“You meant it, though,” Link said, elbowing him playfully and winking. “It’s okay. You know what? I’ve realized that when it comes to certain things, I don’t actually know what I like. I know what I’ve alwaysdone,but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a better way. Since we started having free drawing nights, this has kind of been on my mind a lot.”
“Really?” Ashton was surprised. Prior to that conversation, he wasn’t even sure Linklikedthose nights. He often had to be dragged away from whatever he was doing, only to spend half the session swirling his whiskey and complaining about not having any ideas regarding what to draw. Meanwhile, Sam and Ashton would ignore him completely, racing to see who could finish faster and with the superior end result.
Honestly, during those nights, Ashton wasn’t under the impression that Link was thinking about much ofanything.
Hewasentirelyinto the idea of painting their room and making it look a bit less like military barracks, so he wisely kept those thoughts to himself.
“What should we paint?” Ashton asked.
Grinning in response, Link whipped his shirt over his head and kicked off his jeans, balling them up and tossing them out into the hall before motioning for Ashton to do the same. Down to his boxer briefs and socks, he spread his arms wide and shrugged. “Whatever we want.”
To Ashton’s surprise, they managed to make it through some actual, stellar art creation before succumbing to temptation and getting incredibly dirty right there on the tarped floor. In a puddle of spilled paint, no less, which resulted in some… interesting designs. That’s okay, because the streak marks from Ashton’s color-soaked hair rubbing against the wall as Link fucked him were easy enough to push the bed against and hide, buttheyknow they’re there.
Ashton thinks about them a lot, every time he leans against the headboard.
The painted fantasy scenes that span the length of the walls aren’t half-bad, either.
Most importantly, it feels liketheirspace, one they created and now inhabit together, not just a room where Link lives and Ashton is a welcome visitor.
So he’s made his mark, inside the Soul-arium and out, and while the renovation to Room 11 is a particular source of pride, secretly, Ashton ismostthrilled about the exterior.
He still thinks back on that first night, and the moment he pulled up to the disastrously creepy Soul-arium in the wake of Link's tail lights. How heverynearly turned around and left, how he wondered whyanyonewould venture out here in the first place, never mind make it to the door. He’s kept those thoughts in mind throughout the entire process of refreshing and updating their customer-facing facade,and after many long months, can finally say that the image they’re putting out to the world has been totally overhauled and is all the better for it.
A particularly lucrative partnership Sam scored with a skincare line provided enough liquid funding to level the factory and create an outdoor hangout space in its stead. After the building’s remnants were removed, the ground above the Soul-arium’s entrance was flattened and regraded, filled with beehives, fruit trees, a garden, and a patio packed with lounging furniture and a fire pit. Ashton now passes his free days amongst the wildflowers and with his hands in the dirt, spends his nights snuggled against Link's chest, looking up at the stars.
A mix of tiki torches and gas lanterns that match the one down front provide illumination options that can be tailored to various activities happening on the “roof,” and an assortment of ground-based solar lights create safe pathways to move around. The final effect is alotfriendlier, brighter, andmore welcoming. Flowering vines and ivy even frame the doorway that leads down to the bunker, and a large, slanted-roof pergola in the parking area creates a shelter from the rain.
Early this morning, before they left to head over to the Expo Center, Link and Ashton shared a cup of coffee on the patio. A quick charm woke the roses they recently planted around the perimeter, petals spreading, seeking sun. Link picked one, which pissed Ashton off, but then he tucked the bloom into his dress shirt pocket, letting his hand linger on Ashton’s chest, and it was terribly difficult to be mad about that.
Up on the pedestal, Ashton smiles, thinking about it. He never imagined that he could be so lucky.
With Link providing moral support from Soul Survivor’s booth behind him, Ashton straightens up. He stands with his shoulders back, strong and proud, shirtless and holding a partial illusion where his wings are out but the dramatic lighting is forgone. The result creates emphasis on the wings themselves, which cycle between damaged and pristine, flawless and then broken again. Interested con-goers gather below, gawking with open mouths and undisguised awe on their faces, admiring both his body and Link's work as they pause in their exploration of the convention floor.
