Halloween Special of Doom - Part Six
Summary: Howard and Vince do some overdue talking, Naboo catches them in a compromising situation, and Tony Harrison is a ballbag.
Word Count: 2,245
Rating: PG
Warnings: Some infrequent mildly fluffly language
Howard rested his hands awkwardly in his lap and twiddled his thumbs as he watched Vince desperately trying to encourage the last stubborn pieces of his friend to thaw. There were so many words that he desperately wanted to say, to try and heal the rift that had been growing between them for some time, and yet none of them were the right ones. He was so desperate not to make things any worse between them that he was terrified to say anything at all, but where he'd usually have run away from the confined space of the antique bathroom and offered Vince some lousy excuse in exchange (he had never been as good as Vince at making excuses - his imagination was no match for the Sunshine Kid's technicolour mental imaging faculties - and he could never quite strike the balance between plausible and fantastical), he was forced to stay put on the rickety little chair that he'd found in the adjacent room. He wanted to start a crimp, to feel his heart was beating in sync with Vince's, to feel like they were still the same as they had been at the Zooniverse, to reassure himself that Vince wasn't drifting away from him and that one day he'd wake up alone and cold, forever to live under the shadow of a stormcloud without his sunshine.
"Vince," he began before he'd even realised what he was doing, just to see those magnificent blue eyes looking at him for once. He made a strangled sound in his throat as he panicked, searching for something to say that wouldn't upset Vince even more. "uh, I know I said it before but, uh, I really am sorry about Charlie." He felt Vince's eyes burning into him, the gaze that usually made him feel special and warm inside now setting his stomach churning and his chest tightening. He knew that he was in the wrong, seriously in the wrong, but that did nothing to ease his nerves. If anything, it made them worse. Vince held even more of the cards than usual, and Howard could do nothing but resign himself to whatever Vince's judgement would be.
"I know," Vince said softly, and Howard's heart almost stopped. Vince wasn't shouting, at least not yet, and he couldn't decide whether this was better or worse. Vince's emotions usually showed so clearly: when he was angry, he'd shout; when he was upset, he'd cry; when he was happy, he'd positively beam as he smiled. "I know y'didn't mean it, 'Oward." Vince looked away after that, his attention turning back to the bubblegum creature who was gradually thawing. Howard felt a pang of guilt and a gut-wrenching fear that maybe he'd crossed one line too far this time. Charlie had been Vince's friend too, and although he wasn't exactly human they'd clearly shared something quite special if his disappearance had affected him in this way. He bit his lip and dug his nails into his palms as he thought about the times they'd had particularly explosive falling outs, when Vince had run away into the night just to get away from Howard and surround himself with happier people. Vince and Charlie never argued - in fact, Charlie seemed to do nothing but make Vince happy. Howard felt sick. Standing up, he wrung his hands together before striding over to the edge of the bath where his dark-haired companion was perched.
"Can I do anything to help?" he asked, sitting on the edge of the bath and forcing down nausea as he looked at Charlie's shapeless bubblegum form. "Howard Moon is a man of action, yessir, with many skills-"
His spiel was cut off by Vince, who reached out with an ice-cold hand and touched his palm. His eyes sparkled with what looked like a return to normal and yet below the surface, Howard could see the raw hurt and grief at having come so close to losing Charlie. His fingers curled around Vince's tiny cold hand, an automatic reaction, and Howard immediately stiffened. Surely that wasn't something that best friends did, especially best friends who'd just fallen out? Wrenching his hand back, he looked down at the floor apologetically, but Vince grabbed his wrist in a surprisingly strong grip and threaded his fingers through the gaps between Howard's. He fought the urge to squeeze his tiny eyes shut, instead keeping them fixed on Vince's blue orbs and searching them for any explanation as he felt all the blood in his body rushing away from his head.
"Your hands are warmer than mine," Vince explained simply as Howard began to shift awkwardly, trying to hide himself from Vince's attentions. It had been all he had wanted just a few short minutes ago, and yet now he couldn't help but feel hopelessly inadequate under the spotlight of Vince's perfect gaze.
