Archive of Our Own ^beta

Raleigh woke to a pounding on his door.  At first, he thought he had imagined it, because by the time he was cognizant enough to realize he was awake, the pounding had stopped.  Thinking he had dreamed it, Raleigh rolled over and settled back down into his pillow, determined to get back the sleep he hadn't quite, yet, lost.

The pounding came again, this time accompanied by a voice.  "Oi!  Ray!  You awake in there?"

Chuck.  

Raleigh’s eyes popped back open and he rolled onto his back, wondering if he could just ignore the little bastard.  But then the pounding came again, and Chuck was being rather loud, and this part of the Shatterdome wasn't exactly uninhabited.  They could probably hear him all the way in the LOCCENT. 

Sighing, Raleigh tumbled out of bed, gave a good stretch, scratched at his bare belly, and then finally opened his door to see what the brat wanted.

"Oh, good.  You're up."

No, Raleigh wasn't up.  Raleigh had been sound asleep.  The first good sleep he'd had in months and this little shi-

"Do you wanna fuck me?"

What?

He must have said it out loud, because Chuck scowled at him.  "Ya deaf now, too, old man? Do you. Want to. Fuck me?"  He spoke to Raleigh as if the older man were a particularly dense, unintelligent child.

Which was just weird considering the subject matter.  And disturbing. 

This must be a prank, Raleigh thought, and peeked his head out into the corridor, looking for Tendo- or even Mako- with a camcorder, but the hallway was deserted except for the loud Aussie taking up space in his doorway.  Deciding no, it wasn't a prank, and Chuck was really in front of his door, demanding sex, Raleigh took his first good look at the other man.

Chuck looked terrible.  Ever since Pitfall, Chuck had let his hair grow out a little, and it tended to fall down over his forehead just a bit, hiding the rather prominent scar along his hairline.  At the moment, his red-brown hair was disheveled, sticking up in stiff tufts on one side and laying flat on the other.  He had large bags under his gray eyes, giving them a sunken appearance.  And while Chuck had always been pale, he had never been that pale.

Raleigh’s annoyance immediately turned to concern.  "Are you okay?"

The look Chuck gave him was filled with scorn.  "Oh yeah, Ray, I'm a bottle of sunshine standing here at almost three in the morning asking if you want to fuck me or not."

Right.  Little shit.

But, well, Raleigh wasn't exactly opposed to the idea, now that he was a little more awake.  Chuck was good-looking, there was no denying that; even when Raleigh wanted to beat his face in, he couldn’t help but notice.  Not Raleigh’s usual type- too vitriolic, not enough good humor to balance it out- but they had been getting on better since the Breach had been closed and Raleigh had once again pulled Chuck's ass out of the fire, literally that time.

Mako and Raleigh had walked away from that fight with a few bumps and bruises.  Chuck had come out of it with several burns, severe contusions, fractures, a cut across his forehead that had gone to bone, and needing several months of physical therapy before he could walk again.  He had also, it seemed, come out of it with nightmares bad enough that he would wake up screaming.  

Raleigh only knew that because he had heard him.

"Have you even," what Chuck had even, Raleigh couldn't quite bring himself to say out loud, instead using a complicated gesture that was supposed to mean 'had hot sweaty man-sex', "before?" he finished lamely.

The eyeroll he got for it wasn't entirely undeserved, even he had to admit.  "Yes, Ray, I have," here, Chuck repeated Raleigh's gesture, making it seem much more stupid and ridiculous than Raleigh thought was warranted.  "And I think the phrase you were looking for there was 'fucked a guy'."

"Oh.  Right."

Chuck's ever-present scowl was back.  "Jesus, Raleigh, the real reason you were able to blow up the kaiju was because they were too stunned by your stupidity to react, wasn't it?"

Well, that stung a bit.  "Hey, you came to me.  Feel free to find someone else to wake up in the middle of the night and demand a fuck from.  Oh, wait, there isn't anyone here willing to put up with you for that long."  Okay, maybe that was a bit harsh, but Raleigh was still pissed about being woken up in the first place.  He didn't need to deal with Chuck's insults as well. 

He stepped back to slam the door in Chuck's face, but Chuck's hand shot out, keeping him closing the door.  There was a brief struggle, wherein Raleigh tried to get the jerk to move out of the way by kicking at his ankles and Chuck yelped, did some complicated footwork maneuver Raleigh had never seen before to avoid the strikes, and then somehow shoved his way into Raleigh’s room.  Slippery little bastard.  Raleigh glared at the other man, arms crossed over his chest.

