So lately I’ve had tons of ideas. The problem is that every time I start to write, I get distracted by various things and then it’s impossible to come back to what I was doing. So lame.
I’ve still typed up some stuff, but it’s taking me longer to get to it than I would like.
“Altredes” is coming along very nicely. Is anyone else as excited as I am? There’s just something so entirely thrilling about gender benders. Sure, it’s gen het, but it kind of flexes against some boundaries and that’s always fun.
“The Panic Pure” should have already been finished, but these guys just keep getting up to crazy serial killer hijinks. No, the main characters aren’t killing people, but there is a psychopath out there. Danny is adorable though.
“Allies & Enemies” will be making a public appearance February-ish.
“Doggy Style” is making its way to paper, or something non-dead tree-like, you know, if that’s your thing 😉
“Tuesday Night” is getting pretty spicy. Sunfire/Seth has developed some hidden depths that I didn’t even know were there and some part of me is tempted to turn it into a kid!fic, though I’m holding myself back, because that way lies evil. Evil and nerdiness.
[powerpress]
CHAPTER ONE
There was something wonderful about waking up happy every morning. Warrick opened his eyes with a grin and stretched, liking the feel of his muscles flexing in the cool comfort of his silk pajamas.
He sat up and turned his head to look down at Vereint. His lover was still deeply asleep, his always young-looking face innocent in the half-light of the drawn curtains. He breathed softly and his chest rose and fell with a gentle rhythm.
“Well aren’t you just the cutest when you’re sleeping,” Warrick whispered, leaning down to kiss Vereint on the cheek before climbing out of bed.
He stretched hugely, arching his back so far that his hands almost touched the floor behind him. He yawned and slipped his robe on over his pajamas before padding quietly out of the room.
Melissa was sitting on the living room couch in her teddy bear print pajamas, eating a big bowl of cereal and watching cartoons with the volume turned low. She looked up when he came in and smiled.
“Good morning,” he said, heading straight for the kitchen and a cup of coffee.
“G’morn’ng,” she answered.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” he ordered, grabbing a mug out of the cabinet, “it’s rude.”
She laughed. “That’s me all the way. Rude, rude, rude little sidekick girl.”
“Hey, watch it. You know there’s no secret superhero talk out around where anyone can hear.”
“Come on, we’re in private,” she said. “There’s no one to hear but Vereint, and he doesn’t care, ’cause he knows all your secrets.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Vereint asked, coming out of the bedroom. His hair was sleep rumpled and he wore a pair of dark blue silk pajamas. He was beautiful in the morning light. Then again, he was beautiful in any kind of light, and that wasn’t just Warrick’s personal opinion either. Numerous people had noted his uncommon attractiveness.
“Hey, you know all of Warrick’s secrets, but you don’t know mine.” Melissa poked her thumb at her chest. “I’m a woman of mystery.”
“‘Woman of mystery,’ heh, I like that.” Warrick poured another cup of coffee and held it out to Vereint.
Vereint ignored the coffee and wrapped his arms around Warrick’s waist and nuzzled his chin into the warm nest of his neck. “Um, missed you.”
“What, I just left the bed like five seconds ago.”
Vereint kissed Warrick’s neck. “It’s still too long.” He “whuffed” a warm little laugh. “I don’t ever want to be away from you.”
Warrick turned in his arms, setting the cup on the counter. “You’re always with me, even when you’re not.” He brought his mouth to Vereint’s and felt the same melting feeling he always did. “Um, you’re always so warm.”
“Twenty degrees hotter than a normal,” Vereint whispered, “you know that.”
“Gaw, can’t you two get a room or something!” Melissa slouched down on the couch and made a disgusted, “Ew, adults are making out” kind of face.
Harper Kingsley
Ko-fi: HarperWCK
Paypal: HarperKingsley
Vereint pulled away from Warrick and grabbed a handful of Apple Jacks from the open box. He popped two in his mouth and threw the rest at Melissa. “Punk, this is our house!”
She squealed and covered her head like she was afraid of getting hurt. “Hey, I’m a kid here. You’re gonna put out my eye one day with the abuse you’re dishing out.”
He made a “tsking” sound and shook his head. “What’re you watching?” he asked, pulling out of Warrick’s grasp to pick up his coffee cup.
“What does it look like I’m watching? I’m watching cartoons! Duh.”
Warrick snorted a laugh. “You were just asking for that,” he said to Vereint.
“Oh shut up. It’s too early in the morning to be dealing with a bratty teenager and an even brattier adult.” Vereint walked halfway to the living room, then turned and stuck out his tongue. “N’yah!”
Warrick lunged at him, and he giggled and ran to sit on the couch. “Hah, safe.” He snuggled down next to Melissa, throwing an arm over her shoulder. “Now, seriously, what show is this?”
She gave him a squint-eyed glance out of the corner of her eyes. “It’s… well, it’s an anime I got from a friend.”
Warrick came over to sit down in the armchair closest to the couch. “I thought we told you before not to get any fansubbed anime. No one’s getting paid for them and they’re not completely legal. We don’t need the trouble. If someone tracked you down through your IP address and started an in-depth investigation… well, we’d be screwed.”
