Chapter 8
Henry laid in his bed, thinking about Charles.
He knew he liked the pilot. He liked the pilot a lot. Henry didn’t know what to do about it though. The thought of Charles not liking him back lingered in his mind. Henry didn’t even know how he would ask out the pilot, and if he did, where he would even take him.
Henry broke out of his thoughts as a knock sounded on his door, making him blink in surprise. Wondering who could it be, especially since it was midnight, Henry walked over to the door and opened it. He was surprised to see Charles.
“Hey… Sorry if I woke you, can I come in?” Charles asked, looking at him. Henry smiled softly, nodding.
“I wasn’t asleep anyway so sure,” Henry told him, letting the pilot into the room.
Charles quickly walked in and sat on the bed, leaving Henry to shut the door behind him before sitting beside his friend. “Sorry, I just can’t sleep and wanted some company. If you don’t want me in here I’ll go.” Charles apologized, making Henry set a hand on his shoulder gently, causing the pilot to look at him.
“Charles. I really don’t mind.” Henry told him. He couldn’t wait for when he got his throat fixed, as his dads have already scheduled the surgery. He hadn’t told Charles about it, planning to surprise the pilot with it when he could speak without pain. He really did miss speaking sometimes.
“Alright. What do you want to do then? I don’t think either of us will sleep for a while.” Charles confessed, making Henry smile before taking the pilot’s hand, ignoring the skip of his heart as Charles clasped his hand tightly.
Henry led Charles through the halls, they being void of life. Very few Toppats were awake right now. The only ones Henry could think of that would be up right now would be his dads, and their office was on the opposite side of the ship from where they were going.
Henry led Charles up a ladder, opening the hatch up top. The wind blew in his face as he watched Charlie look around in wonder, looking back at Henry.
“I used to go here all the time when I was younger and couldn’t sleep. The best view on the ship and no one will disturb us.” Henry told him, sitting down by the hatch and looking at the stars as the ship flew through the air.
“Whoa… This is amazing!” Charles told him, sitting beside Henry as he looked up in wonder. Henry smiled, glad to see the delight on his face.
The two of them sat in relative silence. Henry’s eyes tracing constellations he remembered from his childhood. He remembered coming out here almost every night to look at the stars. Sometimes his fathers would come out with him, just the three of them. Sometimes it would be him and Sven, the two of them being dorks and making up their own constellations.
Most of the time it was just him, gazing at the stars and wondering what was out there. Henry had wanted to be the leader of the Toppat spaceship division back then, whenever they ended up having one.
Now though, he just wanted to stay wherever Charles was.
“Say, Henry…” Charles trailed off, making Henry look over. “We should go back to our usual bar soon. Ya know when I’m not a captive and you aren’t on house arrest. I miss their nachos.” He told Henry, making Henry blink before laughing.
“Honestly? Same. That and their wings. Sometimes we go there just to eat. Jack’s food is awesome.” Henry replied, earning a grin from Charles.
“Yeah! One time we should take Ellie with us to try the food. Then again, I like it being just our spot.” Charles told him, smiling as Henry smiled back, feeling his cheeks warm at that.
“True. As long as we’re together though I don’t really care where we hang out.” Henry confessed, hoping the wind and cold explained his reddening face.
Charles looked at him and smiled, his face red from the wind as well. “Even if it’s in a jail cell? Or how about a deserted island with no way off? Or even a-!” Charles got cut off by Henry covering his mouth, smiling at the pilot warmly.
“All of that and more,” Henry told him softly, making Charles nod, smiling brightly and hug the thief.
Henry smiled, hugging back, enjoying the feeling of Charles in his arms before pulling away. “Come on. We’re going to get sick if we stay up here for much longer.” Henry told him, making Charles nod as the two of them climbed back down, their faces red from the wind and cold and maybe something else.
Neither realized that their hands were connected as they walked back to their rooms.