Two weeks in a row! I’m impressed with myself. I didn’t get to writing this as early this week, though. I’ve been a little all over the place with my routine again, although I think I’ve settled on something that might work. At least for the time being. Hopefully that will last longer than a day or two though.
Writing
Prove Me Wrong
I got started on the first draft of this story this week. I have it set up with four scenes for each chapter, one from each of the characters’ POVs. I’m very nearly through Chapter 2 and have about 5500 words so far.
Heart to Heart
I’m still working through messages on this. I’m maybe halfway through those. They may not all end up in the final draft, but it’s definitely giving me a deeper look into the characters, and some things have come up that didn’t the first time around.
Queer Cruise
I’ve rewritten 2 more chapters of this. Not making too many changes to the actual story, at least not up to this point. But, I am making changes as I go.
Reading
I haven’t finished anything that really stood out to me this week. I am almost finished listening to An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera, which I am really enjoying.
Crafting
I was working on my Pansexual and Proud cross-stitch, but I ran out of yellow thread halfway through ‘Proud’. I had to order more, so I’m still waiting for that then I can finish this up. In the meantime, I started an asexual pride whale to add to my pod. I’ve only finished the first few rounds of that, though.
Story
Sharing another story from the Castlemore Residences series this week. I don’t think you’ve really seen either of these characters before.
"I wanted to talk to you about something."
Hanuel startled at the voice right behind him. He turned, almost forgetting he had his mailbox open with the mail still sitting in there. He grabbed it quickly, stuffing it into his messenger bag. He'd hoped to get his mail and into his apartment, it wasn't like he even had to take any steps, it was just down the hallway here on the first floor, before he would have to talk to anybody. He'd just spent all day talking to people, well, mostly talking to a camera, but it still counted. He didn't have the bandwidth to keep talking.
"Can it wait?" he asked. "I just got in, and I haven't had a chance to eat or anything." Or decompress from a whole day of being on. He loved his job, but it was draining. He just wanted to relax.
"Oh." Aodhan bit the corner of his lip. "I guess. I'm sorry. I don't think anyone's in the kitchen down here if you want to eat while I talk."
Hanuel closed his eyes. What he really wanted was to spend some time alone in his quiet apartment. But, when he opened his eyes, Aodhan was still looking at him like a dog waiting for scraps. He sighed. He'd need to grab something anyway. His apartment had a kitchenette, but he didn't have anything he could actually make in it anyway, so he'd just have to make a trip to the kitchen on his own.
"Fine. Can it wait until I've at least made a cup of tea, though?"
"Oh, of course," Aodhan said, falling into step right beside Hanuel. "And I'm sorry about ambushing you like this. I was going to talk to you earlier, but you weren't around."
"I was at work." Was Aodhan going to stop talking? Hanuel just needed a few minutes of quiet. Why was that so hard to understand?
"Oh. Of course. Sometimes I forget not everyone works from their own home. Sorry about that."
"It's fine," Hanuel mumbled as they stepped into the kitchen. He went right to the cupboard with the tea. This he could have made in his apartment, but Aodhan hadn't given him the chance to get there. He'd throw something in the microwave while he waited for that to steep. Then, he could get two things done at once. He'd give Aodhan that much time to actually say what it was he wanted, then Hanuel was going to lock his door and hermit until he had to be back to work the day after tomorrow.
"I've never had tea," Aodhan said. "I mostly just drink coffee. Probably too much coffee sometimes."
"I never would have guessed."
Aodhan laughed, although the sound almost stuttered. "Sorry. I know I'm a little much sometimes. Marta says I can be exhausting."
Now if Aodhan's roommate had come to talk to Hanuel, he would have known it would have been over quickly. They didn't usually waste any words. With his tea steeping, he grabbed a pre-packaged dinner the fridge seemed to be constantly stocked with and put it in the microwave to heat. Then, he turned back to Aodhan. "So, what can I help you with?"
***
Aodhan should have planned out what he planned to say a lot better before actually approaching Hanuel about this matter. Because now as the younger man stood facing him, it felt like all his words had dried up. Why did this always happen to him? He knew what he wanted to say, so why couldn't he make words work now? What was wrong with him?
Hanuel raised an eyebrow as he continued to look at him. Aodhan felt heat rush into his face as he still felt like he was stumbling around in his head trying to find any words. "I've been working on this game," he finally managed to spit out. And then it was like the words seemed to dry up again.
"Okay," Hanuel said, drawing out the word. "I'm glad you have freelance work coming in. That is what you do, right?"
Aodhan shrugged a shoulder. "Sometimes. This is just...a different idea I had. Not for a client or anything. But, I have the concept mostly mapped out. But, the artist I usually work with is swamped with other work right now. And I can barely draw a stick figure myself. I could just wait until they're free, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon. Bree mentioned you like to do animation stuff. On the computer. I thought...maybe." Desert to flood and back to desert. Why was he like this?
Hanuel took the dinner out of the microwave before turning back to Aodhan. "You want me to help with your game? You know this isn't something I do professionally, right? It's just something I play around with."
"I know. And I'm not on a deadline. And it doesn't have to be perfect. I just want to be able to see this world. I don't have it quite clear in my head. I don't... I don't see things, unless they're right in front of me."
"That doesn't make any sense. I've played one of your games before. It was very vivid."
Aodhan could feel the color rush to his face at that. "That's because I told someone else what I imagined, and they could picture it. I can come up with stuff, but I don't see it. Not even when I'm reading something."
Hanuel shook his head. "Still makes no sense. That's all I can see when I'm reading. You don't have a movie playing in your head?"
"Nope. Just hear a voice reading it to me. Don't tell me you're one of those who actually has a quiet mind."
Hanuel laughed softly as he dug into his meal. "Guilty. Sorry."
"Well," Aodhan said, "I think that's why we'd work well together."
At least he seemed to be thinking about it now. Then, he nodded. "I'm off in two days. We can get together then and see what you have."
"Great," Aodhan said, feeling the smile nearly split his face. This had gone a lot better than he'd expected.
"Wait. Where are you going?"
Aodhan stopped, almost to the door. "Making sure it's all coherent so you don't think I'm a big idiot."
He was pretty sure he heard Hanuel murmur, "That's definitely not what I'm thinking."