SWELTERING FIRELIGHT

Hearing Gabby say her name felt foreign, but also so familiar. She used to swoon when it left the other’s lips, and given the way her heart felt as thought it skipped she realized not much had changed in that department. “Hey..” she breathed out. Her eyes scanned Gabby’s face, “Wow you are…” a shy smile washed over her face, “even more beautiful than I remember.” The words were off her tongue before she could even think about it. Think about the situation. Shaking her head as her cheeks turned a bright shade of red, “Sorry, I still.. haven’t found a filter.” Biting down on her bottom lip, not sure what to say but not wanting to walk away. “I suppose I should say it’s a small world and all… that seems appropriate. Though, I’m not sure what is considered appropriate.” Shaking her head, a hand running through her hair, a nervous tick she hadn’t learned to get over, “Sorry.” Her tongue ran over her bottom lip as she looked down at the deck before back up, “What’s spurred your cruise adventure?”  

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.“ That was Adele’s way of saying that she would most definitely pay for his ransom. Would she properly express her thoughts out loud though? No.No way she was letting Travis get a massive ego. Something else she wouldn’t say? How much she had grown to like his beard. Yes, Adele had a thing about needed men to be clean-shaven and presentable, but all of that went out of the window when it came to Travis. Looping her arm with his, she stepped into the restaurant with him. “Well, I don’t know. Don’t ordinary people usually save coming to places like this one for special occasions? And yes, it would. Red wine is for meat, white wine is for fish. You still have so, so much to learn.” And she was there to teach him. Offering him a smile, she kissed his cheek before the two of them were lead to their table.

Travis really was one lucky bastard, and he knew it. For as old as he was, his life had been in a state of disarray for a shameful amount of time until Adele swooped into his life. She made him want to clean up his act, because he wasn’t going to let her do all the heavy lifting. While he would always be a bit rugged around the edges, as that was essential to who he was, he hoped that it showed that he was willing to put in the effort. He had even switched from clip on ties to real ones! “Isn’t every day with you a special occasion?” he quipped back, purposely cheesy, tongue in cheek as they were sat at their table, the ambiance set by a candle lit in the center. “Okay, so then what is rosé wine for? Vegan food?” Honestly, he didn’t have much of a palette for wine, so he would always have to rely on Adele for selection. “Or is it for, like, alligator or shark since they are kind of like fish but not and are somewhere in between?”

“Yes please! I think we need like, at least three pounds of fries or something since I cannot remember the last time I ate something.“ Truth was she had been eating candy literally seconds ago, but Camila’s brain worked in mysterious ways. “Oh really? Wow! I want to like, try all the flavors and stuff! We need to like go there ASAP. And um, okay! You’re like, the smart one here so I trust you! I will just keep the coins here and then like, think of cool stuff we can do with them Like, maybe! I can use them to buy some recording time so I can finish my mixtape! And like, see if there is enough money to buy two tickets to Mars for our honeymoon!”

“I don’t know how many orders of fries would equal three pounds, but we’ll just order a bunch, okay?” For as long as they had been together, Youngjae still marveled at how Camila could spit out several different lines of though with ease. Meanwhile, he often struggled to express what he wanted to. They made for quite the pair. “Sure, you start coming up with a list and we can see what’s feasible.” He made a mental note to at least save enough for Camila’s mixtape, knowing that out of the projects she was listing, that one was doable and he wanted to support her efforts. “You want to have our honeymoon on Mars? That would be interesting. We’d have that one robot rover to keep us company.”

Did she really have it in herself to stop? Even the feeling of his hand on her wrist made her feel something, though she refused to admit again that the feeling might be love, even to herself. She’d managed to get her underwear on swiftly, but her bra was still on the floor. It didn’t really bother her. Being naked was easier than being emotionally vulnerable, at least. She shook her head, a quiet admittance that she didn’t know. “What am I, then?” Even the question felt dangerous. She knew that the answer wouldn’t fix things, but hoped that it might make her feel at least a little bit better. “I’m not just a hookup, but you can’t give me anything else. What am I?”

She never knew how to handle rejection. She should have been used to it, at this point. Her feelings were rarely ever returned, and when they were things never went quite the way she wanted or expected. This rejection was expected. She would have been more surprised if he accepted her feelings, but maybe this was for the best. “I get it,” she mumbled, her voice harsh. It was more of a defense mechanism than anything else, the brief moment of vulnerability leaving just as quickly as it came. “Let’s forget I said it, then. I didn’t mean it. It was just the heat of the moment. Like you said.” She scooted off the bed, gathering her clothes as quickly as possible.

open to female muses 35-40 years old

plot: our muses were each other’s first love and it broke off nearly 20 years ago due to their schedules simply not matching. moe is here on what should be her honeymoon cruise, only her “wife” is not there because they cheated on moe. you know who suddenly is there? the one she never truly got over. 

