He was careful, meticulous even, placing down the drop cloth on the floor in the sunroom, straightening the edges, palming out the wrinkles, paying close attention to the corners of the room where the fabric was starting to wriggle away, exposing a splinter of floorboard. He certainly didn’t want to have to make any more work for himself than was absolutely necessary. No drips, no mess, no additi...

Oh how she loves it here, here where everything is familiar. It’s what she’s used to, comfortable with, it’s where she can inhabit a world shaped to her size, where harbingers of practically no surprises dwell, where she can revel in tightly bounded pleasures all on her own terms, where expectations are slashed to a manageable edible digestible size. This, the daily rhythm of a safe life is an ea...

Gilarcha’s neck is being stretched, slowly their head being tipped from one side to the other, its elegant length being swooped around in semi-circles. They feel the resistance, the tightness, the deep deep slumber still trapped inside. Then they feel the fingers which start to pad in and around crevices, kinks and knots; gently, slowly, cautiously lifting their head up, a slight pull and a gentle...