Chapter Text
Mordhaus - early morning
He had already gone to Istanbul on Monday. – The day was for both of you, and solely to bring out all the fantasies immersed from within their guts that yearn to decipher, savor, and get rid of this anxiety that eats him from the inside.
Although he wished the feeling was shared. No messages since your call.
By the early morning curb, the yacht was already checked and inspected for any scenario. Charles, meticulous, had sent a horde of klokateers to make sure of every little detail, to have every imaginable drink, or preparations in case of need. Everything initiated by the anxiety in his stomach that he wasn't sure if it was butterflies that would make him vomit blood or the probability that this very feeling wouldn't end today. He wanted so badly to meet you, to finally do your encounters or talking to you, it burned him inside, it was a constant unstable movement, he wasn't used to that: forged from strong hands, he also doesn't understand how to tend to his sensitive side.
But nothing can ever be impeccably perfect
At 6:00 AM he went to give a quick check to the band to ensure their departure, they had a meeting scheduled at 7:30 AM according to the hourly scheduling not enforced by Charles; but after having waited 5 minutes for them, his assistant confirmed that they were still in the main room and insisted on not being disturbed while they got drunk. Although that has never really been an impediment, much less now with things at stake: he had to check some quite irregular numbers associated with the band's exuberant expenses with their latest obsession over an internal and endless competition to acquire the most exclusive thing in the history of humanity. The figures are HUGE.
(He moved through half of Mordhaus only to find 5 adult men prostrated on the sofas, including the groupies in a jacuzzi, totally drunk and white powder strewn everywhere, as per routine they were completely out of orbit. He tried to make a brief intervention, he stared a little longer than usual...maybe to get a brief idea for within 2 hours...–
{Is it for real?- An advice from them? – He doesn't need it at all}– he thought for a second as something viable, he actually no longer knew why he was more nervous, behaving slightly differently.
C: “Guys.”
P: “Wooowiiiieeee–Charlie- come, come”
C: “Guys, and Pickles. ¿How are you, huh, doing?”
(Incoherent babbling with marked accents made it impossible to understand what they were saying, but at least that answered his question)
C: “Okay then. You may not remember any of what I'm about to say, just for now enjoy your time and- be prudent with your expenses, okay..? And- well, hm.”
(Pickles who actually was the only one alone, got up and walked over to Charles and approached him, the smell of beer reeking all over his face)
P: “Hey, dode. Okay. Okay, alright-? Just. Lay.”
C: “Ah. Mhm”
T: “Hey what abouts our meetings? Let 's do its.”
N: “Yeah, what doyou want to US say?”
C: “Not exactly that Nathan, let's postpone that one until you're more conci-”
S: “Wereares GOODS-! When cants talks”
M: “You just-stop, aah~ god-” (a line of coke had left him ecstatic, anyway he had his back turned to Charles)
C: “Ah-hah., alright in that case” – Charles leaned down a little to his assistant, whispered something in his ear and turned back to them quickly; while talking he looked at the watch on his wrist: 8:00 AM. He was already 10 minutes late to leave – “Lately, you've been collecting quite a few records among yourselves, and that's costing you a lot of money, A LOT. So for now, just keep yourselves in line.”
S: “In line? No way! I needs to gets a bird on a plate that moves!”
M: “I was going to get that one mutherfucker , I am the original-!”
S: “Don't thinks so, I already ordered it, and you're nots getting it”
M: “-shut up, you just SHUT UP-!”
(Murderface threw a bottle near where Skwisgaar was, it didn't touch him or any glass; he just exhaled from the work a girl was doing beneath him, while another caressed his chest. But one of the shards fell into the jacuzzi where several of the girls were, and one hit a girl's neck, making her bleed profusely and lose her balance, desperately she grabbed another girl's neck to hold on and ended up drowning her as they sank to their deaths. All the naked girls screamed and immediately rushed out)
T: “No, donts gos girls there's a lot more to dos!”
N: “Oh, crap. Can, like, clean that shit up?”
(Nathan in a bathrobe said directly to Charles, he was about to get into the jacuzzi but stopped to see all the blood. Charles responded after a while: he was staring, trying to salvage something from the way Toki just had a girl hugged at his side – Would that be the right way to do it? What if he messes it up?)
{I don't even have permission and.. What am I thinking?} – Charles wasn't inexperienced at all, but like them, he also felt out of orbit after so much time focused on the profession.
