Beware the Superman (5/19)
Title: Beware the Superman
Rating: R
Pairings: James/Carlos, Kendall/Logan
Words: 76,216
Summary: What really matters in life, what makes someone human? Having someone to love or the ability to be able to love back?
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
Chapter 5: The Giving Tree
~
There was a new barista working at the coffee shop across the street from the bookstore, the place always having that earthly smell and calm atmosphere for customers to be able to get cuddled up in the mocha sofas in the cafe and sip from the coffee mugs a warm and tasty drink. And if James had to rate the new worker on a scale from 1 to 10 on how dateable they were, the guy would get 14. Tall and toned, dimples to die for, green eyes that James could swim in for days and gorgeous blond hair that always looked like it would be a pleasure to run fingers through.
A total hottie. Even for James' standards.
James stepped into the shop one day on his break at work, the blond having his back turned to him as he was wiping down a couple of the tables with grey beanie covering those beautiful blond locks. James smirked, walking every so quietly to not startle the blond and gave the man a little friendly tap on his shoulder. The blond turned, smiling a crooked and welcoming smile that James smiled a sexy and flirty smile back.
"Can I help you with anything?" the blond asked and James shrugged.
"Just wondering what was on the menu for today. Wouldn't happen to be tall, blond and eyebrows, would it?" James asked and the man raised one of his eyebrows, very full and clearly interested.
"Don't know, who, may I ask, is asking?"
"James Diamond. Well, is it Mr. . ."
"Kendall. Name's Kendall," the blond said and James bit his lip shyly.
"Kendall, I like it. Just rolls off of my tongue," he said, batting his eyes and Kendall gave a light laugh.
"Tongue, right. . ."
"Yeah, you use your tongue for a lot of things. . .talking. . .kissing. . ."
"Hmm, I like kissing," Kendall said with a sly smile and James grinned back, the nerve to stand closer to Kendall crawling up his spine and urging him to move.
"What a coincidence, so do I," James breathed and Kendall smiled before the smile dropped off of his lips.
"Um, is there something I can get you? Coffee, bagel, anything?" Kendall's voice returned to that formal and distant tone to which James raised an eyebrow at in confusion.
"Um, maybe your phone number? Date, address, romantic cuddling?" James said and Kendall shook his head.
"I'm sorry, I. . .I'm not interested."
"But you were flirting with me-"
"I'm sorry, I'm not interested. . .is there anything I can get you?" Kendall asked once again and James stared at the man's face before turning on his heel with frown on his face. If there was one thing James couldn't stand, it was a tease. And Kendall was a total tease. His rating just went down by 6. James stepped out of the shop, his appetite gone along with his arousal, and went straight back into the bookstore so he could sulk around for the next 15 minutes. He walked along the aisles of the new and old books, his nose wrinkling at just the smell of print, until he wandered into the children section of the store, the walls barely a brighter color and stuffed animals thrown all around the area to make it more distinguishable.
Sitting in the corner amongst the plush pandas and colored crocodiles was Carlos and surprisingly Dak, the two not noticing James as the brunette stood and watched them. Carlos was reading, pointing at the pictures and Dak would nod and smile as the android read, James feeling a small twitch in his chest. What was Dak doing here anyways, didn't he have his own job to be hanging around? He didn't need to be around Carlos, Carlos was James' responsibility. James was the one that found Carlos, not Dak. Why was Dak trying to squeeze in and take James' role?
. . .Was James actually getting jealous?
He wouldn't be surprised, jealousy came second nature to him along with laziness and lusting.
James' mouth twisted as he stepped over, Carlos' head rising from looking down at the text to give a bright smile to James.
"Hello!" Carlos greeted and Dak waved hello to which James just frowned at.
"What are you doing here with him?"
"Just listening to him reading. Why? Does it bother you?" Dak asked and James blushed. He didn't know how the brunette was able to do that, was James that easily readable and was able to know all of his emotions right on his face? Or maybe him and Dak were just that close that the brunette was able to tell when he was feeling in a sour mood. Whatever that may be, James wasn't going to admit that, not at all. Dak shrugged, "He's getting better with talking and understanding. He already read four books."
