Onward!

Every time Taste (Me Too) by Sabrina Carpenter comes on the radio, I am awash with images of Left Turn if in a different universe, Zeke and Caleb continued this situationship long into the future where Caleb is still trying to find a wife, and every time he starts something new with a girl or with an ex, there's Zeke crooning the lyrics to Caleb's various girlfriends like the petty bitch he can be cause no matter what, Caleb always comes crawling back to him.

Imma be honest

I've spent most of today just thinking about Zeke and Caleb being domestic and cuddly in Zeke's shitty little kitchen. Caleb's shirtless and trying to do...something, either cook badly or make his stupid hair potions, and Zeke's just sleepily molded to his back like some kind of toothy backpack while they talk about their plans for the day. And then Zeke starts to pull away because he's gotta eat and get ready to go meet up with a friend before work and Caleb grabs to get a little kissy or three before his not-boyfriend fills his mouth with raw chicken and smooching becomes unavailable for a while.

Ugh. Disgusting.

Thank you so much! That very kind to say and I'm more than happy to know I could provide some kind of escape for you. I can't tell you how much that means to hear ;3;

Truth is, I got very burnt out of writing several months ago. This is a hobby for me and it had stopped being fun for a while there. I needed a break and I needed a new infusion of inspiration that I had been kind of holding off on to try and get Left Turn done because I have a tendency to get distracted from projects when a new idea crops up. So right now, that story sits in a comfortable spot to be on hiatus for a bit while I let my brain gnaw on something else for a while.

I may return to it someday. I love these characters a lot and there is a few scenes I really want to write that happen relatively soon in the story, most importantly a wedding and a trip Caleb goes on over the winter solstice. But I'm not sure when I will, so I can make no promises.

Again, thank you so much :D

Chapter 20 of Left Turn is now up. Happy Valentine's Day :).

The next chapter of Left Turn is going to technically be a double one (1 chapter but double the length cause I'm combining 2 for reasons) and I'm aiming for valentines day as a post date because I like thematically appropriate post dates.

Just imagine Zeke in this scenario trying to be appropriate. Suffering in silence with him knitting needles.

Every time I hear bad idea right? by Olivia Rodrigo, all I can think about is a prospective bad end for Left Turn, where after the initial heart achey reunion, mistake sex, and subsequent fight, Zeke is genuinely trying to get Caleb back out of his life ever since he made a reappearance. And he's ignoring him as best he can, keeping out of places he might show up, leaving places where he does, hanging out with his pals as much as he can to keep him on the straight and narrow, and generally attempting to actually move on despite clearly failing to after like eight years....

But. You know. Caleb still makes his brain kind of stupid. And he's looking cute with his dad beard in the selfies he keeps sending. And maybe he drank a little too much. And he tells Moe he's going home, but he's got the keys to his car and Caleb's new address in his phone and an implicitly explicit invitation since his wife and kid are out visiting family right now.

Its a bad idea. He probably shouldn't. But we all know he does.

Caleb, standing in the kitchen, about to make some eggs but distracted by a video on his phone of a bodybuilder chugging a blender full of raw eggs.

"Bro, you ever eat raw eggs?" He asks Zeke as the drowsy changeling shuffles into the kitchen.

Zeke squints at the video, blinks sleepily for a minute like he's processing before he makes a face at Caleb. He reaches over to grab an egg out of the carton he bought, tips his head back, cracks it directly into him mouth, and swallows it easily.

"No." He says, popping one half of the shell into his mouth to crunch on before walking back out of the kitchen, leaving Caleb dumbfounded about what just happened.

Few things about Zeke in the last chapter of Left Turn:

- Zeke saw Caleb passed out on his couch, and wondered he could pick him up and take him to his own bed, before just covering him with a blanket with little cartoon hearts coming off his head as he did so. You know he did it so carefully, made sure he was covered up to neck, stood there for a full two minutes debating of he could get away with a little peck on the forehead, but ultimately, quietly, left Caleb be.

- There was literally one way Zeke hoped this night was going to go, which is why Caleb smelled mint on him because he just spent like 20 minutes cleaning his mouth out before going back into the living room.

- Zeke softballing the whole elbow hurt thing to Caleb. He's listened to this motherfucker talk about proper stretching and repeated stress injuries for a whole year now so this should've been the easiet pitch in the world. He should have had Caleb's hands on him showing him how to best work out his aches and pains with that gentle guiding therapist voice he puts on and Zeke is so sad when all he gets is a 'that sucks bro'.

