#though it was a little difficult alternating masculine and feminine line endings

[alostchord]

To a dying rose

O, dying rose, the perfume that you wear,

That mixture-scent of bloom and putrefaction,

More bitter than the human nose can bear,

Yet sickly sweet beyond all satisfaction,

Is like the last farewell unto a friend,

Whom one has shared both memories and passions.

Both bitter, in that one must meet an end,

And sweet, rememb'ring love and one's distractions.

Yet you bear nobleness unto the end,

For you can show no signs of grief or sorrow.

My sympthies to you I need not send,

Though you may not survive until tomorrow.

In any case, farewell, O friend of mine!

I know not how, but I'll move on in time!

[marlettwrites]

Day 20: One (or both) is Injured

Alternately, Jude makes friends with the local cryptid.

Jude clambered up the increasingly steep hill, using his hands as well as his legs to propel him now. Normally, he wouldn’t have bothered with such a difficult climb, but Seben and Tabu had both insisted the top of Serpent’s Ridge offered the best view on the island. Once the thought had wormed its way into his head, Jude found he couldn’t let it go.

His curiosity demanded he know what lie at the top of that mound.

“How much further?” Kul called from behind him.

Jude looked up, squinting in the midday sun.

“Just a few more feet, I think. It looks pretty flat up ahead,” he said.

“Great. This bag is getting heavy.”

Jude turned to look at the heavy sack hanging off his boyfriend’s shoulders. He frowned.

“I told you I wouldn’t  mind carrying it for a bit.”

“No,” Kul dismissed with a wave of his hand, “It’s fine. I’ve got it.”

“Okay,” he muttered.

“O-kaaaaayyyy,” Kul mocked him playfully.

“Oh my gods,” Jude said, “You’re such a child.”

In response, Kul stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry at him.

“How childish was that?”

“Hmm. Only a lot.”

Kul let out a short cackle.

Jude pulled himself up and onto the top of the hill and held out a hand for Kul. He took it and pressed a soft kiss to Jude’s knuckles. The pink tinge in his cheeks and the way his hair moved in the breeze were almost enough to make Jude’s heart stop.  He watched as Kul’s eyelashes fluttered gently against his skin.

Kul then dropped his hand and stubbornly scrambled the rest of the way up the hill unaided. He seated himself beside Jude, allowing his legs to dangle over the edge.

“You were supposed to let me pull you up,” Jude mumbled.

“You know I never do what I’m supposed to,” Kul offered a cheeky smile.

Jude only rolled his eyes in response. Instead of Kul, he chose to focus on the view of the island from his new vantage point. Date palms and fig trees dotted the land, broad leaves hiding the straw tops of the huts that lay below. Beyond that, he saw the edge where the trees met sand and where sand tapered off into the red sea. From behind, he heard the roar of that same sea crashing into the cliffside.

When he squinted, Jude found he could even make out the long oily line that made up Apep’s constantly moving body. The great snake could rarely afford to rest. The beaches that lined the island were many miles in length, and though Apep was large enough to encircle it all, they only had one head.

“Finally,” Kul said, dropping the rucksack between them, “Lunch.”

They spent the next few minutes eating honeyed bread and fruit. Between bites, Jude did his best to describe the view to Kul. Even while echolocating, his boyfriend couldn’t make out much more than vague shapes past ten feet.

After awhile, Kul stood and stretched, electing to explore the little outcropping a bit more. Jude’s gaze lingered on his face a little longer than necessary. Once he realized he was staring, Jude turned his attention back to the tiny huts far below. Squinting a little, Jude thought he could almost see Egypt’s shore.

Not for the last time, he wondered how Braheem was doing.

A sickening crack followed by the word “Shit!” promptly drew Jude from his thoughts.

Jude spun around. Kul sat hunched over his leg, and since his back was to Jude, he couldn’t quite see what happened. He hoped Kul had just tripped and startled himself. As he drew closer though, it became increasingly obvious that Kul’s leg was both wedged between two large rocks, and very much broken.

