How long a "break" did Dad Reginald think Henry needed?

Don't get him wrong, Henry loved spending time with Howie. But man, what he'd do to get on a nice high-stakes, high-reward heist! He should at least be grateful he could keep his diamond and thus set it in the corner, washing and polishing it so that it always shined in the light and was the absolute focus of attention. He had time to do this and other things as these missions he went on with Howie–mostly involving meeting with certain people for deals or to pop in and see how everything was going–didn't last very long, at least compared to how long it took to sneak into a museum and clean out a room of some extra stuff. That and he sometimes got in trouble for accidentally picking up things that weren't his. It wasn't his fault! He didn't want to steal from them!

Anyway, he had time at home. So, after dinner, he would visit the Brig. On occasion he'd bring Dave his dinner, allowing him an extra few minutes to spend with the man. He also brought lunch every day that he could, so that was some time to spend with him. Henry could tell the man was way more than uncomfortable staying in the same small cell all day every day against his will. So, one evening, Henry checked up on the hallways and night watches, and slipped into the Brig.

"Hey, we're all clear," Henry said.

Dave responded, shuffling his feet, "Is… this a good idea?"

"Yeah, of course. I don't have a roommate and I know every nook and cranny and ventilation shaft in this ship. If you don't want to go, that's fine, I get it. But I'll make sure nothing happens."

"…thanks, Henry. Okay. I'll do it."

Henry unlocked the door to Dave's cell and opened it with a flourish. Dave crept out, shrinking into himself a little upon looking around. Henry patted his shoulder, causing the man to jump, and left the Brig. It took no time at all to get to Henry's room. Once they were inside, the door shut and light on, Dave took a deep breath. "That… was stressful."

Henry chuckled. "Yeah, sneaking out of prison can be stressful." His smile dissipated. "Sorry I can't sneak you off the airship entirely."

"I understand why you can't," said Dave. "I mean, I got fired because I didn't check that box that allowed you to escape and I wasn't even trying to help you."

Henry sat down on his bed, setting his head against the wall. "I got some things for you in the bathroom if you want to take a shower. Another security guard uniform, so no one gets suspicious if you start wearing my nightclothes or something. Also, I'm not done yet, but I'm thinking of a few ways to get you into the gym and stretch your legs a little."

Dave set a hand on the back of his neck. "Oh. Thanks, Henry. You… you've been really nice. Thanks." After an awkward shuffle of feet, he made his way to the bathroom, its light already on.

Henry went to his computer and started looking through the files he kept hidden deep in a rabbit hole of files. Well, he had two "secret" folders. One was labeled "secret plans" which led to several documents and folders all leading through a maze that ended with one link that went through a few hoops until finally landing in a rick roll. It had taken a few hours, but all thirty-five web, word, and video documents inevitably landed on a trick. The other folder was classily labeled "porn" which had his secret projects, again under crude names. His dads weren't known to sleuth through his stuff, but he'd had that folder since he was a teenager and never had it searched. Still, it was fun.

The shower started running.

Henry flicked through a few files, opening the word documents and a couple of PDFs and image files. He'd so far been working on a plan to get to the gym, but there was always something in the way. He could easily get Dave to the on-board gym. With the right disguise, he could trick anyone on the cameras. In fact, he had most of this planned out. That was, except for what happened if anyone squinted at Dave for more than a couple of seconds. The disguise could fool near anyone, especially with the influx of recruits and transfers. But if questions were asked, he or Dave might trip. If it was either of his dads, it was game over. But the times he chose, his dads should either be busy with something or asleep. However, if anyone decided to "check" on Dave in the middle of the night, the "dummy" they would plant–who could argue with a few pillows and a blanket honestly–could quickly raise an alarm.

Henry groaned and searched through his documents again. But he'd combed through it all, through every log of everything he'd done himself and from what he'd nicked off the security computer and files in Records.

Maybe… this wasn't a good idea.

