Part Three

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As it turned out, Tintin's confession was the first radical change in the captain's life.

Tintin and he sat in the waiting room of a hospital, anticipating a chance to visit Calculus in the intensive care unit. Both men stared at their feet. Whatever reading material there was had long since been read until their heads ached.

"Blistering barnacles, what was Cuthbert thinking, using gamma rays in his laboratory? The place wasn't built for those sorts of experiments!"

"He was commissioned to figure out how to irradiate gems to enhance their natural color. But you're correct Captain; at the very least he should've worn a lead apron. "

"An apron, Tintin? Bah! A lead suit would've been better!"

Professor Calculus tended to camp out in his laboratory for days at a time. So when he did not return to Marlinspike for three consecutive days it did not appear suspicious to anyone. But when he did not attend pancake Sunday, something was certainly wrong. There was nothing that would keep the professor from enjoying his boysenberry pancakes.

It was Tintin that entered the actual laboratory. Granted, he was forced to ingest tons of iodine (and much more than the captain, who stayed outside at the reporter's insistence, had to) as a result, but at least he wasn't close to death like Calculus was.

It was somehow less disgusting than Tintin mid-transformation, but a radiation poisoned professor was a very close second. It was certainly sadder though—at least Tintin was fine after the transformation was complete. Cuthbert, meanwhile, seemed to age a thousand years in however many days he lay unconscious on the floor. The poor thing on the floor did not resemble the professor. When Haddock purged for the second time in three months it was not just out of disgust, but also of fear. Fear that his friend was in such a horrible accident, fear of said accident's nature, fear of what was to come.

When the head doctor entered the room, Haddock tried to pretend that he did not hear of Calculus's fate. Only when he had to purchase a lead coffin did he finally accept the truth.

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"Why?"

Tintin paused while reading mid-sentence at his novel. The windows in the study confirmed that there would be yet another rainstorm today. "Why what, Captain?"

Haddock sat in an oversized armchair on the other side of the lamp table. "Why didn't you save him, Tintin?"

"Save who?"

"Don't play dumb with me, boy," he snapped. "You know who I'm talking about."

Tintin sighed. "Captain, I thought I explained this to you already. The professor was a hairline away from death's door when we discovered him. Even if I did something, anything, I doubt that it would have been enough to keep him alive for longer than say, twenty minutes maximum."

"But wouldn't giving him an extra twenty minutes to live have been better than doing nothing at all? Dammit Tintin, he was your friend."

Tintin shook his head. "No. The damage to his body was too great. It would have been similar to placing a single adhesive bandage on a body covered head to toe with third degree burns. "

Haddock left his chair, holding a heavy red leather bound tome that he just completed. He moistened his chapped lips with his tongue. "Well good for you, then. But personally I think that even if it was something really minor that could help, I would've done it."

"You become a whole lot wiser after living for so long," Tintin sighed.

A force whipped against Tintin's cheek. He felt against the reddening, heated hand mark imprinted on his face as he looked forward at the red-faced captain.

Haddock clenched his teeth, the breath venting through his set. His eyes portrayed deep anger, anger he normally reserved to those that crossed him in the worst way possible, before softening as he stared at the palm he just used to attack his friend.

"Tintin lad, I'm… I'm sorry." And then, with the same palm, he began striking himself. "Archie, you parasite! Trilobite! Idiot!"

"Hey, hey! Cut that out, Captain!" Tintin tossed his book onto the table and pounced onto his friend. He tried grabbing him more than once before catching the captain's hand. "What are you doing? I'm the one that should be saying sorry for such a thoughtless comment! You're just following the normal grief process!"(At least, you were before hitting yourself…)

Haddock finally broke down. "Tintin, I wish I died in place of the professor. The way he died, he did not deserve that. That quirky, intelligent, wonderful man did not deserve to deteriorate like that! I, a load of flotsam and jetsam, deserve that… But not him! Thundering typhoons, what did Cuthbert do to have that handed to him?

"And it's not just him, Tintin! If you could die and that your death was just as horrific, it would've been just as deserving for me as well!"

Tintin's jaw dropped earlier, and it stayed there as he attempted to conjure words out of his dry mouth. "Y-you really believe that, Captain? That you're that awful of a human being?"

Haddock covered his face and nodded.

"Captain…" Tintin kneaded his fingers along Haddock's hand and wrist. "You're far from the worst human being on the face of the Earth. Last time I checked you've never ordered the death of an entire ethnicity, or molested and killed people, or knowingly distributed drugs. You aren't a saint, but neither am I. And guess what? Most saints weren't saints all the time, either!

"I love you as you, Captain. I'm not supposed to give mortals immortality, but I chose to offer it to you because I thought you were worthy of me. And if the professor wanted to join my family as well, I would've offered him the same deal in a heartbeat. But that's his loss and now we're both paying the price. I don't want to lose you as well…"

Haddock squirmed from Tintin's grip. "Cap—"

Haddock clasped himself around Tintin. His beard bristled against the boy's neck.

"Tintin?" He whispered. "When I was telling you that I loved you like family? I lied."

