[Backdated to May 2019; forgot to cross post from gdocs.]
The movie went well and dinner was better; Myles found himself easily relaxing once the conversation started flowing. Derryl could enjoy movies like other people, could laugh like them, ate food like them. Myles did a lot of talking, but then, he always did—especially when he was nervous. The mood shifted, from uncertainty to complacency to even happiness; he thanked Derryl for treating him and climbed into the car with far less trepidation than he had earlier in the evening.
He assumes their night was over, that he was going to be dropped off at home and given another date to expect to free up his schedule. The radio was on, playing some soft tune as Derryl drove. And drove. And drove.
Myles did not drive; he had a decent idea of the layout of the city, but this was an area he barely recognized. It was far away from the bright lights—still clearly part of the city, but a construction zone that seemed like it must have been abandoned months ago.
“Ah, Derryl,” he said after a moment, reluctant to break the silence with what he assumed was a stupid question. Still, fear has blossomed from his confusion and he turned to look at the man. “Are we lost, or...? Why are we out here?”
Derryl certainly knew where he lived already—and it was nowhere near here.
-
Had Derryl been honest, he had thoroughly enjoyed the evening he had with Myles. It started off a bit rougher than he would have liked in the beginning, but after they had gotten comfortable during the movie, everything seemed to just naturally fall into place. Dinner was a delight, having been blessed with small conversations that allowed Myles to relax and drop his guard. There was nothing wrong at all at having the younger man a bit more at ease around him. In fact that may have been a good thing.
Right now, however, Derryl needed to know more. At the start of the date, he made his intentions clear that they would have fun, yes, but he wanted to see Myles’ powered form.
“Hmm? Ah, I suppose you had forgotten. That’s alright, that just means you had a good time then. That makes me happy to hear.” Not surprising that Myles had blocked out that part of the night, but that didn’t mean he was going to get out of it. A few moments later they were parked at that empty construction site, lights off and quiet all around them.
“The last part of the night, I wanted to see your powered form again. Don’t worry, I made sure no one else would be around. And I promise it will be quick and easy. I’m curious, you know? What with all the horrible things going on in the city, it would be nice to know that the powers you have wouldn’t be something you could use to seriously hurt someone. I’d be so so worried to think that someone as sweet as you would be attacking people. So… What do you say?” There was no choice here, not when Derryl was already out of the car, walking around to Myles’ door to open it and offer him a hand to help him out.
“We’ll go home right after, and it would put my heart at ease.”
-
Myles looked up at Derryl with visible trepidation. There was something about the way he was speaking that just put him on edge. Myles wasn’t stupid, though. There wasn’t really a choice to refuse. Not when his reputation—Jeremy’s—was on the line.
“I wouldn’t hurt anyone,” he insisted, taking the hand and letting Derryl help him up. He took too much time brushing off invisible dust and fussing with smoothing out wrinkles that didn’t exist.
“The whole senshi thing, it's a lot of generalizations. I’ve never done anything bad with my powers,” he said, extremely reluctantly producing his henshin pen. He clutched it in his hands and told himself that the faster he did this, the faster he could prove that Derryl had only good intentions and would take him home and prove that tonight was a good night.
“Don’t...don’t look,” he instructed, turning his back. There didn’t seem to be anyone nearby to reveal his identity to—again—so Myles drew in a breath. He didn’t wait to see if Derryl obeyed or not; quietly he whispered what he needed and ignored the fleeting sensation of one outfit sliding off and another sliding on.
He crossed his arms over his chest and shifted positions when he was done, chewing on his lip as he avoided turning around to face Derryl. “...that’s all there is to it, though. And then I power down the same way.”
-
“I know you wouldn’t hurt anyone, Myles. You don’t seem like the sort to hurt even the tiniest of flies.” And it was true, Derryl wouldn’t believe any story anywhere that said Myles was at the source of any sort of wrongdoing in Destiny City. He was one of those few, sweet people who honestly suffered more than they deserved, and maybe, one day, Myles could really just live that peaceful life he more than earned. But right now, he wasn’t going to tell the other man that.
