My Muse is Loose - Feathered Hearts side story well underway · 3:19pm Apr 26th, 2021
I completed the first two side story chapters in under a week, typing in the 12,000 words between them like rapid-fire from a Marine M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) on my keyboard.
As much as I would love to publish them as a new story immediately, I won't. I'm going to wait until I have the first story arc finished. Actually, the first chapter is the standalone Fortrakt story. It describes his plight from his own perspective of Tara's display and Gilda’s teasing, as well as what came after during and after his attempt to reach his room, and it came out completely different than what I originally envisioned for him--in a very good way! Turns out our birdie boi has some surprising but very fitting fetishes not even he was aware of; ones that I will be making full use of later.
The second chapter starts the Zap Apple Cider arc of the story, setting the stage for the cider-fueled fun to come. Each chapter in this arc will be told from a different perspective, and we'll open with Tara. As seems to be typical, there is a surprising amount of worldbuilding and character development happening even in my clopfics, so you'll learn a bit more about both her and her view on things, with a side of Lieutenant Nantz as well. Speaking of him, he's having some cider, too... 
Already starting work on the third chapter, which will be from Gilda's perspective and continue the tale as they slowly but steadily fall under the influence, and inhibitions are just as steadily erased. M-rated action will not be immediate, but escalate slowly and there'll be plenty of suggestive stuff to held build the tension. But while the third chapter remains in progress, have a teaser from the second:
“Want some flavor for your cider, sir?” Marco waved his flask of buffalo whiskey at Nantz, which they’d obtained from a stay in Appleloosa a month earlier. “Direct from the Buffalo lands!”
“Think I’d trust anything from you, Flip-boy?” the Lieutenant all but twinkled. The title might have been a slur, but given the affection he and the other Marines had for Marco for supplying them with various forms of video entertainment during their long deployment, it was far more a term of endearment. “You’ve already corrupted most of my Marines. So now you’re working on our hosts, too?”
“Of course, sir! As you can see, I’m currently corrupting them with that most obscene and evil of movies... called The Princess Bride!” he motioned to the frozen image projected on the wall in front of them, earning chuckles from Tara and the other humans.
“The Princess Bride? How uncharacteristically wholesome. Sure you’re not sick, Marco?” Nantz mocked, to the laughter of Chris and Sergeant Reyes. “I’m surprised you didn’t foist porn on them like you do for my Marines.”
“He tried, Lieutenant. But for some strange reason, they weren’t interested,” Tara noted mildly.
“She’s not lying,” Gilda confirmed as she plucked another piece of popcorn between two talons. “At least, I definitely wasn’t, though I can’t speak for my partner over there…” she added with a leering grin and wink at Fortrakt, who blushed hard and shifted uncomfortably.
“Figures. All joking aside, please be careful about what you show them, Marco,” Nantz admonished. “Remember the rules.”
“Yes, sir!” He fired the Marine officer a mock salute--the rules that Nantz referred to were to show the griffons nothing that would give away the function and capabilities of Marine weapons, including and especially movies with gunplay. “Actually, would you care to stay and watch, Lieutenant? We’ve got plenty of popcorn!” he invited, offering him a bowl.
“Thanks, but I’ll pass. I’ve got a large stack of reports to write thanks to today’s incident with Tara, but only after Merlina Marcus here gives me my nightly Aeric language lesson,” she said with a glance and grin down at the young eagless, earning a shy smile in return as she finished off her piece of chicken, stripping it of meat and then crunching down the entire bone before sitting back to lick her talons clean of the grease.
“Duty calls, huh?” Marco chuckled. “Then how about some dinner and cider to go, sir? We’ll even offer up a bowl of popcorn if you like.”
“Sold!” Nantz nodded as he took a long draw on the offered mug of cider, waiting for Reyes and Marco to put together a chicken platter that included the two side dishes Marco had made—hard boiled eggs dipped in batter that had then been fried, and a pork-and-vegetable noodle dish.
As they finished, the Marine officer stared down at his mug in surprise. “Wow, even without liquor, that is really good. You want some hot cider too, Merlina?” Nantz turned to his right, where the young eagles had been listening to the exchange in equal parts interest and confusion. “I think you’ll like it.”
“Oh. Um, yes. Please,” she nodded, to which Marco then filled a large thermos for them both rather than require them to carry multiple bowls and mugs down the hall. They’d learned that could be awkward for griffons, given it would require them to walk with three legs or attempt to fly them there without spilling them.
‘Well, we’ll take our meal with us, then. But before that, I do actually have one piece of serious business I need to discuss,” he told them, suddenly more serious as he turned to face Tara. “Miss Fields, may I speak with you in private for a minute?”
Tara looked up in surprise but nodded and stood up. “Certainly, Lieutenant.”
There's plenty more where this came from, and with my muse engaged, we are full speed ahead on writing this. My prereaders have been quite pleased so far as well. More updates and teasers--including some more adult ones--will follow as I get more chapters finished.
Nice
I still want the first thing that they see post rules to be John Wick... Scare the everliving shit out of them as to the capabilities of a human.
"So this is fake too?"
"Nope, rumour is he didn't even use a stuntman for this bit."
*Terrified cat bird noises*
looks like the "cultural exchange" is in full swing?
some griffons are going to have a fun time with all the marines knowing for what they have to keep an eye out...
I'm excited, I like what you've shown off! Also, I hope the first sentence means that the marines have an M249. I imagine Fortrakt would be interested in trying it out.
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Thanks!
5506994
Sadly, I have never seen the John Wick series, though I know it by reputation.
*Followed by Strenus signing a treaty making the Kingdom an American protectorate the next day*
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Not yet. But it soon will be!
Well, there are two affected Marines, anyway. The rest might have to wait a bit--unless they can get their hands on that cider, which is far more than it appears! In all honesty, I know what's going to happen with Nantz after a couple mugs of cider, but not yet with Reyes. Any suggestions?
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Thank you!
They do indeed, as well as few other goodies that will remain secret for now. Will we see a SAW-armed griffon like Fortrakt before all is said and done spraying death on the Cloven from above? Put it this way--I don't think I could get away with not having that happen later!
excitement
Some of the best words that a reader can hear from an author.
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Hype!
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Considering how rare it can be, they're the best words an author likes to say, too!