Wayne Gray

Thanks for the comment, kbois! Hahaha. Sorry, not sorry! You know, there are certain things all of us bury. With Harlan, those things could encompass a novel in and of themselves. Frankly, Bailey only glimpsed what he's capable of doing; he dismantled three attackers in four seconds without a scratch - all without the aid of a weapon. To Harlan he considers the encounter itself a failure on his part. He should have anticipated and avoided it entirely. But ... Bailey has a way of distracting him. I'm glad I redeemed myself. No mutiny on my watch! 😛 I like Evil Genius. Wayne Evil Genius Gray. Has a nice ring to it, don you think? hehehe

Thanks, Butcher. Harlan does consider himself a monster. But would a monster try to push something he loves away, just in the hopes of saving it? I think that in and of itself is telling, don't you? We'll have to see how clean he comes though. He's a leopard, and these spots run pretty deep.

Thanks for commenting, empress. There's only a tiny chapter to go, sorry, but I hope it wraps things up well. I like Bailey a lot myself. Though, I wonder if the "too cute for words" comment was intentionally ironic. 😛 Last chapter is coming on Sunday!

Hi, chris. It's a rough one, certainly. Harlan was looking for a reason to end things. He didn't want to, but he felt as if he had to. It was hard for him to feel as if he deserved Bailey at all, and as a result he took that moment as a chance to let him go. Well ... Bailey wasn't having that. Even though Harlan hadn't said the words, once he found that CD ... he knew, and he came back. Thanks for commenting. 🙂

Well, the classes are different, certainly. His names don't mirror Pathfinder. But ... Warlock looks wild. It's a blend of psion and wizard. Flexible, lots of firepower. Nasty. My class line up looks like this: Storm Warrior Psychic Warrior Death Knight Mage Knight Bishop Psion Yes ... I copied that from my "character planning spreadsheet." No ... I don't think it's weird that I have a character planning spreadsheet. 😐

You're welcome. I vastly prefer turn-based any time I'm playing a game with AoE effects. Frantically trying to ensure I don't roast my own party in spell effects isn't much fun for me. 😛 Though I love all of those games you mentioned, and played all of them too. I just often used single target spells with liberal use of pause. Magi are wild. A blur of steel and spells in one terrifying package? Yes, please. Look at the "Mage Knight" here. This is the creator's page of all of his classes he has put in so far. http://www.heroicfantasygames.com/FWE/Pages/FWE_Title.htm

you can do it, molly! 🙂

Run-of-the-mill bullies are plenty dangerous enough. They'd have hurt or killed if they'd had the chance. Harlan saw to it that they didn't. 😄 I promise, you've yet to see the last of Mr. Corbin. Thanks for the comment!

Yes. This one. It's rough, watching someone who is so sure he doesn't deserve love wreck his chance at it. But it's also nice when the other won't let him. Thanks, molly. 🙂

Two weeks passed. Harlan woke as Bailey shifted. His lanky, handsome boyfriend had his arm around Harlan as they faced one another, and he breathed quietly as he continued to sleep. Harlan didn't know what time it was, but it was still dark in their cabin. A week ago, in the last days of November, Harlan had asked Bailey to move in with him. He had tried to be practical about it. "We get along. It'd save us both money." In response, Bailey had smiled and nodded. In truth, as time went on

That's right. Crunchy means you can have two elven wizards who are completely different. There's replayability, because there are over 400,000 potential character builds thanks to all the classes, feats and races you can combine in various ways. For someone who likes and appreciates math in designing the perfect party, well ... this one is gonna be fun. Edit: I forgot ... since we can build six characters, there are potentially over 2.5 million different parties you can create. So ... yes. Crunchy. As in "number crunching" crunchy.

There's a great-looking CRPG getting Kickstarted right now called Knights of the Chalice 2. It's turn based, not graphically pretty at all, but mechanically it's very crunchy and offers a lot in terms of character builds and such. If you like CRPGs, tactics, and DnD 3.5 edition, this is likely going to interest you. Actually ... @Brayon. You seen this one yet?

