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It was all wrong. Somehow, everything had been thrown out of loop, and chaos had emerged, though only for him, it seemed. The Captain was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, where all the ghosts, Alison and Mike had now gathered. Apparently, Mike had been trying to cook something, prompting Alison to intervene, thus attracting the attention of the ghostly occupants of the house. It was normal for them all to get side-tracked, even if it made the Captain uneasy to have his routine, metaphorically knocked out of his hands and taken from his control. He’d put up with it.
Julian noticed something wasn’t right. Of course he did, after all, he’s been keeping track of the Captain for a long time, especially once he realised he was genuinely attracted to him in a way he never seemed to be attracted to anyone else before. Of course, he’d never make it obvious (though he had noticed Robin giving him a few looks here and there) as that would scare the Captain away: the last thing he wants.
He’d obviously followed all the ghosts to the kitchen, where Alison was trying to help Mike with… whatever he was trying to make- until he was standing in the kitchen, noticing a missing ghost. A very important one, at that. When he turned around to check for the missing man, he found him standing awkwardly down the hallway, swagger stick clutched in front of his legs, shifting his weight slightly. Now that just wouldn’t do.
Long strides approached the Captain, the satisfying tapping sound of familiar shoes on the floor stopping a few steps away from him. He was grateful for the distance put between them, as he was quite disorientated at the moment and any unwanted or unexpected contact would not be appreciated. He shifted his weight again, knowing he was being looked at.
“You alright?”
The Captain looked up at the voice: Julian, wondering why he’d care for a bit too long when he noticed he hadn’t actually answered yet. “Yes. Quite so.” Came his convincing reply in a slightly wobbly and quieter voice than usual. He could tell Julian didn’t believe him, though he decided not to mention it.
Julian stared at the Captain for a bit longer, noticing him wringing his hands on his swagger stick, shifting his weight from foot to foot, rocking on his toes slightly, avoiding his eyes- though his gaze wasn’t too far off (staring at his nose or cheeks if he had to guess). He didn’t mention any of this to the obviously distressed man in front of him, opting to walk past him and into the living room instead, “Alright then. Might as well have a sit-down, ay? Since nothing particularly saucy was happening in there, that being said, there was definitely a lot of sauce from god knows what Mike was tryna’ make.”
The Captain followed Julian into the living room, watching as he slumped comfortably on the settee. He stood behind where Julian sat, looking around the room and bouncing on his toes slightly, unsure of whether he did want to sit down or not. It’s a stupid question when you think about it, why wouldn’t you want to sit down? Nothing’s going to happen, if anything, it’ll be nicer on a comfy sofa, so why was it a question to begin with? But here’s the thing, the Captain’s always had these sorts of “stupid” questions running through his head a lot of the time, with no real answer to any of them, apart from just “because”.
“You gonna join me or just stand there watching? Quite comfy here actually, might have a kip here sometime.” Came Julian’s voice from the couch. “N-no. I think I might just stand here for a little while longer. If you don't mind.” The Captain nervously replied and even a little defensively. Julian turned slightly to face him, only to hum and look away again. “Sure, hardly makes a difference to me.” He said before his head rolled back slightly, crossing his arms and closing his eyes, clearly deciding now was the time to take his nap.
The Captain watched him, watched as his chest rose and fell softly, looking as relaxed as can be, before looking away lest the man caught him staring. He didn’t really feel like sitting down yet, but the dull ache in his knees that still occurred, even through death, started becoming more prominent. Making up his mind, the Captain slowly moved in front of the sofa and sat down, leaving a gap between him and Julian. The added presence of the Captain next to Julian prompted him to open his eyes to look at the man, making sure he was alright, before turning to the TV. They sat there in comfortable silence, while the Captain gathered his thoughts.
A strange, forced, quiet noise came from beside the Captain, prompting him to look at Julian, only to see him attempting to push a button on the remote. He was about to ask what he was doing (although in hindsight, that would have been an obvious question) when he heard a noise coming from the TV. He winced slightly and shut his eyes at the noise then noticed how it immediately went quieter. Opening his eyes, he caught Julian turning the noise down for him, then resuming to press the other buttons, switching through the channels before he finally landed on a war documentary. The Captain straightened his back, now paying complete attention to the tanks being fired and talked bout in front of him.