He watched as Chuck took a big breath, seemed to compose himself, and then said, "right. Sorry.  You're right.  I shouldn't insult you."

Raleigh didn't move.  "And?"

"'And'?  What 'and' you wanker?  I just apologized!"  Chuck had the audacity to look affronted. 

"You're the one asking for a favor.  What do you think?"

Chuck took another deep breath.  "Right."  He straightened abruptly and stepped closer to Raleigh.  "Will you please fuck me into that conveniently placed mattress over there, Raleigh?"

Well.

"Sure," Raleigh said, almost before he knew that he had decided.

Instead of immediately jumping him like Raleigh expected, however, Chuck stared at him.  "Chuck?"

"I didn't think that would actually work," Chuck muttered, not seeming to realize he said it out loud.

Raleigh sighed again.  "Are we doing this or not?   Because if not, I'd really like to go back to sleep."

A determined look slid over Chuck’s face, his chin tilting up in some sort of defiance Raleigh was too tired to figure out, and stepped back, closer to Raleigh’s bed, arms spread out slightly from his sides.  And then he waited, as if he was offering himself up on an altar and, expecting Raleigh to be the one to worship him. 

Chuck stood stiffly in the middle of his room, shoulders drawn up tight.  He was wearing a worn and faded long-sleeved PPDC Ranger shirt of navy blue, and black sleep pants, but Raleigh could still make out the tense lines of Chuck's body.

After several long moments of nothing happening, Raleigh sighed again and figured he would have to be the one to get things moving.  He moved closer to Chuck, but stopped just short of actual touching.  "How do you want to do this?"

Chuck shrugged.

Raleigh stared at him incredulously.  "You don't know?  You pound on my door in the middle of the night, demand that I fuck you, but don't know how you want to go about it?"

"I know how," Chuck snarled.  "I'm not a virgin.  I just said that, didn't I?"

"I didn't say you were," Raleigh said mildly, though he was relieved to hear it said straight out.  He had been half-entertaining visions of Herc hunting him down for sullying his precious only child.  "So…?"

Shifting, Chuck turned his head away, and Raleigh was fascinated to see that Chuck's ears were turning red as he mumbled something Raleigh couldn't quite make out.  "What was that?"

"I didn't think you'd say yes!"  Chuck growled.  "You really are going deaf, aren't you, old man?"

The annoyance was starting to make a comeback.  "Y'know, I'm really starting to see why Herc hates being called that." 

"Don't bring up my dad when we're about to fuck!  Jesus."  Chuck looked appropriately disgusted at the mention of his father.  It took all Raleigh had not to laugh.

Raleigh raised an eyebrow at him.  "Are we?"

"Are we what?"

"About to fuck.  Because you've been here for almost ten minutes and all we've done is argue." 

The muscles in Chuck's jaw twitched.  "I'm working my way up to it."

"You work your way up to sex by arguing with the other person?"  Raleigh scrubbed a hand through his hair, probably not doing it any favors, but it was either that or strangle the ginger.  "Well, let me know how that goes."

Another long moment of silence, and Raleigh was just about to say 'fuck it' and wrestle the annoying brat onto the bed when Chuck grabbed him by the neck and kissed him.

It wasn't a great kiss, too much force smashing their lips together, but Chuck seemed to realize that and immediately corrected, angling his head better and softening the pressure.  Raleigh followed Chuck's lead, settling his hands on the other man's hips, rubbing circles over the rise of bone with his thumbs.  One kiss led to two, then to three, and then Raleigh was pulling Chuck with him toward his bed.  In a quick move, he hooked his heel behind Chuck's knee and turned, tumbling the other man onto the mattress.

Chuck blinked up at him in surprise before a cocky grin stole over his face.  "I think it's going rather well, actually."

Raleigh groaned.  "Jesus, I'm never going to live this down."  He crawled over Chuck and kissed him before the brat could say whatever smart-ass thing he'd been about to blurt out.

When he pulled back, he looked down at the other man, taking in the still red ears, and a somewhat dazed expression.  "Okay?"

Chuck nodded.  "Okay."

Raleigh grinned and fell over him, pinning him to the sheets and reaching for his mouth again.  They said practice made perfect, and Chuck was the embodiment of that.  Every kiss was better than the last, until Raleigh was sweeping his tongue into Chuck's mouth, chasing the traces of mint from what Raleigh guessed was his toothpaste.