Rushing to his side, questions poured out of his mouth before Jude even realized he was speaking.

“What happened? Where does it hurt most, and how bad is it? Are you stuck? On a scale of one to ten-”

Kul threw up a hand to silence him.

“That’s a lot of questions, Jude. One at a time, please,” Kul’s voice sounded strained.

Forcing himself to calm down, Jude switched his focus to the injured leg. It was bent oddly in two places, and he internally groaned. One break was bad enough, but two? Shaking the thought from his head, Jude reached forward. Best to get it over with and hope that the magic imbedded in Punt’s core helped him heal faster than he would in Egypt.

Just before he touched his boyfriend’s knee, Kul caught his wrist.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Jude blinked at him, confused.

“I’m going to heal it. What else would I be doing?”

“I don’t know. Making a splint? Going to get help? Doing anything that doesn’t end up with you in excruciating pain?”

Kul’s teeth were clenched tight, something made obvious by his taught jaw. Whether because of pain or anger, Jude didn’t know.

“If I make a splint and set your leg, you’ll be in pain for at least a month. If I heal you, I’ll only feel it for a few days. It’s better that way,” Jude explained.

Kul scowled.

“Jude, no. We talked about this. You can’t give up anymore time because of other people’s stupidity. That includes mine.”

“But-”

“You think I had trouble getting the rucksack up here, imagine the issues I’ll have trying to carry you down that hill.”

Jude considered this. After wrenching his wrist from Kul’s grasp (Jude suspected he was only holding on that tight because of the pain), he stood.

“Okay, fine. I’ll go find some sticks and make a splint, but I’m not leaving you up here alone.”

He didn’t give Kul the chance to respond to that, as he knew the other boy would insist Jude leave him in the name of finding help.

A five minute long search yielded two perfectly straight sticks. After easing Kul’s injured leg from between the two rocks, Jude quickly got to work, setting the bones back in place to the best of his ability. He built a quick splint using the two sticks and one of the rolls of gauze he always kept on his person. As he worked, he mulled over what to do.

They couldn’t both stay on the cliff- they only packed enough food for the day, and had devoured most of it. He couldn’t carry Kul down the hill, that presented too much of a risk of one or both of them falling and splitting a more vital bone than a fibula. A cracked skull, for instance, would be very bad. Jude tied off the gauze and stared blankly out into the distance. Beyond the trees, that thick black line still sat. Watching.

Jude almost smacked himself.

Apep could get them down and to the mouth of Tabu’s cave in minutes.

The only problem was getting their attention. Normally, this was a non-issue. The great serpent loved foods of all sorts, and tried to keep their head around the South beach, as Jude often visited with samples of snacks. Now, however, Jude had no idea what part of the island the head was currently patrolling.

“You should go get help. I’ll be fine here for a few hours-” Kul tried again, but Jude cut him off.

“I’m not leaving you. When I get Apep’s attention, I’ll ask them to carry us down, and everything will be okay.”

Kul groaned.

“Apep? Really? The same snake that almost let you bleed out on the beach because of a technicality in a stupid rule?”

“They’re a nice snake,” Jude defended, “Just a little lonely, I think.”

“Oh my gods,” Kul moaned. “Fine, but if I have to sit here listening to them hem and haw over whether they can really spare the time for more than five minutes, I’m going to climb down this hill myself, consequences be damned.”

“It won’t come to that,” Jude said. Hopefully.

He dug around in the rucksack, searching for any leftovers. Apep would come quicker if they smelled food. Triumphantly, he pulled an untouched apricot and a half-eaten slice of olive bread that he’d planned on saving for later from the bag.

“How’s your pain?” Jude called over his shoulder.

Kul looked thoughtful for a moment. He reached out to poke at his leg.

“Don’t,” Jude snapped.

Kul shrugged at him, but dropped his hand back onto the ground.

“It hurts, but it also feels weirdly numb, so not too bad I guess.”

Jude nodded.

“Good. That’s how it should feel.”

