hyperstimuli

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I don’t have a substance abuse problem I’m actually pretty good at it

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Coralie passed her coat to Chandra with a sincere thank you. She kissed each of his cheeks in greeting. When she was finished, a hand still rose to pat the left one -- and she almost laughed out loud at herself. What a grandmother she had become, truly. Coralie then removed her heels, pulled a pair of comfortable slippers from the pair of bags on her forearm, and put the set on before she headed for the kitchen.

"Thomas has the children out ?" she asked ( knowing the answer ). "You should call him and tell him to hurry home, Chandra. Sunday is for the family. I will have no arguments from him." It amazed Coralie how fond and how familiar she sounded -- in spite of only knowing the Shepards for two years. Sebastian would say she fit right in.

"I brought the ingredients for my favorite type of chocolate tart," she continued, blue eyes sparkling. "... but, first. Have you ate ? We can make a dish for lunch if needed. I have nothing scheduled for the day." By that, of course, she meant that Chandra also now did not. Coralie's hands went to her hips, and she looked up at him with a broad smile.

— from @toyourdream ( coralie ), unprompted.

Chandra laughed, shaking his head. "No," came his easy answer, "but I figured you'd want to make lunch, so I thought to wait for you, anyway.

"I prepared everything you mentioned last time..."

And, indeed, all the ingredients Coralie had said he could prepare (as opposed to her taking them, herself-- something Chandra could respect) were laid out on the kitchen island. There were a whole myriad of utensils on the stove and counter, too.

Mostly, Chandra didn't want Coralie to feel she had to go through their cupboards to get everything she needed.

He offered her an apron-- as cute as the one he was wearing, if not cuter. Rohan had bought him the dark blue apron Chandra wore now: there was a big bear at the top and three little ones below, all drawn in light grey. PAPA, read the first bear's label, and predictably all the little ones were labelled with the children's names from oldest to youngest. Cora's apron was not quite so personalised, but Rohan and Connie had made an effort to get one that kept the woodland creature theme intact, boasting a pink colour with bunnies and flowers.

"This is from the kids," he said. "For their Great-Nani.

"Thomas'll be home with them soon, I promise. They wouldn't pass on having fresh pastries-- not our little stinkers." In fact, he could remember Rohan yammering on about it to his dad as Chandra saw them off: you're gonna have to keep me from speeding, Dad, 'cause the tarts'll freakin' call to me as soon as they're ready, I know it.

"They just had a couple of errands to run, that's all."

[hyperstimuli]

Himesh Patel as Jeevan Chaudhary Station Eleven | 1.01 “Wheel of Fire”

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[ @ultrasonicscream ]

Bari Wood, Twins

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When finally he was done in the kitchen and made his way back to the living room, Chandra found himself softening instantly at Thomas' silent invitation. Back before all this, before Connie had even been home with them, Rohan called him out on it: how your face changes when you look at Thomas, bapu. Even Vincent's damned husband seemed to have recognised something in him before Chandra himself was aware of what was happening.

But approaching Thomas where he lay felt right, as did the delicate way he manoeuvred the vampire's shoulders to lift him and take the pillow away. Laying Thomas atop his lap, Chandra took comfort in the physicality of it all. The backs of his knuckles stroked the man's cheek, then drifted a little lower to loosely twine their fingers together.

"I see you've been well taken care of," he said, eyes roving over the neatly lain blanket. The bump of their little Cell was clear with Thomas lying down like this, and the sight of it made Chandra's heart flutter. They chose to have her together... God, it didn't get any more domestic than that, did it?

His free hand played with Thomas' hair again, needy for any sort of stimulation. "You're getting too good at this nurse thing, Con.

"Your dad and I are gonna have to start paying you at this rate." Chandra chuckled, looking down at Thomas' terribly handsome face. "What do you think, babe? Do we pay in cookies or ice cream?"

Little Connie's face lit up at her bapu's praise. She nodded eagerly, fingers switching from Thomas' stomach to his hand. Above her, the vampire quietly laughed. It wasn't lost on her that he sounded so tired — having the baby in there must be really hard work, she thought once again ( in the unknowing, simple way children saw the world ). The girl tugged on Thomas' larger digits insistently.