Eventually, Raleigh was able to get Chuck to move up the bed enough so that they were both fully on it.  Hands had started to wander, and Raleigh was reveling in the feel of gloriously warm skin and soft hair, at the work roughened hands that clenched at his back.  He broke the kiss to pull Chuck's shirt up over his head- Raleigh already had a head start on the nakedness factor,  which was just unfair- but he only got it half-way up when he caught the look in Chuck's eyes.

"Something wrong?"

"No," Chuck answered immediately, but the uncertain look hadn't changed.

Raleigh had a guess as to what the issue was.  When they had fished Chuck out of his escape pod, there had been a short on some interior wiring, causing a small fire inside the pod.  Unfortunately, even a small fire in such a confined space was a rather big deal, and Raleigh had hauled Chuck out while the other was still smoking, burns licking their way up his right side.  The result had been some rather intricate scarring up the other man's torso and arm.  Raleigh could just see it starting to peek out from under the hem of the shirt he had a hold of.

"It doesn't bother me," he said, and twisted to indicate his own marks from the fight with Knifehead.  "I've got my own."

The look Chuck gave him was decidedly unimpressed.  "Yours are cool," he said.  "They're symmetrical.  Balanced."  He traced one of the geometric lines with a fingertip.  "I look like someone tried to flambé me and got bored a quarter of the way through."

"That's… rather descriptive."  Raleigh’s nose wrinkled as Chuck's word sunk in.

"Yet accurate," Chuck insisted. 

One corner of Raleigh’s mouth curled up as he tugged at the hem of Chuck’s shirt again.  "You'll have to let me see so that I can judge."

Chuck wasn't moved.  "Yeah, nah, mate.  I know what you're trying to do and it won't work.  Shirt stays on."

Raleigh leaned down and kissed him, as softly and as thoroughly as he knew how.  "Chuck," he murmured, voice rough with lust and something else he wasn't going to think about at the moment.  "You're not going to turn me off."  He glanced down at the tent in his pants his erection was already making.  "I'd say I'm pretty well invested at this point."

"No."  Chuck crossed his arms over his chest, but something in his gaze had flickered, and Raleigh decided he would push just a bit more.  If Chuck said no again, then he would leave it, but it seemed such a shame to not be able to pay all the attention due to Chuck's body that Raleigh knew he deserved, that Raleigh wanted to give.

He grinned down at the younger man.  "Please, Chuck?  I'd very much like to see you naked."  

There was that flicker again, a softening in Chuck’s gaze, like he very badly wanted to believe in what Raleigh said, but wasn't sure if he should.  Or could.  The thought made Raleigh feel a bit sad on Chuck’s behalf; what had Chuck's experiences been like before that he felt like he needed to hide a part of himself?  A less-than-perfect part, maybe- aesthetically- but a part he should still be proud of.  Chuck had survived a horrific event- several in a row, actually- and he had come out the other side still relatively in one piece.

Chuck should have been proud of his scars, not trying to hide them.

Something of his thoughts must have shown in Raleigh’s expression, or else Chuck had decided to trust him after all, because the younger man lifted his arms up, a clear invitation for Raleigh to get on with it.

Grinning, Raleigh leaned down to kiss him.  "Thank you," he murmured against the swollen lips before quickly straightening and ripping the shirt off before the other man could change his mind.

The scarring wasn't really that bad, Raleigh decided as he explored their texture with his fingers.  The skin was smooth, for the most part, a bit reddened, but not glaringly so.  The Shatterdome doctors had done a good job of minimizing the damage the burns had caused.

The pattern was what grabbed the most attention, really.  It was like a live river of flame had traveled up Chuck's arm and torso, branching out at odd intervals like run-offs, one just nicking Chuck’s Striker Eureka tattoo on the inside of his arm.  Altogether, it made for a striking sight. 

Raleigh decided he liked it.  It was a testament to how strong Chuck was, how much he'd gone through to come out the other side relatively whole a day healthy.  Even if it was a shame it had happened in the first place, there was nothing for Chuck to be embarrassed about.  However, he was fairly certain that his avid attention to the pattern was causing Chuck to rethink taking off his shirt, if the uncomfortable shifting and avoidant gaze was anything to go by.

"I told you they were-"  Raleigh cut him off with a kiss.

