There was a distinct click behind him, one that had become familiar in the past week and a half. Watt looked over his shoulder, spying Cornelius looking a tad sheepish behind his camera. Three times now Cornelius had taken his photo, having asked before the first time if he had Watt’s permission to take candid shots.

Watt rather thought that him brooding in a hotel room was a waste of film, and was surprised to find himself saying so.

Cornelius chuckled. “Every explorer needs a good before and after photo, you know, before they’re beaten to hell by their perils.”

“Then what were the photographs on the ship for?”

“Practice,” Cornelius said. There was an easy air about him this morning, which Watt was grateful for. He wasn’t sure if he could handle prickly Cornelius today.

Watt straightened from the wall, extending a hand towards Cornelius. “Then you should have a before photo as well, yeah?”

Cornelius cleared his throat. “Oh. I suppose so.”

Moody Before the Perils illustrations by Gagakuma Draws! This scene is one of the early icebreaker like scenes with the fellas, and stuck out to us both of us when it came to Cornelius’ photographs. Their postures and expressions speak so much to their inner turmoils during the beginning. Watt wears his heart on his sleeve, while Cornelius hides everything behind that proud mask. And of course, this beautiful and romantic moment between the explorers.

He kept hearing Andrea’s words over and over again, followed by Severino’s distant plea from weeks ago. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop either time, but last night had been the final nail in Watt’s heart. “They’re doing good work here, real work. I can go on alone. This isn’t—I won’t drag you into madness, Cornelius.”

Cornelius closed the small distance between them, slow enough to give Watt time to back away. He did not.

Cornelius gazed up at Watt, their chests inches apart. His steely eyes seemed to glitter in the dark, like Lake Michigan under full moonlight. “I made a promise, and I intend to keep it.”

“Aventurier,” Watt whispered, overcome with an intense desire to bend down, and kiss Cornelius.

He—he wanted to kiss Cornelius.

He wanted Cornelius.

Cornelius’ eyes flared and he lifted his chin a fraction of an inch, lips parting.

Oh, and he was wanted in return. He was wanted by, and wanted, a man. Not just any man, but his—his Cornelius. He wanted to. It could’ve been easy, should’ve been easy.

But no matter how much he wanted to, Watt could not break through that wall. It would shatter everything, demolishing the foundations of everything they had built in the last few months. And he couldn’t—he wasn’t—

Cornelius’ lips curled into a small, sad smile. Like he knew. And he probably did, because who else knew Watt better than this man?

His best friend. Because yes, that was what Cornelius was to him, now and always.

🧭

There are now 94 backers! Hello to all of you, and thank you so much for supporting this campaign. We only have 22 hours left, then it’s time for Kickstarter to do its thing so I can do my thing and order books, stickers, bookmarks, art prints, all that good stuff to pass onto you. With all of the new art that has come out seen the Kickstarter began, don’t be surprised if there are extra goodies in the adventure boxes.

whispers: Do you think we can reach an even 100 backers?

Big thanks to Gagakuma Draws for drawing the gay explorers in love!