With a fond pat to Chandra's thigh, Thomas followed after Connie. He allowed their daughter to lead him to the sofa, where she ordered that he lay down on it. ❝Bapu said you gotta take a break, Dad,❞ she said, quite seriously. ❝I'm your nurse, and I say so, too.❞

Thomas grinned toothily. He accepted her command without complaint, though — he really was spent after that. The vampire laid down on the cushions. Suddenly, Connie appeared with a pillow for his head and blanket for his lower half. Thomas had to resist the urge to laugh again at the realization that she was tucking him in. His red eyes watched her cover his body, up to the top of his stomach. It occurred to him that with his favorite too - big shirts pressed down over his belly that he really did look pregnant now. There was something sweet and fucking terrifying about that.

❝Alright, doll,❞ Thomas said softly, tucking her hair back. ❝— alright. Dad's resting, which means your sister's calming down. See ? You helped me so much.❞

When Chandra next appeared, Thomas would awkwardly motion to his head — asking his lover to remove the pillow and offer up his lap instead. He just wanted to be close to Chandra while he fought the dreaded nausea that seemed to haunt all of his days.

[hyperstimuli]

As Thomas leaned into him, Chandra had to fight the urge to turn boneless. It was almost like clockwork, at this point-- nothing soothed him quite like Thomas' presence, and the clear physical attachment meant he could melt into nothing just like this.

He didn't, of course. But he did press another kiss to Thomas' greying hair and pretended he didn't feel the bizarre urge to bite it.

His chin landed atop Thomas' head, an arm looping loosely around his shoulders. Below, Connie was giving gentle rubs to the swell of Thomas' stomach, gently chiding her sister with "there's a lot of food out there, I understand-- but it hurts Dad when you puke, you know". Undoubtedly, if Rohan were here instead of cramming for a test in his room upstairs, he'd be barrelling into them just to be included.

Chandra pressed another kiss to Thomas' temple. "Why don't you two take a break in the living room while I clean up?"

His free hand dropped, lightly ruffling Connie's hair in clear affection. Chandra looked down at her from where he'd dropped his chin unceremoniously onto Thomas' shoulder.

"I'll even let you sleep a little later tonight, since you're taking such good care of Dad." He winked. "As long as you brush your teeth and go to bed as soon as I say."

Thomas bit back another affectionate grumble toward Chandra. He nodded and leaned forward. Shaking fingers turned on the faucet just long for him to get a mouthful of cold water, swish it around in his mouth, and spit it back out. Thomas rose slowly. The vampire's nails scraped the rest of his hair out of his face.

❝Thank you, doll,❞ Thomas said softly. He accepted the cup of water from their daughter with a smile. As he straightened, he made sure to angle his body toward Chandra. In this state, he felt safest with his weight distributed between the edge of the sink and his lover's torso. It certainly didn't hurt that Chandra's warmth and the familiarity of his scent soothed Thomas, as well.

The creature swallowed two large gulps. Thomas grimaced at the taste that moved down his throat. He patted the top of Connie's hair gently. She giggled and stepped forward. Connie pressed herself into the side of her father's stomach. A hand touched Thomas' belly — which was still small enough to be hidden by his comfortable, oversized t - shirt.

❝I'm alright,❞ Thomas added. Albeit, his voice was far weaker and strained than he would have liked. Thomas' palm fell to Chandra's thigh, where it squeezed. ❝Your new sister is ... learning what foods she likes.❞ As he spoke, he turned his head and rested it against Chandra's chest to the best of his ability. ❝You are a very good nurse, Miss Connie.❞

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Thomas looked at his bandaged forearm. There was another section like it on each of his legs. Twice now in the past three weeks he peeled up his own skin in the shower, hollow and seemingly unsure of what he was doing. Both times, Chandra was kind enough to care for him -- and that only made Thomas feel worse.

Earlier, while he sat on the closed toilet lid for Chandra to dry his hair, Thomas had become aware of a terrible hardness in his stomach. He suspected then he couldn't sleep with it, but the vampire laid down all the same. Hours later, Thomas stared at the wall, trembling. His normally sluggish heart was racing. Every sense relayed the same message : the heat was too much, the sound of his breathing was too much, the smell of the shampoo that was never fully washed out was too much. It all hurt. Thomas sniffed, and fresh tears rolled down the bridge of his nose. When did he start crying --?

It occurred to him distantly that he was starting to have a panic attack. A real, proper one. The sort he hadn't suffered since his Momma enrolled him in therapy as a boy. Thomas pulled his body up blindly. Broken growls issued from him between the short, wheezing breaths. He could only hope that Chandra wouldn't try to comfort him. Rome was sitting so heavily in him ; at any point, Thomas felt that it would claw its way up his throat.

