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A DAY AT GEORGIE AND ARMAND’S PLACE
Sword & Sorcery Fantasy LBGTQ Romance
BY IAN BRAZEE-CANNON

BLURB

A DAY AT GEORGIE AND ARMAND’S PLACE
Sword & Sorcery Fantasy LBGTQ Romance
BY IAN BRAZEE-CANNON

The Day Begins

Georgie shook off the fuzzy cloud of sleep as he lifted his head off of his love’s comforting black scales. It was a rare morning for him to awaken and find the slumbering form of Armand still asleep in their nest of pillows. He gently brushed one of his ivory talons along Armand’s neck. The day before had been a long one of negotiations with a tribe of mystic, sentient water plants. They wished to use one of the landlocked ballrooms for their ceremonies in which they would need to flood the space and allow for a special species of algae to fully mature, in a two-year ritual. None of which would have been that hard to accommodate, except they had no form of acceptable payment to cover such an expensive undertaking. The whole experience had left Armand grumpy, so Georgie had turned off the wakeup alarm to get some extra rest.

With a flick of his tail, Georgie knocked a block of lavender-scented essence into the chamber’s smoke pit. Soon, the room filled with the light scent.

Georgie took a few moments to watch the love of his life sleep. He was mesmerized by Armand’s dark black scales shifting with every breath. He let his claw barely touch Armand’s cool scales. The attractive contrast of Georgie’s brilliant red scales against the darkness of Armand’s always comforted him.

Trying to move as little as possible, Georgie gathered up the various pillows they had pushed out of their nest during the night. He had always been puzzled by the desire of other dragons to sleep on piles of gold and jewels. Such things were meant to be used as adornments and decorations, not bedding. He and Armand had collected thousands of pillows, from thousands of worlds, and rotated through them on a weekly basis. Georgie was quite proud of his pillow closet, which was larger than most of the other rooms in the Hotel, although to be fair, every chamber in Georgie and Armand’s residence were spectacular. It was one of the perks of owning an interdimensional hotel. While their sleep chambers were simple, generally a large pit for pillows in the center with their smoke pit for warmth and atmosphere, their other personal rooms were much more elaborate.

Above the bed, built into the chamber’s ceiling, was Armand’s personal clock. Only Georgie and Armand knew how to read it. Various shapes moved by via intricate clockwork across the ever-changing background of their ‘secret’ world’s horizon, which they based the Hotel’s clocks upon. Both Armand and Georgie could look up at it and know the time and date on over a hundred different worlds relative to the Hotel.

The symbol they called the Forever Star was crossing the line known as the Prosperity Tree, which was nearly an hour after Armand had set the alarm for. Georgie knew he would be cross when he woke, but the silly, overworked boy needed his sleep. The Sign of Order appeared above the Prosperity Tree and Georgie realized that Armand must have set up a second alarm.

The deep ringing of a series of large bells echoed through the chamber.

 Armand’s black spear of a head lifted from his coiled form. He opened his eyes. A couple blinks cleared the crud from his deep yellow orbs.

 “Awake already?” Armand asked, followed by a massive yawn that displayed his impressive teeth. It was a sight that many creatures would cower in fear from.

 “Actually my dear, you’ve slept in,” Georgie replied.

  Armand came fully awake. He twisted his head to look up at the dome ceiling.

“Is that the time?” Armand slithered out of the nest. He arched his back, stretching out his arms, legs and his massive bat-like wings. “You should have woken me for first shift.”

 “You needed the sleep, silly. The Hotel will run just fine without you there to micromanage it all.”

“We must function beyond such luxuries. We have a business to run.” Armand rose on his back legs and stretched. “You need to be focused on that.”

“And you need to relax more.”

“We do not have time for rehashing old arguments.” The dark form of Armand shrunk down. Where the great black dragon had stood was now a solidly-built, dark-skinned man.

“One that has never been settled,” Georgie replied. He, too, had shifted into human form. Now his skin was light with a mild red tint to it and a wild seeding of dark red hair covered his head.

Both of them could assume any form they desired, but they found the human form to be their favorite. It was the most common basic body style that they had run across in their explorations of the dimensions, which meant it was the most comfortable for the greatest amount of beings to deal with. It also was a highly practical form that worked well enough in a large variety of environments. Then there was the fashion issue. While many beings wore clothing of various types and many had embraced the concept of fashion, none so much as the humanoids, and while it may have been considered something of a perversion among most dragons to wear clothes for anything, outside of being polite to other species, Georgie and Armand loved their fashions.

Armand wasted no time. He moved into their clothing chamber to pick out his suit for the day. Georgie followed, sifting through more colorful clothing.

“Will you make it to the show this afternoon?” Georgie asked.

“As always, I shall try, but no promises” Armand answered. “Which stage are you using today?”

 “The Peachy Pegasus, of course. Conrad is going to perform.”

Georgie walked out onto their balcony. The portal view was set on the Groatyan Gardens, part of one of the methane-breathing wings. The tall orange spikes of the Dysetti bushes always fascinated Georgie. He loved their smooth outer layers, and how the secretions of the plant were both poisonous and medicinal, depending on the species and preparation methods. They were beautiful to look at, but their spines were strong and sharp, able to pierce the skin of most creatures. It was a plant of contradictions that normally did not do well away from Groat. Georgie had personally taken on the project and by working with the greatest gardeners across all realities, they had created a setup where the Dysetti thrived.

