The Star Man

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<sub>Nerys noticed something was off, and she stepped back when Andromeda rubbed his head. Thank god those two finally stepped away. He then took a deep breath, waiting for the pain in his head to dull-oh the freak was talking to him now. He looked up, noting something was... different.

"... Yes, yes I am." He grumbled, looked up at the man. What was going on now? Why didn't Nerys take him back?

... Who was this man....?</sub>

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Using the scope as a cane to steady himself, Cepheid tried to get his nerves under control. Good lord. It...it was him.

"Andromeda Seren Callidum." He said quietly. "I...I can't believe it..."

Finally realizing he was likely utterly confusing the man before him, he reached a shaky gloved hand up to his face and, after taking off the top hat, removed the mask to reveal his face, identical to Andromeda's save for the scarring.

"Andy... I didn't actually think we'd...I mean, the chances that..." He was having trouble finding words now, and simply sat the mask down on the closest available surface, before turning back to his twin. "It's me, Cepheid." He said as he pulled his necklace out from under his shirt, as if it wasn't obvious who he was already. It was clear, however, that he was utterly stunned.

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<sub>Nerys was completely speechless at this point, especially when this man seemed to have spoken up his full name. Andromeda just stared blankly at him. Wait, what?! Who was this-wait a moment, that voice... And then he pulled off his mask. Oh hell no...

He still had that necklace!

Andromeda clutched his own necklace as well, just staring at him. He was completely frozen up in shock and memory seemed to fog up around him.

".... Cepheid." He just spoke up quietly, that is before his face screwed up in anger and fury.

"WHERE THRE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN I'VE BEEN LOOKING ALL THE HELL OVER FOR YOU?!"

Nerys was about to raise her hand to speak up and then kept her mouth shut. She was clearly missing something.</sub>

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The nervous smile Cepheid was about to express was suddenly quashed by one of surprise as his twin started yelling at him.

Completely taken aback, it took him a moment to find his voice, and he made a rather irritated expression back at Andy. "WELL WHAT ABOUT YOU, MISTER 'MOST DANGEROUS PIRATE IN THE WORLD'?!" He yelled back. "DID YOU EVER ONCE THINK THAT MAYBE YOU'D BE CAUSING ME SO MUCH HELL THAT I HAD TO HIDE BEHIND A MASK TO AVOID BEING ARRESTED BECAUSE OF YOU?!"

Context was very much necessary at this point. RPer feels for poor, clueless Nerys.

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<sub>Andromeda flailed his arms when Cepheid yelled back. Oh you want a screaming competition now? BRING IT. Andromeda stood up, barely standing since he had a freaking headache from getting his on the head by his brother.

"OH DON'T THANK ME FOR SAVING YOUR SORRY ASS. TWICE." he yelled back. "I STOLE THIS FREAK'N SHIP JUST TO FIND YOU ANYWAY! AND ALL I GET IS A KNICE KNOT IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD!"

"Am I uh... missing something?" Nerys spoke up, finally. Andromeda whipped his head, cracking his neck in the mean time.

"YES YOU ARE. THAT'S MY TWIN BROTHER I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR AND I MISS HIM SO-I hate you." he then promptly went to bearhug his brother.</sub>

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IT. IS. ON.

"AND YOU NEVER THOUGHT THAT MAYBE I WAS IN THE FUCKING SLAMMER OR DEAD BECAUSE SOMEONE MISTOOK ME FOR YOU?!" He shouted. "AND YOU'RE THE DUMBASS WHO CAME BUSTING IN. WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO, LET YOU RANSACK THE PLACE?!"

Once the girl spoke up, he turned his attention somewhat to her as his brother turned so fast his neck popped. Ouch.

He scratched his head as Andy continued to hell, but now to the girl. Come on, man, that's not co- Suddenly, his thoughts were derailed as he was suddenly bearhugged. Feeling the wind leave his lungs, it took him a few moments to realize that he was being hugged.

By his twin.

Who he hadn't seen in almost twenty years.

"............." If at all possible, he'd hug him back. "You blimy idiot. Do you know how rough it's been, seeing your face everywhere but not being able to track you down?"

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<sub>"Oh HELL no." He wasn't going to keep that man talking. Even as the (now very speechless) Nerys spoke up he'd ignore her in favor of his brother. His twin brother.

Andromeda let go of Cepheid and wiped his cheeks, no he was totally not crying... he was cutting onions earlier... or some smoke got in his eyes. Something! Either way, he got yelled at by his sibling and now stuff happened and... Andromeda was just reduced to staring at his brother.

"Gee you think? You had that masquerade I didn't even THINK that was you, you crazy lunatic... Not that I'm any better in the lunacy department, you know why..." He paused, before looking at his sibling and grinning.

"Welp, we have twenty years of stuff to catch up on."</sub>

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Once their screaming match was over, Cepheid's throat felt rather sore. He hadn't had to raise his voice like that in ages. As a matter of fact, he hadn't spoken as Cepheid in a long time. It was almost always as The Star Man.

As he was let go, he gave his brother one last light hug and then stepped back himself. Was he crying? And people thought Andy couldn't be adorable. Smiling himself, he wasn't really aware of the fact he had started to cry a little too. YAY SOPPY FLUFF.

