Hello, everyone! It's August 19th, so that means it's day one of Stick Ship Week 2024! Instead of doing a week's worth of one shots for each ship I like, I'm going to do a week with various ships featured throughout! Today, let's start with some good ol' Stickvin! The prompt for this one is: dancing! I'll see you at the bottom of the page!
"Hey, Henry? Not that I'm doubting you or anything, but uh… are you sure this plan will work?"
Henry took a second to peer around the hedge one more time before turning back to Charles and nodding. The two of them were currently hiding on the edge of a hedge garden in the side yard of a mansion, the air thick with the scent of roses and leaves and smoke. Every window in the mansion was lit brightly, and the whole building seemed to quake with each bassy pound of music coming from within. A few people were milling about the front driveway of the mansion, though most people made a direct beeline for the front door. All of them were wearing top hats.
To the untrained eye, this was just a fancy party for fancy people in a fancy place, but something darker was going on. These people were all members of the Toppat Clan, a group of "gentlemanly" thieves whose exploits had been carrying on for years around the world. Money, politics, power; the Toppats had a finger in every possible pie there was, and it was a massive thorn in the government's side. More like a wooden stake, really.
Henry Stickmin, a former thief himself, had been assigned with his covert ops partner, Charles Calvin, to infiltrate this particular party in the hopes of retrieving any information that could be used to weaken the clan's grip on the world. That meant there would be a lot of sneaking and quick thinking involved… Henry's specialties.
Charles Calvin was a pilot, a veteran despite his young age, who could operate a helicopter more skillfully than most people could operate a toaster. Unfortunately, the sky was perfectly clear and starry tonight. That meant no helicopters or flying of any sort, leaving Charles to act as Henry's backup on the ground. Less so his specialty.
"I still think my plan was pretty good," Charles mumbled. Henry fixed him with a look. "Flying a helicopter into the place was a perfect plan!" He insisted, "if it weren't for this darn perfect weather, it would have been the greatest plan ever!"
Henry patted him on the shoulder twice, then gestured towards the mansion. There was a crowd of Toppats making their way towards the front entrance, and they'd be passing by the hedge garden by coincidence. If they didn't go now, they likely wouldn't have another opportunity to sneak inside undetected.
Charles sighed, picking at his clothes relentlessly. "I know you're right, I just… don't like the way these clothes fit me. Especially this dumb hat!"
Henry, personally, found that the rich maroon suit fit Charles quite well- especially in the back- but agreed that without his headphones, Charles didn't look like himself at all. For the life of him, Henry had been unable to figure out a way to make a top hat fit around the pilot's famous red headphones. His attempts resulted mostly in torn fabric and a hole in the mission's budget, until the General had put his foot down and insisted on the matching maroon top hat with the thin white trim ribbon around the base.
Henry wore a similar suit, though it was midnight blue instead of maroon, and the top hat had a yellow band around the base. He kind of wished he could customize it a little more- maybe stick an H on there or something- but Galeforce had said it was too obvious. So, here the two of them were, all dressed up and one place to go, and their ticket inside was approaching very quickly. Henry lightly slapped Charles' hands away from himself and signed a quick you look good, hurry.
Charles nodded, a surprisingly grim smile on his face. "Okay," he muttered, more to himself than anything. "Here we go, aw yeah, time to get the show on the road, let's-" Henry grabbed Charles' hand and pulled him out from behind the bush just as the group of Toppats passed by, dragging him along to follow in the group's footsteps. They were close enough for most to consider them part of the bunch, but far enough away that no one particularly noticed their appearance aside from a few glances back at them. Charles eventually found his footing and pouted at Henry. "I was hyping myself up!" He whispered.
You can get hyped later.
"That's- that's not how it works-"
Henry pressed a finger to his lips and gave him another look. Charles sighed and rolled his shoulders back, adjusting his top hat with his free hand and squeezing Henry's with the other. His palm was a bit clammy; was he really that unconfident with on-foot missions?
The group burst through the entrance's massive doors, greeting the other guests jovially before splitting off to do their own things. Their hellos were met with equally jovial acknowledgments, cheers and toasts and friendly banter. Henry was a bit surprised at how lax everyone seemed to be, but there was no sense in lowering his guard. With the Toppats, anything could happen.
The inside of the mansion was big, a shiny ballroom with two sets of stairs on the sides of the room leading up to a balcony at the top, as well as another set of doors. Under the balcony were even more doors, propped open and leading into a large sitting room, crowded with fancy couches and coffee tables covered in food and drink. Every seat was occupied, with many people standing to chat with their fellow clan members. The ballroom was also filled with people, most of them dotted around the edges of the room while the central space was occupied with dancing couples. The pounding music seemed to be coming from hidden speakers; Henry couldn't see a source anywhere.
Charles tensed as they entered the room, and Henry had to pull him towards an empty corner of the room so that they didn't block traffic. You okay? He signed.
Charles nodded, though there wasn't much conviction behind the motion. "It's nothing," he said unconvincingly. Henry noticed that he kept bringing his hand up towards his head, only to lower it back down suddenly, like a flinch. Henry took both of Charles' hands and rubbed them between his. They really were clammy.
