Archive of Our Own ^beta

Perhaps Jekyll could only blame himself for the night that was about to come. Perhaps he could only blame himself for having overworked himself a wee lil’ bit. Perhaps he could only blame himself for accidentally isolating in his already so barricaded office, barely letting in the sunshine his skin so dearly craved, much less anyone or anything else. Perhaps he could only blame himself for the Lodgers getting fed up with his behavior, picking the lock to his doors and-- despite his cries of protest-- grabbing him by the arms, dragging him out of his chair and out of the room so he could socialize.

He was going to complain about the picked and damaged locks later, for now, he merely dragged his shoes against the sleet marble floors in an attempt to hinder his abduction, his inevitable doom for whatever crime he could possibly have committed. It was not hidden that he was struggling in vain; Bryson was far too strong in comparison to the already meek and fragilely built doctor to try to struggle against. Miss Lavender was trotting happily beside them, holding her head high as she completely ignored Henry’s pleas for mercy, holding a conversation with the aeronaut without a single bother. Bryson was, at this point, practically holding the weak doctor under his arm like a sack of hay or a very uncooperative dog.

“Pleeaseeeeeeeee-- I have so much work to dooooooo-- I don’t have time for thiiissssssssss....”

Henry did not even try to hide his whining, he didn’t even try to compose himself to act like the perfectly well-put-together man that he so often was because, truth be told, he was not in the state to put up all the masks that he hid behind normally. He had to admit that he hadn’t slept very well as of late, perhaps he had skipped a few lunches... Although it was nothing he would admit out loud. The hunger was getting to him and so was the exhaustion but he had work to do! So much work, so much paperwork that stacked up on his desk, he couldn’t just let that wait! Sure, he did feel absolutely miserable with how little he had socialized lately but that could wait, couldn’t it? 

“Doctor, I’m sad to say but your whining isn’t getting you anywhere, you know that.” 

Henry could hear the huff of amusement in Bryson’s voice, and he could hear Lavender giggling right next to them. It only further earned a groan from the tired doctor and yet he decided to take the advice and save the little voice he still had after all of that complaining. He had to admit that he much rather felt like a feisty cat trying to escape a bath rather than someone getting forced out to socialize but his vocal complaining clearly matched such a comparison. Zosi happily galloping next to the trio to keep up with them did not help Henry’s misery-- not even Zosi was trying to help him! Oh, how he wished that Zosi was as feisty as the rest of his church grim brethren, so strong and aggressive, towering tall over the gravestones with fearsome growls. Henry was sure that his companion would have found great pleasure in taking out all that inevitable frustration that always harbored itself within small dogs on Mr. Bryson’s heels.

“You know you have your own legs to walk on, right?”

Henry huffed, very tempted to cross his arms and pout at Bryson’s words, only earning a soft chuckle from the other man in question before he suddenly stopped. He still wore an amused smile on his lips as he helped Henry up on his feet and the poor doctor was naive enough to think that they had finally given up, that they would finally allow him to go back to his office to continue the horrible work he was forced into but of course Henry could not have such luck, perhaps the smile should have been enough to tell him that what he hoped for wasn’t the case. Bryson merely took Henry’s arm and hoisted it around his neck, leaving the doctor no time to process what was happening before he had already dragged the rest of the doctor upon his shoulders and continued on his merry way, fireman-carrying Henry as he continued his confident walk, rendering the doctor just as speechless as if he actually would have lost his voice. The red color on his face had not slipped by Lavender, whoever, who had pointed it out and earned a hearty chuckle to share between her and Bryson, much to Henry’s continuous embarrassment.

