#god writing pez is so much fun

[jellibuns]

Six Sentence Sunday

Thank you @kiwiana-writes for the tag, I had to take a moment to recompose myself after reading your post eee!! Here's another snippet from my skating fic that I swear I'll start posting this upcoming Friday, I just wanna make sure my outline is watertight. (again, a little over six but Alex has lots of Big Feelings™)

“Ugh, it would’ve been exquisite.” Pez laments, and Alex thinks he hears Pez mutter something about a 'spiteful old crone' while sipping his drink. His head snaps to look at Henry. “John Williams? Like, ‘Star Wars' John Williams?” There's no way Henry can be talking about the same guy, there has to be some pompous fifteenth century composer with the same name. “Is there another John Williams?” A corner of Henry’s mouth quirks up. “Yes, I had an idea for an homage to Star Wars. Well, more specifically ‘Return of the Jedi.’” Alex doesn’t have time to process that Henry wanted to skate to a Star Wars melody before he’s hit with the utterly ridiculous fact that all the music would have been from fucking Jedi. “Really? Jedi? The obvious choice was right there.” Henry has the audacity to look offended at his objectively correct statement. “And what would that be? And please don’t say—” “Of course I'm going to say Empire, who the fuck wouldn’t?”

ugh this is going out pretty late so open tag !!

[rwrbficrecs]

September Faves

Enjoy these September recs from the team 🥰

Best Bar in The World by @pridepages (book-verse)

@heybuddy-drabbles: Well, I can now confirm that I'm 100% cerified a pridepages fan. The way she picks the themes of the original source and uses them in a different setting is just absolutely flawless, the same happens in Little Pages. It's gives you the same feelings of reading rwrb but also reading something new and different all at the same time.

My Brother’s Keeper by @indomitable-love (book-verse)

@janetical: Written in Philip’s POV, it tackles all the canon events in a frustrating yet heart-wrenching way. I knew what I was getting myself into when I noticed the POV, but I really did hate Philip less at the end of this fic. Everything is entailed in this little story: unresolved daddy issues and grief, internalized homophobia and Philip acknowledging Henry’s first time. It will make you cry, and it will end on a somewhat happy note.

For all the world to see by @everwitch-magiks (book-verse)

@suseagull04: This is a fic I couldn't put down! I'm always a fan of Henry being a writer in fics (so the description alone caught my eye), and the mix of cute moments with firstprince (and David) and plot twists had me hooked! It's also such an interesting look at the life of a writer and how difficult it is for them to have anonymity, which was especially interesting to me because of the writers strike in Hollywood.

he looks up grinning like the devil by @coffeecatsme (book-verse)

@read-and-write-: Also known as the frat boy AU, if you want some hurt/comfort that really does what it says on the tin. Don't be afraid because it is completely worth it!

written in the stars by @indomitable-love (book-verse)

@heybuddy-drabbles: This is just so beautiful. It's basically about Henry mostly. I didn't expect the "past" part would hit so hard but it did. I had to put it down a few times because it was truly heartbreaking but it has a happy ending. Don't be fooled like I was about it being all fluff. It's not, it's very nostalgic and they are apart for a long time but I still recommend it because, like I said, it's really beautiful.

Deep Blue by @myheartalivewrites (book-verse)

@thesleepyskipper: This was just a stunning piece of writing that does such a wonderful job of evoking images of the seaside cliffs, swimming in the cove and spending lazy days in the cottage above. At the same time, we get all that delicious pining and FWB to lovers fun within that beautiful setting. The spicy bits are beautifully done too! Highly recommend!

Rae of Sunshine! (series) by @three-drink-amy @indomitable-love @clottedcreamfudge @everwitch-magiks @the-amber-fox @villiageidiot @athousandrooms @welcometololaland @dustratcentral

@rmd-writes: I couldn't choose just one fic from this series gifted to me so I'm recommending them all, but every fic very much deserves the recommendation! Nine food-themed fics featuring everything from an exploration of Henry's life through food to chef!Henry to craft services trailer!Alex to matchmaker!Pez to the world's most cursed coffee habits from some of my favourite authors (and people)

What Do I Know? by @three-drink-amy (book-verse)

@babiemonk: The angst is so good I cried

Screw Your Courage to the Sticking Place (and forget macbeth is a fucking tragedy) by @celaestis1 (book-verse)

@babiemonk: So amazing, I didn’t want it to ever end. The angst was so good. The kidfic element was perfect. Possibly the perfect fic.

@dot524: I absolutely loved this one. Such a ride and I enjoyed every bit of it. I also really enjoyed the character of Alex’s daughter. Lots of complexity, great story arc.

God Save the Blessed American President Mom by @zipadeea (book-verse)

@babiemonk: This fucking broke me I cried for at least an entire day

@suseagull04: This is such an introspective look at Alex and Ellen's relationship (and Ellen as a character in general) and it's so good!

like father by rizcriz (movie-verse)

@indomitable-love: A really lovely and sensitively told conversation between Oscar & Henry, where Oscar catches Henry sneaking out of the lake house. This one got me right in my emotions. Very healing.

Bite Your Tongue On Purpose by Woodsarelovely (book-verse)

@darwinsfinchesx: Coffee Shop AU with a twist. This fic has some of the best dialogue I’ve ever read. It’s delightful, funny, and the characterization is on point. It leaves a big smile on my face every time I re-read it.

seldom what they seem by @jumpinginmuddypuddles (book-verse)

@gwiazdziarka: Sleeping beauty AU, where they don't need to fight with witches or dragons but there are... other problems. I love modern-day solutions to fairy-tale problems and here it actually just makes everything more complicated.

Mr. Bodypillow by @inexplicablymine (book-verse)

@gwiazdziarka: Yes, I recently recommended this one as wip, but now it's complete and I just need to bring it up again, because it deserves all the attention. Alex and Henry have the most amazing relationship here that goes outside of usual norms. It's also the warmest and the sweetest thing that I've read in a while. And it has great ace representation.

@read-and-write-: Is Ace!Alex very special to you? Do you want to feel like someone is wrapping you in a soft blanket? Then Mr. BodyPillow is for you! It's beautiful and will leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside

come pick me up by @smc-27 (book-verse)

@suseagull04: This fic will both make you laugh and give you all the feels. An awkward first interaction when Henry requests an Uber ride leads to an instant connection and sizzling chemistry, all leading to a conclusion that, although satisfying, will leave you wanting more of this verse!

the winner takes it all by @dumbpeachjuice (book-verse)

@myheartalivewrites: A Tour de France, rivals cyclists AU! Keeping a lot of the book dynamics, Alex and Henry find themselves competing against each other on the Tour — and then falling into bed. This has everything: thrilling sports passages (even though I haven’t ever watched the Tour in my life!), romantic tension, a great read.

Love-Love by @smc-27 (book-verse)

@myheartalivewrites: a tennis AU set at Wimbledon, which obviously holds a special place in RWRB hearts. Alex and Henry as rival tennis players who’ve hooked up once, and then end up as doubles partners. A quick read that left me all warmed up from the inside.

a flicker, a spark by acastle (book/movie-verse)

@daisymae-12: Wow I don’t have the words to truly convey how much I loved this fic. It diverges from canon at Kensington and the events that follow are so beautifully written. This fic made me cry over an OC, made me feel seen when I recognized parts of my own cultural background woven into a story, made my heart ache for everything Alex and Henry have been through and made me tear up some more. This is one of the most heart-wrenching canon-divergence fics I’ve ever read and I know I’m going to be thinking about it for a long time.

Baby, All At Once (This Is Enough) by @iboatedhere (book-verse)

@daisymae-12: This fic is such a lovely look into Alex & Henry’s life post-canon and had me absolutely melting from the softness of it all.

Will You Brie Mine? by @cha-melodius (book-verse)

@daisymae-12: A fic featuring cheese and Henry being the one to sell it, what’s not to love? This was such a sweet fic and I loved the interactions between them! @cha-melodius always writes such amazing fics, and this was no exception.

[talesfromthesnogbox]

I Want Your Video

Summary: Henry is roped into getting off on camera, the Hysterical Literature AU nobody asked for.

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 8,815

AO3 Link

----------

“Pez…”

“Hazza! Come on, you’d be doing me a huge favour.”

Henry rolled his eyes. He loved his best friend Percy, he really did, but he had a knack for getting Henry to do things he would normally never do. And this… this, was something he’d never thought about doing, ever.

“Pez, I’ve got an actual following now. Don’t you think this is a little…”

“No! This is perfect for you. And with your next book coming soon too, trust me Henry, this will be great, you’ll be great."

See, Henry was a writer, just… not a very successful one. Until recently. His debut novel How to Steal a Heart didn’t do as well as he’d hoped when he upended his life and moved from London to Brooklyn. Broke from trying to market his book, and determined to not accept defeat, he took a job with his publisher, where he’d then become friends with one of the lawyers on staff, one Alex Claremont-Diaz. Unfortunately for Henry, Alex was so so much like Gabriel, the love interest to James in Henry’s novel. It was like he’d shook the book and watched Alex step out as he got to know the other man, and in his opinion, his perfect man.

How to Steal a Heart wasn’t the Pride & Prejudice Henry had hoped to one day write, but it was his first novel, and absolutely his baby. Three years sitting on the shelves with hardly any sales had Henry close to throwing in the towel. Alex encouraged him to keep writing, even if only for himself, but it was hard for him to find motivation to continue. It was only weeks later that Alex would send him the TikTok that would change his life. The book blew up, Henry started getting recognized on the street, the interviews poured in, and suddenly, he was signing for books two and three with his publisher.

And Pez, his best friend, wanted him to do porn.

“I know what’s going through your head, young man. The video isn’t porn, it’s an artistic statement on human sexuality.”

“Pez. You want me to sit on camera and read a book while someone tugs me off, it’s porn.” Henry played with his signet ring, refusing to meet Pez’s eyes.

“No one will be touching you, dear. It’s all remote control based, and very safe and respectful. I would keep my spot on the team but you know I’ve got to go back to London to see my dear Granny. Please Hazza?”

Henry rolled his eyes. “How many people are in the room with me? And do I have to get Shaan to sign off on anything?”

Pez’s excitable gasp put a smile on Henry’s face. “Oh my god you’re a lifesaver! I’ll send the documents over for him to glance at. The shoot is on Saturday morning, wear what you like, you’re still gonna be clothed above the waist. Just one person of your choosing in the room to start and stop the camera, or none if you like! I’ll drop off the goods at your office on Friday before I leave.”

By the time Friday rolled around, Henry had almost forgotten what he’d agreed to. Almost. Pez flew through his office like a tornado, giving him advice on what to wear, how to style his hair, and finally, dropping off what he came for.

“Brand spanking new, and yours to keep after the shoot, you’re welcome. I’ve got one like that too and… you are very welcome.” Henry grimaced. “I’m sure you two will have a lot of fun.”

“Everything I’ve learned about your sex life has been against my will.” Henry inspected the box Pez gave him. The packaging was nice, sturdy, expensive feeling. 

“Well I happen to know you’re more of a size queen than I am, so lube up friend, there’s some in the box.”

His face scrunched in disgust as he reminded himself to never tell Pez anything ever again. 

“Right, thanks for that then I suppose. Anything else I should know about—”

A knock and a mass of dark, curly hair interrupted his train of thought. Alex.

“Shit sorry, didn’t know you had company.” 

Henry scrambled to hide the box Pez had dropped off, eyebrows shooting into his hairline as Pez shot him a look. “Not to worry dear, Auntie Pezza has a flight to catch. See you later boys, oh and Henry, tell me how it goes?”

Henry nodded at his friend, waving him off. “Safe travels, all the rest. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Alex turned to Henry, a question gleaming in his eyes. “Hot date later?”

His eyebrows shot up into his hairline as Henry puffed out a breath. “No, no not quite.”

“Excellent. So you’ll be around tomorrow afternoon then?” Alex looked almost hopeful.

Henry winced. “Also not quite, no. Tomorrow night maybe?” He knew he’d probably be keyed up and feeling slightly self conscious after the shoot, drinks with his other best friend slash office crush would definitely keep his mind occupied.

Alex shrugged. “Sure, I can make that work. Want to try that new place in Greenwich?” He flashed his million dollar smile at Henry, the one that never failed to make him melt.

He’s straight, he’s straight, he’s straight!

“Sounds lovely. I’ll swing by yours around 7 and we can come up together?” 

“Sure thing, sweetheart.” Alex gestured to the mound of papers on Henry’s desk, covering the unopened toy box. “So whatcha hiding in there?”

Henry’s breath hitched. “Oh—um well you see…” He stroked his chin, a faraway look taking over his features. “Well you know Pez fairly well I guess. He’s talked me into… helping out one of his friends while he’s gone with an… art… thing…”

Alex’s dark brow furrowed, he nodded along knowing he probably wouldn’t get anything more from the blond man. “Right. And I’m assuming the art… thing is tomorrow afternoon?”

He nodded, clicking his tongue. “Shouldn’t take long—well… ah—I um—” Henry stumbled on his words. “Yeah. I’ve gotta be ready for two.”

“Cool. Do I get to know what it is?”

Henry’s internal monologue had just become various screams. “Ah, um maybe I’ll tell you about it sometime once it’s done and I’ve consumed a lot of alcohol.”

Alex smirked. “Is that a challenge?”

He let out an incredulous laugh. “Git!”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, I want those dirty details, Fox.”

Henry blushed. “You have no idea what you’re asking for Alex.”

---

The time had come for Henry to be on camera, and in all fairness to Pez, everyone so far had been really lovely. Sophie, the eager intern, had him checked in with paperwork and release forms signed, and Theo, the director of the project, walked him through the afternoon’s timeline.

“So we’ll start with a short interview, just to get a sense of who you are, a bit of your background and what you do, then we’ll take a short break to get you prepped, and from there it’s go time. I’m assuming Pez dropped off the vibrator?” Henry nodded, taking in the information in stride as he remembered what he was there to actually do. “Great. I’ll be in the other room controlling the remote for you, so you don’t have to do anything but look pretty and read. Any questions?”

“Yeah, where… um—” Henry had taken some time earlier to stretch himself out a bit in preparation, but the toy was still firmly nestled in its box. Luckily the project was fairly portable, and the small crew had invaded his new apartment.

“Where can you get yourself ready?” His place was bigger than his last shoebox, but still small enough to feel self conscious about inserting the plug knowing there were people in the room over. It had been years since he’d had roommates, and he wasn’t used to having to monitor his noise levels. “We’re setting up in the office so it’s up to you, whether you’d prefer your bedroom or bathroom, we’ll keep crew away from there.” Henry nodded in acknowledgement. “I know this is intimidating, but say the word and we stop, you know that, right?”

He let out a sigh of relief, a smile crossing his face. “Thank you. I’m okay, just a little nervous is all. I’m not unaccustomed to strangers watching me finish,” he shot Theo a look, hoping he understood he was talking about random hookups, “but I’ve never done anything on camera before.”