"They're beautiful."  He traced his fingers down Chuck’s arm one more time, then regretfully pulled away.  As much as he liked touching Chuck along the unnaturally smooth skin it was obviously making him uncomfortable.  Besides, there was more to Chuck than the scars, and Raleigh was determined to explore as much of him as possible, because God only knew if he’d get this chance again..  "You're gorgeous."

Chuck made a noise- half irritation, half disbelief- but settled as Raleigh moved on, exploring the rest of Chuck's body with licks and nips until he came to the sleep pants that were currently slung low across Chuck's hips.

It was strange, Raleigh thought as he mouthed his way over the thin material to the bulge of Chuck’s half-erect cock beneath it, how he had been annoyed when Chuck first showed up outside his door.  Now, he was glad that Chuck had come to him.  Chuck had chosen him first, over anyone else in the Shatterdome, and Raleigh couldn't help but think that meant something.

It made the thing that curled deep in the back of Raleigh’s mind purr with satisfaction.  Chuck had chosen him.  This gorgeous, heroic man had decided to put his trust in Raleigh, and by God, but Raleigh meant to do right by him.

He hooked his fingers into Chuck’s pants, glanced up at the other man for approval, and then dragged the fabric down slowly when he was given it.  Raleigh held his breath in anticipation as first a trail of soft hair was slowly revealed, followed by the thick thatch that surrounded Chuck's cock, until Raleigh was pulling the material up and over Chuck's erection and down off his legs.

Chuck was beautiful, hard muscle and downy hair in all the right places.  There were scars, yeah, other than from the day of Pitfall, but they all spoke of a life well lived and survival against incredible odds, and Raleigh couldn't imagine Chuck without them.  They were a testament to how strong the other man truly was, and Raleigh was realizing that he wouldn't have wanted Chuck any other way.

The more Raleigh saw of Chuck, the more he wondered how he had missed how amazing the other man actually was.  Well, he thought as he hid a smirk against the skin of Chuck’s knee, more than likely it was Chuck’s prickly nature that had gotten in the way.  But here, naked and spread out in front of Raleigh, as vulnerable as he could be, Chuck seemed different.  Approachable.

He kissed his way back up Chuck's thighs, nipping lightly at the sensitive skin until he was back at Chuck’s dick.  He took it in hand, fascinated by the way the foreskin moved with his strokes, helping to ease the movement.

"Raleigh."  Chuck’s voice was tight with arousal, and Raleigh knew he wouldn't ever tire of Chuck saying his name, as long as he said it like that.  "Please."

Fuck, this kid.  Well, he supposed he was about to.  The thought gave him pause.  From the way Chuck had spoken, he'd just assumed, but Chuck had never actually said…

He shifted, dragging his body up along Chuck’s, reveling in the feel of that hard body against his own.  Raleigh mouthed his way up, ending with another thorough kiss.  Taking Chuck in hand, he asked, "what do you want, Chuck?"  He nipped and licked at Chuck's jaw, unable to resist the pale stretch of skin.  "I'll give you whatever you want." 

Raleigh hadn't meant to sound so desperate, but the way Chuck moaned, pressing his body up against Raleigh’s, the way he said his name; in that moment, Raleigh would have given Chuck anything.

"In me," Chuck said against Raleigh’s ear.  "I want to feel you in me, over me.  Please, Raleigh."

He thrust reflexively against Chuck’s hip at the other man's words, murmured in a voice thick with lust.  This kid was just unfair, Raleigh thought as he forced himself to break away for condoms and lube, thankful he had thought to stock up after the success of Pitfall.  Before, on the Wall, he had rarely indulged in sex of any kind, and at the Shatterdome, before they closed the Breach, tensions had been too high for him to relax enough to entertain the idea.

But after… Well, there had been a few offers, and while Raleigh liked to think he was a good man, he wasn't a saint. So, condoms and lube.  Necessary for an active sex life, something Raleigh hadn't thought he would ever really have again.  And especially not with Chuck Hansen of all people.  Though, if this was a one night stand, he supposed it wasn't really a sex life with Chuck.  Which was kind of a shame, now that he had the other man in bed with him.  They hadn't even gotten to the main event and Raleigh was already mourning the thought of there not being a second time.

Shaking off the thoughts of might be, Raleigh coated his fingers with the lube and set the bottle aside.  He reached down between Chuck's spread thighs, but stopped just short of touching him.  "Ready?"