taking this trip was a cruel reminder of what could have been. what could have been if she hadn’t seen her ex-fiancee screwing her maid of honor on their bed a week before the wedding. too late to cancel the cruise, her brother had convinced her to go. to take a needed break. only since she had gotten there, to the honeymoon suite, she felt anything but at peace. thinking that some pool time would calm her, clothed in a red bikini as she stepped onto one of the pool decks she felt her heart drop at who she came face to face with. who she had nearly ran into. “oh my god–” she breathed out, suddenly forgetting how to breathe. how was it possible they were both on the same cruise ship, at the same time, after not seeing each other for nearly 20 years?

She hadn’t wanted to say it. She didn’t even want to feel it. Allowing herself to feel love at all was terrifying, and she wished that she could erase all of this. Serim seemed to be taking it all well, but that just made it worse. It just made her love him harder. “It was the heat of the moment.” That much was true. She never would have said it in any other circumstance, even if she had felt it and thought it a dozen times before. She stared up at him for a second longer, still feeling tender and vulnerable as she met his gaze. “If it’s not something you want me to say, we can forget about it…”

With a sigh, Emilia rested her head on Sora’s shoulder. She knew she was right. She wasn’t the best version of herself around Owen. And he truly wasn’t showing any signs of changing. Despite all the begging for her to take him back. “I don’t want that to happen either. I just don’t know how to say no to him.” Usually she was strong enough to demand what she wanted or needed from just about anyone. But over the years, Owen had worn her down. Made her crave his approval to the point that she could never say no to him when he came crawling back to her. “How do I look into his stupid sexy eyes and tell him no? How do I stop myself from becoming putty in his hands when he kisses me?” 

Patting Emilia’s head gently, Sora ran her fingers through her friend’s hair comfortingly. She knew that it wasn’t going to be easy for Emilia to rid herself of Owen’s spell, but there were things she could do to have perspective. “Well, when he tries to kiss you, what you have to do is remember when he made you feel like shit rather than putty. Channel all the anger he has made you feel to push him away.” Sora wasn’t sure that this strategy could work, but maybe it could help build Emilia’s resolve. She needed to shield herself against Owen’s attempts. “Think about how he’s continuing to fool around with other girls when he’s clearly not over you. What does that say about his commitment? Rather than spending that time and energy working on himself to be worthy of you, he’s beguiling other woman. Channel Alfalfa and tell him that he’s skum between your toes and not worthy of your devotion!”

I’ll forget you said that. In a way, she was relieved. She knew she should have been relieved, at least. Everything could go on. They could keep having sex, their friendship wouldn’t be awkward, her words wouldn’t be held against her. Gazing into his eyes, however, relief was the furthest thing from what she felt. He didn’t love her back, obviously. Why else would he want to forget about it? Her face remained passive, the sadness only visible in her eyes for those who knew how to look for it. “Fine,” she whispered, her usually arsh voice soft and vulnerable. “I didn’t say anything.”

“Babe… Like… I think this is more than enough to like, buy three McDonald’s!“ Now Camila was wondering if owing a franchise meant she could just walk in and ask for fifty chicken nuggets to go. Happy that Youngjae had suggested they get something to eat, Camila put the coins inside her alien bag and then proceeded to wrap her arms around her boyfriend. “Can we also get some milkshakes? Oh! And like, m&m’s! I wanna like, add them in there and pretend we are drinking bubble tea and then later actually get some bubble tea!” Camila was always hungry so she was capable of eating all of that and more. “And then we should like, go to the bank or call those dudes from Pawn Stars and ask about the coins.”

Youngjae had no interest in owning a McDonald’s, but if the coins actually were worth something, they could invest them in something meaningful. For now, though, Camila could have her lofty dreams and a shake with M&Ms. “If we’re getting milkshakes, fries are also a must.” He would probably end up eating four chicken nuggets and maybe a couple handful of fries in total, but he knew Camila could happily finish what he couldn’t. He gave his girlfriend a loving squeeze, leaning down to kiss her temple. “There is a new bubble tea place by our apartment that we could check out, but I don’t think they’ll be open for a few more hours. And maybe we should do some researching of our own before trusting a bank. What do you think?”  

For a few months now Kana had been telling herself that she went to the gym as late in the evening as she did because it fit her work schedule. It had absolutely nothing to do with it was usually just the two of them. “And no lunk alarm? Consider my business secured.” She thanked him quickly. While he spoke the woman did her best to keep her eyes up, not that she was very successful. “We’ll you’ve certainly made this whole “I should really get a coach” thing rather easy. You’re like a walking billboard for you work.” Kana spoke with a smile. “I like the sound of all of that.” 

