Warrick Tobias

July 8, 2016 1 comment

I hate being poor; ATR-not; Excerpt: The Anomaly

The plans are as follows:
1. Paint the Kid’s room.
2. Grow and eat mung bean sprouts.
3. Get him a BMX bike.
4. Buy him clothes for school.
5. Wrap up all old stories.

* * *

OMAKE

Being a retiree wasn’t so bad. Not when he halfway felt as though everyday they lived like normal people was one more day when he’d kept the world safe.

Warrick would never say anything, but checking up on the things Vereint had gotten up to while he was indisposed and reading a few essays floating around the Internet about the minds of supervillains had really freaked him out. It was obvious that Vereint had gone a bit psycho.

It was somewhat flattering to think that he was the only thing protecting the world from Vereint going full scale SUPERVILLAIN Darkstar. He got to have the love of his life and save the world at the same time. Blue Ice was dead, but Warrick felt like more of a superhero than he had in a long time.

Having Nick manifest his first metabilities was a bit worrying. Warrick didn’t quite know how he was supposed to handle things, but he managed to at least look like he wasn’t throwing hysterical fits so he considered it a win. Vereint wasn’t even trying to cover up the fact that he was freaking out. It made Warrick feel a bit superior to be the controlled one for once.

“Remember, no showing off,” Vereint said with a pointed look at Nick.

“It’s fine, Dad.” Nick rolled his eyes, but didn’t try to move away when Vereint tugged his jacket straight. “I got this.”

A quirky smile curved Vereint’s lips as he looked at Nick. “You’re growing up really fast. Just don’t expect to get your own car until you’re twenty-five.”

Warrick moved in when it looked like Vereint was about to spit on his hand to smooth their son’s hair. “We’re going to be late.”

Vereint let himself be tugged away from Nick. Warrick wrapped his left arm around Vereint’s shoulder, less as a comforting gesture and more to hold him back from his fussing.

“I guess we better get out of here,” Vereint said.

Nick looked proud in his suit and tie, his hair styled to look careless and windswept. He had Vereint’s dark hair and Warrick’s blue eyes and was growing up to be a good looking kid. When he grinned, it was to show off Vereint’s dimples in a charm that no one could deny. “I look good, right?” He stuck his hands in his pockets and spread his jacket wide for a moment.

“Don’t get a big head.” Warrick clapped Nick on the back and nudged him toward the door. Vereint stayed curled against his side, their legs almost tangling when they stepped out on the porch. Warrick refused to let him go.

They walked up the sidewalk as a group, meeting up with others making the journey. Boys and girls dressed in their best clothes, excited younger siblings bounding around, and indulgent parents trailing along. It was like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting, this stream of people all headed toward the country school.

Warrick had never imagined that a child’s graduation between grades was such a big deal, yet here they were. Vereint was beaming with pride and fiddling with the camera hanging around his neck. Nick spotted a couple of his friends and ran up ahead. And suddenly they were taking a romantic stroll.

“Are you going to write about this in your diary?” Warrick asked.

Vereint slanted him a confused glance. “Huh?”

“Never mind. It was stupid. Life is good.”

“It is.” Vereint gave Warrick’s shoulder a squeeze.

Warrick smiled contentedly.

He had a husband he loved and a son graduating the fifth grade. He had sixty-one years of life experience and a thirty-one year old body. There wasn’t much more that he could ask for. Life was good.

/EXCERPT

* * *

They gave him the name Gellar Rembrandt when he was decanted. One more Bottle Baby sent off to the creche. And as soon as he had a mouth full of teeth and could walk and talk, he was bundled off to the Learning Center.

It wasn’t a bad life, being the clone of a clone of a clone. For everything he thought and did, there was a precedence. It gave him a sense of peace to know that he was a stereotypical representative of his genotype. One amongst thousands.

Until the Graduation Exams when he was 20. Until his world was ended with the declaration that he was an Aberration, and Unclean.

He was not the perfect copy he’d always known himself to be. He was an anomaly.

Gellar was taken from the Learning Center in the back of a van. His wrists were shackled together and he was treated like a prisoner, an inevitable threat.

He could see the disgust and disquiet in the faces that looked like his own. (His type is used in the police and military.) Every single one of them was forced to wonder what they would have done if they were him. He was the possibility of failure that any one of them could have been.

He was their worst fear brought to life.

Aberration. Discord. Failure.

/EXCERPT

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…

August 12, 2014 2 comments

“Allies & Enemies,” by Harper Kingsley is live! [superhero, mm, novel]

Title: Allies & Enemies
Author: Harper Kingsley
Series: Heroes & Villains (Book Two)
Cover art: Aisha Akeju
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Genre: mm, superhero, urban fantasy, sci-fi
Word count: 129,000

Summary: In the wake of the death of the Fabulous Kims, Vereint cannot forget Melissa, the little girl they left behind, a girl that now has no family. Certain he and Warrick can be the family she needs, he pushes to adopt her. That she proves to have superpowers only confirms he’s right. Melissa is their darling daughter by day, and by night she trains to become Blue Devil, sidekick to Blue Ice.

Then the unthinkable happens, destroying the happiness Vereint and Warrick worked so hard to build—a tragedy so great that the long-vanished Darkstar returns with murderous intent …

It’s here! Allies & Enemies is currently live at Less Than Three and at Smashwords.

Are you excited? I’m excited.