— from @splitfangs, unprompted.

What horrible timing it was, to realise he loved Thomas at the man's lowest. The truth of it swirled in his gut as well as his head, leaving him all too aware of the fact Thomas was sleeping in his guest room tonight. He'd done everything he could not to pay attention to him, but old habits died hard, and the massive revelation of his affection made him miss Thomas in his bed so much he was going to be sick with it.

He was, already, sick with it.

Whatever happened in Rome had hurt him. Chandra noticed it as soon as Thomas showed up at his door. But they weren't the kind of people who talked about these things, and what peace they achieved together (or what passion) was never extrapolated to be more than that.

Thomas wasn't Chandra's to know intimately.

But with his eyes shut, all Chandra could sense was the furious beating of Thomas' heart and the shuddering of his lungs. Without Rohan around-- he was sleeping over at a friend's place-- Thomas was a beacon of stimuli. Thomas was crying. Thomas was wheezing. Thomas' muscles were taut, and Chandra dug his nails so deep into his own bicep it left crescents in its wake.

It's none of your business. You've never had to ask about his other trips before. You'll invade his privacy, you'll be too much--

There was only so much of this Chandra could take. I love him, and he's in pain.

"Thomas." Maybe he would hear him, and the softness of the plea wrapped around each syllable. Chandra swallowed.

"You don't have to be alone."

He didn't share the same hearing Thomas did, but Chandra'd already memorised what his name felt like on Thomas' lips. If Thomas said it, he would know.

"Let me in. Please."

[hyperstimuli]

Thomas made it just in time. His half - eaten snack was thrown onto the counter as he threw up into the kitchen sink. Once he was finished ( or perhaps too exhausted to bring up more ), Thomas lowered his torso. He rocked back and buried his sweaty forehead in the bend of his elbow. The strange mixture of raw ground beef and whipped cream -- presently, his favorite craving -- that had been abandoned in his bowl on the counter still smelled heavenly, but he knew better than to reach for it.

The vampire groaned. He heard Connie behind him, asking her bapu if her dad was alright. Thomas wanted to reply to the girl, to assure her that it was simply a part of her sister growing big and strong in their father ; however, he didn't have it in him then.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, the light - headed creature raised his eyes again. He coughed and spit into the sink. "Whoever named it morning sickness obviously never had a baby. It's fucking six at night." Thomas laughed hoarsely, lips curving in a half - hearted smile. "You better know how much I love ya, Chandra, after all this."

— from @splitfangs ( thomas ), unprompted.

Reassuring Connie that Dad was going to be okay was simple, even if her big eyes continued to hold that look of concern. He could understand the helplessness-- back when he'd been alone and Rohan was only a few weeks old, everything made him feel that way. So when he suggested she fill a cup of water for Dad, it came to no surprise that she was bolstered by the potential for usefulness. Chandra kissed the top of Connie's head before she went to do as she was told, two hands holding the cup carefully on her way to the water dispenser.

On his end, his hand never left Thomas' back, stroking it in an attempt to soothe him as he threw his food back up. The vampire's flesh was often cool, but this was a specific sort of clammy. Chandra shouldn't enjoy it, but with how capable Thomas was, it was nice to be able to take care of him without having to fight him for it first. Rohan's mother had been worse off than Thomas in a lot of ways, the drug habit notwithstanding; it made anything Thomas did feel like easy mode in comparison.

Chandra didn't say this, of course. Instead, pushing some of Thomas' hair away from his face, he bent to kiss his temple.

"I love you too," he said. Connie's bare feet pattered over to offer the cup of water, an "I love you too, Dad!" coming out along the way.

"Connie got you some water, babe." Chandra's fingers carded through Thomas' hair, blunt nails absently brushing against his scalp. "You should drink at least a little after all that."

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Chandra felt the tremors in Kai's chest as he moaned, and the sensation was so strikingly physical he shivered in turn. The hand on his waist lifted, guiding Kai's arms to wrap around him, and when he felt they were adequately connected Chandra didn't hesitate to curve his hand over ass.

There was touch and there was melding together, and Chandra craved the latter. He pulled Kai towards himself, shameless, until their bodies were one. Here, Chandra made it so Kai's awareness would be full of him: if not the hands on his body, then the tongue defiling his mouth. If not the movement of his lips, then the mingling of their heartbeats.

