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darryl was confused. it wasn’t because of the fact that paeden was practically his father, or the fact that that may have been the weirdest game of football he’d ever played, or even how his beloved van had disappeared into thin air.
all of that was confusing, sure, but it was all nothing compared to the confusion he felt every time henry was around. the group had been on this adventure for god knows how long, yet the pair had never talked about the multiple times that they’d kissed. darryl hadn’t kissed anyone besides carol. and her sister, of course. regrettably. darryl loved carol, so, so much.
so why did kissing henry feel so good?
the first time they kissed had been a moment of pure shock for darryl. the moment was one of unplanned thinking, startling the coach speechless. even though he was the one who had kissed henry the second time, darryl couldn’t get over the fact that they both felt right, but he knew well enough that it was wrong. a married man doesn’t simply kiss someone other than his spouse and enjoy it.
darryl paled. did this count as cheating?
no, no, of course not. carol wanted a divorce, and henry had an open relationship. of course not. right? it wasn’t that bad.
despite henry being the one who had kissed darryl the first time, the barbarian had initiated the second one when henry had gotten high off the flowers in that field back when they had first found nick. he had to convince the cursed druid that he, in fact, was not trying to kill henry. the words he said right before kissing henry had plagued his mind for ages - “if i’d poisoned you, would i do this?”
fucking hell.
darryl didn’t know what to do.
the dads had stopped at a nearby tavern soon after the supper bowl, choosing to rest before continuing their journey. glenn, ron, and henry were at the bar, talking amongst themselves, grant at glenn’s side. the only people not there were darryl and paeden, who sat just outside the tavern. darryl didn’t exactly know what to think, or what to do about a nything , and paeden seemed to be one of the only people who realized that (which shocked darryl, considering he’s literally eight years old).
“paeden? darryl? are you out here?” the sound of the geologist’s familiar chirpy (perky, peppy, chipper, cheery) voice filled darryl’s ears, and the two leaned against the wall shifted their attention to henry, who walked out of the tavern. he looked a bit concerned, but the tension in his body quickly loosened when he realized that the two were safe. “okay, phew. paeden, you and grant are being sent up to bed for the night.”
paeden quickly protested the idea of sleep, bickering with henry for a few moments, before finally giving up when his punch to the geologist completely missed. flustered with embarrassment and rage, the eye of the tiger stomped back inside.
which meant darryl and henry were alone.
darryl hadn’t been more scared in his entire life. henry moved to lean up against the wall where paeden once was, only this time, he was leaning on his shoulder, on his side facing the barbarian. darryl was facing forwards, arms crossed, and kept his gaze out on the horizon. he could feel henry’s eyes on him, watching him, and he didn’t know what to think of it. it was silent for a long time, one that felt like eons stacked against each other (it was less than a minute).
“have you been feeling okay lately, darryl?” henry’s voice broke the silence, and darryl finally turned his attention over to the druid. he eyed the man next to him, taking in his shaggy blond hair, his green eyes, his chunky glasses, and the small freckles dotting his cheeks. henry had on that tiny, little smile that flustered darryl just by itself.
“oh, yeah. i’m great, better than ever. just peachy.” darryl forced himself to pull his eyes away, staring back out at that horizon line. everything had suddenly just… changed, especially ever since they simply arrived in the forgotten realms. first off, his child, along with everyone else’s, had been abducted, he found out his wife was cheating on him, he met a dragon, saw himself from the future (?? what the hell was that???), and then on top of all of that, was him and henry’s… situation.
“i mean, you know i’m here for you, right? if there’s something bothering you, feel free to tell me.” darryl could hear how henry shifted, his back pressed against the wall, similar to how the coach stood. he could also hear his own heart, how it beat rapidly in his chest, and he could hear henry breathing, how gentle it was in darryl’s ears.
“no, i know. it’s just…” the words darryl wanted to say were stuck on his tongue, and he so desperately wanted to let them out. everytime the words fell to his lips, his mind held them back, and every wording was phrased wrong. there was a pause, and then: “i’ve just… been confused.”
that caught the geologist’s attention. henry let out a soft chirp of confusion, blinking behind his squarely framed glasses. “confused about what?”
another pause. this time it was longer, more strained.
