Work Text:
October 2nd, 1990
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The door slams behind him and he saunters into the empty apartment, heavy-footed and lightheaded. He reaches into the worn-down fridge to grab a bottle of beer because after the day he's had, he thinks he deserves it.
The problem is that when Henry drinks, he remembers.
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Day 1 On the Job, Summer 1989
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"Hello two forks tower!"
The start of an era.
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1990
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A telephone, piercing through whatever exhausted silence that had fallen over him.
"Hello?"
He gets interrupted by an immediate response, "I've got the keg and the fireworks, man! Let's fuckin-"
"Who the fuck are you?"
"It's Billy, obviously," responds the unknown caller. Henry can hear clearly now that his voice is high enough to be as young as sixteen, maybe?
"Wrong number, kid."
He leaves it at that.
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Day 64
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The fire was mesmerizing, almost distracting him from the conversation.
"I don't talk to the other lookouts as much as I talk to you, not in the same way."
God, those truly open moments of feeling and honesty always threw him off. She was a mystery, this woman, hiding things sometimes but on other occasions spilling her guts out to someone who's face she had never seen.
Then again, she was probably drunk.
And nobody's allowed to know this, but it all made him feel pretty special. Whatever.
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Another ring fills the room only minutes later.
He answers first, "Look if-"
"Where's your house at?"
God, this was gonna be a long night. "I already told your friend, uh, Billy, that this is the wrong number. No party at my house."
A beat. "Thanks man, I'll talk to him."
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Day 70
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"What's your favorite time of day?"
He chuckled, "Bored much?"
"Well yeah, but I also want to learn more about you, since you're suck with me for the foreseeable future."
Absolutely not, they bantered but he was not going to indulge her-
"Sunset, I think."
Dammit.
"Oh? Why's that?"
"Because the colors are so bold, and you can watch as they fade into each other. I used to sit with Mayhem and watch the sun set every night."
She was silent for a minute. Was she not expecting that answer, or did he just go too deep for such a simple question?
"That.. that sounds amazing. I don't think I've ever watched the sunset with anyone."
"What, not with Javier?" His tone stayed teasing, the norm for them.
She thought, "Hm, no. My favorite time of day around here is nighttime."
"Why's that?"
"I love the stars, always have. Wanna hear a joke about them?"
"Will saying no stop you?"
"That's the spirit!" She couldn't see him, but he affectionally shook his head at that, "Orion's belt is a big waist of space."
Henry erupted into fake laughter, "Ha ha ha, terrible joke, only three stars."
A surprised sound was punched out of the woman at that. "Wow, he knows astronomy and he's funny."
They say nothing.
"I also like talking to you at night." He sucked in a breath.
"Oh."
"Don't sound so surprised. Anyway, did you know that watching the moon next to someone is supposed to be a sort of soul bond?"
"Phew, I'm glad we're so far apart then, I can't imagine being stuck with anybody that makes puns that often."
"And I wouldn't want someone with no sense of humor with me."
They burst into laughter after a couple seconds.
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He sits in silence, pondering those moments. He tries to shake them from his mind but it's no use, they'll always be in the back of his mind.
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Day 78
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After everything they had gone through, Henry still wasn't satisfied. All of that effort just to realize that it was a dead kid in there, one that seemed to shatter the woman in the other tower. She seemed so distraught and there was nothing he could do. There was no magical solution to this, it was just the gritty reality of life, not some mystery novel. He was no detective, he was just a vulnerable man that tried to run away from his problems.
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One final call, about thirty minutes later.
"Dude-"
"Leave me the fuck alone, or I'll call the cops and bust your stupid party."
The kids shut up after that.
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Day 79
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"You're not here."
It stung, if he was being honest. He really had wanted to see her, even if it was both for the first and last time. What do you do when the person in your strongest memories doesn't have a face?
He made his discontent known, wary of making her upset.
"You really wanted me to stay," as if she was just realizing it for the first time.
"Yeah, I did."
That was the most memorable part of the last conversation they had.
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After about an hour, the phone rings again. He groans and reluctantly gets up, mentally preparing himself to finally stop these annoying-ass kids.
He picks up, "I said I would call the cops, fuckers."
"Woah, maybe you should check who's calling before yelling into the phone."
That voice. The voice that has lived somewhere inside his bones for the past year, filling everything under his skin. A voice he had heard a thousand times and ever since he's been alone again had prayed to hear a thousand times more. The voice tied to so many memories, as terrifying as some were, within the craziest few months of his life. A voice like the sunrise over the mountains, a promise for more beauty to come, a comfort.
...
"Delilah?"
"Hi, Hank. Did you miss me?"
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