Also "PORN PORN WHO'S GOT THE PORN" makes me think of a shuffle game, except where it would normally be a bean under one of the three cups, it's a DVD.
The weirdest part of everything is how it's not weird at all. Alex has been here, done this, and even though Max never says he remembers oblivion, being erased, and their parents pretend they never, ever, never lived lives that didn't include each other, there's Justin, who could never pretend before their vacation from hell, and can't pretend now. He remembers as she remembers and it follows them all, plane to home to school to graduation to bed and back again.
Before school, in Alex's bedroom, they sit on her bed in their pajamas and Justin pulls her hand into his lap, lays her palm upwards, flat on his thigh and traces his fingers along the lines in her skin.
"That means I'll live for ninety years and have twenty children," she says, wiggling her fingertips. Justin's tracing tickles, and she catches her breath.
Alex's bedroom has a lock now, magical and invisible, and only she and Justin have the key because only she and Justin want to remember, but that's fine, that's cool. It reminds her of a campfire and a battlefield and Justin swearing never to leave her even as he forgot her name.
Justin shakes his head. "It doesn't mean that," he says, "Palm reading's a crock. It's not true."
"Is that what--"
Justin brings her hand up, curls the heel against his chin and presses his lips to the center of her palm. Alex's breath stalls in her throat. Her stomach clenches.
"You won," Justin says, voice cracking against her skin. "You beat me."
They hash this out every few weeks or so, Justin remembering and Alex not-quite gloating, because--because she's felt the magic and giving it up still felt like dying and shriveling in the sun. Still, the points of her nails dig into Justin's upper lip in reply.
"Darn right, I won, loser," she says. "Just--hey!"
Justin drops her hand, red half-moons arching over his lip, and lurches off the bed. He makes it all the way to the door, hands forming the square that opens the lock, and Alex feels her blood prickle, bones growing heavy beneath her skin.
"Don't leave," she says, and this is new, this is different, this is...she doesn't know, but Justin has stopped, pressing his face against the door and suddenly he's not just her brother, not just the boy who argued with her across a jungle and through a temple, but larger, with muscles that had seem to appear one day over breakfast (and it wasn't a spell, she'd checked) and a slump to his shoulders, a loosening of his spine.
"I'm not leaving," Justin says quietly. "I've just...I've got a date after school, and I won’t have time to come back here and clean up. I need to go."
Alex blinks. Her mouths opens, suddenly dry, and she licks her lips. "A date, huh?" she asks. "Who is it this time? A centaur-ess? Another vampire? Maybe we've gotten to the amphibian portion of the magical world?"
A knot is tightening in her stomach, gooey and hot. She sits up on her bed, puts one leg underneath her, and faces the door. Her fingers tingle, like she's going to cast a spell, magic building up to crack her joints.
"It's not like that," Justin says, turning around. "She's just a girl. I met her a week ago."
He crosses his arms over his chest, and the motion pulls down the neck of his t-shirt. There's a bruise in the middle of his collarbone, framed in the center of the points of the bones. Alex bites down on the inside of her lower lip to stop it from trembling. She shakes her fingers, but the tingling just won't stop.
"How come I never heard of her before?" she asks, trying to yank her gaze from that round, purple bruise on Justin's skin. "Does she even go to our school? I thought we were all about the happy family and the trust again, right?"
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Also "PORN PORN WHO'S GOT THE PORN" makes me think of a shuffle game, except where it would normally be a bean under one of the three cups, it's a DVD.
That is all.
A BRIEF AND INCOMPLETE LIST OF PORN I WANT
Re: A BRIEF AND INCOMPLETE LIST OF PORN I WANT
Re: A BRIEF AND INCOMPLETE LIST OF PORN I WANT
PS
In The Morning, You Go Gunning
Before school, in Alex's bedroom, they sit on her bed in their pajamas and Justin pulls her hand into his lap, lays her palm upwards, flat on his thigh and traces his fingers along the lines in her skin.
"That means I'll live for ninety years and have twenty children," she says, wiggling her fingertips. Justin's tracing tickles, and she catches her breath.
Alex's bedroom has a lock now, magical and invisible, and only she and Justin have the key because only she and Justin want to remember, but that's fine, that's cool. It reminds her of a campfire and a battlefield and Justin swearing never to leave her even as he forgot her name.
Justin shakes his head. "It doesn't mean that," he says, "Palm reading's a crock. It's not true."
"Is that what--"
Justin brings her hand up, curls the heel against his chin and presses his lips to the center of her palm. Alex's breath stalls in her throat. Her stomach clenches.
"You won," Justin says, voice cracking against her skin. "You beat me."
They hash this out every few weeks or so, Justin remembering and Alex not-quite gloating, because--because she's felt the magic and giving it up still felt like dying and shriveling in the sun. Still, the points of her nails dig into Justin's upper lip in reply.
"Darn right, I won, loser," she says. "Just--hey!"
Justin drops her hand, red half-moons arching over his lip, and lurches off the bed. He makes it all the way to the door, hands forming the square that opens the lock, and Alex feels her blood prickle, bones growing heavy beneath her skin.
"Don't leave," she says, and this is new, this is different, this is...she doesn't know, but Justin has stopped, pressing his face against the door and suddenly he's not just her brother, not just the boy who argued with her across a jungle and through a temple, but larger, with muscles that had seem to appear one day over breakfast (and it wasn't a spell, she'd checked) and a slump to his shoulders, a loosening of his spine.
"I'm not leaving," Justin says quietly. "I've just...I've got a date after school, and I won’t have time to come back here and clean up. I need to go."
Alex blinks. Her mouths opens, suddenly dry, and she licks her lips. "A date, huh?" she asks. "Who is it this time? A centaur-ess? Another vampire? Maybe we've gotten to the amphibian portion of the magical world?"
A knot is tightening in her stomach, gooey and hot. She sits up on her bed, puts one leg underneath her, and faces the door. Her fingers tingle, like she's going to cast a spell, magic building up to crack her joints.
"It's not like that," Justin says, turning around. "She's just a girl. I met her a week ago."
He crosses his arms over his chest, and the motion pulls down the neck of his t-shirt. There's a bruise in the middle of his collarbone, framed in the center of the points of the bones. Alex bites down on the inside of her lower lip to stop it from trembling. She shakes her fingers, but the tingling just won't stop.
"How come I never heard of her before?" she asks, trying to yank her gaze from that round, purple bruise on Justin's skin. "Does she even go to our school? I thought we were all about the happy family and the trust again, right?"
In The Morning, You Go Gunning 2/2
In The Morning, You Go Gunning 3/3
Re: In The Morning, You Go Gunning 3/3
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Re: In The Morning, You Go Gunning 3/3