“Ah-ha! I knew there would be something on for you.” Julian realised that made it sound like he knew the TV schedule for when there was something on for the Captain, and you’d be right. It wasn’t an obsession or anything, he just knew it would come in handy at some point and would make the man happy. As it happens, the Captain’s eyes are glued to the screen, actively watching the tanks and weaponry, listening to the facts being presented.
The Captain perked up, “Ah! Now that is a Browning Automatic Rifle that was issued to the Home Guard units.” Julian turned to him and hummed in interest. The Captain had a small, satisfied smile hidden under his moustache, pleased he was able to share some information on his favourite subject. He still had his hands fidgeting with his swagger stick that he held horizontally across his lap, partly in self-consciousness, partly in excitement. His smile never faltered as he watched the documentary, unknowing of Julian’s awareness of his enjoyment.
Attempting to keep his eyes fixed on the screen in front of him, Julian shifted slightly, if only to be able to get a better view of the screen and the captain, while remaining as casual as possible. This movement, of course, did not go unnoticed by the Captain (who Julian guesses was not as focused on the documentary as he thought). “Oh, uh, everything alright, Julian?” Julian looked to the Captain to see him make eye contact for a second, before looking around Julian’s face, and shifting uncomfortably. “Yeah, yeah, you carry on watching that.” He decided was a great reply, “A-are you sure? You can leave now if you’d like.” The Captain shifted, his hands messing again. He noticed Julian watching him and stopped immediately, even more self-conscious and aware now that he’d been caught. Julian frowned at this. He replaced his frown quickly with a neutral face, as though he wasn’t disappointed at all, “Nah, sat down now, aren’t I? You do whatever.” He said, stretching slightly and slouching more into his seat, ever so slightly closer to the other man beside him. The Captain didn’t seem very convinced but returned to the screen anyways, deciding not to question any further lest the man actually decides to leave him. They watched the show in peace, both returning to be quite invested in the programme. After another few minutes, the Captain’s voice spoke up again: “Ah, now you see, those tanks tended to backfire occasionally…”, and Julian listened. “Now, they were very clever machines!” He announced again, continuously chirping with new information and facts, now unbothered if Julian was even listening or not, but one look at the man beside him struck something in him.
Julian was staring at him. Not a stare of judgement as he would’ve expected, no. Julian was staring at him like he’d hung the stars himself, like he’d created everything in existence and didn’t take the credit.
The Captain paused. His talking slowed, getting quieter until it reached a halt, staring back at Julian with wide eyes and flushed cheeks. Julian had got closer, had he not? His arm, previously resting on the arm of the sofa beside him, now lay in his lap as his body was turned fully to face the Captain, and his other arm slung round the back of the sofa, almost around the Captain’s shoulders. Julian seemed to realise that the Captain had stopped talking, but instead of backing away and continuing watching the programme, his smile only grew softer as he stared at the man beside him for a few more moments making the Captain shift under his gaze slightly, and relaxed again into the sofa and yawned. Only then did the Captain realise the time.
Looking to the windows, he was met with a dark sky, stars dotted around the dark expanse. The realisation made the Captain yawn, and his eyes droop. It was definitely, if not past, his usual bedtime, and his tiredness was catching up to him as his excitement and enthusiasm wore down.
They continued watching the documentary for a few minutes longer until Julian felt a weight on his shoulder. He froze momentarily before peering down at the added weight, and sure enough, there the Captain lay, fast asleep against his side. He huffed in amusement, another smile spreading across his face, realising that it was most certainly past his scheduled bedtime and his body shut off before he could get up to go to his room.
If Julian were a better person, he’d probably realise how the Captain would almost certainly hate him when he woke up in the morning, and how it was unseemly for this kind of behaviour to go on while he was unaware. But Julian wasn’t that good person, now was he? And if he’d been reading the Captain’s looks wrong, then sure, that was his fault, but could you blame him when the man had opened up to him and talked to him non-stop without a care in the world that night?
So no, instead of being that good person that would remove the man from his side and head up to his own bed, Julian simply settled into the corner of the sofa and manoeuvred the Captain so he lay with his head on his lap, the Captain’s arms automatically coming up to rest against his own chest and one raised by the head to lay on Julian’s leg. Julian sighed contently, reaching his hand to the Captain’s head, threading his fingers through close-cropped hair a couple of times, before leaving it to rest there lightly.
And if he pressed a soft, lingering kiss to the man’s head before drifting off into his own sleep, that was his business now, wasn’t it?