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“A shot of whiskey for me!”
“I’ll take Bud Light.”
“I want a screwdriver, and Henry’ll have rum and coke!”
Henry laughed a thanks as he sat down at the bar with Charles and the other operatives. Their most recent raid on a drug cartel had gone swimmingly, and Cameron had suggested getting drinks to celebrate once they were back at the base. So here they were, ready for a night of drinking.
The four of them shared beverages and laughs as they reminisced over the mission.
“Where did you even get that thing, Charlie, I didn’t know we had the budget for a laser cannon!”
“It was there, so I can’t complain!”
“You and Henry make an amazing team, Charles,” Cameron laughed halfway through his third shot. “How long you guys known each other?”
Henry gave a knowing smile to Charles, who took it as permission to spill. He was always the talker of their dynamic duo. “Well, uh, we met two years ago. The General and I caught up with him, offered him a pardoning if he helped take out the Toppats, so we did that. Then he got himself arrested by some weird Russian guys… hey wait a minute, how’d you even manage to get them angry at you?”
Henry simply shrugged. He guessed that pardons didn’t matter over international borders, or that the Wall’s director had some sort of personal grudge…
“Yeah, uh, I broke him out on my way to a rendezvous point in Denmark. We didn’t see much of each other until last year when we got called in for the mission to take out the remaining Toppats. After that, we got promoted, and I guess we’ve been partners in crime since! Did I get everything, Henry?”
Chugging the rest of his drink, Henry gave Charles a thumbs up, followed by a punch to his palm with a fist.
“Oh yeah! That was hilarious- I wish I could have seen the look on that guard’s face when he got hit with a helicopter !”
Reya examined Henry with a raised brow. “How do you two do that? Like, that could have meant anything!”
“Oh, we just get it,” Charles laughed. Henry gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Working with someone who doesn’t like to talk makes you pick up on their weirdness- ow!” Henry’s friendly pat turned into a rough smack on the head.
“Asshole,” he muttered under his breath, voice raspy.
“Son of a bitch,” Charles returned, grinning.
“Pffft- haha! Sso, you did what to the guy?”
“Called- hic - I called him a mommy’s b-boy, and shot him in the knee!”
The four of them laughed, all thoroughly drunk from three hours at the bar as they made their way back to their cabins. They were lucky enough to be given small two-person cabins instead of the general crowded bunks that the enlisted troops slept in.
“Th-this is our stop,” Reya hiccuped, swaying slightly with Cameron on her shoulder. “See ya guys…”
“Nighty-night,” Charles said between his tipsy giggles. Henry was holding him by the hip, looking dazed as he waved to the other operatives. “Let’s go…”
The duo stumbled into their cabin, Charles fumbling for a second before flicking on the lights. Henry practically snuggled into Charles’ chest, and he felt heat rise to his face.
“Charles…?”
“Y-yeah, Henry?”
Henry quietly steadied himself, gazing into Charles’ eyes with quiret admiration. “... you’re the best partner I could ask for, you know?” Slowly, Henry reached his hand up to stroke Charles across his cheek. The pilot shivered under his touch- he hadn’t talked this much since… well, ever.
“H-hey Henry, you’re uh, getting kinda close there,” Charles murmured, backing up against the wall as Henry struggled to stand up straight next to him. His face was hot like fire, eyes locked with Henry’s. Those eyes had always said much more than his throat ever did.
“D’you mind if I am?”
“...nah.”
Charles was the one to move forward and catch Henry’s lips on his own. He tasted like rum and spearmint, lips pleasantly cold from the November air but quickly warming as the two of them swayed gently into one another. Henry placed his hands lightly on Charles’ hips, pulling him in to deepen the kiss. Charles grabbed onto Henry’s shoulders for leverage, losing himself in the push and pull rhythm that they had settled into.
After a minute, Charles pulled away to breathe, and rested his head on Henry’s shoulder as he pulled him in for a hug. The ex-convict followed in suit, squeezing Charles as though he would fall apart in his arms were he to let go.
“I, uh… heh, I think I love you, Henry,” the pilot laughed quietly.
“I love y’ too, Charles.”
“Uh. How long?”
Henry slowly pulled away, taking Charles’ hands tenderly in his and intertwining their fingers. “Since you saved me from the- the Wall, I think.” Henry gently guided the two of them to their bedroom, sitting down in his twin bed with Charles falling into his lap. Their faces matched in flush as they moved in for another kiss, mouths lightly opening as they sighed and relaxed into one another. Henry dared to lightly run his tongue along Charles’ bottom lip, and was rewarded with a shiver and the pilot stumbling into him. He lay sprawled out on his bed with Charles on top of him.
Henry and Charles burst into drunken laughter at the same time, kicking off their shoes and moving to cuddle chest to chest. It was nearly effortless for the operatives to rest their foreheads together lightly and close their eyes happily.
“Love ya, Henry,” Charles laughed.
“I love you too,” Henry muttered, smiling wide.
The two of them fell asleep with their arms around each other and butterflies in their hearts.