Sunday Snippet: The Xanthic Flu

Whew! My daughter's third prom is down and out of the way. She's the junior class president so I had chaperone duties and, wow, let me tell you… I ran my ass off last night. LOL And, of course, the weather ended up being a complete downer. Rainy and actually pretty chilly for the end of April. However, I think this year's dress is pretty much my favorite.

Anyway… while I'm putting my feet up, I'll dive into this week's television viewing. I Finished up Iron Fist and it didn't disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed Ward and Joy's conversation. I'll be really happy to see Davos taken down. I want to be sympathetic, but yeah, not really feeling it. Misty and Colleen need their own show. Just saying.

Caught the Classic Roswell episode, "Heat Wave" and it's one I really loved when it aired the first time. Still loved it this time around too.

Watched the Arrow Elseworlds episode. Quite enjoyed it even though it's the only one I've seen in the crossover event. I'll have to catch The Flash and Supergirl when they make it to a streaming platform. It really annoys me that full seasons aren't available on the network's app. Or at least keep the crossover on for the full season.

Also caught another episode of Murdoch Mysteries. Based on a little google fu, it looks like there will be another season, which makes me very happy.

Watched episode three of The Murders and I like where this show is going. I'm kind of happy to know why Nolan isn't a big fan of Paul in guns and gangs. I'm also glad to have a little more insight into Kate's relationship with her mom.

Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries is such a great spinoff. I really hope there ends up being another season of this one. The second episode had terrific chemistry between all of the characters and I'm such a fan of the secondary ones.

I have some things to discuss about Roswell, New Mexico's finale and I'll save those for later. Caught an episode of Painkiller Jane and it's one I like the first time around. Answers start revealing themselves about Jane's ability. I truly do wish this series had a second season if only for more of those.

Underbelly Razor's penultimate episode dropped some big moves and is titled the same. With one more episode left in this incarnation, I'm excited to see how things end for the women.

Watched a Midsomer Murders episode and, well, found it kind of odd. Then again, with fourteen seasons in front of it and several more to go, there has to be an odd one here and there, right?

Caught two more episodes of Peter Gunn and I don't remember seeing either of them previously. I'm such a fan of how Peter's group of friends and colleagues add so much to the show.

Okay… Roswell, New Mexico's season finale. Wow. Seriously. It's been a long time since a show gave me a gut-punch feeling and I'm not quite sure how I feel about having one. The episode had so much going on, but all the episodes usually do. The acting ended up being stellar, from, I'm not kidding, everyone. As for where things went? I'm honestly still working through how I feel. I'm thrilled there's a second season, which hopefully means a solution for the thing that happened. I haven't decided if I trust this showrunner yet. So far, I've loved everything from the characters to the plot points, even with the somewhat neglected Maria, and pulling a shock-value move makes me slightly twitchy, hence my inability to fully trust how things will play out. That said, you can bet my ass will glued to the screen when the second season premieres, so there's that. I might have more about the season overall on my sister blog Universes Altered.

And that's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from The Xanthic Plague (or Flu… I haven't quite decided yet), a novella that started with a writing community prompt of creating a scene or story where the characters are sick with a cold, the flu, something where all they can do is sit back and let others take care of them.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Rowan Buel and Fuller Beckett are competitive by nature, but when they contract the Xanthic flu—a nasty virus that turns the skin yellow—at the same time, it takes their game of one-ups-manship to the extreme. Isolated and quarantined together, they duo learns working together can actually be fun.

And a sneaky peek…

Fuller backed out of the shower stall and grabbed his towel. "Shit. No way." He carried it with him into the changing area instead of drying off. "It'll just make me itch more."

Rowan groaned. "Wish I'd thought of that. I'm dying over here." Her arms braced against the locker and her head hung low between her shoulders.

She didn't have a stitch of clothing on.

Geez. Under better circumstances, I'd enjoy the terrific view.

