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[nostalgiabomb]

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[animated]

[ He laughs a little, moving to sit on the edge of his bunk ]

Fine, fine. No more nagging.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He hesitates, but joins him there. ]

I, um. I really am sorry. About-- all this shit, lately. I freaked out.

[animated]

[ He's quiet a moment, reaching to cover Peter's hand with his own ]

It's understand, Peter. Really.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ It takes him a half-second before he closes his fingers around Charlie's. ]

Just wanted to get it out there. That I'm fully aware I'm the world's biggest dipshit.

[animated]

[ He laughs ] You said it, not me.

[ With his free hand, he reaches up, tracing his thumb along a scrape on Peter's cheek ] You sure you're okay?

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Charlie probably means physically, but Peter misunderstands -- honestly, he's kind of weirded out and still a little freaked, and it's so, so strange how this feels so sudden and so right at the same time, and--

He licks his lips carefully. ]

No. Not-- not really sure at all.

[animated]

[ His brow furrows a moment, clearly confused, until it clicks what Peter means.

He gives Peter's hand a light squeeze. ]

So talk to me.

[nostalgiabomb]

I'm pretty sure I need, like, fifteen drinks before we get to the stage where I reach an emotional breakthrough.

And you remember how my last drink ended up.

[animated]

... Ah yeah. Sorry about that. I guess I kind of freaked out, too.

[nostalgiabomb]

You owe me twenty units, by the way.

[animated]

Twenty-- are you kidding me?

[nostalgiabomb]

Nope.

For the drink and the tip to the bartender for the trouble.

[animated]

[ he makes a face ]

Put it on my tab.

[nostalgiabomb]

You mean the tab we started the moment we let you join the crew?

The one payin' for your meals and incidentals and the bribes we'll be lookin' forward to to get you back home?

That tab?

[animated]

Yes.

That tab.

[nostalgiabomb]

Just wanted to make sure we had the same one in mind.

I think that total brings us up to-- [ He pauses, eyes wandering as he does the mental math. ]

-- a pretty big number. Lots of zeroes.

[animated]

[ He purses his lips. Considering... recent developments, he has mixed feelings on getting back to Earth, but he needs to do some serious thinking on that front, so he doesn't say anything. ]

I'll write you a check.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Despite having mentioned it, Peter hasn't thought that far ahead. "One day at a time" has pretty much been how he's lived his life, so thinking about the future, about whether or not he'd ultimately end up saying goodbye? Hasn't crossed his mind.

And honestly, even if he did think about it, he'd probably assume Charlie would wander out of his life once they figured out how to get him home. That's just how his life works: people come and go.

So for the moment, he just shrugs. ]

I'll hold you to it, Uncle Pennybags.

[animated]

Did I really drag you all the way to my room just so we could talk about how much money I'm gonna owe you?

[nostalgiabomb]

Yeah.

[ Although after a beat he leans in and presses a kiss to his lips. ]

Doesn't mean we can't multi-task.

[animated]

Wow, Peter. You sure know how to kill a mood.

[ That kiss was nice, though. Maybe he'll go in for another one. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ Hey, if he does, Peter sure as hell won't stop him.

Because whenever they kiss, it makes that feeling come back, warm and pleasant, rolling through his chest. It makes the tips of his fingers tingle, makes his face flush like sitting in a spa too long. It reminds him of summers spent at the lake near Gramps' cabin, when the water would lap against him as he floated on its surface, when the sun would beat down and turn his skin red. It reminds him of the first time he piloted the Milano on his own, staring out into the black expanse and feeling free for the first time in a long while.

It's safety and freedom and and excitement and strangely, familiarity all rolled into one, and he's liking it more and more with every kiss. ]

[animated]

[ For Charlie, it's a sense of belonging, so intense it makes his heart ache for more. He likes to think that after so many years, he's pretty well-adjusted. He knows who he is and what he wants and is okay with where he's at in his life, but he doesn't know if he can leave this feeling behind, not matter what caused it.

It's the first time in a long time that things have felt okay.

So, yes. He kisses Peter again- drawing it out, letting it linger. If they spend the rest of the night just making out like stupid teenagers, he'd have no complaints at all. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He thinks, damn, he's good at this.

Then he realizes, Well, he's had, like, seventy-years to perfect it.

Then he thinks, Shit, he's old.

And suddenly he's laughing a little because wow, that's one hell of an age difference.

Charlie's soulmate is pretty much the worst. ]

-- Sorry. Adrenaline winding down.

[animated]

[ He wrinkles his nose a little, trying to seem annoyed. ]

I was gonna say- I know I'm out of practice, but I hope I'm not that out of practice.