Daniel > Recent Status Updates

“We need to meet him across town. Are you good to walk?”

Taleb nodded quickly. Azerlyn was ready with an icepack or whatever else was in his fanny pack. “Let me know if you start feeling weak. I have snacks in my bag if you start to get lightheaded.”

“I feel like you’d be a really great aunt, Azerlyn,” Taleb teased, a smile he was trying to form weak on his lips.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t have any gum.”

“What do you get from this arrangement?”

“The occasional taste?”

“Occasional taste of . . . ?" Ah, me. He meant me. “I see. Friends with benefits. Alright. On one condition.”

“Another condition, besides saving the demon?”

“The demon has a name, and yes, the next time you need to—” I flicked a hand at my neck. “Take me out to dinner first?” That seemed fair.

He blinked. “I don’t typically date my food.”

“Adam, you are forbidden.”

“Er, that’s nice.”

“What in the celestial heavens are you?”

“Just a perfectly average human.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

He buried his face in my neck and breathed in. “You taste like sunshine after summer rain, like a heart’s first love, like the breaking of chains.”

“Oh, uh . . .”

“Adam.”

“Yes?”

“Forgive me.”

“What for?”

“This.”

“I’m a little frazzled, T. I forgot until just now.”

“You forgot you shot a guy three times?”

“Between running for my life, unpacking that I was attacked by undead monsters, and trying to convince my partner I’m not insane, yeah. I fucking forgot.”

“Where’s the body?”

“I don’t know, T. It should have been in the alley. It probably got up and left.”

“We’re going to have words after this.”

“Shut up, T.”

“So, here’s an idea. Shall we install a stage?”

“Will it have a pole?”

I opened my mouth, then paused. The idea had some merit. He clearly thrived on attention, and if he wanted to perform, where was the harm in having a pole?

“Do you want a pole?”

He laughed. “Is that a trick question?”

“Just so long as you’re happy.”

“Kitten, the things I can do with a pole will feed your wet dreams for weeks.”

“I know their kind. Flashy fucks who throw their cash around, believing anything can be bought. It starts with little gifts, then favors. Before you know it you’re on your knees, taking it up the ass with a leash around your neck. Is that what you want?”

I hadn’t—didn’t—definitely did not want that. Mostly. Did I? No. Wait. “What was the question?”

“Listen to my voice. He is buying you with shiny things.”

“How long was he here for earlier, before I arrived?”

Tom blinked, as though hung up on a thought.

“It’s a simple question. What was the time difference between his arrival and mine?”

“Did you activate recording functions? If you activate recording functions, you must display a sign in a prominent position. You see a fucking sign?”

I waved him off.

“You’re as useful as a chocolate teacup, you know that?”

“We have room service, a laundry service, and⁠—”
“A corpse?”
Couldn’t really miss the dead man on the floor. “Oh.”
“Is this a gift?” Reynard asked.
“It’s, uh, clearly . . . a dead man.” I dragged my gaze from the dead man and blinked at Reynard.
“I see that, Adam. But is he here for me?”
“What?”
“I assume not, from your bemused expression. In which case, there appears to be a murder victim in my room.”

One of the things you learn when you get old like me is that sometimes, a new situation will come along, and you’ll have no idea what to do. There’s no rule book that tells you how to act in every given situation in life, you know? So what I always say is that it’s always better to err on the side of kindness. That’s the secret. If you don’t know what to do, just be kind. You can’t go wrong.

From the Author's Note ...

Whether it’s about Auggie and Julian, or Auggie and Christopher, or Auggie and Charlotte, the three stories in Auggie & Me examine friendship, loyalty, and compassion, and—most especially—explore the enduring effects of kindness. I believe in children and their limitless capacity to care and to love and to want to save the world. For all the underdogs and misfits. For Auggie and me.

“Your past is what makes you the man you are. I knew that when I married you. It’s hard to get away from all the things that have happened to us, all the things we’ve done. Our history lingers, no matter what we do.”
“That’s like saying folks can’t change.”
“No, not at all,” Sally argued. “But changing the way you go forward doesn’t change everything you’ve done in the past.”

Oh, this is gonna be a good'un!!

Re-read the first book, 'Walk Across America', last year ... after originally reading it in my early teens. That was the book that triggered my wanderlust gene ... still chompin' at the bit to hit the road! Now, FINALLY, I'm gettin' around to reading the sequel, the second half of Peter's journey ... post gettin' hitched in N'awlins! Let's go! 😁

I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who loves as openly and as obviously as Gregor does. Maybe people who don’t know him won’t see it, I don’t know. But it makes me think about how underneath all the colours, a rainbow is just light, and underneath all the layers and stories we tell ourselves, love is always there inside us, waiting to shine out.

“Oh my God, Bruno found that condom packet?” I say in shock.
"Was worried. Thought we were going to prison for having orgasms together," Gregor writes on his screen.
I squeeze him tighter, my shoulders shaking as I try not to laugh.
“It is kind of funny though.”
I feel him frowning at me, feel the way he tenses.
"Like having orgasms with you," he writes.
"Like having orgasms with you too," I write underneath.

There’s an ocean kind of roar that vibrates through my body. I feel like I’m standing on a shore and a really big wave is about to sweep me away. It’s not like how I usually feel when I’m about to have an orgasm, it’s so much bigger, but I know that’s what’s happening. There’s no way I can stop it. My penis touches his again and the wave swallows me, down and down and down.

This is how you write it, folks!