We find ourselves on a porch, with two rocking chairs. On one is a taped picture of Gemini, with a printer sheet of paper that says Gemini below it. We hear a set of footsteps as Captain Arcadia sits down in the other chair, holding what looks to be a beer in his hand. He sits down and stares ahead a few moments before speaking.
“It’s easy to give out you know. Trust. We almost do it naturally. We trust those who we’re talking with to respect us, our friends, family, and loved ones to hold onto the trust we give them to love, cherish and maintain who we are. It’s always something simple right?”
He takes a chug of the beer, sighing once he lowers the beer.
“But like all gifts given, they can be broken by others. Betrayal, carelessnes. Even deliberate acts, those with either malicious or kind purpose, will break it. For something that’s built, it can be easily toppled like a tower of cards. Leaving you to pick up the pieces.”
A pang of sadness crosses his eyes for a moment, speaking to a vulnerability he rarely ever shows.
“When I heard what had happened to you Gemini, I knew your pain. Both of us had put trust in those close to us, wreathed in black and white. We had forged bonds, brought them close to us more than we would most of the people in Arcadia. And then like the colors of death they wore, they betrayed us.”
Captain Arcadia takes another chug of the beer, then crinkling the can and chucking it off screen.
“But the difference between you and me? It’s night and day.”
“See, when you had the truth shown, that your boyfriend had not only lied to your face but had wiped your mind, you broke it off. But when he was alone, desperately lamenting for anyone to come save him, you went back. Sure, you didn’t like it. But despite that betrayal, that he had cut into you more than any other person could, you went back to him.”
“You’re still a string on his guitar, singing when he asks you to.”
Captain Arcadia stops staring into the distance, and locks eyes with the viewer.
“When Black Panther came for us, I didn’t let him come without a fight. Each time he struck out at me, I went back and gave him everything I could to equal back to the pain he had. There was no fixing what he had done, only making him pay for breaking the trust we had put in him.:
He stands up, keeping his eyes laser locked on to the POV.
“It’s plain to see that you’re still stuck on the pains of love, and wrapped around in a song of sorrow that drives you on. And the best way I’ve found to break that lingering trust?”
“Blunt force trauma to the head.”
He breaks eye contact, walking away with a slam of a screen door.