[ It’s almost 1AM, silver light slanting across the floor, and Raleigh's picking his way carefully across the creaking floorboards of his and Yancy’s shared bedroom. He doesn’t want to wake Yancy up – Yancy needs the sleep for the early shift in the diner tomorrow morning, and when Raleigh gets close enough to look, Raleigh sees the dark bruises under his eyes, the unhappy slant of his mouth.
Yancy’s taken to fighting with Jazmine a lot lately, and it seems to suck all energy out of him every time. Takes the energy out of Raleigh, too. Tonight had been witness to a particularly bad one – mostly furious whisper-shouts in the kitchen, quiet so as to not disturb Mom in her bedroom – and Raleigh is exhausted, but all his attempts at sleep have been thus far unsuccessful.
Raleigh goes downstairs, as silent as he can manage, and leaves through the front door. Chuck’s house is just across the street, so it makes sense, in that moment, to go there next.
He hasn’t climbed trees since he was twelve, so it takes him a while to scale the thing up to Chuck’s second-story window. A light inside is on, thank fuck, so Raleigh balances himself better on the branch, rapping on the window pane until he’s sure he has Chuck’s attention. When Chuck’s looking, Raleigh mouths, hey, dicksmack, open up. ]
[You have got to be the stupidest fucking person on the entire planet, Raleigh Becket.
Chuck stares at him through the window for the longest time because what are you doing in his tree when there's a perfectly good front door and his dad isn't home for the record but even if he was, it's not like Chuck would give an actual fuck about waking him up.
Though, better question, why are you here at all Raleigh, do you know what time it is?
He gets up after a moment and does open the window but blocks it pretty well to keep Raleigh from muscling his way inside.]
[ Charge your phone sometime, Hansen, and maybe he'll be updated.
Raleigh makes a move to climb inside as soon as Chuck opens the window, but then he's blocked again by Chuck's bulk, so Raleigh rocks back on his heels, scowling. He can see the roof of Chuck's house from here, but not the ground -- which is a little worrying, because he doesn't know how climb back down. ]
Shove over and let me in. It's cold. [ Raleigh pauses. He visibly brightens. ] Not gonna leave me hanging, are you?
[That does not explain why or how the fuck Raleigh got into his tree. So what if his phone is dead, it's still one in the morning and you're bothering him.]
[ You were awake anyway, asshole, and don't make him climb the damn tree again. Belatedly, Raleigh's starting to feel pretty stupid for doing this.
Raleigh's smile dims, but he's valiantly clinging onto his dignity, so he reaches over the gap of air with the intent to push at Chuck's shoulder. Rethinking that, he aborts, quickly grabbing at the branch again. ] I couldn't sleep.
[For fuck's sake, don't fall. Chuck wants to deal with Raleigh falling out of the tree and breaking something less than he wants Raleigh in his room right now, so he reaches out and offers him a hand to help himself inside with.]
Yeah, well. I didn't know if your dad was home. Wasn't gonna risk waking him up at one in the morning either, remember last time? [ Because that had been an experience.
Raleigh takes Chuck's hand and, with a foot planted firmly on the branch he's been clinging to, climbs through Chuck's window. ]
[Once Raleigh's inside the room, Chuck lets go of him, because they're not going to do girly shit like hold hands just because they make out sometimes and now Raleigh's decided that he's coming over tonight.]
[ Chuck lets go of him like Raleigh's a hot stove, or something. Raleigh barely suppresses the urge to roll his eyes, unused to being the most mature one in the room. ]
Would've been a hell of a lot funnier if your dad had a longer bathrobe.
[ Stew on that, Hansen. Now that he's inside, Raleigh glances over the room, zeroing on a textbook propped open on the table. ] You done with that?
[Chuck heaves a sigh like he knows that he's going to lose this one and it's just a matter of time and his life is utter pain for having to deal with Raleigh Becket.]
[ Raleigh, as usual, remains totally oblivious. When Raleigh's finished toeing off his shoes and nudging them under the bed with a heel, he looks up, hands resting on his knees.
Abruptly, those hands go into his sweatshirt pocket and pull out a bottle of whiskey. ]
[Chuck is seriously starting to doubt that Raleigh couldn't sleep and that he was just horny and wanted to come over, get a little tipsy and feel him up. Which is-- not totally unacceptable or unappealing but like fuck is he going to walk into Becket's plan.]
[ It’s not just the making out part of the evening that Raleigh’s after. Chuck’s sarcastic and stubborn and mean with his humor, which Raleigh inexplicably delights in rather than shies away from, and it’s something that Raleigh sort of -- needs right now.
A distraction. ]
It‘s all Yancy had in the cabinet. [ He's about to crack the cap open in a practiced move with his ring, but he pauses. ] But if you’ve got something better, by all means, share.
[There isn't anything better in the Hansen household. Either Herc doesn't drink that much or--more likely-- he doesn't trust that Chuck won't break into the cabinet and steal it while he's gone and he's right to assume that.
