So not only was Jack Straw's Castle a well known gay hook up place, but actually all of Hamstead Heath was known for hookups too! The oldest evidence I found was in the 1950s, where drag balls were regularly held in Hamstead Town Hall. I couldn't find anything related to the late Victorian era either. The most well known 19th century spots for gay/bi men to hook up was more in central London, like Finsbury Park, St James Park, and Russell Square.
Soooo while there's no concrete evidence (Via quick Internet search), it's certainly a hell of a coincidence that our favorite scientific duo spent the night desecrating a tomb with sperm whale candles and avoiding the police.
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Dreamling for the Holidays! Happy whatever you celebrate Everyone!
Christmas shopping, for Hob at least, is now a relaxed affair. It starts on the first Saturday of September, when damp leaves flutter in their burnished hues, and finishes in the zephyrs grey gales of November. This year, gift buying is punctuated with a stroll through Hyde Park, then coffee with Sarah and Marlow the dog; a brief scoot to the New Inn to fix rotas, then back to the flat for dinner and scotch and Byron’s Hebrew Melodies- ‘She walks in beauty, like the night. Of cloudless climes and starry skies’.
Christmas shopping is categorically not the cataclysmic disaster it was two years ago when, only a month into his fledgling power as Hope of the endless, he had naively sauntered down Oxford Street in December and was immediately bombarded with the hopes and wishes of several thousand people. From a cursory glance at their aura-space, it became clear that the majority were hellbent on receiving the most expensive version of whatever had piqued their Pavlovian response. It was all a bit sad really. A hopeful celebration reduced to consumer fodder.
In the thrum of the crowded street, Hob had found himself omitting a quiet, internal light which searched vacantly for direction. It found none. Pulled between his function to obey the will of the people and disinclined to offer his gift to the undeserving, he had panicked, abandoned his shopping, and ran to the marginal safety of the nearest pub.
It was an experience not worth repeating.
He had seen Dream in these recent months. Usually on gilded evenings where they would walk the hillocks of Hamstead Heath, their pathway illuminated in the jewelling light of early autumn. They would talk about Hope and how Hob was feeling and Dream, in his somnolent tones would tell him stories about the heavy burden of purpose; the arduous confines of duty. Then, when Hob would place an arm around his shoulder and sigh warmly, when he would send a little of his hope out into the world around them, Dream would smile at the change in the air and talk about presence and creation and magic. And everything, once more, would seem like a gift.
It was on one of these walks that he got the idea, and the signature white box was the easiest to find.
He had found it on Ebay of all places. It wasn’t as expensive as he had imagined but expense, of course, had not been the point. The gift itself, had been harder to track down. He had found it at last in a rundown antique shop near Columbia Road. A tiny little thing, mottled with the faint impressions of distant fingerprints, its paintwork faded, its silver motif browning with age. He held it up to the light and every one of its stories solidified and sang out. It was perfect. In pencil drawn font, the price read £12.
The shop owner, Sebastian Rossi, had not been home to visit his sister in 8 years. She grew tomatoes in her garden and played backgammon on Sundays and called Sebastian ‘piccolo leone’ even after all these years. Hob smiled at Sebastian and gave him £50.
He had hidden the gift in his flat for weeks on the off-chance Dream might make a surprise visit. He did in fact, several times, and Hob had been mindful to divert his attentions away from the little white box and the gift it contained. Hob had found, much to his chagrin, that his daydreams were still very much on display despite his ascension to endless. It was however, much easier now to simply hope them away, when Hob could physically see the threads of thought forming. Pass a hand over the opalescent swirl and sweep it gently from the air, fold it up and tuck the remnants away in his pocket.
Gift giving was not a tradition when he was growing up. Gifts, or any items not made for the sheer purpose of living and surviving, were few and far between. Instead, gifts came in the form of the first blush of springtime, when winter frost melted, and wild garlic bloomed. Or in the first mouthfuls of summer fruits and plentiful game, that made children plumper and bellies full.
Between 1851 and 1858 Hob, fresh off a successful investment in Singer sewing machines, had rented a house in Regent’s Park and employed the services of two maids. He had enjoyed treating them to the fancier linens when Boxing Day came around and would dutifully send out for orders of pink lace and taffeta.
And now here it was finally. Christmas Eve 2022 and Dream was sitting in the warm light of his living room, the only entity in existence who could make a battered couch look like a regal throne. They had spent the last few hours curled up together, reading silently. Dream, a copy of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. Hob, The Black Tudors by Miranda Kaufmann. It was a pastime they had both come to enjoy, especially as Hob’s power blossomed and their thoughts could interlink in a stream of words, allusion and metaphor. It was like reading two books at once although at first, the whole concept had been baffling. As the last page was turned, Hob placed the book down and went to fetch the gift from the cupboard in the kitchen. Returning back, he placed the little white box in Dream’s hands and curled up next to him.
“That’s for you.” Hob said, draping an arm over Dream’s shoulders and pulling him in closer. “It’s just a little thing. I know you don’t celebrate Christmas or Yule or whatever, but I just thought you deserved something. So…”
“A gift for me?” Dream answered, in a soft tone that sounded like the ebb of the sea on a clear, crisp day. His finger traced over the golden embossment on the top of the box. “Pandora” he continued; confusion etched on his features for the briefest of seconds before Dream’s face lit up from within at the story beginning to form. He looked back to Hob and then, in a display of feigned dramatics, opened the box tentatively and peered inside. With careful movements, as if what lay inside was as precious as hope itself, Dream picked up the little dove ornament with its decorative band of silver stars and laid it gently in the palm of his hand.
“Got it in an antique shop.” Hob said “Like I said, it’s just a silly little thing but it’s supposed to represent…”
“You,” replied Dream in wonderment. “The only thing that remained in Pandora’s box…”
“Was Hope.” Hob finished, smiling. “The silver stars are you though. I wouldn’t be the man I am today, the…being I’m becoming without your guidance.”
They were quiet for several moments. Dream had closed the box carefully, almost reverently, and held it along with the ornament tight to his chest. The world outside would tell its own stories in the pale moonlight of Winter. December skies are often clear and somewhere, in the unfathomable stretch of night, mortal men would glimpse the celestial journey of a shooting star.
“It is perfect.” Said Dream.
I am too busy now to write much so I just wanted to go out with a bang and dedicate this to @moorishflower and @landwriter who are leagues above me in ability and storytelling. Thank you for all the amazing content that has inspired me to work harder and write better! x
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Hope I won’t sound rude but how do we know it’s a family swim? Is there any other person we know? Otherwise to me it’s funny how we know H likes this cold swimming and he always goes to men’s only pond in Hamstead Heath but suddenly now be changed his mind (obviously because he needs to be seen with the stunt girlie). Also is it part of the stunt that his fake gf suddenly gives up on everything just to be with him? Thought she moved to LA to get serious with her career and get the break-throught role but since the her play ended she’s with him like it’s her only job now. Or is that a part of the stunt like to make it look real ‘cause they are inseparable?
I don’t mean his family is swimming with them. I meant it’s a time that is open to families (ie: all genders) and it’s apparently quite popular for families to do that swim on Christmas Day. I highly doubt he was with anyone but her (and whomever took the photo—probably poor Luis 😅).
As I’ve already said, the men’s pond was open to all genders for a few hours on Christmas. And I’d hardly call her showing up for a photo every few weeks “giving up her life”. But yes, I’m sure it’s very much meant to make it look like they do all sorts of things together.
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