But… her back had at least a dozen welts, standing in stark red contrast to her pale skin. His probably matched. Those damned bugs were relentless. She even had a couple of raised areas on her very nice ass.

Rowan heaved a sigh. "How many?" Her head rose and she angled to look back over her shoulder.

Fuller blinked and cleared his head. "Uh, what?" Hopefully, he'd kept his blatant staring hidden.

Rowan smirked. "Bites. How many bites do you have?" She reached inside the locker and yanked out a T-shirt.

Okay, he hadn't managed to keep his ogling under wraps.

He tossed his unused towel in his cubby. "Ones I can see? Twenty-two." His arms were covered and his neck had several on each side.

She checked him out. "Looks like you've got a line of them going up your ribs." She held up her right arm. "I got a string on my inner bicep." Sure enough, four welts dotted her skin in an almost straight path.

Fuller angled his back around. "Got three on my back on two on my shoulders." They itched like crazy, probably because they were talking about them.

Rowan snorted. "Did you count the three on your ass?" She raised an eyebrow.

Fuller snarked right back. "Did you count the two you have there?"

She groaned. "Dammit. That puts me at twenty-three. You've got me beat." Her face brightened. "You know, I think I'm okay with your win on this one." She gingerly dragged the T-shirt over her head.

Fuller rolled his eyes. "Figures you're all grace and goodness when I come out ahead with something that sucks ass." He dreaded putting clothes on and having the fabric chafe at the bites.

Rowan shimmied into a pair of fatigues then winced. "Shit. This is awful. I'm not even fully dressed and the itching is insane." She flexed her fingers but didn't scratch at the various bites covering her.

Fuller finished dressing and couldn't disagree. No way would they get much work done if they didn't find some kind of relief from the bug bites.

He left his shirt untucked and closed his locker. "I'm going to check in with Doc Ambrose in the infirmary. See if he's got anything to alleviate the itching." He glanced over his shoulder. "Wanna come with?"

She grimaced. "Not really, but I will. Haven't had clothes on for five minutes and I already want to strip back down to nothing." She fell into step beside him. "Something tells me the XO won't let us walk around naked."

Fuller snorted. "You've got a point." He leaned in closer and pitched his voice low. "Although, I wouldn't mind the view. Welts and all." He straightened and kept his gaze straight ahead.

Rowan carefully nudged him with her shoulder. "You say the sweetest things. I'd bet my next pay grade you'd have half the ship lined up to watch you pull a maintenance detail if you weren't wearing anything."

As far as compliments went, he'd take that one, especially coming from Rowan.

And she'd be about the only person he'd want to watch him work in the nude.

They think the worst is over… it's so not. LOL

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: X-Ray Tango

To all who celebrate Easter, I hope it's a good holiday. Another weird weather week in Ohio. I know, big shock, right? Actually turned on the AC one day because the house was stuffy and humid. The next day, I turned it off because the temperature dropped thirty degrees again. Needless to say, it's a combination of AC and furnace for the next few weeks.

Decent television week. I did get to finish Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries and it was… soooo good. I'll finish up the other three episodes, but I'm pretty sure I'd like to see more. Here's hoping they'll do another season.

Caught another episode of Painkiller Jane and it's one I remembered from the original run. I'll admit I was disappointed there weren't more episodes even though fandom in general thought the show fared poorly against the source material.

Watched another episode of Underbelly: Razor and, yeah, the women are starting to feel the burn from the law. I wanted to empathize with Tillie but couldn't quite get there. She's just not drawing my sympathy and I can't really explain why. Kate, though, I kind of sympathize with. Nellie… is Nellie. Not quite sure what I feel for her plight.

Finished up Midsomer Murders and enjoyed the rest of the episode. I'm almost through the fourteenth series and I'm still liking the show. There's never a shortage of interesting little bits worked into the stories.

