Lux Apollo

Stupid boys. You don't have to marry the girl to get her pregnant. Spreading the oats around more than one pasture would be better for repopulation anyway, and there should be a depot for the excess. Regardless, some more good progression in the right direction. Now what will Kellar be able to do for Adelin?

A nice conclusion to the events of the congress. I wonder who was poisoning Dorian? Hmm... I wonder what adventures are coming for our intrepid heros next? Also, something I've been wondering for a long time is whatever happened to Trevor? He may be away for his education, but I would think that he wouldn't just drop off the face of the planet for so much time when so much is happening to one of his best friends...

As the story rolls on, we are going to see more characters from the comics lore being brought in. I am doing my best to avoid an overload, at least as far as introducing new characters comes. Sometimes there will be name-drops but not much information about their powers etc. because they are just a character in the background. And yes, Piotr Rasputin is the hottest Colossus who took care of the fleeing kids in X2

I'm glad you feel I've hit the right notes with this chapter. I myself (thankfully) haven't been cheated on, so I only had what others have told me and what I've read to try and construct an honest reaction from St. John. Cheers!

David has been floundering, that's for sure, and he's got himself all twisted up and running in circles around his head. Both of the boys seem to have subscribed to a philosophy of leaving work at work, but Mike is failing at it because he also wants to do his job and do it exceptionally (and he seems to have an asshole boss). David doesn't have an office to leave his work at, and isn't particularly busy enough for his work to be bothering him. David is just so insecure right now - but he doesn't seem to have really absorbed the fact that Mike is feeling just as insecure. Or maybe he just doesn't know what to do because he is afraid to talk things out. I don't think it's an issue of David not devoting enough of himself to Mike, rather more that he is failing to break through the walls Mike keeps throwing up. David voices the major question - is Mike truly happier lately, or is it just a front. Another wall, but at least a kinder one this time. Vicky is right to push David about his passivity. That is his weak point in the issue... one has to hope that his 'i don't give a fuck what Mike does tonight' attitude doesn't get any worse. We see his ambivalence there, but in which direction will he move?

Nice job. I wasn't thinking get you'd be pulling out the Sean trauma quite yet with the frat, but it was well executed.

Thanks for reading and reviewing, Gary! David really is running himself in circles inside his head. Vicky means well, but what will happen if David follows some of her advice while different aspects of the situation change? This was a chapter I wasn't originally intending to write, but it grew organically as I was conceiving the chapter we will see next week. David is in a rut that so many of the people of my age group - the fuzzy boundary between the Gen Xers and Millenials (1978-1984ish) - have found themselves in recently. People are quitting jobs, losing jobs, moving into new careers, getting married, divorcing, having their first kids, taking on new sports and hobbies... We are a (small) generation that feels the jaded realism of Gen X and expectations of a better life than we are getting handed by the cards, but also the pretentious optimism and trajectory towards excess of the Millenials.

Well, you've definitely managed to make us feel the clock ticking in this chapter! Danny doesn't really tell us much of anything that we don't already know, but they are things David needs to hear and be more conscious of - even if he already has all the answers and is just hiding from them. The reality of what Burch did to David is finally surfacing. David's meeting with Dr. Keating is going to be one hell of an info-dump, and I don't know exactly how Dr. Keating is going to respond. I guess it depends on what David actually tells him - if he even makes it to the appointment. The behaviors and motivations of the adults are still a bit of a mystery in this tale - we still don't know dick all about what David's father is thinking about him coming to church, all of these things. Why is it that David's perspective ignores his father so much? Is it because his father ignored him and the problems their family was going through? And now we have Donny. And David kissing Donny. And David essentially going on a date with Donny. Fuck, are you kidding me? Because he needs yet another relationship to be balancing in the mix of all of this. Throwing everything old away to discover himself... now it is starting to feel like David may in fact be starting to do just that. Great work!

I walked into the small downtown café, blinking as my eyes adjusted to the darker setting. It was a beautiful day outside, so I’d biked down here to meet up with Victoria for coffee. Up at the cash I took a moment to decide what I was having and then ordered a double espresso shot maple latte and a vanilla bean-blueberry scone from a short and sweet red-headed girl. While I waited for my order to be prepared, I looked around at some of the café’s house roasts and blends, the artwork displayed th

I like the progression in this chapter, softly adding new elements to the romance between Kye and Ash, the renewed bond between brothers, and now advancing the plot towards what will likely be a new clash with Barrett and probably Huxton as well. I'm still concerned that there is someone else on the Sterling estate working for Barrett that we've missed - or maybe even someone for Huxton. I'm glad we've had a few chapters of relief before the build up to the next difficult event. Cheers!

A great denouement and finish to this rollercoaster of a day. Loved it, QuinnDK! Looking forward to reading more of your work in the future!

Hmm, Deke isn't quite getting that Kraig's been traumatized. Even if Kraig was, or is, attracted to Deke, he probably isn't capable of dealing with sexuality right now. Deke needs to put his ego and longing in check if he can, but he's an Alpha (whatever that specifically means in this world). Kraig is so focused on the informational side of things... why? It leaves one to wonder how much of the process with the doctor was involuntary? Or at least, did it start out that way? Very interesting development in so far as the questions it brings up in such a short chapter.

