Spiraling (Comic- Ace and Gene)
AloofAdrien posts
Spring Cleaning (WIP)
Although I would have liked to get an NSFW post out today, it's looking like I'll have to get it out tomorrow! We're in the position of fostering a dog very suddenly.
For now, here's a look at an animation I'm planning out
Vinnie Goes on a Date (part 2- Short Story)
This story includes Vinnie, Jareth, Cole, Nigel, and Richard
!Warning!
Use of outdated queer terms
That evening, after work had finished, Vinnie dressed himself in a light pink suit jacket with matching flared pants. A cream yellow cravat was tied snug around his neck and tucked into his collared shirt. Although he had a string of pearls- much like the ones Jareth had- he abandoned them after seeing what he looked like in the mirror with them.
Vinnie wrapped a beige scarf around his neck and set off to meet with Henry on Warner. And when he had arrived, Henry smiled at him and said:
“Hello Mouse,”
“Hello Henry,” he replied.
Side by side, both men began to walk.
“You know,” said Henry, “Some lads get nervous going to a place like this. Especially when they’ve never taken the time to go before.”
Vinnie nodded.
“It’s good to socialize.”
“Mmh,” Vinnie hummed. Then he asked, “is there a live band?”
“Oh yea, course there is Mouse. Haha, they wouldn’t go about playing the songs on a record player, there’d be no one to hear it over the chatter. It’s a busy place. Instruments are much louder than record players.”
Vinnie thought of his acoustic guitar waiting for him at his flat. Her front board was worn where Vinnie’s pick met the strings. She was, in fact, the guitar that Vinnie used in Jareth’s album To Thine Own Self.
It was then that he noticed Henry had stopped talking.
“Do you play any instruments?” Vinnie asked.
“Ah, I play guitar right now, I know a few good riffs. I know the solo in “Till There was You”, actually. The one George Harrison does. It’s not as hard to learn as some people make it out and all. If I weren’t so busy I’d keep it going but I just don’t have the time.”
“What would you want to learn besides guitar?”
“Uh, nothing really. Guitar is the best sound you know? Wouldn’t want to learn anything else.”
“Oh,” said Vinnie.
Henry was wearing the same plaid coat he had worn the night before. Infact, his pants may have been the same as well, but Vinnie could not remember. He imagined, as they walked, that he could wrap a hug around Henry’s arm and walk with him while clinging. Or perhaps hold his hand to find that it was cold, and Vinnie’s hand was warm.
“Do you like bass guitar?” Vinnie asked.
“Not really.”
“Oh, alright. I play a couple instruments.”
“Oh yea? Do you do guitar?” Henry asked, smiling. He leaned forward to look at Vinnie’s face.
“Yes… I’m working to learn harp now,” Vinnie said, smiling.
“Harp? Are you sure that’s what it is?”
“Yes.”
“Well harp is tough cause its such a large instrument, and youre a small lad. I can’t imagine your arms can reach, haha. People who play the harp need longer arms.”
Vinnie said nothing.
Not long after, Vinnie and Henry arrived at the front of a fabric shop by the name of Thread The Needle. The shop windows were lit warm with light despite the hour, and upon entering a small bell above the door chimed. The shop was small, perhaps the size of a spacey bedroom, with shelves stacked with thick fabric rolls up to the ceiling. They were categorized by fabric type, but clearly not by color.
“Oh, evenin Henry,” an older woman said behind the counter. She was knitting the beginnings of some project with pink yarn. She wore green cat-eye glasses with yellow beads hanging from each end.
“Evenin, Maureen,” Henry replied.
“Who’s this?”
“A little mouse I found in the park,” he replied, grinning.
“Oh,” she said, then smiled at Vinnie.
Despite his shock at Henry’s boldness, Vinnie smiled back.
Henry made his way to the back of the shop where a door had been propped open with a chair. Vinnie had thought it led to a back alley, but found that it instead led to a set of stairs down to a basement level. He could see at the bottom of the black brick steps was a checkered vinyl flooring. There was chatter, and pink lighting, and music from a band with one too little instruments.
Henry gave Vinnie’s shoulder a quick squeeze then trotted down the steps. Vinnie followed behind and held the wall with one hand.
“Is this the club?” Vinnie asked.
“What? You really need to speak up,” Henry said with a raised voice as they got nearer to the music.
“Is this the club?” Vinnie asked again, louder.
“I can’t understand you!” Henry said, smiling back at Vinnie.
The place was spacious compared to upstairs. The walls were long, and one was made up completely of mirrors. They stretched up and disappeared into a black ceiling, which had pipes running along it in jagged patterns. In the center hung a disco ball that spun lazily and scattered the floor with glowing specks. It appeared to Vinnie that this was once a dance studio.
Tables of different sizes were placed around in a square to create an empty “stage” in the middle, which was indicated by a large square of blue tape. Men sat together laughing, chatting, and holding drinks. An entire table waved to Henry, and he waved back.
Just as Henry had said, a band played live music. They had themselves a bass guitarist, a lead guitarist, and a drummer with a very polite drum set. Although there was a grand piano, there was no pianist.
Most interesting to Vinnie was a tall, dark man standing at the bar in white heels and a red dress. He was smiling at the bartender with his chin on his palm and a cigarette between two fingers. Vinnie stared, curiously, and when he was caught he looked away. He stepped closer to Henry’s side, but Henry began to walk forward.
