Reposted by Princess Astertiae @ Mixed Media Queer VN Jam
I had the opportunity to contribute to this year's Starting Gate Zine with Yukino Bijin's very own knitted handwarmer pattern!!
Preorder at startinggatezine.bigcartel.com, all proceeds go to the Thoroughbred Charities of America 🐎🧶
#startinggatezine
![“Weeeeeell ...” He stretched out the word like stringy cheese, torn between wanting praise for having tried, and wanting to later swoop in like a hero who didn’t exactly save the day, but still did a very helpful thing.
His girlfriend’s comics had taught him that some developments were more fun with an extra sprinkle of — drama, he thought. Maybe he could have both.
“Not quite,” he told her. “Em’s pretty shy and you’re busy enough already, so I thought I’d try and borrow some mannequins for the event.”
“Aren’t you just the sweetest thing?”
“I am, aren’t I?”
Smirking, Vivienne squeezed his hand. “Did it go well, then?”
“Ah, so, about that,” Sorin said, somewhat accidentally, then slipped back into the semi-confident hero character he’d made up mere seconds ago. “It was going well. Too well, even—”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh.”
“But then I started thinking—”
“Did you now?”
“Their mannequins looked pretty same-y. All tall and slim and stuff.” Sorin scratched his cheek, feeling a little out of his element. “It’d be kinda bad if people thought their bodies had to be a certain way to look good in ropes and, y’know.”
The brief silence that followed had Sorin uncharacteristically worried he’d said something stupid. But next thing he knew, Vivienne pulled him around the corner and into a deep kiss that cleared his mind of any doubt.
The pleasant warmth of her mouth caressed his lower lip as she pressed him against the wall. Feeling her soft chest squeezing him, he reached for her sleeve as if on instinct, wanting so badly to take things further, to feel more of her.
Vivi chuckled into the kiss and nuzzled her nose against his face before pulling away. She fixed her bangs and continued holding Sorin in a gentle embrace.
“You do always think about us, don’t you?” she asked.
“O-of course I do.”
Seeing her boyfriend make such a cute face, Vivi couldn’t help but tease. “And about us... tied up? Tying you up, maybe?”
Flustered, Sorin tried to step aside, but Vivi’s hold on him was too [...]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hbldmq3e2k6dm6cjwowy34zg/bafkreidufwmatjuyaq6cm3gkltn45rgaa6sb5n64aw2ule5pbc3runxf2m)