"That's great," James said and Carlos smiled brightly and James couldn't help himself but give a small smile back. He couldn't ignore that infectious smile, he always wound up smiling like an idiot right back. And that, was one thing that James didn't mind in the slightest. Dak got up, looking down at his watch and smiling,
"I have to leave now if I'm going to make it back on time," he said and James shrugged. Good, didn't need him around to cramp James' style anyways. Dak turned to Carlos, the android looking in slight confusion, and smiled, "I have to go now. You're doing great in reading, keep it up."
"Okay," Carlos replied and Dak crouched down, wrapping arms around Carlos to give a soft hug and James noticed Carlos' eyes dimmed before brightening again. Dak didn't however, turning away to slap James on the back in a goodbye and take his leave. Once James was sure Dak had left the building, he turned to the android that was continuing to read.
"What happened?"
"Hmm?"
"When he hugged you. . .your eyes dimmed."
". . .Dim?" Carlos asked confused and James rolled his eyes. Why couldn't he understand easily? He looked into the eyes of Carlos' once more before biting his lip in nerves and wrapping his arms around the android in a tight hug. He heard Carlos gasp before the soft whirring of a computer sounded in his ear, the eyes dimming once more. . .
"Y-You shouldn't touch him like that, Mr. Stetson!"
"What do you mean, Alpha?"
The small android was hiding, peering at the faceless figure and at his Father through the crack in the door and trying to make his presence unknown. The faceless figure cowered back slightly, "Y-You touch him. . .it isn't appropriate, he thinks you're his Father!"
"Beta doesn't know what a father is or what a father should and should not do. Why should you care how I decide to interact with him?"
"Because it isn't right! Mrs. Garcia. . .Beta was created for her, not for you!"
"And Beta is my creation!" the man screamed and the little android shrunk away as he saw a hand strike out to send the faceless figure to the floor and holding themselves to shield any attacks, "You are forgetting your place, Alpha. You are all my creations and I may do whatever I please with you. Beta is not complaining-"
"He doesn't know! He doesn't know that how you're touching him is-"
"He knows it feels good."
"It's repulsive!" the faceless figure screamed and the man grabbed hold of the faceless figure, slapping them again harder across the cheek. The small android stepped back and the man paused, looking over in the direction of the android's hiding place. He stared and then turned back to the figure on the floor.
"Leave. Now. You wouldn't want what happened to Delta happening to you if you keep asking these stupid little questions," the man threatened and the faceless figure quickly got back onto his feet to run away. It was silent and then the man sighed, "Beta, come here."
The little android trembled but did what was told of him, stepping into the room and over to where the man stood.
"Yes. . .Father?"
". . .Did you see what happened?"
". . .Why did you do that to Alpha? Why did-"
"Alpha was being bad. You don't ever go against what Father says or do, right?"
"No," the small android said and the man smiled. The small android always liked that movement of those lips, he never saw it anywhere else other than on his Father's soft looking face. The man raised his hand, touching the android's cheek before trailing it down to his chest and then around to his backside. He wrapped arms around the small android, holding him close and the pelvises against each other and hands groping at any area of exposed skin. The little android just nuzzled into the man's chest, little smile on his face.
Alpha must have been bad, Father never touched him like this. . .
"Carlos. . .Carlos!" James shouted and Carlos blinked.
"Hmm?"
"Are you alright?" James asked and Carlos glanced down at the arms still wrapped tightly around him. James glanced down too, blushing and retreating his arms like they were on fire.
". . .Right. . .we'll talk later," James muttered, looking up at the clock. He still had 10 minutes, unbelievable. Then he glanced down at the book that Carlos was reading, 'The Giving Tree'. ". . .Well. . .go on and finish reading. . ." James mumbled and Carlos glanced down at the book, giving a small smile that grew eager when he flipped back to the page he left off.
". . .'But time went by. And the boy grew older. And the tree was often alone.'," Carlos read and James scooted a bit closer to look at the pictures on the pages. He remembered this story when he was little, he never understood it, not even now when he was older. But Carlos was deep in thought, sometimes pausing to ask a silly little question like, "Why does the tree love the boy?" or "Why can't the tree be happy? Is it because it loves the boy?". James couldn't really answer, he didn't understand the story to begin with, why out of all books did Carlos choose this one?
