Her cowboy boots thump against the dance floor just a bit louder than the heels she normally would, tight and sleeveless black blouse adorned with a spill of frills down the front; but it’s her cut-off skirt that has Ellis’s hands roaming over it, short and denim and draped with fabric tendrils from their former life as jeans. “Damn, Syd,” he purrs in her ear, letting her slide her hands up to grip the soft curls at the nape of his neck as they dance, “Yew feel – uh, yuh look fantastic.”

“Feel is good too,” she says with a flirty laugh like clanging crystal bells, skimming the ankle of her boot up the side of his calf when he dips her, “Take me home and gimme summin tuh ride, Ellis.”   

The candles were gathered in a circle, glowing persistently despite the heavy draft in the garage; it was drizzling against the windows, winding trails of fallen rain tracing the glass in snake-like swirls that glittered in the darkness of night. Ellis sat down, his boots scuffing the oil-stained pavement as he settled and shook out the quiet smolder of the match, wisps of smoke following the quick flick of his wrist.

Sydney sat down across from him, the clutch of a black dress matching his rumpled slacks perfectly, though the addition of heels and dangled earrings were a little more kempt in comparison to his untucked button-up and Bullshifters ballcap. Regardless, she reached across the candles, gripping his work-roughened hand firmly in her slim fingers. “You okay, Ellis?”

“Sure, sure,” he chirped immediately, head bobbing in a nod. Despite the assurance, his eyes were rimmed with damp redness, a tremble to his slightly flared nostrils indicating his nose was soon to run. He cleared his throat noisily. “Okay, so like las’ year, righ’?”

Sydney’s smile was faint but she nodded. “Keith firs’, then Dave, then Paul.”

Ellis nodded so frantically the first tear dislodged itself from his well-defined lower lashes, the subsequent clearing of his throat sounding raw and wet. “Yuh got th’…?”

“Yeah,” the female confirmed softly, drawing a crumpled grocery sack closer to herself. A moment of rummaging inside its many contents and she pulled a pair of candybars free, offering one to the trembling mechanic before moving to shuck her own of its wrapper. “Snickers were m’brother’s favorite,” she said with another smile, this one warmer in the shadowed light of the candles, “’Cept Keith always said 100 Grand wus, if you asked.”

“Never saw him eat one uh them,” Ellis agreed with a damp chuckle, eyes crinkling at the corners as he chewed through the chocolate, “Man, Keith wus always makin’ shit up tuh look cool.”

“Even his favorites.” Sydney laughed, and for a moment, the smirk-prone ghost of her brother showed in its open, noisy clatter, obnoxious and genuine in ways its sources never could be. “An’ we wonder where you got it from!” 

Preston’s almond-shaped eyes were a vivid brown that rivaled the richest of chocolates, the challenge within their narrowed slant taking Ellis entirely by surprise; the parade was an array of vibrant colors and celebration around them, and all the mechanic could see was the angry press of Preston’s disapproving frown and the saucy cock of his hip as he held the phallus-shaped sucker aloft. “What’s wrong, Ellis? Not man enough to suck a candy dick?” his lips pursed instead, chin tilting upward to show off the heavily hairsprayed swoop of his hair, “Or are you saying you’re too MUCH of a man? Because honey, you –”

“Jesus, Preston,” Nick interrupted sharply, edging his way through the crowd with a milkshake for himself and his (apparently) straight companion, “Leave the kid alone, you’re gonna scare him off.”

“Good,” sassed the fairywing-clad male with a roll of his shoulders, arms folding across his chest as he eyed his friend with an arched eyebrow. “Let him go home to his Honky Tonk trailer and tug it to Playboy where he belongs. No one invited him here.”

“Nick did,” Ellis mumbled, but his voice was mumbled, an uncertain glitter to the twenty-four year old’s eyes as he glanced at the gambler for confirmation.

“Can the attitude, Preston,” Nick wasped, handing Ellis his milkshake and giving his shoulder a firm grip to lessen the male’s obvious discomfort. “If you’re gonna be a bitch all afternoon you can take your little candy friend there and shove it up your ass – somewhere else, with someone who didn’t just loan you six grand. Alright?”

Preston huffed delicately, but shucked the plastic regardless and popped the thick strawberry-flavored dick in his mouth, shuffling forward on his platform sandals as they headed into the thicker gaggle of a crowd. 

“This is sum good shit,” crowed the mechanic as he stabbed his fork back into the pasta, sprawled out on Nick’s couch as the menu for The Dark Knight played on the flatscreen in an endless cycle. Nick smirked as he sat down on the floor at Ellis’s side, placing a glass of wine beside himself as he situated his own plate, gesturing for Ellis to play the movie. “Serious, Nick,” Ellis repeated earnestly, sitting up a little bit against the stacked couch pillows to catch his best friend’s gaze, “This is real’ good. Where’d yuh learn how tuh make it?”

Nick’s smile was genuine but edged with smugness. “My mother,” he elaborated briefly, and turned his eyes back to the screen as Ellis nodded thoughtfully and began shoveling food into his mouth.  

Ah got awl kinds! Fishin’, campin’, dirt bikes, cookin’ out an’ picnics, goin’ tuh concerts, Fourth uh July parties, festivals, goin’ swimmin’ in th’river, fillin’ mah tank up with gas an’ drivin’ til Ah run out an’ then doin’ ‘er goin’ tuh whatever’s around when Ah putter out… *Grins broadly* Adventures, man! Summer’s fer lovers an’ discovery, righ’? 

