Odie

@FanLitThank you for your input, I appreciate the thought you put into it. And it's already made me think, too. When I was writing The Fall, M1 (the inspiration muse) was powering me along like always. When I got to the last 25%, M2 (the editor muse, carries a bow and arrows) told me it was going all wrong, where it went wrong, and why. She was right. Even M1 agreed. And that chapter was modified and improved for it. After listening to Aaron in Sunday, even M1 wants to hear Carl talk in Carl's voice (and to a lesser extent, Steve talk in Steve's voice). So I'm going to go with that, but M2 has already added her proviso: just dialog and action, no internal thoughts or reflections. That way the story is still A&B's, and nobody else's. If that compromise doesn't work out, back to the conference table with the Muses. (I have a third muse, M3. She sucks me dry. And not in a good way.) Onan ps, I want to tell you all how fun it was to push caps lock down for Brad in Brad Love. 'Bout time, Brad!

GA Readers, thank you so much for reacting to this story. I'm glad I'm able to create something others enjoy. @FanLit, thanks for your words about Aaron and Brad complementing each other. To me, that's a major component of love. @VBlew, I LOLed at your heavy lifting comment. The three chapters in this arc took a lot out of me, I'm glad it's appreciated. @Ticklishboy30, IKR! Me too. It's what makes me want to continue. @Summerabbacat, The editor in me told me "You need to read that second paragraph again and you'd better be paying attention to it." Thank you for pointing out a challenge this author faces in the next arc. And to everyone else who has reacted and commented throughout, THANK YOU! I know where these stories have to go next (Iowa) but the author in me is telling me the architecture has to be different, and I want to GA Readers' advice before I start. The stories so far have just been Aaron and Brad talking and reacting to each other. Even when others are involved (Carl, Steve, Moms and Dads, friends, coworkers, neighbors) they've always been presented through the viewpoint, remembrances, and interpretations of A&B. In Iowa, the characters need to speak for themselves. Is that a mistake? Let me know what you think. Odie

Thanks for reading and reacting, it is appreciated. Odie

Brad got up and slowly circled around Aaron. He bent over and kissed him on his whorl, straightened, and put his left hand on the nape of his neck for several seconds. He walked by his chair, grabbed his coffee mug, and headed down the hallway. Aaron composed himself but remained seated. He breathed in, and let out an even larger exhale. In this house, weekend meals were on his chore list, so he started thinking about lunch, because breakfast time had passed and they had missed it. Aaro

Thanks @summerabbacat and @drsawzall for your comments. Thank you everyone who's reading this story. There's another chapter in this arc, which should be published tonight. And after that sits awhile, I'm going to ask you readers some questions. Thanks, Odie

After the nightmare and talking with Brad, Aaron slept well. Brad, not so much. He had trouble falling back asleep and even had a nightmare of his own. It wasn't violent; he dreamt he was alone. Aaron got up around sunup, got dressed, and made coffee. He wanted to give Brad all the extra sleep he needed, so he waited until he heard Brad rustling before he brought his mugful to him. When he did go in, Brad was staring at the ceiling. "Good morning, Starshine! Here's coffee."

TTYL. ; ) Odie

Thanks for reading! And thanks for reading closely, too, as evidenced by your analysis of Aaron's relationship with Carl as described in previous chapters. There's two more chapters in the hopper, so I don't want to provide any spoilers here and will leave it at that for now. Odie.

"Ah! AAAH! Huh, huh, huh.” “You okay, buddy?” 'You okay, buddy?' is actually what Brad says to anyone who does a face plant or passes out at the club, but he had been pulled out of a deep sleep and was momentarily confused. “Oh, no, did I wake you up? I’ll go to the other room.” “No, don’t do that. Stay here. I gotcha.” Brad pulled the pillow out of the way, then put his arm around Aaron’s neck and shoulder and pulled him in to his chest. He was familiar with this. “T

This author has a masterful command of the language. This author is a music snob (or can write like one par excellence). What a killer combo! Want to give you a smiley because of the times I laughed out loud. Want to give you a teardrop because of the poignant lines. Want to give you a wow because this work is the total package. Just going to have to settle for a heart, like AOTA. PS, I was born in '88, and the B-52s' Cosmic Thing is among my favorite albums of all time.

You've left some good breadcrumbs in this chapter... On to First Contact.

Thank you, @Summerabbacat. I'm glad these guys can live in the open on Gay Authors in the interim, instead of being entombed in digital files on my desk.

Thank you, I'm flattered. Won't be soon, but I won't forget these guys.

Thank you for saying that, @Mattyboy! That's what I like to go for.