“Totally fine, don’t even think of it that way, you’re just reading a book!” 

He smiled and followed him into the office for the interview portion of the video.

Once he was mic’d up and properly lit, Theo started with the questions.

“Why don’t you introduce yourself a bit, tell us who you are and what you’ll be reading today.”

A warm smile crossed Henry’s face. “Hi, I’m Henry Fox, and I’m a writer. Originally hailing from London, I moved to New York with my best friend Pez to be closer to my publisher. My book How to Steal a Heart recently became popular on BookTok, and has been in the top five on the New York Times bestsellers list for twenty weeks in a row. It follows a young prince named James who goes undercover as a commoner weeks before his wedding to Lady Elizabeth. James meets Gabriel, a Spanish traveller, who’s been sent to England to steal a precious jewel from the royal family, but instead steals James’ heart.” He looks down at his desk, stroking the spine of the book. “I poured my heart and soul into this book, and it’s incredibly touching to hear how much everyone else has loved it too. But I won’t be reading this today.”

Henry picked up the other book on his desk, a well loved copy of a Regency era romance, two handsome men on the cover. “The Servant and the Gentleman by Annabelle Greene. These have kind of become my guilty pleasure read when I’m not in the headspace for something like Pride & Prejudice. There’s something romantic and sexy about the Regency era, when a simple brush of fingers can cause an audience to gasp. Of course this one is a lot, erm, smuttier than Austen’s work, but it’s a work I’ve returned to a few times.” He looks up at Theo, who’s leaning against the doorframe with a smile.

“Great! You’re a natural on camera, Henry.” Theo leads the excess crew out of the room in preparation for the next stage. He hands him a bath robe and walks him to his bedroom. “We’re going to fix up the desk a little bit, throw a sheet over it so your lower half is covered. We tested the remote already, so you just need to worry about you, okay?”

Henry nodded in understanding, taking the box from Sophie the intern, and closing his door. The nerves had begun to settle in as he unboxed the black, silicone plug. It felt nice, soft and lightweight, the small light indicating it was already on but the motor not started. He gave it a wash, letting it air dry on a clean towel as he stepped out of his trousers and briefs. His heart pounded as he poured a bit of lube on his fingers and got to work opening himself up.

A short few minutes later, he was able to slip the the toy in. Henry groaned, his cock finally warming up to the idea of what he was about to do. Taking a deep breath, he donned the robe Theo had given him, and walked out into the office.

Henry knew realistically this wasn’t the first video the crew had done. Pez mentioned they were filming twelve over the course of a few weeks, and his had been near the end, but he was fairly surprised by the professionalism of it all. He settled into his chair, a towel already laid down, and sheet covering his legs from the room, and dropped the robe. His breath hitched as the plug nudged his prostate; they hadn’t even started filming and he already knew he was fucked. 

“Alright. If we’re ready to go, I’ll just give you a bit of a run down. We’ll hit record on the camera and get out of your way, I’ve got headphones so I can monitor what you’re saying. You’ll start by introducing yourself and the book you’re reading, once you’ve finished, state your name once more and the title of the book. We’ll wait outside until you’re ready for us to come back in. I’ll control the remote from this side of the door. If ever it gets too intense or you don’t want to continue, please just yell for one of the crew and we stop. You understand so far?”

Henry nodded.

“Verbal consent please hon, things can get pretty intense and I want to make sure you’re okay.”

Henry smiled. “Yes, thank you Theo, I understand.”

He gave a quick nod and continued. “Don’t worry about holding back, noises, faces, words are all good, but please don’t feel the need to put on a show. I want you to be authentic in yourself, show us what your pleasure looks like. It’s a beautiful thing, it’s poetic, it’s art. Last thing, don’t worry about how long or short you last here. We’ve had a few people last a couple paragraphs, and one last a couple chapters. Take what you need.”

“Got it. I—I think I’m ready.”

Theo smiled. “Good, we’re ready on our end as well. I’ll hit record, and as soon as I’m out the door, you can start.”

Henry nodded one last time, wriggling in his chair and turning to the chapter. Theo gave him a thumbs up, and closed the door, leaving him alone. He took a deep breath, and stared down the barrel of the lens. “Hi, I’m Henry Fox, and today I’ll be reading The Servant and The Gentleman by Annabelle Greene.”

He cleared his throat, eyes scanning the page before he started. “Chapter ten. One bed. A very large bed, a mahogany four-poster that took up most of the sloping attic room, but still a bed in the singular rather than plural. Josiah sat awkwardly on one corner of it, the feathers in the mattress astonishingly soft.” 

Henry’s fingers twitched in anticipation, his pulse quickening; the wait for the vibrations to start was almost agonizing, and his cock thickened as the wait for pleasure stretched on. He could begin to understand why this was so erotic. He was alone so the pleasure felt like it was all his, but in reality, someone on the other side of that door held the key to his undoing.

He continued the chapter, getting accustomed to the way his voice sounded in the room alone, when he jolted as a low thrumming vibration started. “He’d noticed, then. He’d seen what Josiah had secretly h-hoped he would. Josiah took a step towards Hartley, seized with a sudden, overwhelming desire to k-kiss him.” Henry stumbled over the words, taking deep breaths as he tried to read in earnest. He shifted in his seat, hoping to take some pressure away, but the new angle had the bulbous head of the plug settle right up against his prostate. Almost like clockwork, the vibrations levelled up.

His words became breathy, and he gulped in air, trying to hold back the whines he desperately wanted to let go, but he kept reading. “He held his breath as Mr. Balfour moved closer. Close enough to press against him, chest to chest, thigh to thigh. Hartley sighed, a deep shiver running through him as he looked into the man’s warm brown eyes—Oh!” Henry dropped the book from his left hand, his palm coming flat to the table as he tilted his head down and closed his eyes in pleasure. He bit his lip, and scrunched his nose, resisting the urge to roll his hips. His cock was now fully interested in what was happening, he was half hard, and so badly wanted to wrap his hand around his length. But with a low chuckle, he returned both hands to the book and continued reading. 

“He couldn’t even think of him as Mr. Balfour anymore.” Henry composed himself, getting accustomed to the new speed of the toy. “Not in this naked, vulnerable light. Master, servant, Mr. Hartley, Mr. Balfour; no rank, no polite form of address, quite held up to scrutiny. Not here. Not now.” He gasped, gripping the book with white knuckled fingers, and let the air out with a hum through closed lips. “Fuckin’ hell that’s… wow.” With a shake of his head, he read on.

“The man in front of him was Josiah. As for himself, he was no one, no one at all. Just a terrified creature in desperate need of relief, of fulfilment that only Josiah could provide.” His voice was shaky, and his knee bounced under the table. “Hartley stared, briefly shocked at the idea of it, before Josiah’s lips met his, and thoughts were suddenly, deliciously drowned in f—uuuuck.” Henry threw his head back, chest heaving as he finally gave into his instincts and let his hips roll. With every rock of his hips, the plug pushed against his prostate, sending jolts of pleasure through his body. His cock leaked a steady stream of precum, and his fingers itched to grasp himself, spread his wetness down his length, pump into his fist, with a name on his lips. And suddenly he remembered where he was again. “Deliciously drowned in feeling.”

“There was no room anymore. No door, no walls, no confinement whatsoever. With J-Josiah’s kiss came infinite sp—infinite space; a liberation so complete that H-Hartley couldn’t help but sigh with relief.” His fingers shook as he traced the words, and suddenly, that telltale tingle at the base of his spine started. “O—oh f—fuck.” He moaned in earnest, the dam breaking now as he writhed in his seat. “He—unnhh!” Henry slammed his palm down against the desk again, shoulders hunching forwards as his hand curled. He was close, but it wasn’t enough. If he could only get a hand around himself… 

Henry panted lowly, not sure if it was deemed appropriate to ask to go up in speed, but as if his mind had been read, the vibrations kicked it up a notch. The book was long forgotten, his eyes were closed, and he was sure his face was a picture of pleasure. A second jolt of pleasure railed through him as the piece of the toy wedged against his perineum sparked to life. His cock leaked steadily now, he shook as he reached back to grip the edge of the chair, a strangled cry leaving his throat. His other hand slammed against the table, losing his page in the book entirely. His hips rocked against the chair and he whimpered. “Ffffuck, f—fuck, A—Ale…. christ.” He choked in a breath, back going taut as his hips stuttered, and with a shout, he came. 

His ass clenched around the plug as he painted the towel draped across his lap. The shocks kept coming, he felt like it would never end, like he never wanted it to end, it was fucking good. An airy giggle left his lips as his head lolled back, the aftershocks of his orgasm wracking through him, milking the plug he had absolutely no control over. Henry kind of felt invincible, like he could do it again, and again, and again, until his body could give nothing else. He’d never came so hard, not even with the best fuck he’d had, and in that moment he knew, he’d put on a damn good show.

The camera crew must have heard him coming down, because the vibrations stopped shortly after he’d caught his breath. Henry chuckled and shook his head, breathing in once, twice, then looking right down the barrel of the lens again and saying, “My name is Henry Fox, and I’ve just read The Servant and The Gentleman by Annabelle Greene.”

He blinked once, twice, giving Theo enough room to cut the end of his shot, then he moved to clean himself up. Wiping himself down brought the sudden realization that this was going to be online… and then it dawned on him… what if Alex saw this? 

---

Henry wrung his hands together as he met up with Alex for their dinner in Greenwich. He was still keyed up despite the satiated feeling that took over his body as soon as Theo and his crew left that afternoon; it was a different type of intensity, the anticipation of knowing Alex could find out at any point what he was doing that afternoon. And of course, the anxiety of knowing he’d pretty well shouted Alex’s name as he came.

“Henry… hey, are you… are you there man?”

Henry blinked at Alex, shaking his head slightly pulling himself out of his thoughts. “Yes, yes sorry. You were saying?”

Alex stopped, pulling Henry to the edge of the sidewalk when he’d earned a grumble under their breath from a passing pedestrian. “Are you okay? You seem off. Did something happen?”

“What? No, I’m fine! I’m fine.”

Alex cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that? You’ve been quiet since you came to get me.”

A smile graced Henry’s face finally, hopefully levelling out some of Alex’s concern. “Yes, I’m sure, I’m fine. I think this afternoon was just a little more… intense than I was anticipating.”

“Oh yeah!” Alex lit up once more, guiding Henry back onto the sidewalk towards their destination. “How’d your art thing go?”

Henry held back the urge to laugh. What did he even say to that? It was incredible? The best orgasm he’d ever had? Oh, I came so hard my brain leaked out my ears, and you can watch it all in dazzling 4K, coming soon to a youtube channel near you. Don’t get freaked out if you maybe hear your name towards the end, I definitely wasn’t thinking of you railing me into next week.

“It was good, the people were nice.”

Alex shot him a look. “That’s it? You ever gonna tell me what it was about? Oh! Or will I maybe see it down the line?” A high pitched giggle left Henry’s mouth. “What’s that supposed to mean? My god, did you like pose nude or something?”

Henry tilted his head side to side, face scrunched. “Or something.” 

“What!” Alex grabbed Henry’s forearm, shooting heat through him and making him blush. That beautiful smile graced his features, deviant and excitable, making him feel oddly supported. “Oh my god Henry, did you do a boudoir shoot? This whole time I thought you were a prude, have you been holding out on me?”

Henry scoffed. “You’ve read my book, you know I’m not a prude.”

“I thought we were friends, would you just tell me already? It’s killing me here man!” 

“Maybe in time. And with a lot of alcohol, remember? Just… drop it for tonight, please?”

Alex rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’ll drop it. But when you do finally tell me what it was, I wanna see it!”

Henry’s heart skipped a beat. “Absolutely not.”

---

irl chaos demon

[10:15 p.m.] Dude, have you seen this?

Alex swiped away Nora’s text, knowing it was probably some TikTok trend, and he was not willing to start on that rabbit hole tonight.

 irl chaos demon

[10:18 p.m.] I just finished watching it and… I think you’ll want to see this 👀

He eyed the message carefully before finally clicking on the notification and seeing the youtube link she’d sent him. Intimate Words: Session Ten: Henry.

Oh?

The thumbnail was vague. Alex recognized the background to be Henry’s apartment office space, with the wall of books behind him. He was seated at his desk, a book open in front of him, as he smiled softly into the camera. His hair wasn’t messy, but it wasn’t slicked back into his usual perfect coif. Alex imagined this softer, more undone version of Henry was one reserved for the comforts of his own home when he shared it with someone more… well intimately. He clicked through to the video, a short logo stinger introducing it, and oh! This must have been the art thing he was doing those few weeks ago!

Alex paused the video, considering the idea of texting Henry to let him know he would be watching… but then remembered how skittish he’d been about it. He’d gotten the impression that Henry didn’t want Alex watching this. The description was about as vague as the thumbnail, it read ‘Author Henry Fox reads from The Servant and The Gentleman by Annabelle Greene. Directed by Theo Lawson’ 

It seemed straightforward enough, just Henry reading a book… so then why was he so embarrassed about it?

Alex did the only thing he could think to do at that moment. He called June.

“Hey Lil Bit, what’s up?”

“Did Nora show you a video of Henry?”

June scoffed. “Yeah, she did. I didn’t watch it all the way through cause he’s like my less annoying non-biological brother and that would be weird, but…”

“Why didn’t you finish the video? She said I’ll want to see it, but it didn’t sound like Henry wanted me to see it.” 

June went silent. 

“Bug, what’s up with this fucking video?”

“Alejandro!” Nora joined the call, sitting beside June. “To what do we owe the pleasure, we just got into bed.”

“Gross. Nora what’s with the link?”

“Ooooooh! Did you watch it? Hot, right?”

It was Alex’s turn to be silent.

“Oooohhhkay, I’m going to guess from your lack of response you either didn’t watch it, or are currently questioning your sexuality.”

“Nora, why the fuck would this video make me question my sexuality?”

Nora chuckled. “So you really didn’t watch it, huh. Have you actually not heard about this project?”

“Clearly I haven’t.” Alex went right to Google. The Intimate Words project. He clicked on the first link to the official site and read through the description, eyes going wide. “Nora… did Henry… sorry explain this to me like I’m five. What am I looking at?”

“Henry read a book on camera while getting some good vibrations, pun intended, as an artistic statement in favour of normalizing what pleasure looks like on different people.”

Alex took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay. Soooo, should I watch it?”

“I dunno Alex, should you?”

“I mean do I want to watch it?”

Her voice went softer. ��I can’t answer that Alejandro, do you want to watch it?”

Alex dropped his hand, looking at the video thumbnail again. Henry’s soft smile stared back, warm and inviting, and for a moment, a flutter erupted in his chest. He was straight. He was straight? At least he was pretty sure he was straight… Was he? 