Perhaps Henry had gotten used to the manhandling, or perhaps he merely saw no other reason for complaint. Perhaps he even realized that, maybe, an evening of hanging out with his beloved Lodgers was nowhere near as bad as he first would have thought. Of course, he loved to spend time with the Lodgers, especially now that the Exhibition had come and gone and most of his continuous stress was out of the way, but he had to admit that he was a workaholic who always was a bit reluctant to take some free-time when he knew that there was work to be done. Perhaps a day off wouldn’t be so bad... Even if he was starting to feel a bit remorseful for all the trouble he was putting his friends through just to get him to socialize with them, to spend time with them. Was this not why they had a falling out in the first place, as he had been reluctant to spend the time they wished to have with him? While he had to admit that he was starting to get a bit warmed up and even excited about the idea of spending time with his friends... Oh well, he was already hoisted up on Bryson’s shoulder and he did not seem keen on letting him go anytime soon, perhaps still convinced that Henry would take that as an opportunity to escape. Well, Henry couldn’t deny that he wasn’t tempted to try to escape but he knew better. Instead, he merely propped his elbow up on Bryson’s shoulder and rested his head on the palm of his hand as they continued on, accepting his fate, and making himself comfortable instead.

It did not take long until they arrived at their much-expected destination; the main parlor right next to the foyer, the biggest one of the handful of lounges in the Society by far. The doors were wide open and Henry could hear laughter and a record player playing from somewhere inside the room before he even got a view of those who were occupying the space by this time. For a moment, he wondered if Bryson was going to let him go but he and Lavender continued at their steady pace into the room. Henry had to admit that his expression of indifference did a good job at hiding the actual embarrassment that began to blossom in his chest and especially so when the many faces of his dear Lodgers got decipherable in the yellow light of the parlor. Much as expected, once the rest of the residents of the Society for Arcane Sciences spotted the trio, most of them greeted them with waves of laughter in shock and amusement, yet Henry could not say that he took as much offense as he had expected himself to do. Perhaps it was because he knew that he probably would have tried to mask a chuckle too, had he seen himself from their point of view.

“I got him, boys.” Bryson declared with a grin, patting the back of Henry’s leg where his hand was placed to keep him steady like a hunter showing off his latest catch. Henry gave off a huff of indifference.

“We can see that, but why are you carrying him like that, Bryson?” Virginia asked and-- despite her obvious intent-- she didn’t manage to hide the smile and the short snorts of laughter that threatened to escape as she let her eyes roam up and down the figure of her mentor. The expression of indifference that Henry wore upon his features soon turned much more unimpressed when he looked at his junior, which only seemed to further tickle her so often dry sense of humor.

“Well, someone had to drag their feet the entire way here--”

“You dragged me here!”

“--and it isn’t like our little Dr. Jekyll weighs a lot either. Are we sure Rachel isn’t starving him?”

Henry rolled his eyes as the Lodgers continued to laugh, although a soft smile did continue to play on his lips, a soft smile which he very much tried to hide as Bryson finally leaned over and let the doctor climb off of his shoulders. Henry made sure to take a quick step to the side to prevent Bryson from reaching after him again --just in case-- before he quickly adjusted his ruffled clothes, making sure to have just a tad bit fun with the whole situation by huffing and pouting dramatically, successfully earning more laughter and more snickers from the Lodgers. Lavender moved up next to him and gave him a comforting pat on the back, although it was clear that she was having fun with the whole thing too. 

“Bastards, all of you, I swear.” He grumbled, more dramatically than anything.

“Yeah, yeah, sure we are bastards, but now you are here for game night!” Dr. Helsby declared. He was standing next to a row of tables put together into a single large square, hands gesturing to the room around them with pride. It was only now that Henry noticed that most of the Lodgers seemed to be sitting by that table, save for a few who wandered back and forth between the self-serve bar to gather booze and other snacks to bring to the table as well, yet his eyebrows only furrowed in confusion.

“...Game night?”

“Yes!” Mrs. Cantilupe seemed to jump out of nowhere, successfully startling the doctor as she came up behind him, grabbing his arm --the opposite of the side where Miss Lavender stood, as she now went and took a seat by the table herself-- as she gestured towards the newly renovated room, “you see, Miss Flowers got the most wonderful idea that we should all organize a game night every week so we get to spend time together! Isn’t that fun?”