Georgie took the controls and browsed through the Hotel. From their balcony one could focus on any public areas of the Hotels and, if deemed necessary the private areas as well. They knew enough to respect their customers’ privacy and kept the settings to the public spaces as a default.

“Did we get caught up with the Bloof’Kins?” Georgie asked.

“Yes,” Armand replied. “We worked it out, and they agreed to only release their ink in their own chambers, not the open water.”

“Good. I don’t feel like going aquatic today.”

“You do look cute with gills, though.”

“You think I look cute in all my forms.”

“Of course you do.”

“After all these centuries, you still find me appealing?”

“You have only grown more attractive with age,” Armand said as he came up behind Georgie and gave him a kiss, before returning to finish dressing.

“Now,” Armand stated. “I expect Alejandra will be sending me a formal request for access to that unsubstantiated world for the Neewoll’ah Imperium. I will take care of investigating the odd reports concerning the Grimm Hall Library and Rebellious Soul. Liemen claims a ‘black spot’ has been moving from book to book. Lee Ball is claiming part of his shop keeps shuddering. I have three detailed audits scheduled for today. So I need you to do a standard audit of the group 3435 lobbies. We’re a little behind with them. Start wherever you want, but let’s get that done this morning, before your show. Shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours.”

“Oh, that sounds like a pleasant start to the day,” Georgie replied, looking through a rack of blouses. “It’s been a few weeks since I was on that side of the Hotel. I can start with Nona’He Mountain. It’s one of my favorite lobbies.”

“Every lobby is one of your favorites.”

“We just know how to create beautiful lobbies together. I should be able to get away with looking festive there. A little playful blouse feels right for today. Have you seen the one Suked gave me?”

 “Most likely in that stack of boxes over there,” Armand gestured. “Do we need to expand your side again? It’s getting crowded.”

 Georgie looked up at the three levels of walkways that made up their closet, lined with filled to overflowing clothing racks.

“I’m always willing to expand my wardrobe space, dear.”

A quick browse through the stack of garment boxes waiting to be shorted revealed the teal blouse Georgie had been looking for. He raised it up to the light and looked at the elaborately embroidered purple unicorn design. The dazzling beads that had been used for the mane and horn sparkled in the lantern light.

“A little tacky isn’t it?” Armand remarked.

“Well, I like it.”

Armand, now fully clothed, walked over to Georgie. Georgie reached out and straightened Armand’s light purple tie. He looked sharp in his dark blue suit with silver dragons embroidered on each lapel, with a small handkerchief in the breast pocket that matched the tie.

“As handsome as always,” Georgie said.

 “I’m starting my day already behind schedule. I should be mad at you, you know.”

“And yet, you’ll forgive me.” Georgie moved in and embraced Armand.

Armand gave Georgie a kiss on the forehead. “You need to get going as well. We have a hotel to run.”

 “I know. It’ll be just a few more minutes.”

“You never get ready that fast,” Armand said, then set the controls and disappeared through the opening.

Georgie spent twenty minutes choosing the rest of his first outfit for the day. He sat at the make-up desk for another twenty putting his face on. While he could use magic for the same effect, he much preferred the ritual of make-up. Nothing fancy at this point, just foundation, light mascara and eyeshadow, and a little blush. He would save the heavier makeup for the show.

It took Georgie little time to pin his hair back, yet he spent nearly half an hour trying on wigs before he was satisfied with his look for the morning. He had settled for a subdued light brown loose wave style.

When he was finally satisfied, Georgie left through the balcony exit. He paused at the railing and looked down into the Hotel.

For most, the view Georgie had would be overwhelming and confusing. Multiple levels of walkways were criss-crossed through a vast expanse. Each walkway was modeled in the architectural style that fit with the theme/dimensional needs of its floor. This was only one of the countless such sections of the Hotel that the private residence could be set to overlook. Only Georgie, Armand and a handful of truly trusted individuals ever got to see this view.

Georgie turned the wheel so that the image of two dragons, one red, one black, both atop a mountain, was at the top. He shifted the focus to a busy lobby with a colorful variety of beings moving around it. He placed his hand on a globe next to the wheel and pushed down on it. The gate opened, revealing a passageway floating in space. Georgie stepped casually into the opening.

Georgie walked through the opening into the lobby, waving it closed once he was clear. Where the opening had been were now rocky walls, indistinguishable from the rest of the lobby. There was a healthy flow of creatures hustling about on whatever tasks they were caught up in. The staff was busy at their stations, as this section of the Hotel always seemed to be popular.

Behind one of the counters stood a silver-skinned humanoid with a red inner glow, ready to help customers.

“Good morning, Nirron.”

“Morning sir,” Nirron replied. “Are you working the lobby?”

“Just here for a quick audit and maybe sneak in some mingling.”

A familiar sense of comfort filled Georgie as he stepped behind the counter. He loved the lobbies. They were where you got to meet the grand variety of beings that passed through. There was nothing more exciting to Georgie than meeting new people.

About Author Ian Brazee-Cannon…

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Links to Ian’s websites, blogs, books, #ad etc.:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4iQr9ls

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Special Giveaway: Ian will gift an audiobook of A DAY AT GEORGIE AND ARMAND’S PLACE to two lucky readers who comment on his Karen’s Killer Book Bench blog. Good Luck!

Happy Reading!

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Thanks, Ian, for sharing your book with us!

Don’t miss the chance to read this book!