lolz... first venture into a fandom and my only offering is slash. What have I turned into? XDD

Inspired by Passion Pit's "Sleepyhead" (I really need to be more creative with titles....)

Jekyll was beginning to lose hope of ever locating the one and only Rodney Skinner.

Yes, he was the Invisible Man - but even so, he was remarkably good at hiding on a ship full of people. No one had seen or heard anything that could have possibly indicated the thief's presence, and Jekyll had already searched through the majority of the Nautilus. The only realistic place that remained was the ship's relatively small deck. If Skinner wasn't there - well, there was little chance of finding him anywhere else.

Careful not to fall off the ladder - it would be a long, painful fall back to the main floor of the ship - Jekyll pushed the door open. The latches were already undone... someone certainly seemed to have been up here at some point. The only question was whether or not it was the person he was looking for.

"Skinner?" Jekyll stuck his head out into the cool night air, glancing around for said thief. Not that that would likely help much, really, even in the off event that the man was actually wearing something for once. It was quite dark, out here in the middle of the ocean with nothing but the stars for light.

"Wot's up, Doc?"

Jekyll looked around for a moment before his gaze settled on a dark shape against the ash grey of the Nautilus' side. Skinner was, surprisingly, fully clothed, or as close to fully-clothed as he ever seemed to get. Protection against the chill, perhaps? "Oh... nothing, really. I, ah, just wanted to see how you were doing...."

"Well, I'm still itchy as 'ell, but otherwise I feel peachy." he was silent for a moment, and despite the lack of facepaint Jekyll had the distinct impression that Skinner was eying him knowingly. "That's not all you came up here for, is it."

"Not really," Jekyll admitted, stepping out onto the deck and closing the door behind himself. "The truth is - well, you must have heard the horrid things I said about you before, when we thought-"

"I remember, yeah." Skinner interrupted, voice clipped. "Quite clearly, as a matter 'o fact - I was right in the room when y'made your announcement."

The other cleared his throat, feeling himself flush with embarrassment. "Well, ah, what I wanted to say is - I'm sorry. I jumped to conclusions - I have a terrible habit of doing that, you see, and - well. I apologize for my misconduct." he resisted the overwhelming impulse to look away; shyness would do him no good. "Can we perhaps let bygones be bygones, then?"

The hat bobbed up and down. A nod, perhaps? "Sure. If y'come sit wit me, anyways. Gettin' a bit lonely up here."

Was there perhaps an undercurrent of... something in Skinner's voice? An invitation that was more than what it was on the surface? No, no... he was reading too much into it....

'You can say that again,' Hyde growled irritably.

Jekyll very nearly groaned out loud. And he'd been so quiet for once, too.... 'Not now, Edward.'

'Just go sit with him.' And, to Jekyll's astonishment, the beast retreated with nothing more than a chuckle.

"Wot's the matter, Doc? You look like you've seen a ghost! ...'Sides me that is."

"...It's nothing." shaking his head, Jekyll eased himself down beside the thief, legs drawn up to his chest. He'd decipher the puzzle that was Hyde later - for now, he figured that he might as well enjoy his time free from the mental abuse. "So... what are you doing?"

The hat tilted backwards. "Stargazin'. Used to look up at 'em, back in England - was a bit of a hobby, I guess you'd say."

Jekyll followed his gaze. "Do you know the constellations?"

"Not really. Made a lot up, at one point, but I don't remember most of 'em, now... 'course, a lot of 'em had to do wit fire - I was fascinated by it, really. Although since the...." he trailed off, and the hat tilted in a way that gave Jekyll the impression Skinner was looking away. "...Well, never mind that. Do you know any?"

He shook his head. "No more than you, likely. I'm no astronomer - it's a bit too... abstract, for my taste."

A second nod. "Fair enough. Still, though - you have to admit they're quite beautiful."

A quick, almost shy smile. "Yes - yes indeed." he almost added something a bit less... innocuous onto the end, but caught himself at the last moment. This wasn't the time, nor the place, nor - well, anything. His near-slip nearly prompted Jekyll to get up, to make some excuse and leave before he alienated himself from his companion... but... Skinner was rather warm and despite the hardness of the deck he was feeling quite comfortable, quite... sleepy.

Slowly, carefully, Jekyll laid his head against Skinner's shoulder. He fully expected Skinner to get up, to ask what in the world he was doing, to jerk away. Because quite bluntly this was abnormal, was wrong, as Hyde had so delighted in reminding him over the years....

Skinner didn't move at all for several long, agonizing moments. Jekyll began to tense, ready to be pushed away - but instead he was pulled closer. An invisible weight rested itself against the top of his head as Skinner leaned into his companion. Jekyll released the breath he didn't know he'd been holding, relieved beyond measure. After a moment Skinner adjusted his position just slightly, gently taking Jekyll's hand in his own, invisible fingers entwined with the visible.

There was a long silence.

"...I really do think I could come to enjoy this...." he finally murmured. Ah, what an understatement.

Skinner chuckled. "The stargazin' or the usin' me as a pillow?"

"Mostly the latter, really."

"Oh, well, in that case, I could get used t'this too."

Jekyll felt himself grin into the soft leather of Skinner's duster. He almost wondered if this were a dream because never had he ever imagined something like this... but that was okay. Even if it was just a dream, it was a bloody good one.

'Took you long enough...' Hyde muttered in the back of his mind, very quietly. So abnormally quietly, in fact, that Jekyll almost didn't hear. Not that he really wanted to hear Hyde now, of all times. Although...

'...You knew, didn't you.'

'Yes. Yes I did,' came the smug reply.

'You could have told me.'

'But where's the fun in that?'

'Bastard.'

The stars twinkled down upon them, Hyde laughed in a way entirely uncharacteristic of his personality, Skinner's grip tightened just a little bit, and for the first time in a long while Henry Jekyll felt at peace with the world.