Already, the irritation Chandra felt earlier was melting away. Kai was pretty and pliant, and so good that Chandra tasted the inside of his mouth in pleasure until he remembered they had to breathe.

(How much could Kai reciprocate like this, so clearly inexperienced? Did it even matter when Chandra just wanted something warm fo stick his dick in?)

"Keep your mouth open," Chandra murmured, and whether Kai listened or not was irrelevant with the thumb that pushed down Kai's lip to coax him agape.

Chandra spit onto his tongue and shivered at the sight: so wanton, so fucking dirty. Then he grinned, lazy and slow.

"Swallow," he murmured, holding Kai's jaw, "and I'll touch you more."

Come on. Come on, show me you want it.

Kai never thought he could feel like he's floating this much. The high was a good one already, but Chandra's lips and tongue exploring him created an additional euphoria he never thought possible. Kai had never kissed before, let alone in a way like this, and it was the most wonderful feeling. He'd never felt so wanted, and to feel it from the object of his desire made his heart sing.

If he'd been less numbed from the drugs coursing through his veins, he'd be worried that he was too inexperienced for Chandra to enjoy this.

Granted, if he was more sober, he might have been more resistant because he'd be worried about how Ishani would feel about this.

But the hands held onto him and he felt himself drift further and further into the sweet bliss clouding his mind, he moaned softly and his fingers curled into Chandra's shirt delicately. A part of him, deep and buried with the pain of everything they'd gone through to get them to this point, knew he should stop, but he couldn't bring himself to.

It was all too soon and too sudden and too much already, but he wanted Chandra so badly. He wanted to be good for Chandra. He was always so good to him, this is the least he can do, right?

[hyperstimuli]

In the grand scheme of things, whether Kai thought it was nice or not didn't really matter. Chandra would have kept kissing him anyway, fuelled by a desire for touch that was abruptly denied only moments earlier.

It was nice, though, feeling Kai return the gesture. And as skinny as he was (as they all were at this point), Chandra didn't find it difficult at all to draw Kai's pliant body onto his lap. Something about murmuring for him to "come here" seemed to turn Kai into an obedient little puppy-- more than just the drugs would inspire, even, which was the most surprising thing of all.

Chandra kissed his neck, lips pressed to where Kai's pulse was beating beneath his skin. He kissed his jaw and the underside of his chin. Then, tongue peeking out, he drew a stripe towards his mouth that ended with a generous suck to his bottom lip.

His hands slid up and down Kai's sides, feeling both how small his waist was and how prominent his ribs were turning. Somewhere in his chase for pleasure Chandra thought he ought to feed him more, but in the moment all he could offer was his tongue. As soon as it met Kai's sparks of heat lit up the fog in his head; any attempts at responsibility were thus thrown out the window.

"Mm..."

A hand settled on the back of Kai's neck to hold him steady. The other curved over his waist and squeezed. Determined to claim what Ishani had refused him, Chandra kissed Kai slowly but hungrily, desperate for their spit to mingle.

These sort of tender, affectionate touches were something Kai couldn't say he'd ever had before. Though, they were more than welcome. Chandra was always a comfort in and of himself, but to feel such a delicate touch made Kai close his eyes once more and sink into him. He didn't get why Chan was doing this, but lord did he hope the man would do this more often.

By the time Chandra's lips were upon his own, he was already on the brink of sleep once more. However, as they lingered, Kai began to come too once more.

His brow furrowed slightly, but- given the fact he'd had a silent crush on the man kissing him for some time- he'd begun to reciprocate to the best of his ability. Ishani's existence slipped his mind all together for a moment, just grateful to feel such a gentle kiss from the recipient of his secret affections.

As Chan pulled back and questioned him, the subtle glimmer curiosity didn't leave his eyes as he forced himself to meet Chandra's gaze.

Though, he also nodded in agreement.

Still, Kai couldn't help but wonder why all of a sudden Chandra was kissing him.

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There you are, Chandra thought, the words almost instantaneous once Kai was facing him. On the shallowest level, the fact that Kai turned at all already put him leagues ahead of wherever Ishani was.

