Loxxem

"The image was damascened, as beaten metal. He was reading."

“Who said ‘please’ that made you hate the word so much?”

Andrew gazed at him in silence for a minute. “I did.”

Neil didnt know what answer he’d been expecting but this wasn’t it. He felt like a pop to his chest, sharp and startling. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but what could he possible say to something like that?

Andrew tolerated his blanks stare only for a couple seconds before waving this all off as inconsequential and uninteresting. “He said I would stop if I said it.”

“You believed him,” Neil guessed.

“I was seven,” Andrew said. “I believed him.”

I bet you drive a sports car 🏁

here's my gift for @humlase as part of the AFTG fall exchange 2025 @aftgexchange !! prompt was andreil and I combined "cuddles" with "insecurity and comfort"

“Andrew was watching him, still perched on the edge like he had a death wish. Neil wasn’t sure why he did it, but he plucked Andrew’s cigarette off the sidewalk and stuck it between his lips. He tipped his head to meet Andrew’s unwavering gaze and tapped two fingers to his temple in Andrew’s mocking salute.”

― Nora Sakavic, The King’s Men