CDandHBFH 07 [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: It’s banana splits all around. (Yes, I will be making a banana split ASAP. *nom nom*)

“I guess she told you,” Caspian said, flopping into an armchair. He nudged the bag toward Vereint with his foot.

“Thanks,” Vereint said, scooping up the bag and carrying his load toward the bedroom.

Warrick rested his elbow on the couch arm and raised an eyebrow at Caspian. “What’s that look on your face? Was the movie a bust or something?”

“Naw, it was as good as I thought it would be.” Caspian sighed, blowing out his cheeks. “Some guy tried to mug us on our way home.”

“Ooh, poor guy. What hospital is he in?” Warrick asked.

“Hah, but no. I didn’t want to shock Vereint so I was actually very gentle with the guy. Considering the amount of paperwork I’m going to be facing, I wish I’d at least gotten to break something on the guy’s face.”

“You know, violence is not the answer,” Warrick said virtuously before laughing. He sobered after a moment and gave Caspian a serious look. “Thank you for protecting Vereint.”

“Protecting me from what?” Vereint asked, coming in with a different shirt on.

“From your mugger,” Warrick said.

“Oh.” Vereint blinked, then grinned. “Caspian’s my new hero. I don’t know what I would have done if he wasn’t there, but it probably wouldn’t have been anywhere near so heroic. Thanks for saving me, man. For that, I’m going to make sure you get an extra scoop of ice cream.”

He patted Caspian’s shoulder on his way past to the kitchen. “It’ll be banana splits all around.”

“You definitely lucked out,” Caspian said after a moment. “Vereint is a keeper.”

“Yeah,” Warrick agreed. “I’m going to spend the rest of my life with him.”

“Probably because he won’t let you get away.”

Warrick flung one of the small pillows from the couch at him. Caspian caught it and launched it back. They passed it back and forth for a moment, before Caspian finally stuck the pillow in the small of his back and slouched comfortably.

“It was a great movie. You really should have come along,” Caspian said.

“Not really my thing.” Warrick leaned forward to take a handful of popcorn out of the bowl. He ate it a piece at a time, the sound like crushing Styrofoam as he chewed. “Besides, me and Melissa had fun watching our show. It was kinda nice without Vereint’s sighs and commentary.”

“Hey now,” Vereint said. He came in carrying a tray with long bowls of ice cream balanced on it. Melissa followed in his wake with a tray of her own. “I wouldn’t make fun of your shows if they weren’t so unbelievable.”

“It’s because you completely lack the gene for romance,” Warrick said. He stood to clear a spot on the coffee table for the trays. “I feel sorry for you.”

“I feel sorry for you too. Being stuck married to me.” Vereint set down his tray and moved aside for Melissa. “Maybe I’ll run away with Caspian. Then what will you do?”

“I’d hunt him across the world and take you back,” Warrick said.

“Uh, I’m not gay, so I’m not looking to run away with anyone here,” Caspian said. “Thank you.” He smiled and accepted the banana split Vereint held out to him. Warrick could clearly see that Caspian had an extra scoop of ice cream framing his banana.

Vereint passed Warrick a bowl before sitting next to him on the couch with his own banana split. Warrick raised his eyebrows on seeing Vereint’s bowl. “That’s a ludicrous amount of maraschino cherries. There’s gotta be at least a dozen there.”

Vereint scooped a cherry up with his spoon and sucked it into his mouth. “You’re lucky I gave you any at all. I could have eaten that whole jar.”

“Thank you for being so generous.” Warrick used his spoon to cut off a chunk of banana, swirling it through the chocolate syrup. “This looks good. I haven’t had one of these for a long time.”

Melissa curled up on the other armchair, her bowl balanced on her thigh. “We should have these everyday.” She shoveled a massive spoonful of strawberry ice cream into her mouth.

The next ten minutes were filled with the sounds of them enjoying their banana splits. Warrick couldn’t even worry about the extra hours of exercise he would have to do to burn off all of the calories.

Vereint was warm beside him and he was eating ice cream drizzled with chocolate and strawberry syrup. His best friend and Melissa were both here with them. He didn’t think there was a way for the night to get much better.

“This is nice,” he finally said.

“It definitely is,” Caspian said. Warrick saw that he had chocolate syrup around his mouth and wondered how long it would take for him to notice. He didn’t feel the need to say anything about it.

“We should do this more often,” Warrick said.

He looked around the room, enjoying having the people he loved in one place. He could see the future stretched out before him–family-style dinners, enjoying every kind of dessert treat they wanted, and retiring to a quiet life with Vereint, the two of them supporting Melissa in her solo superhero career.

He’d never seriously considered hanging up his cape, but the idea was finding a place in his brain. Melissa was growing up fast, and in a few years she would be a strong enough superheroine that she wouldn’t need him looking over her shoulder every minute. He could take a step back from active superheroing, could be there to offer her support when she needed it without having to go out every night and patrol. If it came down to it, he knew that Caspian would always have her back.

Warrick glanced at Vereint out of the corner of his eye and it felt like falling in love all over again.

When it had come down to it, Vereint had given up his old life and chosen Warrick. Could Warrick make the same choice?

Yes.

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.