CDandHBFH 01 [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: Vereint and Caspian go see a movie together.
“I’m back! The meeting was cut short and…” Vereint stopped, looking around the room. “What the…”
Caspian was cradled sideways in his usual armchair, his legs dangling over the arm. He slept with his mouth open, his head tipped back to expose the long line of his throat.
Warrick and Melissa shared the couch, Vereint’s The Nightmare Before Christmas blanket spread across their laps. There were used tissues piled on the coffee table amongst the remnants of earlier snacks. Both of them had red eyes and streaming noses.
The twin expressions of shocked surprise Vereint received made him laugh. The sudden bright sound startled Caspian into jerking upright in his chair. “What?”
“It’s okay, go back to sleep,” Vereint said. He smiled at the way Warrick embarrassedly swept tissues off the couch into an empty chip bag. “What are you watching that has the two of you so emotional?”
Helpless tears streamed down Melissa’s face. She blew her nose into the handful of tissues she held. “It’s a Taiwanese drama, ‘Autumn Concerto.’ I wasn’t expecting it to be like this–he’s such a jerk!–but it’s so sad. It’s full of feelings.”
Caspian groaned and sat up in his chair with a spine popping stretch. “I was lured here under false pretenses. Instead of the promised action movie marathon, I got to watch Warrick pretend that he wasn’t crying. I feel cheated.”
“This is a great show! It’s not my fault that you lack all semblance of good taste.” Warrick was trying to sound aggrieved, but his eyes kept cutting toward the TV. He came across as distracted.
“How many episodes does this show have, and what episode are you on now?” Vereint asked. He didn’t want a repeat of the Dong-yi debacle where Warrick mainlined the show without saying there were 60 episodes.
“There’s 34 episodes,” Warrick said. “I think this is episode 20, but I’m not sure.”
“Hm.” Vereint turned toward Caspian. “Since my plans for the evening are shot, do you want to go see a movie with me? These guys can finish watching their show and neither one of us has to cry.”
Caspian looked from Warrick and Melissa huddled on the couch with teary eyes to Vereint. “This is not a hard choice at all. Let’s go.” He nearly leapt out of the chair to reach his shoes where they’d been kicked under the coffee table.
Vereint waited for him patiently, then gave Warrick and Melissa a little finger wave as they left. “Laters. Me and Caspian are off to actually live life, rather than watch it on TV.”
“This story is beautiful. You have no idea what you’re missing,” Melissa said.
“I’m good,” Vereint said. And they left.
* * *
“So, what movie do you want to see?” Caspian asked. He leaned against the elevator wall as he scrolled through movie show times on his phone.
“Whatever you want,” Vereint said. “The world is our oyster.”
Caspian felt a little strange, since he’d never hung out with Vereint alone, but figured it would be a fun experience. It would be good to get along with his best friend’s husband.
Vereint Georges-Tobias was a quiet kind of guy. He lurked in the background of most situations, letting Warrick handle things. When he did put himself forward, he easily dominated any conversation and quickly became the center of things. He was the most unassuming and effortlessly popular person Caspian had ever met, and he truly and deeply loved Warrick.
On first meeting Vereint, Caspian had seen the handsome face and the doting expression Warrick wore when he looked at him, and he’d figured there was going to be trouble. Vereint was yet another greedy pretty boy out to take Warrick’s money and break his heart. The fact that Warrick actually had feelings for Vereint only made things worse.
Vereint had surprised him in a good way. Witty and charming and surprisingly sweet-natured, the feelings he had for Warrick couldn’t be anything less than sincere. It was a relief for Caspian, who had genuinely worried.
A heart-broken Warrick was not something he ever wanted to see.
TBC…
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Check out “Allies & Enemies” at: All Romance Ebooks, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BookStrand, Goodreads, iTunes, Less Than Three Press, Smashwords. — superhero, urban fantasy, mm, drama. Darkstar x Blue Ice.