The door opened. Henry jumped and looked up at the noise, causing Dave to bristle as well. Henry let out a breath and relaxed. "Whoof. Sorry, I didn't expect you. How are you feeling?"

Dave sat down on what used to be Howie's bed. "Better, actually. Yeah, thanks." His hair was still a little wet, but his new clothes were practically the same as the old ones. That and he smelled nicer. It wasn't something noticeable through the door, but it was noticeable to anyone who got past that, namely Henry. Actually, only Henry. "You're risking a-a lot for me."

"Yeah. My friend would probably tell me to do it or something. And it's fun seeing if I can get past the Clan!" Henry chuckled to himself. "Anyway, I think I have a way to the gym some time. We already passed the window of opportunity, I think. If we meet up with anyone, a disguise would help, but I don't want to meet up with anyone, y'know?"

"Oh, yes. Definitely. Me, neither."

Henry chuckled and leaned back in his chair, so the front legs were off the ground. "Anyway, we got until about one A.M. or so until I should probably hit the hay. It's nine thirty. So, is there anything you want to do? As long as it doesn't involve leaving, I can do it! Actually…" He hummed and grinned. "There aren't any security cameras on the roof." He shook his head. "Anyway. So."

Dave hunched his shoulders. "Uh… how about the news? What's happening?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." Henry fell forward with a quiet huff, so all four legs of his chair were on the ground and he turned to his computer. "Local news, national, something about a specific person?"

"Oh, yeah! I lost contact with Rupert after-after what happened. Uh… is there any way to see if he's okay?"

"Yeah, sure! Definitely!"

Henry didn't know how the news was so captivating–he usually kept it as background noise, though he had to admit he found out about the Tunisian Diamond over the news–but Dave was captivated. Henry didn't ask why, just knew that Dave was happy looking over different news sites for stuff local to Red Mesa and on a global scale. That's what mattered, right?

So, with a "knock yourself out," Henry lay down on his blanket and took out his phone. Eventually, he grew bored and rolled over onto his stomach. They still had plenty of time before Henry needed to guide Dave back.

Eventually, Dave asked, "Are you asleep?"

"Huh?" Henry looked over his shoulder.

"Oh! Okay. I just wanted to make sure."

Henry pushed himself up so he was sitting. "Nice. Yeah. Hey, if I do fall asleep, don't be afraid to wake me, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah of course." Dave paused. "So… is there anything you like to do when you're, uh, not working?"

Henry chuckled. "A few things. It's easy to get bored around here if you're not working, or you're not twelve with a scooter. Weeeeeell, what kind of movies you like?"

Dave liked the action, sci-fi type of movies, which was okay. Henry wasn't a big fan of aliens, but hey! Henry wasn't the one locked up in a jail cell. By the end of the night, Dave was somehow both jittery and tired. Henry could emphasize. So, it was time to go to bed. He didn't envy waking up in the morning with, like, six and a half hours of sleep, but it was like that, sometimes.

He was a little tired when he woke up, but it was nothing a good wash in the sink and cup of coffee couldn't fix.

"Henry, you say that you have a friend or so in the force?" asked Dave.

Henry, leaning on the door so that he could look inside, replied, "No, but I have one friend who will sometimes work with the police. I have another friend who's a government pilot. Buuuuut before you get any ideas, they do not know I'm a Toppat and they don't approve of theft. My pilot friend mostly."

"Oh. Heh, I, uh, wasn't going to ask that. I just wanted to know why they're your friends. They're so different from you."

Henry nodded. "Yeah, we are pretty different. But friendship's funny like that, you know? We met when we were in middle school. Kids don't really care what their friends' parents are, a lot of the time. They just care who their friends are. And it helped that my friends' parents were good people. They didn't know I was from the Toppat Clan. What about you? Do you have any friends who turned out to be… different from you?"

"Not really," Dave confessed. "I like making friends, but most of them are in the force. I've pretty much fallen out of touch with my high school friends. We change as we grow up. You're one of the only people I've met who can claim they're still friends with the people they met in middle school."