"Let me," Howard said, slipping his hand from Vince's and noting the almost sad look he gained in return before it was covered by Vince's mask. He winced and tried not to look at what he was doing as he sunk both hands into the freezing cold goop that had once been, and hopefully would soon be again, Charlie. He couldn't help but squeeze his eyes shut as he rummaged around in the viscous liquid, searching for the solid cuboid form of Naboo’s book. The bath was deeper than he’d expected, and he had to lean over quite far before his fingers even brushed the porcelain surface of the bath’s bottom. He shrieked in surprise as he felt something connect with his side, and then he was falling into the bathtub.
He didn’t know how, but Howard had managed to fall in a way that meant his entire body had been submerged in Charlie’s bubblegum-scented goop. He broke the surface with flailing arms and a mouth that was gasping for air, and his first thought was for Vince. Whoever had attacked Howard might have rounded on Vince afterwards, he thought, and panic rose in his throat as he had to fight against the sticky viscosity of Charlie to turn towards where he thought Vince had last been. He was relieved to see that Vince was unharmed, and then confused as to why it’d only been him that’d been attacked. Was this some sort of revenge attack from Charlie? Was he supposed to have banged his head and drowned in the Hubba-Bubba Nightmare? But he was Howard Moon, and Howard T.J. Moon did not get knocked out by forces of evil, no sir. He’d come at his assailant with his legendary Jazzercise moves!
“‘Oward, I’m so sorry! I din’ mean for you to fall in!”
He gritted his teeth and tried not to shout at Vince for being so childish when the fate of the entire world was in their hands, clenching and unclenching his fists under the surface. All thoughts of chastising Vince fled from his mind, though, as he looked up to see Vince’s horrified look as he loomed over the tub. His blue eyes seemed to melt Howard’s frustration, and Howard caught himself just staring up at Vince.
Determined to break the silence, he chuckled softly before speaking. “I guess I deserved that one, little man. I’ve not been the perfect gentleman lately, I know.”
Vince’s eyes sparkled and he beamed down at Howard before offering an arm to help to pull him from the bath. He’d been expecting him to retreat into himself as he’d been doing so often lately, to be angry and irritated and upset where before they might’ve laughed or crimped about it. The return to the Howard that he knew and loved, even if it was only temporary, was almost worth having to sacrifice Charlie for.
Instead of taking Vince’s hand, Howard reached down for the thick tome that he could feel pressing against his leg and hauled it out of the pink sludge, passing it up to Vince, who, surprised by its weight, almost dropped it onto the floor at his feet before reaching back to help Howard.
The bubblegum wasn’t giving up easily though, and Vince felt himself wondering whether it would’ve been easier to get Howard out of quicksand than this. He was stood up, leaning back into the contact and bracing his feet against the side of the bath, when Howard finally sprung free from the merciless grasp of the pink goo with a satisfying slurp. The resulting momentum sent them sprawling on the bare boards of the bathroom floor, Howard’s body almost covering Vince’s completely and leaving both of them in helpless fits of giggles. It was just like old times, and neither of them really wanted the moment to end, even if they did have to save the world.
“Am I interrupting something?” Howard could hear the questioning raise of Naboo’s eyebrow in his voice and he felt his cheeks burning red as he rolled over to face the shaman. “I’m glad to see you’ve made up, at least,” the shaman said, reaching for the book that lay discarded beside the bath and choosing to say nothing more. He could hear Howard and Vince shuffling around behind him as he hauled the heavy tome from the floor and onto the chair, and when he turned around they’d disentangled their limbs and Vince looked immensely proud of himself although Howard was still looking somewhat sheepish.
Flipping open the cover, Naboo was ready to congratulate them on a job well done when the first page caught his eye. Instead of instructions for spells and charms, the shaman recognised Tony Harrison’s childish scrawl across the page. “What the fuck?” he growled as he tried to decipher the almost illegible hand across the page.
‘Naboo,
What you did last night was unacceptable. Mrs Harrison was away for the weekend, and I was really getting somewhere with Cynthia - she was very eager, actually, if you get my drift. You had absolutely no reason to come marching over all high and mighty and inform her that I was married. What are Board Curry Nights for if not for the opportunity for a cheeky something on the side? We were on a different planet, for Pete’s sake, how was she ever going to find out?
I’ve taken the liberty of removing most of these spells for you to teach you not to get involved in the future when a man is on the pull.
Tony.’