His head spun as he thought back to every interaction he’d had with Henry since meeting him. They riffed off each other perfectly, best buds, a good pal, but… but Alex was disappointed whenever Henry would cancel plans, and everything felt better, brighter, when Henry was around. 

A few minutes of comfortable silence had passed. “Nora? I’m gonna go.”

“You okay Lil Bit?” This time it was June that chimed in.

“Yeah, I’m good, well, we’ll see how I’m feeling in a bit I guess.”

“Call me when you’re done!” Nora shouted over the phone.

“Ew, that’s my brother, asshole.”

Alex hung up before their fighting turned into something he wouldn’t be able to un-hear, and clicked on the video. His heart was thrumming in his chest as Henry’s smooth voice rang through his bedroom, and he began reading.

It was only a minute or so into the video, but nothing out of the ordinary had happened. It was just Henry, he was just reading, and maybe it wouldn’t be that bad. He was twitchier than usual, but Alex figured it had to do with the nature of the video he was performing in. Henry didn’t seem like the type of person to do anything like this. Admittedly, Alex didn’t know really much about Henry’s dating life, he tended to keep pretty quiet about it at work or otherwise, but apparently he was more adventurous than Alex thought him to be. 

But then came the stuttering. 

And Alex’s body finally caught up with what his brain knew he was watching.

From the first breathy gasp Henry let out, Alex knew the answer to the question he’d had in his mind since the phone call with Nora. It was a clear and resounding no. 

He watched as Henry bit his full bottom lip, a stream of little noises spilling from between his teeth. Alex could see the way his fingers trembled against the desk, like Henry was unable to control the way they spasmed as he let what clearly was a magnificent feeling wash over him. He wasn’t entirely sure just what was being used on Henry, but his mind ran rampant with ideas, and it took less than a minute for his own cock to stir in his joggers. 

Alright, guess we’re doing this.

Henry’s voice shook deliciously as he continued to read, and for a moment, Alex thought about having him read aloud while Henry rode his cock. He groaned at the idea, which apparently Henry from the video could tell. “Fuckin’ hell that’s… wow.”

The surprise from his lips was almost endearing, no, adorable, but only for another minute because shortly after Henry let out a downright filthy string of expletives. 

“Fuck baby.” Alex groaned, watching Henry grind away on his desk chair. He wanted to mark up that perfect neck, suck bruises wherever he could, nip away at those sinful collarbones… he wanted to be the one making Henry feel like that.

Henry’s composure was waining, and so was Alex’s as his fingers twitched, itching to get a hand on himself. He could see the moment Henry gave up on the task at hand and focused purely on his pleasure, chasing what he needed, and good god, it was the hottest fucking thing Alex had seen in his thirty years of life. Better than anything he’d read, anything he’d seen, porn or otherwise, this video would ruin anyone else for him. Henry would ruin anyone else for him. His eyes were glued to the screen, he didn’t even want to blink in case he missed anything, and… was that his name?

Alex scrubbed backwards, hitting play and listening carefully and… “Ffffuck, f—fuck, A—Ale…. christ.”

He paused the video, the pleasure on Henry’s face frozen in time, the pleasure he’d gotten seconds after saying his name. Alex.

Alex opened his messages and texted Nora back.

TO: irl chaos demon

[10:58 p.m.] We’re talking about this tomorrow.

Tomorrow. Not tonight, tomorrow. Tonight Alex was preoccupied. 

The sexuality crisis could wait. The imagery of Henry getting off with his name on his lips was past the point of sending Alex into a spiral, and right to him being horny about it. He pulled his half hard cock out of his joggers, not even bothering with pushing them down knowing this would be quick. A few tugs with his hand had him throbbing and leaking over his knuckles. He closed his eyes, the memory of Henry’s breathy whimpers racing through his mind. A bite of his lip and a throaty groan of his own, and quickly, Alex was spilling over his fingers, making a mess of his hand and the waistband of his joggers.

He only allowed himself a moment of contemplation before he was wiping his hand off on his bottoms, they’d have to be washed anyways, and going to brush his teeth.

As he stared at his reflection, hair tousled, cheeks flushed, Alex did what he did in every crisis. He made a list.

That video of Henry turned him on.

Nora thought he’d want to see the video, and he did.

If he was being honest, that wasn’t the first time he’d had some kind of… feeling like that for a man.

On some level, he knew that he had to be somewhat into Henry 

That video of Henry really fucking turned him on.

With a sigh, Alex contemplated what this meant for him. There was no problem with him accepting the fact that he was low-key into guys. If anything, it opened up the dating pool for him… but he had a feeling he didn’t really want the dating pool to be opened past… well… Henry. He’d never really given a thought to his sexuality. Yeah, he liked women, he was confident in that for sure, but he’d never really thought about dating men until Henry.

By this point it was nearly midnight, and Alex’s head was spinning. He texted the group chat with Nora and June suggesting brunch in the morning and crawled into bed, hoping some clarity would come with sleep. That night he dreamt of Henry.

---

Brunch the next morning was… eventful to say the least. There was a lot of teasing on Nora’s part, and Alex spent the whole meal red (and not from the effects of bottomless mimosas). After much contemplation, and a chat with both Nora and June, Alex came to the conclusion that he was bisexual.

The more he said it, the more he felt like it really fit, and by the end of the weekend, Alex was feeling more confident about himself than he had felt in a while.

Monday morning at the office felt a little bit brighter, there was a spring in his step and for once he actually felt relaxed after a weekend off. That is until he opened his calendar and remembered that he agreed to lunch with Henry today.

“Alex, good morning.”

Speak of the devil.

“H-hey man, how was your weekend?” Alex picked up his coffee, blowing away the steam before taking a sip.

“It was nice, got a lot of writing done actually. I have another meeting this morning about my latest draft, but it’s all been pretty ‘good vibes’ so far with this book.”

Alex choked on his coffee, his nose burning from the hot liquid suddenly entering his airway.

“Oh god, are you alright?”

Alex nodded frantically, reaching for some tissues to wipe down the mess. “Fine, fine sorry, went down the wrong pipe there.”

Henry chuckled. “Just learning to swallow?” 

“Something like that.”

Henry’s eyebrows rose, oh god, Alex thought, am I actually successfully flirting with Henry?

“So lunch. Spencer and Zarah can’t make it today, I think it’s just gonna be us two. I was hoping to maybe check out that new Thai place?”

Alex blinked slowly. Lunch alone with Henry sounded dangerous, but it would be suspicious if he also randomly bailed. “Yeah, sounds great. I’ll meet you at the elevator at 1?”

Henry smiled warmly and nodded. “See you then!” He looked back and waved once he’d walked away, and Instantly Alex knew he was screwed.

The morning stretched on as Alex waited for the clock to strike 1. Henry looked so good today in a soft sweater, the collar of his shirt peeking through, and his hair just a little bit undone. His heart fluttered anxiously as he watched the clock, not even knowing what the hell he even did that morning, and then finally, it was time. Alex grabbed his wallet and phone, forcing himself to walk, not run, to the elevators where Henry was waiting. Unfortunately for him, the sight of Henry made him lose every coherent thought he’d had until that point.

They rode the elevator down in complete silence, Alex worrying the entire time about what they’d talk about once they were seated. Henry luckily filled the silence with updates on his meeting, prattling on about the book and the notes he was getting from his editor. 

The restaurant was a short walk away, and by the time they were seated, Henry had already recounted all the important bits of his meeting. They read through the menus, Henry glancing up to Alex every once in a while, and glancing back down with a blush when Alex caught his eye. Neither conversed with each other, even after the waiter took their orders and filled their water glasses. 

Alex could feel the tension between them. He was making it weird, but all he could see right now was Henry seated across from him, writhing in pleasure instead of the put together slightly stuffy persona he kept up during working hours. From spending the weekend fantasizing about him, to sitting across from him at lunch was a very strange dichotomy, and suddenly Alex was having a hard time separating the two Henry’s in his mind. Was it getting hot in here? 

“Alright, what’s bothering you? I’ve literally never seen you this quiet.”

Alex’s eyes went wide, his mouth gaped like a fish… he had absolutely no idea what to say. Does he just come clean? Tell Henry everything that had transpired over the weekend? Or does he lie and say he’s fine, just under the weather? Henry could usually read him like an open book, no matter what he says, he’d know Alex was lying. So all that he could come up with was, “I’m bisexual.”

Henry raised his eyebrows. He could tell that wasn’t what Alex had intended to say based on the slight wince that followed his short and succinct coming out. 

“Sorry… that—I-I didn’t—”

“Alex.” Henry reached across the table and laid his hand on top of Alex’s lightly. Alex’s brain promptly shuts down. “Thank you for telling me.”

He nods, eyes focused on their hands. “Yeah, ‘course, you’re my best friend, Hen.”

Henry smiled bashfully and pulled his hand away, taking a sip of water. “I’m not the first person you told, am I?”

Alex laughed, feeling a lot more himself now that Henry was guiding their conversation. “No, Nora and June kinda walked me through a sexuality crisis over the weekend.” Shit!

Intrigued, Henry raised his eyebrow. “Oh?”

Again, Alex started feeling hot under the collar, his smile dropped.

“Someone catch your interest?”

“Ah… um…” Alex winced. “Something like that.”

Henry nodded, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. “Do I know him?”

Alex froze. He felt himself coming to a crossroad; he could laugh off the whole thing and say it was some actor in some new movie, typical bullshit, or he could come clean. Coming clean would obviously be the harder road… but would it? It would mean he wouldn’t have to dance around Henry like he had all day, maybe he could stop picturing his face masked in pleasure whenever he threw his head back in a laugh, and maybe, just maybe, it could mean Henry felt that way about him too.

Decision made, Alex begun to nod. “Yeah, actually, you do.” He played with the beads of his bracelet, a nervous habit he’d picked up, and braced himself. “Henry, I-I saw your video.”

Video… my vid—oh dear lord. Henry felt a hundred different emotions wash through him, confusion, fear, and embarrassment being the main features. “Oh god.”

“I—I think it was—”

Henry put a hand up, effectively stopping Alex from saying anything further. “I’m sorry I just… I’d really like for you to not finish that sentence.” He remembered the end of that video A—Ale…. christ… and let out a deep sigh. “Oh god.”

“Hen—”

“I… sorry I’ve got a meeting to get to.”

---

“Fuck, Pez. Fuck.”

“Hazza, I’m failing to see how this is a bad thing.”

Henry let his head fall to his desk with a thunk. “I said his fucking name Percy.”

Pez laughed on the other end of the phone. “Oh I know darling, I was a little offended it wasn’t my name on your lips, but this was a long time coming to be honest.”

“Pez.” Henry pleaded. “Please.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll behave. But I stand by what I said, I’m failing to see how this is bad for you. The man basically said you were his bisexual awakening, why are you on the phone with me instead of getting railed by—”

“Because! I don’t think I’m strong enough to only be with him casually. With him, it has to be all or nothing.”

He can hear Pez snort on, the tinny effect of his phone speaker doing nothing to hide the snark. “Okay, so go all in then.”

“But what if—”

“Babes, all I’m hearing are excuses. Why don’t you just talk to him? He’s obviously into you in some way, or he wouldn’t have even said anything about the video.”

“But I don’t know if he even had positive thoughts about the video, I left before he could say anything about it. What if he’s totally disgusted?”

“You’re not considering the facts though love, he said someone caught his interest, and—shush! Let me finish! Someone caught his interest and then he mentioned seeing you in that video. Sorry Hen but it sounds like you’re incorrect here.”

Unfortunately it did sound like Pez had a point. There was nothing really left to say, Henry had to admit defeat.

“Hazza, just talk to him. Please. I can feel your gay panic all the way in bloody London. I think you’ll be surprised by what he has to say.” 

“Fine, fine. I’ll text him. To meet up and talk tonight. Or something.”

“Yes! That’s the spirit! Let me know how it goes mate.”

Henry watched the call disappear from his screen to find he’d already received a text from Alex. 

Alex

[2:15 p.m.] Hey man, I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable  earlier, it really wasn’t my intention, I hope you know that.

He worried the skin of his lip, crafting a response that would have him on edge all day.

TO: Alex

[3:05 p.m.] Hi Alex, I understand that wasn’t your intention,  you didn’t make me uncomfortable, I was just startled.

[3:06 p.m.] Can we talk later today? I’d like the opportunity  to maybe clear the air a little bit between us.

Alex

[3:07 p.m.] Oh thank god you’re alive

[3:07 p.m.] Yeah, wanna come to mine after work? 

TO: Alex

[3:08 p.m.] Yes I’ll swing by yours after I let David out for a walk.

---

He was stalling. Henry knew he was stalling, and he didn’t care, he did not want to face this head on, but he knew he had to.

After a moment outside, Henry knew he had to face Alex, and knocked on his door. As if he were standing right behind it, Alex appeared moments later.

“Alex.”

“Hi.”

They stood there looking at each other for a moment before Henry gestured at the door. “Do you mind if I—?”

Alex spurred to life. “Right, yeah, come in.” He stepped aside and let Henry in, leading him towards the living room. “Can I get you anything? A beer, glass of wine, hell I can whip up a margarita.”

Henry smiled. “I think perhaps we should have this conversation sober?”

“Yeah, good idea actually.” Alex moved to sit next to Henry on the couch, leaving more space between them than they usually kept. “If you don’t mind, can I start?” Henry motioned for Alex to go ahead. “I want to apologize. Before you shot the video it didn’t sound like you really wanted anyone to know what it was. I didn’t seek it out, I promise. Nora sent it to me, I think she knew I was bi before I did, but I really shouldn’t have opened it. I thought about ignoring it, but I didn’t, I violated your trust and your wishes, and I’m really, truly sorry for that.”

“Alex, it’s okay—” 

“But it’s not Hen. You told me not to watch it and I did anyway.”

Henry chuckled to himself. “I don’t recall telling you not to watch it, I think a part of me hoped you would before I… well we’ll get to that, but I didn’t explicitly say do not seek this out. People I know were bound to see it at some point or another, I’m not mad you saw it Alex.”

“You’re not?”

“Gods no. I’m more than a little embarrassed to tell you the truth. It was quite empowering, I don’t think I’ve ever felt that hot in my life, but…” Henry’s heart slammed in his chest, it was now or never. “Alex, I said, fuck I practically moaned your name.”

“A-are you embarrassed that you did it, or that it was—”

“Don’t even think about saying it, you know I’d never be embarrassed of how I feel about you.”

Alex’s breath hitched. “And how do you feel about me Henry?”

Henry’s fierce expression turned a little sad, and Alex braced himself for rejection. “You have to understand Alex, I don’t—I don’t do casual, and you just came out.”

Alex frowned. “Okay, when did I say I wanted casual?”

“Well I just thought—” 

“You thought wrong then. Yes, I’m attracted to you. Like mega, big time, holy shit attracted to you. But I also like you Henry. And yeah, I’m new to this whole bisexuality thing, your fucking performance sent me down a rabbit hole I’m honestly surprised I’d never been down before, but I’d also like to take you on dates, and hold your hand, and kiss you just because I want to.”

