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There were only three things Henry knew for certain, each fact was something no one else seemed to understand but him.
The first was the simplest, he hated talking, to vocalise was stressful and to force himself to make a comprehensible sound made his skin crawl. Any punishment was worth it if it meant he didn't have to speak, something no one else seemed to understand. Caretakers, his peers, everyone, they all tried to make him talk, spite making his silence all the more desirable.
The second was a bit more complicated to him, but seemed simple to everyone else. He liked things; shiny things, old things, dull things, valuable things, just things, but how he got his things made them have more value in his mind. Coins he found on the ground were interesting, but were nothing compared to the necklace he stole from one of his caretakers. He had a little box of his things hidden outside where only he could find it. His hiding place. He didn't know why he did it or even if there was a reason all he knew was people called him a kleptomaniac and left it at that.
The last thing he knew was what made people call him crazy, it was the reason he stopped trying to make friends or connections in general (other than the talking issue). He couldn't really explain it beyond the fact that Time liked him. It would bend to his will as he pleased, it let him have as much of it as he needed when he was making a decision, it let him go back and fix his wrong choices. He never ran out of it and he never would. It sped up when he asked and stopped when he required. Time broke its own rules for him, simple as that.
He had yet to meet anyone that understood any of the facts, much less all three.
When he had aged out it was a blessing, at first at least. He learned quite quickly that no one liked a mute when it came to work or a klepto.
That's when he found out that Time bending to his will had plenty of helpful applications when it came to stealing. Sure, he knew before, stealing odd, little trinkets he had snatched off of passersby to add to his things, but he could use it with bigger things, more expensive things, and never get caught. Unless he wanted to, of course.
He didn't get a rush from stealing itself. Yes, it was nice, but the payoff was when he had things. New trinkets and shiny bits; hard to get things that he had planned for and held so much more value then the things he bought. They were his things and he quite liked them.
He didn't know why he let himself get caught from the bank heist, the best guess he had was that he wanted to try. Try what, he wasn't quite sure, try escaping? Try seeing the limits time would let him break? It didn't matter in the end, he supposed here they expected him to talk, just like any other place and he hated it. Talking was a chore, it made him anxious and scared, and when he was scared Time reacted, it slowed like jelly around him until he was calm. Maybe that's why people didn't understand why he didn't like talking.
----
The airship heist was the most fun he’d ever had, he was pardoned for his help and had managed to snag a few shineys for his collection. He ended up being paired with the pilot for most of his missions and, if he was being honest, he didn't quite like Charles. The other was trying to get him to talk, at least it seemed like it. He didn't stop talking, taking Henry's silence as an ok to keep going. Henry was fairly sure that he was trying to come across a topic that Henry would respond to, his topics meandered about like he was chattering for the same reason Henry didn't.
“Oh, on that note, I wanted to ask you when you went on leave? We can stop by this one place, they have the best food and they have cats in there. Is that sanitary? I mean, it can't be right, that's got to be like against some kind of code.”
Henry watched the other as they flew back, huddled into himself as he thought. Charles liked questions like that, rhetorical ones he supposed, that he steamrolled over before anyone had the chance to answer. This was the first time he hadn’t asked Time to make the trip back faster, deciding to see if he actually didn't like his partner or if he just hated who his partner reminded him of.
“Oh! By the way! I've actually started trying to learn a bit of sign so maybe we can actually have a conversation now, I asked around and found out that you don't really talk so I figured you might be mute? Sorry if that sounds rude, but I really want to get to know you! You're so cool and confident in the field, but you're so different off of it, you know? Anyway, even if you aren't mute and are just super quiet, it’s a good skill to have!”
At that, Time paused as the drone of the helicopter fell quite everything slowing, Henry trying to process what he had just heard. No one had tried to learn sign for him; he had taught himself when he was a kid, but never really needed to use it. He blinked a few times letting the fact sink in. Slowly, the blades started to spin again, the motors’ drone began, and time flowed normally as he smiled. He hated who Charles reminded him of then, not Charles himself.
----
Charles was good company, Henry decided, watching the other repeat signs to himself with a look of determination.
He wasn't nearly as good company as Time, but he was good enough. The other always seemed to be repeating signs to himself now that Henry looked. He hadn't had Time go faster in almost a week because of it, though he hardly noticed.