(On hearing Nathan, his fixed and open eyes turned to the everyday scene of death, returning to his usual annoyance)
C: "Right, ahhh, let's cut it here. I'll be out then, just try not to kill-”
T: “I wans to gos out toos-!”
C: “No Toki, I-”
P: “Yeeeeeeeah, where u going?”
C: “Ah, well. There's a matter over there…Istanbul.”
Everyone started piling on their excited and drunk voices wanting to go, Charles's eyes flew open feeling the possible inconvenience with the whole idea and the plan distorting and transforming, unforeseen. He breathes deeply, tries not to furrow his brow and not put them in a problem that, in itself, would become too big. He thinks of a new solution:
C: “No, I won't be there for long, it's a brief meeting” – lie.
M: “But we'll stay there–Drinking and stuff…”
C: “–Sigh…”
(Amidst the constant and strong initiatives to keep drinking (just in a different place) Everyone transported from the sky to being embarked to a truly undefined destination; with more klokateers than initially planned and bottles all over the yacht in undefined places, the whole dynamic had to be changed in less than an hour:)
And so he did, the efficient man.
Upon arriving at the port of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, everything had returned under his calculated practice, the “normality” rehearsed his whole life.
(He put all the diligent ones to clean the rest of the yacht while others would give Dethklok protection and direction to the best entertainment they could find in the city for themselves once they arrived at the most important trading point; above all, now with the free space to work: organize the perfect space for the two of you that was planned, nothing exaggerated, nor extravagant, the suggestion of a breakfast with anything you could imagine.. hoping it doesn't sound exaggerated or on the edge that would determine if you'll like him or send him back to the hell of his frozen attraction-
P: “NiieeeEedfygh!!” – Pickles just vomited on the most imposing and elegant deck where supposedly your conversation that should lead to–
{oh god, he even stained my suit} – Charles thought and stood there with a stunned look upon noticing the stain, and that his plan would be delayed again.
Nathan and Pickles (with vomit in his beard) still babbled interrupted laughs, next to him totally absorbed in the chemical effects, they'd have to be really bad in these cases.
P: “Nieh-Im, i'm. i'm too gihg fort hym”
N: “Werr e lost.”
C: “For Christ sake- You were supposed to stay in Istanbul”
N: “We swum a lot. What else do you want from us?!”
P: “Yeh, all of this, you know, ocean is yust makine elusive”
N: “Leabe us in Mordhouse”
P: “I vote for that”
C: “Ahm.”
(He looked at his watch: a few seconds and they'd fully arrive at the port, arriving with two drunkards on the verge of passing out or throwing a tantrum; everything that could be perfect is just a dream that seeks to materialize with Dethklok in the middle. He keeps thinking, the yacht is starting to dock, he scratches his hand more intensely, changes the position of his glasses more than 3 times in a minute:)
{There have been worse situations than this – But you.. you!}
P: “Hey..Hey..chilly”
C: “Im fine. We'll find you what to do really quick and just for this time just try to, be a little lucid. I'll appreciate it.”
N: “No, no. You gotta breathe coz you're like shit”
C: “No. what?”
N: "Pickles pickles nurse”
P: “I m de doctor dode. Say baaaaallz-!” – Pickles tried to get slightly closer to Charles, bottle in hand and a few degrees off so that his drunk bad aim would spill all the alcohol on his already less refined suit –
C: “We're not doing this.” – Charles took a step back, put his hands up to defend against the bottle--
P: “We are in session”
N: “Yeah just-No foget it I'm way to–PUUKE! – Another vomit over the railing and the windows below deck of the yacht
P: “Now, what's up?" — Pickles clinging to the railing, prone to vomit again at any moment, joined the conversation from afar –
N: “Yeah maybe you got like a date or some, ah, stuff like a serious thing because if I were you, I would have zero idea to do.”
C: – His jaw tenses for a moment, and an uncontrollable red blush appears.-- “ah.”
P: “OH. , Ohhhhhh-!!!!! , Ouhhhh~”
(Both turn to look at Charles and the teasing starts; he bites his lips internally to hold back the embarrassment a little, puts his hands behind him and moves away a millimeter less each second. The scene between Nathan and Pickles consumes him but the relentless ticking of the clock is like an echo in his anguish.)
C: “Now, gentlemen, I shall leave you... have fun. And, ahm... Yes..”
N: “OHHHH! YOU DO!”
