Title: Let the Good Times Roll
Author: Concupid
Pairing: Vince/Howard
Rating: R
Warnings: angst, sex, language
Summary: Vince and Howard get to listen to more boring jazz.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Boosh or Harry Connick, Jr. I will never try to make money off of them.
Author's Note: I know it's been slow going. Real life issues keep popping up and wearing me down! Thank you if you're still reading and I deeply appreciate comments and feedback. I have decided to not bother at all with school work today so I could finish and post this chapter lest you all go another day without seeing this new bit of artwork for karneol_vision! It is not work safe! Tasteful nudity. Or maybe it's tasty nudity. I get those words confused.
From Chapter 23, Vince's most obscene hug.
Vince absently but thoroughly licked the sugar off of his fingers as he watched the passersby at the Cafe du Monde. It was the kind of innocently obscene gesture that would normally cause Howard to chastise Vince about his table manners, and then tell him to eat like an adult.
This time, Howard allowed himself to simply enjoy the show. It felt a bit wrong, though he wasn't sure why. It was surely okay to look at Vince 'that way' now that they were...
Just thinking the word "lovers" brought a flush to Howard's cheeks.
"Have I got sugar on my face?" Vince asked, wide eyed but not at all innocent.
"Eat your French doughnuts, we wouldn't want your blood sugar level to dip below 500," Howard snapped.
Vince laughed, then admitted he didn't get the joke. Howard felt a rush of jumbled feelings. He needed some proper food.
"All right, Howard?" Vince asked quietly.
"I'm in tip top shape, Vince, fit as a fiddle," Howard answered too fast and too loud. Vince looked worried.
"I'm fine," Howard said, in a slightly calmer voice, "Really. I'm fine. Don't look so concerned. You'll get frown lines."
Vince scrubbed at his forehead until Howard laughed.
"I love you."
Vince went red and he dropped his eyes to his plate.
Howard hadn't meant to say it out loud. He was feeling a bit confused.
"I need some proper food," Howard snapped, feeling uncomfortably exposed, "Some of us can't live on sugar and butter."
"I love you, too, Howard," Vince replied, still looking down at his plate, "Let's go get you some more roast beef or some fish and chips."
Howard grabbed Vince's hand and squeezed it as they walked, in search of real food. Some people gave them funny looks, but Vince didn't seem to mind, so Howard held on.
xxx
Sally didn't believe in getting involved with coworkers, and she made it a policy not to puke in another person's toilet. Those were sensible policies for a sensible life.
Scrubbing Kylie's toilet with bleach led to more vomiting, and then more bleach.
This was not sensible.
The signs were not pointing towards romance.
"Sweetie?" Kylie called gently through the door, "Harry just called and offered me two extra tickets for tonight! If you can stop throwing up and cleaning for a few minutes, we should invite Vince and Howard."
Sally splashed cold water on her face, and made the usual empty promises to the air that she would never again drink herself sick. Then she sent Vince a text. Her new friends were heading back to England Friday. When they were gone, she would resume being sensible.
Until then, she would continue to enjoy herself. Lazy good times rule.
xxx
Vince lay on the grass, with his hands tucked under his face in an angelic manner, listening quietly as Howard explained the history of Congo Square. Vince's blue eyes were focused and he was responding appropriately. Vince was actually paying attention.
It was enough to make Howard lose his train of thought. Vince's eyes had always struck him as a touch unearthly, but today they seemed to be unusually piercing.
"Why do you think...?" Howard couldn't think of a way to finish the question that didn't sound like he'd gone completely mad.
"It's just how we are, Howard. We been like this for years," Vince said, answering an unasked question, "We're not like other people. We don't have the same kind of problems."
It was an astute observation. Howard felt like a teen again, all awkward limbs and hormones. He wanted very much to kiss Vince, but it was too overwhelming in the figurative and literal light of day. They both jumped a bit when Vince's phone beeped.
"Kylie is genius! Sally needs to hang on to her," Vince mused as he read his message, "We're going to see some more boring jazz!"
Howard smiled indulgently as he looked at the phone Vince was holding to his face. Harry Connick, Jr. in New Orleans. That was a proper holiday.
"I wish your friends in England had such good taste," Howard observed, "The best Leroy could do was tickets to a punk transsexual Spice Girls cover band..."
"I liked the Spice Grrrlz!" Vince protested, "That was a better night than when I had to save you from that old folk orgy with Lester."