Only a simple nod was given as Derryl let his hand go, showing just a little bit of understanding behind that. Of what little he did know about the senshi, it all pointed to them being violence mongers and horrible people who killed others or sought to blow up the planet or some nonsense. Comic book fantasies. But there was no denying death after death after death that seemed to pop up seemingly out of nowhere, with no motives at all. Was Myles personally involved? Doubtful. Just in case, though, it would be good to confirm that his powers weren’t as deadly as some have claimed.
And of course he looked, even when Myles turned around, catching glimpses of pale skin for just a moment before he was fully powered up in what almost seemed like fairytale royalty wear.
“Hm.” Was all he said at first, a little startled at first but then doing an inspection, slowly walking around Myles and checking out every inch of him as if he was looking for some sort of fault.
“No… No, you don’t look like the murderous sort… So you just wave your little magic wand and you suddenly become… This?” His hand gestured to all of him. “So tell me, what does your magic do? I can’t seem to really see a theme except maybe… Nutcrack-esqueness. Do you frighten people away with how handsome you look? Despite the strangeness, it is a rather good look on you. Seems almost… Confident.”
-
Naturally, Myles shifted under the scrutiny. He could feel Derryl’s eyes on him, as if looking for a flaw or weakness. He was trying his hardest to stand tall and look like he knew what he was doing, but he just wound up holding one arm and looking off to the side.
The examination was expected—the compliments, not so much. His eyes found Derryl at nearly the same time a flush covered his cheeks. “Oh. Well, thank you.”
The small compliment was enough to reassure Myles—Caia—and he relaxed a bit. “I’m the senshi of Cardinals. I don’t think I frighten anyone, though. Mostly I’m the one running away. But my magic—I...”
He faltered, cleared his throat, and then tucked his hair behind his ear almost sheepishly. “It sounds really stupid when I say it out loud, now that I think about it. I uhm. I summon some birds—cardinals—they fly around some. It’s not threatening, they just make some noise. And uhm. They heal good people and just sort of annoy the bad ones. Is that okay?” He was wringing his hands, like he was actually worried about Derryl’s approval.
-
“Cardinals… The bird, right? Huh... I didn’t expect something related to nature itself for your power. I suppose my mind went to something softer, like cotton or clouds or something sweet like candy.” Now that he got a good look at Caia, he stopped in front of him, taking his hand in his own and examined those gloved fingertips.
“So tell me… If I were to undress you now, would you keep your powers? Of course I would never do such a thing, but I am curious. Are your powers because of your clothes or something else?” What an interesting thought, though, stripping the man in front of him. It wasn’t something he’d do in public, of course not, but in the privacy of his own home, well, he wouldn’t dismiss the thought.
“If you don’t know, we can always save that for another time, perhaps when we’re closer, and you were more… Ready for that sort of thing. But I’m sure you’re harmless, when it comes to fighting in these nightly escapades people seem to find themselves in. Why, I’d even entertain the thought that you were like me, off trying to save lives. Especially if you were trying to heal people. I’d like to see this power for myself if you wouldn’t mind. I have a nasty bruise on my back thanks to having to take down a thief earlier today. I would certainly appreciate it if you would kindly heal that for me.” Not once would he have thought he’d be thankful for an injury, but tonight he was. And honestly, he was eager to see how this so-called magic would come into play.
-
Caia’s face flushed at the inquiry and he raised his free hand up to cover his face, feigning itchy eyes as he rubbed at them. “I don’t know,” he answered, kicking himself only a second later for not just saying no. “I—I don’t try to undress when I’m wearing this,” he tried to explain rapidly, as if the more he talked, the less foolish he’d feel. “It’s a costume, to protect my identity. But that’s all I know. I didn’t pick it out. I don’t think it’s bad! But I have no control over it.”