- Zeke heard Caleb hesitate outside his door, almost got up to see what he was up to, was extremely disappointed when Caleb left, and then absolutely cranked one out when he heard Caleb go to sleep so he could be 'normal' tomorrow and less aggressive then he imagines he was.

Zeke. My poor boy. He's finally got Caleb in his apartment and he's trying so. Hard.

How does he get him to stay? How does he show exactly what he wants? How does he convince the world's most confused man that Zeke would give the world to have him be here, with him, together?

And he fails. Or he thinks he does. And he's so mad at himself for it so when Caleb gets up off the couch, he has to have a moment with his face in his hand wondering where the fuck he went wrong.

Zeke's never had to seduce Caleb before. Hell, he hasn't had to seduce much of anyone in at least two years. People just come to him, Caleb just comes onto him and that's that so did Zeke forget this particular song and dance in the interim?

Was he too forward? Too fast? Not enough? Was ragging on his cooking taken in offense instead of teasing like he hoped? Damn man is so flighty, Zeke isn't sure he could be plain-faced with him about his intentions just yet without Caleb getting spooked like a deer and fucking off again to go get in another shitty relationship or married.

Zeke has to get up. Has to get out of sight, at least give Caleb some time to himself and pray he ain't ruined this completely. Give them both time to recoup and come up with some kind of plan to woo himself a grade-A lovable goofball.

He doesn't want just another night with Caleb. Doesn't want to just fuck him and then go back to the way things were if and when he finds himself a place. He can't have Caleb forever, but goddamn, he'd rather have him for a little bit, a few months, maybe even a year, then not at all and this might be the only chance he's going to get.

The door to the bathroom doesn't lock. Zeke knows that when he stops there. And as he talks, he pins his arm under his forehead to keep himself from reaching for the doorknob.

What do you get when you put the guy who mentally can't make the first move in an apartment alone with the guy who doesn't want to scare him away again?

An awkward conversation through a bathroom door, apparently.

Chapter 19 of Left Turn is up. Zeke learns how bad of a cook his boy toy is and Caleb learns absolutely nothing as per usual.

Zeke is about to learn a fundamental truth about the dude he caught feelings for: Caleb is a trash compactor with the tastebuds of a clam

Can't get the idea out of my head that someone in the werewolf block has a deal with some witch farmer in the state to bring in a truckload of live turkeys around Thanksgiving to sell. Farmer makes a tidy profit by cutting out the middleman and the denizens get fresh meat on the cheap that they have to process themselves (which most of them enjoy anyways as a neighborhood bonding activity).

And Zeke fucking loves it. He gets up super early, goes and buys two of the bastards, gets them all butchered to put in his freezer, and now he's got a lot of meat for relatively cheap. That plus the general festivities makes him a happy boy.

So Caleb, not really knowing what's about to happen, wakes up to Zeke quickly getting dressed, metaphorically vibrating in excitement. He tells Caleb he's going to pick out some turkeys when asked and Caleb, assuming they are frozen, plucked birds, gets up to come with, which just makes Zeke more jazzed. Together, they walk down to the empty lot where a semi has its back opened into a fenced in area and Caleb's stomach drops as he hears the raucous call of hundred of turkeys.

They stop by a stand that's selling some cheap coffee as they get in the short line and Caleb starts asking some tentative questions about what's going on. He's still new to a lot of the ins and outs of being in the werewolf block, especially when it comes to holidays and how they source the food they use for celebrations. Zeke is happy to tell him though, thinking nothing of it and forgetting Caleb has probably never handled a live farm animal, or a whole dead one, or had any thoughts about where his food comes from other than 'the store'.

They get to the front of the line and Zeke asks Caleb to 'pick one out' seeing how he'll make a holiday meal out of of whatever cut Caleb likes best for Thanksgiving. Very quickly, Caleb has to come to terms with a lot in the face of Zeke's excitement and a flock of well raised, white turkeys gobbling at him. So he swallows the discomfort, points out a larger one to Zeke's delight, and they walk away with two probably magically-docile turkeys under Zeke's arms.

He does not join his roommate in the slaughtering/butchering process but the breast he gets on Thanksgiving is the best he's ever had, though that might be due to Zeke's culinary skills more than anything else.