She seemed quite excited, yet it did nothing to douse the growing confusion that made itself clear on Henry’s face. Perhaps, more importantly, it didn’t really explain why he was here. So the Lodgers were going to have a game night, cool, of course he would allow that, but if they just needed permission then why did they haul him off all the way here? Did they need him to do something? Maybe his confusion only got more and more obvious, for soon Mrs. Cantilupe seemed to tsk softly, leaned in closer to his side while making sure that it was out of view from the others.

“You are a part of us, you know. So you are here to join us, sweetie.” She whispered, although Henry had to admit that she was saying as if such a thing was obvious. Yet, it clearly had not been obvious for Henry. He blinked, unsure and surprised, although he had to admit that he was flattered that they even had thought of him. Normally he did not doubt that they would have forgotten about him, so maybe that’s why he could feel his cheeks burning so slightly.

“I-- oh.”

Cantilupe did not say anything else, only giving him a soft smile and a pat on the back before she moved on and moved closer to the table, taking her own seat where most of the Lodgers were gathering. Virginia, Helsby, Archer, Bird, Lavender, Maijabi, Flowers, and Bryson were already seated, and it did not take long for the few that had not yet been in the parlor to come jogging with whatever they seemed to have gathered from the rest of the building; Henry saw a plate with piping hot cookies carried by Doddle and Sinnett narrowly missing his chest as they rushed past to place the hot plate on the table, although he was quite sure it was none of Doddle’s work but instead some that they stole from Rachel in the kitchen, based on the familiar smell. Tweedy, Pennebrygg, and Mosley soon came with their armfuls of more booze. Luckett and Chabra Followed suit with stacks of board games. Henry had to admit that he felt a bit perplexed as he watched the Lodgers putting their goods on the table, gathering it all together like pirates showing off their treasure. They all seemed to be rushing to their seats, bursting at the seams with excitement, although it did take a while for him to get out of his... Shock? Surprise? He was not sure what it was but he had to admit that he was feeling a bit awkward --perplexed, perhaps-- yet it did not take long until Virginia looked back up at him and patted the empty spot next to her. Only two chairs were vacant, yet Henry wasted no time in taking his seat by his apprentice, if not only to stop standing by the sidelines as a fool. He wondered who wasn’t here by now, as the table seemed quite filled, yet it did not take long for him to realize that they were missing a certain albino man around their midsts.

“Has anyone seen Griffin?” Helsby suddenly asked. The company looked around at each other, only soft murmurs of confusion and soft shaking of heads came from the Lodgers, although it did not take long until the man in question came running. They heard his footsteps quite quickly, soon his pale face and ruffled hair poked out by the doorway, glasses askew as he tried to catch his breath.

“Sorry, sorry... The goddamn cat broke into the kitchen again and Rachel gave me an earful and didn’t let me go.” The albino apologized. The cat in question was currently sprawled over his owner’s shoulders, much like how Bryson had carried Henry previously, although the difference was that the cat seemed fast asleep in a food coma. He could hear a few chuckles going around the table, a few “oh, don’t worry, you didn’t miss anything” and a few other greetings as well as Griffin closed the doors to the parlor and moved towards the table. He seemed to halt for a moment once he noticed how the only seat empty was the one next to Henry, for a moment the doctor swore that Griffin’s cheeks got even redder, for a moment he swore Griffin’s eyes seemed to scan the table for another seat, for a moment he swore he could hear a few new snickers coming from the rest of the Lodgers, yet Griffin merely cleared his throat and hesitantly sat down next to the older doctor.

Henry did not want to admit it, but he could feel his cheeks burning up just a wee bit. He tried to hide it, but clearly, he did not do a good job as he soon felt Virginia nudging his side, giving him a wink. It certainly did not help the blush that traveled up to his face.

“Does anyone have a suggestion for which game to start with?” Archer asked then, successfully cutting off both Henry’s and Griffin’s similar thoughts. He was leaning back in his seat, tilting it on its back legs in a way that tempted Henry to tell him off and warn him that he might get hurt, but he bit his tongue, instead focusing on masking the blood tinting his face so devilishly, so noticeably. 