Down near Ashton’s feet, a plaque is mounted to the platform. It details the fictionalized backstory of the Ashton stand-in, “Cas,” the new character from Link's book. The plaque summarizes the way the angel in question’s wings took damage while pulling the protagonist, Dean, from a hell dimension, and goes on to describe how Dean helped Cas learn to accept his ruined wings. Doing so winds up resulting in their spontaneous, magical healing, and there’s definitely a relatable lesson in there somewhere.
This, of course, is the tie-in display for Soul Survivor’s booth. That loose thread helps justify Link's decision to do press and advertising for his book right alongside the shop at what’s supposed to be a magical tattoo convention.
On the long table in front of Link sits a dwindling stack of those very books. They’re a limited edition, numbered run of hardcover collectibles, for sale and autographed by both Link and Ashton. He’s pretty sure they come with a sticker or a temporary tattoo or something, maybe a mockup of his blade or a glow-in-the-dark version of his wings. Unfortunately, in packing for the convention, they didn’t bring enough—at the rate the books are moving, every single one will be gone long before the end of the day.
As for Ashton, he still has another hour of playing supermodel and plenty of other activities scheduled after that. He’s a guest speaker on a panel discussing charm infusion and Kai is coming in the later afternoon to donate skin space for a demo. Just an easy charm, strategically planned to cover Sam while she takes a break to decompress and forage for food. Link, overachiever that he is, has himself scheduled straight through with ink sessions, fix-it consultations, and book-related schmoozing.
With any luck, everyone will wrap up relatively around the same time, and they’ll be able to break down the table and take off for the night as a team. Tentative plans already exist to celebrate back at the Soul-arium, and Ashton is aware that those include both Skylar and her girlfriend plus Remy and his wife, longtime buddies of Link who have become his friends, too.
Sam is the wildcard. She has a new girlfriend and they’re currently in the honeymoon phase, so their presence is a coin toss. The girl, Chelle, is a cool, talented artist, definitely one of them. She’s Link-approved, though, so Ashton privately finds himself hoping that Sam keeps her around. He can’t say that finding a new, different woman standing half-dressed in his kitchen every week is a perk of Soul-arium living, but nothing’s perfect.
Either way, if Sam and Chelle do wind up joining in, the party could go on until the early hours of the morning. The guests will have plenty of places to crash, of course. Room 15, while it holds many fond memories for Ashton, has long since been officially returned to its former guest room glory, so there’s no shortage of clean beds.
Abruptly, Ashton feels grateful to be long past the days when the Soul-arium was not hishome.When he constantly had to worry about overstaying his welcome and moderating his drinking, careful to retain his ability to drive home at the end of the night if need be.
Thankfully, he won’t have to worry about any of that after this soul-sucking monster of a day. He can simply relax and let loose, enjoy his friends, and like every night these days, fall into bed next to Link when he’s done. Even now, he’s already looking forward to sinking into that pleasant darkness with either Link's face or the art on their walls being the last thing his eyes see before they close.
It’s reallygoodto feel like he belongs.
Perhaps that’s the greatest surprise in all of this, even two years into this still-developing thing with the Remingtons.
Ashtonishappy, he’s thriving. He’s satisfied in his career, blissful with Link, content standing half-naked on this silly platform and being ogled by strangers.
He glances over his shoulder, unsurprised when Link's eyes immediately find his. In fact, Link is staring more blatantly (and definitely more hungrily) up at him than any of the guests below, doing so with a dopey look on his face and his car revving excitedly on his right bicep. Link's shirt is off in solidarity, which isn’t exactly a hardship andisearning him plenty of his own ogling, elevated platform not required. Still, he’s very sweet in his aggressive support, and Ashton is unable to resist smiling back, prompting the grin on Link's face to widen.
