In the most technical sense, the first draft of Covenant is done. But I’m rewriting it from a fanfic, which is turning out to be a hell of a job. I keep discovering new things I need to know about the main characters. So I’ve put the main story (theoretically about 20k words) on hold while I doodle around with Ezra to flesh him and his past out a bit more.
It’s the little things that make the world of a story come alive–the sense that the character has a specific history and experiences that have made them who they are. And for Covenant, all that Ezra’s been and all he’s lost are his driving force and the reason for every decision he makes, both good and bad. So only having a general notion of what those are has left me feeling like I’m trying to run on sand.
Bart was Ezra’s lover. They were a gay man and a trans man in a 1930s New England factory town. The improbable happiness of the life they lived together before everything happened is the drumbeat of Ezra’s world.
***
Bart smiles down at him, smug with the prank he’s just pulled.
“Cheeky bastard,” Ezra growls, and yanks him in by that bolo tie he likes to wear. He doesn’t spare the muscle; he’s not big and Bart is.
When that doesn’t wipe the smirk off his boyfriend’s face, Ezra slaps him. Not too hard, just enough to be provocative. “How about you get on your knees and do something useful with that mouth, if it’s so smart.”
“Yes, *sir*,” Bart says. The smirk’s still in his eyes when he goes down to his knees for him, but Ezra will forgive him, because he does have a very clever mouth.
Hghhgghg bart is a lucky man. I mean. Yanking his bolo *and* slapping him? Goodness! What a service bottom he is shaping up to be.
Bart is such a menace. Ezra’s gotta keep him in line somehow!
But TBH I need to finish the one where Bart persuades Ezra to go for a naked swim and then fucks him in the water… They have good times!