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Tag: m/m fiction

Coat of Scarlet: A Clockpunk Tale, Part 8

by Siri Paulson Read previous installments: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 By the time Niko’s airship approached its next port, Marius knew he could delay no longer. They had been skirting the Continent and were to come in for refuelling and reprovisioning at Porto, since Olissipona, the other major city in West Iberia, was occupied with rebuilding. Niko hid it well, but by the increasing frequency he was stopping by to ask about his coat, Marius knew he was uncomfortable without it. Whatever business he had in port, he wanted to wear the justacorps. To make himself recognizable? To project an air of authority? Some other reason Marius could not guess? Regardless, the coat was ready, and Marius was only fooling himself by continuing to work on it. He was a little anxious about how his amendments would be received. More, he could not shake the fear that once he handed it over, Niko would have no further use for him. The moments they had shared made him reasonably certain that this fear had little basis in fact, yet it proved remarkably stubborn. Gloriana’s earlier warnings about Niko would not leave his ears. He did not even know what language they spoke in Porto. Still, he could not bear to keep Niko any longer from the coat that clearly meant so much to him. So, early in the morning before he could lose his nerve…

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Coat of Scarlet: A Clockpunk Tale, Part 7

by Siri Paulson Read previous installments: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 For Marius, deciding to make himself a place aboard ship was rather easier than the doing of it. Gloriana was friendly enough, but Marius dared not rely on her alone to be an ally among the crew; her comments about himself and Niko had been sufficiently ambivalent to give him pause, and moreover, being ship’s quartermaster kept her far too busy to nursemaid a land-rat. The other crew members tended to either give Marius a wide berth or rib him mercilessly. At least they confined their ribbing to his haplessness aboard ship; Gloriana seemed the only one brave enough to give commentary on Niko. He could have ingratiated himself with mending, but he was still working on the justacorps coat until his fingers cramped. It had been worn long enough that the lining needed mending in more spots than just the one, and the cuffs needed turning. The attempted theft at the docks had not improved matters, for it had been both torn – again – and dirtied. After all that, he was determined to return it to Niko in better condition than it had come to him. So he found himself with no spare skills to offer, nor any but the most basic knowledge of the workings of the airship. The best he could do was keep out of the way during maneuvers and drills –…

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Coat of Scarlet: A Clockpunk Tale, Part 6

by Siri Paulson Read previous installments: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 True to his word, Niko did not approach Marius for the next three days. The airship gained her distance from the busy skies around the city and settled into what Marius learned was cruising height – below the clouds, yet above the birds. They were high enough that he couldn’t look down without wanting to evacuate the contents of his stomach. It was unjust, he thought; there was insufficient motion to merit seasickness, and yet here he was feeling weak-kneed and queasy regardless. Marius found himself a succession of out-of-the-way corners to curl up in, often with the justacorps coat on his lap for lack of a table. Several of the niches had the advantage of allowing him to watch Niko at work. The captain’s confidence and swagger had dominated Marius’s little shop. Here aboard ship, among his crew, Niko’s airs seemed not only fitting but necessary. Small wonder he had been so anxious for the return of his scarlet coat. Everyone on the ship seemed to have an outsized personality, from Gloriana on down to the little cabin boy who spouted facts about airships – and this one in particular – at every opportunity. Everyone, that is, except Marius, who could not help but wonder what Niko had seen in a plain, unassuming tradesman like him. He had asked for time to settle in; now he began to fear…

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Coat of Scarlet: A Clockpunk Tale, Part 5

by Siri Paulson Read previous installments: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 Marius leaned on the railing of Niko’s airship, watching the dock workers as they clung to the spire below and untied the ropes that had tethered the ship. On the deck to either side of him, pirates hauled the ropes in and coiled them with impressive precision. The air sacs swelled, and the sails filled. The vessel slipped away gently into the night. Behind, the lights of the city gleamed like cloth-of-gold; ahead were the more scattered lights of the countryside, and beyond that a wide velvet-rich blackness that must be the sea. Nobody had paid him any mind, once he understood to keep out of the way. The pirates rushed to and fro, climbing and hauling and shouting. Niko stood on the raised deck at the…stern?…of the ship like a veritable island of calm, only making gestures now and then, or speaking to a crew member who rushed off to convey his orders. He looked like a man who could pull off a scarlet justacorps coat – not flamboyant, but self-assured as Marius himself could only dream of being. Just watching the man made his blood quicken. Marius watched, fascinated, until he realized he was trembling with cold. Now he understood the long coat and woolen tricorn hat, which had seemed above Niko’s station, for all that he wore them well. The crew seemed warm enough, moving about in shirtsleeves, but he…

