’s been keeping you up until three in the morning every night?” you teased, opening one eye.

Jennie smiled, nudging your arm lightly. “Yes, that one. Well, I’ve finally figured out the theme.”

“What’s it about?”

“Redefining beauty,” Jennie said, her voice softening. “It’s about showcasing strength and authenticity—real stories that break out of the narrow, polished molds the fashion industry usually celebrates. I want it to feel… human.”

You smiled, nodding. “That sounds incredible. Very you.”

“Thanks,” she said, her hand brushing against yours. “But there’s just one thing missing.”

“What’s that?” you asked, tilting your head slightly.

Jennie hesitated, her lips parting as if she wasn’t sure how to begin. Finally, she took a deep breath. “You.”

Your eyebrows shot up. “Me?”

“I want you to be the centerpiece of the issue,” she said, her voice gaining strength with each word. “You’re everything this theme is about. You’re strong, compassionate, beautiful. You save lives every day, and then you come home to me and make my world brighter just by being in it. That’s what I want people to see.”

You stared at her, momentarily speechless. “Jennie, I don’t think—”

“You’re going to say you’re not a model,” Jennie interrupted gently, her hand covering yours. “But you don’t have to be. I don’t want you to be anyone else. I just want you to be you.”

Her eyes searched yours, a mix of vulnerability and determination. You could tell this wasn’t just another idea to her—it was personal.

“You’re serious about this?” you asked quietly.

“I’ve never been more serious about anything,” she said, squeezing your hand. “But I don’t want to pressure you. Just think about it, okay?”

You exhaled slowly, the corners of your mouth twitching into a faint smile. “Okay. I’ll think about it.”

Jennie’s face lit up, and she leaned forward to kiss you, her lips lingering against yours. “That’s all I need.”

— — — — —

A few days later, Jennie brought you to Haute Lumière’s main studio. The space was massive, its high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows flooding the room with light. Everywhere you looked, there was movement—stylists adjusting racks of couture gowns, assistants setting up lighting rigs, and photographers buzzing about with cameras slung over their shoulders.

“Wow,” you murmured as you stepped inside, taking it all in.

Jennie grinned beside you, slipping her hand into yours. “Impressive, huh?”

“Definitely a little intimidating,” you admitted, glancing around at the flurry of activity.

“Don’t worry,” Jennie said, squeezing your hand. “You’ll get used to it.”

As she led you through the space, she stopped to introduce you to her team.

“This is my wife,” Jennie said to every person you met, her voice brimming with pride. “She’s a doctor. Isn’t that incredible?”

You blushed under the attention, but Jennie didn’t seem to notice—or, more likely, she didn’t care. She was too busy singing your praises to anyone who would listen.

Eventually, she brought you to a rack of gowns. “This one,” she said, pulling out a dress with intricate beading and shimmering fabric. “I’ve been saving it for you.”

You eyed it skeptically. “Jennie, when have you ever seen me wear anything like that?”

“That’s exactly the point,” she said, holding it up in front of you. “It’s bold, it’s elegant, and it’s you. Trust me.”

You met her gaze, the way her eyes sparkled with excitement making your hesitation falter. “Okay,” you said finally. “I trust you.”

Jennie’s smile widened, and she leaned in to kiss your cheek. “You’re going to be amazing.”

— — — — —

The day of the shoot arrived, and despite your nerves, Jennie was a constant source of reassurance. She hovered near you as the stylists worked, offering words of encouragement and stealing kisses when she thought no one was looking.

“You’re doing amazing,” she said as the makeup artist applied the finishing touches.

“I haven’t even done anything yet,” you replied, your voice tinged with nervous laughter.

Jennie crouched beside you, her eyes meeting yours in the mirror. “You’re here. That’s enough.”

When you stepped in front of the camera, Jennie positioned herself just behind the photographer, her hands clasped together like a proud parent.

“Yes! That’s perfect!” the photographer called as you struck a pose.

“That’s my wife!” Jennie cheered, clapping her hands.

“Jennie, stop,” you said, laughing despite yourself.

During a break, Jennie pulled out her phone and leaned over the photographer’s shoulder. “Want to see her at her absolute best?” she asked, scrolling through her camera roll. “This is from our wedding.”

The photographer chuckled, glancing at the screen. “You two are adorable.”

“She’s the love of my life,” Jennie said, her voice soft but certain.

— — — — —

That night, back at home, you lay curled up on the couch with Jennie and Kuma. The soft glow of the city lights filtered through the windows as Jennie scrolled through the photos on her tablet.

“You were incredible,” she said, resting her head on your shoulder.

“I had a pretty great cheerleader,” you replied, kissing the top of her head.

Jennie smiled, intertwining her fingers with yours. “Thank you for trusting me.”

“Always,” you murmured.

And in that moment, with Kuma snuggled between you and Jennie’s hand in yours, the world felt perfect.

[mercury2venus]

CHAPTER 2

THE INTERVIEW

" So Mr. Alexander — "

" Please, call me Kyle ." He smiled

" Okay. Kyle , tell me your story."

He looked at me with surprise. " No questions already in place ?" I let out a small chuckle. " I'd rather let you lead the interview. I speak for everyone when I say we want to know everything about you and what better way to do that is to just let you speak your piece ya know ? " I say to him.

Kyle gave me a light smile before answering.

" Of course. Well I'm from here, which I know is often debated. I was born and raised in Brooklyn till I was about 10. Then we moved to London. My mother wanted to be closer to our family,” he explained

" That explains the accent" I laughed .

" Exactly, and you're from Harlem correct? " he smiled

" Yea, I am...how'd you know that? I never told anyone." I leaned back.

" You're not the only person everyone is dying to know about Ms. Ali " he replied softly. He took a small breath. " I'm doing this interview with you because you see my work, my art for what it truly is, and I hope your readers can see your view just the same."

There goes that pretty boy villain look again. Intense and he knew it. But it takes more than some pretty blue sea green eyes and killer cheekbones to have me falter. I put on my game face. " Haute Couture was once just for the upper echelon. It came to Harlem like the second coming of Jesus. We always were fly! That's expected. But you ? You – I rambled.

" Had my ear to the streets ? That's what you said in your article." He tilted his head and smirked

I laughed. " You did though, your campaign with Dapper Dan changed the game. I myself own a few pieces.”

Kyle looked at me, those eyes of his held an emotion I rarely see. Admiration. " The brown crocodile and fox fur jacket. That was released this past fall for my ready to wear collection. "

I sat there dumfounded. I haven't worn that out yet right? No. It's currently in my closet.

Kyle continued " I know because I'm the one who sent it. It was designed with you in mind Ms. Ali. Why do you think it's a one of a kind."

Was he flirting ? I'm trippin' I have to be, I thought. "Well thank you for the jacket, that was kind of you. But honey I'm not model material you know those ladies are high class uppity . I'm a simple around the way girl. I'd expect you to design with Naomi in mind. " I rattled off. Suddenly I felt self conscious. I asked for another drink and turned back to Kyle

He smirked at me almost as if he was in awe. " Maybe that's what I like. I'm not fond of the high class and uppity as you call it. And given the chance you'd be in every design I can think of Miss Ali. " he replied softly

God he was doing wonders for my self esteem.

For the rest of the night we continued the interview. He was fascinating as he was witty. A Gemini. A Prince fan. An avid reader, lover of the arts and was diagnosed with synesthesia at an early age. Which he credits for his impeccable taste in fashion and color. I checked the clock above as I heard those around us countdown. Year 2000 was coming.

" So are you ready for the new year Ms. Ali ? he smiled lightly.

" I'm ready for everything all the time Mr. Alexander and please call me Mecca."

" Alright... Mecca, What are you doing after you leave here ?"

he asked me.

I looked into his eyes as 12 struck.

I watched his gaze find a home on my lips

" Guess I'm leaving with you, K." I smirked.

"K"... he chuckled. " I like that and I'd be more than glad to have your company for just a little longer."

the year 2000 was going to be an interesting one.

[lovewardeath]

My Pagan Veiling Tips!

This is my personal tips, if you find that something else works with you, then stick with it, this is just what works for me, and if you find it works, great! Also anyone can veil, remember that.

1. Good quality veils usually are from Muslim shops, here are some I personally use: sunnahstyle.com, hautehijab.com, bazaralhaya.com.

2. Invest in a good undercap (hair net or underscarf) especially if you plan on not showing any hair, I recommend haute hijab or sunnah style for the best undercaps.

3. Scarf magnets are a Godsend! The websites I recommended have good magnetic strength & are inexpensive! Sunnah Style are the cheapest!

4. Rectangle veils are more versatile than square scarves. If you plan on doing many styles, rectangle are the way to go. If you want simple, stick with square.

5. Woven, Chiffon, Mehdina Silk, or other light fabrics are best during Hot weather seasons. Jersey fabric is best for cold weather seasons.

6. Reminder, soft and light fabrics are more likely to slip, so wearing an undercap or magnets will help make the veil stay in place. Heavier fabrics like jersey will usually stay in place, but use magnets if you are in cold season, if you want your scarf to stay snug.

7. Light fabrics are usually less opaque, so folding it will make it least see through. Or simply wear an undercap will help with the opaqueness.

8. Etsy is best for printed veils, otherwise Haute Hijab has a great selection of printed fabrics. But remember, they only have Woven, Pleated, & Chiffon printed fabrics on their website.

9. I recommend SunnahStyle for face veils, mainly since I only bought them from that website, they have many types and colors: half veil, one layer, two layer, three layer, no-pinch (for people who wear glasses or just don’t like the pinching regular veils give), buttoned veils, etc.

10. You will probably get mistaken as a Muslim when wearing these styles, even though there’s historical evidence of the veil belonging in many practices. If you are uncomfortable with the association, I would recommend buying religious symbols or pins to put on your scarves to help differentiate you.

11. Remember, do not overdo yourself. Even wearing the lightest of fabrics, if you are in hot weather, you will still heat up. Please don’t overheat yourself, it’s okay to take off your scarves. Or invest in a portable fan, and drink lots of water to prevent heat exhaustion. Especially if you take meds that make you susceptible to heat.

12. The Gods will not be angry with you if you have to take off your veil, they understand that you are human and that you need to take care of yourself first.

These are some of my tips, if you have any questions, don’t feel afraid to ask or reach out to me. I hope this helps you on your journey!

Here’s the @ I promised when I posted this: @mikeyanderson97

[junedenim]

not shy of a spark

part 2 part 3

one day with a stranger in a foreign country

word count: 16k

Alex notices her for the first time on the other side of the train's aisle. She's wearing a blue bandana around her head, tied under her chin, and looks like she belongs in a Godard film. Her dirty blonde hair peeks through and she's wearing sunglasses, like him. She's got wired headphones on and is staring out the window, just like him.

He's looking for too long. He knows it. She's going to catch on at some point. His eyes aren't hiding his infatuation but he can't help but look. There's no one sitting beside her and there's no one sitting beside him. She only has a saddle bag with her that's sitting on the empty chair.

He can't think of an opening but he can't stop staring. He tries not to look too suspicious but he's locked in looking at her during the train ride.

When they arrive in Brussels, she leaves before he can get out of his seat. Then, Alex spots the book sitting on her seat. All he can think is how big of a fool he must be if he wastes this chance to talk to her—a shy idiot who stares at a girl for the whole train ride and says nothing.

Once he gets off the train, he sees her by the escalator. She's looking through her bag and he assumes she is looking for the book. His heart feels heavy and he inches slowly toward her, not wanting to spook her.

"Excuse me," Alex says. She looks up at him. She's taken her sunglasses off and he can see her blue eyes. They're a calm ocean wave crashing into him. It takes him a second to spit it out. "This your book?"

She looks at the book in his hands and smiles up at him. Alex feels pride like he's achieved some Herculean task by giving the book back to her. "Yes, yes." She grabs the book from his hands and returns it to her space in her bag. "Thank you."

Alex can't let her walk away so he asks, "Is it any good?"

"The book?" She questions. He nods. "I like it so far. Have you read it?" He notices her French accent for the first time. It's light, not as strong as his English one, but it ebbs into the pronunciation of her words. It makes sense she's French. The book was in French. Haute Fidelite.

He shakes his head. "No, no. I saw the movie years ago."

"Oh, with Jack Black, right?" She giggles. She has a good laugh, an infectious one that courses itself through Alex.

He chuckles. "Yeah. You like Jack Black?" He wants to slap himself in the face and he thinks the wincing shows on his face. She laughs again, almost like pointing a finger in his face and saying Ha ha!

"I love Jack Black. Do you like Jack Black?" She turns the question on him with laughter.

Alex quails. "Who doesn't?"

She's about to say goodbye. Alex can feel her floating away from him and he can't let it happen. He doesn't want to be a creep but he doesn't want her to disappear forever without giving it a try. "Have you been here before?"

She nods and he exhales in relief that he has an in. "My mother is from here. When my grandparents were still alive we came."

"Do you think you could show me around a little? Point me to a good cafe or summat." He shoves his hands in his pockets. He must look nervous. He has to. Alex is sure his antsy behavior is creeping her out and the fact that he is breaking a sweat isn't helping.

But then she smiles and he thinks everything will be alright. "I could stop for pain au chocolat."

Alex grins. "You say it so French."

He's a dimwit English man because "Well, I am French." She smiles at his charm, which he would label stupidity. "I'm Charlotte but everyone calls me Lottie."

"Alex." She takes his hand and shakes it. A jolt runs through his arm like a nerve has been hit.

"Follow me? Yeah?" She instructs and he follows as she travels out of the station. Her dress, a simple white one, flows behind her and she looks as though she has the keys to the gates of heaven.

When they make it out of the station, she asks him, "What brings you to Belgium?"

That's when he starts lying to her. "I've never been before. I've always wanted to but kept putting it off."

"What about you? Why were you in London?" Alex asks.

She smiles at him. "I've got friends up there."

When they enter the cafe, Lottie takes the scarf off and he sees her full head of hair, glowing and cascading down her back like a rushing waterfall. "What would you like?"

"Oh." He forgot about that part. "A coffee, I guess, and a croissant." Relief comes when she orders for them.

They sit at a table outside. The air is breezy but not windy and the temperature sits firmly in no-need-for-a-jacket weather, even if he wears one still. "Do you mind?" She plucks a cigarette out.

"As long as I can bum one," Alex says.

She hands him one and a flame bursts between the two of them. "Do you usually ask strangers to be your tour guides in foreign countries?"

He chuckles. "Yeah. You get a translator and free cigarettes." Alex shakes his head. "No, no. I don't usually do this kind of thing."