The reporter blanked for a quick moment. "Huh? What?... What do you-"

"I love you beyond family. I love you. And I want to be with you forever, lad."

And with that, Haddock's lips pressed against Tintin's. As soon as the boy registered what was going on, he closed his eyes and joined the awkward, yet bittersweet kissing session. He did not care about Haddock's beard brushing against his baby face, or of chapped lips meeting moisturized ones, or the fact that both men's breaths desperately required breath mints. For the first time in his life he was genuinely, sexually loving someone and for a few seconds he was in a bliss he wished to never depart from.

Then, when Tintin finally decided that he would begin a kiss, Haddock cocked his head back.

"I'm ready."

The words felt like those he could only hear in a dream. "You're… ready?"

"Yes. I'm ready lad." Haddock's smile proved that he was telling the truth.

Tintin grinned, then frowned when he realized a potential flaw in the plan. "Wait… But how are we going to cover this up?"

"We can just say that I decided to leave overnight…"

"Yes, but why? I need to give the alibi to the local police, and the locals, and Thompson and Thomson when they ask me questions."

"You know how I am about Cuthbert's death! Just file a police report and rig a suicide site somewhere in the woods somewhere, I guess…"

Tintin bit his lip. "I will need to rough out the edges before actually doing something about it, but alright. …But are you sure that you're ready? I just want to hear it again."

"I'm a whole lot more ready than I was when you first asked. Let's do it after dinner, though. I just want one more meal of 'real food' before I have to eat whatever Snowy has to eat."

Tintin let out a laugh. "Sure, that's a reasonable enough request. After dinner it is."

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Tintin locked the door behind him, turned and smiled at the man petting Snowy on his bed.

"I'm going to ask you one more time… Are you sure you want this?"

"Billions of blue blistering barnacles lad, I've said yes every single time you've asked me today! I'm positive that I want this!"

"All right, then… You know what? I'll join Snowy and you tonight." Tintin began with his pullover, then his collared shirt, undershirt… As he dropped his plus fours to his ankles and began his underwear, Snowy hopped off Haddock in frightened surprise when the captain's crotch reacted to the sight.

When Tintin grinned he resembled an elf. "Would you like me to take care of that, Captain?"

"Only if you want to, lad."

The reporter kicked off the last of his clothes, leaving them scattered across the floor before forwarding to kiss the captain. He signaled Snowy to retreat under the bed, but the dog already beat him to that request.

Tintin gagged a couple of times and overall wasn't that great at a blowjob, but Haddock knew that the boy was trying his hardest. He guided the younger man with several tips on how to get him off once or twice, but otherwise let him to do it on his own. There wasn't a rush, after all.

When he finally came, Tintin gagged at the sudden geyser spurting into his mouth. He allowed Tintin some moments to readjust himself, swallow as much of his fill as possible. He swiped what semen that had escaped onto his lip away when he was done.

"How… How was I?"

Laying down on the bed, Haddock yawned from sex and dim light-induced fatigue. "You did the best job you could, lad. There's nothing else I could've asked for."

Tintin climbed onto his bed. "Captain, please don't fall asleep just yet. I still need to change you. It shouldn't take too long."

Haddock raised his torso, anchored himself with his hands. "Will I be able to take some of your pain potion?"

"No, because of all the poisonous blooms. But the pain will cede very quickly once you're complete, trust me. It will be over before you know it."

Tintin kissed Haddock once more. "Oh… And, um, this isn't a huge deal, but I would prefer it if I can transform you on the floor. It's just a personal preference."

The captain groaned. "Okay… Sure, lad, if that's what you want."

Haddock finished what Tintin started and threw his clothes by Tintin's messy pile. He lay on his back against the floor, allowed Tintin to cover his mouth to stifle the inevitable screams by a few decibels.

"I want you to take deep breaths," Tintin commanded as he focused his other hand at the captain, "Do them in and out slowly through the nose…"

Tintin closed his eyes, focused on the necessary thoughts for his spell. Haddock saw white light shimmer from the fingertips. Then, he felt his body tingle and tangle. He closed his eyes, forgot what Tintin advised, and screamed until the pain became too great to scream or comprehend what else was going on.

And then, just as sudden as it began, the pain was gone. Just like what Tintin said. When he opened his eyes the world was black and white and much, much larger. He rolled himself onto all fours and looked around. Tintin, at least the human Tintin, was not present.

"Wow!" He heard a new voice cry. "Is that you, Uncle Archie?"

Haddock turned around. Snowy, head popped out from under the bed curtain, panted. "Snowy?"

Snowy gasped, crawled out from under, wagged his tail at the black, bearded Scottish terrier. "Wicked! It is you! Tintin, come look!"

A briard moved from the other side of the bed. The shaggy dog laughed. "Oh wow! Captain that is so fitting! A diehard becomes a literal 'Diehard.'"

"Oh this will be so awesome!" Snowy said. "I can't wait to show you everything it means to be a dog! You, Tintin and I will have so many more wonderful adventures together now! And we won't even have to leave Marlinspike for them now! Isn't that wonderful?"

Haddock felt his tail wagging at the happy dogs. "Oh yes, lad. It is certainly wonderful…"