Where were those books with pop-ups again?
Kendall lounged on the sofa, exhausted from another day's work and at the moment, all he had to do was close up and head home to fall into the bed and sleep. His eyes were closed and his chest was taking in much needed breaths when his nose scrunched at the sound of the door jingling open.
"We're closed," he groaned out.
". . .I know," a soft voice responded and Kendall's eyes flew open wide at the voice, spotting the man standing by the counter with small bag in his hands.
"What are you doing here?" Kendall asked, bottle green eyes turning dark and the man raised the small bag.
"It's. . .it's our. . ."
"Speak up! I hate it when you do that!" Kendall shouted and the man closed his eyes tight.
"Our anniversary! It's our anniversary!" he shouted back, eyes still closed tight and Kendall felt his heart drop in his chest. Our anniversary? Our anniversary? They would never have anything in common, they would never have an anniversary. Kendall stomped over, the man trembling as Kendall snatched the bag out of his hands to open.
Then the blond's heart quivered as he took out what was hidden underneath the red (Kendall's favorite color) tissue paper. A small chain with a round charm attached to it. He didn't say anything, pressing the clasp on the charm and it opened to show two black and white photographs, one of Kendall smiling with Logan wrapped up tightly in his arms while the other was of Logan by himself, smiling that sweet and soft dimpled smile.
"I thought that you might like it, I have one matching but of a picture of you and-"
"Do you think this is funny?" Kendall choked out and the man paused in revealing the necklace that he wore around his neck.
"W-What?"
"Do you think this is funny?! Giving me this?!" Kendall shouted and the man stepped back.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know-"
"You didn't know? You didn't know?!"
"Please Kendall, don't!" the man shouted and Kendall's nostrils flared, wanting to take the necklace and smash it. How dare he-no, he wasn't even a human. How dare that. . .that thing. His hand shot out, grabbing roughly on the necklace around the pale neck to look at the photos. The same couple shot and in the other one, a picture of him calm and collected and happy. Kendall was never happy when dealing with the person, no, not a person. . .thing. This thing that was forced onto him when Logan. . .
He felt tears slipping from his eyes and the face that was looking up at him in fear was making things so worse. That face, those dimples and those beautiful brown eyes Kendall tries so hard to not fall in love with all over again and those lips that were trying to lean up to kiss him and comfort him. His fingers released the necklace and then brushed along the soft skin, Kendall's body aching with want to touch and kiss and caress it more. Then the fingers pushed the collar back and Kendall's stomach overturned when he saw that constant reminder.
That Alpha symbol etched so cleanly into his skin.
That constant reminder that this wasn't Logan he was touching, he was touching an android that looked like Logan. An android that talked, walked, dressed and tried to mimic the brunette to such proportions to make Kendall happy. Kendall will never be happy with this. . .thing. He withdrew his hand, eyes returning that coldness he held before.
". . .Kendall, I'm sorry. . .please don't be angry at me-"
"You're not. . .you can't feel regret," Kendall muttered and the brunette's head shot up to look at him in confusion.
"But I-"
"Just stop it! You're not Logan and you never will be him! Stop it!" Kendall screamed and the android cowered.
"Please, I. . .I am Logan, I-"
"No you're not! Stop it!" Kendall screamed, shoving Logan roughly and Logan crashed into some of the stacked chairs and fell to the ground. Kendall's heart jumped in fear, rushing over to the side where Logan fell and checking for any damage. Then he stopped when he realized what he was doing, retreating his hands away. ". . .Just go home. . .please. . ."
". . .I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Logan whispered and Kendall sucked in a breath.
"Just go," Kendall choked out and Logan paused before getting onto his feet and slowly walking out the door.
". . .I love you," Logan softly said and Kendall's shoulders tensed.
"Get out!" Kendall screamed, feeling his voice crack and his eyes watering with tears and Logan quickly exited. Kendall tried his hardest to control himself, to stop sobbing and coughing and making his head hurt.
Robots couldn't love, why was that thing torturing him?