The chase begins one after another
10:08 AM
(Charles is changing his jacket in his dressing room and both ask excitedly though fuzzy:)
N: “And thinking you're just a robot”
P: "He's going to make out via internet”
N: “Yeah, and came with oil or something”
10:10 AM
(Charles is giving himself a once-over, the impeccable appearance he aims for. Outside, his two children make comments that disturb him even more)
P: “Ok so. bubbies, how tall?”
N: “93 Liters my ideal by the way”
P: “Nono no,no, he maybe just thinks about how much brain”
N: “No woman. Like that – because no groupie I remember.”
P: “Oh!, now but what if it is a grandma? They, know a lot let me tell you, heh, Charlie”
N: “Maybe Skwisgaar knows something “
10:13.5 AM
(Charles is next to a command port, and of course tracking you or getting an indication if you've already arrived or he has extra time to deal with his alcoholics)
By call
S: “But, if she has like- And little T”
M: “NO, NO-! thats against the nature!!” – Murderface interrupted Skwisgaar
P: “So I should just put them inside”
S: “I always dos that's so. Well yyeah”
P: “YOU CAN DO FREE STYLE CHALRES our expert..knows. grown woman.”
T: “OMG LOOKS AT THAT LOBSTER-! HA-haA-!” – Of course the other part of the group was about to stuff themselves with a giant lobster platter, what else would they do?
10:15. AM
You're not at the port. You're not at the cabin. He found you, and can finally breathe between agitated running: He looks for the nearest shelter, and decides to follow you.
N: “Youll all even to go”
P: “I trust in you my boy.”
C: “Go get Pickles a bed to sleep and..Nathan, uhm. Some chips.”
Klokateer: "Right away sir.”
C: "I'm gonna go. Is there anything before I leave?”
N: “I want the salty ones.”
C: “Ahhh..okay. Goodbye.”
N: “Hey. hey..”
C: “yes?”
N: “Hmm..”
C:” ..”
N: “Uhum.”
C: “…?”
N: “just. Just. Get out of he-
Remotely near the port: Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi - Odesa, Ukraine. Morning
Among the vineyards, a fortress and enclosures as a memorial to the deceased, you ran from side to side trying to get everything in order
(There had been irregularities with the nearby vineyards that had mixed up several packages, and for the last few hours, you and your colleague had spent them on returns and capital transfers that you both forgot your flight now left earlier.
You felt frustrated, everything was slipping through your fingers literally: papers flew in the air as you tried to get the catalog designs in order, the sample bottles and of course… the already savored specific brandy for him.
Unfortunately everything was now so late, that you felt you had ruined things now with a guilt that rose in your neck.)
C: Ms Y/N..?
Between narrow buildings and the rented car that already had a dent in the back from the rush, you went through the last building at the port that held the final details to polish your quick presentation to Charles, hastily taken polaroid photos attached and a pen with traces of a real one. Both agitated voices meet after months of waiting for each other.
Y/N: “Charles..?”
(With the cell phone in hand trying to hold everything necessary, you found that the echo of the phone repeated into your ear until it no longer sounded from a speaker. The angelic light blinded you in the darkness but you didn't need to confirm it with your mere eyes, the contrast, you could feel it.
He arrived. But you weren't ready to unsheathe and be pierced by his sword.)
Charles: “Ms..-Ejehm” – Clears his throat, coughs up all the dust he swallowed trying to get to you as soon as possible –.
(You turn around fully, barely see his silhouette covered by a ray of light that gives him a perfect outline, a model body in a tailored suit and the remaining shine reflecting off his glasses, contrasting with the shadow on his face.
You drop the papers, the photos, everything. He doesn't look down, he just takes one step closer to the railing. Both blank)
10:36 AM
Outside the building on a small bench with flowers embedded in it, you both rest while you lay out the rushed information and a brief context of your situation. I didn't mention a hug.
Y/N: “If only they weren't so incompetent, I swear this would have been a complete round trip.”
C: “Well, that was the one I took.”
Y/N: “Yes..” – you lower your gaze slightly, the presentations on your legs and the bench, but they don't even brush a thread of his. You continue explaining confidently but you don't quite lift your eyes to meet his – ”The new fermentation process tends to repeat naturally in part of our regions; that design includes a customized version for the producers of the region and it is designed from its flavor and presentation according to the-”
(A pause, yours is involuntary but as if he felt he interrupted you, because at this point, his lips were already prepared to stop you)
C: “I understood enough.”
