12 Works by aphidus
Listing Works
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Summary
A man who can't die is no tragic hero.
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Alphonse feels the world return to him in muted waves; The oppressive silence of the circuit. A fire raging on. One man who emerges from the ashes, defiant.
Series
- Part 2 of may the best man win
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This is a game they’ve played so many times, a dance rehearsed again and again whenever Byron strays too close. Alphonse bites down on his greed until his mouth is bitter with it. The answer is automatic now: “I don’t want to hurt you.”
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“I wouldn’t mind if you did.”
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War has made for stranger bedfellows.
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“What’s wrong?” Alphonse keeps his voice soft, like Byron is a spooked horse. A cornered dog. This role still feels unfamiliar to him—he was built to put the dog down, not to comfort it—but his presence seems to calm Byron, so he tries. And perhaps it’s nice to be needed, nice to be able to make someone feel safe after all the hurt he’s caused. Even if the mask is a little ill-fitting, it’s easy enough to slip it on.
“I think my teeth are getting sharper.”
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Byron has spent a long time pretending to be something he's not.
Series
- Part 2 of dog teeth
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"The actor, by reiterating you, sacrifices a moment of his own life in order to give you a story of yours."
Series
- Part 3 of may the best man win
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Byron had coaxed that realization out of him and soothed the thoughts that bound him, with his patient devotion and sometimes by unraveling his body beneath his hands. He remembers the wonderful blank that filled his head and something clicks.
Series
- Part 6 of may the best man win
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May 10, 2021
Arma Motorsports’ disastrous season start continued at the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend when teammates Alphonse Harding and Byron Ford unexpectedly collided, forcing Ford into an early retirement. Harding was able to recover to finish in P8, but sources close to the Arma camp indicate that CEO and team principal Charles Burkin is weighing his options for a replacement driver.
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Fire meets ice.
Series
- Part 1 of may the best man win
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Summary
"See you tomorrow?" He manages to get out. Hazel eyes soften as the melody of a forgotten record swells.
Series
- Part 5 of may the best man win
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Yet, despite everything, here they were: Alphonse and Byron intertwined once again.
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- Part 4 of may the best man win
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God, he’s so tired. Sleep is a hard-fought battle these days, and though it’s often interrupted, it’s usually terror that pulls him back to wakefulness, not… this. Not arousal edging out adrenaline. But the beat of his heart against his ribcage almost makes it feel the same.
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Interstitial: The same but different.
Series
- Part 2 of resonant frequency
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Summary
The part of his brain trained to assess, to calculate, nags at him—this is the perfect opportunity to execute the final phase of an exceptionally well-crafted long con designed to eliminate him—but when Alphonse allows himself to drop to the forest floor, when Byron looks up and finds him among the trees, his smile is immediate, bright and easy.
“Hi,” Byron says, and it comes out so soft and awed that he clears his throat and tries again, “Hey, Alphonse.”
“Hey, Byron.”
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Act II: A bird never strays far from the nest.
Series
- Part 3 of resonant frequency
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Careful to keep his tone light, Alphonse presses the receiver button again. “What do you want, Byron?”
A beat of silence.
“I just… um… wanted to check in on you, y’know? Isn’t that what friends are for?”
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Act I: Byron calls. Alphonse answers.
Series
- Part 1 of resonant frequency
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There is something about the Ranger that makes Pavel feel like a rope pulled taut, like a live wire, thrumming with energy he doesn’t know how to displace ... a need that floods him like fever, making his skin flush and prickle under the shower.
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Pavel takes a moment for himself before he leaves for Red Square.