Free Stories

Title: Caspian Dukes and His Best Friend’s Husband
Author: Harper Kingsley
World: Heroes & Villains
Frame set: Allies & Enemies, “Good Times”
Characters: Caspian Dukes, Vereint Georges, Warrick Tobias, Melissa Kim
Pairings: Vereint Georges/Warrick Tobias
Genre: friendship, superhero, meta
Summary: Vereint and Caspian go see a movie together.

Vereint was fun to hang out with. Caspian would definitely be open to the idea of doing it again.

“What do you think about this?” Vereint held up a brightly garish tee shirt with what might have been a purple unicorn-pony on the front. “You think I could get Warrick to wear this?”

“I will give you my complete Dragon Ball Z collection if you do,” Caspian said.

“I was not aware that you were a DBZ fan, but I’d be happy to take your collection.” Vereint tossed the shirt into the small shopping cart he was pushing. “Help me find something for Hank and then we can get out of here.”

“What are you looking for?” Caspian asked.

Vereint shrugged. “A mogwai would be cool, but other than that I don’t have a clue. He’s always the hardest one to shop for.”

“I see.” Caspian looked around, his eyes scanning the shelves overloaded with a mishmash of plushies, novelty toys, and bootleg DVDs. “Where do you want to start looking?”

“How about over there?” Vereint pointed toward a display of off-brand electronics. “He could use a new rice cooker.”

Caspian cocked his head. “You’re going to buy him a rice cooker from this place?”

“Why not?” Vereint asked.

“Uh.” Caspian wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. Vereint had a ridiculous amount of money at his disposal, yet he was eying a $30 rice cooker like it was the Holy Grail of kitchen appliances. “It looks nice?”

“I think he’ll really like it.” Vereint opened and closed the lid on the test model, peering inside curiously, then grabbed one of the unopened boxes and put it in the cart. “He and Caroline have just moved into a new place and I never got around to getting them a housewarming gift. A rice cooker is the perfect thing, something that anyone can use.”

“Ah,” Caspian said intelligently. He looked at his watch. “What time does the movie start? And what do you plan on doing with all this stuff?”

“I’ll rent a storage locker near the theater,” Vereint said. “It’s no big deal. Let me pay and we can head on over there.” Caspian crossed his arms and waited near the door. Vereint said something that made the cashier laugh as she bagged his purchases. It brought a small smile to Caspian’s lips.

Vereint was a godsend. Before Warrick had met Vereint, he had seemingly been on a downward spiral. There had been a creeping sense of misanthropy as Warrick spoke of the people they were dedicated to saving, a barely restrained sneer of disgust.

Caspian had been worried about Warrick, but Vereint had cleared away those fears. He’d breathed new life and new hope into Warrick’s life, and as a result Blue Ice had become a better hero. It was a good thing.

I’m not gay, but I can see that he’s beautiful, Caspian thought.

That was the thing about Vereint: he didn’t flaunt his good things–they were simply a part of his face–but no one could resist him for long. Even when he did nothing overt, on entering a room Vereint drew every eye. He had a presence about him, one that could quickly become overpowering when all of that attention was focused directly on a person.

Vereint paid the cashier with his credit card, then pushed the shopping cart ahead of him out of line. Caspian was amused to see that the plastic shopping bags were opaque green with lurid red Asian writing printed on them. The letters spelled out SOUP.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Vereint said, pushing the cart past Caspian. “I don’t want to be late to the movie. If I don’t have time to get popcorn and snacks I’m going to scream.”

Caspian rolled his eyes with a grin. “Good to know.”

“A vague disclaimer is nobody’s friend,” Vereint said.

TBC…
* * *
Check out “Allies & Enemies” at: All Romance Ebooks, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BookStrand, Goodreads, iTunes, Kobo, Less Than Three Press, Smashwords. — superhero, urban fantasy, mm, drama. Darkstar x Blue Ice.