“Truth or dare!” Sinnett immediately suggested, his excitement making itself quite obvious as he seemed to keep himself from jumping up and down in his chair. His suggestion was soon followed by backup from a few other Lodgers, others seemed to nod in indifference, although no one seemed to actively disagree with such a proposal.

“Alright, does someone have an empty bottle?”

Miss Chabra, the one who sat closest to the self-serve bar in the room, stood up and went behind the counter to get an empty bottle, everyone silently agreeing that using one of the filled ones would not only be dangerous to spin but also waste perfectly good alcohol. Soon she came back and placed the bottle in the middle of the table, sitting down by her chair once more.

“Alright, Sinnett, you start.”

The ginger man practically threw himself over the bottle, needing a nudge from Luckett --who was sitting next to him-- to remind himself to not use his robotic hand to spin unless he wished to break the glass. Sinnett quickly switched and moved to his left hand instead, wasting no time in giving it a good spin before he sat back down on his seat, watching the bottle intensely. It spun, it spun, and it spun...

“Henry!”

Oh no.

“Truth or dare?”

Henry pressed himself back in the seat, eyes jumping from the bottle on the table to Sinnett’s grinning face. He could only assume it was his luck that the tip of the bottle immediately pointed to him, yet he did his best to not panic about it. After all, this was a game night, it was going to be fun, and oh... He needed some alcohol already, he was sure of it. Luckily for him, Luckett, Mosley, and Pennebrygg were already passing out beer bottles around the table, it did not take long until Henry got one in his hands too, greedily holding it in his hand as he tried to stall.

“I, uhm... Truth?”

Perhaps it was a bad idea to pick truth when he could only imagine all the lies he had set up for the Lodgers, like bricks in the giant barricade to hide the horrors that he was sure dwelled within him, but he wanted to warm up, he wanted to enjoy this. Besides, how bad could it be? No, it could not be that bad. He popped the cork of his beer and took a swig as Sinnett rubbed his hands together like a dastardly fly, seemingly thinking through what he was about to ask.

“What is the worst thing you have done while drunk?”

Henry almost, just almost, could not help but choke on his beer.

He was quick to cough it away, yet he felt his cheeks burning as the eyes around the table began to linger on him. While he was caught by surprise, he had to admit that a smile displayed itself on his lips as he placed the bottle back on the table, as he gave the question a good thought.

“Well... Once when I was a lad, my pals and I went to a pub, right?” He started, and he could see how the Lodgers all seemed to be listening carefully, wanting to hear what he was going to say, “Unfortunately, we drank more than we could handle and probably more than we really could have paid for. We were five piss-drunk teens trying to stumble through the streets and avoid the police, only then did we realize that we had to get home somehow. My house was closest and my bedroom had a balcony, so somehow we got the brilliant idea of sneaking me up there instead of using the front door and risking meeting my parents. Two of my pals climbed upon each other’s shoulders and the two others helped me up on the second to try to reach the balcony... Except the one that actually had his feet on the ground lost his balance. You can probably imagine what happened after that.”

He couldn’t help but retell the story with a fond chuckle within his voice, and he could hear how the Lodgers began to snicker too. Sinnett seemed satisfied, yet Henry continued.

“That wasn’t even the worst part,” Henry added as well, bringing the bottle back to his lips, “we all laughed off the entire thing but all the noises alerted my father’s hounds.” 

A few gasps erupted from the table.

“No.”

“Yes. Oh, you should have seen my friends. Got scared shitless, all of them. It was not a very nice thing to try to explain while being drunk and after having gotten a nasty hit to the head, let me tell you that.” 

“You got caught?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m lucky I still have my head after that.” 