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Coat of Scarlet: A Clockpunk Tale, Part 4

by Siri Paulson Read previous installments: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 “Oh, no you don’t!” Marius shouted, pelting after the red justacorps coat as it vanished into the crowd. The thief moved faster, but it wasn’t hard to keep that bright a colour in sight. As he dodged piles of lumber and moving carts, his thoughts galloped along just as fast. What kind of misbegotten son of a poxy dog would steal a coat anyway? Did they want it for the valuable fabric, or because they recognized it as Niko’s, or because there was something valuable in it he hadn’t noticed? Some of the seams had felt a bit bulky, but he hadn’t particularly wanted to unpick them to check whether something was hidden inside, on account of Niko being an airship pirate and all. Now he wished he’d known what exactly he had been entrusted with… Just how furious would Niko be if Marius couldn’t bring it back in time? He thought of Niko angry, the way the pirate had shoved him up against the wall of his own shop without any effort at all. Then he pictured Niko’s eyes clouded with an expression of betrayal. His stomach sank. He leaped over a coil of rope, ducked under a descending basket, and dove between two sailors of the female persuasion. A scrap of scarlet fluttered just ahead. Marius threw himself forward and tackled the thief. Two breaths later, and Marius was on his back in the…

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Coat of Scarlet: A Clockpunk Tale, Part 3

by Siri Paulson Read previous installments: Part 1 | Part 2 Marius bowed to Master Poole yet again, praying his customer would leave. Yes, Marius had done fine work on Master Poole’s vest, up to the last instant; yes, he had risen to the occasion despite the short notice for the party, for which Master Poole apologized once more; yes, he would be called upon again in future, with more notice this time, no doubt, although one never knew when an event would arise unlooked-for, when a society hostess might decide that her longstanding monthly party must be a masquerade this time, or when the fashions might change at the drop of a hat, so difficult keeping one’s wardrobe up to date, thank goodness for a good tailor… Marius let his thoughts drift towards the tall, dashing airship pirate with the incredible cheekbones who was even now preparing to sail away on the evening air currents. They’d made an agreement, he and Niko. He was to come along to finish Niko’s coat, and in return Niko would introduce him to the weavers of spider silk. And maybe he could get to know Niko better. The glimpse he’d had of Niko’s smoothly muscled chest had made him hungry for more. Of course, Niko was a pirate captain—he wouldn’t be impressed by a lowly tailor. But the heat in Niko’s eyes the last time they’d met…maybe there was hope. Master Poole kept on talking. All the time, Marius watched the sun drop…

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Coat of Scarlet: A Clockpunk Tale, Part 2

by Siri Paulson Read Part 1 first! Two days after the visit from the airship pirate, Marius was engrossed in the tiny stitches of a buttonhole when the shop door darkened. There was Niko again, frowning at the vest Marius was holding as if it had personally offended him. Today he wore a blue damask justacorps coat, snug enough through the torso to hint at his muscular shape, then flaring over the hips to end at the knee and show his finely turned legs in their white breeches to best effect. The fabric and cut of the coat were high-quality, Marcus saw, but the gold trim and other finishing details were not nearly as fine as on the coat he had left for mending. “What is that?” the pirate demanded, gesturing elegantly towards the vest. Marius realized he’d been staring. He set his needle hand moving again. “It’s a commission. Something for a party, I understand.” He’d been lucky to get such a complex job. Maybe, just maybe it would lead to more, extravagant outfits with details like cuffs and pleats and lots of fiddly little braids, or even a mantua for a lady, where he could really shine… “And what of my coat?” Marius looked up, blinking as his concentration fell away. Niko looked as imposing as he had the first time they had met, and he moved with an ease that implied that Marius’s stitches on his injury were doing their work well. But something about the way…

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