Roswell, New Mexico… the penultimate episode. Holy crap. So much happened. Questions were answered but a ton of new ones popped up from those answers. I really need another season because there's no way it can have a satisfying end with only one more episode to go. I need to know how Maria's mom fits into the situation at Caufield, if she even does, or at the very least, I need to know why she's so scrambled. And, dammit, I need Maria to know what's going on and put her two cents in. I dipped my toe into the fandom waters and, yeah, I'll probably steer clear. I love the potential interactions with everyone, including Alex, Michael, and Maria. While I'm not a full-on fan of triangles, I do like messy and awkward feelings that have to be resolved somehow. I also love how many different definitions of family there is to wade through on the show. The kind of big thing I'm dreading is a possible death in the last episode. I've got a gut feeling of who it might be and I’m not ready for it.

Also, I'm sad to see Jenna go, if she really does. Here's hoping she might make her way back in the future. The interactions between Jenna and Liz were so damn good, as in there was awkwardness but none of the bitchy-girl, fur-flying stuff that's so lame. Kudos for that!

Caught two more episodes of Peter Gunn and both were ones I hadn't seen. Pete and Edie remind me of Nick and Nora. Weird, I know. I think it's a vibe thing. Nora totally had Nick's number and I think Edie is the same way with Peter.

Watched episode four of Blade. Nice to come back to this after a long hiatus. I'm looking forward to more one season wonders on the CW Seed app.

Caught Strike Back and loved so much about this episode. Nice to have Zarkova back among the group. So cool to see Chetri pretty much rescue herself. And Alexander ending up in Moscow was better than expected. Wyatt and Novin are never boring and Mac needs to keep his choose better times to get sexed up. That's a lot of information to pack into a one-hour nutshell.

Watched the beginning of the next arc of Classic Who. This one is about the time meddler and I'm interested to see where it goes. Got a surprise when the guy from the Dalek episodes showed up. Didn't see that coming.

Caught a majorly great episode of Chicago Fire. Watching the women deal with the terrible accident in Indiana while the guys held a chili cook-off worked really well. The fact that the doom and gloom crew won—and one of the members is the dude from the Sonic commercials—kind of made my day.

Also started an episode of Iron Fist and it's full of Misty right now so I'm loving the hell out of it. Just saying.

That's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from X-Ray Tango, a novella that started with a story prompt of… your characters love to fight but they can't win all the time; nasty wounds and bruises require comfort, right?

Here's the mini-blurb:

Kellan Gates and Josh Robertson do not get along, constantly vying for top position in their squadron. But when they're transferred to another ship, Josh is targeted by a former nemesis that uses program X-ray Tango to keep Josh in check, which fires up Kellan—no one is allowed to give Josh a hard way to go except her.

And a sneaky peek…

Well, shit. She had him there. No one flew like she did, or put the same amount of work into being the best.

Josh snapped his mouth shut and gave her a terse nod. The victorious look she sent his way had him shaking his head. In less than two seconds she'd be gloating like she owned the world.

And he'd never hear the end of it. Of course, her swaggering out of the briefing room gave him a brief moment to brace for impact and let her crow in victory to the milling pilots outside.

He tilted his head to one side, enjoying the way her ass moved under her fatigues. "Maybe having her strutting around like she owns the universe won't be so bad after all." He followed her out into the corridor and, sure enough, she had the squadron gathered around her.

Kellan poked her head up over the assembled group to flash him a grin. "Nice of you to join us, Robo. Any requests about your wingman before I get started on the flight roster?" The challenge in her gaze didn't go unnoticed by the group.

Josh shrugged. "I fly at your leisure. Whoever you assign as my wingman is all right with me." He did an invisible hat tip and started down the causeway.

One of the perks of being squadron leader gave them the responsibility of shuffling the lineup. The CAG made a tentative schedule and left it up to the leader to post the final version. Josh usually tweaked one or two slots and only when he had to. And Kellen, oddly enough, got her shorts in a twist whenever he made those changes. The woman didn't like anything that mucked up her routine.

Or maybe she only enjoyed giving him shit all the time.