"So, I'm the exception." Her smile sparks something in him. It implores him to be honest. He tells her that he's on a bit of a getaway, although he doesn't tell her what he's escaping. Brussels is the closest city by train from London and he'd never explored the city before. She tells him she's stopping her for the day before she heads back home for Paris tonight. She hasn't been here since she was a teenager.

After they've finished their pastries and coffees, she asks, "Do you want to see the peeing boy?"

Alex leans forward. "Pardon?"

She giggles and he feels like she's making fun of him. "You don't know anything about Brussels, do you?"

Alex bows his head shamefully. "I'll admit my research was lacking for the most part."

"Come on." She grabs his hand and drags him out of his chair. She lets go and he hates that she lets go.

On the walk over, she asks him what he does for a living. She must think he's a drug dealer or pimp by his evasiveness but he admits, "Oh, I'm, uh, a musician."

"What kind of musician?"

He's not helping matters. "I, uh, do a little, uh—I'm in a band."

"Oh, my ex-boyfriend was in a band," she says light-heartedly. "Do you like being in a band?"

It's oddly refreshing. It's not like everyone he comes across knows who he is but it's been a long time since someone has asked him what he does for work and doesn't know already. An especially long time since a pretty girl asked him.

"Yeah. I mean, I've known them—the guys—my whole life and it's a fun job to have."

"Not many people get to do their dreams for a living."

"What do you do?"

Lottie groans. "I'm a nanny but it's a temporary thing, at least, you know, for now. I'm kind of figuring the whole what I want to do with my life thing out."

Alex says, "That's perfectly respectable."

She scoffs with laughter. "Tell that to my parents. I think they would be supportive of me if they knew I had a passion for something. Like if I wanted to be a musician they would completely support me. I think they would, but I don't even have something like that."

"Well, what do you like?" Alex is fascinated and wants to know every little bit about her. Wants to understand what makes her tick. Wants to make her tick. He feels like a horny teenage boy but he can't help it. He swallows down his desires as best he can because listening to her talk is enough.

Lottie shrugs. "Euh, I mean, I have hobbies. I like to paint and I think I'm a good cook but...I don't want to do those things."

He nods. "I know what you mean. Music can feel that way sometimes. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't do that. Probably be a teacher like me parents or something."

Lottie smiles. It's bright and she stares at him like looking at a star up close would do to you. "Both your parents teach?"

"Yeah, yeah. Me mum's a German teacher. Me dad's taught science and music and stuff." He feels like an awkward gangly teenage boy in front of her. She's strong and moving and just has a way about her.

"Is that where your musical ability comes from? Turn down here," Lottie directs as they round a corner.

He stuffs his hands in his pockets. "I suppose. It kind of came about in different ways."

"Do you speak German?" She's quite the interviewer.

"A little but not really."

"Huh."

Alex chuckles. "Huh, what? You making fun of me for being a dumb Brit."

She's giggling and he doesn't care if it is his lack of intelligence that is making her laugh because she's got a laugh that'll crack you in two. "No, never," she says but really means yes, totally.

"You're ripping on me because the British education system failed me. If I could learn another language I would," Alex tells her as they walk down the steps to the tram.

"What language would you learn?"

They're walking shoulder-to-shoulder and he feels something shutter in him by the way her shoes click along the tile. "French would probably help me out a lot right now."

Lottie had been sparked, smiling, she asks, "Would you like me to teach you?"

Alex, passing through the turnstile, smiles and answers, "I'd like that."

"Do you know how to say bonjour?"

Alex rolls his eyes. "I'm not that far gone."

Lottie throws her head back in a giggle. "I don't know how much the British education system failed you."

"Bonjour, je m'appelle Alex."

They hop on the tram waiting for them. Lottie nods her head in approval. "Très bien."

"That means I did good, right?"

She snorts a laugh and nods. "You're a right old Frenchie."

The tram is decently packed so they stand by the door, holding onto the same pole. He's not much taller than her but he still smiles down upon her. The top of her hair has fly-aways coming off of it from when she pulled her scarf down but she looks like she looks like the embodiment of divinity.

There's a lull of silence as the tram moves. She breaks it by telling him, "In Ypres, where my bomma, my grandmother, is from, they hold this festival where people dress up in cat costumes and throw cat stuffed animals from a tower."

Alex chuckles. "Why?"

She throws her left hand up in the air, talking with it. "It's symbolic, I think. They used to throw real cats from the tower to rid the town of evil spirits and bad luck."

"So, it's probably for the best they just do the stuffed animals now."

"I think so," she agrees. "What about you? Where in England are you from?"

"Sheffield," Alex answers.

Lottie leans her head on the pole, gazing up at him. He gets lost in her eyes. Could stare at them for an extended period of time that some might consider staring or stalking but definitely creepy. "What's Sheffield like?"

Alex doesn't know how to answer. He's always felt where he was from was plain, especially in comparison to what this Parisian girl has experienced. "I don't know. I mean, I like it."

She giggles at him. "Do you still live there?"

"Yeah, technically I still live with my parents. That sounds a bit lame, doesn't it?"

She's nice about and shakes her head. "I don't think so. I live with the family I nanny. Not exactly luxury."

"A live-in nanny sounds luxurious," Alex comments.

"For the family maybe but they stuff me in a closet."

"Like Harry Potter?" He questions.

She hums, "Mhm?"

"You know, how he lives under the stairs," Alex explains.

"I've never read Harry Potter."

He throws his head back with a groan. "You're making me sound like a geek. I thought it was a general knowledge thing."

"Maybe." She shrugs. "I never read Harry Potter. I was geekier in other regards."

"Like?" He wants to know everything about her. Wants her to expose her insides to him like a game of Operation and poke around, find her heart, and keep it for himself.

She bites her bottom lip and shakes her head. "I'm not going to scare you off yet."

"Oh, come on, I'm sure it's not anything as embarrassing as an unnatural obsession with The Strokes."

"I like The Strokes." She is the perfect girl. He delusional thinks that if she knows the Strokes she must know him but her eyes don't hint at that.

"You have to have one irredeemable quality, Lottie."

"Well, I don't know. I have this problem with my therapist."

He's taken aback. "Your therapist?"

"Yeah, I mean, that's a whole other bag of worms."

"Can of worms," he corrects the error with a chuckle.

"Right," she acknowledges. "We got into this disagreement over my ex-boyfriend. You know, he was a certifiable psycho and he had—this is our spot—he had this problem with, well, he was a porn addict."

Alex stills and doubles over in laughter and she has to drag him off the tram so it doesn't leave with him.

She furrows her brows. "What?"

"I just wasn't expecting you to say that."

Lottie sighs, "I don't pick the best men. That has been abundantly clear and my therapist has agreed with that for the past decade—"

"You've been going to therapy for a decade?"

She squints at him, "Are you sure you're not French? You're very judgy."

"Sorry, sorry." He doesn't want to upset her in any way, especially something he should probably be doing too. "I just don't know anyone who is in therapy let alone for a decade."

"I'm of the opinion everyone could use it otherwise they'll be spontaneously getting on a train to Brussels." She can read him like street signs. He says something and she knows exactly where he's headed.

"Hey!"

She grins at him. "Who said I was talking about you?" She continues walking straight. "I think everyone should be in therapy but my therapist is a certifiable nutjob but that's why I think she fits me. She's had a problem with everyone of my boyfriends, even the good ones. But my last one, who I broke up with because of the porno addiction, she told me that I give up too easily and I should work it out with him. I'm like 'You've told me to break up with my last 5 boyfriends but you want me to get back with the guy who has VHS tapes of porn under his bed."

"VHS?" Alex laughs.

Her head nods with amusement. "Yes, it was bad."

"Do you think you'll get back together with him?" Selfishly, he wants the answer to be no. He also wants her to say "Never, I want to be with you now." That's when he really feels like a foolish sad sack.

Instead, she says, "Uh, no. I'll just hop on a train to Amsterdam or something and continue to avoid my issues in Paris."

"You think you're going to keep traveling?" How's a world tour sound?

"I'd like to but I've got to head back to Paris for my job. They gave me the week off to visit my friends in London but they're expecting me back tomorrow morning. What about you? You off on a European tour?" Unknowingly, she's right.

"Nah, I have to get back to London for work too." Recording a second hit album more accurately.

"So, one night in Brussels?"

"That was the plan."

"Except you had no plans. Well, other than to prey on an unsuspecting French girl." She's simpering and he supposes that means she is fine with him preying on an unsuspecting French girl.

"I'm not preying on you," Alex insists. I just want to kiss you.

"You are totally taking advantage of me. I had plans too, you know. Now I'm stuck walking with you to look at a little boy piss."

Alex needs to know. "Is it seriously a little boy pissing?"

She giggles, "You'll see. We're only a street away."

"What were you planning to do here?" He doesn't want to drag her away from her plans and, if she'll allow him, he'd tag along with her anywhere.

"I didn't really have any plans. Reminisce. I haven't been back in so long I fear I made Brussels up in my imagination." She's reflective looking, eyes darting around the art nouveau buildings for answers.

"How does your memory compare to how it is now?"

"Not too far off." She points her finger. "Here's the pissing boy."

Alex sighs and closes his eyes in both relief and amusement. "It's a statue." A little boy elevated above a fountain basin, holding his penis, water sprouting into the bowl. Alex is an idiot.

Lottie throws her head back in a cackle. "Did you think I was taking you to watch a real boy piss?"

"I don't know what they get up to in mainland Europe. You're throwing cats off of towers here!" He's slightly embarrassed but her laugh, even if it's at him, relieves an ache of this being a moment he looks back on in regret. No regret with that laugh.

"Manneken Pis. He's a hero."

"If every man who whipped out their dick in Britain got a statue, I don't think there would be any room left in the country."

She giggles. "The story goes he saves Brussels by peeing on a fuse that was lit by enemies to explode the city walls."

"The moral is public urination?"

She clutches her stomach. "I guess." He can't help but join in.

They set off walking to nowhere in particular. They don't even discuss where actually their feet are taking them. They just use it as a pathway for conversation. She holds her hands around her waist and she talks in a hushed manner but clear. His hands are stuffed in his pockets and he's sure his mumbling can't be easy to understand but she never asks him to repeat himself.

"Do you travel a lot?" He asks her.

Lottie replies, "More when I was younger. Mainly just in Europe but I went to New York once."

"My grandma took me to Disneyland once."

"Really? No one in my family would ever do that."

"Why?"

"They all hate amusement parks. Really, they all hate amusement." It shocks him considering she seems so amused by everything. So amused by him. The first to crack a smile, burst into laughter, and encourage him to do the same.

"Not the most wild bunch?"

"No, they're wild. My brother's personality takes up enough space for 4 people. My maman has this laughter you can hear from 3 towns over. But they're, euh, more sophisticated to say." She says it so delicately and intently, he can't but think there is more to the story.

He jokes, "Oh, us Brits are just rolling in the mud."

"Eh, eh, I'm not saying that! My family is uptight. I'm not saying I don't love them but I'm not the biggest fan. I'd like to go to Disneyland." She thinks for a moment. "No I wouldn't."

He laughs. "Why? Why the sudden change?"

She scoffs, "I hate lines. I have the patience of a masturbating boy."

Alex fears she's reading his mind and that she's calling him out like I know what you're thinking and you can't have it. He's also choked up in laughter. "What?"

"Oh, well, you know, I'm sure you know. It's quick and they have to have it now and god forbid maman walks in on you with the laundry so you have to get it down now and fast."

"You're crazy-sounding, Lottie." He shakes his head and catches his breath.

"Maybe but I'm not wrong. Do you want to go in here? You like records?" She points to a shop, a little off the way.

He mocks, "Do I like records?" Alex follows her head first into the record store. She greets the shop owner for them and heads straight to scouring her way through the records.

They stand side-by-side, throwing spare glances at one another, but the other never catches them. He embarrassingly sees one of his records in the eye and is eternally grateful the band made the right decision to not put any of their faces on the cover.

They make it to the Gs when she turns to him. "I have to be honest. I don't even have a record player."

Alex snickers. "You're missing out."

"I like the idea of it. We had one growing up but I don't even have a CD player. The family I nanny, they like music but they don't like loud things. They're the type that they gather around the piano every night."

"So it's not like they're for modernity, in fact, they're more old-fashioned than a record player."

"Precisely." They do this little dance. Showing each other a record in silence and either getting a nod of approval or a shake of dismay. By the end, Lottie has no records and Alex has about twenty.

"I can not carry all these back to London." He struggles to even pick up the stack.

She guffaws at him. "Why don't you pick 5 of them?"

Alex waves her off. "Nah, I don't think I'm going to get any of them."

She bulges her eyes at him. "Seriously. You're going to hurt the poor shopkeeper's feelings."

"Here, I'll get you one," Alex offers.

She laughs and shakes her head. "I don't even have a record player."

He selects one out of his pile and walks it over to the cashier. "This is my way of inciting you to get your first. I consider it marketing to get the vinyl industry back up and running."

The shopkeeper tells him, "12 Euros."

The cash only sign glares at him. "Oh, shit," Alex mutters under his breath.

Lottie smirks. "You don't have any Euros, do you?"

Alex sheepishly looks over at her. His wallet only showing the few pounds he had in cash. "Yeah, sorry."

She digs through her saddle bag and pulls at the cash from her wallet and hands it over to the shopman. "You really weren't prepared for traveling."

"I intended to get some at the train station. Got a little distracted." He feels like the biggest doofus but she's looking at him with heart eyes.

Lottie smiles and shakes her head in disbelief at him. "What did you get me anyway?" Alex picks the bag off the counter as they exit the shop. He pulls the record out of the bag and she reads aloud, "Love in Portofino, Dalida."

"I figured a little French to match your French, although some of it might be in Italian. I don't remember." He slides the record back into the bag but keeps carrying it.

"Well, thank you," she says. Their feet continue on the cobbled road with no direction in particular.

He dismisses the comment. "You paid for it. I stood there and looked stupid."

"The gesture was still there and I appreciate it." He's not sure if he's delusional but he swears she makes eyes over at him, batting her lashes with her hair blowing away in the wind. Her eyes zero in on him and he feels like he's drowning. A wave has taken him away and he can only gasp for air, steadily struggling. "The town hall is right up here. It's beautiful if you'd like to see it."

Alex isn't sure it can compare to the sight beside him but he is willing to give it a try. With a nod of his head, they set off in that direction. "What do you play in that band of yours?"

He's not expecting to talk about the band. He feels awkward, avoiding such a big subject of his life, but he's eager for this escapism. He desires to just be a boy with a girl in a European city with no cares of what is to come next. "Oh, um, I play guitar and sing."

"You sing?" She questions.