But then, that sort of felt like his whole life right now.
He was buying time, afraid to use his magic—afraid to mess something up. No excuse, no argument, came to mind for why he shouldn’t use his magic on Derryl and, after a few seconds of silence he squirmed where he stood.
“I don’t use my magic that often so please don’t judge it too harshly.” He shifted positions and swallowed before he drew in a calming breath. He whispered his attack as quietly as he could—“Caia Cardinal Support,” and two glittering red birds sprouted into existence, flitting around Derryl almost immediately. Their soft song filled the air around them. The healing of his bruise—and even slight soreness and any other slight light injuries—was accompanied a warm, pleasant sensation.
More than just healing though was the magical wave of confidence that came with it—an invigorating rush of emotions.
Caia stood, shifting his weight from one foot to the other nervously as he watched the cardinals—and Derryl’s expression.
...If he had been clever, he would have kept one of those cardinals to himself and utilized it for the confidence he could have given him.
-
"Don't worry, Caia.. Myles. Just as you trust me, I trust you, and I know you'd never do anything to hurt me." Now, whether that was true or not, he wasn't sure, but it didn't seem like Myles had it in him to be hurtful to a fly, let alone actually do something manipulative or out right trying to hurt another. Not like Derryl... Myles, in his eyes, was far too kind for that. That didn't mean he was off the hook though.
With a nod, Derryl closed his eyes, hearing the soft song surround him like a warm familiar memory, and before he realized it it was over. It almost saddened him, were it not for the fact that it seemed like every ache in his body was gone. There wasn't any real way to check it, but he could already tell that the bruise he spoke of earlier was gone. It honestly seemed as if any doubts in his mind were gone, and the only thing left behind was just how thrilled he was with what Caia had done. So much so that he let out an delighted laugh and walked up close to him, arms going around the smaller man and pulling him close.
"I feel amazing!! Even that kink in my shoulders is gone, and I've had that for weeks! What an incredible power, thank you!" For just a moment, he let all of his inhibitions and underlying motives slip away, focusing only on the joy he felt, finding that it lead to him leaning in close and giving Caia a few fluttering kisses on his cheeks. "I don't know why you'd want to hide such a wonderful power!! Now..."
That confidence was stating to lead him towards a more brazen path, but he found it thrilling in a way. His hand snaked lower about Caia's waist and he pressed his nose up against the smaller man's neck. "Let's get you home, shall we? Mmm... Maybe some cocoa and some cuddling is in order... Gah, I just feel so amazing right now... I don't want to let you go."
-
The hug surprised him and he blinked, visibly confused, but seemed to melt into the embrace. "Oh," he said instinctively, and though there was uncertainty dripping from him, there was something happy about it, too.
The kisses brought a smile to his face, and the closeness--although it made him squirm a bit--the promise of what sounded like a nice evening had his heart pounding in his chest.
Caia hadn't ever really had an issue with physical contact, but there was something about Darryl that sometimes made the hair stand up on the back of his neck. Like this, though...
This was nice. This made him forget about that. It made him forget that he was afraid, that he was being blackmailed.
Besides--it was still better than most of the boyfriends he tried to bring home.
"Really?" he prompted, trying to sound more confident than he felt. Instead, he sounded almost like a younger man, eager for praise, for acceptance. His body seemed to melt against Darryl's, relaxing so he fit better against him. "I--I mean, we could probably...I mean, I wouldn't mind. Could I pet Riggs some? Or we could go to my place, but," he shrugged; he didn't know if Jeremy might wind up dropping by, and he knew for a fact that the apartment was a disaster.
"It's not as nice as yours."
-
"Yes, really. I think I'd love nothing more than for you to come over. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Even in this bliss he could recognize that when they last together in his house Myles didn't have any freedom. This time, and only this time, he would give that to him. Carefully, he reached up into Myles' hair, stroking the top of his head and pushing back the bangs that framed his cheeks.