Vinnie had to jog to keep up with Henry’s long strides towards the very back of the club. Men dressed in very open collared shirts (to show off their curls of chest hair) and high waisted pants watched them both. They turned their heads to follow Vinnie, and Vinnie eyed them on passing with a pink face. He wondered if Henry too had a chest thick with hair. He wondered if his hair was curly and came up to his throat, or if he only had light speckles up his stomach. Jareth’s chest hair was quite tame. In fact, he barely had any at all, like Vinnie.
It was then that Vinnie began to notice some men were frowning at him. They would lean to the side and speak under their breath, or cock a brow at him. Vinnie put his head down as he followed Henry.
Henry cut through the blue tape box on the floor, hopped after tripping over his own toe, then turned back and grinned at Vinnie. Vinnie smiled, then dropped it when Henry looked away.
At the very back of the club- where Henry marched towards- was a red curtain. When they reached the red curtain, Henry peeled it open just enough to fit his head in.
“Knock knock,” he said, and there was a scuffle of excitement.
“Henry, some of us are changing!”
“Hello Henry,””
“Hii Henry,”
Henry peeled open the curtain and stepped inside.
The club had made a make-shift dressing room using the curtain as a wall, which created a confined hallway where queens sat in front of mirrors lined with lightbulbs. They sat perched on their chairs and did their make up, or sipped their drinks, or smiled at Henry. It was very warm, and a woman with a large blonde wig was fanning herself with a feather tipped fan.
For some time Henry spoke with them and they doted over him. Then, a woman in a skin-tight “Coca Cola” dress pointed at Vinnie with a white painted nail. She had a wig of tight black curls and wore very blue eyeshadow.
“Hello there, yes I see you,” She said. She wore bright red lipstick, which made her teeth look white. “Come in, lurker.”
“Don’t be shy!”
“Oh he’s scared, haha,”
“I would be too honey,”
“Hello there,”
Henry opened his arm to Vinnie and placed his long fingers on Vinnie’s shoulder. He pulled him into the hot dressing room to show him to the queens.
“Say hello, Mouse,” he said.
“Hello,”
Everyone cooed, or giggled, and Vinnie was unsure how he felt about it.
“You are so cute,” the woman in the Coca Cola dress said. “Mouse is a unique stage name, but we can try and fit you in somewhere.”
“Oh!” Said Vinnie,“No, I’m not performing!”
Everyone laughed.
“I know baby, I’m joking.” Miss Coca Cola said, and she briefly placed her hand on Vinnie’s shoulder. “I’m Sherley Temple, I’m the manager.”
“That’s why she always gets first place,” commented the woman in the large blonde wig.
“I’m Vincent,” Vinnie replied, and he offered her his hand.
Sherley grinned wide at him as though she was very amused, and she took Vinnie’s hand. Sherley’s hand was considerably larger, and when they had finished shaking Vinnie slipped both hands in his pockets.
It somehow became that Henry was sent on a drink run, and Vinnie was sat down in a metal fold-up chair beside Sherley’s and Custard’s mirrors while Sherley pinned her wig in the mirror and Custard fanned herself.
“How’d you meet Henry?” Custard- the woman with the large blonde hair- asked. Vinnie was frightened briefly by her deep voice.
“He met with me in the park,” Vinnie replied.
“When was that?” Sherley asked.
“Only yesterday, I suppose,”
Both Custard and Sherley eyed one another in a knowing way, a way that Vinnie was not in on. He looked down at his hands, and when they recognized his silence Custard quickly spoke again.
“What do you do for work?”
“I’m a musician,” Vinnie replied.
“Oh! A musician!” Another queen said, and she turned her chair to face them. She had a white wig styled like Marilyn Monroe with makeup to match. Yet, she had a thick brown mustache. “What do you play?”
“Oh, all sorts of things…” Vinnie muttered, and he began to smile.
“What sorts? Guitar?”
“Yes,” Vinnie said. “Sometimes.”
“What else?”
“Well, it’s quite a lot and it would be rude to list them. I’m learning harp now, though.”
“Oh the harp! That’s lovely, I wish Phoenix were here tonight. We’ve got a pianist that plays here, Vincent, you’d love him, he’s a darling.”
“I’m sure I would,” Vinnie said.
“So you’re in a band?” asked Sherley.
Vinnie smiled at her. He was suddenly filled with an immense joy that he so rarely got. He pictured the three of them shocked and clutching their pearls, and they would stare, and they would smile, and they would get excited to ask him questions. How amazing Vinnie was to work with Jareth.
“No, I’m in an orchestra,” Vinnie said. He looked down at his hands again.
“Oooh, how posh,” replied Custard.
It was then that Henry peeled open the curtain again, this time holding a tray of drinks. Nail-painted hands reached for the glasses and plucked them from the tray as he passed, and when he arrived to Vinnie he had only one champagne glass left. He sat down in an open chair and began to sip it.
“Vinnie,” said Sherley, “Why don’t you play the piano for us tonight?”
“Oh… I don’t know about all that, I’d need a few drinks,” Vinnie replied, and the queens laughed. “Really, I’m alright.”
“How about something else then? You don’t bring any instruments with you places?”
“No, no of course not… Well, except for my cello,” said Vinnie. Everyone laughed.
“Henry, your Vincent is so charming!” Sherley said. “You really ought to keep this one, I’d say.”
Vinnie looked at Henry.
“Yes, well, everyone from Liverpool thinks they’re comedians,” Henry replied.
“I have to say,” Custard started, “I’ve never seen a woman in drag. I could hardly tell. It took me a minute.”
