i guess i'm writing fanfiction for harvey beaks now, i guess this is just what my life has become
here's a healthy dose of "unnecessarily dissecting nickelodeon characters and also projecting onto them to no end". its gonna be multi-chapter cause i feel it's a little too long for a one shot
also special thanks to Darkwingsnark on Tumblr who inspired this fic in the first place!
enjoy
One knock, no answer. Another knock- this time, more impatient, more fervent.
It was approaching the later hours of afternoon and the shadows began to get longer with every passing minute. Orange light cast itself against the harsh silhouettes of pine trees.
Dade's smile wore thin as he raised his fist to the door a third time, only to be met with the knob jiggling erratically. Moff peered out, his top hat and goggles slightly displaced. He held a baseball bat in one hand defensively.
"Can I help you?" The offer rolled off his tongue as sharp.
"Sorry to interrupt your, uh, daily routine, Mr. Moff sir," Dade said. "Is Harvey here? His mom mentioned something about you babysitting today."
"Harvey?" Moff asked with a sneer. A slight look of familiarity crossed his face. Wearily, he placed the bat down against the door frame. "Oh, you mean Irving's boy? Yeah, the kid ran off with his little gremlin friends about a half-hour ago. Can't tell you where they went because I didn't care enough to ask."
Dade glowered. "Rats! I just got this new board-game in the mail- Chutes and Ladders and also Jesus™ - and Harvey agreed to be the first person to play with me! He's gonna be impossible to track down now that those heathens are dragging him all over the place."
"Fascinating dilemma you have on your hands," Moff droned. He crossed his arms and leaned against the door stubbornly. "Now, run along now. Don't touch any of my antiques on your way out."
Antiques? Dade had merely assumed all the clutter in his yard was just a load of garbage being prepared for the dump. Regardless, he complied with Moff's commands and paced down the steps. He started towards an opening in the woods when he heard a muffled cough.
"Hey... hold on a minute."
Curious, Dade swerved around. He was greeted with the sight of Moff nervously toying with one of the ends of his mustache.
"Say... I've been wondering..." he started uncertainly. "Is there... something with you and him?"
"Excuse me?" Him and Harvey? Something with them?
"Not to stick my antennas where they don't belong or anything, but whenever I go into town, I always see you glued to that bulbous-headed kid. I'm at the library, picking up my neo-Victorian novels? You're there too, reading books along with him. I head to the beach to get my annual 45 minutes of sunlight, you two are there sharing ice-cream with each other. And now look at you!" Moff gestured to him for emphasis. "You're at my door for the eleventh time this month, checking in and seeing if the boy is at my residence."
Dade stood there speechless for a second. He wasn't sure he had heard it right.
"Well, of course! Harvey and I are friends, the BEST of friends, why wouldn't we be hanging out constantly? I-I mean, that's what buds do 24/7, right?" Dade hesitated for a moment. "You haven't been talking to Mikey, have you?"
Moff raised an eyebrow. "Best friends, you say? You don't... LIKE the boy, do you?"
"L-like him?" Dade repeated. His cheeks burning at what he could only deem were accusations. Blatant character defamation. "What are you trying to say?"
This response seemed to kill his interest. Moff took a step back and gripped the door, wanting to put an end to the conversation immediately. The front door began to close.
"Nothing, never-mind, get off my property, bye-bye now-" Dade jammed his foot in before it was able to shut completely.
"W-w-wait, why do you want to know? Not that I'm saying there's anything... a-anything there...!" Dade wasn't sure why this talk was making his insides feel like Jello.
The door creaked open a bit as Moff bent down to his level. Dade recoiled. From the close proximity, the man reeked of mothballs and grease... not the most pleasant combination. Dusting aside a pile of dirt on his porch, he retrieved a small, grimy gear and thumbed it (almost... affectionately?) as he spoke.
"My boy, life can sometimes present you... opportunities... Opportunities in which you may be afraid to take!"
His face contorted into an unreadable expression. "If you're too afraid to even try, you'll never know if they'll work out for you in the end, and instead of living a happy life filled with the company of loved ones, you replace people with gears. Lots of gears."
He paused, his gloved hand clenched around the old gear in his palm. Dade was unsure whether this was for dramatic effect or not.
"But gears are not people, kid. Gears will never fill the void in your life of that missed opportunity."
"Uh... you lost me with the 'gears' thing."
All of a sudden, Moff shook his head and stuck the gear into his front coat pocket.
"All depressing Steampunk analogies aside, if you feel... a certain way towards this boy, just tell him. Trust me, it's for the best." Before Dade could deny anything further, Moff retreated into the refuge of his own home. Dade heard the distinctive click of bolts locking and sighed.
The exchange left a sour feeling in his mouth for whatever reason. He felt weirdly uncomfortable with the idea of tracking down Harvey now and he couldn't place why.
.
.
.
Just tell him.
The sweltering summer-night heat circulated around the bedroom Dade shared with ten of his other siblings. No AC- his mother had called in a guy to fix it for next Monday. Generally, the mugginess didn't bother him. He'd quickly doze off into a heavy slumber after brushing his teeth and prayers and that'd be the end of it. However, that night, Dade felt like sleep was a goal impossible to achieve.
Moff's advice periodically repeated itself in his brain; taunting him, almost.
The implications were what made him most upset.
He didn't have a crush on Harvey, he couldn't. He just... enjoys Harvey's company immensely and craves contact with him at all times. Yeah. That's reasonable, right? Best friends enjoy spending time with each other and also wanting to kiss is normal. Right?
Dade flopped over on his other side, balling the covers up to his now-heaving chest. This was the time to think rationally, not the time to panic and jump to conclusions.
As hard as he tried to force the fear down, they ended up multiplying at an uncontrollable rate. Anxiety bubbled within the pit of his stomach. If Dade were to like Harvey, it would be going against every ethic that had been pounded into his head since birth. The fact that he could envision the disapproving glares of his parents so easily frightened him even more.
Just tell him.
But even disregarding the fact that his family would practically disown him, what would Harvey think? Harvey liked him as a close friend, Dade knew that much for sure, but anything beyond?
Worst case-scenarios ran rampant. Harvey could find his crush off-putting and forever think of Dade as creepy, or he could already have a crush on some unknown girl in Littlebark Grove, or possibly worst of all... he considers Dade like a brother to him. A brother!
Dade swiped his forehead with the back of his hand, feeling the gross dampness of sweat in his fur. His head was reeling. He became hyper-aware of the presence of his younger siblings in that moment, almost fearing that they could hear his thoughts from how loud they sounded, rattling around in his brain.
Why did these things bother him so impossibly much? Why did the idea of just being friends with Harvey suddenly seem unappealing to him? He's been fine with it for most of his life! What more could he possibly want?
Just tell him.
Dade dreaded the realization as soon as it hit him. Moff was right. His completely off-the-wall assumption was actually right. He did feel something for Harvey that was unique to just him. Now that the feelings had been identified, it'd be hard to go back to normal; to approach the friendship with regular causality would be a disservice to not only him but also Harvey. It'd feel too dirty to Dade, lying and acting like everything was okay when it was really the opposite.
He swallowed the lump in his throat.
He knew Harvey! Harvey was understanding, and kind, and a being of perfect goodness- he'd handle it okay! He wouldn't hold it against him if the feelings weren't mutual.
In that moment, Dade decided he would tell Harvey about it.
Figuring out how and when would be the hard part.