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  1. Public Bookmark 34

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    Summary

    “Sorry—“ he whispers, his childhood self stepping into the forefront, trying the final tactic of de-escalation. Like murmurs and gentle smiles and tentative apologies are ever enough to put out a fire. A stuttering cry of I'm sorry—I’ll be good—wait, wait, wait— but they don’t wait, and there’s never any time to prepare, and the bruise on his jaw fades but the fear makes a home in his heart.

    Max pulls him into his arms.

    Ash’s life felt like it was over, before he was old enough to understand death.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    2,534
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    36
    Kudos:
    207
    Bookmarks:
    34
    Hits:
    1,530

    30 Sep 2025

  2. Public Bookmark 6

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    Summary

    A fresh start is a laughable thing.

    How far back should he go? Is it earlier that evening, right before he’d seen the stereo in the car? The first time he’d stolen from a car, a piece of shit tailgate he’d used to buy Babe an English version of Shakespeare’s comedies? The first time he’d stolen for profit, a tire from Style’s garage, while Style amusedly studied him from a car he’d been working on late at night? The first time he’d stolen out of necessity, because he was hungry and his aunt had forgotten to come back home?

    Or is it the plane? Should he switch seats with his mum? With his dad? Should he refuse to get on the plane?

    How far away does he need to get from himself before he can find someone truly good?

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    2,151
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    3
    Kudos:
    58
    Bookmarks:
    6
    Hits:
    384

    26 May 2025

  3. Public Bookmark 6

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    Summary

    Once upon a time, two years ago and counting, a selkie gave up his skin to someone he wanted to make a life with. That someone disappeared, and the sealskin went with him.

    Fadel meets with Style, despite the risk, and tries not to put him on like he's made of sealskin.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    1,667
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    16
    Kudos:
    73
    Bookmarks:
    6
    Hits:
    547

    25 May 2025

  4. Public Bookmark 16

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    Summary

    Style grates, and Style is the exact kind of trouble Fadel pegged him for from the jump, and Style is the reason they’ve been left for dead in this wild forest in the middle of god-knows-fucking-where.

    Style is a series of poor choices Fadel’s made recently, but when Fadel looks at him in the dark shadowy blue of a night with a half moon overhead and the clinging humidity making every breath feel wetter than the last, Style gives him a smile and his eyes are a glimmer of onyx and the sweat dripping down his neck is irresistible.

    Fadel knows thirst, knows hunger even more. Poor kids become well-acquainted with both deficits, especially when those deficits expand beyond drink or food. It’s hot and they’re lost and hungry and thirsty. And Fadel wants to lick up the sweat from Style’s skin, salt-laden as it is, and drink it down.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    1,544
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    18
    Kudos:
    128
    Bookmarks:
    16
    Hits:
    1,557

    20 Mar 2025

  5. Public Bookmark 20

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    Summary

    Each passing day, it becomes more prevalent, more pronounced. He’ll hang his uniform up at the end of a long day, and wonder if this place would’ve had too many memories. If the hum of the ovens would've been too quiet compared to the chatter he had come to know. He’ll run his fingers along the trunk of his car, and wonder how long it would've taken before he couldn’t bear to drive it any longer. How long it would've taken him to sell it. He’ll feel the scar on his chest, and wonder if he would’ve been able to look at himself in the mirror again. If he’d ever be capable of facing himself.

    He doesn’t want to imagine it, but he doesn’t know how to stop.

    Fadel can’t help but think of what could’ve happened had he pulled the trigger.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    5,752
    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    26
    Kudos:
    199
    Bookmarks:
    20
    Hits:
    1,595

    17 Feb 2025