“You’re attracted to me?” A rosy blush graced his high cheekbones.

“Obviously. Have you not seen yourself? And in that video? Jesus Christ I thought I was going to combust.”

Henry shrugged. “I honestly haven’t watched the video. I’ve never felt so… free, or sexy, like I felt so good after filming that, but I’m worried I just look silly.”

Alex scooted closer on the couch, letting his fingers rest lightly on Henry’s to test the water. When Henry didn’t pull away, Alex moved to cover his whole hand, lacing their fingers together. 

“Trust me, there’s no way you could look silly doing what you did. You looked so hot baby.”

A pleasant shiver rolls down Henry’s spine at the pet name, and a smile settles deeper into his features.

“For the record, I have feelings for you too, I have for a while, but you’ve just always been… straight.”

Alex looked down at their joined hands, a chuckle rumbling through his chest. “Well lucky for you I’m not straight then, right?”

“Hm, yeah.” Henry moved even closer to Alex, pressing their legs up against each other. “I have to ask, have you ever been with a man, in any way?”

Alex winced. “No… but also yes.”

“Oh?”

“A friend of mine, Liam, from high school. We used to, I dunno, get off together. We never actually like… touched each other, or kissed or anything, but there was nothing straight about it. And like… he came out to me as gay after college.”

Henry nods, a smile on his face. “Ah, I understand. And… you’d want to do things like kiss me, and touch me?”

With raised eyebrows, Alex gives Henry a once-over. “I said I wanted to, didn’t I baby? Maybe not… all at once, but I’d really like to kiss you if that’s okay.”

With a bashful smile, Henry nodded. “More than okay, love.” He leaned in, bumping his nose against Alex’s gently, before connecting their lips in a chaste kiss. “How’s that?” He whispered, lips brushing against Alex’s with every syllable.

“Fucking come here.”

Henry let out a squeak as Alex hoisted him into his lap, legs falling on either side of his hips, and hands going to his shoulders. They stared intently into each other’s eyes, reading their expressions for any signs it was going too far, before meeting in the middle in a heated kiss. Alex’s hands went immediately to Henry’s waist, running his fingers across the small of his back. Henry felt more confident to let his own hands wander into the hair he so desperately wanted to feel. It was soft and thick, and everything he’d dreamed of, and with a light tug, he was able to extract a deep groan from Alex’s throat.

Henry pulled away, gazing once again into Alex’s eyes with the silent question of everything okay? His question was answered moments later when Alex hooked his hands under Henry’s ass and dragged him closer. He was breathless; they were chest to chest, and he could feel the effects of their actions from the man beneath him as their dicks slotted together along with the rest of themselves. They rushed forward again, practically drunk on each other with this newfound friction between them, lips meeting in the middle in a frantic kiss. Alex’s tongue met Henry’s and suddenly a new layer of arousal joined the party. 

Alex pulled his lips away from Henry’s, peppering pecks across his cheek and down the column of his neck. He nipped a patch of skin at the juncture of Henry’s neck and shoulder, causing a yelp from the man above him, before soothing it with the heat of his tongue. As he worshiped the soft skin of Henry’s neck with his lips, teeth, tongue, Alex’s clever hands held a commanding grip on Henry’s ass, guiding him in a rough grind. 

A whimper from Henry made Alex perk up, and he met Henry’s eyes once again.

“Oh my god, is this okay?”

“Christ, is this okay, please don’t fucking stop.”

So much for taking it slow.

With a chuckle, Alex dutifully went back to work sucking love bites on Henry’s neck. Henry’s hips moved on their own, a string of soft groans and whimpers falling from his lips as he ground down on Alex’s erection. The friction between them was heavenly, and Alex was questioning why he hadn’t tried this sooner. 

“Fuck sweetheart, that’s good.” Henry’s following groan was stifled by his teeth worrying his bottom lip, and suddenly, it was too much, and not enough for Alex. 

His grip on Henry’s ass tightened, and he used all his strength to stand up from their spot on the couch, Henry in his arms. His legs wound around Alex’s torso to keep himself from falling; he instantly felt lightheaded from the force of his blood rushing from his head to his dick. He knew Alex was strong, and worked out to keep his body in immaculate shape, but nothing could have prepared him for what it would be like to be manhandled by him. 

“Sorry, just… too much, I was like seconds away from cumming. Is this still okay?” 

Henry looked down pointedly at his own hard-on standing proudly between them before bashfully looking up at Alex.

“I guess it is, huh.”

Giggles left their throats, the two men finally having a moment to breathe after being so caught up in the moment. They giggled at the absurdity of it all, the fact that they’d danced around each other for so long, the fact that all of this came about because of some dumb (hot) video that Pez just needed him to be in. 

“Where do we go from here?”

Henry looked around Alex’s apartment. “Well where would you like to go from here? I mean we could continue on the couch, or maybe the countertop, or if you’re feeling naughty you could take me to bed.” 

Alex chuckled again, resting his head on Henry’s shoulder. “I mean us, where do we go from here?”

A smile graced his lips as Henry responded. “We’ll continue on, our standing Monday lunch dates, occasional Friday movie nights, and everything else in between, but we add the kissing, and the affection, and we just… don’t hold back what we’re feeling from each other. And we go from there. Let you get accustomed to being with a man, let our feelings develop. I’d like for you to be my boyfriend someday when you’re ready, I’d like to share my feelings with you, and ask that you communicate yours back. Sorry, that was terribly unsexy.”

“On the contrary sweetheart, open and honest communication with a side of promise for the future? Almost as sexy as contract law, talk dirty to me.” 

“Oh you cretin.” Henry swatted Alex’s chest, then leaned in for a chaste kiss. “We don’t have to go any further than you’re comfortable with tonight, but I really would like to continue what we were doing, love. Take me to bed?”

Alex’s smile was nowhere near shy. “Yeah baby, let’s go to bed.” 

[cricketnationrise]

Took me forever to send you this because I couldn't decide which Beyoncé lyrics to send (if the ones I picked aren't inspiring, feel free to request different ones, there's so many to pick from!) so I hope i'm not too late 🙃 this is so fun, thank you for organizing this fest!

9:26pm, the brownstone, Alex Claremont-Diaz, "Private show with the music blasting / He like to call me Peaches when we get this nasty", rated E 😈

My Ao3 username is Calou 😊

fitting that you were right under the wire in submitting because it took me almost five months to get to this prompt. i hope its worth the wait!

a big thank you to everyone who submitted and to everyone who's been reading and commenting along the way. i love doing the ficlet fests, the prompts are always a delight and let me get out of any writing funk i find myself in. yall rock.

as a parting gift for Ficlet Fest 500, please enjoy exactly 1000 words of straight gay up filth, as requested in the GC.

read the rest of the ficlets here

❤️🤍💙❤️🤍💙

9:26pm, the brownstone

Alex’s brain falls out of his head when Henry comes downstairs. He apparently took Pez’s dress code seriously for once; he’s dressed to fucking impress. (Alex is so far past impressed he’s having heart palpitations.) Henry looks good in everything, from a full suit to sweatpants, but when he lets himself relax, lets himself lean into being one hundred percent himself, he ascends to a whole other level.

His white shorts are going to be the death of Alex. They’re short, showing off strong calves and stacked, polo-playing thighs, and just this side of respectably opaque. But if there’s a strong enough backlight, anyone who isn’t intimately familiar with Henry’s particular topography, will be. The shorts would be enough to cause Alex a factory reset, but then he notices the shirt. It’s halfway unbuttoned, straining to accommodate Henry’s wide shoulders, and short enough in the torso that he’s baring midriff. And it’s one of Alex’s shirts. The novelty ice cream cone print has never looked so fucking good. 

Alex can see the tops of Henry’s hipbones—they’re mouth-wateringly obscene. Henry shouldn’t be allowed out of the house like this; he’s a danger to everyone around him. Drivers will run their cars off the road, pedestrians will walk into poles, et fucking cetera. Really, Alex has a fucking duty toward public safety to tackle Henry onto their couch and take him apart with his teeth. 

So he does.

Henry makes a noise somewhere between a squawk and a whimper and Alex wants to lick it out of his mouth. He captures Henry’s lips in a kiss as they land, barely letting him breathe, let alone put up a token protest because he feels like they should be social. Henry groans and melts into the cushions, letting Alex do whatever he wants. The trust Henry puts in him is heady, and Alex spirals that much higher when Henry throws his arms around Alex’s neck to keep him in place. His own hands are busy mapping every bit of exposed skin on Henry’s chest, slipping beneath Alex’s own fucking shirt to reach the scant inches that are still hidden below fabric. Alex takes advantage of Henry’s gasp of pleasure when Alex scratches lightly at his bicep to slip his tongue inside Henry’s mouth.

Both of them are already breathing hard, the sound of spit and panting filling the air. Alex manages to stop kissing Henry’s mouth, but only to nip down his throat, pausing at the pulse point to bite down. Henry always complains about having to be careful of covering the marks Alex leaves, but he never actually asks Alex to stop. (They were thirty minutes late to meet Nora for brunch last month when Alex caught Henry pressing down on a hickey in the bathroom and Alex had to bend him over the sink about it.) Henry’s moan at the graze of Alex’s teeth against his neck is a siren song; the way he tips his head to the side to give Alex more room, a gift from the gods. 

Henry pushes at his head, directing Alex with a pleading whine. Alex is only too happy to oblige, nipping and licking and sucking down Henry’s sternum, fingers fumbling to open the shirt. He spends a few minutes teasing Henry, alternating kisses with quick bites across his soft belly. Alex noses along his waistband, inhaling the scent of sweat and something uniquely Henry. Alex’s hands tighten on Henry’s thighs involuntarily when Henry’s fingers find a home in his hair and pull tight. Alex can’t wait another minute to get Henry’s cock in his mouth.

Alex liberates his curls from Henry’s hands and rearranges them so that Henry is sort of upright and Alex kneels on the floor between his legs. Alex means to dive in at once, but he has to take a second to fully absorb the fucking daydream of a man in front of him. Henry’s eyes have darkened, pupils blown wide and clouded with arousal. He’s sagging into the couch, relying on the furniture to keep him sitting up, seemingly unable to count on his muscles to do the job. Henry’s flushed from his cheeks to his hips, his hairline starting to darken with sweat. Alex’s gaze keeps snagging on the hickey he left—one fine day he’ll give into the desire to leave a whole goddamn collar of them.

Henry shifts, drawing Alex’s attention to his erection, straining against the white fabric of his shorts. Alex can’t help but to give him a firm stroke to his bulge, delighting in the strangled gasp it pulls from Henry. He can feel Henry twitch beneath his palm, can feel Henry’s racing pulse through the fabric, and then he’s moving—undoing Henry’s fly and pulling down his shorts and briefs in one fell swoop.

Henry actually shouts when Alex takes him to the root in one long smooth motion—he’s never been more glad for his lack of gag reflex. He stays there for a moment, breathing through his nose, the tip of Henry’s cock right at the back of his mouth. He looks up at Henry through his eyelashes. Henry’s practically shaking with the effort of holding himself still. How unnecessarily gentlemanly. Alex pries Henry’s hands out of the couch cushion and back into his hair before moving his own hands to Henry’s hips. He blinks twice, their nonverbal green signal, just to really drive the point home. With a mumbled curse, Henry starts thrusting and Alex closes his eyes, groaning every time Henry’s cock dips into his throat.

Alex’s jaw aches from the stretch, and his own cock is leaking and pressing uncomfortably against his zipper, but he couldn’t care less. He’s got Henry filling his mouth, surrounded by his hands and thighs and noises and taste—

They’re definitely going to be late to Pez’s party, if they even make it out of the house. Alex couldn’t give less of a fuck if they don’t; there’ll be other parties.

[howtosingit]

Some good/bad/ugly (but not super ugly, I'm not a dick about it) thoughts on RWRB. Obvious spoilers.

The Good:

The cake. Different from the book in a few ways but so damn good and a really strong beginning for the film. Also, watch through the credits for a tiny post-credit cake moment.

Alex and Henry messaging back and forth and talking on the phone at the beginning. A perfect way to translate that to the screen, taking advantage of the visual medium. I laughed out loud multiple times during the segment and just really enjoyed watching it.

Zahra. All of her scenes. So good. Dare I say her relationship with Alex was the most developed in the film? Maybe. It was certainly my favorite.

The polo match was a lot of fun, too. Though brief, it was very much in-line with what was on the page and that was satisfying to watch.

The King. He's a very different character than Queen Mary and by casting Stephen Fry and refocusing the moment, it became layered and interesting. An implied foil for Henry. Probably one of the better changes from the book.

The Bad:

Nora and Bea don't have a lot to do. Nora certainly gets a little lost after the first part of the film, though she’s around. Bea doesn't really mean anything until the last half of the film. Neither of them really have any of the depth that their book counterparts had, which is a shame since they're so great on the page.

Percy (because I'm pretty sure he is never referred to as Pez in the film) is an absolutely nothing character. Surprised he wasn't cut, but they clearly wanted Henry to have a counterpart to match Alex's Nora. But he actually gets nothing at all to do.

Alex and Henry's Christmas phone call is gone, and they only really have one big moment of vulnerability before New Year's (the hospital closet), which kind of makes the big kiss feel unearned. They're definitely friendly by New Year's, so that's something.

We're told a lot about the cages that Alex and Henry find themselves in, but they're never clearly defined in the film (it's very tell, don't show), which makes the stakes of them breaking out to be together feel lower, at least to me. I wish we saw a little bit more of the world that they inhabit so that we could understand the risks, but instead it's all summarized in TV segments.

For me, Alex and Henry never really feel fully-realized, especially Henry, who doesn't get his big moments until the later half of the film. It's a shame, but none of their moments of sincerity felt truly earned. I don't know, there was some kind of barrier between me and them for the entire film, I struggled to feel for them outside of "oh that's cute" or "oh that's sad" or "oh how nice."

The Ugly (or, more accurately, things that still don't sit right with me 15 hours later):

Miguel. Oh, boy. I really, really don't understand the choice to include this original character. From the very beginning it's just very... what? And why? All of the leak and antagonism of the leak, instead of being contributed to the white conservative Republican was instead placed on a queer Latiné man with no depth and I'm just... so very very confused by this choice. Obviously it was to streamline a lot of the backstory and details of how the leak came to happen, but my god... I really don't even know. I don't know if Matthew will ever talk about his choices for this character, but I'd really like to hear them. Also, he's not Liam or Rafael Luna, not even close. A pity that comparison was even made at any point during promo because it's 100% not true.

We get maybe 3 mentions of Arthur, no sight of Catherine. In fact, while Catherine is an absent mother, it's not attributed to her grief at all, but more just that she'd rather be anywhere else than by her children? And Henry and Bea are both very resentful of that fact. And I was like... why are we doing that to Catherine? She doesn't deserve that writing.

