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Everyone was asleep except for Darryl. Safe for the moment, and getting some much needed rest, everyone was piled together into two rooms- Henry and his boys in one, and the rest of them in the other.
Darryl however, couldn’t rest. Not with everything going on. Sure, they had gotten their kids back, but this was no longer a straight shot, a matter of just picking up their sons and escaping. Their fathers- or at least, the other dads’ fathers, were actively hunting them now, and they didn’t know how they would even begin to go about leaving the forgotten realms.
His tactic of focusing on getting through this without feeling, and resolving to think about it all when they got home and everything was back to normal again was falling apart by the minute.
His son was probably permanently traumatized, and barely speaking to him. And his wife- well, she didn’t even want to be his wife anymore. He had no idea what “back to normal” would even look like.
He rolled himself over, now facing the glowing light of the hallway peeking through the creases of the door.
And how did he even fit into all this? His own father didn’t seem to be involved with the purple robes. And if they got back to earth- “ No, when, not if,” he reminded himself- what would happen between him and the other dads? Would they all go back to their lives? Where does that leave him?
He looked up at the ceiling, barely visible.
Nah, he would hold regular barbecues and force them all to come anyway. They’d been through too much shit together to just stop talking to each other the second they got back to earth. Darryl would even make vegan burgers for Henry.
He made a mental note to ask about Henry’s favorite brand later.
The truth of the matter was that none of them would be friends if it weren’t for this whole adventure. Before the portal, he had actively disliked Glenn (and was still not a huge fan of some things) but had since grown to enjoy his presence, listening to his songs around the campfires and hearing him relay the weird and wild tales of his band. Before the portal, he would brush Ron off as weird and annoying, but now he held a particular fondness for that weirdness. And he doesn’t think he’ll ever forget his performance of Silent Night.
And Henry… Henry had effectively become Darryl’s best friend in the past month. It was weird considering how wildly different they were, but they had grown to understand each other in a way Darryl never could have expected before the Forgotten Realms. Not to mention the way Darryl couldn’t help feeling about the few times they had kissed. He was trying incredibly hard not to think about that part, though. Which just made it worse.
A creak from outside the room. Footsteps.
Darryl whipped his head back to the door, and saw the shadow of two feet intercept the glow of the door’s outline and pause there.
He sat bolt upright, and instinctively reached behind his shoulder for an axe that wasn’t there.
The shadow moved as the footsteps walked away, down the hallway. Darryl slipped out of the covers and off the bed, careful not to wake any of the kids, quickly stepped around Ron (who was lying in the fetal position on the floor for some odd reason), and creaked the door open, ready for anything.
He watched a familiar figure disappear around the corner, and let the tension fizzle out of his body as he realized there was nobody after them. It was just Henry.
Darryl figured he was up already anyways, and he was curious. He might as well go see what Henry was up to- maybe he needed company.
Darryl opened the front door of the tavern and was welcomed by a rush of cool air and a clear night sky.
Henry was leaning up against the Honda Odyssey and looking up at the sky with furrowed brows, but immediately turned to Darryl when he came into view, eyes wide.
“Hey, Henry, you alright?” Darryl asked, walking over to the van to join him. “Saw you standing by the door and I thought someone might have found us.” He gave a soft chuckle.
Henry immediately shifted his balance and leaned off the car, concerned. “Aw, jeez. I didn’t mean to scare anyone.” He sighed. “I should have thought. I just couldn’t sleep, so I figured I’d get some fresh air.” He paused, looking back up. "Can't hurt, right?"
Darryl nodded and followed Henry's gaze to the sky, leaning back on the car as well. “Yeah, I couldn't sleep either.”
The two stood in silence for a bit. Darryl could feel Henry’s eyes on him as he stared upwards, and he swallowed. They could talk about all of the shit that was keeping them awake. They could talk about their children, their fathers, how the hell they were going to get home.
Instead, Darryl moved with a start, opening up the trunk of Odyssey-San and rooting around inside for something.
“Darryl? What’re you doing?”
He emerged without answering, a blanket in his hands, and grinned, closing the hood of the car.
“Over here.” He motioned for Henry to follow, and laid out the blanket on the grass.
“Stargazing,” Darryl explained as he sat on the blanket and patted the spot next to him. Henry cocked an eyebrow, skeptical.
“You like nature and shit, right? The stars are kind of nature-”
“I mean, not exactly, Darryl-”
“Do you want to do this or not?”
Henry chuckled and took his place next to Darryl.
“We’re out here anyway,” Darryl continued. He groaned as he laid back, placing his arms behind his head. “Wonder how different the stars are to Earth.”
“Hmm.” Darryl watched Henry lay back next to him and start to study the sky. It was a remarkably clear night.
It was terribly cliche, really, to be so taken aback by Henry’s face in this moment. Right next to his. Literally in the moonlight. And maybe the romantic connotation was the only reason Darryl was thinking about how Henry’s hair framed his face and how gorgeous he looked as Henry’s eyes darted back and forth across the sky, mouth scrunched up in a studious expression.
He could feel his heart rate pick up, betraying him.
Thankfully, Henry spoke.
“Well, you know, I’m more of a geology expert myself, but I’m pretty sure that’s the big dipper right there.” he pointed up at the sky, throwing a glance at Darryl that made his stomach turn. “So we can assume there’s at least some similarity.”
“The… uh, sure.” Darryl squinted. He really hadn’t the slightest idea about the stars. He just figured listening to Henry talk about them might be a welcome break from his own thoughts.
“Right-" Henry thought for a moment. "Hold on, here.” Henry grabbed Darryl’s arm and lifted it up, pressing his head up against the other’s in order to get the angle. He tilted his head and directed Darryls hand toward the correct group of stars.
Darryl Wilson could no longer live in denial. Not that he was doing a particularly good job of that beforehand. Their faces were literally pressed together, side by side, and he felt like he was going to stop breathing.
“See, it looks sort of like a spoon or a ladle kind of thing.” Henry explained. After a moment, he returned Darryl’s hand and shuffled back to his old position.
Darryl mumbled some sort of agreement, red-faced, and looked back up at the sky.
They lay there a long while, just staring at the stars- the only noise being the sound of the wind through a nearby forest.
It was a significant amount of time before Darryl interrupted.
“Hey, Henry?”
“Yeah?”
Darryl pointed a finger at his Nokia. “The definition of nature is the physical world and everything in it,”
“...Okay?”
“- Such as ,” he continued, holding up the finger. “Plants, animals, oceans, mountains, STARS , etc.”
Henry let out a laugh, and Darryl did too.
“Okay, Darryl, sure. Stars are definitely nature, I’m sorry I doubted you,” Henry admitted, smiling. “You know, I always like to say my favorite TV show is the sunrise, and…”
Henry got back into talking, and Darryl was content to lay there and listen, until his eyelids eventually began to droop and Henry’s words became harder to hear.
As his consciousness finally faded out for the night, Darryl didn’t even have time to think about all the others inevitably finding him and Henry out there in the morning.
The last thought Darryl had before he passed out was how lovely it must be to fall asleep to this every night.