"Yes, you can pet Riggs. I'm sure he misses you. We did say we would pick him up to eat dinner with him, but I suppose I got distracted after the movie. Go on, power down, and then we'll get going, if you'd like." He was hesitant to let Myles go, and came to find it alright to do so only after pressing a soft kiss to the smaller man's forehead.
What was going on within him right now...? Was it just this 'magic', causing him to feel like nothing could hurt him? This confidence that swelled up in his chest, giving him thoughts that he knew he could make Myles happy tonight, and truly wanted to keep him smiling. Whatever it was, he didn't hate it, that was for certain, and only smiled to himself as he walked back to the driver's seat. "We can stop somewhere for snacks too... would you consider staying the night?"
-
For a long moment, perhaps longer than it should have been, he considered. Between Darryl's question and Myles' answer, he had powered down, slipping back into the less conspicuous form he'd donned when they were going out.
"I could spend the night," he finally said; refusing hadn't really seemed like an option and there was a twisting in his stomach that didn't feel bad. "Would you be able to drop me off at my place so I could grab some thin--"
He paused, and a sudden realization seemed to wash over him.
"...Wait, I don't know if you're ready for me to spend the night," he said after a second.
He reached a hand up to cover his mouth and his brows furrowed; he looked away, like he was considering something.
"...Oh, I don't know, now. That's embarrassing, now that I think about it. You wouldn't be able to look at me the same way," his voice tapered off, softening, as if he were talking to himself but had forgotten to keep his thoughts in his head.
-
"Oh?" The easy and carefree grin that Derryl had been carrying before slipped into one more sly, teasing, as he took his seat and began to buckle in.
"Why wouldn't I be ready for you to spend the night? There's room for you, and I have extra toothbrushes and the like. What with my own sister coming by now and then, I like to be prepared. Buuut... You say I wouldn't be able to look at you the same? Oh my goodness, Myles, it sounds like you have further secrets to hide. What could it be? Do you snore loudly? Or perhaps you sleep in the nude?"
The car was started back up again, air turned back on for comfort while he waited for Myles to rejoin him inside. "If it makes you uncomfortable, I'm happy to let you sleep in the guest room. I assure you, nothing you could do would make me care for you any less. This, I promise."
-
Myles didn't seem to know how to process this entirely but found himself nodding slowly after he got back into the car and buckled up. "It's...it's not anything like that," he said awkwardly. "...My pajamas are." He shrugged and just crossed his arms over his chest. "...Probably stupid."
Probably a lot of him was stupid, he figured. At least, in Derryl's eyes. He was feeling self conscious again, like the idea of sleeping over was a strange violation of his private life. His private life that he was trying to share, with this guy he liked. Liked? ...Maybe liked. It was complicated. A part of him did like him, and a part of him was incredibly aware that he was being blackmailed.
...It was just easier to pretend like this was just a love story in the making.
He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, tried to ignore the voices in his head that suddenly decided to criticize everything. "...I sleepwalk, too," he mumbled. "...And I talk in my sleep. I'm. I'm not exactly ideal, I'm sort of annoying in my sleep."
-
"Stupid Pajamas...? I'm sure it's fine. They are probably cute, and if I am honest, cute things suit you well." Now that Myles was in the car again, started to pull out of the parking lot, heading back down the road towards where they lived.
"If you're worried about that, you could always simply borrow some of my clothes. I think you'd look even cuter wearing one of my t-shirts to sleep in." What a cute thought, sleepy Myles walking around, tired, the collar of his shirt slipping off his shoulder.. Maybe cute, maybe sexy, he'd have to see. But most importantly, a moment when there was no Jeremy around and his poor, sweet little brother was off with another man.
Perfect.
"Hmmm... Sleep walking isn't terribly uncommon, and Riggs will be there to make sure you don't hurt yourself. He's a good boy and make sure you're nice and safe... And I believe talking in your sleep would only be a problem if you slept in the same bed as me... Oohh, naughty little Myles, are you thinking about sleeping in my bed tonight?"