Vinnie’s smile dropped fully. He sat with complete stillness and only stared at Custard with an expression of great alarm.
Vinnie could hear Henry turn his full body to look at his face. Vinnie’s neck was hot under his collar, and his face was tingling. He wondered how pink he looked, and if it was noticeable against the pink suit he had chosen. He pictured himself standing in the boxy, bulky pink suit that was too large for his shoulders yet clung tight around his hips.
He could feel the fabric of his pants straining where his legs were crossed at the knees, and how his toes did not reach the end of his shoe tips. He looked briefly at Henry, who perhaps would say something. Rather, Henry only studied Vinnie’s face with furrowed brows.
“I’m not in drag,” Vinnie said.
“Oh!... I’m sorry, are you a uh- las- lesbian?”
Sherley smacked Custard's arm.
“You’re one of those transsexuals,” said the queen with the mustache. She pointed at Vinnie with the hand that was holding her champagne glass. “A woman who lives as a man.”
Vinnie did not reply. For a while everyone watched him.
“Every day?” Asked Custard.
“Yes,” Vinnie replied.
“Is it a wig?”
“No,” Vinnie replied.
“Oh no! Your poor hair!”
“Don’t you get scared?” asked Sherley.
“Sometimes,” Vinnie replied.
Henry stood, and he took Vinnie’s shoulder in his hand.
“Alright, I’d say that’s enough,” Henry said.
Vinnie looked up at Henry, who was not looking back at him. His hand was firm against Vinnie’s shoulder, and Vinnie felt that perhaps Henry was saving him.
He stood, and Henry held his forearm to guide him away.
Henry opened the curtain and emerged with Vinnie. They walked from the red velvet curtains across the floor, over the blue tape stage, and around a table of men smoking their cigs. They turned their heads to watch.
“Thank you,” Vinnie said, quickly. They did not stop moving.
The music from the band went from in front of Vinnie to behind him, and suddenly they were at the stairs. Vinnie gently pulled his arm back, and Henry let go of him.
“Thank you,” Vinnie said, “we don’t have to leave, really. I’m sorry.”
Henry suddenly turned to look at Vinnie while he stood on the first step of the stairs. He had nothing to say, and Vinnie suddenly felt frightened.
In Henry’s furrowed brows and black eyes was malice, contempt. He looked down at Vinnie with such sudden disgust that Vinnie’s heart began to pump more feverishly against his chest. He now understood.
“I’m so sorry Henry,” he said, quickly.
“I can’t hear you,” Henry replied, and began up the stairs.
The bell dinged from the fabric shop door. Vinnie jogged to catch up to Henry, then he slowed to a speed walk just behind the taller man. Their shoes clacked against the slick sidewalk as it had drizzled since they had gone inside. The streets reflected the black sky.
“I’m sorry,” Vinnie said.
“What?” Henry asked. “You always mumble.”
“I thought you knew. You told me you fancied transexuals.”
“Yes, male transexuals,” said Henry, and they turned a corner. “Did you not understand I’m a homosexual?” He turned to look back at Vinnie while still walking.
Vinnie did not reply.
“What you’re doing is cruel, you’ve gone and wasted my time- and embarrassed me.”
“I thought you knew.”
Henry stopped and turned his body to face Vinnie. He held up both hands in a motion of fake strangling with wide eyes and curled fingers. Then he dropped them and sighed through his nose. Vinnie could see he was grinding his teeth by how his jaw moved.
Never had Vinnie felt such terror.
“Why would you do this? Why don’t you go on and get with a heterosexual then?” He asked.
“I don’t know,” Vinnie replied, quietly. “… I’m not a woman.”
Henry scoffed and ran his hand through his own hair.
“No homosexual will ever be with you.”
Henry shook his head at Vinnie then turned to cross the street. Vinnie watched him, and as Henry tripped on the curb Vinnie felt a great sense of dread settle in his chest.
He walked home alone in his pink suit.
Despite being between albums and finished with touring for “To Thine Own Self”, Cole insisted that they perform something “polite” at the London Coliseum Opera within the next month. So, on a Saturday, morning the band and production arrived early at the opera house to stage block the performance and place for lighting.
Vinnie had helped pack his several instruments into the Gublenn Co van, then sat in the back of a limousine with Richard and Jareth while Cole critiqued Nigel’s driving. Richard was too tired to ridicule Cole, and too sad that his wife did not join them.
Jareth had nothing to say to anyone, and this morning Vinnie didn't have anything to say either.
When they arrived Cole stood with his hands on his hips and looked terribly proud about the stage. He then voiced how he fancied the dark teal curtains while running his gloved hands down the velvety fabric. Nigel and Richard heckled him in the front row. Vinnie sat with them, but he was not involved.
Vinnie instead had his head leaned back looking up at the massive golden chandelier that hung from the ceiling. It glistened when he unfocused his eyes.
He thought of Henry’s face. He thought about his yellowed teeth, and his large ears, and his gummy smile, and his black eyes. He thought about Henry with his hands up at him, fingers curled.
He closed his eyes and swallowed thickly, then opened them again to gaze at the twinkling chandelier. And he worried, deeply.
Then, he wondered where Jareth was.
Vinnie sat up and began to turn his head to inspect the grand auditorium. Jareth was not sitting in the audience. Rather, Vinnie caught him standing in one of the VIP booths with his ring-covered fingers on the railing. He was not looking at Cole, but rather, he was looking at Vinnie. Or perhaps at Nigel and Richard, it was hard to say.