“us.”
“us?” henry repeated. the question danced in the air, hanging between them like tension on a wire. “as in the group? what’s wrong with the group? did something happen between you and grant?”
“no, no. not… everyone,” darryl swallowed thickly. this conversation was bound to happen someday, yet darryl dreaded the entire thing already. “us, as in, like, me and you.”
“oh, did i do something wrong?” henry hadn’t seemed to catch on to what the us implied, and darryl rested his head back against the wall. he inhaled, remaining quiet for a long while as henry tried to process. the air was incredibly tense, and henry fell into the silence as the gears started to click in his head. darryl sucked on his teeth as a soft gasp slipped from the geologist at his side. “is this about the few times that we’ve kissed?”
darryl swallowed thickly, refusing to show any kind of overflowing emotion that would lead to henry pitying him. he hated that. “yeah.”
“oh,” henry fell to the silence again, staring out across the land as well as he processed. darryl could feel the way the space between them burned , each breath between them heavy and full of a fiery sense of understanding that words could never dare touch upon.
the feeling of henry’s smaller hand intertwining with darryl’s was the last thing that he expected. the barbarian’s breathing hitched at the contact, and he quickly whipped his head to look down (just a bit. henry was the smallest amount shorter, and he constantly complained about it, despite ron being the shortest in the group) at the geologist, taking note of the small pink dusting his cheeks in the warm light of the setting sun before them.
“henry, listen. if they didn’t mean anything, they didn’t mean anything,” darryl shrugged halfheartedly, letting his thumb graze gently against henry’s rough skin. “it’s not a big deal.”
“but it is a big deal, darryl!” henry’s voice was quiet, despite the thick emotions flowing through his tone. it was clear between the two of them that they didn’t want their conversation to drift into the bustling tavern. “this is something that’s clearly affected us, and i want to make it right.”
darryl was quiet for a long moment. he really hadn’t planned for this conversation, nor was he ready to confront the problem between them. it was so clear to everyone around them that something had happened with the two of them, yet that recognition was foggy to the pair at the source of the problem. darryl inhaled, before letting it go and meeting henry’s wide peridot gaze. “henry. we’re both married, and-”
“okay, listen. mercedes and i have an open relationship, and, truth be told, darryl,” henry sucked in a breath, hesitating before giving darryl’s hand a sympathetic squeeze. “carol is having an affair.”
“you don’t think i know that?” darryl seemed to snap. he could see the way henry flinched before him, the words slapping the druid across the face. he quickly let go of the blonde’s hand and moved away.
henry stumbled without the stability of darryl’s hold, bracing himself on the wall beside him. he spluttered for words, adjusting his glasses with apologies written all over his face. “darryl, c’mon, man-”
“drop it, henry.” darryl spun on his heels, and henry felt insanely weak as the taller stared him down, poise insanely tense. he clearly wasn’t angry, god forbid furious , but his eyes still held the weight of a man who didn’t know what he wanted. he wanted his current marriage to be happy, to last, to make life easier for grant, but he also wanted to feel the joy he felt when he was close to henry. he wanted to hold him in his arms, to kiss him whenever he wanted with no worries of what may happen. he wanted henry, and it was clear the feeling was mutual.
henry huffed, contemplating to himself before practically stomping over, and grabbing the collar of darryl’s shirt to bring him down into a bruising kiss.
all the tension within darryl’s bones seemed to thaw, and he instantly kissed the druid in return, his hands finding refuge around henry’s waist and to hold his face. henry tasted like the alcohol within the tavern. bittersweet, and worthwhile. henry’s arms shifted up from the barbarian’s shirt, wrapping tightly around darryl’s neck and pulling him close, breathing him in and holding him tight.
darryl suddenly didn’t care. he didn’t care about what carol was doing, he didn’t care about her and darnell and whatever she wanted. he didn’t care about the chances of being seen, and he didn’t care about how the sun had practically finalized its descent behind the horizon line.
they’d figure this out later. but for now, darryl simply tightened his grip gently, deepening the kiss outside the tavern.
everything else could come later.