"Hi," he said, arm bending to play with some of the hair on Kai's head. Kai moved like every muscle in his body was heavy, no doubt alluding to how fucking blitzed the hell out he was. Chandra might have put a bit more than he should have-- mostly he was in a rush to get his own fix to join Ishani-- but what concern he ought to have felt was swiftly stamped out by how big Kai's smile was.

He considered, however briefly, explaining himself and his rationale. But as he leaned in to peer at Kai's eyes, he was certain the kid would understand nothing. Why say anything when it was enough to just do?

Chandra's fingers caught the greasy bangs on Kai's forehead and-- in a way that could almost be sweet-- pushed them back to reveal his face better. He continued to pet him like this, slow and sweet and simple, and once Kai was relaxed he ducked his head.

The kiss he offered was innocent. Chandra's lips parted, fitting their mouths together, and he stayed there until Kai was utterly aware of what he was doing.

Then he pulled back, grinning. "Nice?"

Everything felt warm and calm and quiet.

Granted, it always did every time Chandra shot him up. It was the only time he felt any of it. Normally, it was so damn grueling dealing with the effects of what had been done to him, but, luckily, Chan introduced him to an amazing way to cope.

No pain. No overstimulation. No agonizing thrumming inside of his own skull. Just wonderful silence and the ability to actually relax.

At least, he was until he heard his name called.

Sluggishly, Kai opened his eyelids just enough to be able to see without being blinded by any light that may be on and turned his head to where the sound came from. It took several moments too long, but he eventually managed to recognize Chandra through the blurry vision.

A groggy smile settled upon his lips as he leaned upright as quickly as he could- which, granted, wasn't very quick at all.

Too strung out, still, he leaned his head against Chan's shoulder, brow burrowing as he tried to figure out what he'd wanted.

[hyperstimuli]

The guy read like a love interest out of a young adult novel, but Chandra didn't dare say that out loud. I'm rotten luck, nothing good ever happens to me, you can't risk me... if he were a white sixteen year old girl, he was sure he'd be swooning.

As it was, he mostly wanted to tell Thomas he was an adult who could make his own choices, and held back only because he'd agreed to play with him.

"I'll help you disappear if you win," he repeated, not out of mockery but of promise. Chandra held his hand out for a shake. "I'll take it."

And whether Thomas afforded him the shake or not, he was gesturing for the man to sit back at the table and disappearing to procure his playing cards.

Call it old habit, but the premise of a card game had Chandra not only bringing the deck back, but passing by his cupboard to pull out a tupperware of murukku. His mother used to lay them out on a table along with fresh chai, and considering he refilled both his and Thomas' mugs, far be it for Chandra to stray too far from tradition.

"Blackjack or poker?" he asked, shuffling the cards in his hands. They flicked towards each other smoothly in controlled flutters, clearly practised (Chandra played quite a bit with his old housemate from his early NA sessions).

"I can let you deal if it makes you happy."

Thomas took note of the strange things happening before him. All were evidence of what the files he had been handed on Chandra spoke to. It didn't alarm Thomas in the way that it should have — fuck, he was fascinated by it. He was full of questions, many almost child - like in their curiosity. Thomas brought his bandaged hand to his chest. The vampire turned and leaned back into the counter. His eyes spied the mug that he broke, now fixed up all neat on the table, and Thomas shook his head.

It was real. It was really fucking real. More than the glimpses that he had spied from tailing Chandra and Rohan.

❝I trust you wouldn't have let me shoot that day,❞ Thomas said slowly. The creature's red stare dropped to the floor. ❝I imagine I couldn't do a damn thing to ya even if I tried with everything I got. — but it's not about that, it's ... fuck, Chandra, I'm rotten luck. All my life, it's been this way : nothing good ever happens to me, only bad shit. That includes the people I'm with. I'm convinced my mother was cursed before my birth.❞

Thomas finally looked up again, laughing awkwardly. ❝I don't want something to happen that affects this pretty life you got with the kid. Look, I do appreciate the food — hell, maybe even the company, if you want to hear me say so — but you can't risk me.❞

A deep breath came, and his hands swung down heavily to his sides. The vampire groaned out of frustration. ❝I'll agree to play whatever you want on the condition that you will help me disappear if I win. That's the deal.❞

[hyperstimuli]

@ultrasonicscream // semi-plotted starter.

Ishani wasn't putting out, which was stupid considering this was her idea to begin with. He felt warm and floaty and good and thought she did too, but as Chandra stared at her back, and as every touch of his hand continued to bring no response, he grunted, slowly pulled himself off of the mattress, and stumbled lamely towards the living room.