Why was Kendall torturing himself by keeping it around?
Rating: R
Pairings: James/Carlos, Kendall/Logan
Words: 76,216
Summary: What really matters in life, what makes someone human? Having someone to love or the ability to be able to love back?
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
Chapter 5: The Giving Tree
~
There was a new barista working at the coffee shop across the street from the bookstore, the place always having that earthly smell and calm atmosphere for customers to be able to get cuddled up in the mocha sofas in the cafe and sip from the coffee mugs a warm and tasty drink. And if James had to rate the new worker on a scale from 1 to 10 on how dateable they were, the guy would get 14. Tall and toned, dimples to die for, green eyes that James could swim in for days and gorgeous blond hair that always looked like it would be a pleasure to run fingers through.
A total hottie. Even for James' standards.
James stepped into the shop one day on his break at work, the blond having his back turned to him as he was wiping down a couple of the tables with grey beanie covering those beautiful blond locks. James smirked, walking every so quietly to not startle the blond and gave the man a little friendly tap on his shoulder. The blond turned, smiling a crooked and welcoming smile that James smiled a sexy and flirty smile back.
"Can I help you with anything?" the blond asked and James shrugged.
"Just wondering what was on the menu for today. Wouldn't happen to be tall, blond and eyebrows, would it?" James asked and the man raised one of his eyebrows, very full and clearly interested.
"Don't know, who, may I ask, is asking?"
"James Diamond. Well, is it Mr. . ."
"Kendall. Name's Kendall," the blond said and James bit his lip shyly.
"Kendall, I like it. Just rolls off of my tongue," he said, batting his eyes and Kendall gave a light laugh.
"Tongue, right. . ."
"Yeah, you use your tongue for a lot of things. . .talking. . .kissing. . ."
"Hmm, I like kissing," Kendall said with a sly smile and James grinned back, the nerve to stand closer to Kendall crawling up his spine and urging him to move.
"What a coincidence, so do I," James breathed and Kendall smiled before the smile dropped off of his lips.
"Um, is there something I can get you? Coffee, bagel, anything?" Kendall's voice returned to that formal and distant tone to which James raised an eyebrow at in confusion.
"Um, maybe your phone number? Date, address, romantic cuddling?" James said and Kendall shook his head.
"I'm sorry, I. . .I'm not interested."
"But you were flirting with me-"
"I'm sorry, I'm not interested. . .is there anything I can get you?" Kendall asked once again and James stared at the man's face before turning on his heel with frown on his face. If there was one thing James couldn't stand, it was a tease. And Kendall was a total tease. His rating just went down by 6. James stepped out of the shop, his appetite gone along with his arousal, and went straight back into the bookstore so he could sulk around for the next 15 minutes. He walked along the aisles of the new and old books, his nose wrinkling at just the smell of print, until he wandered into the children section of the store, the walls barely a brighter color and stuffed animals thrown all around the area to make it more distinguishable.
Sitting in the corner amongst the plush pandas and colored crocodiles was Carlos and surprisingly Dak, the two not noticing James as the brunette stood and watched them. Carlos was reading, pointing at the pictures and Dak would nod and smile as the android read, James feeling a small twitch in his chest. What was Dak doing here anyways, didn't he have his own job to be hanging around? He didn't need to be around Carlos, Carlos was James' responsibility. James was the one that found Carlos, not Dak. Why was Dak trying to squeeze in and take James' role?
. . .Was James actually getting jealous?
He wouldn't be surprised, jealousy came second nature to him along with laziness and lusting.
James' mouth twisted as he stepped over, Carlos' head rising from looking down at the text to give a bright smile to James.
"Hello!" Carlos greeted and Dak waved hello to which James just frowned at.
"What are you doing here with him?"
"Just listening to him reading. Why? Does it bother you?" Dak asked and James blushed. He didn't know how the brunette was able to do that, was James that easily readable and was able to know all of his emotions right on his face? Or maybe him and Dak were just that close that the brunette was able to tell when he was feeling in a sour mood. Whatever that may be, James wasn't going to admit that, not at all. Dak shrugged, "He's getting better with talking and understanding. He already read four books."