"Yeah." The way she says her question prompts him to think out loud, "Why? I don't give the impression I do."

"I never said that."

"Ah," he wags his finger at her, "but your tone did. You were surprised that I sing."

She explains, "You don't have the demeanor I imagine for a singer."

"Which is?"

"I don't know. I imagine it's a rock band, right?" He nods. "Then, I don't know, something like Elvis or something. You're not very cocky, at least not with me."

"You're not the first to say it and I understand why." His shyness is pretty obvious. "I'm not offended by it."

"Good." She smiles at him and he smiles back. They stand before the town hall, Saint Michael gazing down upon them but they are too occupied with one another to pay any mind to him. Somewhere between these glimpses at the other, Lottie breaks eye contact, and meets Michael's eye contact. "Here we are. Voila! That's here you are in French."

He can only utter, "Wow," but he's not sure who he is saying it to. The carvings of the gothic structure or the lulu leaving him rapt at every corner.

His eyes trace over every inch of the hall. Her eyes trace over him, not looking, not noticing. She's seen the town hall enough, she hasn't gotten enough of Alex, unguarded, relaxed, and enthralled in the building. He's got a cut on his chin, slight and almost unnoticeable. His hair is tamed in a rough manner that fits his personality, hiding himself away but messing about to stand him out in a crowd. His arms are crossed now, no longer hidden away in his pockets. His brown eyes trained forward but expressing something that you can't place your finger on.

They meet hers soon after. She points her finger at a street to their left. "If we go this way, there's a hill where you can look over the city."

Alex isn't sure if it's instinct or some form of confidence that takes a hold over him, but he grabs her hand, much like she did outside that cafe, and says, "Let's go then." Unlike her, he doesn't let go. Her palms are soft and wrap his calloused hands up in a gentle hug. On the walk over, he looks over with a smile to see that she's already returning one.

The incline ahead exercises their legs but they're never fully out of breath. Too deep in conversation to notice the beating of their heart and constricting of their lungs. "When I was younger," she tells him, "we'd come here every summer. You know, when Paris grew overrun with tourists, and I was on break from school. My papa would put me on his shoulders and I'd feel on top of the world. No fear of falling. I feel like I've been searching for that feeling ever since."

He wants to give her that. Wants to wrap her in his arms and soothe every ache. He knows it's some infatuation and, at first, he thought he was thinking with his dick, not his head. Now, he thinks he's thinking with his heart. She talks of feelings he forgot, buried deep inside his childhood self and forgot the wonder of. She's an innocent rush within a darkling.

"I used to beg to drive me parents car," Alex tells her, "when I was 5 or 6. One time, me mum sat me on her lap. We were in some abandoned parking lot. She let me drive the car around. She'd press the gas and break, of course, because I couldn't reach it but I steered and everything. Sometimes I wish for that control back."

"But you didn't even have it then," Lottie points out.

His brows furrow. He doesn't understand what she's saying. "What?" He had his hands on the wheel then. Now, it feels like he's strapped to the roof of the car.

"You weren't the one driving. Your mum decided when you stopped or started."

Something clicks in him. A knot gets undone. The analogy doesn't stop the car he's in from speeding down the highway but he feels he can ride with it, at least be in the backseat. "You're making me out to be one of those creepy boys obsessed with their mothers."

She wheezes. "It sounds like you're just fond of your mum, which is good. You haven't said anything too weird yet."

They're at a stoplight but their hands are still together, neither making a move to change that. He turns to look her in the eye. "Yet?" He squints at her.

"Are you an only child?"

He drops his jaw in an offended manner. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She drops her jaw in a chagrin manner. "You are!"

"What's wrong with that?"

She giggles at his affrontement. "Nothing. You're the one getting all frustrated about it."

He can't help but laugh along with her. "I am not."

Lottie points a finger at him. "Yes, you are."

They reach the peak, although it goes unnoticed amongst their laughter. Lottie turns to the view. "Here we are."

"Wow," Alex utters. They stand atop a peak of stairs looking outwards on an urban floral boom. Flowers line the cement down to the townhomes that stand on the ground floor. The town hall tower stands through the midst of buildings—Saint Michael's back to them.

"Let me get your picture." Lottie holds up her camera—a little yellow thing with a bright smiley face sticker on the front.

"What?"

She urges him forward. "Come on, you gave me the record. I'll give you a picture." He stands centered at the top of the stairs. His pose is awkward, unable to figure out where to place his hands. Her record in its bag hangs in his hand and he brushes a hand through his hair, although it does little to tame it. She snaps it leaving her with a bright smiley face.

"What's this building here?" Alex gestures beside them.

"The Magritte Museum, I think. That's what the sign says. Do you want to go in?" She's looking at him excitedly, fuck, he would do anything for that to continue.

He nods and they walk up to the porticoes where she admires every inch. "I think I could have been an architect in another life," Lottie tells him.

"Why not this life?" He asks.

"I suck at math."

He pays for the tickets with his credit card even if it means he's slapped with a large conversion fee. In the elevator, smushed together with 6 other people, he can't help but look at her. When their eyes meet, he feels something in him unlodge. Like that lump that's been stuck in his throat for the past 6 months has finally gone down. At last, he can breathe again.

When they reach the top floor, she reaches back for his hand and pulls him through the halls of the museum. He smiles down at their intertwined hands because what art is better than her touch? He's known her for 2 hours and he's saying shit like that. Fuck.

It's around Magritte's impressionist period that Alex finally has to whisper into Lottie's ear, "What the fuck drugs was this man on?"

She giggles, eyes trained on the painting "The Stroke of Luck" or, really, a pig dressed in a suit at a graveyard. "It's surrealistic, not drug-fueled mania."

"Then why is the pig looking at me like that?" He whispers and she giggles once more. That pig is eyeing him down and he knows it. Its eyes will follow him to every corner of the room, he swears.

"It's like Animal Farm," she tries to explain.

"Orwell?"

She nods. "Precisely."

"We should have gotten the audio tour. I don't understand anything," Alex whines.

"Don't doubt yourself. The pig feels pleasure at a cemetery. He stares at you insidiously. And you know, all men are pigs so."

She giggles from her riposte as he exclaims, "Hey! We aren't all bad."

Lottie rolls her eyes, but she knows. "Well, most are. Magritte doesn't seem like such a pig." She lets go of his hand and flounces off to the next section. He stands to watch.

At the end of the section, he asks her beneath a painting, "What's it mean?"

Her head tilts down from staring up. "The French or the painting?"

Alex huffs. "Both, probably."

"Well," she informs him, "the French is 'Ceci n'est pas une pipe' 'This is not a pipe.'"

He shakes his head in confusion. "But aren't I looking at a pipe?" He's staring at it, painted to near perfection. The shades in mahogany wood are clear. The cursive lettering insisting that it is, in fact, not a pipe.

She insists, "No. What are you looking at?"

"A pipe," he insists.

"But is it? It is both a pipe and not a pipe."

"Huh?"

"Could you smoke it?"

"No."

"Then it isn't a pipe."

He smirks.

"You get it now, don't you?"

"Magritte is a fucking genius."

She bursts out laughing so loud she has to clutch her mouth to contain the disruption. They quickly dart out of that room into the next.

Before Anne-Marie Crowet, Alex leans over and says, "It looks like you."

"The painting?"

He nods. "Not exactly. Not nearly as pretty as you."

She purses her lips. "You're trying to be suave."

"How am I doing?"

She just smiles.

They sit in the park afterward. It's across the museum and their feet hurt from standing in front of paintings for too long. They're on the grass, feeling every inch as the breeze breathes through them. He lies back on his hands and she sits in a criss-cross, picking at the little flowers that sprout from the dirt. She plucks one out and shifts over to him. He thinks she's going to hand it to him but she doesn't. She brushes his hair behind his left ear and places it there.

His heart is running a marathon and she looks pleased, the beauty of a flower growing from the earth or the sun at dawn or her. He has to do what he's been fighting against since his eyes met hers in the train window back in St. Pancras. He takes her face into his hands and kisses her. It's slow-moving but transmutes his system. She floods into him and his shore welcomes the wreckage. There's no point in stopping it and he can't think of a single reason why he shouldn't.

She pulls away from him with that oh-so-bright smile and rests her forehead on his. "I was worried I was going to have to make the first move."

"I just wanted to be sure."

"Pussy," she jokes. She giggles while she says it and he thinks she doesn't get to say the word often because she says it like a kid who whispers curse words behind their parents' back.

His hand is holding her cheek so delicately like her porcelain skin might shatter. "Just not a pig."

Her smile is overwhelming. She shakes her head lightly. "Not in the slightest." Kissing him again and shining light through all the cracks within him.

She leans upon him for a few moments. Head on his shoulder and heart in his hands. "What would you be doing right now if I hadn't become my tour guide?" She asks.

"Probably picked up some other girl," he jokes.

She elbows him. "Funny. You're trying to be funny."

Alex chuckles at her reaction. His arm brushes up her side and soothes her into him. "No, I'd probably be wandering around aimlessly having no clue where to go. Probably still trying to figure out how to get out of the train station. What about you?"

Her face changes and retracts. She stares off and hides herself away from his sights. "I don't know." He can tell she's lying when she shrugs him off.

"You can tell me," Alex tries to urge. "Or not. Whatever you want."

"I don't mean to depress the conversation." She looks back over at him. "Probably visit my bomma's grave. And sightseeing and such. Sorry to bring the light out of the conversation."

Alex shakes his head. "You're not. I want to hear about these things." Her mouth forms a small upturn. "Would you like to go?"

"No, I'll go another time," she tells him.

Alex stands up and reaches his hand down to her. "You should go. I'd like to come too if that's alright. If you would want that. I don't want to impose or anything."

She grabs his hand and he pulls her up. "You wouldn't be. I don't want to force you. We can meet up later if you'd like or part here, you know, I had a great time."

They're both too caught up in their rambling trying not to come off too strong. "No, no, you wouldn't be forcing me. I don't want to ruin your plans at all."

She finally grabs his hand. "Alex, let's go." She pulls him off the grass back onto the street. "It's up in Molenbeek so you can see a new part of the city. She's been dead for over a decade so it's not like I'll be weeping at her gravestone. I felt I had to go while I was here. Haven't been here since her funeral."

"Don't feel any pressure to hold anything in while I'm here. I want to know what you are feeling."

"Even though it's sad going to her gravestone, but being here in Brussels, remembering those things I did with her makes me happy. To be honest, I'm happy doing it with you. I think I'd be depressed walking around the city all by myself but sharing it with someone—with you—is a whole new pleasure. Thank you."

Alex shakes his head. "You don't have to thank me. I should be thanking you. You've been saving my butt here all day with your help."

"Well, you do have a nice butt that wouldn't be worth it to the world to risk." She is the glowing light around. A modern-day Aurora, except he's Sleeping Beauty, and she's snapping him out of the haze he has been locked in.

"You're pretty fucking beautiful too." She leans into him and puts her head on his shoulder while they walk. He kisses the top of her head and he feels like he has done this in a million other lifetimes. Whatever path the course of his life went down, he ends up here with her every time whether it's Brussels or Paris or London or Sheffield or the damn Moon. She's there.

His arm wraps around her shoulder and she guides the way with ease like she built these streets for them to walk down. She knows every curve and never leads them down the wrong way. She stops him from nearly getting hit by a bike and laughs at the little scream he lets out. Despite the gravity of where they are headed, she's smiling and joking around with him (or maybe about him) and he can't help but love every second of it. He never wants it to let up.

"When I was a baby, I got sick, some infant kind of sickness, and I was a crying baby, especially with this cold. My maman was beyond exhausted and she still had my brother to care for and my dad was working. My bomma came and the day she arrived everything cleared up. I wasn't sick anymore and I barely cried. She joked that my mother had made the whole thing up to get a visit out of her but my maman always says that I could feel the comfort of my bomma coming and I wanted to be on my best behavior. That's the relationship we always had."

Alex gazes down at her. Her eyes steady ahead but glance up at him with every passing sentence. He brushes his thumb back and forth on her head enclosed in his. "That's a great story."

"Yeah." She smiles in remembrance.

"You were very close?"

She nods. "Emotionally. Belgium wasn't too far but we always had distance and as she got older we had to travel to see her, which was mainly during holidays. Every time it was like a hug. The kind that is so warm you want to lie in their arms forever."

The cemetery is filled with trees, spring blooming in the distance. Their walk through the yard is silent. She lets go of his hand and stands before a small headstone, pulling a flower she picked from the park down on top of the stone. "When I was 5 or something, my bompa died. I don't remember much of him. He was a quiet man, especially compared to bomma. He was cremated and wanted to be tossed into this lake he fished at and we are going there and my bomma has his ashes in the little urn and she goes to pour them and the urn is empty. She keeps shaking it even though nothing is in there and she turns back to all of us, shrugs, and says, 'I knew he'd run out on me eventually.'"

She giggles so he feels permission to laugh. "What happened with his ashes?"

"Oh." Lottie laughs harder, which feels inappropriate for a cemetery but they are in a relatively secluded area. "She left it back at home. She brought the wrong urn to the funeral."

Alex chuckles and she grabs his hand. "We can go now if you'd like," she offers.

"We can stay however long you'd like." He doesn't want to rush her in any way. He can watch her stand in front of the grave and listen to her stories forever.

She shakes her head. "I'm good. I just wanted to think of her for a while. I'm ready for lunch. You need some mussels."

"Are you insulting my physique?" Alex jests, looking down at his triceps.

She laughs at him. "The food. Not the human variety."

Her feet clobber all over the street and his heart as she leads him to a restaurant. "I need to ask you something." They're going down that large hill now. It's easier than climbing it but now they have to worry about the fall.

"Yes?" She throws a smile back at him and he's losing his balance.

With his arm around her shoulder and her hand holding his hand, he asks her, "We've avoided the whole subject of boyfriends/girlfriends. You've got a fella waiting for you back home?"

She's smirking as if she could burst into laughter at any moment. "Would it change anything if I did?"

His eyebrows are raised but he's amused by her evasiveness, even if it concerns him. "Probably not. I've had my tongue down your throat."

"Ew." She squishes her nose up in this cute little wrinkled mess. It makes him want to kiss her, so he does. It's a wonder they don't trip over anything as he lays one on her. "To answer your question, no, not really."

"Not really?"

She twists out from under his arm like they're ballroom dancing. She walks backward sleekly down the hill, facing him. "I do this kind of thing in every country."

"Very funny." He chuckles but he wants an answer. "But seriously."

She returns to under his arm. "No, I haven't dated anyone since my porn-addicted boyfriend. That ended about 2 months ago and my therapist has been trying to get me back with him since then. You?"