“Come on, calm down a little,” Vereint said, waving his coffee cup. “She’s a kid, and kids do stupid things all the time. No one’s going to come busting down the door to arrest her for watching anime.”
“Yeah, chill out,” Melissa said. “Thanks Ver, I think. I really don’t like being classified as a ‘stupid kid,’ though.”
He grinned at her. “But isn’t that what you are? Anyone below the age of twenty-five is a stupid kid.”
“You just say that ’cause you’re twenty-six.”
He pulled her closer against his side. “Yeah, well, just be glad I’m on your side against the evil Warrick. He’s always such a downer, isn’t he?”
Warrick almost spit out his coffee when they both gave him that same squint-eyed glance. “Come on guys, no ganging up on me. It’s not fair.”
“The world is not fair. Besides, I’m the cool one in this relationship,” Vereint said.
“Yeah, it’s too bad you’re not the one with the superpowers,” Melissa said, then frowned in confusion when the two men laughed. “What’s so funny?”
Vereint stroked her hair. “Nothing’s funny, honey bear. You’re absolutely right–it’s too bad I don’t have superpowers. The world would be a different kind of place then, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah. I think you would make an awesome superhero. I can just see you out there saving the day, getting babe kisses from grateful, yet stupid young debutantes for saving their worthless lives. You’d probably have as big of a fanbase as… the legendary Darkstar! Except, you know, for the good.” She didn’t understand why Vereint and Warrick shared such a weird look.
“Probably, I guess so,” Vereint said, his voice wavering with laughter. “But I don’t really think I was made for the superhero life. I make a good superhero husband, but I wouldn’t be able to fit into the tights.”
“I don’t know why you settled for Warrick either,” Melissa said, watching Warrick out of the corner of her eye as she spoke. “You’re so good looking and charming and young and smart, while Warrick… he’s old and not very cool, but at least he’s rich. You, though, Vereint, you could do so much better.”
Warrick slapped her lightly on the back of the head. “Hey, you’re my ward, you’re supposed to treat me with respect, not make time with my husband.”
She smirked at him. “N’yah, n’yah. I could so steal him away from you without even trying. If you guys weren’t such a cute couple… Vereint would be mine.” She gave an evil laugh ala Dr. Vondevil, with his orange-red hair and his file sharpened teeth.
“Except that you’re like twelve and not a man,” Vereint said, ruffling her hair with his hand.
“Hey, I’m fifteen!”
“Twelve, fifteen, what’s the difference? You’re a girl!” Vereint said.
“That’s sexist!” She pouted at him.
“Sorry, sweetie, but your gender matters when it comes to getting into a homosexual relationship with someone,” Vereint said mock-sympathetically.
She shoved a spoonful of cereal in her mouth. “It’s not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair,” Warrick said. “Deal with it.”
“You’re so mean to me,” she whined, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
Vereint reached out to tug on the ends of her hair. “Come on, cutie. You don’t want to be stuck with me anyway. I’m an old man of twenty-six and by the time you’re thirty I’ll be forty-one, positively ancient. Besides, I am faithfully devoted to my Warry-poo.” He made comical cow eyes at Warrick, who snorted loudly and shook his head.
“You’re about as bad as she is,” he said, but he sounded amused. He loved the way Vereint felt free to tease him. There was no one else in the world that Vereint was so open with.
“So, what are we going to do with our day?” Vereint asked.
“I thought that we might hang out here for a little while to pretend interest in the child, then retreat back to the bedroom until late afternoon when we’ll go out for dinner at Laytola’s. What do you think?”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Vereint said, his lips curling.
“Ew!” Melissa squealed. “It’s so gross how you plan your assignations right in front of me like that. I really don’t want to hear about what you guys are going to do once you get it in the bedroom. I don’t want to know about your sex life. That’s nasty.”
Warrick thwapped her on the back of the head. “Then don’t listen. Our love life is really none of your business and I don’t want you thinking otherwise.”
“Be nice,” Vereint ordered, then gave Melissa one of his sweetest smiles. She really was a good girl, even if she did have the overblown ego of a superheroine-in-training. She would grow out of that soon enough, all she needed was a little more life experience and everything would be hunky-dory.
Melissa grinned back at him, a bright, shiny expression. To look at her now, no one would ever think that not too long ago she had been an aggressively independent orphan with a mile high chip on her shoulder. To people meeting her, she seemed like the rosy image of perfection, a great candidate for cheerleader and a life of high school popularity.
She was nothing like people would ever expect. The bubbly exterior hiding the fact that in her free time or when the world needed it she was the sidekick to one of the world’s most famous superheroes, Blue Ice.
Sometimes he felt sad that she had to lie all the time, but that was pretty much how the life of a superhero went. Though he really had to wonder what kind of impact all of that deception had on the psyche of a fifteen year old.
To make up for the mental anguish she so thoughtlessly put herself through, he tried his hardest to make her everyday life as normal as possible. He was always careful to treat her as though she was just another girl, never making a big deal out of the fact that she could easily bench press a Buick or could melt a building into rubble with her plasma bursts.