Kellan broke away from the pilots. "Hold up, Robertson." She hustled to his side. "You seriously don't care who I put you with?" Her tone held a teasing edge.

Josh kept moving but glanced in her direction. She had a smirk on her face, which somehow looked sweet and sultry at the same time. Ugh. The pull of attraction whenever he landed in her orbit reared up again.

I need to get a handle on that.

And figure out what kind of answer she wanted. "Look, put me with Roundabout. He could probably use the good numbers." Les Wagner had the worst stats in the squadron.

Kellan's lips thinned to a flat line and she paused. "You're zero fun, Josh." She pitched her voice low so only he could hear. "Nobody wants to fly with Roundabout. His numbers will go up but yours will suffer." She emphasized her point with raised eyebrows.

Josh snorted. "And that's bad for you how?" He quirked an eyebrow. "Means you might get to squadron leader next week too." Fairly pleased, he ambled forward and left her sputtering for a response.

"You're an ass, Robertson."

He grinned but didn't let her see it. "I'm told it's a gift, Gates. And it keeps on giving." He rounded the corner and barely kept from laughing. "Round one goes to me."

Which meant he'd better have his shit together if he wanted to stay a step ahead of her.

I like how this one is going. Josh and Kellen's rivalry needs to be established but it's also important to get their attraction on the page. They're going to need it and each other for what comes later.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Wounded Birds

It's been a busy, busy week. I've got a new long-term project in a new to me genre and I’m excited to get started. Also finished up a couple of copy editing projects that were fun to work on.

About normal television viewing. I finished up the rewatch of Roswell, New Mexico. I'm serious when I say this show is kind of consuming me right now. Also caught the newest episode and it's everything I expected as to the reveal of the fourth alien but it also surpassed my expectations in so many ways. I don't know if there's going to be a triangle with Michael, Maria, and Alex but I actually like where things are right now. I'm not a huge fan of triangles but this has potential to be really interesting.

Caught another episode of Underbelly: Razor and really liked where things went. Wally leaving Kate came at just the right time and I'm interested to see how she fares without him. I'm also excited to see where Tillie and Nellie end up. Probably not in the best circumstances.

Watched two more episodes of Peter Gunn. This is such a great show for inspiration when I want to write something with a flair of noir. It's moody and stylish and the mix of grim and dark with humor is excellent.

Caught an episode of Strike Back and my heart goes out to Wyatt. At the same time, I'm totally down with Coltrane going rogue. It's such a section twenty thing to do. And the responses from the team? Perfect. I'm kind of hoping Katrina sees used-to-be Pavel as the evil force he is and switches allegiance again. We'll see what happens.

Watched another episode of Chicago Fire and loved how the group came together for Foster. Doctor Asshat definitely got the message. At least I hope he did.

Iron Fist had a great episode. I love watching Ward try to navigate through emotions. Joy, I'm not so sure about. I can't quite decide if I understand and sympathize where she's coming from or if I want to write her off the way I've written Trish off in Jessica Jones.

Caught an episode of Classic Roswell and Alex and Liz broke my heart all over again. I did love, love, love the way they took Topolski down though.

Watched an episode Murdoch Mysteries. The reporter lady drives me nuts but I loved how she handled getting William and Julie to recognize how much George contributed to their book. The murder case also entertained.

Caught the second episode of The Murders and I really like the partnership between Nolan and Kate. I want to know more about both characters.

I started Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries and I'm excited to see how this show stacks up to Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.

That's pretty much it for TV this week. Tonight's post is from Wounded Birds, a novella that started with a writing community prompt to write about sickness. Sounds like a weird concept but it ended up being fun.

Here's the mini-blurb:

When weeping sickness hits a space carrier hard, pilots Minka Kovak and Channing Santclar are two of the first to go down, which creates a problem since the fleet relies on them to keep the planes in the air. But when the duo gets through the worst of the virus—without killing each other—they end up working from their isolation alcove to shuffle the schedule and fill the flight roster.

