Grim Views

“Repulsive, halfling child.” The nurse snarled. “It’s ears are stubby and it’s eyes are blue !” Nathandiel held the swaddled child, tucking the discoloured, over-washed blanket under the infant’s chin. They didn’t attend to children in the Undercity and so the new baby had no blue blanket to betray ...

It should have been harder to get that good a view of the playground. Even without the false pretense, a strange man with a turned-up collar lurking at trees only yards from where young boys played should not have been so simple to do. Sixty grand a year and it was this simple? He was off on his est...

When Nathandiel had been at boarding school, it had been common for the boys to get up to business with each other--in light of there being no girls around to get up to business with . From what he knew, most of his school chums had ceased to bed their friends when they went on to University and wer...

Magical thinking: that was what doctors like Nathandiel called it when a patient was convinced that doing something--or, conversely not doing something--would lead to an outcome that, when looked at objectively, could not have been the result of the action or inaction. It was a staple of pathologica...

“You're the first to worry about what I like.” Baalthemar's words continued to loop in Nathandiel's mind throughout the evening as he worked. Baalthemar had come with a snack and a request to submit for the check-up that Nathandiel had suggested he have. Baalthemar was an orphan and no one had cared...

Nathandiel had woken up without his younger lover and had felt a moment's panic before he'd seen the fresh glass of water, the dish of biscuits, and the pain killers on a folded napkin on his bedside table. He'd relaxed then, a bit embarrassed by the acid-flash of fear he'd felt. Baalthemar wasn't g...

When Nathandiel arrived home he snuck up on the place. He successfully entered the garrison without drawing the attention of the dogs, and as he entered the main rooms he found he had also managed not to alert Baalthemar--a small victory all of its own. The other man was seated with the pups, gazing...

Nathandiel peers at the stretch of verse, his features curling with disgust.

"Weirdos." He declares. "This one especially."

"Do you want to see him?" Ann asked, looking up at him with her eyes so like his own, a tiny, pink infant wrapped in blue in her arms. Her pale face was flushed and her brow beaded with sweat from the effort of labour. "Don't you want to see your nephew?" She asked. Nathandiel st...

A baked potato stacked with cheddar cheese, broccoli, sour cream and smothered in vegetable butter was one of Nathandiel's favourite meals; it had been at home, and it was still his favourite with the Grim and at the Undercity. He shoveled another forkful of the delicious muck into his eager mouth, ...

Nathandiel had tried to sneak out from under Baalthemar’s vice-like hold after Baalthemar had fallen asleep, but the young man had clung to him with a desperation Nathandiel had only felt from a child— his child, specifically. Baalthemar was a grown man but sometimes his naiveté reminded him of his ...

Nathandiel woke when the pain crept back in. It poked at him, boring fingers into his wounds until he finally pulled himself up from the dark embrace of sleep. He groaned softly as he opened his eyes. Baalthemar had an arm across Nathandiel's chest, one reddened cheek resting on Nathandiel's shoulde...

Breakfast had been good, hearty even. The herbal tea had been a bit bland, but he was grateful. He assumed it had medicinal properties and those teas usually tasted quite bad to Nathandiel. Baalthemar had brought him the meal in bed after Nathandiel had uncuffed him. He'd even tried to intricately f...

Nathandiel awoke with a start, the force of the jostle making him jar his injured leg. He hissed and closed his eyes. He suppressed a string of curses and stilled himself. Next to him, Baalthemar was asleep. He sat up and shifted in the bed, lifting his injured limb and putting it on a pile of pillo...

Help him? I need to end him. He stood in the doorway, a hand on the jamb, stunned into stillness. His lips parted but he said nothing. "I. . . ." He started. He swallowed and tried again, blinking several times as if that would take away the unbelievable sight. "I . . . you need an i...