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.
There were times when Vereint looked around and wondered how this had become his life. Married to the superhero he’d most admired as a teen, and off to see a movie with said superhero’s best friend and fellow League member.
It seemed a bit surreal.
Vereint watched as a police car rolled up to collect the still whining mugger, who was probably cursing his own choices. Out of everyone that he could rob, he chose the worst option possible. It was the criminal equivalent of Darwinism.
Vereint unloaded the rental locker and stuck the key into the return tray. He lifted the shopping bags and started walking toward where Caspian stood arms akimbo. He took his time getting close, timing it so the police were driving away just as he reached Caspian’s side.
“Well, that was interesting,” he said.
Caspian slanted him a smile. “Glad one stupid mugger could provide the entertainment.”
“What?”
“Never mind.” Caspian held out his hand to take a bag. “Let’s get out of here. I’m even more in the mood for ice cream.”
“Yeah, sure.” Vereint gave Caspian one bag but kept the other to carry himself. “Ice cream fixes all ills.”
“Exactly,” Caspian said.
* * *
Warrick knew that Vereint liked the idea of him bonding with Melissa. It was a lucky thing that they could share a love for kdramas. It took any hardship out of the idea of hanging out with her.
He’d never spent much time around kids. If anyone had ever asked him, he would have said that he’d be terrible dealing with anyone under the age of twenty.
Before Melissa, the last time he’d spent any significant amount of time around a kid had been when he was one himself. He was smooth signing autographs, but other than those passing interactions he was uncomfortable around children.
It had taken him years to get to this point in his relationship with Melissa. He didn’t feel so awkward and ashamed that he would mess things up anymore, and that was all thanks to Vereint.
“Why don’t they talk to each other?” Melissa asked, nudging his side with her elbow. “If they just sat down and had a straightforward conversation they could be happy together. It’s so stupid and sad.”
“Communication is key,” Warrick said wisely. He shook his head. “These guys are incapable of talking about anything. It’s ridiculous.”
“They both need a good kick in the pants.” Melissa shoved a fistful of popcorn into her mouth and quickly chewed. She swallowed and pointed at the TV, “That grandma is the worst. Can you put someone in jail for being a jerk?”
“Not in America,” Warrick said. “Unfortunately.”
“So does that mean you belong in jail?” Vereint asked, coming into the room with a rustle of the plastic bags he carried. “You were a jerk when we first met.”
“Thanks, honey,” Warrick drawled sarcastically. “It’s always nice to know what you think about me.”
“Well, you’re not such a jerk now,” Vereint said. “He was horrible when we met though, ” he told Melissa who laughed.
“I can see it,” she said.
“Hey! What’s with all the abuse?” Warrick asked.
“It’s only what you deserve,” Caspian said, coming in with a bag of his own. “Getting married and settling down was the choice that you made. I still can’t believe that Vereint agreed to marry you.” He grinned and winked. “You got lucky.”
Warrick looked at Vereint–black hair a little tousled, blue eyes shining with mirth–and agreed. “I’m the luckiest man in the world.”
“Ah,” Vereint said, “you’re going to make me blush. He held up one bag, shaking it loudly. “We bought ice cream and all the fixings for banana splits.”
“What about M&Ms?” Melissa asked.
“Gross,” Vereint said. “I got you a bag, but I still can’t believe you’re willing to ruin a perfectly good banana split like that.”
“It makes it better,” Melissa said. She set the popcorn bowl on the coffee table and pushed aside the afghan she’d had across her lap. She stood and held out her hands to take the ice cream bag from Vereint. “I’ll get things started.”
He smiled at her, flashing his dimples. “How come you’re never so helpful when I’m cleaning fish or shelling peas?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Because those are disgusting and ice cream is delicious.”
“Well, go make some delicious splits while I put this other stuff away. Leave the maraschino cherries to me.”
“Am I going to catch you drinking the syrup again?” Warrick asked. The idea of someone drinking the syrup was nauseating, except the sight he’d seen had been oddly erotic–Vereint bare-chested in the kitchen, his jeans hanging low on his hips, his head thrown back as he trickled cherry syrup into his mouth. His lips had been stained red and his tongue was sweet when Warrick kissed him. They’d ended up having sex against the counter with maraschino cherries and syrup getting everywhere, their skin sticking together as they’d stumbled to the shower for Round Two.
Seeming to read Warrick’s mind, Vereint’s grin was slightly naughty, but not enough for Melissa to notice anything untoward. “If you’re lucky. Otherwise the cherries will just disappear and you’ll never know what happened. It’ll be like an unsolved murder mystery.”
“‘The Case of the Missing Maraschinos’?” Warrick suggested.
“And on that note, I’m off,” Melissa said. “You guys would keep talking until everything melted.” She headed into the kitchen with a flip of her ponytail.
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.
Yay! I was wondering what happened next. Thanks for the update!