Lester had apparently misunderstood and thought the "swingers' party" was a collection of fans of swing music. Maybe he hadn't misunderstood at all. He'd been all too eager to stay and, "feel things out." The party had moved into disturbing "Cocoon" meets "Eyes Wide Shut" territory when Vince had stomped into the party and demanded Howard leave immediately. When the geriatric swingers tried to protest, Vince explained that Howard was his submissive who had chewed through his rope to get to the party without permission. Howard had been hesitant to leave Lester alone, but Vince made a strong argument by pointing out, "Lester is old, creepy'n'horny. He belongs here."
Vince had been so smug that he'd actually found a use for his human dog collar.
Howard was lost in his memories and instinctively pulled away when he felt something near his face. Vince pulled his hand back and bit his lip.
"There's a piece of grass in your hair," Vince explained, before slowly reaching out to brush the blade away. Howard held his head still as Vince brushed at his curls. He felt a horrible urge to tell Vince how much he enjoyed having Vince cut his hair, that he liked it too much. It made him uncomfortable.
Instead, he stayed quiet and let Vince play with his hair.
xxx
Vince felt a bit light headed as he and Howard approached Kylie and Sally. Howard was holding his hand again. The grip was a bit too tight to be called romantic, it was borderline panicky, but it was still lovely to have Howard cling to him instead of hiding away with his anxieties. He was disappointed when Howard let go. Apparently, all it took was a curious glance from Sally to bring Howard back to normal. Even by his usual standards, Howard had been acting odd and twitchy all day. Vince felt a bit shy about what they had shared the night before, but he had no regrets. Howard deserved to know how much Vince wanted him.
And that Vince could be a bit pervy.
Howard relaxed as he chatted with Kylie about her experiences working with Harry Connick, Jr. during the hurricane relief. Kylie had them all laughing at her stories about dealing with bureaucrats and red tape. It was easy to forget she was talking about a horrible tragedy, she had such a charming way of spinning a yarn. It was Kylie, herself, who broke the spell.
"It was great when Harry showed up because..." Kylie's eyes welled with tears, "We kept thinking it would get better. That the next day would be better, but it almost got worse. Everywhere you looked, you saw so much pain..."
Sally placed a hand on Kylie's shoulder and Kylie immediately regained her composure. Vince wondered if Sally noticed how important her opinion was to Kylie.
"The worst thing, was... everyone wanted to know 'why'. Everyone was looking for someone to blame and... there were assholes on TV talking nonsense about sin and vice and blaming the victims," Kylie blinked back tears, "I'm a black Lesbian who didn't evacuate and I didn't get smited. You know? It was just bullshit but you could see how it hurt people. There were so many people asking, 'Why me?' and they don't want to hear about poorly maintained levees. They want to know what they did wrong to deserve such a horrible fate."
"The Just-World Fallacy," Sally added quietly, "We're biased to believe that life is fair. That we get what we deserve."
Kylie nodded and blinked back tears, "And it is bullshit. Terrible things happen to good people and fucking bastards turn a profit. I was getting ready to leave when Harry showed up. I was so depressed all the time... I know that sounds selfish, when other people had gone through so much more..."
"It isn't selfish," Howard said with surprising vehemence, "You can't just lose yourself in some one else's pain. Other peoples' pain, that is."
Vince wanted to hug Howard and maybe throttle him just a bit. The Northerner couldn't seem to get it through his head that there was no happiness to be found for Vince in a world without Howard.
"Harry reminded me why I was there," Kylie continued, "That I love the city, and I love the people. It was worth the pain to rebuild the city that I love, my home."
Vince had a feeling Kylie and Howard were having their own conversation.
"When my folks died, I was a right little git. I don't know why Howard put up with me..." Vince found himself unable to finish his sentence with his face pressed to Howard's chest and Howard's arms squeezing the air out of his lungs. He could feel and hear Howard's panicky heartbeat. He squeezed back until Howard began to relax.
"Christ, guys," Sally griped as she dabbed at her eyes, "I only wear make-up twice a year and y'all are about to make me cry it off."
Kylie grabbed Sally and Howard by the hand and Howard held Vince's hand. They walked into the club in a line, like children on a field trip.
xxx
Howard couldn't quite get lost in the music, even though Harry was brilliant and the venue was intimate. He was still a little too on edge, a little too confused, to really relax.
It didn't help that Vince kept staring at him. Every time he glanced in the younger man's direction, he saw those big eyes taking him in like he was an episode of Colobos the Crab. So much had changed between them in the past few hours, Howard couldn't begin to imagine what was going through Vince's mind, and yet he was still looking at Howard with the same old, loving expression.
At least that's how he looked at Howard when he didn't think Howard was paying attention. When Howard tried to talk to Vince, the awkwardness bubbled to the surface. Vince had been so full of gentle affection, so loving and attentive that it was frightening. Vince deserved so much more than Howard could hope to offer.
Howard belonged in a cave with Old Gregg. That was the kind of love he deserved.