He should have expected that, yet, he still feels that he has to let his guard down now. "That's kind of why I'm here."

"You're visiting your girlfriend?" Despite her joking about possible partners back in Paris, he feels her tense up at the idea of this.

Alex shakes his head. "No, kinda running away from it. I had a girlfriend for about a year or so and finally got to see her for an extended period since we've been long distance and right when I arrived, I got the feeling she wished it had stayed that way. She broke up with me about a week later. It's part of the reason why I'm here. Just need to have some time away from everything."

"The madness of everything?" Part of Alex thinks she knows who he is, but her eyes don't give that away. She just seems to understand what's going on in his mind.

"Yeah."

"Well," she sighs, "I'm sorry about the girlfriend."

Alex chuckles looking down on her face—looking up at him with a hidden grin. "No, you're not."

She giggles. "Duh." It's so adorable, sweet and teeth-rotting, he has to kiss her again. Teeth collide as she laughs away and they might nearly get hit by a car but it feels worth it.

Over a moules-frites and a beer each, she tells him, "I don't think I could do long distance."

Alex wipes away the remnants of beer lip. "Me and me girlfriend couldn't either. Clearly."

"I don't know why people feel such a pressure to make things work, you know. I had this boyfriend who went for a semester abroad in America and when he was there, he got an American girlfriend but still felt this need to make our relationship work even after he told me about her. I don't see it as a big deal, especially at our age. Why do we feel such a need to make relationships work? It's unrealistic to be with the same person forever, let alone at this age."

Alex shrugs. "I think we either feel a need to be like our parents or make up for our parents."

She continues her rant and he intently listens. "Exactly. I don't think things are meant to last. The greatest things have ended. But yet with relationships, even when we make mistakes, we feel the need to make it work. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes you don't have to force it."

"You feel very passionate about this kind of thing." Alex wants to make it clear he isn't mocking her. "I like it."

She rolls her eyes. "Passion is the key. Why shouldn't we go for the things that make us feel the most? I don't understand this whole 'tough it out.' Why should I deal with my porn-addict boyfriend? Why can't I just date a boy who isn't addicted to porn?"

"I don't think I have a porno issue," Alex adds.

"My therapist would not like you."

Alex tells her, "I think you should tough things out when they feel worth it. The struggle is sometimes what makes the outcome so good. When I've struggled with writing a song and then it's done, it's the accomplishment that keeps me going."

She's grinning at him. "You write songs?"

Alex is flushed red and trying to hide his head in his chest like a turtle. "Yeah, but we're not going to talk about that."

"Why not?" She's eager, he can tell, and if she really wanted to hear one, he'd play her something, but right now he wants to shield all that behind him.

"Because I don't want to tough that out." He uses her words against her. "I think the hard stuff can be worth it. That's all."

"You have a good point. I'm not getting back with my porno boyfriend though."

"Please don't." He doesn't want to sound like he's begging but he might be.

She explains further, "The impertinence of things is what makes them so wonderful in the first place, you know."

"Like some Hanging Gardens of Babylon shit?" His mouth is full of fries and he feels like he needs a kids' menu or something.

"So beautiful but we aren't even sure if it ever existed, right?"

He nods and finally swallows his chewing. "Partially. I don't think they ever found any physical evidence but they know the King of Babylon had these gardens built for his wife, who was a Persian princess or something. It was to help with her homesickness for the green forests of her home."

She chuckles. "You study this or something?"

"Read a book about it." It was actually a short article but a book sounds more impressive.

Her smile twists up and it twists his guts too. She lowers her eyes over him like she's examining him. "You're an impressive surprise."

"You don't expect me to read books?" He questions.

She shakes her head at him in disbelief. "Not about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon."

The sun has begun to set by the time they've left the restaurant, but their conversation of impertinence rings in his ears. After everything back home, he can't help but agree with her, but he can't help but panic about saying goodbye to her. He's holding tight and in no rush to let go.

They're walking slowly this time, in no rush to explore the city, instead focusing on knowing the way around one another. "Would you ever get married?" She asks him.

"You proposing?" The rush it brings to his chest is alarming.

She leans his head on his shoulder and wraps her arms around his chest. He hugs her close to him, fitting into one another completely. "Seriously. I've thought about this and I'm still not sure. I don't like the idea of marriage but I could imagine it for myself. It's a romantic idea and as much as I might not project that I'm a romantic person."

Alex points out, "You've been walking around with a complete stranger all day. That sounds like something a romantic would do."

"You're not a stranger to me anymore." It's the kiss that follows this sentence that seals it for him.

"I think I could marry someone if it felt right. I'd only want to do it once. If it didn't work out I don't think I'd give it another try," Alex confesses.

"Why not?"

"I failed at it once with someone I thought I could make it with. I wouldn't want to put that on another person again."

"What if it wasn't your fault? Like the other person did something unforgivable."

"Then, I never really knew that person. I think that's a little bit on me if I mistake a person for something they're not. That shite doesn't usually come out of nowhere."

She hums. "You're very intelligent, Alex."

He chuckles, slightly confused by the compliment. "Thanks."

"Emotionally. You don't find many men like that. At our age. Even at my parents' age." He doesn't feel like a man. So close to childish kooks and still having his mum do his laundry but she's earnestly saying it so he doesn't vocally disagree.

"I have a ticking clock in me. You can have kids at any age."

"I don't exactly have the passion to be a 70-year-old father."

She shrugs. "I don't even think I want children. They're too sticky."

A half hour or so later, they enter a sticky bar where she squeals about how cool it looks, which, in her defense, she's right. It's through this long hallway that looks like you're entering a church with stained glass windows before you enter a room that looks like Ozzy Osbourne pissed all over the place.

Gathered around a table in the corner with two drinks between them, they make out. It's not some impassioned tongue-down-each-other's-throats kind of kissing where you think the couple is about to have sex right in the middle of the bar. They're in a hidden, dark corner and it's the first time today when they haven't been in broad daylight. And, yeah, it is probably a bit sleazy looking but it feels overwhelmingly necessary for both of them to do.

"People are going to start throwing money at us," she says.

"What?"

"Like at a gentlemen's club or something," she explains.

Alex laughs and he unintentionally rubs his nose against hers and she wrinkles it up, all freckled and fucking cute. She separates them and sips her cocktail, prompting him to sip his bourbon. "Maybe I'll do that."

He snorts and the bourbon nearly drips out of his nose. "Be a stripper?"

She giggles at his reaction. "From nanny to stripper. No, I feel lost is all."

"Sometimes the best things come from being lost." Alex feels his mouth being forced to smile and he can't hide anything from her. "I was lost when I found you."

She blushes and, fuck, he's screwed. Her cheeks are pink and she's cherubic but at the same time talking about being a stripper and he wants to glue himself to this seat and watch her blush forever.

She leans forward placing her head on hand. She looks like Juliet standing on a balcony and, he supposes that makes him Romeo or at least Paris, which means he's going to die for her either way and he almost slaps himself because this isn't some Shakespearean tragedy and she's sitting right in front of him breathing, reaching her hand out for his, which he kisses the back of, which is very Shakespearean, so this might kill him.

"You make me flustered," she confesses.

It blows him away because he's 100% been the fool this whole time to this dream girl. "Seriously?"

She drops her hand from his and leans back, sipping away, keeping her glass in her hand. "Yeah, you're always saying these things and I'm stuck talking about being a stripper and rambling about my lack of direction and ex-boyfriend."

Alex wraps his arm around her shoulder and leans over to whisper in her ear. The bar is loud but he also just wants to be closer to her. "Can I tell you something?"

She motions for him to continue.

"I feel like the biggest fucking idiot talking to you. I basically feel like I'm gonna shit myself every time I open my mouth. You're very intimidating, Charlotte."

She gags at the sound of her full name. "How can I be intimidating?"

"Have you seen yourself? You're like some angel. I'm convinced there is a halo hidden under that head of hair."

She rolls her eyes and pulls away from him to face him more. "See there you go again being only Mr. Cool Guy. You do this kind of thing all the time. You know exactly how to make the girls swoon for you."

"I'm kind of interested in making only one girl swoon."

"Stop talking! It's like you're trying to kill me."

"How do you think I feel? I'm the idiot begging this beautiful French girl to help me after I stared at her the whole train ride."

She smirks. "You stared at me the whole train ride?"

He throws his head back and pinches his nose. He groans and she's laughing at him and how can you not feel like the fool when she's making him do shit like this? "I'm a major creep but I swear I'm not going to murder you."

She huffs. "Oh, how promising. Next, you're going to take me down a dark alley and I'll mysteriously disappear."

Alex hunches over the table and rubs his face. "You're making me feel worse."

She grabs both her shoulders and squeezes them. "Don't get in your head about it. It's a labyrinth in there. I'm here and you're here and I think we both know how we feel so no pressure. We don't have to ever see each other again if we find out things about the other we don't like. I don't think you're going to kill me and you shouldn't worry much about a girl who couldn't even win a thumb wrestle if her life depended on it."

Alex doesn't want to think about never seeing her again but he's done keeping his guard up and he's going to make the most of this day, even if it's the only one they spend together. "You want to thumb wrestle?"

She pulls back with a gasp. "You just want to feel like a winner. Piece of shit."

"Fine," he chuckles, "tell me a secret. What have you been hiding from me?" He hit his shoulder with hers before wrapping his arm back around her.

She toys with the ends of her hair. "Euh," she says, eyes cast away from him, and roughly bites her lip, "I left my book on the train on purpose."

Alex stares at her and suddenly everything shifts. He isn't the only fool. "Is that a technique you use? Pick up men through book leaving methods."

She giggles and finally meets his eyes, sparkling. "No, no. I had finished the book on the train and I, well, I could tell you were watching me. I'm sorry I acted like I couldn't but it made me seem like less of a sap if I didn't know. I figured if you were watching me, you'd return it, and if not I would lose the book. I'm glad I wasn't wrong."

He gazes. The entire day reframed in his mind. "You..." He isn't sure what to say. He's yielded completely but trapped thoroughly. "I can't believe it."

She smirks. "Worked out pretty good too."

"Holy shit" is all he can utter. His mouth gapes open and shut multiple times before he can even think of a thing to say. "And here I thought I was the sap."

She tilts her head back. "I'm a total maple."

"Maple?"

She explains by saying, "Maple sap."

Alex is overcome with laughter and completely dazed by her. "Can I steal that?"

She inches close to him and plays with his hand on the arm that is around her. "What's your secret?"

Alex admits he walked into that one. The unavoidable shielding he's been doing ever since he got on the train to Brussels. It's not that he's full of himself thinking she'll know him or know the band but the whole purpose, or part of it, was to get away from that part. After a year that most people wouldn't experience in a lifetime, he needed to escape himself.

"I'm sort of running away from that," he tells her.

"What? Did you kill someone?"

He awkwardly laughs. He's frazzled. Back against the wall and he sighs, it shouldn't be this big of a deal. "No, I've had this big year with me band and we're doing our second album now which is the first break we've had in a long time but it's not really a break since we're making this album. I love doing it but after the whole thing with me girlfriend, I just sort of feel like I'm not even meself anymore."

"So you went to somewhere where no one would know you," Lottie guesses.

Alex nods. "Sometimes I think the person I need to escape is me." He's been sucked into the black hole of himself. A constant loop of overthinking and ever since things ended with Johanna, he's been thinking that all he does is suck the life out of everyone else, including himself. He knows it isn't true. At least, not completely. The band is great and the guys are great but he's losing touch with everything he'd ever known. He doesn't talk about it much, not even with the guys, but he feels flipped on his head, drowned, and unable to come up for air, and the tide is only getting higher.

"It makes sense," she tells him. He looks down and she's looking back at him with those drowning blues and suddenly he's breathing again. The ocean is in her eyes and not suffocating him anymore. "The person you spend the most time with is yourself. I think I'm a horrible person most of the time but you do your best to find people who don't make you feel that way. If you're really lucky you found people that make you actually feel like a good person."

Alex pulls her closer and leans down, placing his lips close to hers, but not touching them. "You make me feel that way," he whispers.

He can see her smile, teeth like pearls in an oyster, allowing him to be whoever he wants. "You do too. For me." He kisses her. It's soft and serene and he's eager and she's eager, both tugging at one another. Her mouth tastes like cherries and he holds her face and she tugs on her lower lip. He's not going to force her to do anything more with him but he thinks she's thinking what he's thinking like they have the same mind and are joined in the ideas of one another.

She's heavy when they pull back. Red cheeks and out of breath talking. "Do you want to walk around more?"

Alex will follow wherever Lottie leads. He pays their tab and grabs her hand to walk the stone roads once more. The sky has grown dark and a light flickers outside the bar where a group of people stand smoking. The street is relatively empty, besides a few stragglers who are returning from work or couples reaching the end of dates.

He wonders if people think they are a couple. It would be an understandable assumption. They stand with their hands intertwined. Her other hand is wrapped around his elbow and her head lays on the corner of his shoulder. She seems sleepy whether from exhaustion or her drink.

They walk lazily down the street with no direction in mind, no need to end up anywhere. "I like Brussels at night," Lottie quietly says.

The night is placid and her body is warm. "Me too."

She stops them on a street corner and lifts her head. "Where were you planning on sleeping tonight?"

He's not trying to get his hopes up. Maybe this is goodbye. He doesn't think it, prays it isn't, but isn't sure of anything, except the way he feels. "I was going to look for a vacancy somewhere. You?"

Lottie tries to hide her smile. It's one of the most adorable things he's ever seen, like a child trying to hide a cookie they've stolen from the jar behind their back. "I wasn't planning on staying the night. I was supposed to go back to Paris about an hour ago."

Alex tries his best not to use wishful thinking but come on. "Are you going to go back tonight?"

She shakes her head.

"Do you want to—"

"Yeah."

He's not a horny person. He's not a porno addict, he's not obsessive with women's bodies, he's not thinking of sex, boobs, or ass every minute of the day but, fuck, does the blood rush south quickly.

She resumes their walking and, again, he's not trying to rush her but it takes everything in him not to bolt directly to the nearest visible hotel even if it looks like a place where sex rings are located. He holds his pace but then he feels her step quicken and he tries to not hold his breath but he's already out of it.

"Does this look fine?" She points somewhere.

"Yeah." It could be a bench. He doesn't fucking care.

It's a Hilton. Nice, clean, generic. It doesn't matter as long as it has a bed.

Lottie talks to the women at the front desk in French. He doesn't understand any of it. She hands Lottie a set of keycards and tells her, "Vous êtes dans la chambre cinq cent cinq."

Suddenly, they're heading off toward the elevators. "Did you pay for it? You didn't have to pay for it. I'm the one making you stay the night here."