In reply to his sibling's comment on his lunacy, he just laughed. "It runs in the family, I think." He answered lightly. "I had to take up a mask. I was lucky enough to finish my apprenticeship before your face was plastered everywhere. I had to become The Star Man so I could move about without fear of arrest and get my charts sold." He wasn't going to admit that, despite the pretty penny they fetched now, most people were more interested in his illusions than his charts, and what money he managed to make was often taken up by keeping his airship maintained. He had none of the skills to do it himself, and it got pricy. By the time he managed to get supplies, he had very little money left to use, so he wasn't eating that well.

He grinned back at Andromeda. "Yea. I guess we do, don't we?" He replied. "I'm...sorry about pegging you with the scope. I didn't realize it was you at the time." He smiled sheepishly.

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<sub>Andromeda leaned back on the wall, almost losing his balance from this revelation and his heart soaring. He couldn't believe it! Cepheid was alive, here and... This was just amazing. He grinned at his twin brother as he spoke up. So that's what he's been up to.

"Well, either way, you're here and that won't change anything. I'm just happy to see you alive." He paused. "I guess my method of making money wasn't the best way but... I won't lie I had to take my anger out on SOMETHING." He explained. He'd get personal later.

"Should I leave you two or... what should we do now? I mean... This is... weird." Nerys put her hand to her head as she wrapped her mind around the fact that The Star Man was Andy's identical twin brother.</sub>

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"You and me both, though I have to admit I worried about you." Ceph answered, sitting on the edge of the couch as he was suddenly very aware of how tired he was. "Every time I heard your name, I feared I was going to hear that something had happened to you." He paused and looked up at his twin. He wanted to express his displeasure at Andromeda's method of earning a living, but now now. Not in front of that woman. "Despite it all, I managed to get by. Though the occasional mob of fangirls trying to unmask me made things tricky. I couldn't very well let them see my face, as I've made perfectly clear why."

Speaking of, it might be a good idea to acknowledge her existence. "Actually, I think maybe we should find somewhere to land for a bit and get our bearings after this little debacle." He suggested, standing. Weird? "How so?" He asked, as if it wasn't obvious what the girl was thinking.

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<sub>Andromeda laughed when Cepheid spoke his worries. He then sat down on the edge of the couch as well, followed by Nerys as she looked over the two of them. Now that she got them in good light, she could easily tell why Cepheid had to mask himself. They were identical twins save for Cepheid's longer hair!

"... I'm sorry. I guess it is my fault half the damn time." Andy murmured. "Sometimes I can't help it though. Why should Dula suffer while the rest of the world embraces it's happier families?"

Nerys went quiet as they spoke up, but then she brightened when Cepheid mentioned the fangirls. She then looked at him with a pretty eager and happy face.

"Does this mean I'm the first to see you unmasked~?" Well of course her mind was on how totally sexy despite him being an identical twin to Andy cool her was.</sub>

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Don't forget the scars, Nerys. Unlike Andy, Cepheid's face was completely devoid of such blemishes, another trait that made the two of them distinguishable if compared closely. "Half the damn time?" He joked playfully, lightly punching Andy's shoulder. His smile fell when the second half of his words were heard. "You're honestly telling me that you've been doing all of this out of some sick loyalty to DULA?" He asked, surprised. "Did you forget what that damn government did to us? To you? You don't owe them anything, Andromeda." He paused and sighed. "Dula is the way it is because it cannot control it's greed for wealth and power. It's not fault of your own." Hopelessly trying to gt his brother to stop effing shit up? Yes. Is he going to succeed? Probably not.

He turned to Nerys as she suddenly went into fangirl mode and Ceph instinctively leaned back from her a little, concerned she might try and tackle him. "Uhh. Y-Yea. I think so, actually. I never take the mask off when I'm around other people." He answered nervously. "At least until now, anyway." Oh jeez, it was one thing fending off fangirls when behind a mask, but that was The Star Man! This is Cepheid, and he has no clue how to placate such a giddy female!

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<sub>Nerys had to admit, Cepheid being scarless was pretty appealing to her. Made him look formal and clean compared to Andy. Of course she went quiet and awkward when they spoke up about their personal issues. She knew about them, mostly Andy's but not Ceph's. Hell Andy never mentioned he had a twin, much less was looking for him!

"I... don't know." Andy spoke up finally. Dula? Why should he have loyalty to the place? He causes the docks so much trouble anyway! Andy shook his head. "... So why did they take us?"

"Because you both were in the wrong place at the wrong time. As for Dula? Let's just keep stealing from the rich companies. If it were up to me, I'd be happy to distribute the wealth to the poor people in the slums." Nerys finally spoke up, revealing she knew much more about the situation than she seemed to be. After all. She was a fairly introverted woman.</sub>

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About to answer, Cepheid remained quiet as the woman, Nerys, spoke up and answered it for them. Well, that was a good an answer as any. Giving Andy a pat on the shoulder, he stood and idly picked up his mask and top hat, glancing back at the two.

"So... Now what?" He asked.

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<sub>Andromeda looked over to Nerys, giving her a sneaky grin, before he grabbed the girl and did her in front of his twin brother grabbed his twin brother, giving him a hilarious grin. Nerys went back to grab the grapple hook and properly hook it up, reeling them in much closer.

"Welp, you're not leaving me, if that's what you intend. I found you, after all~!" He then half pushed, half dragged his brother to the grapple to hook him up and slide him to the Star Crasher.

"Hold tight. You'll get acquainted with my girls and my flying airship soon." Andy looked hilariously eager for this now. So weird.</sub>