He was terribly beautiful at a distance. He seemed to glow this morning, as he so often did.
Jareth looked away, and so too did Vinnie. But when Vinnie looked back a moment later, Jareth had gone away to sit down in one of the chairs up there.
Vinnie sighed long through his nose. He had never once seen Jareth take a lover, and he often pictured him making love to some woman in a hotel room. Sometimes, when it was very late and Vinnie felt unwatched in his flat, he would imagine Jareth in bed with a man. Though oftentimes he would feel ashamed and he would stop.
Vinnie stood from his seat and eyed Cole (who had his back turned) then began to walk away from the lads to head up the stairs on the side of the auditorium. His absence went unnoticed.
He managed to find his way back to the front of the house and to the VIP section blocked by two swinging doors. He went up another set of curved green stairs before arriving at the dimly lit booth. It was encased, and private, and made Cole’s instructions from below sound echoed. Jareth was sitting in one of the five plush chairs with his legs crossed and his hands folded over his lap. Vinnie sniffed to announce himself, then walked around to sit one chair away from Jareth.
Jareth did not look at Vinnie, but his pearls clacked when he shifted. He was as handsome up close as at a distance. Vinnie watched his long lashes and the curve of his nose bridge. Today, Vinnie felt solemn while staring at Jareth.
“Richard and Dalia seem rather happy,” Jareth said.
“Oh, yes,” Vinnie replied.
“Cole and Lori are not.”
“... I’m not certain, no,” Vinnie said.
“Would you like to marry?” Jareth asked.
Vinnie looked away from Jareth to gaze at the chandelier instead.
“I don’t know,” he said. Jareth turned his head to look at Vinnie, and Vinnie did not look back. He wondered if his jawline looked as soft as it did in the mirror from the side. Jareth said nothing more and waited, so Vinnie continued. “I don’t think I'm the type someone would like to marry. I haven’t got the right parts for anyone.”
Jareth thought for a while, then he asked:
“The right parts?”
"Yes," Vinnie said. Jareth stared at him so he felt he should continue. "I don't appeal to anyone, is all. On either side, man or woman.” Vinnie said. He suddenly felt a great shame for having brought attention to it, and he refrained from crossing one leg over the other to hide.
"How do you mean?" Jareth asked, and Vinnie felt his neck and ears begin to get hot.
"I'm not shaped how either side wants me to be," he said.
Both men sat silently together for some time. Jareth thought, and Vinnie unfocused his eyes at the chandelier while his chest swirled with shame.
“I don’t think that matters, really,” Jareth said.
Vinnie turned his head to look at Jareth, who was looking back at him, then suddenly at his shoulder. instead Vinnie was unsure how to respond, and so he didn’t.
Jareth was perhaps the most lovely, most gentle mouthed man Vinnie had ever met. Vinnie had known this since he first began working with Jareth, who surprised him greatly by his understanding. He was not, infact, a diva.
And now, as Vinnie looked at Jareth, he felt now more than he ever had that perhaps Jareth could be in love with him. Perhaps.
“Really?” Vinnie asked.
Jareth nodded and spoke quietly, “It doesn’t matter.”
“Jareth!” Cole called from the stage.
Richard and Nigel immediately assisted by calling out for Jareth as well.
“Quiet!”
Jareth stood and placed a hand on the railing. He waited to be seen rather than calling back.
“Come down, I’d like to start placing for lighting,” Cole said.
Jareth turned to walk out of the booth without looking at Vinnie. Vinnie craned his neck to watch him leave.
2025-06-24 19:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostFeels like Betrayal (comic- Rory and Ace)
A little earlier in their relationship it was tough for Ace to understand Rory's extroverted-ness. He was very used to being loners with Gene
2025-06-21 19:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Jareth WIPs/sketches
I received some bad news recently and I've been struggling to keep up with art! I'll be getting back to it with redesigns for the circus AU and wrapping up Vinnie's short story.
Which characters do you want to see most in the circus AU? Are there any plotlines you'd like to see written as a short story?
Home Alone (part 3- NSFW)
This event is what motivated both Gene and Ace to start fooling around in the car instead of taking the risk at the Ramsey household.
Hopefully this post can be a lighter part of your day, I hope everyone is staying safe and keeping themselves grounded.
Sketchbook Doodles
Took a short break with some doodling before getting back to it. Part 3 of the comic is on its way, as well as the last bit of Vinnie's short story and a new animation :)
2025-06-06 19:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Home Alone (NSFW- part 1)
It wasn't often that Gene and Ace had the house to themselves, so when they got the chance it would embolden them quite a bit.
2025-05-31 19:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostActors AU!
A return to the actors AU :)
Rather than a movie, they would be filming a series that Arlo strictly keeps to two seasons. Although they were offered a contract for four seasons, Arlo declined.
Poly Pets!
Which pet is your favorite? I like Rascal and Pidge :)
2025-05-25 19:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostSame old Same old (NSFW- Gene and Jobie)
some middle aged 80s fellas getting along
2025-05-22 19:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post
Encore- Finished Animatic
I've figured it out! And here it is completed
2025-05-16 20:17:16 +0000 UTC View PostEncore Hates Me
I have been unable to complete encore due to it crashing my ancient computer whenever I attempt to work on it. Although I planned to have it up today, I will be unable!
This project has been a nightmare, and I've worked late nights attempting to fix i. I'll have to figure out some other way to complete it without losing my mind. It's very likely I'll have to stitch it together all over again!