Wow. That dude is in for a hangover. But as long as he has fun getting there. 😄

Who else immediately thought of Vampire: The Masquerade?

Thanks for the comment, Jack. There have already been some more intimate moments between Elias and Rayne. They're teens, and I don't really focus on sex between minors in my writing. But don't doubt that it is happening now that they've been tested. 😛 You love angst and drama? Huh. Well ... since you asked ... 😉

Thank you, CLJobe. I'm happy you enjoyed it. It was a nice one to write too.

Thanks, Quixo. Looming? Would I do that? Okay, don't answer that. It's a great question you ask, concerning Bailey and that barrier around Harlan's heart. We'll have to see. I know ... not much of an answer, eh?

Thanks, Tom. It's hard to beat a gathering of people you like, great food, drinks, and a warm place to hang out. Plenty to be thankful for, indeed. 🙂

That's okay, Butcher. Life happens. Thanksgiving was nice for all gathered. Harlan got a bit raked over the coals by his Dad, but he sorta deserved it. lol. Gary just wants to be included in his life, no matter who he might be with. Overall, a great day for everybody. Even Harlan. 🙂

Hi, Doc. Thanks for commenting. Our clinic system (the same clinic they had their labs done is included in the system I work for) has a robust "Teen Clinic" program, done through FamPact. We have strict HIPAA guidelines in place to prevent the medical information of teens getting back to legal guardians, if it's within the context of the Teen Clinic. So they come to us fearlessly, sure their testing needs and visits are confidential and free of charge. A lot of them aren't even having sex - they come to us to be seen by their peers who also come to the clinic. It's a strange status thing; to be getting tested obviously means they're having sex, right? We know this is happening, but we also don't want to discourage testing. So, we test them all - any who want it. We also have teen ambassadors related to our clinics. They put out the word at schools and let their peers know the services offered. It's a great program, and I'm certain we've made a difference in teen pregnancy/STI rates. If you're interested at all in our program let me know. Though a lot of it is possible because I'm located in California, with a heavy emphasis on preventative measures.

Harlan values Bailey more than he cares for himself. So ... it is hard for him to accept that Bailey should love him. It feels a bit wrong to him, selfish even. I hope that makes sense. When you read Harlan, ask yourself what you'd say to him if he were your friend and shared how he felt with you. And then ... tell yourself the same thing. We often forget to be kind to ourselves when we have no trouble being kind to those we care for. You're important too. You deserve love too. Thanks for the comment.

Awww. That conjured such a nice image in my head. Hehe. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the comment!

I think it's important to show examples of how it should be done. The risk for Elias and Rayne is pretty low, though not zero. Elias has been exposed, though not by his choice, to bodyfluids of another person. And he is acutely aware of that. There's no way he'd risk passing something on to Rayne. No drama. They're just happy to be together, to have a comfortable and comforting place to be, and not have to worry about acceptance. That's huge for people like them and for me too. Ah, Harlan. He is a bit overdue. That's all you're getting. 😛 I take no responsibility for your procreating with your writing. I hope you and your characters are very happy together! Thanks for the comment, kbois!

Thanks for the comment, Jeffrey. Bailey is right; it's not within Harlan's power to decide who Bailey loves, even if he loves Harlan. Gary is such a dad. And boys in the throes of puberty will stick their parts into all kinds of things. American Pie, anyone? 😛 I'm glad you liked the chapter. Thanks again.

Thanks, chris. Throw a bunch of people together, all with varying degrees of commonality and interests, and you're likely to get something approaching what we saw with our Thanksgiving dinner here. Harlan put off introducing Dad to Bailey as long as possible, simply because that's how he is. He's private, and it takes a lot of gentle prodding from Bailey to move that needle at all. Huck and Carrie ... what's going on there? I mean, they're both single, straight, have common struggles, and both care about their wards. It's almost like they're meant to connect or something. 😉