Kale was pleased with how quick she was to take him up on his offer, appraising her with a twinkling grin. “See, to me, that’s the highest form of praise. Tells me that I chose the right line of work.” Of course, it had been a no-brainer, considering Kale had always been self-aware of where his talents lay. Nevermind that his legitimate business was a means to support more unsavory business. The two concepts were not completely divorced from each other. “I already know that you have the right amount of dedication consider I imagine you come here after a full day’s work? You just need a bit of a guiding hand is all.” 

OPEN TO: m/f/nb | Your OTP mutually agreeing to be friends with benefits and nothing more. One night, right after orgasm, Person B mutters “I love you” into Person A’s ear. Your muse is person A!

Scarlet wasn’t allowed to fall for them, and she knew it. It wasn’t supposed to be hard. She was supposed to be heartless and careless, using them as a means to an end. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She wasn’t supposed to feel like this. But, her heart was racing and for just a moment…it felt like love. “I love you,” she whispered into their ear, the words escaping without permission as she rode out her orgasm. She was too far gone to think about what they meant, a look of pleasure still etched upon her face.

Adele was utterly confused.  Never did she think that Travis would ask her to meet him in such a fancy place. He likes drinking cheap beer in the couch while she rolled her eyes and cursed him out under her breath, so what was all of this? Her thoughts revolved around this as she got out og her car and gave her keys to the valet. Walking up towards Travis, Adele combed her fingers through her hair and narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend. So much for a greeting, eh? “I thought you were kidnapped and they wanted to get me next,” she admitted with a shrug of her shoulders. There had to be an ulterior motive behind all of this. “You look… Good.” She was so surprised there was even a faint hint of a smile on her face. “Are you going to tell me why we are here or am I going to have to wait? You know, they don’t sell Bud Light here.”

"Oh, come on, babe. Let’s be real. Any kidnapper would know it would be futile to take me. No one would pay for my ransom,” Travis jested, puffing out his chest a bid proudly at the compliment. Adele looked gorgeous, but, of course, she always did. “Thank you. I thought I’d clean up a bit and see if I could pass as your arm candy for once? Didn’t go so far as shaving the beard though. It’s a badge of honor for me, so I still look a little like the scraggly guy you’re used to.” He held out his arm, looping it through hers as he tucked her toward the entrance of the restaurant where they were greeted by the host. “Does there have to be a particular reason why we’re here? Maybe I just wanted to expand my palette. It would be sacrilegious of me to pair fish with red wine, right? I feel like I’ve heard there are rules about these things.” 

Holding the flashlight, Camila began examining the tree until she spotted a black bag inside the hollow tree. She reached for it and jumped when she managed to pull it out. “AHA! I FOUND THE ALIENS!” Granted she didn’t know what was inside, but Camila wanted to believe her theory was correct. Handing the flashlight to Youngjae, she then sat on the ground and began rummaging through the bag. “Oh, hm well this isn’t wet so it’s good… OH! Youngjae, these are GOLD COINS! WE FOUND A TREASURE!”

He should probably insist that she not open up a strange bag, considering they had no idea what the contents were. For Camila, that was part of the thrilling fun. For Youngjae, that was a source of anxiety. But he figured the bag was too small to contain a dead body, and he didn’t really have any time to stop her anyway. He kept the flashlight poised on the “treasure,” inspecting the coins that were likely fake. He didn’t completely discount them, though. Miracles were a semi-regular occurrence since Camila came into his life. “We found a treasure,” he agreed, keeping his eyes on the real miraculous find. Her. He’d stumbled upon her unexpectedly, hadn’t he? “Think this will be enough to get us those nuggets? Or, hey, we could always keep this for a rainy day,” he suggested, “I brought enough cash to buy us the 20-piece from McDonald’s.”

However stereotypical she’d become obsessed with the gym after a pretty terrible break up. Deciding she rather be sad and strong, than the other variations she’d already lived through. It had morphed into an interest in strength sports, which is was happy to find the community of. Though being able to see Kale multiple times a week also helped with finding the motivation. “Having you pretend to not see me struggling in the beginning helped a lot.” She answered laughing a bit as she wiped her face off. “Actually. I think I might have to take you up on that. Kind of at the point where I need a bit of help.” Having his undivided attention of any lengthy period of time was also a plus. 

Kale had watched as Kana had blossomed at the gym. There had been some kind of stressor in his life, he guessed, considering the way she had first carried herself. That weight appeared to have alleviated. “There’s no shaming in this gym.” Kale reached into the mini-fridge at the corner of the room, grabbing two water bottles and offering Kana one. “Everyone hits a plateau, and that’s a good thing, believe it or not. Means that you are ready for the next level, for something a bit more challenging. The key is variety, and I can help you build a routine. One specifically catered to you.”