Written for: AndieMeowZelman
Prompt: how bout elaborating on Damien's friendship w/ Charles when they were 15, around time leading up to when he got set on fire.
Spoilers: Pre-series canon speculation based on commentary in episode 01x08 "Here Is Wisdom". Beyond that, everything we learned in these 10 episodes is up for grabs.
Warnings: No standard warnings apply.
A/N: This was written as a birthday gift for a friend on Twitter who has a birthday on the day that this whole project started. I told her that if she gave me a prompt, she'd get a birthday fic. This story is what she wanted, and hopefully it works with the prompt she gave me. I found writing this story to be fascinating, simply because there was so little detail given in the series, but it was enough to set off a whole backstory for the early relationship between these two men. Perhaps down the line I'll get the chance to explore this friendship again.
Dedication: This is part of a series of stories to thank the phenomenal creative team of Damien, both in front of and behind the camera.
Series: Part 2 of the #666foryou series
Please see profile for Disclaimers.
"Come on, Damien. You're going to love it."
Damien follows quietly, studying the smaller teen that looks so much more like a twelve-year-old boy than a youth of fifteen years. Any excuse to cut classes is a good one, especially when the offer of beer and weed is included. It's not like his grades won't stand up to scrutiny with the Dean, and his exemplar mentoring of the younger boys has gotten him out of a handful of close calls in the past. Or maybe the idea of losing those handsome donations from the Thorn estate is what keeps him at Preston Hall. It wouldn't be the first time that family prestige came in handy.
Which is how he came to be in this current situation. The latest round of midterms had been difficult on the younger boy, and the other guys they hung out with were giving him a hard time about it. It didn't help he'd been chosen as Damien's roommate instead of Cray Marquand. Cray's never taken any kind of loss well, and losing out on the dorm assignments to an affable nerd like Charles Powell hasn't set well with him all semester.
"So how much farther is it, Charles? Or are you secreting me away to Canada?"
"Just a little farther. I made sure it was hidden well." He pauses and turns back to face Damien, reverent smile lighting up his face. "I knew you wouldn't want it easy for anyone to find us. I know how much you like your solitude."
Damien smiles at the boy's thoughtfulness, knowing the seclusion is also for his own benefit. Cray and his particular band of cronies tend to bully Charles more than anyone else. It angers him that so much of the hazing is still aimed at a peer, but Damien doesn't want to rock the boat all that much either. Even someone as well-positioned as he is can become the brunt of everyone else's anger issues. He'd rather take the attacks than Charles, but that also gives an impression he's not willing to take on.
"Okay, here it is, Damien," Charles says, breaking into his thoughts, and pulls back a low hanging branch to reveal an old RV. There are some dings in the housing, but nothing that looks structurally unsafe. "My uncle was going to junk it, but I managed to talk him into letting me have it. He didn't ask what I wanted it for, but he probably thinks I'm going to bring girls here."
The "just sucked on a lemon" look on Charles' face is enough to get Damien laughing. It also proves a point he's been curious about. Just one more thing to add to the list of reasons to save Charles from Cray and his friends. Or does he really need to keep doing this protection detail? Charles should be able to defend himself by now. They've had enough sessions in Phys Ed to have covered the basics for him.
"Okay, let's see what it's like on the inside, Charles," he says and claps the boy on the shoulder. "If there's not a cold beer with my name on it, I'll beat the crap outta you myself."