Berlin (they/them)

@ba-berlin.bsky.social

13 Followers 153 Following

Fledgling author, walker of dogs, nature enthusiast ✨️

A plate covered in food: white rice, chickpeas in a well-spiced tomato sauce, red onions, and cilantro.
Photo of a lake. The sun is shining from a cloudless sky while sailing boats bob in the calm waters.
A new text popped up. "shrimp r weird" Nothing else followed. Not for a whole minute. "How so?" "free-flowing blood, no veins, heart in head, some of the lil fkrs dance" Evan was smiling. He pressed a hand over his mouth. Oncoming tears flooded his mouth with saliva. He was ready for this day to be over.
The door eased open on silent hinges. "I figured I'd bring the coffee to you before it goes cold." Evan sat the mug down on the plant-covered nightstand. He placed what had to be Aleksander's glasses next to it. It was the nightstand on Evan's side of the bed, the side closer to the door. A shameless impulse had Aleksander bury his face in Evan's pillow as he rolled over. "Hmm. Thanks." "No worries." Fingers combed through his hair at the back of his head - 'rat-tat-tat-tat'. "I'll pack a bag for the trip. Take your time waking up." The fingers were gone before he could relax into the touch.
Aleksander was safe. Nothing had happened to him. Dani must have kept an eye on him. He was fine. He was in Canada with a witch who had raised him, who had kept him safe before. He was fine. Evan should have checked in on him. He hadn't answered David or Alessandro's texts either. He couldn't. Soft rain pitter-pattered onto the metal roof of the van. Fingers shaking, Evan tapped the call button in the upper right corner. He held the phone to his ear. "You're lucky I bought unlimited data," Aleksander said. The restaurant he was at had to be busy, chatter in the background, distant music. "Hey." The greeting was choking for air. "Hey." Aleksander's voice softened. You okay?" "Yap, all good. Physically in peak form, good as always. Got checked out by a MD and everything. Head, lungs, blood work. Tip top, or at least not worse? Mentally, I'm a bit fucked up, but you know, what's to be expected, right?" Evan held the phone tighter. "Right.'"
"I do not trust his involvement will aid us in-" Olivia clutched the crumpled tissue in her hand harder, "-in the r-rescue of my, of my, my- he is too steered by impulse, and he has not received as throughout a training to be qualified for such an undertaking, not when the well- being of my, of- not under such unprecedented circumstances." Mother's left eyelid twitched, and twitched, and twitched again. "I understand your concerns, Seer Olivia," she said. "He is involved in but one of the infiltrations. As discussed, his anonymity in the community offers a unique opportunity we shall not cast aside without reason." Her eyes fell on Evan, the hazel brown stern and unyielding. "Seer Evan, tonight the youngest son of the VanderMeer clan is celebrating his twenty-first birthday."
Evan had to stop avoiding the thought of her, but it might leave him unable to function if he did. He'd pushed away all mention of her to keep going. He'd been running, running away.
A photo of a hot pink book called: The Poetry Pharmacy - Forever - by William Sieghart. The logo is of to interlinked Ps, and the subtitle reads: New prescriptions to soothe, revive and inspire. The last line is: Particular books.
The late August sun shone on the undisturbed waters of the lake as if it were a mirror fitted between two mountain sides. Evan drove along the shoreline, the windows rolled down to allow the smell of the woods to tousle his hair: aromatic fir and beech trees, the musk of moss and rotting vegetation, the sweet floral of a bright yellow patch of globeflowers.