So after the leak, we get the communications lockdown which makes it impossible for Alex and Henry to speak to each other. But the film decided to have Alex make his big public speech during that time, without having Henry by his side or without him even talking to Henry about it first, and I found that really really upsetting. That was one of my favorite parts of the book, that Alex got to Henry as quickly as he could and then they walked through the whole situation together, side-by-side, as a team, both consenting to the everything after their consent was ripped away from them because of the leak. The film didn't give them that and I really didn't like it at all.

I mean, there were other things, too (the big sex scene was in Paris and happened way too early in my opinion - not because of the sex itself, just how it was framed), but I'm really not interested in picking the film apart. It's an okay film. It's not a terrible way to spend 2 hours. All in all, it feels like a solid summary of the book with glimpses at a lot of the book moments that we love. That doesn't make it a bad film, just a straightforward, simple one. It was made to be palatable for a general audience and that's fine. There's a deeper and more complex story here, which we know from the book, but this film wasn't the place to tell it. It tells a version of it, and it does an okay job at it.

(But, like, I'll take a 5-6 episode mini-series one day so that we can get the fully complex Henry backstory and screen time that he deserves to have.)

Also, Taylor Zakhar Perez's bare ass is a 10 out of 10, would recommend. There will be plenty of gifs of that in the next day or two, and no one will be complaining about it.

Oh, the opening credits were cute too and had an early-2000s rom-com vibe, which was great!

[youanilovefandoms]

Rejoining Tumblr to share my thoughts on the Red White and Royal Blue movie

- I miss June

- Miguel who tf do you think you are you will never be Liam

- HE WILL NEVER BE LUNA

- Why are they still married???? Like it’s okay but a minor detail they could have left in

- The turkey scene confused my dog( it doesn’t hit the same but I also kinda like how they did it)

- RELEASE THE DIRECTORS CUT HE SAOD THERE ARE HOURS OF CONTENT THEY HAD TO CUT

- PEZ very happy he made the film

- Henry is me in social settings

- Miss Alexs original sexuality crisis cuz it was a true bisexual disaster moment

- Alex ready with music playing what a man

- Henry looked too composed post the first time they did sexy things

- Also where was “fucking eyelashes”

- Alex saying I’m bisexual for the first time is me

- “We just have to keep it very causal” and “I just can’t afford for you to fall in love with me” LIKE YOU DONT LOVE HIM ALREADY

- “I don’t know how to play polo” this is the moment Henry realised Alex is a Himbo

- I miss the polo dialogue, like that was iconic to me

- “HE IS” that’s it

- I too want to know the other famous lads he has shagged

- My mum wants to add that they are not subtle

- Give my guy Henry therapy like a fuck ton of it

- Also like let him hide on a private island and live the gay fantasy he deserves

- What happened to Wimbledon

- The Paris scene (before the do) was so sweet and cute and just everything like it was casual, fun and just everything I personally would have wanted when first having this experience (not that I did :()

- They’re in love your honour it is not casual

- Give both these men therapy please

- I am a miguel hater

- Alex loves politics but more importantly he loves his mum

- HENRYS EMAIL MADE THE CUT (not all of it but it made the cut)

- The letter quotes were pivotal for me in the books and the film without them is weird. Like I’m still really enjoying it but just miss it

- I HATE MIGUEL

- I wish Bea had more screen time she’s an icon

- “No” HE WAS SO QUICK AND CERTAIN. THAT MAN IS IN LOVE

- WHERES THE POWERPOINT

- “The B is not silent” please I needed that said on a big screen

- Stop calling my guy Pez Percy, it feels so wrong

- I’m happy the karaoke scene partially made it, wasn’t the same vibe but I’m happy it made it nonetheless

- My mums words “oh my god he’s catching feelings”

- Henry looks so scared whilst Alex pours his heart out :(

- Henry under the water and swimming away :( I would like to write an essay on those 30 seconds

- HENRY I WISH YOU WERE ALLOWED TO BE HAPPY AND IN LOVE THE WHOLE TOME

- Where was Alexs screams outside the palace gates! It needed to be more dramatic

- “Tell me to leave” “don’t make me” sobbing

- Henry is a history nerd and if that isn’t the gay agenda idk what is

- “And we’d dance” Alex said quick let me whip out my phone

- HISTORY HUH

- My mum “He gave him his ring! HE GAVE HIM HIS KEY!”

- Henry’s face after being outed and not being allowed to contact Alex was so painful

- My guy was traumatised and had no real support and both him and Alex were left to face the trauma without each other

- WE HATE MIGUEL I STUDIED JOURNALISM TOO MIGUEL AND YOURE A TWAT

- Also hate Phillip ( wasn’t in the film much but the message stands)

- Trying to explain outing to my mum when my sister lowkey outed me is painful and hurtful

- The phone call 😭😭😭meeting halfway on the stairs 😭😭😭

- STEPHAN FRY he came, he served what he needed to serve and he would have hated this homophobe

- My mum “why did the give Phillip an Evil haircut” me “Phillip is homophobic he deserved to bald”

- The parallel between their first tv interview and them talking with the king

- Is there a chance the king is gay and he had to hide it???? Or is he just like that

- THE PUBLIC SUPPORT

- My mum during the publics pride parade “get out on that balcony, get rid of your title and be happy”

- Mum was very happy he got on the balcony

- Mum was also very concerned where the secret service was everytime they snuck around

- Is it a perfect movie? No Is it everything I wanted? No but almost Do I love it? 100000%

[jackwolfes]

will we be seeing more sub alex one day? no hurry please write whatever makes you the happiest but your fics are my favorite so i wanted to check and see 👉🏼👈🏼

alright this is a much longer answer than i think you were expecting, buckle up + i am sorry 😂 and also thank you im glad you like them it's very sweet of you 🥺

so the thing isn't that i'm no longer into rwrb or firstprince, it's just that i have so many ideas so quickly that are, given what im currently writing, in different fandoms. HOWEVER i have looooooads of like, draft fics for FP that.... might see the light of day? or will hopefully see the light of day! i havent revisted them lately and i think a big long break writing other things was what i needed, so may well go back to them now, especially if there are certain ones folks are interested in 👀 theyre not all sub alex and most of them are actually not nsfw! but i also dont write dom alex so any nsfw firstprince fic is... gonna be sub alex 😂

tl;dr bc that got wordy: i dont have any imminent fics to give you a concrete "yes and here's when they'll appear" HOWEVER i can definitely say the answer isn't no!

i will drop all the different working docs/premises/drafts under the cut for anyone who's interested in seeing what might be coming up (pls do ask about them if youre curious, discussing fics helps me get excited to finish them!!!!)

almost done/being worked on fairly consistently:

'won't lose you' (alex gets kidnapped/held hostage fic - keep wanting to finish this but it gets pushed down behind wesper things bc i have so many wesper things to write)

'discreet packaging' (smut adjacent fluff/comedy, i'll let you imagine what this is 😂)

not quite done but with a fair amount already written:

prequel to 'buzzing' (yay sub alex)

'glass' (not explicitly sub alex but there's no plot, just sex)

'im in the stars tonight' (drunk pez & alex shenanigans)

'testing testing 123' (what is effectively a psa about safe sex and getting tested, might get written for HIV awareness day bc i love a theme)

OC cafe banter (probably will just appear on tumblr one day)

'soft for you' (more smut adjacent comedy/fluff)

'follow my lead' (strictly come dancing au except im also writing a wesper strictly come dancing au that will come first i think? who knows. also fun fact: this is a CMQ crossover! so jane and august are in it)

body swapping (magical realism where they swap bodies which is so FUN but i also do not have the brain space to finish it properly so it just exists in a limbo)

'the clock is ticking' aka the sequel to do you want to play a game (yes THIS FIC! THIS FIC! IT'S THIS FIC I WILL FINISH IT ONE DAY BUT I ALSO HATE WHAT I'VE WRITTEN SO FAR AND IT MAKES IT VERY HARD TO ACTUALLY DO IT. like i will finish it because i want to finish it but i wont until im happy with it which is going to be a lot of brain space)

ideas floating about in my brain with nothing else whatsoever:

follow on to god bless the nhs that i want to write to cope with my GFs broken bone (she is fine)

royal wedding fic that i was going to write but then shit with harry and meghan broke bad and i was like, fuck at least this fic would have been accurate but i need to rework this now

a few long form norabug things that i do want to write but again, all the long fics in my head right now are a completely different fandom and vibe so... who knows one day

[popsunner]

Some of y’all have asked about the discord, so here we go fellas, an incomplete list of all the fools I post about constantly (these are mostly just the most active members):

@cubedleo: Leo They/He “Very gay, Ace’s bestest friend in the whole wide world, bad at minecraft and you should come watch me on twitch :)"

@bonesy-doodles: Bones She/They “agender lesbian, artist and new Minecraft streamer, cursed with godly knowledge but also an idiot with no brain cells, Bone Collector and now Bone God”

@weareallstardustfallen: Charlie/Rain/Riot They/Them “My sexuality is “ew no but also girls but also ew no” and i am a dumbass with adhd so don’t ask me to retain information for more than thirty seconds. obsessed with dc to an unreasonable extent, passable at writing, i make questionable decisions 24/7”

@bogcrawler: Willow They/Them “i am the worlds biggest headache (ace can back me up on that point) [no she can not -Ace] and a fun fact is that half of my ears are pointy! (that’s right! one whole elf ear!)”

@bananasofthorns: Eros He/Him “Eros: aka Banana, aka the most respected bitch on the server; my music taste is my best quality, followed by my half-satirical god complex"

@zerobraincellz Lluvia/Ame She/They “Evilest Bitch on the Server (Ace can confirm [ye- Ace]), Has 4 enemies and is always looking for more so please hit them up. Customer Reviews: "Good enemy 10/10 really makes me remindmewhyimadethisserver some times", "Big Cool".”

@mysticmallows: Koi ey/em xe/xem ae/aer they/them “Hey!! I'm an aroace enby. I love to draw!! I'm the baby of the server but you might not realize it when meeting me. I post my art on Instagram @ superultraflames if you want to know something specific about me feel free to ask me!!”

@gatagamer2002: Tera She/They “18 years old, 5′8 ft tall. I’m asexual and I think demipanromantic. Still questioning my gender but for now I identify as genderfluid (she/her/they/them) The so called Nana of the server! Pez is my bestie and brain cell buddy!”

@pessimisticpandering: Pez They/Them “idk I'm gay? But we been knew. At one point I assigned a majority of the discord a bird. did I mention I like birds? oh yeah Tera and I share a briancell and may be besties but since they ain't telling me what they did for their intro I declare them fake and now claim custody of the brain cell”

@rainydayballads: Jonah He/They “"Bonsoir, my lovely rodents. I am jojo. I am turning 16 very soon. I'm a friend of Ace and I love her very much because she is awesome. I make a lot of art and pretend to have my shit together. Drink water you heathens."

@paroladesueta: Ace He/They “Ace, Virgilio, Hans of the Southern isles, best doppelganger ever, you name it, it's my new nickname. Italian. Can do the Mario voice (I'll be happy to do it for you). Poet. I love to bully Ace over the dudebro post because it has to haunt us bot. CEO of thinking I was cis while saying stuff like "I would look great with a beard”. CEO of being deep down a dumb lesbian. Y'all gay, thank you for coming to my Ted talk”

[booksandwords]

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Read time: 3 Days Rating: 5/5

The quote: Oh my God, this is like all those romantic comedies where the girl hires a male escort to pretend to be her wedding date and then falls in love with him for real. — June Claremont-Diaz (it's accurate and says a bit about June)

You have two choices with Red, White & Royal Blue enjoy the sheer wonder and almost fairy tale nature of it or see and pick at the holes in it. I chose to let it go and all into the story, the characters and the writing. (my Goodreads review expands here on something that annoyed me until I did some research)

I spent a lot of my time reading this smiling. It's so fun Alex Claremont-Diaz is at least to start with a slightly unreliable narrator. With readers shown what he misinterprets. Henry Fox Mountchristen-Windsor is sweet. He is not at all what he fist looks like. Their emails are one of the best writing elements I've read in a while. It allows for a passion to seep off the page, for them to be themselves even when they are in their respective countries. It shows the research done by the author on potentially queer historical figures which I adored. Though some elements won't age well, pop culture references that aren't explicitly stated more implied with the understanding that we all know them. Rafael was a charming character his relationship with Alex and Oscar is one of my favourite elements.

It isn't perfect there are some sadly underused characters. Pez feels like he was introduced just to flirt widely and seduce June and play a bit of a role in the end. Cash, in particular, feels like someone who could have been more. Nora is bi and logical where Alex is emotion. They are two sides of a coin. But that was not explored enough for my liking, but that could be a personal concern I adored her. Casey McQuiston very much focused on her men. which is both a good thing and somewhat sad. It is just different for what I'm used to. But again I still give this 5. I still think it's brilliant, I still think everyone should read it.

This is a book in the same vein as The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee, it is a rip-roaring good time where love conquers all at a cost. The men are fun, their supporters are as relatable as possible and it shares a message of honesty to self. Even with all the flaws that are evident in the writing, I recommend Red, White & Royal Blue whole-heartedly. There is joy, there is love and there is everything I need in a book.

[hms-chill]

Feeling Deeply

Summary: It’s nearing the seventh anniversary of Henry’s dad’s death, and navigating the succession process only makes that harder, but at least Alex is there to help.

Chapter 2

The next morning, Henry's alarm wakes them both far too early. Alex has essays to write and grants to find and things to do while Henry's in meetings for the day, but getting up for them is the last thing in the world he wants to do. He just wants to stay right where he is, so when Henry starts to move toward getting up, Alex tightens his arms around him and nuzzles into his shoulder. Henry laughs a bit, running a hand through what Alex can already tell is an atrocious bed head, and Alex feels his heart soar. Today is better, then.

"I've got to get up, Love."

"No. Won't let you. Stay here," Alex grumbles, and Henry laughs again, moving away enough to press a kiss to Alex's forehead.

"I love you. And I... I really appreciate what you did for me last night. Thank you."

"I love you." He says it half buried in Henry's neck, but he looks up in time to see the little smile on Henry's face. He runs his hand though Alex's hair again before bringing it down to cup Alex's jaw, and Alex melts.

"I do have to get up. I'm meeting with some donors for breakfast, then with Pez at his favorite brunch place, then Buckingham all afternoon."

"Come back for lunch? I miss you," Alex says, and Henry gives him a smile.

"I'll do my best. I miss you, too."

Henry kisses his forehead, then his nose, and then Alex is smiling into a kiss on the lips. He watches from the bed as Henry goes about the process of getting ready for a day of meetings, building a prince around the core of a young man. It's something Alex has seen a hundred times by now, but it doesn't seem to take as long as it used to. When Henry kisses him goodbye and promises to have the kitchen send up coffee, there's more of Henry in the prince than there's ever been, and Alex is beyond glad.