Lifting his head from the pillow, Chuck scowled at him.  Raleigh nearly laughed at the familiar expression.  Only Chuck could look pissed off and aroused at the same time.  "Just get on with it, Ray," Chuck said, lightly kicking him in the hip.

Raleigh caught the leg and held on.  "What did I say about being insulting when you want me to fuck you?"  Not waiting for an answer, he circled a wet finger around Chuck's rim.

Chuck gasped at the sensation.  "I didn't insult you."

"But you were being antagonistic."  Raleigh inserted the finger to the second knuckle, testing the resistance.  Immediately, Chuck bore down, relaxing into the intrusion.  So, the other man had experience with this part of things after all.  Good to know.  Raleigh carefully ignored the deep, rumbling part of him that wanted to know with whom Chuck had done this with and if he needed to make sure they never thought of seeing Chuck this way again.

This was supposed to be a one night stand.  Chuck wasn't here for anything more than a distraction.  Raleigh had no claim to Chuck beyond the here and now.

"Mate," Chuck gasped.  "It's like you don't even know me.  How did you think this was going to go?"

Good point, Raleigh thought, then pulled back to thrust two fingers into Chuck’s body.  He accepted them easily enough, rocking into Raleigh’s touch, and Raleigh twisted and scissored his fingers inside, searching for the ever elusive-

"Ah!"

Found it .  Raleigh smirked and began to mercilessly abuse the spot inside Chuck that had the man beneath him moaning loudly.  He watched avidly as pleasure scrawled its way across Chuck's face as the other man unabashedly moaned, rocking back onto Raleigh’s fingers, trying to get him deeper.  Soon, Raleigh had three fingers spreading Chuck open, and he was hard as nails, eager to get into the warm body below him.

He pulled his fingers out, nearly thrust them back in at the noise Chuck made at the loss of them, and rolled a condom onto his aching dick.  "I know, baby.  I'm gonna take care of you.  Promise."  He rubbed comfortingly at Chuck's hip.

Grabbing Chuck at the thigh, just behind his knee, he bent the other man's leg up, spreading him wider.  Chuck's hole was glistening with the lube, twitching at the open air, and the sight alone caused Raleigh to moan.  "Fuck, you look good like this."

"I'll bet I'll feel even better," Chuck said tightly.  "So, if you wouldn't mind hurrying up and getting in me, Raleigh, I would surely appreciate it."

Raleigh took his own dick in hand and lined himself up with Chuck's entrance.  "You always this verbose when you're about to get fucked?" Raleigh asked conversationally before slowly starting to sink in.

"Only, ah," Chuck panted.  "Only with old men that are slow .  Jesus, get on with it, will ya?"  Chuck hooked his free ankle around Raleigh’s hip and pulled the other man into him.

Suddenly surrounded by all that heat and pressure, Raleigh groaned, holding himself and squeezing his eyes shut in an effort not to come right away.  "Fuck," he said when he felt like he could breathe again.

"That is the general idea, yeah."  Chuck sounded much more composed than he had any right to be, with Raleigh buried as deep as he could go.

Opening his eyes, Raleigh saw Chuck grinning at him, lying back with an ease that was belied by the flush making its way down Chuck’s chest and the tightening at the corners of his eyes.  "You okay?"

"Yeah, just need a moment."

"Got it."  Raleigh leaned forward to rest his hands by Chuck’s head, bracketing him in before leaning down to kiss him, tongue dipping into Chuck's mouth again and again.  Finally, Chuck began to wriggle back against him, the almost too tight feeling relaxing.  "Ready?"

Chuck grinned up at him.  "Giddy up, cowboy."  He slapped Raleigh's ass, causing him to thrust in surprise at the unexpected gesture.

Raleigh groaned.  "I'm not even from that part of the States."

"What?" Chuck asked, all faked innocent surprise.  "Americans don't all get issued loyal stallions and a gun at birth to foil dastardly plots like in the movies?  I've been lied to.  For shame!"

And Raleigh couldn't help it.  He laughed.  He laughed so hard he had to stop fucking Chuck and kiss him instead.  He rested his forehead against the other man's.  "Jesus, kid, what the hell am I supposed to do with you?"  Raleigh couldn't have kept the exasperated fondness out of his voice even if he tried, and he didn't want to try.

"I thought that was fairly self-evident," Chuck replied dryly, bucking up against Raleigh.