He laughed, the Lodgers practically erupted in howls too, and he could already feel how he was starting to... Well, warm up. It felt nice. He was enjoying this, it felt good to spend time with the Lodgers and especially since he didn’t have to worry about anything. It was just a nice time with his friends. His story was over, so he reached for the empty bottle, grabbed it by its base, and gave it a good spin; it spun and it spun, this time it narrowly missed pointing towards Henry again, instead landing perfectly pointed towards his apprentice next to him. Henry grinned and leaned back, taking a good look at poor Virginia who seemed to know exactly what would happen now. She was used to her mentor, after all.

“Dare.” She said without hesitation, knowing full well that her mentor probably would have wanted to ask a question to tease her. She was sure he would have wanted some kind of revenge after she... Uhm, accidentally ruined most of his fine alchemy ingredients in a botched experiment a few days ago. Her suspicion got confirmed when Henry’s grin turned into a dramatic pout, even if it was quickly replaced by his grin once more. Oh, Virginia was sure that she was going to regret this either way... Especially when Henry was looking around the table while pinching his chin with his thumb and index finger, trying to come up with something good. Suddenly he stopped, eyes widening, and soon he turned back to Virginia with a smirk.

“I dare you to mix ten different alcohols in this room, or around this table, and drink it all in one go.” 

“NO.”

“YES.” 

Oh, Henry knew that Virginia could not hold her alcohol for the life of her. She hated the taste and she hated the side effects of it, too, knowing full well how easily she got intoxicated, so Henry knew exactly what he was doing when he dared her to do this. He probably had too much fun getting her to drink with the Lodgers during other nights as it was, of course he could not resist the perfect opportunity to continue with his little grand scheme. The fact that the rest of the bastards around the table began to ‘ooh’ and cheer it on did not help Virginia’s case either. Her face turned red, only further earning a teasing smile from her mentor.

“It also has to be ten different types of liquid. No shots from ten different bottles of the same beer.”

“Henryyyyyyyyyy...”

“Virginiaaaaaaaaa...”

The apprentice groaned again, hiding her face in the delicate palms of her hands to hide the red blood that only further began to display itself upon her pale cheeks. She let two fingers move away from her eyes so she could peek at her mentor, and his grin only got worse and worse. Some other Lodgers began to slam their fists against the table, chanting her name in support to get her to do the dare. At this point, she was quite sure she would rather sink straight through the ground, into the soil, and straight into hell than do this.

She had no time to flee since her friends began to move a glass between them, filling it up with the ten different alcohols that Henry had dared her to take, yet they never stopped the chanting. Virginia could hear how Henry joined into the chant as well, soon she had the dreaded glass in front of her. She watched it with the same horrible nausea she probably would have watched its residue right after having drunk it, yet she took a deep breath and pressed her hands flat against the surface of the table. The Lodgers continued to cheer, soon she grabbed the glass with a tight grip. Her unoccupied hand was brought back to her face, pinching her nose as she brought the cup to her lips, taking a last breath before she tilted her head back and drank it all in one swoop. She heard how her friends' cheering turned into roars of celebration, although she, to be fair, could hear nothing through the loud ringing in her ears. The taste of all the mixed alcohol-- some types which seemed to include a strange arrangement of whiskey, beer, wine, scotch, rum, and aquavit-- felt like a punch directly to the throat as she almost doubled over, yet she forced herself to not cough it up like a cat with a furball, doing her best to swallow the entire thing. She slammed the glass back against the table, pushed it away from her, and placed her head against the table. Oh, god, her stomach was absolutely revolting, yet the cheering never stopped.

“I hate youuuuuuu...” 

“Oh, I know, Virginia, I know.” Henry chuckled, soothingly patting his broad hand on his apprentice's back. Virginia couldn’t even have tried to shove it off, even if she would have wanted to, far too deep into her own misery to gather the strength to move. She was, sure as fucking hell, going to get back at her mentor sometime... For now, she reluctantly stretched her arm after the bottle, giving it a good spin, and so the game continued.