It's only after Henry is gone that Alex launches into action, getting himself ready for the day. Henry thinks he's just going to be taking it slow and adjusting to the time difference before a fancy state dinner, and that was his initial plan, but after last night, it's been revised a bit. Bea's texted, so he takes his coffee to the music room and finds her on the couch, fiddling with something he thinks is called a thumb harp. She sets it down to come wrap him in a hug as soon as he appears, and he has to be careful not to spill hot coffee down her back.

"Thank you for doing this for him."

"Of course. Thank you for helping. I'll probably ask your mom, too, but I wanted to make sure it was a good idea first, and I thought you might know better than she would."

Bea just nods, and they get to work. She's got to go before too long, her own series of charity meetings and projects to get to, but she promises to send Alex an email with everything he needs to set his plan into motion. He texts Catherine as he makes his way back to Henry's room to work, and she responds quickly, so Alex settles in and gets started on something much, much more important than another project could ever be.

He does finish his essay and start his grant search before he meets Henry for lunch, an honest to god picnic in a secluded part of Kensington Gardens, because it's beautiful out and Henry's been inside all day. And lunch is perfect, all laughter and casual touches and stealing bites of each other's food as they finally, finally get to spend time together after days apart. Henry had come into it looking a little tired and with a hug that begged for a break, but he looks better as they're wrapping up. Alex suggests they walk to Buckingham, because it's a nice day and it's not too far, and the fresh air is clearly doing Henry good. So Henry grabs his hand, and they drop the picnic basket off at Kensington and start toward Henry's next meeting. Alex can feel the tension building as they get closer, as Henry gets ready to go in and see every piece of his family's history that could ever hurt them picked apart and put on full display. Alex just distracts him as best he can, rambling about all sorts of things and keeping a tight hold on his hand.

When they get to Buckingham, Henry gives him a hug, the kind that says he wants Alex to stay close even if he can't. So Alex hugs him as tightly as he can and tells him he's proud of him. He offers to break into the meeting and cause a ruckus to end it, and that makes Henry laugh, and when he pulls out of the hug, he's got his armor back on. Alex stands on his toes to kiss him, and Henry goes, leaving Alex to try not to feel like he's sending his boyfriend into a war zone.

He takes his laptop back to the Waterloo Vase for the afternoon, because of all the places to study, a towering vase that reminds him of how much Henry loves him is probably the best one. Henry finds him there a few hours later and greets him with a hug that just says he's tired, tired of all the questions and the taking and the picking. It's a hug that's begging for cuddles and an episode or two of Bake Off, but it's not one that means Henry's going to fall apart or that he needs a long weekend where they don't see anyone else, so Alex counts it as a win.

They go back to Kensington and facetime June, and she puts David on so Henry can baby talk to him while she and Alex catch up. Then, Alex and Henry curl up on a couch in the music room to watch Parks and Rec with Bea, Henry's head on Alex's shoulder as Alex tries to absorb some of the "too much" that gets to him in times like these.

Their last event of the day is a state dinner, and Henry is tired, but Alex can tell he's enjoying it as much as he ever enjoys events like this. There are interesting people to talk to, and there's good food, and afterward they're free to mingle with whoever they'd like, so in sum, it's far from the worst. Alex gets into a conversation with a Hungarian diplomat about the finer points of Hungary's shift to the Euro, and he sees Henry laugh at something one of the waiters says. He tries not to be too distracted by that laugh, tries not to fall too much in love with the fact that in a room full of diplomats and politicians and activists, Henry has chosen to talk to a member of palace staff.

Eventually, Alex is getting another glass of champagne when Henry comes to give him a hug that asks if they can go. Alex puts the fresh champagne flute down and takes his hand instead, and Henry leads him through a side door and into the kitchen. From the kitchen, they stop in a wine cellar just long enough to grab a bottle before Henry is leading the way back out to Buckingham Gardens. He tucks them away somewhere out of sigh of the palace and lies down on the grass, tugging Alex down to join him before turning his attention to the sky.

"Looking for Orion?" Alex teases, but Henry shakes his head.

"Orion's a winter constellation. I'm not sure what I'm looking for; maybe Leo or Signus."

Alex chuckles, but Henry doesn't say anything, just moves to rest his head on Alex's chest, eyes still turned toward the stars. Alex puts a hand in his hair, but doesn't say anything. Henry's quieter now than he has been for a while, the sort of quiet sadness that Alex knows comes over him sometimes, so rather than try to force him to talk, Alex wraps an arm around his chest and waits.

"We used to do this with my dad," Henry says eventually. "He'd take us out at night, each of us on our own, and he'd show us where the constellations were. It's... my earliest memory with him is waking up late one night, and I was so sleepy, but he wrapped me in a blanket and took me outside to see Orion. He told me that every culture in the world could see a soldier or a hunter or a hero in those stars, and he taught me to see it, too. And I... well, in the Greek myth, Orion's a bit of an ass. More than a bit, if I'm honest. So I decided that my dad was probably a better hero to celebrate, and I told him he was the one the stars made a picture of. I pretended the whole world saw those stars and decided to celebrate my dad. And now, he... well. That's why I look for Orion the way I do. It... it was always sort of our constellation, and I... I like to think, sometimes, that he's connected to it somehow. I know that's a bit daft, but it's nice to imagine."

"I don't think it's daft," Alex says. Henry's quiet, and again, it's the sort of quiet Alex doesn't want to step on.

"This... this is seven years since he died. Seven is... well, I'm not sure how much I buy it, but it's an important number in nearly every religion. So if I'm, you know, especially maudlin or quiet..."

"I understand. I mean, I... I understand as much as I can," Alex says. "And I love you. Even when you're maudlin or quiet. Especially then."

Henry turns his head and kisses Alex's chin. Alex smiles and kisses the side of Henry's head, just above his ear. Henry opens the wine, then points out his first constellation. Alex holds him close, and after a bit, he asks, "H? I know we're supposed to be taking time and relaxing after this week, but would you maybe want to visit your dad while we're on vacation?"

Henry sits up, and Alex is worried for a moment, but then Henry grabs his face and kisses him, and he feels a flood of warmth as he realizes he's said the right thing.

On AO3, Chapter 1

Notes:

@steelrosealchemist and I were talking about Orion a few days ago, and it's my favorite constellation, so I thought it might be nice to work in some backstory about why Henry's looking for it on New Year's, right before he makes a move. So there’s that fun little tidbit for y’all.

[rwrb-social-isolation]

RWRB Social Isolation: Week 3

Call me Mama Mia because here we go again! Again, I want to say a MASSIVE thank you to everyone who’s participated so far. If you’ve done every day or just one day or even just supported folks who are doing this, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

And just to reiterate, these are just designed to be fun ways to fill time and connect folks while we’re staying inside! There are no rules! Feel free to pick and choose what you’re interested in. If you do anything, please tag this blog and use “#rwrb social isolation” to make sure I see it 😊

Monday, April 6: RWRB as! What starbucks drink is Bea? Which Greek god is Pez? Do you have an unexplainable meme on your phone that really captures Nora’s energy? Pick a category, and give us a list of RWRB characters as things from that category.

Tuesday, April 7: External Quotes! Is there a line from another book that always makes you think of this one? A lyric that’s screaming Henry’s name or something an artist said once that made you think of Amy? Let us know! You can write it out or type it, do just one or multiple... anything would be wonderful.

Wednesday, April 8: Something new! You know the drill; try out something you’re not used to doing! It could be something you’ve done previous weeks, could be something totally new to you; whatever you want is beautiful.

Thursday, April 9: Alternate POV! How does Amy feel about constantly pulling Alex and Henry off each other? How does Bea feel about watching her little brother fall in love? What does Zahra see when she walks into Alex’s room that night after the DNC? Show us (in drawings, bullet points, fic... whatever way you want!) a scene from the book from someone else’s perspective.

Friday, April 10: Moodboards! I can’t believe we haven’t done this yet, but it’s time to put together pictures that make us think of a character, a scene, a location, or the book as a whole!

Saturday, April 11: Catch up! Did you really mean to do something, but time got away from you and now you feel like you can’t? Don’t worry! If you missed a past prompt (from either week) and realize you really wanted to do it but feel like you can’t, this is your day! Of course, if you get to things late any other day feel free to post them whenever, but if you wanted express permission that’s today baby!

Again, these are all meant to take as much of as little time as you have, and they’re just supposed to be a fun way to build community and keep busy while we’re spending time inside! I’ve tried to come up with things that anyone can do with stuff they have, and that will accommodate various skill levels/art forms. The best way to make sure I see it is probably just to tag me; I’m checking the hashtag a few times a day but we all know Tumblr likes to swallow things.

Also! Feel free to let me know how you feel about these prompts! I know I’m probably going to accidently lean toward things that are more writing-based or cerebral, because that’s how I work, so if you’re like “hey I can’t do these for x reason” PLEASE let me know so I can do better next week. I’m always taking suggestions as well; I want this to be as fun as possible for everyone involved.

[tedddylupin]

merry christmas you filthy animal

When Alex draws Henry's name for Secret Santa he realizes he knows nothing about him so of course he takes the week to gather information while also giving him an education on Christmas movies that he was never able to watch growing up.

Notes: This goes out to the lovely Chelsea for the Holiday Exchange on the RWRB discord!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I had writing it!

Read on AO3

“Okay so tell me why we’re doing this again? And why is he here?” Alex whispered to June and she looked back at Henry who was standing with Pez and Nora.

“Because we needed and even number and Pez says he’s cool alright? We’ve been out with him a few times and yeah he’s quiet but he’s fun. Plus he’s Bea’s brother so obviously he’s gotta be cool.” June rolled her eyes.

“Well I’ve never been out with him more than like twice.” Alex muttered.

“That’s because you’re a lil bitch who says no if you have to drive somewhere in the dark.”

“Excuse me for not having the extra money to go get my eyes checked June.” Alex pursed his lips.

“Oh my god.” She said mostly to herself before clapping her hands. “Alright, alright gather round. Time to pick Secret Santa.” She held out a Santa hat that held little slips of paper and shook it slightly. “The only rule is you can’t get yourself.”

“I would be the best gift giver for myself.” Alex said and June rolled her eyes again.

She went around and everyone drew a name, leaving Alex with the last slip. He took it and unfolded it.

Henry

“Everyone’s work for them?” June asked and everyone nodded before she looked at Alex. “Alex?”

“Um…” He said before June let out an exasperated sound.

“Did you draw yourself?”

“No but-”

“Then good, everyone’s works. Now you have two weeks to get a gift for our next dinner night and make sure not to tell people what you got for them or reveal who your person’s name is.” June smiled brightly.

“Can we eat now?” Nora raised her hand.

“Yes, let’s fucking eat.” Pez slapped his hands together and rubbed them quickly.

Everyone gathered into the kitchen except Alex who hung back after noticing Henry was too.

“You not eating?” He asked, sidling up to the annoyingly taller man.

“I am, I just figured I’d let everyone else get some first. I’m not super hungry.” Henry shrugged and gave him a smile that Alex wanted to narrow his eyes at but in the spirit of Christmas, he did not.

“Big lunch?”

“Yeah,” Henry didn’t offer anything home.

“Uh huh...right well I’m gonna eat.” Alex finally did narrow his eyes for a moment before brightening, and then he pushed forward. He grabbed a few slices of the pizza and sat down on the floor in front of the TV, leaving the couch for the girls. He looked up when Henry sat down next to him against the chair that Pez had occupied.

“Everyone shut the fuck up and watch.” Nora interrupted the chatter and pressed play on the classic Jim Carrey version of the Grinch. The only one that Alex would acknowledge.

During the movie Alex kept looking over at Henry who was enraptured.

“You look like you’ve never seen this before.” He whispered to Henry at the peril of getting slapped upside the head by Nora.

“That’s because I haven’t.” Henry whispered back, leaning toward Alex but not taking his eyes off the TV.

“The fuck? Are you serious?” Alex’s voice rose and then he did get that slap upside the head. “Sorry, but Henry just casually mentioned he’s never seen this movie before.”

Everyone gasped and Henry shrugged self-consciously. “We didn’t watch a lot of Christmas movies growing up.”

Bea nodded in agreement. “It’s true.”

“Fucking hell, alright well you’re going to have an intervention this week after work.” Alex poked Henry hard on the bicep and the man protested only slightly in pain before nodding his agreement.

“Getting in your fingers I see. Pray tell who did you get for Secret Santa Alex?” June caught him after the movie as they were throwing away the trash.

“You know I don’t go easy on Secret Santa June. I gotta get intel and this is the best way to do it.” Alex whispered back. He stuck out his tongue when June annoyingly gave him a knowing look but said nothing.

So Alex texted Henry the next day and of course the man showed up punctual as ever. It was almost suspicious how on time he was. Then again, Alex was known for showing up exactly ten minutes late to have the perfect air of ‘yes I want to be here but I want you to acknowledge me when I walk through the door’.

“Hey man.” Alex opened the door to where Henry was standing, admiring the wreath that Nora had made him.

“Hello.” Henry brightened and stepped inside as Alex moved to let him in. Henry slipped off his knit hat and ran a hand through his hair that had become mussed underneath it. It was annoying how attractive that was but Alex had always had a bit of a kink for knit hats and messy hair so he ignored it.

“I’d thought we’d watch Elf today. You haven’t seen that one right?” Alex began to talk over his shoulder as he walked into the living room, assuming Henry would close the door behind him and follow suit.

“Er, no, I haven’t.” Henry said as he quickly got the hint judging by the way Alex could hear the door shut and quickened footsteps.

“Good, because we only have two weeks to catch you up.” Alex turned quickly in the ball of his foot like a drill sergeant and Henry had to stop himself abruptly so he wouldn’t crash into Alex.

“Sir yes sir.” Henry saluted and Alex snickered.

“Please never do that ever again.”

“Yeah it felt wrong as soon as I did it.”

The two settled down on the couch and began to watch Will Ferrell as the most wholesome elf. Alex wondered if Henry would be a bit like Buddy if he was an elf. He found himself studying the man more than actually watching the movie but he reasoned that this was because he needed to figure out what Henry would actually want as a gift. He could mark knit hat off the list because obviously Henry already owned one.

“So are you a big drinker? I only ask because if we’re going to do all these movies in such a short amount of time it would be nice to have some alcohol to go with it right?” Alex mused, mostly poking at Henry’s interests. A bottle of wine would be a nice gift.

“Nah I’m not really a bit drinker. Usually just special occasions and not during the work week. I honestly think I might be allergic to alcohol but it’s worth it for big events.” Henry said, not looking at Alex, instead watching the movie.

“Oh alright then.” Alex said though inside he was grumbling to himself.

Soon the movie ended and they both stood up.

“This time tomorrow?” Henry asked as he pulled on his jacket followed by his knit hat.