-
He opened his mouth and flushed, reaching a hand up to cover one half of his face. "No, it's just--Jeremy and I share an apartment, right?" he tried to explain. "And sometimes I talk so loud I wake him up. And sometimes I walk around and knock things over, and it's just--you have such a nice house, I don't want to break anything."
He was rambling, talking quickly. "Or step on Riggs! If he's laying on the ground, I might trip on him! I don't want to hurt him, I love him."
It was easy to love a dog, Myles loved every dog he ever laid eyes on.
He was nervous, but he didn't have any good excuses coming to mind. He'd slept over at people's houses before, people he knew less about. Derryl was a police officer, he worked with Jeremy. They were friends, weren't they? They had been, for ages. Myles had known Jeremy since he was young. He was close enough to a staple in his life that he shouldn't have been worried, so...
Why was his stomach in knots?
-
"No need to compare me to Jeremy, you know. I'm not him, I'm not your brother. I'm probably better at him at sleeping than he is, you don't have to worry about waking me up." There it was again, that name. After having what felt like such a nice, calm moment with Myles, that name had to be brought up again... And Derryl was trying very hard to smother that feeling of contempt, but Myles certainly wasn't making it easy.
"If you really don't want to stay with me, if you think I have that lack of understanding or desire to handle what you go through, then Just say so. You don't need to make up excuse over excuse as to why you don't want to stay." As he said that, he continued the drive back to his apartment. The night wasn't so late that he didn't want to continue with his original plans of at least letting Myles see Riggs. He very well couldn't lie to his pup.
"We're still heading to my place though, for a little while at least. I did promise Riggs he would see you tonight."
-
Myles felt like the bad guy. He wasn't trying to say no, it wasn't like he should have been afraid of it. He'd slept over at lots of people's places. Lots of stranger's places, too.
"It's not that," he said, despite not knowing if that was a truth or a lie. He couldn't leave it at that, not when it didn't sound wholly convincing anyway. "...I don't like disappointing people. I know...I'm not perfect." An understatement. "...I don't like to pretend like I don't have flaws. And I know a lot of the things I do can be annoying. So I wanted...to let you know. So you didn't think I was someone different."
The idea of Riggs was a little more comforting; dogs didn't judge you like people could. Dogs just wanted food and pets and for someone to throw around a toy for a while.
People were so much more complicated.
-
"Perfect? What in the world made you think you needed to be perfect around me? I haven't assumed you lied to me yet. Oh, should I start thinking that then? That you're admitting to putting on an act and there's a good chance I'll wake up to one of my kitchen knives to my throat?" Every word came out cold, but there was no change in his expression. Another turn, another stoplight. He didn't care much of what Myles felt, not in the least.
It wasn't as if this wasn't a game to Derryl anyway, with the prize being Jeremy's utter destruction.
"I will ask one last time. Do you want to spend the night? It's a simple yes or no question. No excuses, no reasoning. Just give me the truth. I'm more offended by the fact that you'd assume I'd need a reason behind the idea of consent or not."
-
Myles' mood sank drastically; he wasn't looking up anymore. His eyes were downcast, on a hitch-hiker he could barely make out in the shadows of the car, firmly stuck to his shoe. His hands were in his lap, long fingers laced together and pushing firmly into the knuckles of his hands.
Derryl has asked, as if there was an option, but there wasn't and he knew it.
"Yes," he said quietly, more concerned that anything else he said would come out wrong and just upset him.
Derryl had information that could ruin him, and Jeremy. Mostly Jeremy. But Myles was trying to enjoy this. To make the best of it. Derryl had been someone he'd known for a decent portion of his life.
Myles didn't want to upset him. He just seemed to be skilled at saying the wrong thing.
But, you couldn't say the wrong thing if you didn't say anything, so he kept his lips pursed.
Kapoodles