He gathered the leftovers in his arms and headed to the cliffside. Looking down at the crashing waves below, Jude found himself struggling to breathe.

Don’t look at it, Jude instructed himself firmly, Don’t think about it, it’s not there.

He chose instead to focus on the over-ten-tree-trunk-thick mass of brown and golden scales arcing over the water.

“APEP!” he yelled, shouting as loudly as possible. “I NEED HELP! KUL’S HURT!”

The mass kept moving, scales shifting constantly. Jude sighed to himself.

“I have food,” he called, not quite as frantic this time.

The scales stopped shifting. Slowly, they began moving in the opposite direction. Ten seconds later, Jude was staring into a giant golden eye that opened larger than he stood. Apep rose to stare at Jude curiously. Their gaze darted between him and the leftover pieces of food he held. Apep seemed to smile.

“Jude! What a pleasant surprise to see you on this side of the island!” Their voice boomed in his head, neither masculine nor feminine. He heard it plain as day, but not in the way one ‘hears’ a noise. “I see you brought me some snacks. That was very kind of you. I do need to keep my energy up.”

Something large and pink darted out from their mouth, reaching for the olive bread. Jude leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the giant forked tongue.

“No,” he said sternly, “I need you to take me and Kul somewhere first.”

The giant cobra settled the tip of their chin (did snakes have chins? He needed to research that when they got home) on the cliffside and stared at him forlornly.

“And here I thought we were friends.” they whined. “But you only want me around when you need something from me,” they followed this dramatic statement up by throwing their head back and wailing.

“Kul is hurt and we need to get him down to Tabu’s cave as fast as possible. His leg is broken in two different places,” Jude stated, decidedly unamused by Apep’s antics.

The wailing cut off abruptly.

“I don’t see why you need me for that,” they sniffed, “You’re the healer. I’m just the healer’s ride, apparently.”

Apep pretended to sob now. Loud, hacking, obviously fake sounds rang out loudly in his head. Jude grit his teeth.

“Fine. I guess I’ll just have to eat this delicious olive bread all by myself then.”

Apep turned another emotional one-eighty. They gave a little fake sniffle.

Jude wasn’t so naive as he used to be. He knew snakes didn’t have tear ducts, and so weren’t able to cry. Apep enjoyed being the center of attention a little too much.

“Olive bread? You brought me olive bread?”

“Not if you don’t help me get Kul to Tabu’s cave.”

Apep considered this. They hovered over the edge of the cliff for a moment. Finally, they nodded. Apep pressed their snout to the side of the cliff, creating a very sturdy and flat platform for them to stand on. Jude breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, Peps,” Jude said.

Apep grunted in response.

Jude helped Kul to his feet. With Kul’s arm and most of his weight slung over his shoulder, they hobbled onto Apep’s nose. Jude sat in his usual place between the serpent’s eyes and slowly lowered Kul onto his lap. Kul hissed and gripped Jude’s hand in his own, nearly crushing it with how hard he was squeezing.

“Maybe it hurts a little more than I said,” Kul muttered.

Jude wrapped his free arm around Kul’s middle. Burying his face in Kul’s neck, he said, “It’s okay. Tabu’s gonna fix you up. You’re safe now.”

Kul hissed again. In Jude’s arms, his entire body tensed up.

“I know, I know,” he said. “And thank you. I didn’t say it before, but I was really scared of being left alone up there. I’m glad you didn’t listen to me.”

Jude rubbed comforting circles into the back of his hand. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Kul’s cheek. Apep lowered their head to the ground with a dull thump!

“We’re here,” Apep called. “Now get off and hand over the bread before I puke.”

Thank you for reading!

Taglist:

@kai-writesstuff @runningonrain @imaghostwriter @writingnosefreak @planets-and-prose @marvel-and-writing

If you would like to be added to or removed from the taglist, please let me know in a comment below. :)

[grimdarkdragonspit-blog]

A friend of mine asked for a list of sexualities and related terms, so here ya go!

Androsexual: Sexual attraction towards men or those with masculine characteristics.

