Harper Kingsley blog

May 13, 2015 1 comment

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.

May 11, 2015 1 comment

CDandHBFH 06 [Caspian Dukes and Vereint Georges]

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…

May 8, 2015 0 comments

Amazon Basics Wired Keyboard; Amazon Fire TV Stick; My brother was struck by a vehicle

I bought an Amazon Basics Wired Keyboard for >$12 and it works pretty good. There was a bit of a problem loading the drivers when I first plugged it in, but it eventually caught up to itself (after about 10 minutes).

It’s a nice, cheap keyboard with a fairly long cord–about four feet in length–that’s not too stiff or bindy. Though the keyboard is such a glossy black that it shows every single fingerprint or speck of dust.

* * *

Back in the day I bought the Kid an Amazon Fire TV Stick. It was on sale at the time and I wish I would have bought two of them then, as I’ve purchased a second Fire TV Stick.

We have a so-called Smart TV, but the apps refused to update and their GUI (graphic user interface) wasn’t as good as I wanted. Plus Hulu was constantly freezing, jerking, and and buffering without stopping. It got to the point that the only app we used was Netflix, and even then it was a hassle to use, refusing to auto-play the next episode when we were watching television shows.

Anyways, with the new Fire TV Stick, we’ve started being able to watch Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime in the living room, which is great, as I’m obsessed with Horrible Histories. (It’s fun and engaging edutainment that everyone should watch no matter their age. I’ve already learned a lot about real history.)

Anyways, at $39 the Fire TV Stick is worth the cost. It works great, though you cannot customize the Home screen. I’m thinking about adding the Plex app so I can use a different screen when choosing and playing media.

I was having a bit of trouble with Hulu jerking and pausing after a week of using the Fire TV Stick, but I simply unplugged it for a minute and it’s worked great since then. I guess it just needs a chance to clear its cache. As they say, “Turn it off and on again.”

For the price, it’s a great little gadget and you can take it with you when you travel. Watch some TV, play some games, and listen to music (though, while it plays your Amazon Prime Music playlists, you cannot add songs or albums from the Fire TV Stick. You’d have to log in with your desktop, phone, or tablet. But once the music is added to your lists it’s right there on the front screen of your Fire TV Stick.)

* * *

On a more horrible note, on Thursday my brother was hit by a car while riding his Go Ped. His spleen was punctured in seven places and he did some damage to his right knee cap, possibly breaking it.

There’s not a whole lot of information at this point, though he is alive and he’s going to be all right. The police haven’t gotten back to us about whether the driver of the car was arrested or if s/he drove off or anything. For all we know, it might have been a hit-and-run. My brother doesn’t remember a whole lot about the accident, just that he was driving home, then he was in the hospital.

It was a bit chilling when I saw his helmet. There was a big crack along the side where his head must have hit the pavement. If he hadn’t been wearing it, he would have been dead. As it is, he spent two hours in surgery and the doctors aren’t going to release him for several days, as he has drainage tubes in his chest and there was some talk about an air embolis.

He’s alive though, and he’s going to get better, and that’s really all that matters.

Seriously people, always wear a helmet. It will save your life.

May 3, 2015 0 comments

I saw Age of Ultron. No spoilers, just random Batman babble

I saw Age of Ultron. No spoilers.

It was a good movie. There were a few things that made me go “Meh” but I’m a big girl, I can deal with it. Besides, RDJ was a delight. I could have watched a whole extra hour and a half featuring Tony Stark (Iron Man 4 perchance?).

Anyways, during the trailers there was one for the Batman versus Superman movie.

I was all “Ugh” about the latest character reboot, but that trailer looked good. Maybe DC will finally have a good movie. Though I worry that they’re going to keep going super dark without going deep into the characters.

I’m sorry, but the Dark Knight series was some pretty dark stuff. Yet we didn’t get very much character exploration for all the angst and murder.

I enjoyed Michael Keaton’s Batman. He was a bit clumsy and absent-minded as Bruce Wayne which enabled people to believe his scatter brained rich guy pose. Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne was a bit too aggressive to me. There was a definite Patrick Bateman vibe about him.

That’s what I want. I want a story where some girl is talking to her friends about how she thinks Bruce Wayne might be a serial killer. She watches shows like Criminal Minds and CSI and she put the evidence together herself.

And then, because of her planting the idea, other people begin to notice the oddities of Bruce Wayne. He can’t go out as Batman because people are watching him 24/7 and he starts getting frustrated, which ups the serial killer vibe around him.

I think a silly story would be good, but a good long darkfic could be good too as long as there’s a happy ending at the end. (I like reading happy endings.)

I think that’s the greatest sin: an unsatisfactory ending.

There’s no pain like following some series for twelve books only to have the story crap out on you. There’s a reason fanfiction was invented, and it wasn’t entirely people wanting to spend more time with the characters. To spend that much time and money only to be disappointed–people start feeling a need to correct the situation.

I think endings were made to be unmade. Because what is every ending but just another new beginning.