“Oh hey Henry! Coffee I guess? Sorry I'll get out of your way!” Charles shifted, making to leave the break room before Henry shook his head.
‘Sign?’ he watched the others face shift before he grinned.
“Oh yeah I've been learning, I'm not the best yet but I think I can last a few sentences if you go slow!”
‘Thank you’
“Huh uh you're welcome? Dono what you're thanking me for Henry.”
‘Thank you for learning, you’re the first’
Henry sighed as he watched Charles process that, eyes squinted as he tried to decipher the hand movements.
“I didn't catch some of that, sorry, um, I’m the first person that's.. what? Learned sign for you I'm guessing?”
The guess was met with a nod.
“Huh, well you're welcome then! I'll be fluent in no time, just you wait!”
‘I can teach you?’
Charles was weird, he was the first person to accept the first fact and had yet to complain about the second. Henry liked Charles; maybe not as much as his things, and definitely not as much as Time, but he liked him well enough. So, he might as well teach the other how to communicate with him.
------
He wasn't sure how he was caught this time. He tried to avoid it, Time breaking again and again as he went back to before he woke up in this cell. But he always ended up here no matter what he changed or did or who he told. And that's how he encountered ellie; she seemed to understand this need to keep quiet just as much as Charles did, so Henry took her with. She was fun but most importantly she understood his need for things. She didn't just accept it as Charles did or hate it as everyone else did, she understood .
Maybe that's why he kept breaking Time until they were both out of the wall.
Maybe that's why he trusted her enough to be around Charles.
As they walked in the snow, Henry tapped out a call for pickup to his partner, he hung close to the redhead, worried about the fact that Time wasn't kind to her. She could run out, she wasn't safe. Time sped up around him with his feeling of worry, his feeling of hurry; the wind sped up even as he stayed at the same pace. Ellie was confused, asking him what was wrong; he simply watched the skies and listened for a familiar thrum.
He was scared and Time reacted. It always did.
The sun was walking across the sky now, Ellies words just small blips in his senses. And then he heard the thrum. He calmed and as his heart slowed so did his surroundings the sun crawling to a stand still as the helicopter lowered, Ellie looking over with worry.
“That our ride? Hey Henry, show that you're alive will you? You've been standing there for hours. Hey?”
He watched it land, his head moving as he followed it.
“Well, at least you’re not dead.”
He moved towards the vehicle as Charles stepped out.
“I’m here to pick up one Henry Stickmin and his friend?”
“You're our ride then?”
“And you're his friend?”
At Henry's nod, Charles gestured them in, Ellie sighing.
“Ok, so you can move too, that's a relief.”
“Let me guess, he just froze up and didn't move until I got here?”
“He does that a lot I'm guessing?”
“Welcome to being Henry's friend, I'm Charles.”
“Ellie.”
Henry glanced between them before moving to board the copter when Ellie entered with Charles, the two talking. Something squeezed within him, something that wasn't time or apathy, not panic, but maybe longing? Or guilt. It was guilt. It crushed his heart and made his breath stutter as he watched. And Time slowed.
It reacted to his call and let him calm down. He eyed the two, they didn't struggle with speech. That he didn't mind, he understood that he was odd in his liking of staying silent. Charles learned for him, but should he have had too? Here, they were growing close when it took months for Charles to learn his favorite color. He watched as the two moved slowly as if the air was fluid. Time was his closest friend; it understood the facts, it was one of them. But these two had come close. Why was he guilty? He didn't know.
Or maybe he did, but knew he shouldn't be.
The storm called his thoughts which calmed to a dull roar, and his friends moved normally again as Time shifted once more. He understood, so he wasn't scared, so Time reacted. Ellie sat across from him as Charles started up the copter. He glanced at Ellie, who was smiling at him.
“Sorry, I freaked out when you went all still. You just scared me I guess.”
‘Do you know sign?’
“Oh yeah, I do actually.”
‘Sorry for worrying you.’
“Eh it's cool, maybe like warn me the next time you decide to freeze up though?”
Henry nodded, glancing at Charles, who was humming to himself. Ellie followed his gaze and went quiet; Charles took that as his cue to start chattering, filling the not so quiet space.