Title: Caspian Dukes and His Best Friend’s Husband
Author: Harper Kingsley
World: Heroes & Villains
Frame set: Allies & Enemies, “Good Times”
Characters: Caspian Dukes, Vereint Georges, Warrick Tobias, Melissa Kim
Pairings: Vereint Georges/Warrick Tobias
Genre: friendship, superhero, meta
Summary: Vereint and Caspian go see a movie together.

“What’s that look about?”

Caspian startled slightly. “Sorry. I blame Warrick’s show for bringing up old memories.”

“Oh yeah, they tend to do that. One minute you’re laughing, and the next you’re remembering the awful teacher you had in the sixth grade. It’s emotional manipulation,” Vereint said. “That, or black magic.”

“Hah. Right?” Caspian forced himself to relax. They were going to eat some food, do a little shopping, and watch a classic movie. Everything was fine.

* * *

Vereint felt as if he’d done something wrong. Not in the “Whoops, forgot I wasn’t a supervillain anymore” way, but in the accidentally stepped into someone’s flashback kind of way.

Caspian was usually such a happy-go-lucky guy that it was a bit jarring to see him be serious, broody even. He wasn’t supposed to even have an expression like that, as though he’d been kicked too many times and expected to be kicked some more.

Vereint nearly suggested they turn the taxi around and go back to the penthouse. Warrick would know what to do to fix Caspian’s mood. Warrick would take one look and know exactly what to say to make everything all right.

Instead, Vereint decided they were going to do this. They would have a good evening and Vereint would do what he could to turn Caspian’s mood around. It was what a friend would do.

“It’s my fault Warrick is so into Asian dramas, you know,” he said.

“What?”

“Seriously. It’s my fault. I got him to watch A Tale of Two Sisters and he ended up really liking it.” Vereint could see Caspian relaxing. “He looked up the actress that played Su-mi, and somehow ended up discovering the the girl that played the younger sister. He is probably Moon Geun-Young’s biggest fan.”

“I have no idea what you just said, but it sounds like Warrick’s MO.” Caspian fiddled with his phone before tucking it into his pocket. “I bought our tickets. You should tell me more stuff about Warrick.”

“Why do I feel like you’re gathering blackmail material?” Vereint asked.

“I just have one one of those faces?” Caspian made what was supposed to be an endearing expression.

Vereint snorted. “Is that face supposed to work on me?”

“I don’t know, is it working?”

“Kind of,” Vereint said. “Did Warrick’s sudden obsession with kdramas spook you?”

“I’ve gotten used to it over the years, but it was definitely a surprise at first. It was very unexpected of him.”

“He always tries to keep us on our toes, huh?” Vereint smiled fondly. Warrick was one topic of conversation he could stick with for hours.

“He’s a good guy. You’re lucky to have him,” Caspian said.

“I know,” Vereint agreed.

The taxi cruised to a stop and Vereint was surprised to see they were at the restaurant. The drive from Tobias Towers usually felt longer.

“We’re here,” he said. “This conversation goes on the ‘To be continued’ pile.”

He offered the driver some cash, then climbed out of the taxi. He breathed in the rich scent of garlic and beef that wafted his way when a group of laughing people left the restaurant. The smell made his stomach rumble.

“I am starving,” he said. “I was expecting to get some food after the meeting. We usually get some delivery.”

“What kind of meeting was it?”

Old instincts and deep-seated shame made Vereint want to hunch his shoulders, but he refrained. He had no reason to feel ashamed for seeking out the help he needed.

“I signed up for some group therapy,” he said after swallowing heavily. He avoided meeting Caspian’s eyes. “It’s been doing a lot of good.”

The silence dragged a few seconds too long, but Caspian’s “That’s good” sounded sincere.

Vereint decided to ignore the awkwardness. He strode up to the restaurant and held the door open. “These guys make the best pho in town. Have you ever eaten here?”

“I don’t think so,” Caspian said. “I would definitely recognize that big striped tiger painting. That thing is awesome.”