Androgynosexual: Being sexually attracted to both men and women, specifically to those with androgynous appearances.

Akoisexual: the feeling of attraction but not wanting it reciprocated or losing it when it is reciprocated; used as an alternative and potentially less problematic form of lithosexual/lithoromantic

Aliquasexual: not normally feeling attraction, but feeling it on occassion under specific circumstances

Amicussexual: when you’re attracted to people you’re platonically attracted to

Amorplatonic: experiencing romantic attraction but only wanting to be in queerplatonic/quasiplatonic relationships

Androphilia: an attraction primarily toward men or masculine-inclined people.

Antihaemosexuality: a sexual orientation in which one is attracted only to people who are not, at the moment, menstruating. In some extreme cases, antihaemosexuals may only be attracted to people who never menstruate, or who have never menstruated at all.

Apothi: being aromantic/asexual and not experiencing any romantic/sexual feelings in any shape or form; aromantic/asexual individuals who are romance/sex repulsed

Aromantic: feeling no romantic attraction regardless of gender or situation

Aroflux: similar to genderflux where the intensity or romantic attraction you feel fluctuates; aromantic to demiromantic to alloromantic and back

Arospike/Acespike: feeling no attraction except in occasional bursts of intense attraction and then plummeting back to no attraction

Asexual: feeling no sexual attraction regardless of gender or situation

Autosexuality: the feeling of attraction only towards oneself

Bellusromantic: having interest in conventionally romantic things yet not desiring a relationship; part of the aro spectrum

Bisexual: the feeling of attraction towards two or more genders, generally your own gender and other(s)

Borea: having an exception to your usual orientation

Burst: having spikes in attraction that fade away after a while

Cass: feeling utterly indifferent towards attraction and believing its not important

Cease: usually beeing allo- yet occasionally feeling a sudden loss of attraction and then returning to normal

Cetero: the feeling of attraction towards nonbinary people; replaces skolio- because “skolio” means bent or broken and implies that nonbinary people must be fixed; this is reserved for trans/nonbinary individuals because cis people were judging nonbinary people based off of presentation alone

Culparomantic: feeling romantic and platonic attraction at the same time

Cupio: the feeling of having no attraction towards any gender yet still desiring a sexual or romantic relationship

Demisexuality: not feeling attraction towards someone until a certain closeness or bond has been formed

Desinoromantic: when one does not experience full-on romantic attraction, but experiences “liking” someone instead of loving them romantically, at which point the attraction goes no further

Duo: having two or more well defined orientations that you switch between

Ficto: only felling a certain type of attraction towards fictional characters

Fin: feeling attraction to fem(me) identifying people

Fray: only experiencing attraction towards those you are less familiar with; the feeling is lost when they become closer or more familiar; the opposite of demi-

GERONTOSEXUALITY: Attraction primarily to elderly people.

Grey: the feeling of usually not having any attraction except occasionally depending on the situation; typically paired with asexual and aromantic

Gray-A:

1) do not normally experience sexual attraction, but can sometimes.

2) Have sexual attraction but a low sex drive

3) Have sexual attraction and drive but no desire to act upon it.

4) Those who have sexual attraction and drive but only under limited and specific circumstances.

Alternative definition:

Gray-A: (also spelled “Grey-A”) is a gray area between asexuality and sexuality

Gynephilia is an attraction primarily toward women or feminine-inclined people.

Gynosexual: Sexual attraction towards women or those with feminine characteristics.

Heteroflexible: the feeling of having mostly hetero- attraction yet having an openness for other genders

Heterosexual: the feeling of being attracted to a gender other than your own

Homosexual: the feeling of being attracted to your own gender

Iculasexual: being asexual but open to having sex

Intrasexual: a member of a multiple system who is only attracted, romantically or sexually, to other members of the same system. “Intraromantic” is a more commonly-used term, due to the difficulties of two members of the same system engaging in a sexual relationship.

