's Hope has the best and worst luck.
This piece is a sequel to a piece that hopee1943 and I collaborated on, combining words and image. I'm pretty pleased with the end result. An image needs context, and a picture is worth a thousand words!
It's heady, intimate stuff with lots of squeaky shiny things. You know the drill, and you know already whether or not this story is 'for you.'
I really think that the artist does lots of great stuff. Shiny, squeaky, evil, positive, and good-natured. It's great, and seeing Phantom drawn in that iconic style really made me coo. 
This was a delight to work on and definitely helped me break some writers block!
Go take a look at Hope's original for the full view!
:origin()/pre10/fee9/th/pre/i/2017/244/b/4/fleeting_hope_by_hopee1943-dbhj0dn.jpg)
And take a look at part 1 here: 
Vignette 7 - Hope and Love:origin()/pre04/3506/th/pre/f/2017/019/6/e/vignette_7___hope_and_love_by_phantomdotexe-daw1m7p.jpg)
“Do you know what presenting means?”
Hope wiggled slightly. “Um. In… in what context do you mean?”
The voice let out a chuckle. It wasn’t a comforting “you’re funny, I’m going to keep you alive” sort of chuckle. It was the kind that made Hope assume that the voice was about to gloat at its own cleverness.
“Well, in the animal world, presenting means adopting a very curvy posture in order to tell the world that you’re ready for copulation.”
A finger graced over Hope’s lips. She knew she was blushing. She puckered up on reflex.
“It means, Hope, that you’re ready to get intimate.”
“That wasn’t my presentation, of course.”
The voice let out a real laugh this time. A