Works in Progress, Week Sixteen. Blood Bound and Bones of Earth

Here we are in December. You all know what that means!

COOKIEPOCALYPSE IS COMING!!!!

Cookiepocalypse 2019 will be starting next Sunday with the beginning of three color cookies.  Now, you notice (at least, you notice if you were with me the past two years)  that I’m starting Cookiepocalypse before finishing my Fall book.

Yup. Living dangerously this year. I have until December 14th to finish cookies, and until December 19th to finish Blood Bound. Bones of Earth has no set deadline. It’s done when it’s done, so long as I get my chapters up on Patreon each week.  Blood Bound has slightly more than three and a half chapters left, and one of those is almost entirely written in my head. That equates to just under 12K words.  I can do that. Bones of Earth, on the other hand, is set until after the turn of the year. So I can focus on Blood Bound and bring that book home. Even while baking.

It helps that Blood Bound is still amusing me. Daniel and Hiro are just so much fun to write.  I mean, I do enjoy all of my characters, but these two are just so good!  They come up with some great scenes.

***

Daniel laughed and hung up, then took his cup of coffee out into the living room. “Hiro!” he called. “Clara is here early! She’s on her way up.”

Hiro appeared in the bedroom door. “Is she?” he asked, coming out into the living room. He was mostly dressed in a gray suit, but he had his coat thrown over his arm, and a tie was dangling from one hand. He held it up. “Do you know how to tie this, Daniel?”

“A tie?” Daniel asked. He nodded. “Yeah, I can do that. Need help?”

Hiro laid his coat on the back of the couch and handed the tie to Daniel. “If you would?” he asked.

Daniel smiled and ran the silk through his fingers. He moved over to the couch and perched on the arm, then gestured Hiro closer. Hiro came to stand in front of Daniel, and Daniel draped the tie over his own shoulder before reaching up to fasten the topmost button of Hiro’s shirt. “Do you want fancy, or functional?”

“Functional will do,” Hiro answered. “I will have you show fancy to me later.”

“Sure,” Daniel said as he raised Hiro’s collar and picked up the tie. It was dark blue, with a pattern in silver that made Daniel think of fancy marble tiles. He slid the tie around Hiro’s neck and positioned it, hearing a soft chime. A moment later, Clara’s voice rang out.

“Good morning! I brought bagels and babka. And I brought hot chocolate, Hiro.”

“Just a minute, Clara,” Daniel called back. He checked the lengths of the ends of the tie, then started working, wrapping and tucking, then wrapping and tucking again, winding the silk around itself, then up and tugging the end down through a loop to form a perfect knot. He adjusted it, then smoothed Hiro’s collar. “There you are. All put together.”

Hiro smiled. “You did that well,” he said. “What is it?”

“Full Windsor.”

Hiro nodded. “And what would have the fancy been?”

“Either an Eldredge or a Trinity. I like them both. But they’re better with a solid tie. For a pattern like this, a Full Windsor is better. Or a Victoria.” Daniel grinned at the look on Hiro’s face. “I checked a book out of the library. All sorts of fancy knots for ties. I picked it up when I thought I’d be going in to the prep school. Thought it would be useful.”

“It is extremely useful,” Hiro agreed. His smile softened, and he raised his hands to rest on either side of Daniel’s neck. “I repeat. The rest of the vampires in New York are blind. And I am very lucky.”

“I think I’m the lucky one,” Daniel replied. He reached out and tugged on Hiro’s tie. “I’m going to enjoy taking care of you.”

Hiro leaned down and kissed him, and time seemed to stop. Daniel slid his hands down Hiro’s chest, letting them come to rest on his waist for a moment before hooking his fingers into the belt loops on Hiro’s pants and tugging him closer.

“I have an idea for tomorrow,” he murmured when Hiro let him breathe again.

“You’re thinking,” Hiro grumbled. “I’m doing something wrong.”

“Well, I have clothes on,” Daniel pointed out. “That’s an automatic penalty on the kicker.”

***

That last line made me giggle when I wrote it. (and yes, hot chocolate for Hiro. It’s explained in the story. You have to read it.)

Now, I am still enjoying writing Bones of Earth, too. But those characters are more comfortable.  I can’t share anything about them at the moment. Too many spoilers. Sorry.

And that’s pretty much all. I’m going to be making as many words as I can this week, so that I can make cookies next week.