Poly Boys Story Guide
If you're interested in a break down of the basic plot points surrounding the poly boys, this is the place to start :)
This story guide follows the new, up to date lore and will be updated when new short stories are written, or plot points are added.
For questions and curiosities, consider hopping into our patreon chats where there is now a Q&A chat.
Spring Cleaning Surprise (Arlo Comic)
Still chugging along on the Story Guide!
Great news- I've finished my finals and I'm officially on break :)
A Croc About
Due to overwhelming finals, my dad stepped in to provide today's Patreon post
The story guide is so close to being finished! What are you hoping to see in it?
Encore update
A little update while I work on a full poly boys "story guide"!
This got way postponed due to schooling and writing. What would you prefer to see first? The second part to Vinnie's short story, or Encore?
William and Cole (NSFW)
Just something a bit playful between two characters who would never meet!
Don't you think they'd be darling together?
Vinnie's going on a Date (Part 1- Short Story)
Story includes: Vinnie, Richard, Nigel, Jareth, Cole, Lori, and Henry
Warnings: outdated terms, offensive language, mature themes
~~~~
Some way, somehow, Vinnie had gotten himself a date with a tall man named Henry Smites while having his breakfast at a park. Henry had front facing ears and black hair that was combed back tight against his head, and when he smiled Vinnie noticed his teeth had yellowed just slightly.
He sat down just beside Vinnie and he suddenly began to introduce himself. He said many things for a long while, and Vinnie said nothing at all, and after some time he asked:
“How about going steady tonight?”
“Pardon?” Vinnie asked. “Me and you?”
“Right. If you fancy me that way. If you fancy men that way, hah.” he said. Then, Henry looked down at the park bench and picked a spot of chipped wood.
“Uhm,” said Vinnie, and he began to smile. “I don’t kn-”
“If you’re wanting to explore that type of thing. Lot’s of lads are doing it, y’know.”
Vinnie’s face became warm. Henry’s voice was bold and his tone was confident. Vinnie glanced down the park pathway that was lined with swaying English Oak trees, then he looked back at Henry. He wondered if his shoulders looked wide in his corduroy coat today, or perhaps his neck appeared thicker with the addition of his knit scarf.
“Alright,” Vinnie said.
“Alright,” Henry replied and showed Vinnie his cigar teeth.
After explaining to Vinnie which street to meet him on (and how to get there from the park- and also from the nearest bus stop), Henry folded his coat over his forearm and departed back down the path. Vinnie sat still with his legs crossed and the morning paper still split on his lap. He stared at Henry as he stepped over an ankle high fence, trudged through a small bed of white flowers, then stepped into the street to cross the road. A red bus honked at him politely, and he put his hand up while passing.
Vinnie pictured himself sitting across from Henry, the two looking at one another in a certain knowing way. A way in which a woman wouldn’t understand. This made Vinnie smile.
He pictured tapping Henry’s shoe with his own under a table at a restaurant, or sharing a cigarette on a walk. He imagined referring to one another as “flat mates, and nothing more,” to a questioning neighbor.
Then, Vinnie pictured two men in bed, naked,and he stopped smiling.
###
Vinnie flicked on the lights to the storage room that belonged to the second floor of the recording studio. The lights flickered then lit the room in an orange wash. The storage room had not been visited since the lads finished their last album, and the white fabric that covered the rows of instruments had grown a layer of grey dust.
As Vinnie began to enter he had to turn and step sideways. The sheets were tall, or wide, or short, and packed in close together. At one point the tip of Vinnie’s shoe hit the bottom of a covered guitar which made it hum a dissonant note.
Most of the instruments, if not all, belonged to Vinnie. Really, they belonged to the Gublenn twins, but Jareth regarded them as Vinnie’s.
“What’s it he’s wanting, now?” Nigel asked with his hand on the top of the mahogany door frame.
“Cello,” Vinnie replied.
“Ah,”
Nigel began to side step after Vinnie. Both men took their time lifting the tarps and ignoring the laminated name tags Cole had stapled to each one. Dust particles swirled in the air with each lift and the yellow room began to smell like powder. Vinnie had his eye caught by a tag that read CELLO, but after raising the fabric he discovered it was his double bass instead.
“Here we are,” Nigel said. “Come on over then- uf!” Nigel gripped the neck of the Cello and lifted her off the stand.
“Hold on,” Vinnie cut through a few instruments to help Nigel support the weight at the base. Then, slowly, both men began to shuffle.
“Go on and lift it-”
“Okay-”
“Lets get it up over this-”
They began to raise her, sharing the seventy pounds between each other. Vinnie held her at her core and Nigel kept the neck up while they both moved to the door. While twisting his hips past a covered keyboard Vinnie’s arms began to strain, and he took in a breath after realizing he hadn’t breathed in a while.
“Haha, a bad back then, Nigel? Do you really?” asked Richard, who was now standing by the doorway.
“Out of the way,” Nigel said as he began pulling the neck through the door.
“Oh- hey let me help you with that sweetheart,” said Richard, and he reached up with both hands to take the cello from Vinnie. His cologne was suddenly against Vinnie’s nose and his open collar shirt against Vinnie’s shoulder. Vinnie did not move his hands for a moment, and he would have liked to say: no, I have it fine, but instead he dropped his arms and stepped back. Richard took it from him, and the Cello raised higher.
“Little faster now, aye Nigel?” Richard said.
