#mosaika

Married couples in Ballarat are being killed. Newlyweds, mostly. Lucien is the one to discover the common characteristic - each couple recently moved into a new house. Each from the same real estate company. Naturally, he and Jean must go undercover as a married couple to solve it. She makes a show of trying to refuse, telling him she's no good at this sort of thing, but he insists that she'll do great, he should be worried since he's not a very good actor. Now we all know Lucien is a very affectionate person, and y'all can imagine that if he's pretending to be Jean's husband, he's gonna do his best to play the part. Lots of cheek kissing, putting his arm around her, heart eyes. She should be annoyed with him but instead she really likes him this affectionate and doesn't quite know what to think about that, is definitely in denial of her feelings. Lucien knows he's in love with her, but also knows she would never choose a man like him, and keeps making offhand half-joking comments about how ironic this fake marriage is and how it would never really happen hahahahahahaha. He's being self-deprecating as a defense mechanism but it only serves to further confuse Jean. So anyway they go through the process of house hunting and get into some mystery solving antics along the way (at some point they definitely so sneaking around in some supply closet for clues and when they hear someone coming Lucien decides the only way to explain away their presence in the closet is to be caught making out). At some point Lucien is convinced something fishy is going on inside the actual house, so he decides to spend the night there, even though they haven't actually bought the house yet and it's not ready to be lived in. Jean, of course, isn't going to let him do it alone, so they both camp out in the house. One thing they didn't consider was how cold it would get in an empty house with no heat because there aren't actually supposed to be people in there. In the end there is no choice but to snuggle share body heat until the early hours of the morning, when the killer arrives and they catch them or whatever. So the case wraps up and they're both internally realizing that this charade is over and wondering if they can really just go back to normal.

Jean says, "well I suppose you can stop acting like you're in love with me now."

Lucien takes her hand with the most fearful look she's ever seen in his eyes and says, "I told you from the beginning, Jean. I'm not a very good actor."

Happy #NationalCatDay! These cool cats by @mariaberriostudio were seen roaming the Fort Hamilton Pkwy (N) station in Brooklyn, “There is Magic Underneath it All” (2019).

Hee! Well, reviews are always welcome no matter when they arrive! 

But! For the Fanfiction Asks Meme for All the Means to Make Us One -- 

3. What’s your favorite line of narration?

This is such a wonderful question. I have two:

First: “They enter the house as they have a thousand times before, his hat on the peg, her bag on the side table. He might have carried her over the threshold, but she was through the door before he could think of it, a familiar purpose in her gait, and he smiles for moment at the normalcy of it all. For a moment, he imagines she might be off to put the kettle on or rifle through the post as if it were any other day, but instead of continuing her ritual march into the house, Jean turns on her heel and into his arms.”

And second: “She quiets him with her fingers on his lips, then the softest of kisses. He remembers that first moment, on a crowded bus to Adelaide, that same insistence that his touch could speak more than his words.”

I like them both for the same reason, though they come at different parts of the story on different emotional beats -- they are the moments that make this story Lucien and Jean’s story, not just anybody’s story. It’s easy, when writing smut, to write sex -- tab A, slot B, heaving bosoms, whatever -- but it’s hard to make sure the story and the sex are particular to those characters in those moments. And these are two of the narrative moments that make this Lucien and Jean’s story. 

13. What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

I don’t actually listen to much music when I write. And my current Jean and Lucien song (”Eric’s Song,” by Vienna Teng) doesn’t really fit the tone of this story, so...I have absolutely no idea!

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

I really like him, too! lol For personal reasons I don’t like to go into how I actually came to decide on adopting a rabbit. Those of you who were with me pre-Blake will understand why. It’s a very emotional story for me and not at all in a good way. 

But!!! I did a lot of research before I brought him home, and it turns out that with the right care rabbits can be great house pets. I absolutely adore my little Sam. He is the softest, grumpiest, fluffiest little scruff and I’m so glad I have him.

Imagine seeing the blue sky underground as you enter the subway at 72nd Street (B,C), where Yoko Ono has created SKY, a series of intricate ceramic mosaic murals of cloud-filled skies, fabricated by Mosaika Art & Design. As passengers move through the station, messages of hope that appear to be handwritten, float in the vast open sky, as the perspective shifts in each artwork. The transformation of photographs into mosaic sky paintings with subtle gradations in color and tone creates a visually striking environment.

“I’m thrilled that my new work, SKY, is at the 72nd street subway station just steps from my home and Strawberry Fields, which I created in memory of my late husband.  It brings the sky underground, so it’s always with us. I hope this will bring peace and joy to my fellow New Yorkers for many years to come.” - Yoko Ono.