With nothing else to really say, Raleigh got to it.  He fucked into Chuck for as long and slow as he could, aiming for the other man's prostate at every thrust.  When Chuck began to scrabble at Raleigh's back, nails catching at his skin and begging Raleigh to go faster, Raleigh listened, quickening his pace until he was pounding into Chuck. 

"Chuck," he gasped when he felt that tingle behind his balls.  "I'm- Are you…?"

"Yeah.  Yeah, almost," Chuck gasped back.  "Just a little more, Raleigh."

Not sure he could last for much longer, Raleigh reached down between them to grab Chuck's erection, stroking him in time to Raleigh’s thrusts. 

They both lasted only a few strokes longer.  Chuck came first, clenching tight around Raleigh, which was enough to make Raleigh groan and jerk, thrusting in as deep as he could and emptying himself into the condom.  Raleigh collapsed onto Chuck, too worn from their activities, from the force of his release and too little sleep, to consider rolling off the other man just yet.  They both lay panting, Chuck's arms still wrapped around Raleigh's shoulders, while the sweat cooled and Raleigh's dick lost its firmness and attempted to slip from Chuck’s ass.

Eventually, he felt cognizant enough to move and rolled off Chuck and the bed, making sure to grab the condom before it slipped off and tying it to throw in the wastebasket in the bathroom.  "You want a shower?" Raleigh asked as he wet a cloth and wiped himself down.

"Mm."  Chuck's eyes were closed.

Raleigh chuckled.  "I'll take that as a no."  He wandered back over to Chuck, washcloth in hand and wiped the other man down as well.

"Thanks," Chuck said after he'd come back from tossing it in the laundry bin.

"Sure," Raleigh said, then stared down awkwardly at the man in his bed.

Should he just get in?  It was his bed, but Chuck was practically in the middle of it, flat on his back, still half-sprawled out.  Raleigh didn't think Chuck had moved an inch since he rolled off of him and went to clean up in the bathroom.  He tilted his head, trying to figure out the best angle for fitting himself around the nearly comatose Aussie.

Chuck must have sensed Raleigh’s stare, because his eyes popped open, followed immediately by the distracting flex of his abdominal muscles as he pulled himself into a sitting position.  "Shit, should I go?  I should go."  He scooted towards the edge of the bed.

Unthinking, Raleigh held out his hand, laying it against Chuck’s chest and halting the younger man from leaving the bed.  Startled, Chuck looked up at him, and Raleigh got caught in the way Chuck's stormy gray eyes widened.  “Stay,” he said, voice firm.

The uncertain look was back in Chuck’s eyes.  “You sure?”

Raleigh kept pushing at him, forcing Chuck to lay back, and followed him into the bed.  “Yeah, I’m sure,” he replied, then set about arranging the other man to his liking.

They lay quietly for some time, Chuck’s back to Raleigh’s chest, breathing in sync, before Raleigh dared to ask.  “So, why did you come to me?”

There was quick tensing of Chuck’s for before the Aussie relaxed back into Raleigh’s embrace.  “Nightmare,” he answered simply.

Raleigh could understand that.  He’d heard the aftermath of one of Chuck’s nightmares before, it hadn’t been pretty.  Still, those had been going on for months, so why had Chuck chosen now to seek him out?  Raleigh asked him.

Chuck was silent for a long moment, and Raleigh would have thought the other man had fallen asleep if it wasn’t for the way he tapped out a rhythm against the forearm Raleigh had wrapped around him.  “This one was… different,” he finally settled on.

“Different?  Different how?”

“I’d really rather not talk about it.”

And, yeah, Raleigh could understand that, too.  “When you do, if you do, I’ll be here.”  He placed a kiss to the back of the other man’s neck, and settled in to sleep.  After all the activity, he was feeling like he might actually be able to catch another hour or two.

“Raleigh?”

“Yeah, Chuck?”  He was so close to sleep.

“Thanks.”

He smiled into the back of Chuck’s neck.  “You’re welcome.”

Blessed silence.

“Raleigh.”  Or not.

“Chuck.”

“You’re still old.”

Raleigh decided Herc wouldn’t be too upset if he smothered his only human child with a pillow.  Max was the one worth keeping around anyway.  Though, Raleigh reflected as Chuck laughed while trying to fend him off, the angry little wombat was growing on him.

As was the expression on Chuck’s face when he called him that.