Welcome to Rainbow Snippets! Every Saturday, six sentences of LGBTQ+ fiction is posted and shared. It can be your own. It can be someone else’s. It just needs to be LGBTQ+
It’s actually still Friday for me, but I noticed Rainbow Snippets has gone live on Facebook, so I’m edging into other time zones ahead of PST. 🙂
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Peter will be picking up where he left off on Wednesday (QueerBlogWed) in Unwilling to Be Yours…he’d just decided that Damian Ashelocke was a prick. Not that he hadn’t guessed as much…
This is a little longer than six sentences, but Peter would *not* let me cut him short. (wry grin)
“There was something he wanted,” Christopher whispered.
My delight died at the way his eyes glistened.
“He wanted it badly enough to create a Door, regardless of the results.” Christopher fixed his gaze at the painting in an almost hungry fashion.
Right. Damian had created a Door in his own painting, stepped through, and vanished.
It didn’t matter that such a thing was impossible. It didn’t matter that doing something impossible tear reality in two, causing who knows what kind of damage to ‘Brie, her shop, or her customers. It didn’t matter that disappearing would break the heart of the boy who adored him.
Such things didn’t matter to such a Perfect Prick.
inspirationcauldron 
Christopher: He is *not* a prick!
Peter: (grumbles) I can’t believe you’re defending him…
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Love it! Especially the “Perfect Prick”–from this snippet alone I can believe it!
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Thank you! 🙂
Peter: You don’t know how long I’ve waited to call him that. (tries not smirk and fails)
(Christopher tries not to sulk and also fails. )
🙂
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Walking away from someone who loves you like that, with no explanation… Yeah, I agree with Peter.
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Peter: (nods emphatically)
Christopher: (looks even more depressed)
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Christopher: He did warn me he was leaving…
“I thought the Navel was your home!”
“It is, but I’m offering it to you,” Damian said, glancing down at me without slowing his stride. People glanced at us, only to scuttle out of the way, intimidated by my companion’s determined pace. We arrived at the garden gate all too quickly. “In return, I’m hoping you’ll give me the Shadow Forest.”
“Give you the Shadow Forest?” I echoed, astonished beyond belief. “Whatever made you think it was mine?”
“Perhaps I phrased that wrong,” Damian said, stopping in front of the gate. Much of his angry energy diminished, when he reached out to touch its wooden slates and breathe in the scent of the flowers resting on the other side. “I’m hoping you’ll show me my true path through the Shadow Forest. I want to discover it, through my art.”
Christopher, remembering and quoting from Waiting for Rebirth
Peter: One, you should have mentioned that Saturday when all the Snippeteers were here. I doubt they’ll have the time or the inclination to listen to you defend Damian. Two, his statement was far too enigmatic. Three, he’s still a Perfect Prick.
Christopher: (sulks)
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What did he want more than the person who adored him? I’d like to know.
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That is the big question which Christopher is still trying to figure out. (wry grin)
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Okay, I’ve been meaning to say this, but I absolutely am in love with the concept of disappearing into a painting. I’ve loved it since reading Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and I always wanted to write such a story. I love this here, with Damian doing exactly that but how there are consequences to his actions.
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You’ve just hit the nail on the head as to the theme of my entire series…people can do magical, impossible things, make their wishes come true, but there are consequences. Damian offered his life in Omphalos to Christopher in return for the Shadow Forest. Pouring his inspiration into a painting, using Christopher as a source of inspiration…he succeeded in opening a Door to his dreams, but he hurt at least two people badly in doing so.
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I don’t think that gets written about enough. Lots of times, there seems almost to be a reward in doing these magical-door-openings. I like having a different perspective on it.
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I definitely agree!
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Peter: (nods)
Christopher: (continues to sulk)
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Thank you!
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Powerful ending. The impossible magic takes second place to the strong feelings of abandonment. How dare they disappear through a picture, it doesn’t matter how fantastical that disappearing act is.
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Thank you! It’s not quite so fantastical to Christopher, who came from the place Damian disappeared into, nor to ‘Brie or Peter, which shows they’re quite odd themselves. 🙂 Hmm, it looks like I’ll need to stress their oddness more. It could be I’m being too subtle about it. (ponders)
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It’s an interesting point – very often, stories deal with characters taking a risky journey into adventure, but we (and they) very rarely spare any thought for those they leave behind.
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Thank you! It’s something I wanted to explore, which I’ve found myself thinking about a great deal. CLAMP raised this point often in their manga. My characters are taking it in their own direction in their stories.
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Aww, poor Christopher.
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Yes, he’s never gotten over Damian leaving.
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Was he aware of the consequences when he did it? Or was it more in the nature of experimenting?
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Heh, excellent question. You, too, have hit the nail on the head, although I can’t say much more without spoilering things…
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I have to agree with Peter. (But I also think opening a door in a painting and stepping through is really cool)
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(Peter nods emphatically, while looking sulky)
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Maybe –maybe Damian was doing the noble thing by making the door and escaping–yeah, that’s it 🙂
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Christopher: (perks up and looks hopeful)
Peter: (shakes his head)
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