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[I couldn’t for the fucking life of me keep this to five sentences. Whoops.]

They’d been friends for around two weeks when Keith first agreed to head to an arcade, the two making their way through the swarms of freckle-faced boys with armfuls of tickets and the gaggles of aloof teenagers huddled around the classics with headphones obscuring the younger crowd’s noisiness. There were four air hockey tables in the back, some of the only non-ticket-dispensing games in the blue-lit building besides the claw machines; Ellis bounced on his heels as he took his place opposite of the redhead, leaning low over the air-swept surface with the circular paddle clutched firmly in his right hand. 

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*Exhales slowly, drawing the bill of his hat marginally lower as he considers the question* Damn! Puttin’ me awn th’spot, ain’tchuh? *Sighs lightly, dropping his hand to the back of his neck, rubbing uncomfortably* Y’all remember Ah had like uh ‘friends with.. special favors’ kinduh thang with Sydney after we awl got back intuh town, righ’? She said we wus both lonely, an’… *swallows hard, shaking his head as his eyes dip* copin’, not ready fer uh relationship. We got along real’ well so when she offered, Ah said sure, why not?

*Clicks his tongue* Ah make sum real’ knuckleheaded choices, man. 

It wus cool ‘til she started seein’ other folks an’ gittin’ awn tuh me ‘bout it. Nick finally got awn mah ass an’ tol’ me tuh call it quits, cus it wus real’ obvious Ah ain’t cut out fer thah shit. 

Ah figgur most folks intuh thah kinduh garbage ain’t ready fer uh real relationship. They’re still lookin’ tuh sleep around n’ shit. *Shrugs, his expression distasteful* Call me old fashioned but maybe relationships outtuh be fer people who actually care ‘bout each other an’ wannuh be tuhgether. Y’know, love an’ faithfulness? *Licks his teeth and glances away again, lost in thought* 

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“Fuck buddies,” Sydney says again, slow and patient, the red lipstick on her lips looking especially thick with the deliberate movement of her mouth. “I said, we should be fuck buddies.” 

“Do we gotta call it tha’?” Ellis mumbles, his face gone scarlet. He fiddles with the bill of his hat, suddenly regretting sitting down on the couch with her. “Ah mean, hell, Ah figgured when yew kissed me, maybe we was…?” 

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[An anon sent an inquiry in about Ellis’s relationships with past girlfriends and how he handled being with women, So I wrote up 3200 words of drabbles on some things between himself and longtime on/off girlfriend Heather. Not all aspects were really highlighted here but some major points of interaction are. Adult content warning.]

Her name is Heather, and he knows this because she’s on the boy’s baseball team instead of playing girl’s softball. Sometimes, when the weather is nice and the field is clear after school, they sit together on the bleachers when practice is over, and she shares the snack she always has leftover from lunch. They linger long after everyone else has gone home; her Dad is always late picking her up and he doesn’t want anyone to know he walks the mile and a half to his trailer park. 

She’s blonde, but there’s brown in it too, and it’s always cut neatly along the line of her jaw so that the tips sort of fan out a little like the flared edges of a cookie flattened on the pan. There’s a smattering of freckles on her snubbed nose, and he notices there’s one on her bottom lip sometimes when the sun’s just right. Or maybe he just doesn’t notice it other times. But it’s like a spot of chocolate and when she catches him looking she turns pink and calls him a freak. 

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Ah ain’t been tuh th’doctor ‘bout anything so Ah dunno if they’re phobias so much as jus’ me gettin’ uncomfortable all the time. 

Ah jus’ try tuh not be alone when it’s stormin’ real bad an’ Ah can’t own uh dog no more cos th’sound uh growlin’ is… *Glances down, sheepish* 

Uh, sometimes. Ah got uh gal tha’ calls me sometimes fer tha’ kinda thing an’ she’s intuh bein’ tied up. *Pauses to take another swig of beer* No shame in tha’. 

‘Cept this one time, we was messin’ around with different knots, an’ Ah weren’t never in th’boyscouts so Ah wuddn’t any good with tha’ kinda shit. But Ah followed th’diagram and it looked purdy good. *Grins* But lookin’ good ain’t th’same as actually workin’. 

So we were done an’ Ah was tryin’ tuh get her undone. Wouldn’t budge. Ah mean Ah tried e’rry thang, cos them bondage ropes ain’t cheap an’ she was real’ mad when Ah suggested jus’ cuttin’ ‘er out. So Ah tried greasin’ it with butter, wigglin’ uh screwdriver between th’ knots tuh ease ‘em open, usin’ like other ropes tuh wrap through an’ tug ‘em undone… Ah made uh huge mess uh things, man, it was terrible. *Slaps a hand on his thigh as he laughs* 

Finally her roommate came home an’ was like, tryin’ tuh talk tuh her through th’bedroom door, an’ she didn’t want her tuh know we was messin’ around, so she asked me tuh cut her out. But by tha’ time, we’d like, strengthened the shit outta them knots from fussin’ at ‘em so much, so she was all pissed off so Ah couldn’t get at th’rest of it without riskin’ cuttin’ her while she kicked around yellin’ at me… 

And, man, her roommate was like ‘what’s wrong?’ an’ just walked right on in tuh us all buttered up an’ tangled. 

….An’ tha’s how me an’ Keith’s sister quit playin’ with ropes an’ stuck tuh leather cuffs. *Grins broadly and gestures for another drink*