Lottie presses the down button. "You're not forcing me to be here against my will."

"At least, let me pay for half," he insists.

"You can write me a check." They walk in the elevator and she presses the 5 button.

He taps his foot. He can't touch her. If he touches her right now, he'll fuck her. She's giving him bedroom eyes and a heartache and he thinks she might eat him alive and he thinks he might let her, if she's the kind of food that gives her salvation. He'll be the victim if she's the vampire.

She unlocks the door and turns on the lights. The room is basic and the sight of the one lone bed confirms everything he needs to know in his mind.

Then she turns around and says, "I'm not having sex with you."

Alex tries his best to not look disappointed and he thinks he does a decent job besides the quiver of a smile on Lottie's lips. "That's alright. I can sleep on the floor if you'd like."

A smile overwhelms her face. She's dipping into a fit of giggles before she throws her bag into the lone chair in the corner of the room. "I presume you have a condom. All men seem to have a condom in their wallet during these situations."

Alex scratches the back of his head. He tries to answer simply, "Uh, yeah." But she just told him they weren't having sex so the condom that sits in the hidden pouch of his wallet doesn't seem as useful.

"When I lost my virginity, the guy I lost it to pulled out a whole string of Trojans and threw them on my bed." She tells the story through laughter, recalling the details best as her traumatized mind will allow. "He had to have had at least 20 as if he even lasted long enough to count the first time as sex. He fell asleep about 2 minutes after."

Her giggles prompted him to tell her, "The girl I lost mine to provided the condoms because I was too nervous to buy them."

She claps her hands in delight. She's sitting on the edge of the bed. He keeps his distance, unsure of what she wants him to do. He leans against the wall, knee propped up, hands in his pockets.

"My porno boyfriend wasn't too good at sex, which is extra annoying because you'd think he'd know how to do it based on the amount he was watching."

Alex laughs and shrugs. "Isn't most porn kind of made for men anyway? It's just a woman writhing around at the slightest touches."

Her eyebrow is raised and the left side of her mouth smirks. "Have you read The Second Sex?"

"Is that some smutty novel?"

She bursts out laughing and he figures he made himself sound like an idiot. "You read romance novels?"

Alex recalls, "My friend, Matt—he's the drummer in the band—read one to us once. It talked about throbbing members a lot."

"Does your member ever throb?"

He isn't sure what she is asking him. "Have I ever gotten hard before?" He tries his best to decipher.

She ignores his question and asks, "How many girlfriends have you had?"

Alex answers, "Uh, 3, I guess. None of them really long-term until my last." She nods like she's studying him. She might as well be holding a pen and notepad in her hand and taking notes on him. "What about you?"

She avoids the question and becomes snarky. "I haven't had any girlfriends."

"Good one," he approves. "You should be a journalist. You’re very nosy."

She bends down and undoes her shoes with a smile pointed at him. "Sex is weird," she voices. "The idea of putting yourself in someone else or having someone else inside you and it being pleasurable is one of the funniest ideas I've ever heard."

He shrugs. "Why? I think being with someone, feeling so close to them, you want to be the closest you can possibly be, and that concept brings pleasure. It makes sense. I don't think sex is completely about that. The pleasure part."

"What do you think it's about?"

"The vulnerability of it. I mean, being comfortable enough with a person to be naked in front of them, let alone, allowing them to be a part of that nakedness, take part in your body. The goal is to give this other person relief. To bring them this immeasurable ecstasy." He looks down at his shoes. If he looks at her, he'll probably bust a nut. "I think it's one of the last untouchable things. I suppose until we're having sex with robots and all that."

He sighs and meets her eyes. She's blinking at him, slow and carefully, as if she's in a daze. He thinks he went on for too long and weirded her out with talks of being naked, ecstasy, and sex robots. Probably thinks he's trying to force her into something. Then, she bends down and unties her shoes. "I decided I was going to have sex with you when you said I looked like Anne-Marie Crowet. The rest has just been foreplay."

She leaves him speechless again. He isn't sure if that's the go-ahead or if she's just informing him until she stands up and takes off her dress and he's pretty sure his heart is in need of a defibrillator.

Her back is to him and the blue of her underwear is imprinted in his mind. She looks over her shoulder and teases, "Do I have to do the whole thing myself?"

He swallows a chuckle and tries his best to stand up straight. He pulls off his dirty trainers and makes his way over to her. His arms wrap around her and it's like the first time he's touching her all over again. The delicate movements he makes as if he might burn himself at the slightest touch of her.

Lottie helps him out and leans forward touching her boobs to his chest. She fiddles with the bottom of his shirt and he nods for her to pull it off of him. The lace of her bra imprints itself on his skin and he thinks it'll leave a tattoo. The roughness of the material combined with the feeling of her nipples poking into him makes the blood rush with such speed he thinks he becomes lightheaded. She's got this hungry look that kind of drives him a little crazy.

Then, her mouth is on his. It's red hot, hot and heavy, rough, but the way his hand lands on her cheeks brings a sweetness to it neither can endure thinking about for long when trains leave the station all the time and people never return.

He kisses her neck. It's right there, a stretch of soft skin begging to be touched. They stumble blindly toward the bed. The mattress bounces as they fall onto it and a squeal emits from her lips that breaks any remaining tension and makes both of them laugh, teeth clashing, both too hungry for it to pull away to breathe fully.

She sits up enough for him to undo her bra. It's thrown back, scattered with the other clothes. She urges him to remove his jeans, "It's only fair. Equal opportunity."

"I'll show you equal opportunity." He's kissing her neck then mouthing her left breasts, kissing everywhere. Every expanse of skin. She's warm, warming up every inch of him. He tries not to rub against her too much for fear he might implode as he grows harder by the millisecond. He's dizzy, drunk off her skin, drunk off her boobs, drunk off the giggle she lets out when he kisses her belly button, drunk off her.

Alex nudges her legs apart as he trails his mouth down her stomach. He kisses her clit over the fabric of those blue panties. She groans and he's in deep. His hands edge the line of the underwear but he looks up to know for sure. She gives a head nod and he drags them down her legs slowly. He wants her to feel what he's felt. This waiting, the wanting, while she's called the shots. He wants her under his thumb now.

He feels the crevices of her. Slowly, he moves his hands inward down the lines that connect her legs to the rest of her body. He touches his nose to the area above her clit, teases her, wants to please her but wants her to need it. Suddenly, her hands are in his hair, threaded through his strands, not pushing him down but urging him. He gives in then.

She tightens her hold on the strands of hair and if she were to pull any harder she might rip a few out. She lets out this noise halfway between a whine and a moan, and he feels addicted. Desperate to hear it again. She's some fucked-up form of heroin, the water after the desert, the tang of the lime after the tequila, the first flower after the kind of winter that cracks your skin.

He dives in heavier, sucks her clit, and it makes her gasp and makes him restless but he isn't going to let up. He stops and kisses her inner thigh, which only angers her as she drags his head back to her center. He laughs into her pussy and it makes her push his head down heavier. "Please."

"Please what?" He lifts his head and he thinks she might slap him.

"Fuck you."

"Fuck me?"

"Fuck me," she begs and he grins, scruffy and desperate himself. He puts his fingers in her and you'd think he fed her a 3-course meal after months of only eating a shitty bag of petrol station crisps. He never considered himself to be too great at this kind of thing but she's shaking and he thinks he might be too but he's too focused on her to notice. She's crying out, coming, shaking, and breathless.

Alex wipes his mouth on his arm and kisses his way back up her body. Lottie leans up to capture his lips in a hungry, rabid kind of way, pushing him down on the bed. She snaps his waistband and he lets out a little scream, which makes her giggle, and it's a form of tit for tat. "You're annoying." She straddles him and he thumbs her hips.

"I don't know what you're referring to."

She crosses her arms. "Fine. You can sleep on the floor now."

"Only if you join me."

He leans up and kisses her and any teasing seems to have been forgotten because she reaches down and pushes off his boxers. Her fingers fumble before stroking him as if he isn't hard enough. "You've got quite the throbbing member." It's these tiny things that leave him rough and reeling and pushing any thought of never seeing her again out of his mind.

Alex pushes her over so she's on her back. He kisses her and says, "I need to get my wallet." She lets out a laugh as he goes to retrieve it. She sits up and watches him tear the packet with his teeth. Keeps watching him while he rolls it on, biting down on her lips, she pulls him close again, and touches him over it. Alex kisses her, long and good, trying to say everything he can't say out loud.

Everything becomes hazy. A mess as he enters her slowly before urgency takes over and she hooks her left leg over his hip and pushes him deep. A string of incoherent syllables fall from her lips and her brows draw together so tightly he sticks his thumb out to smooth it out. She catches his hand and kisses his palm. He hits this spot in her that forces this hitched gasp out of her and he swears he nearly cums from just that. She holds him tight, nails digging into his back. She could be drawing blood but he doesn't care. It feels good, everything feels good, electrifying, and killing. It's hard and rough and a real fuck if he's ever had one.

But it's more than that too because she keeps catching his gaze and holding it. Her arms are around his neck insisting he keeps his eyes on her, not that he'd look away, he doesn't have a choice but to take her in. She moans his name and Alex forgets for a moment that they are two bodies. He doesn't think his body belongs to him anymore. Its only purpose is to fulfill her.

He hits that spot again and she falls over the edge with a caught breath, nails digging deeper into his shoulder blades as he fucks her through it. For a moment, he's completely detached from himself, it's only her, nothing else, only her. Then, it's too much, and he's releasing into the condom and his body is on top of hers in a heaping pile of sweat-slick limbs and trembling bodies. His face is buried into the crook of her neck and he might suffocate himself.

Her arms are tight around him as if he might fly away into the night sky with a puff of smoke. He can feel her pulse race and the thought that he did that to her makes him want to already do it again. He presses his lips in the hollow of her neck and lifts his head. She brushes his hair back, all a mess in his eyes and he probably needs a haircut but who the fuck cares when her hands are running through it. "Is it always that good for you?" She whispers.

He's still out of breath as he shakes his head. "Fuck no." He doesn't want to remove himself from her but he disposes of the condom and she pees but they meet back in the middle.

The room is hot, even with the AC, it was cool when they entered but they've stunk it up with sex. She lies on top of his chest and his arms wrap around her and he has never had a girl fit so perfectly into that curve of him. As if they are curved for one another. "Best song to have sex to? Go."

He chuckles, still spent from what just happened but thinks. "I don't know like Marvin Gaye or something."

"Good answer," she approves.

"What's yours?"

"You know that Crazy Frog song." He doesn't think he's ever laughed harder in his life.

They run into an issue about a makeout session later. You see, Alex only had the one condom but is currently nursing a throbbing member, and Lottie isn't exactly cold either. "You think they sell them at the front desk?" She asks.

He throws his head back on the pillow. He can't keep making out with her because he can't go down in the hotel lobby with a raging erection. "I can't ask that poor lady at the front desk."

She bites her thumbnail in contemplation. "There's probably a store open down the street."

"Okay." He stands up and swiftly pulls on his boxers. "You can take a shower." She complained about being too hot and sweaty for about the last 20 minutes. "I'll get enough condoms to put virginity guy to shame."

She opens her mouth dramatically. "What are you planning on doing to me, Alexander?"

And, yeah, he nearly trips trying to get his jeans on after that. "I'll be back in 10 minutes tops. Do you want anything?"

She stands up on her knees on the mattress, the sheet is wrapped around her, and it's like she's trying to tempt him into a bad idea. "Oh, oh, oh!" She says excitedly. "You know those Lindt chocolates?" He nods, amused by her enthusiasm. "Get those but not the assorted kind, just the milk chocolate."

So, there he is at some grocery store, scared to buy condoms and chocolate for fear they'll talk to him in French. But the cashier is busy talking to his friend and doesn't so much as glance down at Alex or what he is scanning.

On the walk back (he thinks about running but that would probably be too dorky), Alex starts to spiral a little. Mainly at what has occurred in the past hours and the impending following hours. After their night together, what's next? A goodbye. If that's what she wants, he'll do it, but he doesn't want it that way. But is he really ready for a relationship? Let alone doing long distance again? He should probably be on his own for a while. Maybe they could be friends. Maybe this is a fond memory he'll look back at in his old age and remember the blonde angel who took hold of his hand and he never wanted to drop it. Suddenly, he thinks he'll be a single lone loser who doesn't find anything or anyone better than what he has and is forced to reminisce on a lost time. Or worse, he'll be with someone, but constantly thinking about what could have been.

He shakes the thoughts out of him and returns to the hotel. It's close to midnight and the lobby is empty except for the front desk which he gives a weak "Bonjour" to. The ride up the elevator is excruciating. Now that he is no longer spiraling, he's just thinking about her, naked. He fumbles putting the keycard through the slot and nearly drops the chocolates but he pops open the door.

And there she is. Naked, freshly showered with damp hair, lying on her side with her hands between her thighs. It's like she's shot him, he almost stumbles back, the sight is so holy, and he's so unworthy.

"Do you enjoy killing men?" He asks her. She smiles, giggles, and it pierces him completely. A force moving through him. She starts to sit up slowly and he quickly yells, "No, no, no, don't move!"

She lays back down pleased. "You bossing me around?"

The chocolates and condoms hanging at his side and his mouth almost hangs open. "Just want to take in the sight." And he tries his best to memorize every curve of her, the way her hand dances up her side, and how his heart is thumping away.

"At my museum, you're allowed to touch the art," she jokes.

Alex can't wait much longer anyway. He's fast. Rips open the box of condoms, takes a packet out, pulls his jeans and shirt off before toppling all over her. It's a laughing mess but soon their lips are connected and she's urging his boxers off of him. She ends up on her back, knees at his ribs, and his body braces above hers. Alex cradles the back of her head, pulling at her hair, and swallowing all her noises, those hitches, those gasps. He loves them, loves her, he's going to miss her like hell. He can't help fucking her as if he'll never get to do it again because he might not ever do it again (besides any later rounds they might have tonight). It has to be good, perfect, flawless.

She flips them over and moves down him, kissing every few inches. His hands thread through her hair. She's teasing him like he did to her and he could let her do it but he swears he'll lose it if she kisses her stomach again. He lifts her head off of him and she seems to get the message as he fists her hair into a makeshift ponytail. She takes him in her mouth, licks him like a lollipop up the sides, and he wants to be careful with her but he can't be gentle when he's dying for it. "Come on, don't make me beg."

She lifts her head with a raised eyebrow and he groans in discomfort. "Would you?"

He thumbs her lip and she kisses it faintly. "You know I would."