Charles blinked his eyes forcefully, clearly trying to refocus. "The map said the offices were on the second floor, right? Everyone's gonna notice if we go up these stairs, so there's gotta be more somewhere-"
A woman burst out laughing nearby, and Charles flinched harshly at the sound, shoulders raised up to his ears. Henry tugged his hands more gently and stared into his eyes, pouring every bit of concern he had into his gaze. Charles bit his lip, then sighed in defeat. "It's really nothing, it's just… I've never liked parties, you know? Super loud, and all that. Too much going on. But also…" He pulled a hand free and raised it up to his ear again, only to stop short and lower it again. "I wear my headphones so much that not having them on makes me itch. It's like a phantom pain, you know? I don't feel right without them."
Henry tilted his head questioningly. "No, I didn't tell the General, I mean… What would I say? It's not a real problem, I can deal with it-" Henry tugged him down with enough force to bump their foreheads together. "Ow," Charles said, clearly more in surprise than in pain. "What was that for-?"
Henry kept their heads pressed together, staring up into his eyes. He opened the palm of Charles' hand and firmly tapped out a series of patterns: Morse code. If it affects you this much, then it is a real problem. Tell me next time, okay?
Charles felt the message silently for a moment, then sighed. "Okay, yeah. I'll let you know if it happens again. Not that I can do much about it right now…" Henry flicked his eyes over Charles, chewing his lip absently. Was there really nothing he could do to make Charles feel better? He'd failed at fixing Charles' hat to let him wear his headphones, so what other options did he have?
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small electronic device with a tiny screen and a single round control stick. He nodded to himself, slowly becoming more confident in his plan. He locked eyes with Charles, who stared at him with confusion as he signed, I have an idea. Trust me.
"Um, okay?" He began to match Henry's nods. "Yeah, I trust you, Hen. What's the plan?"
Henry began to fiddle with the device in his hands, pressing down on the control stick to turn it on before rotating this way and that. The screen darkened and he clicked the control stick again. A series of pictures appeared onscreen, and he toggled through them until he found one he recognized. He clicked and held the control stick one more time, then shoved the device back into his pocket.
The music stopped for less than a second before kicking back on, though instead of the bassy jam that had been playing before, the music was now a charming little slow-dance song. The Toppats tittered, a mix of annoyance and excitement evident in their voices, and there was movement on the dance floor as some couples left and others joined in.
Charles' shoulders relaxed just a bit. "Music jammer?" He asked.
Something like that, Henry signed back. Follow me. Without waiting for a response, he pulled Charles towards the center of the dance floor.
Instantly, his shoulders hitched up again. "Uh, wait, I don't-"
Henry turned to face Charles and pressed his hands firmly but gently against his ears. Then he began to sway, staring up at the stunned pilot before him. Charles slowly eased into the movement, setting his hands on Henry's hips and swaying along with him. He closed his eyes, a small smile forming on his lips, uncertain but warm.
Henry's heart fluttered at the sight, drawing his partner across the dance floor in gentle, sweeping movements that looked and felt simple, but held the both of them in a deep embrace. And if Henry felt a little smug when some of the Toppats glanced at them with jealousy or longing… well. He'd always been a bit prideful, especially when he had something no one else did.
The music eventually drifted to a stop, and the crowd of Toppats applauded politely. Just as the music was about to shift back to what it had been before, Henry deftly pulled Charles through a door near the back of the room and ushered him to a small alcove. Charles blinked at the sudden shift in atmosphere, and stared wide-eyed at Henry.
The hallway they were in was dark, with a few electric lights along the walls bathing everything in a pale blue light. The walls and distance had muffled the music greatly, and Henry slowly removed his hands from Charles' head and onto his shoulders. "Better?" He mouthed.
Charles' cheeks darkened a bit. "Yeah… yeah. Way better." He began to smile, a toothier one that more properly matched his sunny disposition. "Thanks, Henry; your plan was great. Maybe even one of the greatest plans!"
Henry chuckled silently, then gestured further down the dark hall. Shall we?
Charles grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "We heckin' shall." The two of them snickered as they hurried further into the depths of the mansion.
I bet you were expecting pure fluff, huh? Nope! You get HURT/COMFORT, and you like it!
Have you ever had an object that you keep with you all the time, and when you don't have it, you feel panicky and nervous because you know something important is missing? That's what Charles is dealing with right here, as well as his sensitivity to noise. His headphones are practically an extension of himself! You can't just get rid of a part of yourself and expect everything to feel fine, you know?
Henry's device is... probably not something that exists, but this is fiction, so it's okay. Basically it found the source of the music (likely someone's playlist connected to a hidden speaker), then selected a slower song from the playlist and forced the music to change to song early. The playlist would continue like normal from there. Just a neat little thing I thought of myself; I'm actually kind of proud of how I came up with that.
Alrighty, that's it for today! See you tomorrow for the next day of Stick Ship Week 2024! Until then!