"Fuck you," he mumbled, caring little whether she heard or not.

They'd shot up on the couch earlier with Kai in tow, and he suspected he'd find Kai there still. In their euphoria Chandra had pulled Ishani onto his lap to kiss her, and because his hands had begun to roam underneath her shirt, she'd let out a gasp and urged him back to the shitty space they called their bedroom for "privacy" instead.

True enough, Kai was still sprawled on his side of the couch, just as delirious as he was when Chandra left him. Landing on the cushion beside him, Chandra's arms stretched over the backrest, and he leaned his head back with a deep sigh.

Man, he wanted to kiss more.

"Kai," he mumbled, head turning in the younger man's direction to regard him. He couldn't remember how much he'd ended up pushing into his veins, or whether Kai could process anything at all.

"Kai." Chandra's mouth felt dry, and his voice was hoarse to match it. "If you hear me, you should come over here."

[hyperstimuli]

It took some manoeuvring to get Rohan in Jonny's arms (largely because it would be awful if the poor kid woke up), but by the end of it the shine in Jonny's eyes as he looked upon the child's sleeping face made it all worth it. There were some people who did things for charity-- people Chandra had no qualms taking advantage of, mind-- but considering his own rocky start with accepting Rohan into his life, it was nice to see someone genuinely happy to see him.

"Just pray he doesn't wake up," Chandra teased, disappearing for a few minutes to order their sandwiches.

(If he had more money to spare, he might have asked Jonny about drinks. For now, however, he tried not to feel humiliated ordering two bottles of water.)

Rohan, on his end, was largely unresponsive, save for burrowing a little closer into Jonny's chest to get warm. Chandra's gaze softened at the sight of it when he returned; he hung back for a few beats, too, if only to admire the sight of the baby pressed so comfortably against him.

"He's not that good for everyone," he offered as he sat again, deciding that Jonny looked comfortable enough to keep holding Rohan for now. "We, uh... we used to live in a worse part of town. Sometimes I wonder if that made him more paranoid than babies should be."

As Chandra responded about caring, Jonny couldn't help but be taken aback momentarily. While Jonny knew that despite the tickets being easy enough for him to give the two, it did come from a place of concern for the single father and his child. Still, at the end of the day, it was a simple enough act. Hell, he knew it wasn't enough to help the other, even if it did manage to get Rohan to sleep. He wished he could do more, but Chandra didn't accept more often than not.

Moreover, he didn't want Chandra to feel like a charity case.

But hearing him say caring is the least I can do, Jonny couldn't help how touched he felt.

And if he thought he couldn't feel anymore accepted by the other, he was mistakenly very soon after when he was offered to hold Rohan. Eyes wide momentarily, his grin soon split across his lips as he looked up at Chandra.

"Yeah. Yeah. Yes, I'd love to," he fondly responded, laugh lacing his words as he moved to take the infant into his arms.

"God, he's so cute."

[hyperstimuli]

@connfidencegame // semi-plotted starter.

Staring at himself in the full length mirror, Chandra's expression was less than impressed. Typically he was better at reeling these reactions in, but without Rohan around he felt less inclined to appear agreeable. Especially since Charlie had fitted him in something so--

"This makes me look like I'm going to an uncle's wedding." Chandra's nose crinkled, fingers absently tugging at the collar fabric against his neck. "And that he's flamboyantly gay. There isn't even gay marriage in India."

--gods, the only word that was coming to mind was "tacky".

Chandra had been hesitant about wearing a sherwani, but now he was certain he looked a damn fool. These were wedding clothes, not fancy dinner clothes, and the shine of the threads used to make the floral patterns on the long coat made him stick out more than he ever had since leaving home. Straightening his hands over the material, Chandra shivered; the softness of it, no doubt a luxury, made him feel like a bride, even if the purples and golds evoked some sense of majesty.

"You know rich Indians wear western suits these days, right? It's the 2010's..." He turned, caught sight of the turban, sash, and miscellaneous jewellery waiting on the table, and then let his gaze flick in Charlie's direction to state: "I am not putting those on.

"You're just gonna have to teach me how to act better."

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Mary Oliver, from “the fourth sign of the zodiac” published in Blue Horses

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Himesh Patel as Emery Staines in The Luminaries (TV Mini-Series, 2020).