Naboo slammed the book shut and kicked the side of the bath twice, hard. What a ballbag Tony was - he’d make sure to bring this up at the next meeting, if there even was a next meeting. Sighing, he turned to Vince and Howard with a resigned look of acceptance.
“Looks like we’re going to have to take this guy down old school.” Naboo began, cracking his knuckles in the way that Howard hated but had never dared point out. “Odds are that there might be another copy of this book at the Council, so Charlie and Howard can look for that. Vince, you can come with me and help to drum up some reinforcements - we might need them.” The shaman pretended not to see the stricken look that his flatmates shared at the notion of splitting up, instead turning away from them and looking down to inspect the state of Charlie.
While his back was turned, Vince took the opportunity to throw his arms around Howard’s waist and pull him into a hug. “Keep safe,” he murmured after a few moments of just listening to the beat of Howard’s heart, “I want you back in one piece.”
Naboo chanted some unintelligible verses over the bathtub, waving his hands above the surface of the goop in a mystical fashion. In fact, none of it was necessary to reanimate the bubblegum beast, but he wanted to give Howard and Vince some time to say goodbye before they set out on what might be the most dangerous adventure either of them had ever been on. Perhaps they’d finally sort out whatever was wrong between them, too, or confess that their feelings for the other might, in fact, be more than just a friendship. He’d made a bet, a fairly large bet, with Bollo nearly a twelve months ago that they’d not do it in the next year and although he’d quite like the gorilla to have to pay up, it might be worth it to stop them arguing all the time.
Deciding that he’d given them as much time as he could, he pulled the liquid into a shape that vaguely resembled Charlie before imbuing it with its previous spirit. He heard Vince make a strangled sound of joy behind him at the reappearance of his friend and the sunshine kid rushed to his side.
“Come on, we don’t have much time left,” Naboo spoke, gesturing for Howard to step into the bathtub alongside Charlie. Howard grudgingly obliged, standing as far away from Charlie as he physically could in the confined space. “Good luck!” The shaman said, before clicking his fingers and sending them off with a puff of smoke.
“Look after him, Charlie,” Vince said after them, reaching out to touch the space where Howard had been standing. Naboo looked up at him with a fondness that he reserved for Vince, the Jungle Child who never failed to brighten the darkest of situations, before taking his hand and magicking them away.
Word Count: 2,245
Rating: PG
Warnings: Some infrequent mildly fluffly language
Howard rested his hands awkwardly in his lap and twiddled his thumbs as he watched Vince desperately trying to encourage the last stubborn pieces of his friend to thaw. There were so many words that he desperately wanted to say, to try and heal the rift that had been growing between them for some time, and yet none of them were the right ones. He was so desperate not to make things any worse between them that he was terrified to say anything at all, but where he'd usually have run away from the confined space of the antique bathroom and offered Vince some lousy excuse in exchange (he had never been as good as Vince at making excuses - his imagination was no match for the Sunshine Kid's technicolour mental imaging faculties - and he could never quite strike the balance between plausible and fantastical), he was forced to stay put on the rickety little chair that he'd found in the adjacent room. He wanted to start a crimp, to feel his heart was beating in sync with Vince's, to feel like they were still the same as they had been at the Zooniverse, to reassure himself that Vince wasn't drifting away from him and that one day he'd wake up alone and cold, forever to live under the shadow of a stormcloud without his sunshine.
"Vince," he began before he'd even realised what he was doing, just to see those magnificent blue eyes looking at him for once. He made a strangled sound in his throat as he panicked, searching for something to say that wouldn't upset Vince even more. "uh, I know I said it before but, uh, I really am sorry about Charlie." He felt Vince's eyes burning into him, the gaze that usually made him feel special and warm inside now setting his stomach churning and his chest tightening. He knew that he was in the wrong, seriously in the wrong, but that did nothing to ease his nerves. If anything, it made them worse. Vince held even more of the cards than usual, and Howard could do nothing but resign himself to whatever Vince's judgement would be.
