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Frankie huffed as someone, quite rudely, started goading him to hurry up. It wasn’t his fault he was blinded by his new body sharing friend. Scream had left a horizontal claw scar on Frankie’s face back when they first met each other, the poor symbiote had been lashing out from fear. It left the reality warper blinded, but Scream, as the symbiote was known as, was able to at least partially restore the now seventeen-year-old’s powers.
“Oh my God just hurry up!” someone called out as Derrik and Claus walked into the local coffee shop. The two siblings froze and glanced at each other. Not the best first impression but everywhere had assholes.
“Well aren’t you just pleasant?” the male that was being harassed replied sarcastically. Derrik couldn't get a good look at him, but at least he seemed to be holding his own. “I’m blind and I’ve never been here, so I am needing some assistance.”
“Well if you’re blind you shouldn't be out in public anyway without some kind of handler.”
Derrik’s eyes hardened, and without even having to glance at his sibling, both moved to intervene. Neither of them could let something like that stand. It turned out, however, they didn’t need to do anything. The male who was being harassed turned and glared daggers into the man. The man in question suddenly squeaked and hurriedly left, as if he was being chased by something.
Derrik’s mouth dried when he saw the man properly. He had a horizontal claw scar across his face. The three, long, gnarled parallel lines were about an inch or two apart with the middle one going right across his nose and eyes, with his pupils milky white. His long black hair brushed just past his shoulders, and was obviously well taken care of. He had a, currently folded up, walking stick in his hand and gorgeous pale porcelain skin. He was gorgeous.
“Terribly sorry,” the male said, turning back to the barista. “I didn’t mean to make such a scene.”
“It’s fine sir,” the barista said, obviously flustered. She quickly helped him with the menu and ordering. After the male order she asked, “name?”
“Frankie Richards,” Frankie said with a smile. “Thank you.” He made sure to put a five in the tips jar before going to the side.
The two siblings quickly ordered and went to the side as well, tipping good for the fact that the barista didn’t even pause at their names, just writing them down and going on. Claus and derrik were used to people’s reactions, ranging from awe to fear, when they ever gave their full names. Then again, considering their father was Victor Von Doom, it made sense.
Claus was the older sibling by a year. He had gone out and become a model in spite of all the people who said he’d never be able to thanks to his face. The two of them had been maimed by a political enemy of their father’s when they were just ten years old. It left them with nasty matching scarred faces. They had managed to fight their way to the top, and was now a supermodel.
Derrik was the quieter and younger of the two brothers. He was their father’s heir, Claus having no interest in politics beyond what was expected of them as a supermodel. Derrik also had much more advanced magic than Claus, having preferred his studies over socializing and partying.
Claus glanced at his brother, and snorted at the look on his face as he continuously glanced over at Frankie. The older burnet went right over to Frankie with a smile. He could play wingman.
“Hey my brother thinks you're cute, mind if I put his number in your phone?” Claus asked. “Hi name is Derrik.”
Frankie gave a startled laugh and nodded, taking out his phone and holding it out. “Here ya go.”
“Thank you,” Claus hummed, quickly putting Derrik in Frankie’s contacts before handing it back. “He’s shy and I’m not about to let him pine.”
Frankie laughed, pocketing his phone. He’s not stupid, he heard what their names were, but they also heard his. It should be fine. Besides, from what he saw from sneakily looking into the Barista’s mind, Derrik was pretty cute.
“I’ll hopefully see you two around,” Frankie said with a smile. “And Derrik? Text or call me.” He took his drink, got his walking stick ready, and left.
-
Frankie snorted as he texted back Derrik a couple of days later. His family was probably giving him weird looks, but he didn't care. For someone who seemed so shy at the coffee shop, whenever the two texted back and forth or were talking on the phone, Derrik, for all his shy nerdy self, was really funny.
"Just who have you been in contact with so much?" Sue, Frankie's mom, asked.
"Someone I met the other day," Frankie explained. "He's really cool."
"He, huh?" Johnny teased. "Must be one amazing person if he can keep your attention like this."
"No kidding, when do we get to meet the lucky guy?" Marco asked.
"Oh, hush," Frankie said, blushing.
"Come on Frank, this is the first guy you've had an interest in!" Val, Frankie's twin sister, said. Frabkie glared at the nickname but sighed.
"He and I are talking, but it's not like we've gone on a date yet," he said.
"Still, interest is a big step," N'Kalla pointed out. "Even with your much slower earth courting."
"Niki, I swear I will teleport you across the city," Frankie said.
"You can try," N'Kalla retorted.
"Can I help?" Jo-Venn piped up. "She's being annoying today. Not that mister glued to his phone would notice."
"Hey, only I can tease my brother," Val huffed.
"But you let Marco and uncle Johnny tease him!" Jo-Venn complained.
"Marco and uncle Johnny can light me on fire, and Carnage and I don't need that today," Val retorted.
"Kids," Sue said firmly.
"Sorry aunt Sue/mom," they all said.
Granted, none of them were 'kids' anymore. Val and Frankie were nineteen, and their cousins were both seventeen. Still, none of them were going to point this out to Sue.
-
Later, in the safety and comfort of his room, Frankie video called Derrik.
"Hey Frankie!" Derrik said as he picked up, a huge grin on his face. The blind reality warper had gone silent there for a bit, but he had been hanging out with his family.
"Hey Derrik, sorry about just not replying earlier."
"Hey, it's chill! I got pulled away to family dinner with dad and Claus, which is strictly no tech," Derrik chuckled. "So I wouldn't have been able to reply until now anyway."
"What did you have for dinner?" Frankie asked curiously.
Derrik smiled and happily talked about his meal. It was honestly refreshing, talking to Frankie. The words and conversation flowed so easily and readily and it was honestly nice.
"I have half a reason to believe dad decided on this vacation just to make yours paranoid," Derrik laughed. "I mean, he has nothing planned besides random fun family stuff."
"It's great, my family has no clue he's not planning anything," Frankie mused. "At least that's not all they're talking about."
"Yeah?" Derrik chuckled. "Um… By the way, tomorrow is the second to last day of our vacation… Would you maybe want to go out? On a date? With me?”
“I’d like that,” Frankie said gently and smiled warmly.