“I’ve tried to buy it, but they told me no.” Vereint smiled at the hostess when she came to meet them. “Two please. Can we get a booth?”

“Certainly. Come this way.”

They settled in after giving their drinks order–one soda and one pot of tea to be shared. Vereint barely glanced at the menu before setting it aside. He was here for the pho and that was what he’d be ordering.

“You wanna share some gyoza and terriyaki chicken?” Caspian looked at him over the top of the menu he held.

“Sure,” Vereint said. “Get an order of white rice with the chicken. It’s good stuff.”

The waitress came back with their drinks and they ordered. Vereint added barbecue pork and edamame to the order.

“That’s going to be a lot of food,” the waitress said.

“We’re hungry,” Vereint said, giving her a smile.

“I’ll be back shortly with your food,” she said.

Once they were alone, Vereint poured them both cups of tea. “It’s kind of nice to get out of the house every once and a while. It keeps the walls from closing in on me.”

“Well, if you ever need an excuse to go out, I enjoy eating free food and I’m always down with having company when I go to the movies,” Caspian said.

“I’m always happy to spend Warrick’s money. We could go on shopping sprees and eat out at expensive places,” Vereint said. “We could have a lot of fun while Warrick and Melissa binge-watch kdramas. It could be our thing.”

It was only after he’d said it that Vereint wondered if he sounded completely pathetic. He was the needy friendless guy latching onto his husband’s best friend like some kind of suckerfish.

“Sure,” Caspian said. “Sounds fun.”

“Cool,” Vereint said suavely.

His moment of social awkwardness was smoothed over by the waitress arriving with the food. She carried everything on a large tray and there was a bit of time where plates and bowls were arranged around the table. After the waitress left, there were a few minutes where Vereint and Caspian busied themselves preparing their pho the way they liked it–Vereint added a handful of beansprouts and most of the jalapenos to his along with a good amount of hoisin and Sriracha.

The scent of the pho made his stomach rumble hungrily. With his metahuman metabolism he could have gone weeks or even months without eating, but that didn’t mean a steaming bowl of pho didn’t bring out his appetite.

Vereint ate his first mouthful of noodles and swallowed his appreciative moans down as well. Food-related sex noises weren’t something he was prepared to release into a crowded restaurant.

“So good,” he murmured.

Caspian grunted in agreement, taking a bit out of a gyoza. “I can’t believe Warrick’s never told me about this place.”

“It’s because he’s selfish. He doesn’t like the idea of anyone eating good food without him.”

“Hah.” Caspian was a neat if hearty eater. Food made it into his mouth without a single drop being spared, his lips closing as he chewed.

“What was it like growing up in the ocean?” Vereint asked.

“Wet. Very, very wet,” Caspian said. “It’s so wet you don’t even notice it anymore. It feels like flying when you go anywhere and there’s so much nutrient in the water that just breathing keeps you from being hungry.”

“Sounds lovely,” Vereint said.

Caspian laughed. “Yeah, if you like the taste of fish and swimming in your own toilet. Food can be cooked using geothermal vents, but there’s the risk of sudden heat spikes flash-boiling the chef. Culinary delights are few and far between under the sea. Tasting food from the Above World for the first time was a true revelation. I’ve never looked back.”

“Huh. I always thought life under the see would be great,” Vereint said. “I guess Sebastian lied.”

“Never trust a crab. They spend so much time in their shells that they’ve got no clue how life really works,” Caspian said.

“Good to know.” Vereint nibbled on a chicken strip speared by a wooden skewer, glad the cook hadn’t used too much teriyaki sauce. “This chicken is delicious.”

Caspian took a bite out of his own chicken. “Mm, you’re right. This place is going on my list of places to revisit.”

Vereint set down the skewer and lifted his fork to begin eating his pho. After a few minutes he asked Caspian, “Can you really talk to crabs?”

Caspian laughed.

TBC…

Would it be “geothermal vents” under the ocean? I know what I’m thinking of, but I don’t think I’m using the right terminology :/