Day 4's prompt? On the actual fourth day of the prompt week? It's more likely than you think!
So yeah, Day 4; yay! I wrote this out in the last hour, and that's good enough for me! This one was fun, and for once, there's some comfort! You'll have to earn it by reading through some hurt first, but yay! Positive vibes! As I'm sure you can guess, the prompt of the day is: Hug! I won't keep you, so see you at the bottom of the page!
Charles had always had interesting dreams, though lately he'd been having a particular recurring dream that he never got to finish. Something would always happen, usually something random, that would drag the dream off course and render it pointless. Still, Charles looked forward to this dream, in the hopes that someday, he'd find out what happened next.
He was standing at the bottom of a hill by the sea. He could feel the sea breeze along his skin, which was a bit wild, considering he was dreaming, but he tried not to pay too much attention to that. Trying to interact with the dream never worked, so he just had to be patient and let the dream take its turn.
Finally, his body moved, climbing up the hill in small, bouncing leaps, as if gravity had turned down slightly. The jumps were very small, frustratingly so, as if he were only moving a few inches for every jump, and it was surprisingly exhausting, but he persisted, knowing what was waiting for him on top of the hill.
At the top of the hill was Henry, his best friend, kneeling and facing away from him. Charles wasn't sure what Henry was looking at, whenever he tried to remember it when he woke up, all he could see was a vague, gray blob, but whatever it was, it made Henry sit perfectly, inhumanly still, like a photograph.
Charles reached out for him. Henry turned around slowly, staring at him with big eyes, and opened his mouth-
Only to start singing a strange, repetitive song over and over again.
"But what does that mean?!" Charles shouted in his dream. "What does that mean?!"
Ellie floated by in a hot air balloon. "Check your phone, idiot," she said before turning into the moon.
Oh, wait, that was his ring tone, wasn't it?
Charles yanked himself out of the dream, twisted up in his sheets and staring into the darkness of his bedroom. His phone was on the nightstand, buzzing loudly against the wood. Charles groaned, struggling to free himself from his comfy prison and managed to grab the phone and hold it to his ear. "Hello…?"
It was silent on the other end… wait, no, there was a sound; staticky puffs that grated on his sensitive ears, the sound of someone breathing heavily.
"Hello?" He said again. His brain felt like mush, trying to figure out who would call him at… okay, his digital clock said three thirty. Cool. A time that would definitely not affect him at PT less than two hours from now.
A new sound: a shaky, quivering moan, like a kicked dog, or someone in pain. Charles checked the caller ID quickly. "Henry? Are you okay? What's wrong?" Charles climbed out of bed and threw on his headphones, some pants, and a T-shirt. Henry didn't reply, continuing to whimper on the other end. "Henry, are you at your apartment?" A shaky "mm-hm". "Can I come over real quick?" he asked as he hurried out the door and down to the street below. Another "mm-hm".
Which was good, because Charles was going to go over whether Henry wanted him to or not, but it was good that Henry would be expecting him and wouldn't get startled. "I'm on my way, Henry," Charles murmured encouragingly as he ran down the street. Henry's apartment wasn't far, just a five minute bike ride, but he chose to run all the way over instead. Getting his bike set up would take longer than he liked, and besides, Henry's side of town was a bit notorious for bike thieves. He'd already made that mistake once.
Finally, he arrived at Henry's door, and knocked his typical knock on the door. There was a thump inside the apartment, followed by smaller thumps that grew closer and closer until the door swung inward. Charles yelped quietly as he was pulled inside and pressed against the now-shut door, something bony holding him tightly and awkwardly.
Charles hung up his cellphone and gently put his arms around Henry, who shook like a man with hypothermia in his embrace. Charles shushed him gently, patting his back and rocking him back and forth, and took a moment to peer around the apartment.
There was a dim light coming from Henry's bedroom, lighting up the apartment just enough so he could see the sparse and crappy furniture scattered around the room. There was a gross green armchair, a TV that Charles was pretty sure only came in black and white, and a crooked IKEA table and chair off in the "kitchen". Dirty dishes were piled in the sink, and Charles pressed his mouth in a firm line, resisting the urge to start tidying up.
Then he looked down at Henry. Even though the man was six feet tall, he looked so small and weak like this, his hair mussed up terribly and his frayed pajamas hanging off his bony body like they'd turn to shreds if Charles so much as touched them wrong. In the back of his mind, he wondered vaguely if Henry still kept his money in his mattress.
Charles shook the thought away and patted Henry's back more firmly. "Hey, Henry? I'm all for hugs anytime and anywhere, but do you mind if we go somewhere more comfortable?"
Without a sound, Henry backed off just enough to pull Charles into the bedroom, where he promptly fell on top of his lap as soon as Charles sat on the bed. Charles ran a hand through Henry's hair, smoothing it out only to rough it up a bit again with gentle scratching. Henry hummed at the touch, a more solid sound than earlier, so Charles took it as a sign to start talking.