"I know," Vince said softly, and Howard's heart almost stopped. Vince wasn't shouting, at least not yet, and he couldn't decide whether this was better or worse. Vince's emotions usually showed so clearly: when he was angry, he'd shout; when he was upset, he'd cry; when he was happy, he'd positively beam as he smiled. "I know y'didn't mean it, 'Oward." Vince looked away after that, his attention turning back to the bubblegum creature who was gradually thawing. Howard felt a pang of guilt and a gut-wrenching fear that maybe he'd crossed one line too far this time. Charlie had been Vince's friend too, and although he wasn't exactly human they'd clearly shared something quite special if his disappearance had affected him in this way. He bit his lip and dug his nails into his palms as he thought about the times they'd had particularly explosive falling outs, when Vince had run away into the night just to get away from Howard and surround himself with happier people. Vince and Charlie never argued - in fact, Charlie seemed to do nothing but make Vince happy. Howard felt sick. Standing up, he wrung his hands together before striding over to the edge of the bath where his dark-haired companion was perched.
"Can I do anything to help?" he asked, sitting on the edge of the bath and forcing down nausea as he looked at Charlie's shapeless bubblegum form. "Howard Moon is a man of action, yessir, with many skills-"
His spiel was cut off by Vince, who reached out with an ice-cold hand and touched his palm. His eyes sparkled with what looked like a return to normal and yet below the surface, Howard could see the raw hurt and grief at having come so close to losing Charlie. His fingers curled around Vince's tiny cold hand, an automatic reaction, and Howard immediately stiffened. Surely that wasn't something that best friends did, especially best friends who'd just fallen out? Wrenching his hand back, he looked down at the floor apologetically, but Vince grabbed his wrist in a surprisingly strong grip and threaded his fingers through the gaps between Howard's. He fought the urge to squeeze his tiny eyes shut, instead keeping them fixed on Vince's blue orbs and searching them for any explanation as he felt all the blood in his body rushing away from his head.
"Your hands are warmer than mine," Vince explained simply as Howard began to shift awkwardly, trying to hide himself from Vince's attentions. It had been all he had wanted just a few short minutes ago, and yet now he couldn't help but feel hopelessly inadequate under the spotlight of Vince's perfect gaze.
"Let me," Howard said, slipping his hand from Vince's and noting the almost sad look he gained in return before it was covered by Vince's mask. He winced and tried not to look at what he was doing as he sunk both hands into the freezing cold goop that had once been, and hopefully would soon be again, Charlie. He couldn't help but squeeze his eyes shut as he rummaged around in the viscous liquid, searching for the solid cuboid form of Naboo’s book. The bath was deeper than he’d expected, and he had to lean over quite far before his fingers even brushed the porcelain surface of the bath’s bottom. He shrieked in surprise as he felt something connect with his side, and then he was falling into the bathtub.
He didn’t know how, but Howard had managed to fall in a way that meant his entire body had been submerged in Charlie’s bubblegum-scented goop. He broke the surface with flailing arms and a mouth that was gasping for air, and his first thought was for Vince. Whoever had attacked Howard might have rounded on Vince afterwards, he thought, and panic rose in his throat as he had to fight against the sticky viscosity of Charlie to turn towards where he thought Vince had last been. He was relieved to see that Vince was unharmed, and then confused as to why it’d only been him that’d been attacked. Was this some sort of revenge attack from Charlie? Was he supposed to have banged his head and drowned in the Hubba-Bubba Nightmare? But he was Howard Moon, and Howard T.J. Moon did not get knocked out by forces of evil, no sir. He’d come at his assailant with his legendary Jazzercise moves!
“‘Oward, I’m so sorry! I din’ mean for you to fall in!”
He gritted his teeth and tried not to shout at Vince for being so childish when the fate of the entire world was in their hands, clenching and unclenching his fists under the surface. All thoughts of chastising Vince fled from his mind, though, as he looked up to see Vince’s horrified look as he loomed over the tub. His blue eyes seemed to melt Howard’s frustration, and Howard caught himself just staring up at Vince.
Determined to break the silence, he chuckled softly before speaking. “I guess I deserved that one, little man. I’ve not been the perfect gentleman lately, I know.”
Vince’s eyes sparkled and he beamed down at Howard before offering an arm to help to pull him from the bath. He’d been expecting him to retreat into himself as he’d been doing so often lately, to be angry and irritated and upset where before they might’ve laughed or crimped about it. The return to the Howard that he knew and loved, even if it was only temporary, was almost worth having to sacrifice Charlie for.