She takes him all the way in. She puts a quick, great effort into taking him completely in her mouth. Her nose brushes up against his hair before pulling back slowly. She begins to bob her head, working away at him that has him muttering, "Holy shit. Fuck." His eyes stay trained on her, even if he can't help but flutter. The sight itself is enough to make him shoot a load, let alone the actual feeling of her doing it.

Right as he's about to, she lifts her head up off of him and says, "You know, we could have done all this without the condoms right."

He's antsy, needs to grab onto something, he settles for fisting her hair. He laughs at her teasing but groans and bucks his hips up like come on, finish the job. She gets the message. Works away desperately. She wants him to cum almost as badly as he wants to. She takes him down all the way again and he goes then, right down her throat. She doesn't move, doesn't choke, swallows everything, and, fuck, he could cum again just from that.

He's panting, in dire need of air but never needing it again if she's doing things like that. She wipes her mouth and giggles at his reaction. Pleased with herself, the way she puffs her chest out shows that.

She takes the condom he's been holding this whole time out of his hand. "Did we really need this?"

Alex hooks his arm around her neck. "Yeah." He forces her onto his back, kissing her. It doesn't take much to work him up again and he brushes his fingers through her pussy and she's drenched and like that, he's ready to go again or he'll make himself ready to go again. He wraps himself up and rubs himself through her, has her writhing, has her moaning, has her clawing away at him.

When he enters her again, her voice gets raspy as he moans, "Alex." She kisses his neck and shoulder, and bites down in a vain effort to keep quiet before uttering, "Yes," and he's hungry for her to do it again. Snaps his hips into her quickly causing her eyes to flutter shut. His hand thumbs her clit and she pulls on him tighter. Her legs wrap around his hips and she tries to move closer to him as if it is humanly possible.

He flicks her clit again and he never considered himself to be amazing at sex but she makes him want to be the best and she's moaning like he might be. He tries to make it last, doesn't want it to end. He pulls out almost all the way before snapping his hips forward to get her moaning. Her fingers curl around the sheets, then around his hair. His hand grazes up her, memorizing. He's deep in her, both physically and emotionally. "Fuck," she groans. He tries to be slow, but she urges quickness before ordering, "Harder." He listens, bucking into her and she's melting away unable to focus on anything. His own pleasure is secondary. He hasn't even thought about his orgasm. He needs her to finish.

Their skin is coated with a sheen of sweat and he kisses away at hers. She wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him into her tightly. It's enough to choke the light out of him but he doesn't mind because she's panting and unarticulately moaning before she's coming. Their pattern becomes messy before she sends him over the edge.

She tries to catch her breath and relinquishes her hold on Alex. "Holy shit," she whispers weakly.

Alex hums in concurrence. He runs his fingers down her sides to make her shiver—a quiver comes from her lips.

"Hi there," she says. Something in him swells. He pulls her by the waist and she yelps a little, surprised, and then bites down on a grin. Reaches up to push his hair from his face and she's cracked him open like an egg and now he's just spilling out. His eyes fall shut and he wraps her up in his arms, indolent from exertion, nuzzling her nose to his.

She sighs heavily and they're stuck in the post-sex silent glow. Absorbed with one another and nothing else. Much like the rest of the day. "Are you sick of me yet?" Alex jokingly asks her. He isn't sure of himself on many things but he's sure of this. She must be feeling everything he's feeling. She has to, right?

She sits atop his chest. "Never."

He pets his hand down her now unruly hair. It gives him intense pleasure to know he did that. She dances her fingers around his body, waist to shoulder. "What's sex in French?"

She smirks, returning to their old translation game. "Sex is sex. I mean, there's faire l'amour, which is make love."

"Faire l'amour," he repeats.

"There's se branler."

"Se branler."

"Which means to jerk off."

He pulls an offended face. "I just had sex with you. I'm not jerking anything off."

She giggles. "Fine, baise-moi," she offers.

"Baise-moi."

"Fuck me."

He laughs. "I'm not that quick."

"J'ai envie de toi," she says. "I want you." She curls into him. Her hair soft and arms tight.

The impending morning hangs over their heads like an anvil. "Are we ever going to see each other again?" He asks.

They aren't looking at each other anymore. She breaks eye contact with him to stare at the ceiling and his eyes soon follow to do the same. "I don't know. I have to be back tomorrow."

"Me too," Alex says. His thumb grazes back and forth on the corner of her shoulder.

"I don't want to do long distance," she confesses. "It always fades away. You know, two people say they'll keep in touch but that's never true. You send a few texts but then you're missing each other's calls and it's a mess. I don't want to do that with you."

"Me either," he agrees. He doesn't want to repeat history and he doesn't want to do that with someone like her. Someone who he's never felt this way before.

"If this was it, would you be okay with that?" She asks.

His head is screaming No, no I wouldn't be okay with that, screw those kids, stay with me. But he's not going to lose himself in fantasy so he nods. "If that's what you want."

She averts her eyes. She looks unsure of herself but doesn't say anything and tucks herself into him. "I don't know what I want."

He kisses the top of her head. "That's okay."

In the morning, those blinds they never closed allow the Sun to wake them up. Their limbs are thrown about around the other. Her eyes flutter and it's like a butterfly taking flight as she exposes those blues. She looks at him and starts laughing. Her hand drags across the side of his face. "You have lines all over your face."

He perks up at the sight of her and that laugh. "That means I had a good sleep."

She bites a grin. "I had a good sleep too." If you can call it that. They weren't paying the closest eye on time but he doesn't exactly feel like he slept for 8 hours straight. She leans up and kisses across his face and it's an eruption of giggles.

There's a feeling in the air that they might do it again but then her eyes catch something and she falls back. She bites her thumb, which he can tell is a habit when she doesn't want to say something. She exhales roughly. "I have to go now if I'm going make it back in time."

Alex can't say more than an "Okay."

She redressed and, soon after, he does too. There isn't much romance to the whole thing. Soon, they're making their way to the station. Not many words are spoken but halfway through the walk, she leans her head on his shoulder, and he thinks he might cry.

Her train leaves at 9:45, his at 10:15. It's 9:35. There are no words spoken but he follows her onto the platform in silent understanding. Her train is already there, taunting them.

She grabs both his hands and places them on her waist. She rubs her hands over his elbows. The station is full of noise but silence echoes. Then, she says, "I don't want to never see you again."

He lets out a breath, feeling air enter his lungs again. He leans his forehead down to hers. "I don't want that either."

She kisses him tight in a quick motion. She presses herself up against him completely and he holds her against him in the same manner, the finality of it rattling around them.

"Come to London," he wishes aloud.

She pauses any movement, breaths caught in her throat. She's stiff and unmoveable before shaking her head. "I can't do that."

He has to. He has to. He has to. "Yes, come on. You hate your job. You want to find a future. Find it in London."

"I like my life. I have friends—"

"You have friends in London," he recalls. "Come on, Lottie. Doesn't have to be forever." He's begging. He sounds pathetic, he must, but, my god, if she can get him to get on his train, then any begging is worth it.

Her eyes are filled with tears and the knife twists within him. She takes a deep breath. Then, perks up, and excitedly says, "What if—what if I visit in a couple of weeks? I'll sort everything out and then I'll visit."

He feels like someone punches him. "We'll be back on the road soon."

She deflates and her train is honking away. This can't be it. Both are thinking it.

Alex gets one last idea. "I'll be in Paris. In July. My band we're gonna be touring here. Come to the show."

She grabs a hold of him like he might float away. And he just might. "In July?"

"Yes," Alex confirms. "Arctic Monkeys is the name of the band. I'll reimburse you for the ticket and all that." He tries to end on a lighthearted note but the weight hangs heavy.

She smiles and kisses him. “Okay, I'll see you in July.”

Alex kisses her again. He has to savour it. Hold it completely in his hands, hold her, memorize the way she moves her lips against his. Last call for the train is shouted out and says, "See ya in July." He smiles hopefully and she returns it.

She goes to get on the train but turns back quickly. Kissing him tightly, hard, passionately, firework-erupting finale. "Have a good ride back and a good tour, Alex."

"You too, Lottie." It takes her laughing to realize his mistake. He slaps his forehead, which endears her completely as if she could be endeared anymore.

She squeezes his hand firmly. "I'll try my best." She steps aboard and gives him a final look before dropping his hand.

He lets it swing at his side. Watches her pick a window seat. Each party waves goodbye before the train pulls out of the station. Alex stands there for a moment. He can't think about it for too long. He'll be doing that the whole train ride. Every day until July. Every day after July. Until.

Alex catches his train back to London and he'll wait for her. And then wait some more.

[camisoledadparis]

saga: Soumission & Domination 361

Espagne 2015-3 : Jaime recrutement

Jaime

Donc Jaime a 18ans et rentre en 1ère année de fac de science. C'est un volleyeur (ça s'est vu sur la plage). 1m85, 80Kg de muscles sous une peau imberbe, bronzée et débarrassée de ses quelques poils hors pubis, noir de cheveux, monté 20 x 5 à 5,2 circoncis. Homo depuis sa première expérience sexuelle avec un de ses potes de sport, il a fait son coming-out et sort d'une histoire de près d'un an avec un mec de 20 ans. Il est actif et passif. Son père est médecin et sa mère l'assiste, mais dans le contexte économique actuel et 3 frères et soeurs plus petits, il cherche à participer au financement de ses études et c'est pour ça qui va faire le serveur au mois d'août.

Ernesto déballe son argumentaire. C'est la première fois que je l'entends. Il est bon dans l'exercice. Jaime n'est pas choqué par la proposition. Il faut dire qu'Ernesto amène comme un privilège le fait d'entendre celle-ci. D'ailleurs Jaime est flatté que ce soit lui et pas les autres qu'on ait choisi en premier.

J'insiste sur le côté " sécurité " du travail, suivi médical, pratiques SSR, clients conscient du " haut de gamme " de notre offre de service. Sans minimiser la partie sexuelle des prestations, Ernesto précise qu'il faut aussi être bon dans l'Escort proprement dit.

Là, notre futur collaborateur s'inquiète de son dressing. Peur balayée quand on lui dit que les vêtements spécifiques (costumes, smoking...) sont compris dans le contrat.

Le dernier détail qui pourrait clocher c'est la taille de bites à " héberger " dans son cul. Le XXL n'est pas naturel à tout un chacun.

Quand je l'ai sodomisé, j'étais confortable, mais bien serré aussi. Rires de l'intéressé, le mec qu'il vient de quitter était équipé d'un sexe de 20 x 6.5 et avec lui il n'était que passif.

J'en profite pour dire que nous gérerons la partie professionnelle de sa vie mais pas la partie privée. Le seul truc est de ne pas prendre de risque concernant sa santé, question de respect pour les clients.

Ernesto bat le fer tant qu'il est chaud et je comprends pourquoi quand il nous dit qu'un de nos clients n'est pas " couvert " pour ses vacances le mois prochain. Contrat type de 3 semaines, voyage compris, 1 semaine d'affaires dans la capitale et 2 semaines sur la côte d'azur, le tout pour un salaire net 40 fois supérieur à celui de serveur estival.

Il a un peu de mal à digérer l'information. J'appelle Romain qui lui confirme que c'est du réel. Lui aussi va taffer le mois prochain et qu'entre sa mise aux enchères, ses prestations hebdomadaires et le " travail " d'été, il se fera cette première année plus qu'un cadre supérieur moyen.

Je n'avais pas pensé que ce serait aussi sa première prestation dans la société. J'en parle à Ernesto qui avait lui aussi zappé le truc. Il corrige aussitôt la proposition et l'assure pouvoir obtenir plutôt du 80 à 100 fois. Il est scié.

Ernesto lui propose d'aller le lendemain à Barcelone à son bureau. Il accepte et nous retournons avec les autres. Ses potes essayent de lui tirer les vers du nez pour savoir ce qui nous avait retenu tous les trois, mais il se tait.

21h, nous dînons tous ensemble, nos visiteurs ayant accepté l'invitation. Nous aidons Paco pour le service. C'est surtout Jésus qui fait les aller et retour avec la cuisine. Allez savoir pourquoi ! Le rosé glacé est de mise et sans nous en apercevoir, nous sommes tous un peu " partis " à la fin du repas.

Jaime me prend à part et me demande si je veux qu'il plante son cul sur la mégabite de Paco pour nous montrer ses capacités. Je lui roule une pelle. Il est gentil le gamin. Je lui dis que je lui fais confiance et que s'il prend ses quartiers à la villa, ça arrivera bien assez tôt. Il me serre dans ses bras et me dit qu'il a trop de chance cette année. Il a eu son " Bac ", il a largué son mec et nous arrivons avec la solution à ses problèmes de financement. Il va même économiser le camping. Quand il me dit cela, il éclate de rire et me dit qu'il vient de se rendre compte que c'est rien maintenant. Et puis ses deux amis ont besoin de son cofinancement de l'emplacement de leur tente.

La soirée se prolonge. Entre cafés, papotages, caresses diverses mais encore softs et passages dans l'eau pour nous rafraichir, la nuit s'avance et nos amis acceptent de rester. Traverser une partie de la ville à moitié bourré, pour rejoindre les matelas durs de leur tente... Ça convient bien aux habitants de la villa qui espéraient bien une deuxième partie de sexe.

Je me fais les hollandais. Culs blanc mais fougue toute méditerranéenne. En alternance avec PH et Ernesto, nous saturons leurs trous de nos coups de bites impérieux. Quand nous les laissons pour tester d'autres " abris ", ils sont pris en charge par Ludovic et Hervé. Pas de temps morts !

Alors que je cherche un plan, j'entends Jaime qui m'appelle. En levrette devant Paco, il se fait ramoner le conduit par ses 23cm épais. Au moins on ne pourra pas dire qu'il n'a pas de suite dans les idées. Je m'approche roule un patin rapide à Paco avant de lui demander ses impressions. Je n'arrive à lui tirer qu'un " bon, trop bon". Je m'aplatis, retrouve les lèvres et la langue de ma dernière conquête. Il arrive à me glisser un " t'as vu, je peux prendre lourd " entre deux brassages de langues. Je me coule entre ses bras et kpote sa bite que le limage de sa rondelle ne semble pas faire débander. Je me retourne et, sur le dos cette fois, je recule jusqu'à ce qu'il me plante. Dans cette position, on peut se rouler un patin tout en menant nos petites affaires et Paco aussi. Ce dernier devine que j'ai un peu de mal à garder mes reins suspendus sous Jaime. Il nous propose de migrer vers la table basse proche. C'est mieux. Je suis couchée dessus sur le dos, Jaime à genoux entre mes cuisses est juste à la bonne hauteur pour m'enculer et Paco, accroupi, les mains accrochées à ses épaules reprend son labourage en règle.