He gave a guilty start when Vince's hand closed over his. Vince looked worried and pale. Howard tried to give him a reassuring smile, but Vince only looked more concerned. He was too soft-hearted for his own good. Vince never had the good sense to protect himself from the people who would drag him down. He was always so sure he could lift people up. The fact that Vince was usually right didn't make his thinking any less dangerous to his well-being.
During his encore, Harry announced it was time to turn into a lounge singer. He sang some of his more popular tunes while walking around the small audience, acknowledging people he knew and making jokes. The room burst into applause when he began to sing, "It had to be You." Even Vince was swaying and quietly singing along. He gave Howard a meaningful smile as he crooned, "Some others I've seen, might never be mean. Might never be cross, or try to be boss, they wouldn't do."
Howard had to smile back. In fact, he was so lost in Vince's unguarded happiness, he didn't even notice Harry approaching their table until he dropped an envelope on the table in front of Howard.
As the crowd went wild and begged for another encore, Howard opened the envelope with Vince hanging on his arm, whispering, "What is it?"
It was two tickets to a swamp tour.
xxx
Vince couldn't get, "It had to be You" out of his head. The song could have been written for Howard. Vince could be glad just to be sad thinking about Howard. Back in their hotel room, they kept their backs to one another as they changed into pajamas. Vince wondered if he should just go out and buy some pajamas or if Howard would be okay with him sleeping in his pants.
Or he could just keep wearing Howard's pajamas.
Or maybe Howard would make him sleep in his own bed when they got back to England.
Howard crawled into bed first and pulled the covers up to his chin. He looked nice and safe tucked up in his corner of the hotel room. Vince wanted to jump in and cover him with kisses, but he was feeling a little wary of touching Howard. His friend had been nervous all day. Howard had stood silently by the hotel door as Vince checked the bathroom, the wardrobe and under the bed. He'd only said, "Cheers, Vince," before pulling out his night clothes, not once giving Vince even a hint of eye contact.
Vince was careful to stay on his side as he climbed into bed, lying so he was facing Howard.
"Why'ja think he gave us the swamp tour tickets? Do you think the Star Turtle..."
"The tickets are for me, not you," Howard snapped, "There's no reason for you to go."
"He gave you two tickets!" Vince protested, "Besides, what if something happens and I'm not there..."
Vince trailed off as his brain caught up with his mouth.
"We're a team, Howard," Vince continued in his most gentle voice, "Where you go, I go. Things always go wrong when we split up. You know that."
Howard was trembling a little, so Vince wrapped the big man in a hug and stroked his hair, cooing nonsense into his ear.
"Vince?" Howard's voice sounded nervous and small.
"What is it, Howard?"
"Do you... that is, maybe we could..." Howard took a deep breath, "Doyouwanttomakelove?"
Vince's embarrassingly eager response made them both laugh.
Howard was still acting like it was a timed event, trying to move things along and bring Vince to climax before things even got started. Vince gently encouraged Howard to relax and enjoy himself, knowing it was like asking Howard to be shorter or to have bigger eyes.
They ended up with Howard lying on top of Vince, their bedclothes and pants pushed out of the way so Vince could work them both with one hand. It was only a few minutes of sloppy kisses and panting before they were lying in a sweaty heap. Howard was a little shaky as Vince cleaned them off, but nothing like the last time. His skin was warm and his color was healthy as Vince wiped him down and tucked him back into his pajamas. It was a bit strange for Howard to be so docile, but it was nice to see Howard so at ease and so trusting. He said something to that effect, and all hell broke loose.
Vince held Howard tightly as the bigger man wept, big sobs wracking his body. It was like a tornado, terrifying but brief. After a few minutes, Howard was wiping his eyes and hiccoughing too hard to apologize for his breakdown. Vince got him a glass of water and held him until he was able to regain his composure. When Howard made another attempt to apologize, Vince shushed him.
"S'okay, Howard. Cryin' is normal," Vince explained before adding under his breath, "you big poof."
Howard had him pinned to the mattress in under ten seconds and was threatening to perform unspeakable atrocities against Vince's hair. Vince pretended to fight back as he squirmed and rubbed himself against Howard.
"My hair is a national treasure," Vince protested, "You try and give me a tight perm and the Queen will do you for treason!"
"I could put your hair in bunches," Howard threatened, "You look good in bunches..."
Vince and Howard both blushed and looked away, then they both laughed. Half an hour later, the best Vince could manage was to wipe them off with his night shirt before tossing it on the ground. Howard fell asleep mid-protest. Vince curled himself around Howard and gave in to exhaustion. Tonight, he planned to jump straight into Howard's dreams before they even had a chance to turn ugly.