Captain Astro

[Michael Novotny]

Michael was running the store by himself for now, as Brooke had the day off. He had to admit things were easier for him with another person to help work the store. He didn't mind being by himself too terribly much though.

He was hanging up some new Captain Astro t-shirts that had come in. Not only did he sell comics, but also t-shirts, magazine and other such memorabilia.

He wondered if Brian would come in for a visit. . .or maybe even Emmett. Teddy would to likely be working hard for Workshafter. He could feel the beginnings of boredom that he was accustomed to on slow days like these.

[Ben Bruckner]

Ben adjusted his glasses on his nose and pushed open the door to the Comic Book Store. It wasn't a place he would ever frequent, quite honestly, but he had contemplated going a different direction in his class at Carnegie Mellon. He usually led the students through all sorts of pieces of classical literature, but what if he tried something a bit more modern, something that they could more than likely relate to better than they could to, say, Shakespeare. So comic books was the answer.

And really. What better place was there to explore gay symbolism than in comics?

So Ben entered the shop and looked around, a bit surprised at the... extensiveness of it all. He failed to mention its owner, who was apparently hanging things up elsewhere, so instead of waiting to ask for help, he listed lazily to the left and began searching through the comic books on their... somewhat obscenely well-organized shelves.

And after a moment of fruitless searching, Ben realized that he would need some help. He headed over the the checkout counter and leaned against it, eying the Wonder Woman comic he had happened to pick up. He smiled a bit, appreciating the irony in that selection, and waited for someone to approach him.

[Michael Novotny]

Michael heard the door open, but was too engrossed in his arrangements to do much in the ways of greeting. He made sure the last shirt was hung up in it's proper place and stood back to admire the new display. See? He told himself. I can do some things without the younger generation's help.

He then went back towards the employees only door with an empty box in tow. He tossed it into the back room, before making his way up to front counter where he noticed a man was standing. As he got closer he noticed a few more things besides merely his gender. He noticed the pair of glasses perched upon his nose, which only drew his attention to his gorgeous blue eyes. He was built like a Greek god too, Michael could tell even with his shirt on.

He wondered what a guy like him was doing in such a dorky little comic shop. He felt his face get warmer and felt the hint of an embarrassed grin touch his lips.

"Is there, uh, anything I can help you with?" he asked quickly, attempting to cover for himself.

[Ben Bruckner]

"Yeah, uhh, I hope so," Ben replied, the small smile still on his face. But it wasn't because of Wonder Woman any longer. It was because of the man in front of him. Sort of tiny, adorable, and geeky in an endearing way. "I'm looking for comic books," he continued, trying not to get too distracted. But it wasn't really working, because his comment was a more than obvious one. "I mean, specific comic books... based on their, ah, narrative and graphics and subtexts that one might consider... ah..." With a nearly apologetic look - but mostly it was amused - Ben finished, "Gay."

If Ben was a good judge of character... and he just so happened to be one... this man would be able to help him. "My name is Ben, by the way. Ben Bruckner." He moved to hold out his right hand to shake, but it was occupied by Wonder Woman. "I..." He grinned, dropped his hand back to his side. "Wonder Woman. Am I even warm?"

[Michael Novotny]

Michael had noticed the bookish look of the man and thought, or rather feared, that perhaps he was straight. He felt a little squirming inside when he mentioned he was looking for comic books centered around being gay. He was more than adorable to say the least.

"My name is Ben, by the way. Ben Bruckner."

"I'm Michael. . .--Novotny," he said, instinctively reaching his hand out to shake. When he noticed the comic in Ben's hand he gave a chuckle.

"Well Wonder Woman's not bad," he said. "But there's also Alpha Flight 106 and X Force 56. I can show you those, if you'd like. There's an issue with Destiny and Mystique that's really interesting. . ."

Michael couldn't believe his intense dorkiness was actually paying off. He wished on some level that Brian was here now. . .so he could rub it in his face. Although on another level he was quite glad Brian wasn't here because then. . .if Ben was gay, he'd probably stand no chance compared to the Liberty Ave sex god.