[ So he cracks the bottle open with his ring and passes the whole thing over to Chuck, thumbing the cap in between his fingers. ]
Taste test. [ He smiles up at Chuck, purposefully guileless. Yancy's taste in alcohol isn't so great, to be honest, but Chuck doesn't know Raleigh agrees with him on that. ]
[It's pretty much what Chuck expected, harsh the entire way down but nothing he can't handle. Obviously Raleigh will bitch because he's a little girl.]
[Chuck keeps the bottle out of Raleigh's reach as he goes to grab a flat, half empty can of soda off his desk so he can pass both over at the same time. Enjoy that Raleigh.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
teen normal au!
[ It’s almost 1AM, silver light slanting across the floor, and Raleigh's picking his way carefully across the creaking floorboards of his and Yancy’s shared bedroom. He doesn’t want to wake Yancy up – Yancy needs the sleep for the early shift in the diner tomorrow morning, and when Raleigh gets close enough to look, Raleigh sees the dark bruises under his eyes, the unhappy slant of his mouth.
Yancy’s taken to fighting with Jazmine a lot lately, and it seems to suck all energy out of him every time. Takes the energy out of Raleigh, too. Tonight had been witness to a particularly bad one – mostly furious whisper-shouts in the kitchen, quiet so as to not disturb Mom in her bedroom – and Raleigh is exhausted, but all his attempts at sleep have been thus far unsuccessful.
Raleigh goes downstairs, as silent as he can manage, and leaves through the front door. Chuck’s house is just across the street, so it makes sense, in that moment, to go there next.
He hasn’t climbed trees since he was twelve, so it takes him a while to scale the thing up to Chuck’s second-story window. A light inside is on, thank fuck, so Raleigh balances himself better on the branch, rapping on the window pane until he’s sure he has Chuck’s attention. When Chuck’s looking, Raleigh mouths, hey, dicksmack, open up. ]
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Chuck stares at him through the window for the longest time because what are you doing in his tree when there's a perfectly good front door and his dad isn't home for the record but even if he was, it's not like Chuck would give an actual fuck about waking him up.
Though, better question, why are you here at all Raleigh, do you know what time it is?
He gets up after a moment and does open the window but blocks it pretty well to keep Raleigh from muscling his way inside.]
This isn't a drive thru you fucking idiot.
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Raleigh makes a move to climb inside as soon as Chuck opens the window, but then he's blocked again by Chuck's bulk, so Raleigh rocks back on his heels, scowling. He can see the roof of Chuck's house from here, but not the ground -- which is a little worrying, because he doesn't know how climb back down. ]
Shove over and let me in. It's cold. [ Raleigh pauses. He visibly brightens. ] Not gonna leave me hanging, are you?
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Did I invite you over? What the fuck do you want?
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Raleigh's smile dims, but he's valiantly clinging onto his dignity, so he reaches over the gap of air with the intent to push at Chuck's shoulder. Rethinking that, he aborts, quickly grabbing at the branch again. ] I couldn't sleep.
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You still could've used the doorbell.
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Raleigh takes Chuck's hand and, with a foot planted firmly on the branch he's been clinging to, climbs through Chuck's window. ]
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I dunno what you mean, I thought it was funny.
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Would've been a hell of a lot funnier if your dad had a longer bathrobe.
[ Stew on that, Hansen. Now that he's inside, Raleigh glances over the room, zeroing on a textbook propped open on the table. ] You done with that?
{ He has plans. ]
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No.
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I can wait up for you, give you a minute to finish.
[ Except Chuck never gets his homework done when Raleigh comes over. It's almost a point of pride for Raleigh. ]
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[Chuck heaves a sigh like he knows that he's going to lose this one and it's just a matter of time and his life is utter pain for having to deal with Raleigh Becket.]
At least take your shoes off.
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Raleigh can't help it; he smiles up at Chuck, leaning over to undo the ties on his left shoe. Of course he does. ]
So, your dad. Is he home?
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No. He's gone for the week again.
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Abruptly, those hands go into his sweatshirt pocket and pull out a bottle of whiskey. ]
So this won't be a problem?
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Couldn't have stolen a better brand, could you?
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A distraction. ]
It‘s all Yancy had in the cabinet. [ He's about to crack the cap open in a practiced move with his ring, but he pauses. ] But if you’ve got something better, by all means, share.
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So stealing from Raleigh's brother it is.]
Hand it over.
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Taste test. [ He smiles up at Chuck, purposefully guileless. Yancy's taste in alcohol isn't so great, to be honest, but Chuck doesn't know Raleigh agrees with him on that. ]
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You're going to need a chaser.
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You got anything to chase it with?
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Raleigh pulls another disgruntled face, licking his lips with a super attractive smacking noise to chase away the taste. ] Ugh.
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Told you you weren't going to be able to handle it.