Vinnie stood with his hands in his pockets and occasionally took a step to follow behind both tall men. He watched Richard’s arms and how his muscles strained with the sleeves rolled up. He eyed Richard's waist, and how his ribs tapered in a funnel shape.
“We really don’t need all three of you to find one instrument!” Cole called from the first floor.
“Would you like to bring it down yourself?” Richard called back.
“Aye, come on up and show us how strong you are, Cole,” Nigel said.
They chuckled, and Cole did not reply. For the next minute Vinnie stood do
ing absolutely nothing while no one spoke to him, and he watched two men haul his cello.
###
That evening Vinnie found himself with his hands deep in his coat pockets walking down Lindatt street, then down to the corner of Warner. Despite the scarf wrapped twice around Vinnie’s turtleneck, he still felt the bite of cold against his nose. The sleek sidewalks were lined with old London street lamps who’s wicks were replaced by bulbs.
Under the warm light on the corner of Warner stood Henry, tall and dressed in a green plaid long coat. He wore a news cap- which his ears stuck out of- and he was looking down at his lighter. Vinnie pictured Jareth in the same plaid coat and news cap, and he was certain Jareth would hook a scarf around his neck to go along.
“Henry?” Vinnie said.
“Hey!-” said Henry, “Hello. You’re like a mouse.”
Vinnie just smiled at him.
“Did you get lost?” he asked. “You’re a bit late.”
Vinnie looked down at his watch, and it was five minutes past six.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said.
“Yea, I was wondering. You could have come down the other street like I told you, would’ve been faster if you took the bus. No matter, come on then. I thought we ought to go to a jazz bar I fancy.”
Suddenly, they began to walk, and Vinnie’s head followed the cherry trees above them. They were past the blooming period in spring, and the branches looked black against the dark blue sky. It was then that Vinnie noticed Henry stopped talking.
“Do you like music?” Vinnie asked.
“Oh yea, I like all kinds of music, I’ve got a record collection going. Bout a hundred and ten now, if you’d like I could show you them sometime. Some of them are real old, from the forties even, if that’s what you like.”
“That’s near,” Vinnie said, and he meant it.
“Yea, I collect lot’s of old things.”
Vinnie pictured Jareth’s face on the cover of a record. Perhaps Henry had Primitive, or ToThine Own Self.
“Do you have a favorite genre? Of music?” Vinnie asked.
“I wouldn’t say I have a favorite genre, really. I like all music, I think music should be listened to by everyone and in all genres.”
Vinnie nodded. Then, no one said anything for a while, so Vinnie said:
“Do you like Jareth?”
“Uh not really, no. I don’t listen to modern music at all, I think all the pop is for adolescence. Or immature adults.”
“Oh. Is Jareth pop?” Vinnie asked.
“Oh yea, bit of copied rock and commercialized slock is all it is, any artist can do it. It’s easy to make.”
Vinnie nodded. He decided not to talk about that anymore.
“Do you work?” He asked.
“Ah- well I’m not working at the moment but I was last year. Architecture and all, made lots from it really.” Then Henry paused and looked down at Vinnie, so Vinnie hummed. “Yea, I’m living off of it till I finish up schooling. I’m looking into chemistry sciences.”
Vinnie and Henry walked together, side by side. Their shoes clacked on the sidewalk, and on occasion a lone walker would pass them, or a pair. Vinnie wouldnt look at them, but he would wonder if they questioned the relations of two men walking together at night. In a way, he hoped they did.
“I’ll be getting drinks, if you can have them.” Henry said.
“Alright,” Vinnie replied.
“Can you have drinks?”
Vinnie looked up at Henry and nodded. When Henry didn’t say anything, Vinnie said:
“I can, I’m twenty four.”
“Oh. Are you sure? I thought you were younger than me. You’ve got a boyish face, y’know. I thought you might still be graduating and all.”
Suddenly, Vinnie saw himself from Henry’s height. He pictured his own thin eyebrows and soft chin. He pictured long lashes and pink lips. He looked away from Henry, and asked him another question.
It wasn’t long before both men arrived outside of a dimly lit restaurant by the name of “The Smokey Cheshire,” which had a smiling purple cat painted on the front door. The restaurant was dark and warm, and a sleek but small wooden stage housed a pianist, bass player, sax player, and a drummer who was only using his symbols at the moment. Each table was dressed with dark purple fabric and topped with a small lamp. White fog swirled in the air as men and women smoked their cigarettes and cigars freely.
Henry put a hand up to the shaggy haired drummer, who showed his teeth and nodded back at him. Then, Henry placed his hands on Vinnie’s shoulders and bowed his head down to his ear.
“I’m gonna take your coat,” he said, quietly. He suddenly spoke with the gentleness of Jareth.
“Okay,” Vinnie replied, smiling, and began to shrug his coat off of his shoulders. Henry folded it over his forearm.
“C’mon, this table here.”
Henry sat them down at a booth that was tucked in the very corner of the jazz restaurant, farthest from the stage. Vinnie crossed one leg over the other and watched Henry sit down in front of him. Then, Vinnie uncrossed his legs.
“I like this spot cause lots of poofs come round here,” Henry said. Vinnie’s eyebrows raised slightly. “I go to a lot of queer spots, y’know.”
“Have you been going to them for long?” Vinnie asked.
“Oh yea, well since I got here last year. There’s lots of spots here in London really, if you know what you’re doing. Most queer men know about this one, at least the ones who are getting in bed more than once a month, aha.”
Vinnie did not reply, but he nodded.
