CDandHBFH 02 [Caspian Dukes and Vereint Georges]

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.

I don’t know why Caspian is so broody here. Maybe it’s because his mother was a jerk.
—-

The elevator door dinged open and Caspian walked across the lobby with Vereint.

“There’s that new sci-fi thriller about the brain bugs,” Caspian said without much enthusiasm. The poster was glossy and exciting, but the premise was a little too close to his real life.

“I saw that last week,” Vereint said. “The best scenes in the whole movie were all in the trailer. I hate when they do that.”

“Ugh,” Caspian agreed. He kept pace with Vereint while staring at the screen of his phone. “There’s a new Adam Sandler movie.”

Vereint’s grimace was louder than words. Caspian continued the search. Megacity had many cinemas, most were modern movie theaters, but others were small corner theaters that were nearly hidden away from the public.

“Ooh, there’s a showing of Lawrence of Arabia at the Chinese Theater,” Caspian said. “But it starts at ten.”

Vereint glanced at his watch before pushing open one of the double doors and stepping outside. He politely held the door open for Caspian. “That gives us nearly three hours to kill. We could get something to eat before the movie. Plus Melissa’s birthday is coming up and there’s always cool stuff in the Asian Village.”

“Is that where the giant Hello Kitty came from?” Caspian had been stunned at the size of the monstrosity, which took up one whole corner of Melissa’s large bedroom. The white puffy marshmallow of a doll was so massive that Melissa had let one of her friends use it as a mattress during a sleepover.

“How do you know about that?” Vereint asked. He stepped close to the curb and waved his hand. A taxi obediently pulled up in front of him. He opened the door and gestured Caspian in first.

Caspian talked even as he got himself settled. “She showed it to me. I’ve never seen such a big stuffed animal before. I didn’t even know they really made them like that.”

Vereint directed the driver to take them to a pho restaurant in the Asian Village. “I had no idea either,” he told Caspian, picking up the thread of conversation. “My mom showed up with it and expected us to know where to put it. That thing’s way too gigantic, and even though Hello Kitty is cute, that doll is creepy. I’d give it away, but Melissa loves it, the spooky thing.”

“I don’t know. It’s kind of cool,” Caspian said. “Hello Kitty is so cheery I can’t even imagine what could bother you about it.”

“That’s because you’ve only seen it with the lights on,” Vereint said. “Trust me, it’s a whole different story coming across that thing in the dark. It’s positively malevolent. It just seems threatening.”

Caspian rolled his eyes with a laugh. “Next time I face Mindscape, this conversation is going to come back and haunt me, I just know it.”

“Warrick would never give you any peace if he heard you were terrorized by a giant Hello Kitty,” Vereint said. “You might even stop being his favorite superhero.”

“I’m everyone’s favorite superhero.” Caspian met the taxi driver’s eye in the mirror and gave her a polite nod. As an open superhero–especially one with physically inhuman features–he was used to being recognized. At least the citizens of Megacity didn’t come after him for autographs all the time–they were too cool for that.

Being famous was never something Caspian had ever stopped to think about. He’d gone from his birth place in Atlantis to the Above World, and he’d never known anything other than fame. Or maybe it was infamy in Atlantis, where his human blood made him his mother’s greatest shame.

He hadn’t hesitated to leave Atlantis for the Above. There were always people staring at him, examining him from head to foot as though silently wondering what he was made of. It should have made him self-conscious, but he’d never cared. He’d never let himself care, refusing to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing his vulnerability.

He was Caspian Dukes and he didn’t give a damn what anyone else thought. He was a warrior, brave and true. The blood of Atlantean royalty flowed through his veins. Who cared that it was diluted by the humanity of his father? He was what he was: a hero.

TBC…

EDIT: “head to food” lol.

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