“Yup, I’ll be treating you to a holiday classic set in your home country.” Alex grinned.

“I can’t wait for them to butcher my culture.” Henry grinned back before waving goodbye, leaving Alex alone at the door wondering where this personality came from.

Perhaps he had written Henry off too quickly but the two times he had hung out with him before in the group his voice had gotten talked over. Perhaps the man was just more of a listener unless he was the sole focus. Alex couldn’t comprehend that. He much preferred to be the center of attention. Still, he could respect Henry a bit more now. Even if he could be a bit of a bore in a crowd.

“So the movie is Love Actually and you will actually love it.” Alex said as Henry walked in the next day.

“Ba dum tiss.” Henry responded quickly, hands making the drum motions.

“I know, I know, I’ll be here all week.” Alex grinned over his shoulder.

Henry sat down on the couch on one end with Alex on the other. Yet again Alex found himself watching Henry more than the movie. He had to laugh every time Henry scoff indignantly.

“This is terrible. Poor Emma Thompson. She is a national treasure!” Henry moaned as he put his head in his hands while poor Emma listened to Jodie Mitchell.

Alex snickered. “Earlier I lied. You definitely will not enjoy this movie. The whole poster scene? Terrible.”

“This is evil of you.” Henry frowned.

“Don’t worry, tomorrow’s movie will be much better and will also be set in your country.” Alex grinned as they idled by the door.

“Right, well. Tomorrow’s Friday. Do you want to include some alcohol this time?” Henry asked a little nervously.

“I thought you said you didn’t do alcohol.”

“Well this is a special occasion right? An actually good Christmas movie set in my country unless you’re trying to pull my leg again.” Henry narrowed his eyes in a warning.

Alex held up his hands. “I pinky promise, this one is great. What sort of alcohol do you like?”

“I’ll bring the wine. Nora keeps trying to give me wine and I keep saying yes because I feel bad and don’t know how to tell her to stop.”

“Well shit, bring it all over. Free wine for me.” Alex laughed and Henry grinned and Alex was left with the sneaky thought that Henry didn’t smile that smile just for anyone, otherwise the room would be lit up all the time.

Alex found himself surfing the internet at work the next day trying to figure out a good Secret Santa gift for Henry. He now knew that Henry had a dog named David but David didn’t like treats and it did feel rather wrong to get a human a dog present. He also knew that Henry was a Star Wars fan but hated collectibles because they were too lame and he apparently hated clutter.

He let out an annoyed groan and clicked out of the tab. Whatever. Whatever right? He would get something lame and cheap and call it good.

He gritted his teeth.

No, he was not one to go cheap. He was an excellent gift giver and he was going to make it extra special dammit.

Henry stepped into the apartment that night easily carrying at least five bottles of wine. “I felt like a lush strolling up with all these in my arms.” He said as he carefully set the wine down.

“Nora has good taste.” Alex said appreciatively as he got the wine opener and opened a bottle of pinot noir. “You’ll like this one I think. Not too dry but not too sweet either.”

“The Goldilocks of wine if you will.” Henry said as he took the glass from Alex.

“Exactly my friend.” Alex clinked his glass together and then brought the bottle out to the living room. The Holiday was already cued up as they sat down on the couch together.

“Oh that is definitely not Surrey. Maybe outskirts of Surrey but not Surrey.” Henry scoffed as they watched the movie. Alex giggled, his cheeks warm from the wine. He was already a glass and a half in with Henry keeping time with him.

“So indignant.”

“Whatever, at least Jude Law is very nice to look at.” Henry sighed. “Now he’s a national treasure.”

“What about Kate Winslet?” Alex frowned.

“Nope, can’t do it. She’s pretty yes, but her in real life? Not good.” Henry shook his head. “Jude Law is still just as handsome. I could get lost in his blue eyes.”

“Him and Cameron would have amazing blue eyed children.” Alex nodded. He had somehow sunk down into the couch, Henry much closer this night as they kept getting up to get more wine and moving closer each time.

“Yeah I suppose.” Henry murmured. “Do you think Jude’s attractive?”

Alex was silent for a moment. He didn’t know Henry that well. Not really anyways. Nora and June knew he was bisexual but he had never told Pez and Bea and definitely not Henry. He wondered if this was a prod from Henry to see if he was attracted to men. He supposed if Henry was going to stick around what did it hurt?

“He’s oozing sexiness. If there was any instance I could kiss Jude Law with that tan and that slightly curly hair I would do it in a heartbeat.” Alex said with confidence, looking over at Henry who brightened at his words.

“Ditto on that one.”

Huh. Interesting.

“I don’t think I can move. The room’s spinning.” Henry groaned when the movie was over.

“You wanna crash here for the night?” Alex asked, his own words slurring a bit. They had gone through two bottles of wine and both were feeling it.

“You don’t mind?”

“Nah, better than you getting yourself hurt trying to get home.” Alex waved him off. “I’ll get some blankets, you can take the couch. You aren’t going to throw up are you?”

“A lady never throws up.” Henry frowned, his face scrunched up in the cutest little way and Alex was a bit floored by it.

“I’ll bring you a trashcan. You don’t much look like a lady.”

“Rude. I would never put out on the first date.” Henry closed his eyes.

“Oh is this a date then?” Alex said, amused.

“Obviously you haven’t been paying attention.” Henry murmured and then promptly fell asleep. Alex watched him for a moment and even in his slightly drunken haze he wondered what it would be like to actually go on a date with Henry. He was kind and funny and much more interesting than he had originally given him credit for.

He sucked in a breath and forced himself to move away, only to come back and spread a blanket across Henry’s sleeping body and to set a trashcan by the man’s head. He reached out, fingers itching to brush back the blonde locks but he caught himself in time, pulling back and quickly exiting the room.

It was only when he was back in the safety of his bedroom did he let himself let go of the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and closed his eyes.

He was drunk. It was fine.

“What’s this? Breakfast in bed?” Henry mumbled as Alex plopped on the couch next to him, holding a mug of coffee in one hand and a mug of tea in the other.

“Don’t think you’re special. I don’t actually own a table so the couch is all I got. Hope you like chai tea because it’s either that or coffee.”

Henry wrinkled his nose at the mention of chai tea and Alex gave him a warning look. “Chai is fine.” He quickly said as he sat up only to groan and grab his head.

Alex pulled out a couple of tylenol out of his pocket and set it on the coffee table. “Got you those too.”

“Bless you.” Henry muttered as he knocked them back with a sip of the tea. “I should probably go.”

“Excuse you, we are having a movie marathon whilst you attempt to recover from...this.” Alex gestured vaguely towards Henry who narrowed his eyes.

“If I couldn’t hear my pulse pounding in my head right now you’d be getting a lecture.” Henry frowned and Alex only laughed.

He hit play on Christmas Vacation and settled back into the couch to watch the Griswolds totally fuck up their Christmas with some slapstick humor that even got Henry laughing even though he winced right after doing said laughing.

He followed that with The Santa Clause, one of his favorites.

“It’s great because Scott Calvin is honestly the worst but he quickly becomes the best.” Alex explained with a knowing look. He and Henry were eating Chinese food, something Henry had actually requested despite Alex’s surprise.

“Isn’t that how all Christmas movies go?” Henry asked, mouth full of lo mein.

“Quite possibly. You might be onto something there.” Alex pointed at Henry with his chopsticks and grinned.

They continued on with The Santa Clause 2 and then ended the night with Home Alone.

“I still can’t believe you haven’t seen any of these very iconic movies. They get referenced even outside the holiday season.” Alex said, his voice muffled from the pillow that his head was resting on. Henry and him were both lying on opposite ends of the couch, their legs meeting in the middle.

“Call me a sheltered child I guess. Christmas was never a big holiday in my house. My family isn’t like yours. I only really like Bea and Pez just kinda happened along the way.” Henry shrugged, his voice muffled as well.

Alex studied Henry for a long moment. “You know, you’re different than what I expected.”

Henry looked back at Alex. “Oh yeah? How so?”

Alex scooted up a bit on the couch so that he was sitting up. “I thought you were this prissy private school Englishman who didn’t give the time of day to people that you didn’t grow up around.”

Henry sat up as well. “Did you really? I’m definitely not that.”

“Well I know that now. You’re much cooler than people give you credit for. I think you’re just shy. In your defense though I’m way too loud for people most of the time. I can be a lot.” Alex shrugged.

Henry pulled his knees to his chest and leaned his head on the top of them. “I will admit I did think that when I first met you. You’re intimidating.”

“And now?”

Henry tilted his head a bit, his blonde hair falling over his forehead. “Now that I know you’re a giant nerd you’re much less intimidating.”

Alex let out a bark of laughter and hit Henry with his pillow who of course had to hit back with his own pillow. The continued the pillow fight until Alex was suddenly pinned under Henry and they were both laughing and breathing hard and Alex was left with a pang in his chest.

He cleared his throat and Henry sat back, letting him go.

“I should probably get going.” Henry said, standing up quickly.

Alex stood as well. “Well this was fun. I’m down for doing another movie marathon soon. It doesn’t even have to be a Christmas one.” He said, somewhat shyly.

Henry shrugged into his coat and pulled on his knit cap. “Yeah it was fun. I don’t think I can come over until Tuesday though. Unless my education in Christmas movies is finished?”

“Oh no, we have two more to go.” Alex shook his head and Henry gave him a soft smile.

“Right, Tuesday then.”

And then he was gone and Alex was left alone with his thoughts and still wracking his brain for a Secret Santa gift.

“Alright so what’s this one then?” Henry asked as he sat down on the couch without being offered.

“A Christmas Story.” Alex said as he handed Henry a mug of actual Earl Grey that he had actually gone out to buy.

“Wow, what a lovely gift, thank you.” Henry grinned as he took a sip. Alex had his own chai and they settled in to watch the movie. Of course Alex fell asleep towards the end, work having kicked his ass this week.

He felt someone lightly tapping his shoulder and he let out a noise of annoyance.

“Alex?”

“Hm?” He asked, sleepily opening his eyes.

Henry was standing over him with his coat on. “I’m going to head out. See you tomorrow for our last movie?”

“Oh, yeah okay. Sorry I fell asleep.” He rubbed his eyes and sat up.

“It’s okay, you didn’t snore hardly at all.” Henry gave him a cheeky grin and Alex swatted him.

“Shut up.”

“See ya.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow Hen.” He murmured. He didn’t even notice Henry freezing at the nickname.

When Henry came the next day Alex gestured him inside.

“Oh wow, you went all out huh?” Henry slipped off his knit cap and looked at the set up. There was tea along with a charcuterie board and a platter of cookies.

“Gotta celebrate you becoming a man!” Alex laughed and Henry rolled his eyes as he sat down on the couch. Alex sat down next to him.

“Okay this last one is an all time classic and it’s a little sad in the middle but it’s got a good ending.” Alex explained as Henry stole a sugar cookie. He hit play on It’s a Wonderful Life and began to pile his paper plate (because he was cheap and didn’t own more than two actual plates which were dirty) with meats and cheeses and sweets.

Henry did the same and then they both sat back and took in the black and white classic.

When the credits started to roll Alex turned towards Henry. “So?”

“It was good. I do love old movies sometimes. They don’t make them like that anymore.” Henry said with a sigh of nostalgia.

“Nope, they sure don’t.” Alex agreed. “I’m a little sad that your education is over though.”

“You know you’ll see me tomorrow for the Secret Santa right?” Henry smirked at him and Alex looked down, picking at a loose thread on the blanket.

“Yeah, I know, but I did like having you over every night.”

Henry gave him a slow smile. “You did?”

“Yeah.” Alex shrugged. “Guess that just means you’ll have to educate me on something.”

“Have you ever seen Lord of the Rings?”

“Nope.” Alex grinned while Henry let out a wounded noise.

“Alright, after the holidays we’re watching that first thing.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Alex nodded.

Henry left shortly after, taking a bag of cookies with him. He knew he would see the man the next day but it still felt sad watching Henry keep going out that door.

The next night he dressed up as per June’s slightly scary voicemail. He walked into June and Nora’s apartment with his platter of cookies and found that he was the last one to arrive.

“Fucking finally mate!” Pez called out and everyone turned to witness his walk of shame.

“I hit every red light okay?” He protested.

“Likely story.” Henry grinned and Alex couldn’t help the way his face brightened when he saw the man walk into the room. “More cookies?”

“Yup, more cookies. Since that’s basically all I can bake.” He shrugged and Henry laughed.

“Better than me, I assure you.”

Alex gave him a soft smile before June, Nora, and Bea interrupted.

“Are those the peanut butter cookies?” June asked as she peered over the tray.

“Oh hell yes.” Nora swiped the tray out of Alex’s hands, ignoring his sounds of protest.

“Before we eat though, we’re going to do Secret Santa so everyone grab your gifts.” June clapped her hands together and Alex was starting to get nervous.

He watched as everyone handed over their gift. Pez got June and gave her a beautiful necklace that was way over the budget. Nora got Bea and gave her a cheese tray with a little knife to go with it. June got Alex who gave him a nice silk tie ‘to match his eyes’ as she explained. Henry got Pez and gave him two tumblers which also looked outside the budget. Bea got Nora and gave her a new headset for her gaming.

“Did everyone get their gift?” June asked.

Alex could feel Henry’s eyes on him.

“Yep.” Henry said and Alex turned towards him quickly. “Later.” He mouthed to Alex who nodded.

They got their food and the entire apartment was alive with laughter and talk and Christmas music in the background.

It was after that Alex brought Henry aside.

“I guess you figured out I got you for Secret Santa.” He said awkwardly, not looking into Henry’s eyes.

“Yes, I can do math.” Henry said with a wry smile. “Is that why you brought me over for movies these last two weeks?”

“Well, that’s how it started out, but after the first two days I found I just wanted to hang out with you but every time I tried to get intel on what you would want for a gift you kept saying things that would make it seem like you wouldn’t like what I was thinking for you and I didn’t want to give you some lame ass gift that would just collect dust and I-” Alex rambled until suddenly he was pulled forward and he felt lips against his own.

He let out a surprised noise and his eyes were open as Henry kissed him and then he melted into the kiss because A. Henry was a good kisser surprisingly and B. He had been wanting to do that himself but he was too chicken shit to do it.

Henry pulled back and Alex opened his eyes, not knowing when he had actually closed them.

“Uh...wow okay.” Alex started, rubbing the back of his neck.

“That’s your gift to me.” Henry said and Alex looked at him, confused. “I’ve been wanting to do that honestly since I first met you. You light up every room you’re in Alex and when you kept inviting me over for movies I felt like...well I had won a prize or something. I don’t care that you didn’t give me a physical gift because spending this time with you the last two weeks has been more than enough for me.”

Alex was left stunned. “Wait, really? You’ve thought that about me?”

Henry shrugged, a blush starting to form across his cheeks and the tips of his ears. “Well, yeah. I just didn’t think you were interested in guys so I didn’t say anything, but then you talked about kissing Jude Law-”

“Oh Jude Law.” Alex said dreamily.

