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An early morning chill woke Henry. He welcomed it, breathing in the bright air as he stretched the sleep from his body. The new-ness of early mornings was something he had always cherished. Even on earth, there was something about the time just before dawn that felt like magic. In the same way of, fresh snow and the smell of newborn's foreheads.
He rolled his sleeping bag with practiced skill and tied it to the JanSport he had packed all those months ago. This routine gave him a steadiness that helped with how wild his life had become since then. He couldn't control how the rest of his days went, but he could take back this tiny bit of time to pack his things and center his mind. He wandered a reasonable distance into the forest to answer "" mother nature's call"" before crossing diagonally past the camp to the nearby brook. Always keeping the familiar sound of Darryl's snoring close enough that he could sprint back if needed. He rinsed his face in the water. Then using a cantrip to clean it, he brought a couple handfuls to his mouth. Swishing to try and combat his morning breath before drinking deeply.
Back at the edge of camp, he stopped and looked up. The dark blues of night were just starting to fade into purples through the trees. He faced the blossoming colors and pulled himself into Mountain-pose, breathing through the familiar motions of his Sun-Salutation. Letting his body work out its complaints with how he'd been living these last few months. He brushed the leaf-litter from the front of his shirt when he had finished, standing once more to watch a cluster of magenta clouds stream across the navy sky.
A noise to his left brought his attention back to the ground. Glenn readjusted the drawstring bag he had been using to hold his thing since the Tournament for Knights. He turned uncomfortably under his leather jacket before he noticed Henry and seemed to give up on sleeping altogether. He stretched briefly before sitting up and re-donning the coat. Turning his back to the taller man while he tied up his hair and reassessed the contents of his makeshift pillow.
Henry watched him with muted curiosity. There had only been a handful of times that Glenn had woken up before Darryl. And usually, it was because Darryl needed to sleep in. not that Henry was upset. The mornings that he and Glenn had spent together had been... fun... to say the least.
Henry felt a blush coming on just thinking about the last time, a couple weeks ago now.
It had been a long adventure, and as two consenting adults who both had permission from their partners about things like this, Henry and Glenn had come to a bit of an "" understanding"". It wasn't often, and it wasn't romantic. It was just a couple of people with specific wants and needs that happened to be easier to solve together.
Henry bit his lip as he walked over to Glenn, reaching out to gently tap his right shoulder.
"Hey-" the gravel in Glenn's voice washed through Henry in a way he wasn't expecting.
"Oh, hi. Good morning, Glenn; did you sleep well?" Glenn cocked his head and studied Henry's face.
"Yeah... you want something Tree-man" there was a bemused edge to the bard's tone that left very little room for misinterpretation.
"Um, yes i was just wondering, if you would like to come into the forest.... with me to look at... look at some interesting-"
"Id love to cum in the forest with you." Henry's eyes darted away from Glenn's wicked grin to the sleeping dads just feet away. He knew that what they were doing wasn't wrong, and there was nothing to be ashamed about. But he also knew that keeping the team together was really important, and not everyone would see their arrangement the same way they did. Henry was Also well aware that Glenn thought the idea of other people knowing about them was hot. Not just telling them (like Henry had suggested when Glenn had first brought it up), Glenn wanted to be walked in on. He wanted people to overhear. He wanted people to find out.
"Good," Henry said, deciding against scolding Glenn about this now; the comment hadn't been loud enough to actually alert the others, and Henry wasn't here to kink shame. They stood, leaving their bags under Nick Jr's care, and moved towards the edge of the campsite.
"Gotta piss first, meet you by the water." Glenn's hand ghosted over the small of Henry's back. Giving a small rush of pleasure to the younger man. Glenn wasn't usually the type of person to touch without reason. It had been something that drove Henry crazy in the beginning. He had missed physical contact within a week of entering the forgotten realms. Then when he managed to find someone to help with most of his other more animalistic desires, it was like pulling nails to get any sort of actual closeness with him. The lingering touch reminded henry that from Glenn's perspective, it had been years, not weeks, since they had last done anything like this. Did Glenn want closeness now? Henry stared down at the water, perplexed. He didn't want to push Glenn past what was comfortable. He's been through alot recently, and this was supposed to be a break from that. It was better to stick with what they'd agreed on and trust that if Glenn needed something new, he would ask for it. But it had been a while for Glenn; Henry couldn't help but feel he should try to make it a bit special.