So much good stuff happening in this chapter. David lying and getting defensive is a bad sign. After everything that has happened, he can't see the disconnect between asking people to help him out with external problems, but always trying to go it alone or as alone as is possible for things that directly affect him. He is saying he'll talk on Monday, on Tuesday, but he's procrastinating about even simpler conversations about things in the immediate term too... Can we trust him to follow through? Randy will hold him to account on the gay thing at the very least, I hope. I'm David at least seems to have realized the kiss was a stupid move while he was still dating Alex. David's head pains coming on just from the very action of attempting to kiss Alex are worrying. He's not hiding from himself the masturbating to Donny angle anymore, but he's still refusing to connect it in his head to being gay. Why? Sigh. I'm hoping he'll have some success with himself and hopefully some Danny time on Sunday, but it looks like he's already doing his best to fill up his schedule. I'm glad Mike was able to point out the 'forced outing' angle of the Erik debacle. I'm not sure what David and company are going to be able to do about it, but they have to start getting Twoey back to their side ASAP. That is going to be difficult, especially since getting Twoey to visit Mike is at minimum one week away. A lot can happen in a week, as you've reminded us repeatedly. The progression with Chuck and Curt is nice. Hopefully they are mature enough that continuing to have sex with Matty, Mark and Cory isn't going to create a schism. Teenage life is complicated, though, and they are still really young. Great job on this chapter! I really enjoyed it.

They very much love one another, but as time wears on sometimes we start to take relationships for granted. There are always things to talk about and things to work on to try and be a better partner for a loved one. Mike is definitely more vulnerable than the previous three chapters would have had you believe, and there are a number of good reasons why. The big question is whether or not Mike and David can recognize what vulnerabilities in one another and within themselves are causing the strain in their relationship. Hmm...

Sex is such a powerful thing when it is with someone you love, and since it makes us vulnerable in and of itself I think it only makes sense that some partners need to establish a feeling of safe vulnerability first through physical means before moving on to the discourse. Music and food are also sensation-heavy things that can help with setting the stage for vulnerability. In a sense, Mike already showed us in Chapter 2 with the whole bath scene that using physical cues as a means to get into the headspace of love and vulnerability is his style. In that case the sex came after the bath and talk, but the talk and vulnerability continued into the next day... People like this sometimes need to realize that it is not always the way to get started and it does not always result in a magic reset button or easy compromise appearing. I'm glad you liked it.

He was still a bit angry at David, I think, but much less than he was angry with himself. The clingy aspect that you saw is an extension of something important inside of Mike that David knows about, but may or may not be connecting the dots. Vicky and Mark are going to be an interesting pair to watch. They are never going to be in the foreground of this story, but their relationship will provide some interesting points of reflection for David, I think. I will hurry as fast as the muse will let me, and getting things done on time for Fridays each week is going to be a challenge. Hopefully I'll keep meeting it, but I will be honest with you all if the release schedule needs reshaping or a brief hiatus. I will not sacrifice my attempts at quality just to meet a self-imposed deadline, but I also don't want to leave you guys leaving in the lurch wondering when the next chapter will come.

Ah the boys have arrived. This is going to be a tough challenge for both of them. Living together is going to create an interesting dynamic for sure, now that we have Tilly and mom in the mix. Looking forward to the next chapter!

Nice job with the execution and healing as a contrast. I am not totally happy that Ethan and Aiden were being volunteered to travel for feral healing as opposed to shipping the feral to them, but if that is what seems necessary... one can only hope it won't lead to another tragedy. Another enjoyable read!

Mike and David both have their insecurities in their relationship, and it seems that they are coming more and more to the forefront. Will they confront and address them, or will they try to bury them and keep moving on hoping things will be okay? David has some of his own lines drawn in the sand, although they might not be as obvious. Hmm.

Oh, there are going to be a few misadventures yet before we arrive back at the moment of the prologue. I hope my writing can keep you interested until then, and that the payoff is worth it! Hopefully after some more time with the characters you will see some of them in a different light; it also takes time to give them some opportunities to really show their colours. I'm trying to make perception and perspective an important theme in this story. Hopefully I'll succeed. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Thanks! David admits he has a hard time letting go sometimes. You have to wonder how it's going to colour his reactions to Mike situations in the future...

One thing I really do want to bring out of these characters is to show that Mike and David really are in an equal partnership, and Mike isn't just domineering their relationship - at least not normally. It's easy to get wrapped up in the emotions of a single event, but long-lasting, strong love can usually see the bigger picture after stepping back a little. Thanks for reading and supporting!

Great chapter, and poor misguided little bitch. Hopefully our boy won't have too much trouble dealing with her scheming on top of everything else.

It's hard to recover from a bad breakup, and even harder when your suspicions of infidelity are confirmed a month later. Poor St. John now gets to deal with the backlash, wiping out some of his progress and maybe pushing him into depression.

Thanks Parker! I really don't want to overload the reader with details. Since St. John has a lot of emotional scars (and physical ones too) it's easy to just drop little pieces of things rather than full on talk about them because we are reading from John's perspective. He knows what's happened to himself, and choosing to not write about it is part of the system of walls he's built up - even if things always seem to be peeking out from between the cracks.