"You know, I was having a crazy dream before I came over."
Henry hummed questioningly.
"Yeah, uh, I've actually had this dream before; it keeps happening, but I keep waking up before I find out what happens. I'm at the bottom of a hill near the ocean…"
Henry stilled a bit.
"I start climbing the hill, which is harder than it sounds! It's like I'm on the moon or something- anyway, I get to the top, and I see you there."
Henry peeked up at him. His eyes were red from crying, and there were dark circles under his eyes.
Charles held him more tightly. "You're standing near something, but I can never remember what it is, and right when you're about to say something… something happens, or I wake up, but I know that's not what the dream's supposed to be about. Weird, right?"
Henry's eyes flicked minutely around Charles' face, his lips parted as if there was something he wanted to say. After a moment, he closed his mouth, and sitting up enough that Charles could see, made a fist and dragged it in a tight circle over his heart. "SORRY."
"Aw, Henry," Charles chided gently. "You don't need to be sorry for anything. I don't mind coming out to help you when you need it. The late night jog helped clear my mind, anyway. Er, early morning jog, I guess, haha."
Henry frowned, then made two fists and circled them around in front of him like wheels. "BIKE?"
"Oh, no," Charles said quickly. "I didn't bike here, I just, uh… ran. The whole way."
Henry stared at him in horror, grabbing him by his shirt and shaking him feebly.
"Whoa, easy, Henry," Charles said, trying to take Henry's hands off of him. "It was hardly seven minutes; I didn't mind-"
Henry cut him off with a flurry of hand movements, most too shaky or over emphasized for him to catch. He got the jist of the scolding, though.
"Nothing happened, Henry, I promise," Charles said, gently holding Henry's hands. "Besides, it'll take a lot more than some street robber to kill me."
Henry pulled back at that, his eyes watering, and the whimpers started up again.
"Ah, shoot, I'm sorry Henry- I-I didn't mean to upset you…"
Henry pressed his face into Charles' chest again, and Charles could feel his lips moving against his shirt. It took him a second to understand what he was trying to whisper: don't die. Don't die. Don't die.
Realization hit Charles like a wave. Oh, Henry had been dreaming about… and that's why he…
Charles pulled Henry into another hug, falling back carefully until they were lying on the bed together. "Sorry," he mumbled into Henry's hair. "I'll be careful. I'm not going to leave you, I promise."
Henry sniffled, his breaths slowing down, and he fumbled with the blanket until he managed to pull it over their bodies, then proceeded to bury himself into Charles' warm body like a rabbit. Charles huffed a laugh at the mental imagery, before sighing deeply. The bed was not nearly as comfortable as his own, but it was hardly something to worry about. For Henry, he'd sleep anywhere, cuddle with Henry anywhere.
He blinked at the thought. He'd really do anything for Henry, wouldn't he? Run through the bad part of town without any means of protecting himself, lean against a wood door to support Henry's weight, sleep on the lumpiest mattress if it meant that Henry could sleep a little more soundly. Heck, he realized with a twisted feeling. He'd die for Henry, wouldn't he? …Not that Henry needed to know that. Not that it would come to that. If the thought of Charles being gone brought this chaotic, jolly man to his knees, then Charles would go out of his way to be careful, so they could be together for as long as possible.
Huh, Charles thought as his eyes drifted closed, that almost sounds like something someone in love would say. Haha, good thing that's not us. He peeked down at Henry, who was drooling a bit, and felt his heart skip a beat.
…Uh-oh.
Oops! You fell in love, Charles!
So, you can probably all guess, but Charles is dreaming about the Valiant Hero ending, sort of! Henry was too, but it was a lot more traumatic for him since he sort of knows the context. Charles' dream movements are based on my own; for some reason I fall through the world a lot, just like a video game. Climbing things is also pretty exhausting, like I can feel the effort versus how much progress I'm making, which is either almost none or not nearly enough.
Why does Henry still live in the bad part of town if he has a government job's pay check? I imagine that him being a former thief still leaves its mark on him, including being a little overly conscious of his spending. Old habits die hard, and yes, the mattress is so lumpy because Henry keeps cash in there. I imagine Charles has either offered to let Henry room with him, or would offer at some point in the future. Henry doesn't want to be a burden, though, so it's a point of contention in their relationship. Henry has to learn that it's okay to buy things that aren't the bare minimum quality because he works hard and earns an honest living now, and Charles has to learn that there are good reasons to be cautious about your money.
I saw a picture that referred to Henry as "that chaotic jolly freak" (paraphrasing), and I just think it's a really funny combination of words. I had to use it at some point or another.
Uh, anyway, that's it for today! I'll try to post Day 5's prompt on Day 5, but of course, things are liable to change on a whim, so we'll see how well that goes! Leave a review and tell me your thoughts on this one! I'll see you later; until then!