“Hey, pay attention. Pouring my heart out here.” Henry snapped his fingers and Alex stood at attention and nodded. “Anyways, when you said that I thought I had a chance.”

Alex took a step closer and took Henry’s hands. “You definitely have more than a chance because I’ve been wanting to kiss you since you fell asleep on my couch and told me you don’t put out on the first date.” He grinned.

“Wait, shit, did I really say that?”

Alex nodded with a giant grin. “Yup. Now why don’t you ignore that and kiss me again.”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

Henry leaned down again for another kiss and Alex sighed into it, leaning his body into Henry who was so annoyingly tall but so well built to hold him up.

As he kissed Henry he heard the sounds of his friends around him and the faint whispers of music and he knew that this would be the first of many great Christmases to come.

[rwrbficrecs]

5+1 Things Recs Part 1

I want you, I need you (oh baby oh baby) by @rmd-writes

From the first time Henry saw Alex leaning against their dorm, he's thought that he's one of the most beautiful men he's ever seen.

This is five times Henry was interested in Alex, and one time he actually did something about it.

Some Element of Mystery by @xthelastknownsurvivorx

Alex has to face it. He has proof. The evidence is irrefutable. His very attractive roommate is a stripper. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it means that sleeping in the same room as him just got that much harder (ha). ... What he knows is this: 1. Henry works a night job, usually smells like alcohol when he comes home, and is weirdly cagey about what he does. 2. Henry is a highly-skilled pole dancer. 3. Pez let it spill while drunk that Henry knows how to give a lap dance. Henry, red to his ears, confirmed it. 4. Alex accidentally saw Henry's very extensive collection of sexy underwear on laundry day. 5. Henry always pays Alex back in wrinkled small bills from his job, apparently on account of how customers "handle" them.

Or, five times that Alex thought Henry was a stripper, plus one time Henry corrected him.

self-awareness (and lack thereof) by aftgray

Alex is not as observant as he’d like to be. His crush on Henry goes unnoticed to no one but himself—and perhaps Henry, who is too busy suppressing feelings for his apparently straight roommate. Pining ensues.

or

5 times Alex liked Henry and had no clue, +1 time he knew.

or

David is quite literally the whole reason Alex and Henry meet and eventually stop being idiots and realize they’re in love

take me out, and take me home by weather_stained

They’ve only been living together for two months, since Alex moved to the city for law school. Henry's Brooklyn apartment was a short commute to NYU, and the price was unbeatable, so he agreed to move in without even meeting the man in person. He was nervous, at first, to share close quarters with a stranger, but it’s worked out shockingly well; Henry is kind and considerate, and they mostly leave each other alone.

He’s also quite obviously gorgeous, and Alex doesn’t know why there isn’t a string of men coming and going from Henry’s room at all times, or perhaps one steady man. Inexplicably, Henry seems to have been single since Alex moved in in August. 

AKA:5 times Alex doesn't realize Henry's in love with him, and 1 time he gets a clue.

sex ed in 6 steps by @coffeecatsme

“Please tell me you used a condom, Fox,” Alex drawls out, leaning against the wall, and Henry chokes on his next breath.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re gonna tell me all about this tomorrow, but for the love of God, tell me you used a condom and we won’t have mini Henrys on campus anytime soon.”

Or, 5 times Alex thinks Henry's straight and 1 time he finds out the truth.

Or, 5 times Alex jokes about Henry's sex life and 1 time he gets to be a part of it.

Shards of Glass by Sebastian (taydrawrs)

Alex fights the frustration welling up in his stomach, gritting his teeth so hard his jaw hurts.  The thing is, this isn’t the first time he’s lost out on a date because they’ve been threatened by what he shares with Henry.  He doesn’t know what it is about their relationship that seems to scare people off, or make them think they’re not welcome around the duo.  He feels more emotionally connected to Henry than to anyone else, but swears he doesn’t treat Henry any differently to how he would treat any other friend.

Except for the cuddles on the couch.

And the pet names.

And maybe he’s a little touchier with Henry than he is with Nora or his lacrosse teammates.

And okay, maybe he openly flirts with Henry more than necessary, but it’s so fun seeing Henry blush and seeing his cool façade crumble to dust in front of him, and it’s even more fun when Henry is feeling a little silly and flirts back.

…oh.

or

5 times Alex and Henry get mistaken for a couple, and one time it’s not a mistake.

[unfortunately-lovestruck]

Diego/Antonio Teaching MC Spanish Headcanons

Since you guys seemed to like the Arabic post with Razi (link here), I thought it was about time I do this one as well. Enjoy!

Diego

MC constantly fucks with him and purposely messes up just to amuse herself

Don’t even mention how many times she’s sung Despacito

it’s atrocious, really

“Diego, estoy caliente”

“Tengo calor, for the fifth time, it’s tengo calor!”

Diego knows she’s just screwing with him, but so help him God if he has to hear her say “Estoy embarazada” one more time—

to be completely honest, he’s not even sure if she knows she’s saying that one wrong too

ser and estar are.... challenges, to say the least

along with that, he’s naturally just teaching her Castillian Spanish when she’s more used to Latin American

now usually, that’s not a problem

until...

“MC, voy a coger un taxi”

“I’m sorry you’re going to what a taxi—?“

It’s the little things

You’d think Diego would be more aware of these dialect differences (seeing as he was part of the cause of them) but he somehow just doesn’t

So now he has to explain that, no MC, he is not going to fuck a taxi, and that no, he doesn’t know why that specific verb changed so drastically over 500 years

MC’s pronunciation is decent, and he hangs onto that one comfort at the very least

even if she has a hard time grasping the importance of accents

“MC, años has to have the ñ, there’s no option to exclude it”

“I know it’s there, just take my word for it”

“Just make sure to write it down, please”

“It doesn’t seem that important though”

oh how wrong she was in that statement

for the rest of the night, Diego had to explain to her that instead of writing “I’m 23 years old” she wrote “I have 23 anuses”

it was an eventful night

it still amazes him how, despite her cute (but constant) mistakes, she manages to nail curse words every, single, time

this especially flourishes during moments of road rage

MC (whilst honking aggresively in the car): CHINGA TU MADRE PINCHE PENDEJO

Diego (with whiplash): ¿QUE?

however, regardless of the many fuck-ups (and overwhelming awkward explanations), the two have fun and actually make progress

sometimes, MC can have a whole, stable conversation with him completely in Spanish

the others in Havenfall’s Finest watch with amazement as the two start having conversations half in Spanish and half in English without even realizing it, only after a few months of learning

and of course, the more amorous conversations are especially prominent as well

they settle on the term “mi amor”, and ignore JD gagging exaggeratedly in disgust whenever they do

it’s simple, but no matter how basic the term is, it will never lose the effect MC always experiences when she hears them from him

Antonio

his teaching style is much more casual

he’s also much more aware of dialect differences, and manages to explain them to MC pretty efficiently

because of this the “coger” crisis was averted rather quickly

he knows when she’s messing with him just like Diego

only, his approach to combat it is a little bit different

MC: Estoy embarazada

Antonio: ¿Verdad? ¿Cuando es tu fecha de vencimiento?

MC: What now

Antonio: Pues, la fecha de vencimiento. ¿Es un niño o niña?

yeah she didn’t try to mess with him again after that

he actually kept the joke up even after that and only stopped when she finally said “No estoy embarazada”

although, when she purposely made the intentional mistake of saying, “Estoy caliente” things got much more.... well, heated

what’s spicier, a hot cheeto or Antonio’s dick because the world may never know

back to his teaching style

like with everything, he’s cunning about it

he only says sentences in Spanish or makes her try and figure out a sentence if he’s confident she’ll get it

and most of the time, his guesses are correct, and she ends up feeling proud of herself and is much more willing to try speaking on her own

plus he also likes feeling her absolutely beam down the emotional connection when she gets something right but he’s a bad bitch so he won’t admit it

it’s his form of encouragement in a way

and even though the bond certainly helps, he’s almost scarily effective at knowing exactly how to teach MC

she ends up carrying whole conversations in just a month or two

he more or less cracked the code kind of

he understands how she processes information, and thus makes it easier for her to actually retain all of it

Example

“Ok, but why does the word for pregnant sound like the word for embarassed, it’s just a little too uncanny”

“Well think of this. What’s an embargo?”

“It’s when ships can’t leave a station or something, right?”

“I don’t know you, tell me”

“You’re the ex-conquistador here”

“Touché. But what does that mean the ships are? What’s the verb of embargo, and embargar?”

“Theyre.... embarred”

“Exactly.”

“Oh my God. Pregnancy is just a fetus embargo.”

“Bingo.”

......

He never said she had a normal way of understanding things

But does any of this mean he’s the better teacher between him and Diego?

Well

Not necessarily

If anything, MC’s vocabulary for swears only increases under his guidance

Sometimes she’ll learn just from listening to him curse

Other times he will intentionally teach her some nasty-ass phrase

“Que te folle un pez” was his personal favorite

And of course, one of the first ones she learned was “Me cago en la leche” after Antonio said it towards a very confused Victor

He actually cackled and applauded her one time when MC pointed to Victor and said “Gilipolla” completely unprovoked

Victor, however, was still very, very confused

And of course, with how extra Antonio is, he uses more pet names than MC can keep track of

she stopped counting when he somehow hit double digits

she didn’t even think there WERE that many pet names in one language to be honest

“cariño”, “cielo”, “mi corazón”, “mi vida”, “amada”, etc. etc. etc.

seriously, it’s borderline ridiculous

And that’s all I have for this! I hope you found it enjoyable and maybe even learned something from it! 💕

[hazalmighty]

❗BOOK RECOMMENDATION❗

RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE by Casey McQuiston One of my favourite books this year so far - and probably one of my favourites ever? - came out today so I’m here to tell you about it!! (Here is my review on Goodreads if that’s more your vibe) History, huh? Image: me, fetal position, crying about how much I loved this book. I am basically the crying emoji with heart eyes. Hello, world, please write more books like this. I will eat each and every one of them up as fast as I can. A quick summary of the plot before we get to My Feelings™: First Son of the United States of America, a biracial young man named Alex is not a fan of His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales and he is not a fan of Alex. It's mutual, they've basically discussed it. Alex and Henry get into a little spat at Henry's brother's wedding and suddenly there's a transatlantic scandal. They're sent to do damage control AKA pretend to be BFFs who got into a friendly "homoerotic frat boy mishap" - and they do, because they were raised by their countries. At first it's a boring, Why-Do-I-Have-to-Do-This? and I-Really-Hate-This engagement, but somewhere along the way it becomes apparent that Alex and Henry have things in common, and they're friends, and they talk all the time, and oh shit we like each other? Classic trope of enemies to lovers, says you. GIVE ME THIS TROPE UNTIL THE DAY I DIE, says I. My Feelings™: [me, clutching this book, weeping] It's just that these feelings, these boys, feel so real. I don't know how Casey McQuiston manifested these boys into physical Beings but somehow she did. They are real, they are fleshed out. They are FLAWED. They are everything I ever want in a character. And it's not just Alex and Henry who are full bodied humans. The entirety of The Super Six were all A+'s. There was no weak link! I saw another blogger say that she would read a standalone/solo book of each of them, and um, yes, please. McQuiston did an incredible job of navigating the underlying issues in the book (sexuality, race, class, and gender and how they are affected when there's two of them, ie: being a gay prince [sexuality and class]) and I commend her for it. It all felt so goddamn authentic. Alex's musings over his bisexuality and how it had always been apart of him, just like him being biracial, felt so real and, just, god. Heartbreaking and uplifting all in one. I'm really a mess over this book. So here's a list of some other things I loved. - Alex and Henry's banter. To be quite honest, everyone's banter with everyone. It was fun, and funny, and I don't care if that's not how people speak in real life because it made me smile. - ZAHRA. A queen. - The aforementioned Super Six. Pez! Nora! JUNE!!! Bea! Gosh. Give me a whole novel of The Super Six on a cruise ship or backpacking vacation! Anything! I want it!!! - The amount of (queer) history and literature included in the emails. So interesting, and such a good way to have their emails have substance instead of just lame "I Miss You" texts that you see in some contemporary novels. - The speeches nearing the end? Especially Alex's? Cry-fest city. - A President who is competent, and who seems like someone who actually cares and loves her country and ALL of its people. (- This quote: "'Nah. Come on. I don't think this election is gonna hinge on an email server.' Alex arches a brow. 'You sure about that?'" [upside down smiley emoji]) Please read this book when it comes out. And please shower Casey McQuiston in compliments and adoration because I need her to keep writing.

[veindra]

Stop it. He's not magic.

I'm tired of explaining to people how much they're going to wish they could thank me later. It comes up. I mean, sometimes. In arguments. But how many people are actually gonna die, be revived, and then live on to tell other people what's really next? Barely anyone, locally.

I need to start a club. And this is not at all connected to number two. Gathering believers in the nothing that happens when you die isn't the same as selling culty pipe dreams. Or maybe it could be. There've been a few times I'd've liked to've died. In hospitals. And once when I couldn't break my fall down some stairs. GOD I fell down those stairs a bunch. Don't live in a house with stairs, if correcting your balance makes your back spasm uncontrollably. Bwahahaha!

But I was meandering along about the depths. If you'd gotten to me at certain points in my life, I would have welcomed dying. Life just stretched on and on in front of me, while every light cough and sneeze sent me into these twisty screaming paroxysms. Like tightening, burning, wires cinching my bones. Get to people in those moments and endless cool black would seem like an incredible boon. But not seem. Because there's that, too. No more seeming. No more acting in ways you don't actually feel just so people will be at their ease. No sides.

Until they bring you back. The headaches, the nausea, and the phone numbers you can't remember any more. The people you forget... or worse, the ones you should've forgotten because they're just shitty people no matter how hard they try. I started writing this because I thought I was going to delete it. I do that now. I used to keep everything in a written journal but they're just for me and I wanna burn them when I die. No matter what people tell you, the internet isn't forever.

But now I'm wondering if Logan's old enough to watch the movie Constantine. I know I've explained stations of the cross and the longinus spear to him before in different instances. Imma ask him if he can tell me about them.

OH SHIT! Fun story... I'm now allergic to latex. Nevermind the fetish garb, I mean the gloves. I've been using latex gloves to touch trash bags, cans, and dumpsters since 2002, when Matt told me a story about getting really sick from just touching a dumpster and then not washing his hands. I don't think about the story, that's just the thing that made me start. And sometimes to moisturize. I'll get out of the shower, use almond oil and a weird argany lotion and put gloves on over that and then fall asleep. I woke up with itchy shark skin on my hands. I put the lotion all over, so it was for sure the gloves. But I've done this same thing for over a decade. Why now? Gosh, I hope I'm never allergic to strawberries. Or pez. Or baseball.