Henry pulled off his shirt and walked to a large ash just beyond the small stream, pulling magic energy to his fingertips. Vines sprouted under his feet, weaving themselves into a comfortable mat as he knelt on the new cushion. He felt the shoots surge up the trunk behind him. He pressed his hands into the ground and let the gentle tendrils wrap around his wrists. They had played some with bondage, and while it wasn't exactly Henry's favorite, it seemed to get Glenn's engine running. Henry sat waiting, letting his posture relax into something a bit more comfortable than what he had planned for when Glenn returned.
He heard Glenn just before he saw him and took that extra moment to tighten the vines, so his arms were raised above his head.
"You ready to-" Glenn stopped short as he came into view, and Henry enjoyed a moment of being that attractive to someone. Then Glenn was on top of him, kneeling close, hands moving over the binds. But it wasn't right; Henry saw the flash of a dagger move from Glenn's pocket, could feel the terror radiating off the him. Henry dropped the spell, the vines withering away and crumbling at any tension. He was yanked forward away from the tree, falling half in the mud and half into Glenn's shaking lap. Before he could process any of it, Glenn was holding his wrist, running calloused fingers over the sensitive skin, and then pressing lips against them in a gesture so caring Henry didn't know what to make of it.
"I.. I'm sorry, im sorry, Glenn. Glenn I'm fine." Henry looked down to their hands clasped together. Realizing that this was the first time he had seen Glenn's hands up close since he'd gotten back. Patches of scaring circled around each wrist, almost two inches on his right and four on his left, wrapping up to a clearly miss-set thumb and crooked pinky. Glenn had been in cuffs. His hands had been bound much longer than any person ever should ever be.
"I'm sorry. Glenn i didn't know." Henry stammered, looking up into Glenn's eyes to find them wild and scared. "I'm fine, im sorry." Glenn nodded, breathing rapidly through a clenched jaw. He glanced back at the tree as if to check. "It was a spell, i did a spell, I'm sorry. I thought-" Henry's explanation was cut short as Glenn pulled him into a desperate shaky embrace. Henry decided to shut his mouth for once, wrapping arms around Glenn and letting the shorter man burrow into the safety of him.
The clouds were tinted soft pink and amber when Glenn finally let go. Not leaving, just relaxing, so the men were leaning against each other. Henry wanted to ask so many questions about what exactly had happened to hurt Glenn this much but knew he wouldn't get answers; Glenn had already said he didn't want to talk about it.
"So... no more bondage." he tried, not wanting to push but unable to let this experience go unnoticed.
"I guess not." Glenn's voice gave no hint at his inner thoughts. Henry pressed his nose into the crown of Glenn's hair. Trying to figure out what to say for a moment.
"Anything else i shouldn't try from here on out?" silenced stretched for so long, Henry was scared Glenn just wouldn't answer.
"No gags." he said it so soft like he was scared Henry would disagree. Henry nodded as reassurance, rubbing soothing circles into his back. "no blindfolds." Glenns voice braver this time. "No... brain fuckery. Gaslighting and pretending we don't what's going on. None of that, even as a joke."
They hadn't explored any of this much. A blindfold once, maybe some passing dirty talk about being caught unaware if Henry remembered correctly. But the energy Glenn used as he listed them made him sound like he was sorry he was taking away their favorite themes. It made Henry wonder if Glenn had ever sat down and made clear boundaries like this before.
"No more hurting; not here too." there was a finality to that one. Henry tried (for Glenn's sake) to not fall immediately into pity. He just nodded, memorizing the new list for a moment.
"Okay." Henry said when he was sure, his voice wouldn't break. Glenn's eye glanced up with something almost like surprise before darting back down to study the faded burn scar across henry's chest. Quiet stretched out again. Henry decided that sharing his own 'no-goes' might help ease Glenn's misplaced guilt.
"I'm not comfortable with any sort of cheating role-paly, and I hate scheduled tasks." When she had gone off to Grad school, Mercedes had tried giving him small sexy things he could do in his routine to help him remember that they were still thinking of each other. How gross it felt to have his pleasure planned and managed, outside of his control.
"Ill remember." it was almost a whisper, more felt against his skin than heard.
"Anything you want to add to our...us?" Henry asked after a moment.
"More this." There was a certainty there Glenn hadn't used since they were back at camp. Henry opened his mouth to ask for an explanation, but Glenn beat him to it. "The talking's not great... But the touching's good." Glenn paused like he was trying to put something big into words. "i don't think..." he started, "the last time i..." Henry wanted desperately to know where these sentences ended. "I really missed the touching." is all Glenn let him have for now, and Henry told himself this would have to be enough.
"Me too." Henry leaned gently against the weight of his friend, looking up at the soft blue and gold sky. And for a moment it was.