And if you feel like you need to catch up on the series, here’s the links for Heroes & Villains at Less Than Three and at Smashwords.

EXCERPT of Allies & Enemies:

The sun struggled to shine through the clouds, and it was one of those days destined to be miserable. Not just because of the weather, but because of the girl sobbing out her heartbreak on a sterile hospital bed, the sheets pulled up around her shoulders as she buried her face in the flat and lumpy pillow.

Vereint clenched his hands together on the handles of the two shopping bags he held. It took all of his willpower to keep from running into the room and scooping her into his arms. Instead, he stood in the hallway and watched through the window as she mourned the loss of her parents. Behind and to the left of him, he could hear Warrick talking to the nurse and the social worker, and Vereint was sure everything was just about worked out.

They were going to take that little girl home and give her a family and make sure she grew up knowing that she was loved. He didn’t think they could ever erase the loss of her parents, but they would try their best to make her realize she still had a whole life to live and they would be there for her.

Vereint heard the slight scuff of dress shoes on the linoleum floor, and then Warrick’s arm settled across his shoulders. He didn’t hesitate to hug Warrick’s wrist against his chest. He breathed in the scent that his brain uniquely identified as Warrick Reidenger Tobias and something screaming and tight in his chest released. “Do we get to take her now?”

“I talked them around,” Warrick said. “There will be social service visits and we’ll have a social worker assigned. They’ll still be looking for any family she has, but she gets to go home with us tonight. They say she’s all right, just shaken up, so it’ll be better for her if she doesn’t spend another night in the hospital.”

“Good.” Vereint had never been fond of hospitals. Just the smell and the sounds were enough to make him uncomfortable; he couldn’t imagine how miserable it must be for a grieving twelve-year-old who had watched her parents die. “The guest room will be fine for tonight, and tomorrow I can go and get things to make it more comfortable.”

He’d get her a few things to make her feel welcome, then later after her grief had a chance to settle he would take her to pick out things she wanted for herself. It would give them a chance to bond. He wondered what she looked like when she smiled.

“Here comes the social worker,” Warrick said.

There was the clack-clack of sensible pumps attached to a tall, thin woman with a pair of no-nonsense glasses perched on her nose. She looked like she might be kind, but also as though she didn’t suffer fools. The subdued floral print of her purple and black blouse showed she had a softer side that they would be able to appeal to.

“Mr. Georges-Tobias, Mr. Tobias, I’m Nancy Daniels and I’ve been assigned to Melissa’s case.” Her handshake was brusque and businesslike. She wasn’t ready to be friends, not until she was sure of them, but Vereint knew she was the kind of ally they were going to need. He’d done a bit of research about child services, and while money could take them far, they would need her help to smooth away the minor irritations of the legal system.

He smiled at her, trying to pour on the charm without going too far over the top. “Thank you. I’m just glad you’re letting us take her home with us.”

She sighed. “It will be nice for her to be out of here. From what the nurses have said, last night was not a good night for her.” She walked toward the door. “Come along and I’ll introduce you.”

Warrick reached the door first and held it open with easy grace. He brushed his hand against the small of Vereint’s back as Vereint passed by him. Vereint gave him a smile before his attention was caught by the girl on the bed.

Melissa was a cute Korean-American girl with long black hair and a triangular-shaped face. She was short, her body so tiny that her head looked large in comparison. With the opening of the door, she hastily sat up, raking her hands through the tangled mess of her hair and scrubbing at her eyes with the corner of the sheet. Her face was still blotchy and red, but her chin firmed as she pretended she hadn’t been crying.

“What do you want?” she asked, her lips twitching as she tried to maintain her control. She blinked rapidly to clear the gleam of tears from her eyes.

“Hello, Melissa,” Nancy said, her voice gentle and soothing. “I know you said you want to leave the hospital, and that’s why I’ve brought these two gentlemen with me. This is Vereint Georges-Tobias and his husband Warrick Tobias. They want you to stay with them until everything gets figured out.”

Melissa gave them a suspicious glare. “I don’t know them. I don’t want to go anywhere with them.”

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” Nancy said, “but Vereint and Warrick are offering you a safe place to stay.”

Vereint stepped forward, shifting the bags until they hung from his left wrist, and held up his hands, palms out so she could see that they were empty. He gave Melissa a tentative smile. “Hi. I can tell you want to get out of here. I don’t much like hospitals myself, and it must be pretty cold here at night, huh?”

Her black eyes were still suspicious, but she gave a nod of grudging agreement. “The blankets are thin and you can hear everything that goes on at night. I think the man in the next room died last night; there was a big ruckus and people were running in and out.” Her chin was a hard nob that she refused to let tremble.

Vereint pressed his lips together. He’d pushed for her to be put in a different unit of the hospital, but her brush with the freeze ray that had shot her parents meant she needed close observation. At least, that had been the line the doctor had given when Vereint had asked if she could be discharged two days ago. Vereint didn’t think a lonely and sterile hospital room was a healthy environment for a traumatized child. He didn’t want to see her spirit damaged.

The fact that she was defensive made him like her more. He’d felt as though something had stabbed him in the chest the first time he’d seen her after her parents’ death. He’d never believed in fate, but it was obvious to him that he and Warrick had to take her home and raise her as their daughter. There had been so much hurt in her eyes when they’d met his and so much spirit beyond that, it had been no effort at all to nudge Warrick into grudging action.

/EXCERPT