Instead of taking Vince’s hand, Howard reached down for the thick tome that he could feel pressing against his leg and hauled it out of the pink sludge, passing it up to Vince, who, surprised by its weight, almost dropped it onto the floor at his feet before reaching back to help Howard.
The bubblegum wasn’t giving up easily though, and Vince felt himself wondering whether it would’ve been easier to get Howard out of quicksand than this. He was stood up, leaning back into the contact and bracing his feet against the side of the bath, when Howard finally sprung free from the merciless grasp of the pink goo with a satisfying slurp. The resulting momentum sent them sprawling on the bare boards of the bathroom floor, Howard’s body almost covering Vince’s completely and leaving both of them in helpless fits of giggles. It was just like old times, and neither of them really wanted the moment to end, even if they did have to save the world.
“Am I interrupting something?” Howard could hear the questioning raise of Naboo’s eyebrow in his voice and he felt his cheeks burning red as he rolled over to face the shaman. “I’m glad to see you’ve made up, at least,” the shaman said, reaching for the book that lay discarded beside the bath and choosing to say nothing more. He could hear Howard and Vince shuffling around behind him as he hauled the heavy tome from the floor and onto the chair, and when he turned around they’d disentangled their limbs and Vince looked immensely proud of himself although Howard was still looking somewhat sheepish.
Flipping open the cover, Naboo was ready to congratulate them on a job well done when the first page caught his eye. Instead of instructions for spells and charms, the shaman recognised Tony Harrison’s childish scrawl across the page. “What the fuck?” he growled as he tried to decipher the almost illegible hand across the page.
‘Naboo,
What you did last night was unacceptable. Mrs Harrison was away for the weekend, and I was really getting somewhere with Cynthia - she was very eager, actually, if you get my drift. You had absolutely no reason to come marching over all high and mighty and inform her that I was married. What are Board Curry Nights for if not for the opportunity for a cheeky something on the side? We were on a different planet, for Pete’s sake, how was she ever going to find out?
I’ve taken the liberty of removing most of these spells for you to teach you not to get involved in the future when a man is on the pull.
Tony.’
Naboo slammed the book shut and kicked the side of the bath twice, hard. What a ballbag Tony was - he’d make sure to bring this up at the next meeting, if there even was a next meeting. Sighing, he turned to Vince and Howard with a resigned look of acceptance.
“Looks like we’re going to have to take this guy down old school.” Naboo began, cracking his knuckles in the way that Howard hated but had never dared point out. “Odds are that there might be another copy of this book at the Council, so Charlie and Howard can look for that. Vince, you can come with me and help to drum up some reinforcements - we might need them.” The shaman pretended not to see the stricken look that his flatmates shared at the notion of splitting up, instead turning away from them and looking down to inspect the state of Charlie.
While his back was turned, Vince took the opportunity to throw his arms around Howard’s waist and pull him into a hug. “Keep safe,” he murmured after a few moments of just listening to the beat of Howard’s heart, “I want you back in one piece.”
Naboo chanted some unintelligible verses over the bathtub, waving his hands above the surface of the goop in a mystical fashion. In fact, none of it was necessary to reanimate the bubblegum beast, but he wanted to give Howard and Vince some time to say goodbye before they set out on what might be the most dangerous adventure either of them had ever been on. Perhaps they’d finally sort out whatever was wrong between them, too, or confess that their feelings for the other might, in fact, be more than just a friendship. He’d made a bet, a fairly large bet, with Bollo nearly a twelve months ago that they’d not do it in the next year and although he’d quite like the gorilla to have to pay up, it might be worth it to stop them arguing all the time.
Deciding that he’d given them as much time as he could, he pulled the liquid into a shape that vaguely resembled Charlie before imbuing it with its previous spirit. He heard Vince make a strangled sound of joy behind him at the reappearance of his friend and the sunshine kid rushed to his side.
“Come on, we don’t have much time left,” Naboo spoke, gesturing for Howard to step into the bathtub alongside Charlie. Howard grudgingly obliged, standing as far away from Charlie as he physically could in the confined space. “Good luck!” The shaman said, before clicking his fingers and sending them off with a puff of smoke.
“Look after him, Charlie,” Vince said after them, reaching out to touch the space where Howard had been standing. Naboo looked up at him with a fondness that he reserved for Vince, the Jungle Child who never failed to brighten the darkest of situations, before taking his hand and magicking them away.