#k&v

Sunset Loving 💕

Vice Rick / Rick v-786 belongs to @rickv-786

Kay / K-780 is mine / @ricksinajar

Now that my manuscript is turned in, I feel I can drop a couple of spoiler-free excerpts, like the fake abstract I wrote, or how anthropologists of the early twentieth century - okay, the entire twentieth century - approached languages. here we go

ABSTRACT Building puzzle cairns is a cultural practice that has been, up until recently, confined to the southern coastlands and swamps. Although the reasons for building these primitive yet clever constructions are not entirely clear, current research suggests the cairns are part of a syncretistic folk religion among shore communities, who are often called, derogatorily, drifters. Indeed, the predominant understanding is that the displaced believe puzzle cairns will entrap the spirits of wandering ancestors who have not been bound after death, thus protecting against possession. As of this writing, increasing numbers of cairns are being sighted in more urban areas, suggesting the practice is no longer contained and is moving north. This article examines theories on the cultural migration of puzzle cairns, their commercialization, and the way in which they may be a symbol of changing Spinal modernity.

—Doudle, Alonso. “Not Just a Pile of Rocks: Puzzle Cairns in Spinal Cultural Practice.” Pathfinder: The Journal of Ethnogeography vol. 8 no. 2 (winter 247): 258–271.

and

“Appreciate you wanting to stay.” When Burdock speaks, he lapses into his regional accent, his speech taking on the sway of a boat on the sea, the wideness of spaces scrubbed dead and bare by wind or fire or water. When he and Vale truly talk, they’re nigh incomprehensible to most folks. Key has heard them do this once, and the amount of excitement she displayed convinced Burdock never to use his dialect around her again.

It’s a private thing, he’d said. Ain’t for her and hers to have.

(To K from Vice)

Their boots trekked along the path, between swirly blue plants and orange dirt. Side by side, Vice and K explored a hiking trail on an alien planet, the same way they explored life together: side by side, playful, committed, not short of eccentric and enticing in any way, while surprisingly making room for intimate, effortless moments of just the two of them.

It had been settled they should try a change of airs, of pace, of anything to break away from their routine - if it could really be called that. Their busy and frenzy lifestyles that they both loved and willingly kept going, held through their chaotic and thrilling occupations, would also leave Vice and K to find themselves not only longing but enjoying more simple, overlooked things when in each other's company, and the hiking trail was just another one of those small getaways to remind each other that such peace and quietude was possible. Even for men like them.

Among the mountains and trees, the crisp scent of vegetation mixed with the still lingering morning dew, they sighed and laughed and bumped on each other's shoulder playfully, affectionate exchange of words mixed in with old stories and deep thoughts, allowing Nature to hear their secrets. Stolen gazes and stolen kisses here and there, almost making them lose their balance as they persisted up their path.

At the cusp of the trail, a moment was both needed and demanded to appreciate the view: Tree and vegetation-covered mountains, pink skies and lime green clouds - the alien planet was nothing short of extraordinary, even blessing their tired eyes with a small waterfall, clean and sparkly water pouring from the dark rock and disappearing somewhere down below.

"Stunning, isn't it?" Vice asks, before admiring the pink hue in K's features.

"Yeah..." K sighed. "Beautiful, mysterious...glorious." The last word touching the warm air as he looked over at them, gaze focusing on their lips before meeting their eyes.

There was something else in the air. Something sweet, both enveloping them and making their skin buzz. Heady even. Wether from the permeating humidity of the alien planet or something brought over with them from home, their everlasting need to be tangled around each other kept buzzing harder, louder, shifting from cheeky grins and dirt paths to clothes flying off their shoulders and breathy pants against the other's skin. The kissed deepened, teeth and tongue and bites being delivered without restrain.

"Humft...amor...I need you~"

And despite this need taking the best of them dozens of times before, it would still catch them off guard. A surprise in their own neverending insanity toward each other. They kissed and laughed, skin on skin now rolling on the blueish vegetation. The air of the alien mountains permeated around them, the pink color of the skies adorning their skin, and the waterfal that seemed to sing just for them. The world felt like it belonged solely to them, the cusp of the trail a mere reminder that only Vice and K existed whenever they were together.

☆ 𝙲𝙾𝚉𝚈 𝙳𝙰𝚃𝙴 𝙿𝚁𝙾𝙼𝙿𝚃𝚂 ☆

K portals to the estate, feeling the stark contrast of the Florida heat compared The Compounds, where the night's had begun to stretch longer and colder. He calls out for his beloved, almost by routine, domestic habits that had settled in:

"'Mooor?" He sets the groceries bag on the kitchen counter, striding to the other side of the wide living room, finding his man on the phone. He smiles wide, savoring the sight of Vice pacing and cussing at someone on the other side of the line, in all his authority and glory. He waits for the phone call to end, respectfully, before lunging at them, showering their face with kisses, arms looped around their middle.

"Are you done with work, coração? I wanna show you how to cook something nice and easy, from back home." K nuzzles them softly, before leading them to the kitchen, where staff workers had already left, making room for the both of them to engage in some cozy time together by the stove.

The recipe in question isn't complicated, nor fancy, quite the opposite.

"Caldo verde-" K begins to explain as he takes the ingredients out of the bag, laying the vegetables and chorizo on the counter. "...it's a soup that even the smaller and more humble homes could afford to cook. It's recipe stayed untouched through generations. It's not the prettiest dish, but that's never the point. The point was to feed a whole family at dinner with just a few potatoes and kale, and one chorizo." K smiled.

"Now, help me peel those potatoes." He smirked.