"True. I'm a different person as an adult then as a kid. Man, times were so much simpler back then. Nothing about having to worry about getting locked up, worrying about parents getting locked up, about what your friends' families think. It was a danger, but you never really think about those things. Just… 'what homework did the teacher assign?' and 'what adventures are we going on today?' But, I'll chance a guess most of those things weren't on your mind even after reaching adulthood."

"That… would be correct," Dave replied. "I just lived in a suburb. Normal life, you know."

"Heh. What made you want to become a policeman?"

"I wanted to do some good, follow in my uncle's footsteps," Dave replied with a short shrug. "I'd only joined the force six months ago. I, uh… got laid off due to negligence."

"Oh. Um, sorry about that. Nothing personal, you know."

"Yeah."

…

Henry cleared his throat. "Right. Uh… that was a bit of bad luck."

"Mhm."

"So, I gotta leave soon," Henry said. "But I know that it's pretty bad just staying in there. I can drop by in a few hours? Tomorrow morning I get to deliver breakfast so I'll bring something extra with me."

"Thanks, Henry. You've been… really nice." Dave smiled a little, though it was rather strained.

Henry chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, thanks. Heh. Good night!"

"Good night."

Jeez Henry wished he could release Dave from his prison. It just wasn't fair to the man to be locked up in that stupid cell. Afanasiy deserved it, Dave did not. Henry half-wished he could talk about it to Ellie and Charles, but that would be crossing a line. He couldn't talk about Toppat business with them, especially something so obvious as "Hey, my crime dad locked up this guy in our crime base, what should I do?" This is considering the fact he hadn't told them his dads weren't in the tech industry.

Uuuuuugh, why did life have to be so complicated? Why couldn't Ellie and Charles just… why couldn't he tell him and speak freely?

So, Dave looked nice with a top hat. Neat!

Dave fidgeted as they walked, his head dipped to hide beneath the plain black hat, brim curled up a little. Despite no one actually being in the halls this late, he still walked as if expecting someone to jump out at him. Since this was the first time they weren't going to Henry's room–which was five days in a row now–it was understandable. Even with the unassuming street clothes and black top hat, he looked stressed.

Henry opened the door with the in-ship gym. There was work out equipment, but Henry was most familiar with the empty space with mats on the floor. That's where Dad Right taught him self-defense.

"So," Henry said as they walked into the empty, semi-dark place. He flicked on a switch, turning on the lights in the area near them, but not the entire place. "Now that we're here, what do you want to do?"

Dave looked around, a thoughtful look befalling him. "Well… you said you know some self-defense. I learned in the academy."

Henry's eyes brightened. "Oooh! A duel! I can do that."

"I mean, I didn't really say that!" Dave put in quickly. "But! You-you could say that?"

Henry hummed. "So, maybe a duel. Or do you want to swap training techniques?"

"That would be nice, too!"

Henry ran over the mat, Dave at his side. He took off his shoes and faced off against the security guard. Former security guard? "Okay. You want to go first?"

Academy training was different than what Dad Right taught Henry. Dave tended to stay more defensive while Henry put on an aggressive offense. He didn't do anything that might cause damage, but he definitely wasn't sitting back waiting for anything.

Henry ended up baiting Dave into a lunge, where he redirected the man's momentum and used his own weight to put him down. He winced at the simple, quick action. "Are you okay?"

Dave puffed, "Yeah." He got back to his feet and shook his head, quickly retrieving his lost hat as he did so. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's try that again."

Dave was able to catch Henry off balance a few times, especially near the end of the night as Henry's aggressive style used more energy. Dave knocked his feet out from under him and pinned Henry, holding the thief's hands behind his back and stepping on the small of his back.

Henry stopped struggling and stuck out his tongue. "Okay, fine, officer. You win."

Dave chuckled and let him go. "That was fun!" he panted.

Henry pulled himself up and stretched. "Yeah. Whoo. That took a lot out of me. It's getting late. Want to wash off and change?"