“Lots of you Londoners are high classers. Used to the big houses and nice dinners. Maybe that’s why all the dates feel so formal.”
“I’m not from London,” Vinnie said.
“Ah, really? I could’ve taken you for one.”
“I’m from Liverpool.”
“Oh yea, that place is best known for its fishing, and the Beatles of course. Lucky fluke that is, music like that from little old Liverpool. If you’re ever back there you should try the cavern club.”
Vinnie nodded, and he did not tell Henry that he had been to the cavern club on multiple occasions.
For a while, no one said anything and Henry leaned back in his booth. Vinnie crossed his arms over his chest and stayed sitting straight up. He could think of no more questions, and so he said:
“I fancy men and women.”
“You know, some men are bi-sexuals, so they like to call it. They fancy both men and women.”
Vinnie nodded.
“Not just one or the other, both.”
Vinnie nodded.
“Can’t make up their minds, that lot.”
Vinnie’s brows furrowed just slightly, but he said nothing.
Just then, a man in a sleek suit vest and a pencil stache stopped at their table to ask for drink orders.
“Two bloodhounds,” Henry said.
###
When Henry had listened to enough jazz music and ate enough food, they left the Smokey Cheshire to walk back into the chilled night. Vinnie wrapped his scarf around his neck twice rather than once, and Henry smiled at him.
“Are you a cold Londoner?” He asked. Then, he removed his coat and slipped it around Vinnie’s shoulders. It smelt of cigarettes and a tangy after shave, and it was very warm.
Vinnie held the coat with both hands to tighten it around his body. Then, he suddenly became aware that Henry’s coat was incredibly large compared to his body, and the sleeves hung down to his kneecaps. Vinnie’s chest began to feel weighted- just slightly- and he did not know why.
“Are you a bisexual?” Vinnie asked, suddenly.
“No, I don’t fancy women at all. I grew up with all sisters and I sometimes think it turned me flowery, y’know. It’s all frill and fluff with them, no substance, just chatter. Saying a lot while saying nothing at all, really.”
“Mm,” Vinnie hummed.
“I like transexuals though.”
Vinnie suddenly looked up at him. His brows had raised and his eyes were curious. He watched Henry’s face, and Henry looked back down at him with a grin.
It became clear to Vinnie in that moment that the taller, dark haired man knew what Vinnie was, and he had known when he sat down with Vinnie at the park.
“I’ve got lots of transvestite friends, I know a place where lots of them meet you know,” said Henry.
“Really?”
“Oh yea, does that frighten you?”
“No,” Vinnie said, and he began to smile because Henry was still looking at him.
“I could take you, I’ve got lots of transvestite friends at a spot not far from the cheshire.”
“Now?”
“Haha, they’re not open tonight, it’s a weekday Vinnie. They don’t open on the weekdays. It’s Thursday right now.”
For a long while, they walked somewhere. Henry spoke many words and said many things, and Vinnie nodded. And whenever Henry had stopped saying things, Vinnie asked him another question.
Never was their conversation quiet, and Vinnie thought of Jareth. When Vinnie was with Jareth, neither man would say anything at all, really.
It was after about seven minutes that Henry turned off of the sidewalk and began walking down a lightless alleyway that cut directly between two shop fronts. The brick walls were tall and the windows on the second stories were lightless. There was a clothing line strung between the two windows with a woman’s knitted scarf, sweater, and cardigan. They looked black in the dark alleyway, and they swayed lazily. At the exit of the alleyway was a streetlamp. It outlined Henry’s silhouette in yellow.
Vinnie stopped, and he stood very still. When Henry turned to look at him Vinnie could not make out his face.
“Well come on,” he said.
Vinnie stared at him.
“It’s a shortcut, my flats just on the other side,”
Vinnie did not move. His chopped blonde hair began to prickle like hackles.
Vinnie felt something that was extremely particular and only known to those who must live with a certain keen awareness. It was an instant of widening of his senses.
There were no whirring cars on the street, and he could not hear the tapping of another walker. The fenced trees brustled from the breeze and a rusty gate was squealing back and forth in the wind. But that was all. The man in the alleyway looked large.
“What’s your flat address?” Vinnie asked.
“It’s just round the corner,” Henry said, turning fully now to look at him. “On East Salmon. Come on mouse.” Henry opened his arm to Vinnie.
Vinnie put his hands in Henry’s coat pockets and he began to step into the alleyway towards Henry’s figure. He walked slowly, and he did not look away from the wet glint of Henry’s eyes. When Vinnie came into his reach, Henry placed his long, heavy arm around his shoulder and they began to walk together again. The clack of their shoes echoed up the walls.
“I’ve lived here since coming to London, sometimes I hop around though.”
“Mm,” Vinnie hummed.
They walked pressed together in the alleyway towards the lamplight on the other side, which cast their shadows far back behind them. Vinnie couldn’t think, so he asked no more questions. Soon, they rounded the corner and began walking down the sidewalk again.
They stopped at a knee-high green gate that was placed in front of a quaint two story building with six windows checkered down the front. The garden was unkempt, and the mailbox was twisted slightly off of its post.
Henry padded his pockets, then turned to Vinnie. He leaned in and slid his big hand under Vinnie’s coat and onto his waist. Vinnie immediately stepped back and covered his side with his arm.
“Hey, my keys,” Henry said.
“What!”
“You’re wearing my coat,”
“Oh!” Vinnie said, and he opened Henry’s coat to find an inner pocket that was tucked against his waist. “I’m so sorry,” he muttered and he began to remove it.