"That's great," James said and Carlos smiled brightly and James couldn't help himself but give a small smile back. He couldn't ignore that infectious smile, he always wound up smiling like an idiot right back. And that, was one thing that James didn't mind in the slightest. Dak got up, looking down at his watch and smiling,
"I have to leave now if I'm going to make it back on time," he said and James shrugged. Good, didn't need him around to cramp James' style anyways. Dak turned to Carlos, the android looking in slight confusion, and smiled, "I have to go now. You're doing great in reading, keep it up."
"Okay," Carlos replied and Dak crouched down, wrapping arms around Carlos to give a soft hug and James noticed Carlos' eyes dimmed before brightening again. Dak didn't however, turning away to slap James on the back in a goodbye and take his leave. Once James was sure Dak had left the building, he turned to the android that was continuing to read.
"What happened?"
"Hmm?"
"When he hugged you. . .your eyes dimmed."
". . .Dim?" Carlos asked confused and James rolled his eyes. Why couldn't he understand easily? He looked into the eyes of Carlos' once more before biting his lip in nerves and wrapping his arms around the android in a tight hug. He heard Carlos gasp before the soft whirring of a computer sounded in his ear, the eyes dimming once more. . .
"Y-You shouldn't touch him like that, Mr. Stetson!"
"What do you mean, Alpha?"
The small android was hiding, peering at the faceless figure and at his Father through the crack in the door and trying to make his presence unknown. The faceless figure cowered back slightly, "Y-You touch him. . .it isn't appropriate, he thinks you're his Father!"
"Beta doesn't know what a father is or what a father should and should not do. Why should you care how I decide to interact with him?"
"Because it isn't right! Mrs. Garcia. . .Beta was created for her, not for you!"
"And Beta is my creation!" the man screamed and the little android shrunk away as he saw a hand strike out to send the faceless figure to the floor and holding themselves to shield any attacks, "You are forgetting your place, Alpha. You are all my creations and I may do whatever I please with you. Beta is not complaining-"
"He doesn't know! He doesn't know that how you're touching him is-"
"He knows it feels good."
"It's repulsive!" the faceless figure screamed and the man grabbed hold of the faceless figure, slapping them again harder across the cheek. The small android stepped back and the man paused, looking over in the direction of the android's hiding place. He stared and then turned back to the figure on the floor.
"Leave. Now. You wouldn't want what happened to Delta happening to you if you keep asking these stupid little questions," the man threatened and the faceless figure quickly got back onto his feet to run away. It was silent and then the man sighed, "Beta, come here."
The little android trembled but did what was told of him, stepping into the room and over to where the man stood.
"Yes. . .Father?"
". . .Did you see what happened?"
". . .Why did you do that to Alpha? Why did-"
"Alpha was being bad. You don't ever go against what Father says or do, right?"
"No," the small android said and the man smiled. The small android always liked that movement of those lips, he never saw it anywhere else other than on his Father's soft looking face. The man raised his hand, touching the android's cheek before trailing it down to his chest and then around to his backside. He wrapped arms around the small android, holding him close and the pelvises against each other and hands groping at any area of exposed skin. The little android just nuzzled into the man's chest, little smile on his face.
Alpha must have been bad, Father never touched him like this. . .
"Carlos. . .Carlos!" James shouted and Carlos blinked.
"Hmm?"
"Are you alright?" James asked and Carlos glanced down at the arms still wrapped tightly around him. James glanced down too, blushing and retreating his arms like they were on fire.
". . .Right. . .we'll talk later," James muttered, looking up at the clock. He still had 10 minutes, unbelievable. Then he glanced down at the book that Carlos was reading, 'The Giving Tree'. ". . .Well. . .go on and finish reading. . ." James mumbled and Carlos glanced down at the book, giving a small smile that grew eager when he flipped back to the page he left off.
". . .'But time went by. And the boy grew older. And the tree was often alone.'," Carlos read and James scooted a bit closer to look at the pictures on the pages. He remembered this story when he was little, he never understood it, not even now when he was older. But Carlos was deep in thought, sometimes pausing to ask a silly little question like, "Why does the tree love the boy?" or "Why can't the tree be happy? Is it because it loves the boy?". James couldn't really answer, he didn't understand the story to begin with, why out of all books did Carlos choose this one?