And a sneaky peek…

Two hours later, Channing rolled his shoulders and tilted his head from side to side. "Ugh. Okay, break time." He glanced at the stack of panels they had left. "We've got what? Maybe two years of information left to scan and send?" The tedious work had his muscles all kinked up.

Minka jumped off her stool. "Finally!" She came around the counter and leapt on top of him.

He caught her with both hands, but crashed back against the neighboring shelves, sending a bunch of sealed glass beakers crashing to the floor. Minka stilled in his arms, glancing over his shoulder. He followed her line of sight to the growing pool of rainbow colors mixing on the floor.

Minka swung her gaze back to his. "Oops. Sorry about that." She wriggled out of his grasp. "Think we better clean that up?" Her eyes shifted back and forth, no doubt seeking something to mop up the spilled liquid.

Channing shook his head. "Why bother? No one's coming back here once we get those panels uploaded." He reached for her, grabbing her hips and pulling her flush against him.

Her lips curved in a sexy smirk. "Hmmm. I think someone wants to get down and dirty more than cleaning stuff up." She rubbed her groin into his. "And I'm totally here for that idea." Her hand worked the button of his fatigues loose while she toed off her boots.

Lowering his head, he nibbled the column of her throat. "I'll admit I'd rather be buried balls deep in you than swiping a mop across the floor." Licking a trail along her jawline, he brought his mouth close to hers. "Any objections?" His lips hovered barely a breath away.

Minka flicked her tongue out. "Hell, no. I've spent the last two hours waiting not so patiently for some fun." Her fingers lowered the zipper on his pants and she fished her hand inside to grasp his cock.

Her warm fist made a poor substitute for what he wanted. He kicked his boots off.

Easing away from her, he yanked his shirt over his head. "Fun sound good." He pushed her shirt up, his palms gliding over her skin to cup her breasts.

Minka let go of his dick and shed her tee and bra. "It always does, especially with you." Her pants hit the floor and she shoved them aside with her foot.

He dropped trou and stepped away from the fatigues pooled around his ankles. "Hard and fast or nice and slow?" His fingers wrapped around his hard shaft.

Minka licked her lips. "How about both?" She turned away from him and stuck her ass out. "Gimme hard and fast first." She crooked her finger and wiggled her butt.

His mouth watered and a moan rumbled up from his chest. Her sculpted cheeks would tempt anyone to gaze and stare. And appreciate.

Minka snapped her fingers. "Channing. Don't make me wait." She braced a hand on the counter and used the other to delve between her legs. "I'm hot, wet, and ready."

He moved forward and guided his dick between her slick folds, nudging the head inside her core. "Feels good, Minka." He flexed his hips, sinking deep, her warmth an enveloping perfection.

He only waited a second before drawing back and sliding forward again. He gripped her hips in his hands and set a rapid staccato of retreat and return.

Minka groaned. "Yeah, it does. It feels incredible."

I'm actually having a lot of fun with this. Minka and Channing are about to learn a lesson about using caution when they're off the ship.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Words Not Necessary

So… not a bad week overall. A little slower, which I truly appreciate. I did have a sick kid, but she's on the mend now. A quick trip to pick her up from work had to happen but otherwise, she's feeling much better.

Had some decent television viewing. Mainly some repeat watches of current favorite shows and catching up on a few marathons. I did catch a few new episodes also.

Chicago Fire had a terrific episode. I have to say I'm not a fan of the boys fighting amongst themselves. New guy breaking the ice is going to be one of my favorite bits from the series.

Watched Iron Fist and things are moving along. Nice to see a little progress with Ward but I have a dreadful feeling his trust will bite him on the ass. Thrilled to finally see what the hell is up with Mary and, boy, the reveal didn't disappoint. Looking forward to the next episode.

Caught another episode of Classic Roswell. I'd forgotten about the Native American angle. Looking forward to the next episode.