La bite de Jaime est très efficace. En fonction des coups de rein qu'il reçoit, il arrive à modifier ceux qu'ils m'envoient dans le cul. Sans que je lui en parle, il me dit que c'est ce genre de plan qui lui avait manqué avec Pedro (son ex).

Il arrive à me faire jouir sans que j'aie besoin de me branler. Les passages et chocs répétés de son gland sur ma prostate suffisent à déclencher mon orgasme. Quand, lors de chacune de mes éjaculations, je stoppe net sa progression, il monte en pression et, à son tour, jute mais dans sa kpote. Ricochet suivant, c'est Paco qui gueule en larguant sa sauce.

Il est 4h30 quand on s'endort.

J+2

Réveils à 11h. Je suis dans notre grand lit avec Ludovic, Ernesto, PH et Jaime. Il y a aussi João et Romain à l'autre bout.

J'enfile un maillot. Ça réveille Jaime qui se lève à son tour. Sans bruit nous allons à la cuisine. Les portes des chambres sont grandes ouvertes et on voit qui a dormis avec qui. Mon Marc a encore dans ses bras Baz alors qu'Hervé s'est endormi avec Rubén. Plus loin Arvid et Gaz ont l'air d'avoir fait plus que dormir dans les bras l'un de l'autre vu la pagaille des draps.

Quand on déboule dans la cuisine, le spectacle est revigorant. Pour au moins la deuxième fois, Jesus est planté par Paco. Torse sur la table de la cuisine, il pousse de tous petits gémissements pour ne pas réveiller toute la maison. Paco va pour se retirer et nous servir le café mais je le prends de vitesse et lui dis de finir son petit Jesus.

Avec Jaime, on sirote notre café en commentant leur baise. Enfin c'est surtout Jaime qui entreprend Jesus. Il rigole car ce dernier le traitait de fou quand il se faisait Pedro et sa grosse bite. Là, Jesus se prend bien plus gros et long et il voit bien que ça donne aussi du plaisir les grosses bites. On mate encore quelques instants. C'est intéressant ce qu'une grande différence de physique permet comme positions. Paco exhibe ses gros muscles avec des portés sur bite athlétiques. Jesus n'en peut plus de se faire ramoner. Il finit par jouir, les jambes serrées autour de la taille de Paco, accroché à son cou. On le voit mordre dans le deltoïde et y laisser la marque de ses dents pour ne pas hurler son plaisir alors que son jus coule de leurs abdos compressés.

On les laisse pour se mettre au soleil sur la terrasse. Lunette sur les yeux, nous synthétisons de la vitamine D.

Les autres occupants de la maison arrivent en ordre dispersé. Certains la tête dans le cul, d'autres quasiment frais et dispo !

Je profite que tout le monde soit là pour prévenir qu'avec Ernesto et Jaime nous allons en début d'après-midi à Barcelone. Arvid nous demande de l'emmener aussi. Les autres décident de rester. Nous embarquons donc dans une des trois voitures de location et traçons au nord. Ernesto conduit. Il dépose Arvid devant sa coloc avec la promesse de ce dernier de revenir nous voir (il a notre adresse et nos n° de téléphones) surtout que les grosses partouzes sont encore à venir.

Puis on file vers le bord de mer. Vers le Bario de Barceloneta où Ernesto vient d'acquérir pas trop cher, au nom de la société, un vieil immeuble de 2 étages où il a implanté les bureaux et son appartement. L'extérieur est encore à refaire mais l'intérieur est nickel. Jaime est impressionné par l'endroit. Comme au blockhaus, Ernesto a réalisé une frise avec les photos de ses Escorts en maillot Addicted (chez moi ils sont en Aussiebum). J'ai beau connaitre mes employés, les voir les uns à côté des autres, je remarque une plus grande disparité de physiques. Jaime a du mal à décrocher ses yeux. Il nous dit reconnaitre trois mecs. Il n'aurait jamais pensé que leur aisance financière venait de ce taf. Quelque part ça le rassure.

On monte son dossier. Ernesto lui donne l'adresse des boutiques dans lesquelles il devra aller s'habiller. Il téléphone au labo d'analyse pour les prévenir que nous passerions plus tard. Il en profite pour appeler son client. Alors que ça sonne, il pousse le dossier du mec devant Jaime. Je l'ouvre et on voit le mec en photo. Il est en maillot de bain. Dans les 45ans, bien fait, on voit que le contenu de son slip est lourd et pourtant il ne bande pas ! Je regarde Jaime, il me dit que ça va il avait craint un mec gras, chauve et repoussant.

Nous entendons la conversation téléphonique. Ernesto explique qu'il lui a trouvé un escort pour le mois d'août. Le mec est ravi, il lui explique aussi que c'est une nouvelle entrée dans la société donc il devine ce qu'il va lui demander. Réponse du client " je sais comment ça marche mais là tu ne vas pas me faire des enchères j'en ai besoin ".

Ernesto l'assure qu'il le lui réserve mais qu'il va falloir qu'il soit généreux tout seul. Le client comprend et annonce le chiffre d'un résultat d'enchères normales. C'est ce que lui fait remarquer Ernesto qui lui rappelle qu'il va avoir son gars 3 semaines en 7j/7 et 24h/24.

 A mes côtés, Jaime est sans voix. Je tempère en lui disant que le chiffre discuté est le salaire brut. Qu'il n'en aura que 55% net (le reste ce sont les charges 35% et la marge de la boite).

C'est limite s'il ne tombe pas dans les pommes quand le client propose 1 fois et demie sa première offre. J'opine de la tête et Ernesto confirme notre accord puis raccroche.

Jaime me roule un patin de la mort avant de faire pareil à Ernesto. Il est trop content. Son mois d'août qui s'annonçait sympa mais peu rémunérateur s'est transformé en vacances en France avec salaire de ouf.

Je lui demande si avec ses parents ça ne posera pas de problème. Ernesto annonce qu'officiellement, il émargera en tant que " secrétaire particulier ". Il dit que ce sera OK. Je pense aussi à la drogue, à Saint Tropez, ça ne doit pas manquer. Jaime me rassure que s'il avait dû tomber là-dedans, ce serait déjà fait vu la facilité pour trouver de la cocaïne aussi bien à Barcelone qu'à Sitgès. J'en profite pour souligner que nos escorts sont tous " propres " concernant les drogues et le tabac. Question de respect du client.

Quand on repart, on passe au labo. Le prélèvement dure 5mn et les résultats lui seront communiqués sous 48H comme en France. Nous sommes de retour à 18h. La villa est quasi vide. Marc et Hervé nous préviennent que les jeunes sont sur la plage et qu'eux attendent notre agent immobilier et son petit copain qui vont passer la soirée avec nous.

On enfile nos maillots, un short par-dessus. On prend la voiture et descendons à la plage.

Facilement on retrouve le petit groupe qui squatte un filet de volley. Les deux potes de Jaime l'assaillent de question. Il coupe court en leur disant qu'il avait profité du fait qu'Ernesto et moi dévions aller à Barcelone pour aller voir ses parents.

On entre dans le jeu. Une partie décousue mais acharnée, un plongeons dans la mer et on discute de la soirée. Les deux hollandais ont entendu parler d'une teuf et comptent y aller tout comme Rubén. La triplette souhaiterait les accompagner. Je demande plus de renseignement sur qui organise quoi. J'ai pas confiance et Ludovic non plus.

Après 5mn à nous faire la tête, ils admettent que nous ne sommes que le troisième jour d'un séjour de 21, donc ils ont le temps.

João me prend à part et me dit que si je veux, il pourra " encadrer " les petits au besoin.

En attendant nous remontons à la villa sans les " fêtards ". Dans la voiture où nous sommes tous entassés (10 !! y'en a 2 dans le coffre du C4 Picasso) Jaime console les jeunes en leur assurant que cette fête c'était plutôt souleries et défonce que baises et plaisirs. Il avait été à la précédente organisée par le même mec et s'était barré tôt avec Arvid qu'il avait rencontré là-bas pour la première fois.

Jardinier

~~

~~

~~

[t4taletyler]

Noah(TDI) and Queer characters in media.

In 2007 Teletoon premiered Total Drama Island, Apart from that cast was Noah. Noah quickly became a fan favorite along with Cody in the episode 'The Big Sleep' where Noah is shown to be kissing Cody's ear in his sleep, The two wake up and freak out. They quickly run away from each other.

This becomes a running gag of sorts, As in the episode 'Haute camp-ture' We see all the characters who got voted off this far in the show at the resort Playa Des Losers.

We see Noah featured in some of these scenes in the episode, As Noah is describing his experience on Total Drama Island he says he's gotten nothing out of it and that it was completely uneventful to him. We see Izzy pop in and say, "He kissed a guy!" The two bicker back and forth about whether it happened or not, Trent rebuttals Noah's no's with "He totally did" and then shows a flashback to Noah and Cody kissing with Noah saying he has no comment. We see this gag again in Total Drama Action in the Aftermath show, We are introduced to the people who didn't end up making it on TDA. In Noah's introduction, we are shown a clip of him kissing Cody AGAIN. They are also shown sitting with each other in a lot of the TDA aftermath segments.

One question I have is why is this gag shown over and over again? In the episode where it came from it didn't move the plot along, it was just a few-second gag. I feel as if this was hinting at Noah being gay, Freshtv who was producing the series has made gay characters before in their other show 6teen. I firmly believe that Noah is queer-coded at the very least. When Justin is introduced to us in episode one of Total Drama Island we see Noah, Owen and Trent all swoon over him much like the girls

In the Total Drama flash game 'Oh No U Di'n't' we see Noah say this about Cody

Though this saying can be said by any of the characters in the Flash game about Cody it sounds the most like Noah, especially with his sarcastic voice. Noah's personality is also a gay stereotype, at least in the first three seasons. In the 2000s typically gay men were depicted as feminine, sassy, and sarcastic. We can see this in TV shows such as Sex in the City and the movie The Devil Wears Prada. Noah emulates a lot of these traits with his sarcastic personality and how sassy he is. He is also depicted as skinny and having a 'girly' scream, shown in the special Total Drama Drama Drama Drama Island.

A lot of these scenes are played as a joke as LGBTQ+ representation was very hard to find that wasn't played as a "haha funny" moment.

In Celebrity Manhunt we see Cody and Noah parallel two straight pairings in this scene. We don't see Noah actually smile a lot but the times he does we see him with men such as Cody,Alejandro and Owen

(aftermath show)

(Newf kids on the Rock)

(I see London..)

On FreshTV's now-deactivated Tumblr blog, they said in response to an ask about Noah

This along with the existence of Nemma (Noah x Emma from rr) has always confused me, Why would Fresh TV go back on their character and suddenly change him to be less sarcastic and sassy? I think if they addressed Noah's queerness they would get backlash because he is A stereotype of a gay man BUT! I think the way they did it was actually more harmful to the queer TDI community. It made a lot of Noco,Alenoah and Nowen shippers face backlash till this day. Now with the TDI reboot we finally have two canon queer characters that are dating which is exciting and I'm glad they fought so hard to keep them but i think this was a way to pay their respects to characters they couldn't make queer like Noah and Owen.

Final Notes/TLDR;

Noah is a queercoded character that wasn't allowed to be queer which still hasn't been answered to this day. I hope with future seasons of total drama we will get more queer rep!

[operafantomet]

How would you rank each non-replica on a scale of creativity/original ideas?

That is a good question with many possible answers! Mostly because there are "good" creative/original ideas and "bad" creative/original ideas out there, and some of the most creative ones may also be the one I dislike the most... For example, if going by creativity and originality alone, Estonia would be very high on the list. But I'm not really loving the production overall, so I wouldn't say it's the best original take on POTO. If that makes sense. But if ranking the productions purely by how different they are and how hard they have worked on not looking like the original, I would say:

ESTONIA: Inter-war setting, rather bleak in its colour scheme and overall design, with one helluva mirror-discoball lair design, leather-coat Phantom, Vivienne Westwood-esque Il Muto, Moulin Rouge-ish Masquerade, 1990s Haute Couture Don Juan... There's so much to say. Definitely original, and not just giving "we had a low budget" vibe.

FINLAND / SWEDEN: 1980s costume vibes, gold mask, rock'n'roll, huge sets, tiny chandelier, gigantic orchestra, for the most actual opera singers in the leads. This one felt odd more than anything. But original? Very much so.

KRISTIANSTAD, SWEDEN: Definitely a production on a budget, but yet checking off all the boxes of what you'd expect of a POTO production. And with some super original ideas for some key scenes - Raoul stumbling around in the falling sets during the Overture, the elegant double staging in the boat scene, the rarities in the Phantom's lair, Red Death crashing through a mirror and later disappearing in mid-air... They had so many cool lil' details going on. In style fairly 1880s, and with a cool horizontal half-mask for the Phantom. I really appreciated this one.

SERBIA: One could maybe argue this was more low-budget than original...? At least the basic black set with few changes and the many low-key costumes didn't feel like the biggest effort out there. But different? Oh definitely.

BULGARIA: Pretty much the same comments as Serbia. However, the Phantom's fruit crown in PONR can never be unseen. Neither can the monkey musical box which seemed to have lost its will to live. Memorable for sure.

ROMANIA / NORWAY / GREECE / TOUR: Whereas the basic drum set was fairly similar to the Restaged Tour, it felt like an original production still. Some independent interpretations of the Palais Garnier (including featuring a huge window as a mirror substitute for Christine), more Edwardian flair of the costume design, and a kick-ass chandelier - grand, fun, and with some cool and independent directing ideas throughout. The idea of never leaving the opera house, for example, was interesting. Very enjoyable overall.

MEDITERRANEAN: Basing nearly the whole set design within a rectangular, turnable box on stage was a neat and cool idea. This, combined with oh-so-Victorian costumes and so many nods to Phantom history, felt original and clever. Also some stunning original visuals, like the Phantom's lair with the Piraniesi-esque labyrinth backdrop. Speaking of original, it probably looked very as expected with its heavy victoriana flair - but to me that's not a negative thing.

POLAND: One could argue this in large was a carbon copy of the 2004 movie. The costumes in particular, but also directing elements like including a sword fight in the Mausoleum scene. But the sets - oh, those beautiful sets! Also a wild chandelier crash.

SYDNEY HARBOUR: A really hard one to rank. The world's first outdoor production (ORIGINAL!), with sets looking like Bjørnson's design on steroids (not as original), with 1860s flair costumes (hello 2004 movie) with a dash of LND Australia (not as original), but then a flying gondola over burning water (ORIGINAL!), a huge cast (very RAH), and performing come rain or sunshine (ORIGINAL!). Something old, something new... But definitely a cool one for the Phantom portfolio!