Idemromantic: being able to categorize others as having either a platonic or romantic attraction based on outside factors yet feeling no difference in the type of attraction

Kalossexual: the desire to have a sexual relationship yet never feeling sexual attraction; part of the ace spectrum

Lamvano: feeling no desire to do sexual/romantic things to someone, but wanting to be on the receiving end; opposite of placio-

Lesbian: someone who identifies fully or partially as a woman who is attracted to other fully or partially identified women

Limno: experiencing attraction towards depictions of attraction (writing or drawings) but not the physical acts

Ma: feeling attraction to men

MENOSEXUAL: A little-known orientation, menosexuality is attraction primarily or entirely to people who are menstruating. It is the opposite of antihaemosexuality.

Min: feeling attraction to masculine identifying people

Multisexuality: a sexual orientation wherein one is only attracted to members of multiple systems. In some cases, a multisexual is only attracted to one member of a system; in others, they may be attracted to several members of the same system, to everyone in the same system, or to people from separate systems. One thing all multisexuals have in common, though, is that they only experience romantic or sexual attraction toward members of multiple systems.

Neu: feeling attraction towards people who are genderless

Nin: feeling attraction towards androgynous identifying people

Nocisma: feeling attraction to everyone except cis men because of associated oppression

Noma: experiencing attraction to every gender except for self identifying men

Novi: feeling complicated attraction or lack thereof in such a way that it is difficult or impossible to fit into one word or term

Novo: when one’s orientation changes with gender

Nowo: experiencing attraction to every gender except for self identifying women

Objectumsexual: Someone who is sexually attracted to inanimate objects. (In this sense, this is not a fetish, for the person sees the object as a partner, not a way to enhance a separate sexual relationship with another person)

Omni: the feeling of a lack of preference in gender and may be attracted to all genders equally; similar to pan-

Pan: the feeling of attraction towards any gender or all genders; similar to omni-

Penulti: feeling attraction towards every gender except your own

Platoniromantic: feeling no difference between platonic and romantic attraction

Polar: feeling either extreme attraction or intense repulsion

Poly: the feeling of attraction towards most or several genders (but not all)

Polyamory: the practice, desire, or acceptance of having more than one intimate relationship at a time with the knowledge and consent of everyone involved.

Pomosexual (the “pomo” means “postmodern”): a label used to describe those who do not self-identify as gay, straight, or bi, because they feel such labels are unnecessary and outdated.

Pre: a placeholder term for someone who doesn’t think they’ve experienced enough attraction to know their orientation

Proqua: feeling attracted to feminine people when you yourself are feminine

Proquu: feeling attracted to masculine people when you yourself are masculine

Queer: This is sometimes used as an umbrella term for those who do not identify as heterosexual. It can also refer to someone who does not fit any specific sexuality.

Quoiromantic: from the French word quoi meaning “what”; the feeling of not being able to distinguish romantic from platonic attraction and therefore being unsure if one has experienced it; used to replace wtfromantic because of vulgarity

Recip: the feeling of only experiencing attraction once someone else has experienced it towards them first

Requies: not feeling attraction when emotionally exhausted

Sapiosexuality: a sexual orientation where the primary feature that one finds attractive is intelligence, rather than appearance or body. It commonly goes hand-in-hand with asexual-spectrum orientations.

Sans: when there’s no trend line in the attraction one feels, it just does what it does

Sensu: an orientation that is based off of sensuality as opposed to romance, sexuality, etc; different from sensual orientation; when romantic or sexual type pleasure is derived from sensual acts or situations

Skoliosexual: the feeling of attraction towards nonbinary genders; replaced by cetero- because of problematic wording

Specio: feeling attraction towards someone based off of specific traits, not gender

Thym: feeling attraction which varies depending on emotional state

Volit: feeling attraction that is not directed at anyone in particular

Woma: feeling attraction to women

Zoosexuality (occasionally called “zoophilia”) :the sexual attraction to non-human animals. Most zoosexuals are only attracted to members of one particular species, or to members of closely-related species; and most zoosexuals are attracted to mammals.

If there are any others you know about, please let me know so that I can add them to the list. Hope these help!