Y/N: “Ah.. yes, good, I'm sorry.” – brief pause– “What about your feedb-?”
C: “Don't apologize” –His eyes desperately sought yours, but having you in front of him was indescribable. His heart beat to your eyelashes, his thoughts sank into that way you barely press your lips before speaking and..God, he can't think with a silhouette he wants to melt into. – Not now.
Y/N: “Then… what do you think of the brandy?”
(His hand, although it doesn't touch you, makes a gesture with his index finger of support and a closed fist as if to take your head and lift your gaze; you assume and do it slowly, with the same tremor as him at making a mistake)
C: “Y/N. I appreciate your work but, right now… You..”
(Astonished, you didn't know what to do…looking at each other searching for an answer seemed to be the declaration within a large parenthesis that screams without using their vocal cords, an incarnated desire)
But his hands are weak and they are gentle, they don't dare to take you in accordance with his own internal desire; he leaves it in the air and ignites them: An open end in his mouth shows white pearls barely clenched, he barely stands out and it's the beginning of a horde of surrender. Perhaps in this he has failed. Having you in front and not daring to deliberately
{Who is he, what audacity is greater than your wanting?}
And in this version he had it so terrified that he didn't dare to take it out to improve it. He sighs, scratches his hands and plays with the plants on one side, he takes off his glasses and puts them on more than once.
C: ”I'm sorry”
Y/N: – You get a little closer, desperate to untie the knot of time.. you only have 10 minutes left if you want to catch your flight on time – “No, forgive me, you. Everything collapsed”
C: “I don't think you've done as much damage as I have. What a failure” – He adjusted the perfect things, the buttons on his jacket which he played with over and over, almost scratching them–.
But the answer to desperation and frustration is not stealing a kiss, but that you are more than that, more than some random girl who impacted him, you are you.
Y/N: “How are you..Charles? Really..”
His eyes opened before you, all the weight and exhaustion from organizing everything perfectly with no way out fell upon his green eyes that with a touch of longing and unexpected, felt you like a fresh breeze to his mind and heart.
Maybe you used to have someone with that same look, of eternal tiredness
{Maybe she won't forget my birthday} – Charles thought as his feelings whirled inside him
By minute 9 of an agitated silence, which he didn't intend to answer your question with everything you had made him feel: you with his reaction, the plans and presentation laid out on the ground, the only distance was each other's hand that they feared to bring closer.
(A courage from within, and a conversation between their eyes: Charles slowly brought his hand closer that seemed aimed at your jaw, but he changed it: Your soft cheekbones and his strong hand met in an act of care, a soft touch with his thumb trying to remove some dust
His fingers brushed against you a little too much, you wished so deeply that he knew it didn't bother you at all.)
C: “I think that..ah…this isn't the most appropriate” – said Charles, his voice a little shaky
Y/N: “You make it feel like it is” – you placed your hand over his, not touching him, as a gesture to give way to the next. And he slowly held your cheek, caressing it…now, his fingers that scratched from nerves caress you softly and lovingly for you.
He traced the shape of your jaw as he went down, you leaned slightly towards him:
The repressed desire would finally be exploded by both
C: “Your flight"
Y/N: “Mmh?”
C: “Your flight, you'll miss it”
a pause on the interruption
Y/N: “Shit”
(He accompanied you to boarding, their pinkies sought each other unknowingly, too shy to turn to the other. He got you everything you needed and you managed to catch the company flight on time with your colleague and everything timed.)
{Did I overdo it?, maybe I'm just imagining things... were the insinuations false? He touched me..why didn't I get a little closer? Why did we interrupt ourselves?}
{He could have easily taken me with him} – You grumbled all the way back to your apartment, confused and with your heart all aflutter.
Mordhaus – 8:19 PM
(Charles stretched in his chair after finishing signing the last coexistence agreement for the new concerts…And finally he devoted himself to what he had been thinking about all day since he said goodbye to you:)
It's not lust, nor desperate pent-up perversion. Now he knows, in the chance to touch your soft skin and know that in a certain nuance, you have his permission. Things have shaken his entire world, to think of you all the time in the world to make you his
– You bring me an alternative longing..that burns me inside. And that cannot be just one night of affair. I refuse.
COPY ATTACHED TO LETTER DESTINED – Berlin, Ireland. ALL STAR A.C: Sales Department
FROM: Charles Foster Offdensen
TO: Y/N