Even though she had all the power of a young god, she was just that, young. And though there were those that would dare to call her otherwise, even with all her power and ability, she was still human and a girl and he was never going to treat her as anything less than that.
He remembered all the times Warrick had dragged himself home, covered in soot and blood and even darker things. He remembered the look that burned in Warrick’s eyes and it tasted like ashes and death in his mouth. And he knew that someday Melissa might wear that same look and feel the same helplessness at not being able to save everyone or even anyone sometimes, but he would try his hardest to give her some kind of base to fall back on.
She would never feel as though she was not allowed to experience grief. Even in the darkest times, she would know that there were people in the world that cared about her, that knew she was still human even under the cape. And no matter how things turned out, she would always know that he was there for her.
“What, do I have something on my face?” Melissa asked, swiping a hand across her cheek.
He shook his head, smiling at her fondly. “No, you’re just perfect.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You’re gonna have to start reining in that maternal instinct of yours, or I’m going to have to start mocking you terribly.”
“Ah, and I really wanted you to start calling me Mama,” he said.
“More like Auntie Mame.”
“See, that’s what happens when you force a malleable young teenaged mind to watch your crazy classic movies,” Vereint said, looking at Warrick.
“Hey, I’m not the one that forced her to watch ‘Mommy Dearest’ last week,” Warrick said.
Vereint looked at Melissa and together they both shrieked, “No more wire hangers!” before cackling loudly.
Warrick growled in his throat and shook his head. “You guys. Just for that, we’re watching ‘The Cain Mutiny.'”
“Oh noes, the horror!” Melissa cried, cupping her face in her hands ala The Scream.
“No respect. I get no respect.” Warrick shook his head.
Vereint wrapped his arms around his lover’s shoulders. “At least you’re a lot prettier than Rodney Dangerfield,” he said.
“Allow me to reiterate once again: I am not a woman,” Warrick said.
“Yeah, ’cause if you were, I wouldn’t be with you right now,” Vereint said, smirking.
Warrick sighed heavily, though a smile lurked around his lips when Vereint and Melissa high-fived each other.
They were so cute together and he was happy to have them in his life. The three of them had somehow made a family, a funny kind of superpowered bunch. And even though there were secrets he and Vereint had yet to share with Melissa, it didn’t matter in the here and now because they had given her all the love that she needed and deserved.
“I love you,” he said.
Vereint turned to look at him out of surprisingly moist eyes, a smile hovering around his lips. “So you wanna do that thing we talked about?”
Warrick shivered. “I’m still not comfortable with the idea of that. We’ll have to research it some more.”
“Ah, come on,” Vereint said, all pleading eyes and kissable lips.
“What are you guys talking about?” Melissa asked, rising up on her knees on the couch. She could tell that there was something going on here, something more than the usual and everyday.
Vereint glanced at Warrick before he turned to her. “I was talking to Dr. Zee and… Well, you know that Warrick and I have been together for awhile and we really love each other and… Dr. Zee told me that if we really wanted it there is a way for us to have a child together.”
“What? But you’re like two guys,” Melissa said.
Vereint shrugged. “It’s the technological age, baby. You’ve seen some of the dangerous toys the baddies have come up with, well… With a little bit of adaptation and some good old fashioned science work, Dr. Zee has found a way to combine mine and Warrick’s DNA into what would hopefully become a viable offspring. A little bit of him and a little bit of me and we could have a child of our own.”
“Whoa.” Melissa rubbed her face. “That’s kind of wild.”
“Yeah, that’s what I said.” Warrick moved to wrap his arms around Vereint’s back, resting his chin on top of his husband’s head as he looked at Melissa. “I’m really not sure that we’re ready for a child. Plus, the fact that I’m a metahuman might have an adverse affect on the child. That’s why I think we need to do a little more research before a final decision is made.”
“Still,” Melissa said, “a baby. I could have a little brother or sister. Whoa.”
“Yeah,” Vereint said. “We could have a little superhero or heroine on our hands. All tiny fingers and toes and adorable superpowers. It would be great. Baby’s first bout of laser vision. The time baby juggled the refrigerator. Dozens of memories just waiting to be made.”
“But we live dangerous lives,” Warrick said. “Melissa and I are always out there… thwarting evil.”
“But I’m not,” Vereint said. “I could take care of our child and…”
The small phone in the corner went off. It was THE PHONE, the direct line to the Commissioner. The Hero Hotline as Vereint had laughingly dubbed it.
“We’re going to have to finish this later,” Warrick said.
Vereint sighed. “Give me a kiss before you go. And promise me that you’re going to be careful. Both of you.”
“Promise.” Warrick pressed a kiss against Vereint’s forehead. “I’ll keep Melissa out of trouble too.”
Vereint watched as the hero and his sidekick blurred away, a sad smile curving his lips. He had the strange feeling in his chest that something wasn’t quite right, but he really couldn’t explain it.
“Be good,” he whispered, knowing they were already too far away to hear him. Off to fight the bad guys and save the day for the citizens of Megacity.
