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There was a knock on the back door and Max trundled over to see who it was. He wasn’t barking so that meant it was someone he knew. Herc followed, shuffling in his bare feet with a mug of coffee in his hand. It was Saturday so it was more than likely…oh yes it was, dearest Raleigh. “Morning,” Herc sighed letting him in.
“Hi Mr. Hansen,” Raleigh answered as always and was still just as surprised he was allowed inside the house as he was the first time. “Hey Max!”
Herc tried not to take it personally that the dog got a more energetic greeting. “Charlie!” he called towards the stairs and went back to the stove and the eggs he was making. “Did you eat Raleigh?”
Raleigh paused in scratching Max’s wrinkles and looked up at Herc’s back. Ugh, he was hungry and whatever was going on over there smelled good…but he didn’t want to look like a street urchin. Luckily before he had to answer out loud Chuck appeared.
“Hey, you’re early.” Charlie said and they fell into their little secret language.
Herc half watched their interaction while tending his frying pan. Thank god Chuck had never completely embraced Raleigh’s strange clothing habits. As the two specimens stood before him in the kitchen Herc had a good chance to study their differences in taste.
They really were polar opposites. Not physically; both were getting tall and lanky. Chuck was more muscular due to his sports but they were almost the same height now. Raleigh was a little older and had shot up sooner, but his Charlie had caught up- hell they were both almost as tall as he was!
Their coloring was similar, fair and pale. Raleigh’s sickly complexion was carefully maintained with makeup and avoidance of the sun. Chuck had the nice healthy flush of a boy who played soccer and lacrosse in the summer, and the spray of freckles across his nose made him a Hansen.
Time spent in the sun was just the beginning of their divergent palates. Of course the brightly dyed hair that was Raleigh’s trade mark was the first glaringly obvious one. Chuck had been straight up banned from following that bad example, Herc made sure of that right at the get go. Not in his house.
Raleigh always wore dark colors- mostly black. The main staple of his wardrobe were band t-shirts or that’s what Herc assumed they were- they just looked like bad acid trips to him. His pants were always way too tight, obscene even, to the point where they must be uncomfortable to wear.
Chuck had picked up that particular look, as demonstrated now as he stood making toast in a pair of inappropriately tight jeans. Herc gave him a disapproving look which his son ignored, then had to give Raleigh a death glare when he caught him eyeing Chuck’s shapely ass. At least the little pervert had the decency to go scarlet and hang his head. Good.
But Chuck’s pants were the only complaint. He was wearing a ratty old Man U shirt he had owned since primary school layered by an even older soft flannel shirt that had clearly been pilfered from his Uncle’s wardrobe. Also ‘borrowed’ from Uncle Scott were a pair of still slightly too big combat boots, which when paired with those indecent jeans, made Charlie’s legs look even longer then they naturally were.
While Raleigh preferred either straight up black or neon retina destroying colors (there was no in between evidently), Charlie stayed in neutrals and earth tones. The only vivid colors he sported were on his nails, which could be any color of the rainbow- sometimes literally rainbow. Painting his nails was Chuck’s version of Raleigh’s dye jobs, and since it wasn’t at all permeant (as evidenced by the sometimes daily changes in hues) Herc allowed it to continue. If that was the most ‘quirky’ thing he did then Herc could definitely live with that.
He wasn’t wild about the whole makeup thing, but so far Chuck only wore it on special occasions, maybe he was his mother’s son after all. Raleigh never seemed to go out without his raccoon eyes. Today they were particularly…dark.
Over all they were a well matched pair, light and dark, chaos and calm. Herc put his plate on the table and smiled at the two of them fussing over Max. Chuck had a piece of toast between his teeth and Raleigh snatched it away while he was distracted and took a bite from it.
“Hey!” Chuck protested.
“We’re gonna be late!” Raleigh whined, finishing off the toast.
Chuck rolled his eyes, “No we’re not calm down,” Ugh. He was still hungry- no thanks to Raleigh.
Herc saw him eyeing his eggs. “Hands off baby doll.”
Chuck started the pout face he had most certainly learned from Scott. Raleigh leaned his chin on Charlie’s shoulder and also pouted.
“Hey none of that, I offered you some,” Herc pointed his fork at Raleigh. A high pitched whining sound began emanating from one of them. Max barked. “You are upsetting my dog.”
“My dog.” Chuck corrected smirking. Herc waved his fork at him in a gesture of ‘whatever’ and smiled.
“Charlieeeee…” Raleigh moaned.
Chuck glared at him and sighed, “Okay let’s go.” He grabbed his decrepit old baseball hat and pulled it on over his red gold hair. “Bye Dad,” he said as he skimmed a bit of egg off Herc’s plate.
“Bye kids,” Herc patted Chuck’s leg as he kept moving past towards the door. As Raleigh drew even with him he looked up and smiled, “Make good decisions.” The boy’s blue eyes widened in surprise and some color made it to those sickly cheeks as his hand came up and subconsciously touched the piercing in his ear.
Mhm. That’s right little boy, last times little transgression did not go unnoticed. Herc continued to smile to himself, even after poor spooked Raleigh made his escape and the boys were off doing god- knew- what for the day. He had made his point.
They were good boys really, even for all their weird fashion….idiosyncrasies. Clearly he was too old had no sense of ‘haute couture’; or so Chuck told him all the time.