“Wow,”
Henry slid his own coat back on while watching Vinnie’s face, then he retrieved the keys and unlocked the gate. “Its what I can afford,” he said. “So it comes with the alleyways, haha. Some Londers get paranoid about it, sours a whole night when they’re like that. Some rich lads aren’t used to how regular people live.”
Vinnie nodded, but he thought of his own flat near the recording studio which was fairly spacious and well furnished. The outside was red brick with white accents, and each window had cream colored curtains hanging in them. The front garden was done up with crocus flowers and square bushes. Vinnie even had a walk-in closet that still had empty space that he wasn’t sure how to fill in.
And now, while standing watching Henry open the gate, Vinnie felt a deep guilt.
The green gate came open with a squeal, and Henry held it for Vinnie to come with him.
“Oh, I thought we were saying goodnight,” Vinnie said. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re not coming in?”
“Uhm,” Vinnie rocked his weight back and forth. He began to smile, but he did not feel happy. “Maybe when I get to know you better… I’m sorry. I really had a wonderful time.”
“Ah, you want another date?” Henry asked, smiling too. “Are you scared I’ll forget you after I’ve had you, mouse?”
Vinnie raised his shoulders, then let them drop, and he stopped looking at Henry’s face.
“I’ll take you on another date then,” Henry said, then sighed through his nose and scratched the corner of his eye. “Night then.”
“Goodnight.”
Vinnie watched Henry hop up the small stone steps to the door, then pull it open without looking back. When he had gone, Vinnie stood and he thought. He focused deeply on the unease between his lungs.
There was something weighted and warm that was sitting just above his ribs. It pressed against the beat of his heart and made it more profound. And when Vinnie began to walk, he breathed deep through his nose and felt that he could not fill the space in his lungs.
Perhaps this weight was excitement, and perhaps Vinnie was excited. He decided on his long, cold walk that maybe he liked how this felt. He must.
###
The next day at the studio, their morning arrival was interrupted when Lori came in with the children asking to speak with Cole. And the very moment Cole stepped out to talk with Lori, Richard gave up tuning his guitar and laid on the studio couch.
The couch itself was a concept Cole had been highly against, but after Nigel and Richard snuck one in that smelled of cat and cigar, Cole took it upon himself to purchase them a proper one.
As Richard so often did, he began to talk about his wife, Dahlia. And somehow, he began to discuss their sex life.
“The sex isn’t what it used to be,” Richard said. “And thank god for that, I was her first date, the poor doe.”
“Better as you’re older hm?” Nigel asked, who parked his hip on the backrest of the couch.
“Well, you would say that,” Richard said, and both men laughed.
Vinnie stood away from them and slowly raised the strap of his bass guitar over his shoulder. He remained very quiet, and it was possible that neither Richard nor Nigel noticed him come in. He listened, and he stared.
They were now talking about Richard’s first blowjob.
“She told me she had plenty of times,” Richard said. “But really she hadn't, and you know how I know?”
“How’s that?” asked Nigel.
“She held it in her mouth a moment, then asked if I had finished.”
“And had you Richard?”
“I told her another minute and I would!”
Both men chuckled.
Richard’s legs were long enough so that his head could be on one arm rest and his crossed ankles could be on the other. He held a lit cigarette between two fingers, and each knuckle had hair. Vinnie’s hands were hairless, and each finger was thin.
Nigel grinned and his mustache curled upwards on each end. His canines were sharper than most lads, and a bit crooked. Vinnie could not see his lips.
“Vinnie,” Jareth said from behind Vinnie, His tone was gentle and polite. He was holding a cup of tea that Nigel had made in the break room.
Vinnie didn’t reply but he turned to look at him. This morning, Jareth wore a light pink velvet robe with white lace on the collar and cuffs. His neck was wrapped with a thin beige scarf and rows of pearls. He looked terribly darling, and Vinnie wondered where he could purchase such a robe.
“Have you dated?” Jareth asked.
Vinnie suddenly felt like a cheater, and his affair had just been discovered. He looked down at his bass as he began plucking the string and turning the tuning dial.
“Not much, really,” Vinnie replied.
“Oh,” Jareth said.
Then, for a while, Jareth didn’t say anything more.
Vinnie looked through his bangs at Jareth. Much like Vinnie had, Jareth stared at Richard and Nigel with no discernible expression.
###
That evening after work, Vinnie made his way back to the corner on Warner to meet with Henry who would be taking him to a drag bar.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I would have liked to get this out in one part, but time has not been on my side! Let me know if you're interested for part two, or if you'd rather I work on a poly boys centered story :)
Ball and Chain (Rory and Jobie comics)
Lots of sketch posts while my classes are still going on!
2025-04-22 19:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostComing home late
typically, Jobie goes out of his way to greet Gene at the door the second he get's home (it's so he can get to him first)
2025-04-19 19:00:23 +0000 UTC View PostHealthy Weight (Cole and Nigel)
I would love to line and color this at some point once I've got the time!
Working on a Vinnie centered short story while chugging along in classes, and working up the motivation to finish Encore!
Outside looking in (Vinnie Comic- mature themes)
Hello all! I would have liked to color this, but didn't have the time!
For those of you interested, we have patreon community chats open for you lads to mingle, ask short-answer questions, make requests, and more. Thought I should mention it to those who may not know :)
Jobie doodles- new hair!
How are we feeling about the new hair?
2025-04-10 19:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post