RESTAGED TOUR: I was a bit in doubt on how to rank this one. I mean, the costume design is in large not new, it's Maria Bjørnson's costumes. But then new set design, new directing and new choreography. With various degrees of success. To me the most original idea is the drum set structure, and also some new magic tricks and added moments. I'm not loving the directing choices, as it makes both the Phantom and Raoul rather unloving candidates for Christine - why would she pick either of them? Also felt too much like a nod to Love Never Dies to appear truly original. So yeah, mostly for the sets.

HUNGARY and CZECH REPUBLIC: Whereas the productions themselves may not look the same, they both feel like two similar takes, to loving interpretations of the original, sticking to the same colour schemes and with a heavy Victorian flair. Directing wise they also feel like the same landscape. I appreciate both a lot, and especially Hungary has some clever ideas going on. I also loved how they picked Palais Garnier as a base - but totally different areas or angles of the Palais Garnier than what Bjørnson did. But if going purely by originality they don't move too far outside the box.

NEW ROMANIAN PRODUCTION: Nearly impossible to rank. AI design with some tweaks, which has resulted in a sort of amalgamated combo of all the non-replica production set design, with a sprinkle of Maria Bjørnson design on top. With some playing-card-odd costumes. Some visuals are stunning, some are very traditional, some are way out there. Yeah, I have no idea how to rank this one.

(and of course this is just my impression of them - have in mind that I've only seen three of them live, and if I see more of them in the future I may feel different about this ranking)

[ghostlylicious]

the witcher swapped roles au and their personalities are the same as before somewhat . do we like it (apologies that i didn't go through w dandelion's glitter hair 💔)

(press for better quality, and additional contexts/yapping under the cut)

crazy how i tied up jaskier's hair just to also give him bangs that obstruct his view 😭 in all fairness it is a trait he has which is in my hcs for him for this au:

yapping abt witcher!julian:

he still styles his hair to battle and it comes out okay even when he's covered in blood legolas style

he tends to wear knight-like armor-- ones that are very shiny, and sometimes they have purely decorative engravings. that part where geralt bought a new jacket but in this au dandelion bought a new nearly complete armor set that makes you question its practicality with what it looks like

he'd be sooo annoying as an actual hero i'm serious😭😭😭 this book series would NOT be popular ong (but perhaps bard!geralt will save it)

glittery hair after his full mutation was a joke but what if it was real for a second-

yapping about bard!geralt:

okay i'm gonna be honest i did not fucking mean for geralt to look like a red amazon macaw. I JS THOUGHT RED LOOKED GOOD ON HIM ESP W HIS BLACK HAIR then i was like hmm green and blue contrast well w the red and- oh fuck. but it's growing on me tbh.... i can redesign him w black n white but then he and dandelion's color palletes wouldn't contrast well and i'd also have to redesign dandelion's armor and i do NOT like designing/drawing armor😭 but let's see!

he probably said to his stylist "idgaf just make me look good" and the stylist had the same thought process as i did and boom here you go now you're a parrot mf

also yes since he never became a witcher in this au he's got his original hair color- or what i hc his og hair color would be. (i initially tried brown hair but he ended up looking like white jesus 💀💀💀😭😭 it's bc of the beard but i decided then that black hair would js fit his character more

he's actually geralt roger eric du haute-bellegarde

okau dont ask me for more details abt their names and backgrounds bc i have no idea!!!!!! i MIGHT write abt them but... i'm 1 of the laziest fucking artists ever so it's unlikely . also decided to have their scars like that bc of their occupations and the situations they'd get into bc of that

their love interests (which i hate calling them that but in a meta way it's true😭) are switched roles as well: bard!yennefer and sorceress!priscilla . for the child of destiny tho????? 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️ idk . honestly contemplating for ciri to just be ciri that'd be kinda funny

[hattedhedgehog]

hihihi i have one million questions about veilguard if you're willing to answer

what's the party banter like (quantity, quality, how often it triggers)?

can we talk to companions outside of the lighthouse (like in origins)?

how in-depth can we go with the questions we ask companions? and on that note - how varied can our responses be? is it like origins with a shitton of variety, or inquisition where you're mostly limited to two or three opinions?

how fashionable are the armors? any favorites?

how much do we get to interact with the infamous egg? is it anytime, or only in specific cutscenes?

could you go a bit more in-depth about how gender and transness works for rook?

does rook have their own room in the lighthouse, and if so, is it customizable (and to what degree)?

how much impact does your race have on story/banter/gameplay?

if you're allowed to tell us, how large of a role does the inquisitor play?

how tall/short can rook be?

how in-depth can rook get when it comes to political discussions (related to #3)

on a scale of 0 to videos of soldiers coming home to their dogs after being at war, how much should we expect to cry?

can we see your rook?

thanks!!!

I'll do my best! Some I won't be able to answer but I'll give it a go for ones I can. Spoiler-free answers below:

1: The party banter is lovely! It's very frequent, it ranges from rivalry to potential romance amongst each other, and happens at the Lighthouse as well as on missions.

2: Sometimes!

3: Depends how close you are to them. There aren't as many options as in Origins but it doesn't feel like the conversation is limited. You also get extra dialogue options depending on your faction/gender/relationship etc.

4: I found lots of them very aesthetically pleasing, though of course there are some that missed the mark. There's a huge range of outfits, and you unlock more with each area you go to. I can't show my favourites as they're spoilers for the achievements sadly! Emmrich's outfits are particularly fun and give me Locked Tomb haute couture vibes.

5: Infamous egg can only be accessed at certain times (like with companion cutscenes) but it happens multiple times at useful points.

6: In character creator Rook has separate categories for pronouns and gender identity, which his amazing! The pronouns are for how other people refer to them in dialogue, and the identity is for expanding on gender in conversations. For instance, my Rook was nonbinary and used he/him pronouns, so other characters referred to me as He, and I got to talk to other characters with dialogue specifically about how Rook wasn't a man or a woman (and how he felt about that!)

7: Rook does have their own room! You collect items in-game that you can place around the room as decor, and interact with to explore Rook's personality.

8: It impacts your character's origins and how you interact with/relate to characters.

9: Can't tell you, sorry!

10: Depends on the starter build!

11: Quite in-depth!

12: The latter...

13: I'll post my Rook on launch day!

Hope these help!

[ravel-ing]

hey, je suis curieuse, comment vous avez commencé le rpg, vos tout débuts ?

parce que perso, j'ai pris des grooos détours avant d'atterrir dans la sphère rpg de forumactif (sous hide parce que c'est long).

Est-ce que quelqu'un a déjà entendu parler d'Edenya ? Je crois que ça existe toujours, c'était du high fantasy rpg illustré mais la plateforme était complètement unique, et la façon de rp était incroyablement différente. Mon perso a chopé la PESTE ... deux fois ... J'avais 13 ans et j'y suis resté trois, quatre ans, et pourtant je me souviens même pas du nom de mon perso.

J'ai appris là-bas ce qu'était le ttrpg, mais étrangement très peu d'entre eux faisait du forum rpg, à part une, et c'est elle qui m'a emmenée sur ma deuxième aventure cheloue.

Techniquement, c'était sur forumactif. Techniquement, c'était ma première réelle expérience de forum rpg comme on le connaît. En réalité ? Rien à voir.

Pour commencer, j'étais la seule joueuse pour les trois premier mois avec elle en seule admin. Cette fois je me souviens un poil plus de mon perso, Alix, mécanicienne des vaisseaux spatiaux, tester la syfy oui oui. "C'est dans l'espace" c'est aussi tout le contexte que j'ai eu avant la question "Qui est ton perso ?" donc on testait mon improv du haut de mes 16 ans clairement.

Malgré la confusion constante dans laquelle j'étais, c'était une expérience cool parce que en gros, le principe était que mon admin postait un contexte (ex: Alix reçoit une lettre de convocation à tel poste), je postais en tant qu'Alix, et l'admin continuait en tant que GM de l'univers avec ce plot créé autour de mon perso qui s'adapte constamment à mes choix. En soi, c'était bien plus proche de jeux de rôle type DND. Finalement, d'autres joueurs nous ont rejoint et je suis partie discrètement après quelques mois.

A partir de là, j'ai découvert les vrais forums rpg, mais les illustrés en premier. ET G PRIS PEUR OK.

Tout le monde parle des vieux forums où on écrivait que deux ou trois lignes, j'ai jamais connu ça ! Jusqu'à maintenant, les rps que j'avais fait étaient de la même taille qu'on fait aujourd'hui. Mais quand j'ai exploré de loin, j'ai toujours trouvé que des forums où les gens écrivaient des ROMANS, et j'exagère pas, les rps étaient 3 pages word minimum à chaque fois. C'est la raison pourquoi j'ai mis tant de temps à rejoindre les forums, je croyais que tout le monde écrivait comme ça et que je n'avais pas le niveau.

Finalement, j'ai trouvé Bazzart, et après some lurking j'ai rejoint un des fo les plus populaires à l'époque en test, croyant sincèrement que j'allais paniquer et partir et que c'était mieux de se noyer dans la foule si ça arrivait. Heureusement, le forum a crashé avant moi, peut-être deux semaines après ma validation. Mon perso était si mauvais mais j'avais good taste parce que c'était avec le fc d'Alexis Bledel ok, et elle avait des yeux de deux différentes couleurs parce qu'elle était possédée par un esprit et omg le cringe.

Le prochain forum que j'ai choisi était aussi très populaire, mais celui-là était debout depuis quelques mois, et cette fois j'ai pris un scénario pour être sûre de m'intégrer et boom je suis restée trois ans et des poussières sur ce fo, même finie par être admin dessus. (ps edit: aussi le seul perso que j'ai tué en partant, et je regrette rien fyi, mais c'est une histoire pour plus tard)

Après ça, c'était smooth sailing from there.

Merci aux pauvres âmes qui ont lu jusqu'au bout.

Sincèrement, j'adore lire les histoires des gens et ça aurait pas été juste si j'avais pas donné ma version avant mais pls parlez moi vos débuts !

[mercury2venus]

CHAPTER 1.

THE BASICS

The new millennium is right around the corner.

I can always feel when something is coming

My head would be clearer

My emotions foxtrotting with logic

The brink of a shift always felt new.

January I've held in high regard for years.

Since '97 I've been running my magazine and its existence has granted me opportunities to mingle with the elite. Doing so shot me right to the top  and that's how I ended up here. Clutching my journalist pass as I glance around the room awaiting the gentleman of the hour.

Kyle Alexander.

A genius in his own right. The man took haute couture and gave it to the streets of NY like dealers giving fiends their medicine. And my god is his mind sickening.

To be honest he's an enigma of sorts. He never does interviews. Never takes pictures with his designs OR models but today? That'll change. I plan on being the first magazine to get that interview by any means necessary.

"I hate these things, I don't know why I ever come to events they're meaningless to me"

I scoff and turn around. " Well to some of us they mean everything." I extend my hand, " Mec—

" Mecca Ali…I know who are you."

I stared at him for at least 2 minutes. Face sculpted by the Gods, eyes gave icy pretty boy villain. He was gorgeous. But no the hell he didn't just cut me off ?

" and you are ?"

He ignored my question. " Would you care for a drink ?" He asked.

" No, I'm here on business. I don't drink on the clock " I replied.

" Rest a bit"

"I'll rest when I'm dead".

He raised a brow. "Touché" 

I sat in an awkward silence before I excused myself.

"What about our interview Ms. Ali? Isn't that why you came here ? He chuckled.

I whipped around with wide eyes " You're Kyle Alexander?"

"In the flesh. So let's start this interview shall we?"

[meraki-yao]

I wanted to translate this one post from a Chinese RWRB fan on Weibo that summarized a lot of Taylor did on the day of GQ events and how the fans felt about him, because it’s really sweet

Translation:

Puppy Taylor is really so sincere, and he’s sincere to anyone and everyone

In September during the Ferrari show he met Editor Liu and was invited to the event that didn’t even have a confirmed date. At the time he just said “I’ll come if I have time”. But in the end, he really came, straight after he finished his last event, and took a red-eye flight across the ocean by himself to Shanghai. He went straight to fix his style and fit after the flight and went to attend his friend’s dinner party, and helped said friend’s new magazine gain traction through live stream etc.

The GQ event suggested for guest not to wear Haute couture, some mainland celebrities still did, but Taylor chose a local old brand, and the brand’s passion about being eco-friendly just as he is.

Taylor is also so sincere to his fans. He signed book after book, and took photo after photo. He treasured the gifts fans gave him and carried them himself all the way. When he signs for fans he asks for every single fan's name and tries his best to remember them. Taylor also took photos of the fans, of the oarsman, and of the photographer. He laid down on the bow of the boat to sign for fans. And for the fans who didn’t come, he accepted taking video calls to say hi to them. He made hand hearts with fans, and when a fan asked to hold his hand, he didn’t even hesitate. He wrote “I flew across the ocean to see you” when signing books. He even shaved his facial hair which he kept for a long time to match the taste of the people around him, transforming back to ACD. Taylor sincerely praises every single staff member he crosses paths with and treats them like new friends. He’s spreading happiness with so much passion.

There’s still so much more, Taylor is just such a wonderful person, he’s just the best. 😭

Notes:

I tried my best with the translation, but I am in no way professional, so please forgive me if it sounds weird (The original post was choppy in Chinese too😅)

The translation of Taylor's name in the original post isn't his official translated name 泰勒 (tài lè, or "thai"-"le") which is just phonic, it's the fan translation 忒樂 (tè lè, or "Tay"-"le" ) which is arguably more phonic and means "too happy"

Puppy狗狗 is a nickname Chinese fans gave Taylor, I made a whole list of nicknames Chinese RWRB fans gave the boys here

Regarding the dress code thing, all of Taylor’s outfits from yesterday came from a Chinese local menswear brand that was established in 1980

Regarding his facial hair, the beauty standards of China prefer men to be clean-shaven. If you look at mainland Chinese celebrities of Taylor’s age, unless a role demands it, which is really rare, they rarely keep facial hair. I honestly don’t know if this was the reason Taylor shaved, this part in the post is just speculation, but there is this connection.

Regarding the excessive use of the word sincere, there really isn’t a better word (at least in my vocabulary) to describe what the op meant. But sincerity is a really, really treasured quality to Chinese people

Please understand that Chinese celebrity culture and fan culture is pretty different from Western celebrity culture and fan culture, so certain things they did are viewed differently on this side of the web/ world. If you want to know more about these differences or have any questions, feel free to dm me and ask about it.