Where were those books with pop-ups again?
Kendall lounged on the sofa, exhausted from another day's work and at the moment, all he had to do was close up and head home to fall into the bed and sleep. His eyes were closed and his chest was taking in much needed breaths when his nose scrunched at the sound of the door jingling open.
"We're closed," he groaned out.
". . .I know," a soft voice responded and Kendall's eyes flew open wide at the voice, spotting the man standing by the counter with small bag in his hands.
"What are you doing here?" Kendall asked, bottle green eyes turning dark and the man raised the small bag.
"It's. . .it's our. . ."
"Speak up! I hate it when you do that!" Kendall shouted and the man closed his eyes tight.
"Our anniversary! It's our anniversary!" he shouted back, eyes still closed tight and Kendall felt his heart drop in his chest. Our anniversary? Our anniversary? They would never have anything in common, they would never have an anniversary. Kendall stomped over, the man trembling as Kendall snatched the bag out of his hands to open.
Then the blond's heart quivered as he took out what was hidden underneath the red (Kendall's favorite color) tissue paper. A small chain with a round charm attached to it. He didn't say anything, pressing the clasp on the charm and it opened to show two black and white photographs, one of Kendall smiling with Logan wrapped up tightly in his arms while the other was of Logan by himself, smiling that sweet and soft dimpled smile.
"I thought that you might like it, I have one matching but of a picture of you and-"
"Do you think this is funny?" Kendall choked out and the man paused in revealing the necklace that he wore around his neck.
"W-What?"
"Do you think this is funny?! Giving me this?!" Kendall shouted and the man stepped back.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know-"
"You didn't know? You didn't know?!"
"Please Kendall, don't!" the man shouted and Kendall's nostrils flared, wanting to take the necklace and smash it. How dare he-no, he wasn't even a human. How dare that. . .that thing. His hand shot out, grabbing roughly on the necklace around the pale neck to look at the photos. The same couple shot and in the other one, a picture of him calm and collected and happy. Kendall was never happy when dealing with the person, no, not a person. . .thing. This thing that was forced onto him when Logan. . .
He felt tears slipping from his eyes and the face that was looking up at him in fear was making things so worse. That face, those dimples and those beautiful brown eyes Kendall tries so hard to not fall in love with all over again and those lips that were trying to lean up to kiss him and comfort him. His fingers released the necklace and then brushed along the soft skin, Kendall's body aching with want to touch and kiss and caress it more. Then the fingers pushed the collar back and Kendall's stomach overturned when he saw that constant reminder.
That Alpha symbol etched so cleanly into his skin.
That constant reminder that this wasn't Logan he was touching, he was touching an android that looked like Logan. An android that talked, walked, dressed and tried to mimic the brunette to such proportions to make Kendall happy. Kendall will never be happy with this. . .thing. He withdrew his hand, eyes returning that coldness he held before.
". . .Kendall, I'm sorry. . .please don't be angry at me-"
"You're not. . .you can't feel regret," Kendall muttered and the brunette's head shot up to look at him in confusion.
"But I-"
"Just stop it! You're not Logan and you never will be him! Stop it!" Kendall screamed and the android cowered.
"Please, I. . .I am Logan, I-"
"No you're not! Stop it!" Kendall screamed, shoving Logan roughly and Logan crashed into some of the stacked chairs and fell to the ground. Kendall's heart jumped in fear, rushing over to the side where Logan fell and checking for any damage. Then he stopped when he realized what he was doing, retreating his hands away. ". . .Just go home. . .please. . ."
". . .I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Logan whispered and Kendall sucked in a breath.
"Just go," Kendall choked out and Logan paused before getting onto his feet and slowly walking out the door.
". . .I love you," Logan softly said and Kendall's shoulders tensed.
"Get out!" Kendall screamed, feeling his voice crack and his eyes watering with tears and Logan quickly exited. Kendall tried his hardest to control himself, to stop sobbing and coughing and making his head hurt.
Robots couldn't love, why was that thing torturing him?
Why was Kendall torturing himself by keeping it around?