Unexpected Reading Material!

[bringstheheat]

Buck Manly was adrift. He had been ripped away from his home and from his busty alien queen. But all was not lost. In his new city he'd found a striking alien prince, Zien who was swiftly winning over Buck with his brilliant mind and flowing midnight locks and smiles that reminded him of a sunrise.

.....

Buck wraps his glistening biceps around his alien prince, pressing his lips to his, tasting the warm salt of his dusky skin.

This wasn't his home, but perhaps it could be.

[The chapters come in fits and starts, Buck Manly on his next great adventure. Nobody can track the source, but the chapters become a full fledged book with solid science and detailed world building.
.. oh. And sex.
Lots and lots of purple prose.]

((ooc: this will just show up on the network. Nobody knows where it came from or why))

Comments

[bringstheheat]

It's good to be back.
Mick can rest in his room and occasionally work on another chapter or three of his book. Haircut is happy and all in all? Life is pretty good.

He looks up from his tablet, swiftly locking it so Cisco can't see the next plot outline for his book.

"Seen what?"

What? He's not working on anything. Nothing to see here.

[goodviberations]

Cisco plops into his space easily, comfortable with it now that he knows he's welcome there. He doesn't even have to look to reach out and give Haircut a fond scritch.

"Gideon has been broadcasting this book," he explains, handing over his comm. "Some sort of sci-fi adventure romance. It's so good, man. I can't figure out who's writing it, though."

[bringstheheat]

Haircut trills at the attention and Mick swallows. Sci-fi adventure? Romance?

No.
Oh no.

If Gideon had been human Mick would have hunted her down on the spot. That book was his. Nobody else needed to see that!

"Oh. That. It's.. it's not really my style."

[goodviberations]

Cisco's smile fades a bit.

"Dude, you love sci-fi," he says. It's one of the first things they had bonded over as roommates. "Don't tell me Mick Rory has a weak constitution for smut." A little tease, but it's slightly off.

[bringstheheat]

Nobody was supposed to read those stories. Nobody.
Especially that one.

He pulls a face at the halfhearted tease. "It just ain't my thing, okay?"

[goodviberations]

The rest of his smile drops, and there's a weird ache in his chest.

"Is it- is it because the characters are both men?" He doesn't want to believe it, but he also doesn't know why Mick wouldn't appreciate a good sci-fi romance.

[bringstheheat]

Mick looks up sharply at the question. "I am not some kinda homophone." Homophobe. Whatever.

[goodviberations]

Well that makes him feel a little better. He doesn't even correct him, because he knows what he means.

"Then why not give it a chance? The main character is great. He actually reminds me a little of you. A good man with a not so good past."

[bringstheheat]

This conversation is going to kill him.

"The main character is not me." Really, it isn't. Mick hadn't intended for it to be - it was just easier to write from a similar perspective.

[goodviberations]

"I didn't say he was," he says, shaking his head. "Just that he reminds me of you. It's not like any of these characters are based on people we know."

That would be crazy, wouldn't it?

[bringstheheat]

Side.Eye.

So he doesn't know. That's.. that's almost a relief.
So Mick gets up. Walks into his room. When he comes back out he's holding a sheaf of paper. An early manuscript of the next adventure of one Buck Manly.

"You can't tell anyone. Ever." Is it a threat? A plea? Probably a little of both.

[goodviberations]

Cisco doesn't even understand what's happening at first. He thinks Mick has just decided he'd had enough interaction for today and gone to his room, which is fine. Cisco had learned to respect Mick's limited tolerance for people.

But then he's coming back out, and he's got...papers? It isn't until he reads the title page that he realizes what this is.

"Dude," he says, clearly elated. "I won't say a word. I swear."

[bringstheheat]

And Mick.. he trusts him not to say anything. "I don't know how that got on the network. I didn't do it."

He watches Cisco flip through the pages with a delighted look on his face. "You.. you really liked it?"

[goodviberations]

"Must have been some kind of screw up on Gideon's part. I'll see if I can find you a computer that's not connected to the network. That way only the stuff you want people seeing gets out there."

Cisco reads with complete focus, taken in by the story. "Mick, it's great. Seriously. The world building is incredible, and you make these characters so relatable."

[bringstheheat]

"Yeah?" And he knows Cisco is being genuine - there's no other way he can be really. Open and honest in his joy at reading what Mick had written.

"Good. You can proof the next one when I'm done."

What else is he gonna do while they're stuck in time?

[goodviberations]

That gets Cisco to look up from the pages, smile bright. He understands how much Mick is trusting him with, here. A lot was poured into these books, and they clearly mean a lot to Mick.

"Really?"

[bringstheheat]

"Yeah. You like it, so why not?"

A flat look. "But you go and tell anyone and I'll shave your head."

[goodviberations]

"You know, one of these days, I'm gonna come up with a way for my hair to be immune to damage," he warns. "And you'll have to come up with another way to threaten me."

[bringstheheat]

"I've been threatening people longer than you've been alive. I'll come up with something," he teases back.

[goodviberations]

"The difference is that you don't actually want to hurt me," he counters. "So I'm pretty sure that puts me at an advantage."

He says it with such confidence. Like he doesn't believe for a second that Mick would want to do him harm.

[bringstheheat]

A snort as he nudges Cisco. No. He'd never hurt him. "I ain't gonna hurt you, but that doesn't mean I won't get creative if I have to."

"Like withholding brownies."

[goodviberations]

Cisco gapes at him.

"That's just cruel, Mick," he protests.

[bringstheheat]

Mick smirks. See? He'll get creative.

"Now you got incentive."

[goodviberations]

"Yeah, yeah. I'll keep your secret."

He would have anyway, but hey. Why not pretend to put up a fight.