Also watched an episode of Murdoch Mysteries. I don't know if this is the last season, but they seem to be tying off a lot of loose ends. If it is… it's been a wonderful twelve years.

I started casually watching Blue Bloods. It's not really a show I want to add to my roster, but marathons are on every day and I've seen pretty much of the first five seasons. I'm now paying more attention and trying to catch up on season six and onward. I do love the family angle of this show.

Started a new Canadian show, The Murders, mainly because Dylan Bruce is one of the regulars. That said, I loved the first episode. I'm looking forward to more.

With no new episode of Roswell, New Mexico this week, I started another rewatch. This show… man, I can't get enough of it right now. I might have to start a recap series on my fandom blog. Stay tuned. I'll let everyone know if it happens.

That's pretty much my week in television. Tonight's post is from Words Not Necessary, a novella that started with a challenge of writing a scene with all dialog but no tags or conversely write something with no dialog with the goal of having the reader be able to tell which character said or did what. I took the prompt and gave it something of a spin.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Sometimes an outside observer can provide a lot of insight on a couple's relationship, even if they'll never understand it. London and Braun are so in tune with each other they rarely speak, yet their communication is evident for anyone to see.

And a sneaky peek…

London strolled into the quarters, fresh from a shower. "Do you remember the time we planned the Bell's outpost op?"

Braun glanced up from reading an after action report. "I do. Went off without much of a hitch, didn't it?" Where did she pull that memory from?

London nodded and took the file from him. "It did." She swung a leg over his lap and straddled his thighs. "Think that's the first time we did the communicating without words thing?" Her hands landed on his shoulders and she leaned against the table.

He cocked his head to one side, considering the question. "Maybe. Actually, yeah, I think it was." Man… he'd never thought much about how often they kind of carried on entire conversations without speaking a word. "What brought this subject up?"

She smiled. "Your little pep talk on the hangar deck. Delia, Specialist Carruthers, wanted to know how we do what we do and I honestly couldn't give her an answer." Her lips twisted again. "Except that we just do." Her fingers dug into his shoulders, kneading a knot he didn't know he had.

Braun quirked an eyebrow. "And her question got you thinking about what? The first time we were on the same wave length?" They were almost always on the same page, weirdly attuned to each other's thoughts.

He rarely gave it much consideration. Maybe he should.

London nodded. "Mm-hm. I mean, I think we probably finished each other's sentences for a long time before that mission prep, but that's the first time I remember really being a zone with you to the point we kind of planned the whole thing without saying a word." She eased forward, nuzzling her lips along his throat.

His eyes slid shut and his mind went back to that planning session. They'd been in a meeting with five other people—three pilots, the tactical weapons officer, and the XO. After almost thirty minutes of strategizing and getting nowhere, London swept all the mock ships off the board and started from scratch.

Braun followed her placement while the rest of the group argued back and forth over what they wouldn't be doing. He picked up a model representing an enemy alert fighter and placed it on the lit-up table. London shook her head and pointed two grids over. Yep. That would be where they'd come from. They continued planning the entire op by pointing, swiping, moving pieces around, followed by shaking their heads, nodding, making stabbing and sweeping motions. They agreed, disagreed, argued, and compromised—all without speaking. Or noticing the room had gone silent also. When everything met on the grid to their satisfaction, they high-fived each other.

The XO stood with his arms folded across his chest and made a snarky comment. "Looks pretty and all, but do you maybe wanna share the details with the rest of the group so someone can brief the necessary personnel?"

Which they had, obviously. And they'd done the weird no-words conversations since then.

London brushed her lips over his and mumbled against his mouth. "Does this whole kinship thing make us strange or special?"

Braun reached around and cupped her ass cheeks in his hands. "Let's go with a special kind of strange." He drew her forward, nudging his hard-on against the heat at the apex of her thighs.

London chuckled, a low throaty sound. "Yeah, I like that. A special kind of strange." Her chin lowered and her lips slanted over his.

I'm having fun with the challenge of showing how communicating without words works for this couple.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye