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The droning noise of the overhead fan was the loudest noise in the room as Henry lay back on the couch, his feet propped up on the armrest, while Charles lay on the floor, his feet propped up on the coffee table. Their new home was coming together nicely, though there was still a hole in the wall from the government busting through it to tranquilize him for the airship mission, and there was some mold through the ceiling from the rain getting through the leak in the roof, but other than that, it was mostly fixed up. Henry was proud of their progress so far.
The peppy pilot had opened up a bottle of red wine for them as a tentative housewarming gift, and as the two agents got deeper into their glasses, their conversation took several turns, for better and for worse.
"It's nice, isn't it?"
Henry sat up just enough to take another sip. The wine was just a little too sweet for his taste, though a little too sour at the same time, and the raspberry aftertaste was too strong on the back of his tongue, but he liked it enough to keep drinking.
"Yeah." he smacked his lips, "What's this wine made of?"
"Purple grapes." Charles swirled the contents of his glass so it created a swirling pattern on the edges of the dark purple liquid, "And like, some other stuff in there too."
"Some other stuff", as if Henry's throat wasn't getting absolutely assaulted with raspberry aftertaste.
"Uh huh." he said instead, continuing to sip despite himself, "Charles, did you really join the army right out of highschool?"
His mind tended to wander a lot while drunk, and he smiled as Charles drunkenly giggled at his question.
"Ahh, sorry, I don't think your question is funny or anything, I jus'..." Charles giggled again, curling up a little and nearly spilling his wine, "Yeah, I did. It was th' day Rupert's Mama died."
"Oh." suddenly somber, Henry turned his head a little to face him, "What happened?"
"Car accident, I think?" Charles took another gulp of his drink, then hiccuped as he giggled again, "She pushed him out the way of a drunk driver and got totally smashed into the tire of a semi while they were crossing the street."
Henry's heart spiked, roiling with the wine in his stomach, "Oh god. That's horrible."
"It was." Charles blinked back tears as he hiccuped again, "Her face was okay, but part of her abdomen had been crushed to the thickness of a ballpoint pen. They still rushed her to th' hospital, but she didn' make it."
Henry would've been surprised if she had. He didn't know that about Rupert.
"I said goodbye t' Rupert then." Charles swirled his glass again, "Went off to the military before funeral arrangements had even been made. I had t' get outta there. My hometown is a total hick. I mean, it's jus' fulla hicks. I didn' feel welcome there anymore, after th' firs' Chad incident."
More wine went down. The drone of the fan began to irritate Henry as he got more drunk, but they couldn't turn it off because it was too hot outside and the AC units hadn't been installed yet.
"I didn' even finish highschool." Henry admitted quietly, "I think I said I did once, but it was a lie. I dropped out at sixteen."
"Huh?" Charles sat up a little, "Why?"
Henry looked away from his piercing gaze, suddenly self-conscious, "Because I hated it. Who wants to sit in an uncomfortable desk surrounded by douchebags being taught things I know are worthless anyway? My school had real bad funding, so to get more, they put students through the wringer to artificially inflate test scores. I was frequently pulled out of class for starting trouble because there was nothing to do, and I wasn't having fun. My homeroom teacher called me 'The Peanut Gallery' because I was the most annoying class clown."
Charles thought about that, finishing off his glass of wine and then pouring himself another. They both had to be sufficiently blitzed at this point, though Henry couldn't really feel the drunkenness over the sour raspberry tart stuck to his buzzing tongue.
"No, I know what ya mean. It's a reeeal bad atmosphere when even th' teachers don't care 'bout ya." Charles' head hit the rug below with a dull thud, "I'm shocked I managed to graduate, if I'm honest. Some awful decisions were made teachin' me. All I wanted t' do was fly a helicopter, but my teachers told me that was a stupid dream!"
He hiccuped again, and Henry reached over to refill his glass.
"Tell me some'in' else about ya, Henry." Charles' eyes were barely focusing now, getting dizzy as they traced the spinning fan blades.
"Hmm..." Henry drank slowly, savoring the taste, "I don't have an appendix."
"Oh, really?"
"Yep." Henry hiccuped, jostling the wine in his stomach and making him burp, "Had appendicitis at fifteen. Hurt like a motherfucker. I was bedridden for two days thanks to a horrible stomach ache, and then it felt like someone had stabbed me with a knife and twisted it. Onna my mom's brothers told her t' leave me like that, because he thought the pain was just a punishment from god. My mom told him where he could shove it and broke her old car driving me t' the hospital."
"Wow. Your mom being human for once." Charles said with deep sarcasm.
"She was a normal person, usually. She was just a little..." Henry brought his glass back to his lips, "...brainwashed."
"She was a lot brainwashed."
"Yeah."
Henry's stomach hurt at this point, so he forced himself to set his glass aside.
Charles caught the movement of Henry's hand moving to his abdomen, "You should eat something."
Henry nodded, "Can you help me stand up?"
"I can try, but don't expect stellar results."
Henry laughed as Charles rolled to his knees, then carefully stood up, just a little bit dizzy. He held a hand out for Henry to take, and his head was spinning as he stood up.
Shit, that was too much movement. Henry doubled over the mop bucket to throw up into it, that dreaded raspberry aftertaste coming up with it. It came up real easy, and it was near painless, the only noise he made being a slight choking sound as his stomach contracted accompanying the splashing in the bucket, so when he was done throwing up, Henry just started laughing.
"Ah. Too late." Henry spit into the bucket, "Fuck."
"You okay?"
"Yeah, f-fine." Henry laughed again, "Mmm, throwing up while drunk is kind of fun. It's just like, hey, there it is again."
Charles snorted, "You're super drunk."
"I'm very drunk." Henry agreed, wiping his mouth on his sleeve, still giggling.
Charles helped him stand up, and he swayed as the blood drained out of his head. It kick started his heart so it was pounding against his chest, though it felt a little weaker than normal, bringing feeling back into his fingers and toes and dispelling the static from his vision.
"We miiight have gone a little overboard today." Charles put Henry's hand on the kitchen counter to steady him and then he filled a glass with water at the fridge, "Here. Drink this."
He held it for Henry as he wrapped trembling fingers around the glass and brought the rim steadily to his mouth. The cold water was refreshing, a palate cleanser of sorts as it helped to wash away the burning vomit and sour raspberry aftertaste of the wine.
It also helped settle his stomach, diluting the rest of the alcohol he hadn't managed to throw up.
"There you go." Charles set the empty glass aside, patting Henry's cheek as his eyes slipped closed, "Better?"
"Yeah..." Henry blinked at him as his hand left his cheek.
"Here, eat some of these." Charles pulled a partially-eaten bag of saltine crackers from the kitchen cupboard, "They'll help too."
Henry wasn't seeing straight anymore, but he still managed to get his head to fall against Charles' shoulder, "I loooove you, Charlllles."
Charles held him up with an arm snaking around his back, "Mm, love you too, Henry."
"I love you soooooo much!"
"I love you too."
Henry tried to duck in for a kiss, but Charles dodged.
"Ew! Vomit breath!"
"I loooooooove you!"
"Go brush your teeth, then! You smell like a gross drunkard!"
And Charles didn't? Henry obeyed though, keeping balance on Charles' shoulder as he helped lead him to the bathroom, and when he was done in there, he led him back to the couch to lay down.
He was going to stand up again, but Henry caught the hem of Charles' green bomber jacket before he could go.
"Charles, staaaaaaay!"
"Alright, alright! Quit your whinin', I'm right here."
Henry pulled him into a kiss, and Charles didn't resist this time. Henry shivered at the lingering taste of the wine in Charles' mouth as he pressed his tongue in, seeking more contact. Charles' hands were warm as they came down to hold him, one supporting him between both shoulder blades while the other threaded through his hair. He could feel the flush of his cheeks as he kissed Charles through his drunken haze, continuing to giggle as both of them warmed up hotter and hotter pressed up against each other.
"Mmm...!" Henry pushed Charles to break the kiss, breath practically steaming in the air, "Too hot."
"You're too hot?" Charles slid his hand up to support his head, "But you wanna keep kissing?"
Henry nodded, "Mhm."
Charles carefully helped him out of his hoodie. It was covered in a sheen of sweat on the inside, and Charles got a good whiff of the spray-on deodorant Henry always insisted on wearing too thick. Now down to his white t-shirt, Henry huffed out a breath of relief, his skin red and sticky with sweat. He looked absolutely disheveled, and Charles couldn't help but lean over him to trail kisses up his neck, his tongue coming out to taste the sweat on his skin.
"Mmm..." Henry's hands went up Charles' sides to hold him there, his drunkenness making him a little sloppier than usual, "Aaah, that's good. Mm. Keep doing that."
Henry was warm inside and out, stomach settling pleasantly as his mind floated off, drunk on both the alcohol and on Charles' mouth. He continued leaving kisses up Henry's neck until he'd relaxed back into the cushions, then came back up to kiss his lips.
Henry gently pushed Charles' jacket off his body until he relented and sat up to discard it, exposing muscular arms in his white tank top. Charles was flushed too, a deep uneven flush that disappeared under his headphones. Henry reached up to hold them, and Charles' breath hitched as he lifted them away.
His hair was already mostly down, so Henry ran his fingers through Charles' big curls, humming happily, only slightly catching on the tiny gem earrings in each of Charles' ears.
"You little gremlin." Charles murmured against his mouth, keening as Henry grazed his ears again, "You do that on purpose!"
"I dunno what you're talkin' 'bout." Henry murmured back, as innocently as he could manage, "You meeean...this?"
He dragged his fingertips up the outer curve of Charles' ears, and he went rigid, gasping and then letting that breath out in a shaking exhale.
Charles' arms wobbled, and Henry braced against his shoulders, prepared to catch him. He didn't fall, so Henry went in again, grazing just light enough to tickle.
When Charles bucked up, as if in pain, Henry took his cheek in one hand, "Do you want me to stop?"
Charles' forehead rested against his as he caught his breath, "I'm fine, just...be careful."
Henry sat up a little to leave a kiss on Charles' ear, and he flushed hotter.
"Ugh-!" Charles pushed him back down, "You're a real handful, you know that?"
"Yeah, I know." Henry waggled his eyebrows obnoxiously, "You love me for it."
Charles sighed, "Yeah...I do."
Henry's arms tugged at the back of his neck, "Kiss, please?"
Charles relented with a little eyeroll. Henry couldn't help himself sometimes, flustering Charles was just too much fun!
During the kiss, Henry would gently brush Charles' ears again, just to hear him give a startled moan into his mouth. He loved it. He drank up those moans like oxygen, high on the kiss as his mind bubbled pleasantly, fizzing with his drowsiness.
By the forth or fifth time he did this, Charles finally retaliated, grabbing Henry's legs to hoist them up on either side of him so they were spread in the air, with Charles' torso between them.
Henry yelped, realized the position he was in, and then flushed hot, this time with embarrassment.
Charles' grin was wide and toothy, "Gotcha."
Henry crossed his arms, shooting him a sweet little drunken pout that absolutely melted his heart before leaning forward again to bite Charles' ear, which nearly made him fall forward onto him.
He cried out as he caught himself on the couch with trembling arms, and Henry chuckled lowly directly into his sensitive ear.
Oh, it's on!
The kiss grew increasingly sloppy as they grabbed at each other, rubbing skin against skin and tugging at clothes as they lightly groped whatever they could reach hoping to fluster the other. Henry would bite Charles, and Charles would bite Henry, leaving a trail of dark marks in their wake across the other's skin, biting neck and chest and shoulder in an effort to make the other quake.
By the time they'd settled down, the sun was casting long orange beams through the big picture window and glass door leading out to the backyard, and the two had sobered up a little bit. Their lips were bitten to high heaven, a mess of red down to their twisted shirts wherever skin was exposed.
Charles helped Henry sit up, eyelashes fluttering as his eyes refocused on the sight before him, "You alright?"
Henry shuddered with a swallow, "Too sober." he reached for the wine.
"Ah ah-!" Charles snatched the wine bottle away, "I think we've both had enough to drink."
"Aw, come ooon! The bottle is almost emptyyy!" Henry noted that there was only maybe one glass's worth left at the bottom, "Pretty pleeease?"
"Uuuggghhh..." Charles ran a hand through his hair, "Fine, but no more, and you have to eat some and drink water."
"Fine by me."
Charles filled up both glasses a little less than halfway, just enough to drain the last of the wine from the bottom of the bottle.
They clinked their glasses and then drank all the rest.
Henry enjoyed the silence as he munched on the crackers, finally able to turn the fan off now that it was cooling down outside. It was a gorgeous sunset to watch from the window, and he was just admiring the stars popping into view when he drifted off, lulled into a very slow but peaceful doze.
When Henry's eyes blinked open, it was to the sweltering heat seeping in through the hole in the wall, an awful taste in his mouth as he drooled all over the couch cushion. He scrubbed the dried saliva from his chin, groaning as sharp pain exploded behind his eyes.
He spotted Charles on the floor, right where he'd been laying last he saw him, and he reached a hand out to grab his calf.
"Charles, wake up!"
Charles choked on a snore as his eyes stubbornly opened, and he yawned as he stretched all the way out, exposing his stomach under his tank top.
"Charlllles!" Henry made his best pleading doll face, "Can you pretty please get me an aspirin?"
"Aww..." Charles groggily sat up to kiss his forehead, "You hungover, baby?"
Henry grabbed his shirt in a tight fist, groaning in annoyance, "Preeetty pleeeease get me an aspirin, Charliiiie...?"
"Alright alright, stay there. I'll be right back."
Henry groaned in pain this time, trying to shift to a comfortable position but being utterly unable to. At least he threw up last night while he was still drunk, and not now, when it would have been more painful than usual.
Charles returned with an open palm and a glass of water, and he helped Henry sit up to take the little white pills.
"Good thing you ate some and drank water last night." Charles said in good humor, "Or that headache would be a lot worse right about now."
That was true. Henry drained the rest of the glass before Charles carried him to bed, then he microwaved a little heating pad to soothe Henry's headache.
Henry smirked seeing it, "Old trick?"
Charles laughed, rubbing his neck bashfully, "I doubt anyone who has had periods doesn't know the wonders of microwavable heating pads."
Henry pressed the grainy pad to his head where it hurt the most, and the pain did begin to ease. Charles lay next to him, limbs spread out like a starfish, and Henry enjoyed his company while he nursed his headache.
"Charles?"
"Mhm?" Charles hummed cheerfully.
Henry turned towards Charles, still holding the hot pad against his throbbing headache, "Tell me what you were like as a kid."
Charles huffed, shooting Henry a wink, "Pretty much what I'm like now. I was curious, optimistic, creative, a total nuisance. No sense of self preservation. Doing dangerous shit just for the thrill of it. I lost a little bit of wind in my sails after I started feeling dysphoric, but Rupert coaxed the adventurousness outta me before long."
Henry huffed. Yeah, no surprises there.
"I just wanted to be everywhere at once. I wanted to touch everything. I wanted to explore everything. I was a wild cat who couldn't be tamed. I wasn't gonna stop until I hit the stars."
Charles reached an arm up, miming a firm grasp like he was plucking a star from the night sky, then he brought it back in towards his chest, cradling it like a dream.
"Sooo..." Charles turned his head to look at Henry, "What were you like as a kid?"
His voice was somber, his face reflecting a sober seriousness that pierced all the way to Henry's soul. It was clear he knew that the question he'd asked was a heavy one, knowing at least some of Henry's history as an abuse victim, though he didn't know every traumatic detail.
Henry considered this to be a new chapter in his life; Completely detached from his history. He was living in his happy ending.
He liked when Charles fussed over him, though. He could certainly use a little comfort in light of his new hangover.
Henry scooted a little closer, lying on top of the heating pad as he turned onto his side to nuzzle against Charles' shoulder.
"I, mm...I was a pretty sad kid." Henry said softly, "I was mostly normal at first, but then the incident with Gremlin fucked me up really badly. I started picking at my skin to make it bleed, I was always sick from starvation and then from blood loss when I started to cut."
Charles reached for Henry's hand, rubbing his thumb into the back of it. He didn't interrupt.
"I still remember the first thing I stole; It was a dollar bill from my mom's stash. I bought a candy bar with it, then I went back and stole another one. I had to be clever, because if my mom found my coin stash, she'd use it to buy booze, so I found increasingly creative ways to hide it. Sometimes I'd steal those little coin rolls full of pennies and hide one penny in each hiding spot. It drove her crazy, but she couldn't just punish me for it or she'd have to admit she'd been stealing from me. It was onna those little ways I rebelled against her control of me."
"Haha! You really were a gremlin even from birth!"
Henry huffed, squeezing Charles' hand, and Charles snickered, curling into a ball as he leaned into Henry, snuggling in against his forehead.
"Mmm, I really like how you seemed to recognize that she was doing something wrong, even if you couldn't put words to it."
"Wait, you're proud of me for stealing from my mom!?"
"Well...yeah. Kinda." Charles nudged Henry with his knee, "I don't like that you had to resort to that, but Janice made your life a living hell, so the fact that you could push her buttons without getting punished is at least one thing you had that wasn't awful."
Henry brought Charles' hand to his mouth to give it a kiss, "You always were weirdly into my heists."
"Nooo!" Charles gave him a playful smack, "I don't condone theft! I just think it's like...l-like you know how people like true crime podcasts? I think the concept is cool! The thrill of the chase, the goal just beyond your reach-!"
"You don't have to justify yourself to me, dumbass." Henry lifted his head slightly to kiss Charles' cheek, "I get it. It's just so funny! Who knew the goody two shoes army boy with a bunch of government accolades would get so excited to hear about how the famous Henry Stickmin stole a diamond worth a hundred and twelve million dollars?"
"I thought it was cooool!" Charles whined, "It was just so impressive! Like, how in the world did you do it!? It was so clean-!"
"Uh, yeah, I know, I'm the one who did it." Henry threw his arm over Charles, leg kicking out to tangle between his, "I'd invite you out on a heist myself, buuut..."
"Henry." Charles said seriously, tapping his nose with one finger, "No. You know you'd lose your pardon if you went rogue."
"I didn't say we'd have to steal anything important for real." Henry dragged his own finger across Charles' forehead, "Picture this; The new recruits are bored. They need practice in tracking down criminals and performing arrests. The veterans are there to help them out. We split into teams. Cops and robbers. They have to guard something big, something difficult to steal, and it's our job to steal it and make our getaway."
Charles' eyes widened, and then his heart skipped as Henry stroked his cheek, which warmed under his touch.
Henry got really close to Charles' ear, whispering so goosebumps prickled across his neck.
"Doesn't that sound fun?" Henry licked the ear, making Charles squeak, "Doesn't that sound like a good time? It's a game, a LARP. It's not real, but it feels the same. We can even give them non-lethal weapons, in case they have to shoot."
Charles sucked in a breath, licking his lips with a shiver, "Fuck."
Henry got close enough that a lip grazed the sensitive curve of his outer ear, "Made you swear."
Charles grabbed Henry's shirt in both tight fists to urge him back, and Henry grinned triumphantly at Charles' embarrassed, flustered face.
Charles glared at him through his blush, "Gremlin."
Henry stuck his tongue out before kissing Charles' lips, "You love me."
Charles rolled his eyes as Henry batted his eyelashes at him, "Yeah, I do. That's why I continue to put up with you."
Henry pulled him in for another kiss, "I know. I love you too."
"Mmm..." Charles hummed into the kiss, then smiled enough to break it, "You really are a thief, huh? That's how you stole my heart."
Henry's spine turned to jelly hearing that. Charles didn't like him despite his thievery; He admired him for it. For his stealth, his skill, his flexibility and his cunning and wit.
Henry reached around Charles' body to grope his ass, sliding his hands into his back pockets, and Charles yelped with a deep shudder, clumsily lunging forward for another kiss.
Henry murmured into his mouth, "You're mine."
Charles melted into the embrace, into the kiss, "I'm yours."
This kiss was much softer than the one from last night, definitely sobered. More coordinated. Henry felt comfy and warm, each little press of an individual kiss against his mouth and cheek so soft and perfect, sweet like chocolate against his tongue. Charles was just so soft and cute, a little golden boy with a mischievous streak.
Fuck. Henry loved this man so damn much.
When they eventually broke for air, Charles' minty morning breath hit Henry's face, and he giggled, really savoring the moment, wishing it could last forever, hoping for many more moments just like this one for as long as physically possible.
He felt a cheeky smirk tug at his lips as he asked, "Any chance you got more'a that wine?"
Charles smacked his ass hard, and he laughed until he couldn't breathe.