Frances Wren > Quotes

“Certainty wasn't worth the doubt. Probably.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“There were generally two kinds of stories: the ones you chased and the ones that chased you.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“If virtue must be discarded on the altar of happiness, then so be it.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“Corinna had been looking forward to this murder for weeks - she wasn't there for the last one.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“Where there’s love, there will be vice;
Where there’s greed, there is a price.
Sow them desperate and afraid,
You’ll find there’s profit to be made”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“You know, I'm boring when I'm tired. And I'm always tired.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“It's a ballet. Dancing is a euphemism for everything.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“How could one articulate the sensation of a wound knitting together?
The itch and the pain were merely symptoms of the process.
It was like describing respiration: instinctive, necessary, controllable to a point.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“If gentle fretting could be bottled, this would be its scent: skin-warmed oak and bergamot.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“The Langleys and the Ardens enjoyed a symbiosis that came naturally to parasites sharing a common host - the public purse.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“Unfathomable: pouring money into the things destined to wilt.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“How reassuring. A discount hitman.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“When my pager rings, someone is literally dying. When your phone rings, someone's already dead and it can wait until morning.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“Maddy squished herself between Jav and the back of the couch.
"You seem happy. I bet it's because I'm home."
"Good bet," said Jav, chest tight with fondness.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“There's something in the water. Something in the air. Something healers can't fix.
One day, there would be nothing left except water, bone and plastic.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“Well, too bad. I found a dead body and it won't stay fresh for long.
See you soon!”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“On his way to the shower, he slid the rabbit into a scrapbook with Ethan's other drawings;
fragments of affection to remember him by when things inevitably came to an end.”
― Frances Wren

“I suppose my schedule's clear, since they fired me."
Fatal dismay swept across Javier's face. "They what?"
Two passers-by quickened their footsteps at his shout; a security guard glanced over.
Ethan struggled to keep a straight face.
"I can fix this. There's always a shortage-"
"Listen-"
"Hold on, I'm calling my sister."
Ethan started to laugh. "Sorry," he wheezed,
"I- your face, I didn't think you'd...please, no more faces. Look away, look away."

Javier went pink but stared heavenwards.
Once Ethan stopped laughing, Javier said, reproachfully, "You gave me a heart attack.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“Ethan ran both palms up Jav's abdomen. Then - in a move that might have toppled Rome - he licked his lips.
The sheer want felt foreign, like heat injected straight into Jav's veins.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“If you're well enough to insult me, you're well enough to deal with the mess you've made.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“Ten seconds later, the shower chimed, hissing.
Ethan stepped in, closing his eyes against the mist.
He imagined the heat washing off the stains beneath his eyes and the man's grip from his arms. He tried inhaling slowly but dissolved into coughs, lungs stuttering in memory of another struggling chest.
The echo left him weak kneed.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“Soon, they were above the stage itself, ensconced by enormous drapes that reached into the rafters.
The heavy thud of wood and feet betrayed the gravity that was inaudible to the audience.
Dancers and stage crew rushed amongst the wings.
The choreographed chaos reminded Ethan of the emergency department.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“What do you think of Rina?"
That you live and die by her approval.
"Seems cool.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“Have you tried turning him on and off again?" asked Ethan.
"Not in public," Vegas grinned.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“Jav pulled him in, forcing all the air from Ethan's lungs in one swoop. The skin contact made him flush cold then hot. Every muscle seized, before whiplashing like a snapped piano string.
The shift was so abrupt that it took another second before Ethan realised that he was bawling.
"Oh, love."
"Sorry," Ethan gulped between sobs. "This isn't...I'm just tired. I'm so tired."
He'd never felt this hysterical and absent at the same time.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“It took only ten minutes to get back to his flat, and Ethan grinned like a lunatic the whole way home.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“Across the table, Vegas and Rina were bent close together like a pair of conspiring magpies.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“Remember, your curfew's at ten," called Vegas.
"Fuck you, I'm running away," said Ethan.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“Your gaydar's shit."
"My gaydar is perfectly profitable, thank you."
Ethan made jazz-hands at Javier, who looked like he very much wanted to know where Ethan rated him out of ten.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown

“We went to a ballet on Thursday and he fell asleep."
Jav glared as Stephen started cackling.
"I want to do something that he's interested in and --will you stop laughing!"
"Ethan hates ballet?" crowed Stephen.
"He doesn't hate it. He's a doctor so he's tired...stop laughing.”
― Frances Wren, Earthflown