---

Henry did not know when the transition had started, perhaps he was a little bit too drunk to have noticed the change, perhaps everyone else was too, but at some point, their game of truth-and-dare had gotten quite boring as the potential questions and dares began to run out. Luckett had suggested a game of never-have-I-ever, the now-drunk Lodgers had been all too eager for the change of game, yet Henry could not say that he minded. Some Lodgers soon jumped off the game to play board games, cards, and other games in smaller groups but Henry stayed by the large table with the majority of the other scientists, playing the drinking game as the night slowly began to wear on. He had to admit that he was getting quite tired, his eyes began to feel droopy but he had gone weeks without sleeping, a few days without it would be fine.

“Never have I ever... Risked my life for science.” 

Surprisingly, Tweedy’s never-have-I-ever question was not met with the entire crowd taking a shot like most would have expected, yet only a handful reached their hands for their shot glasses. Henry took a second to process the question, feeling the cogs turn in his intoxicated brain, then he reached his hand out for an entire beer bottle, popped the cork, and took large gulps instead of a mere sip. The drunk Lodgers looked at him with a mix of amusement and confusion, yet some began to snicker.

“What have you done that requires an entire beer bottle, Jekyll?” Miss Chabra asked, the laughter obvious in her voice as she watched the older man. Henry himself continued to drink from the beer, then placed the empty bottle back on the table and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Ye dinnae wantae ken--” He caught himself by surprise as he coughed up his Scottish drawl, quickly shaking his head and trying to get his tongue on the right place in his mouth, clearing his throat, “You don’t want to know.” 

Chabra seemed skeptical, raising an eyebrow, although she did not question it further but instead took the older man’s word for it. It did make her curious, though, very much so, yet both of them got caught up as it soon turned into Helsby’s turn to put out a statement, both of their attention turning towards the other man as they prepared their glasses and their alcohol.

The evening rolled on, and on, and on, and soon Henry was sure it could not be counted as evening anymore. Soon it was late night or early morning, soon he began to feel that he lost his sense of awareness when it came to time. The room was littered with various clocks on the walls or grandfather clocks towering over the rest of the decorations in the room, yet Henry’s brain began to feel mushy and the clocks’ hands began to melt against the ivory white surfaces. He was not sure if it was because he was drunk or exhausted, or if it was a bit of both, yet he began to feel how he spaced out. The loud noises in the room-- all the Lodgers seemingly rolling on a high of energy that had so thievishly been stolen from the doctor-- seemed to get drowned out by the soft ringing in his ears. He had to keep his head propped on his hand to keep himself upright, eyelids drooping over his glossy eyes, locks of hair clinging to his warm face. He could not strangle the yawn that escaped his lips, much against his own will, yet he did his best to play it off... Ugh, god, he was going to have such a hangover tomorrow... Or perhaps he would sleep the entire day away... 

He rubbed his eyes, trying to get rid of the crust that began to gather in the corners of them when he closed his eyes for too long. He forced his body to move, leaning back in his chair as he tried to keep his heavy head steady. It felt so hard... It was so warm in here, the alcohol began to take over his body; making him feel like he was stuck in the amber that ancient creatures had lost their race against time with. Slow, tough, overwhelming, consuming... He should probably excuse himself for the night, head to bed,  and pass out against the pillows, but god... The mere thought exhausted him...

He could not keep his eyes open for much longer, soon his useless fight against consciousness proved to be in vain. His head tilted, soon landing against a quite comfortable and hardy resting place, enough for the doctor to continue to succumb to the exhaustion, and continue to feel his consciousness melt away.

Griffin, however, did not have such fortune.

The albino had flinched in surprise when he felt something hit his shoulder, not having paid attention to the things going on around him as he focused on the game. He blinked, trying to glance at the thing that had landed on him-- his cat long since having deemed his shoulders boring and had wandered off somewhere-- yet all he could notice was the messy locks of brown hair that gently caressed his cheek, carefully, gently, and all he could hear was the soft breathing erupting from the man who had taken him as a pillow.

Dr. Henry Jekyll had fallen asleep against him. Griffin was quite sure his heart was going to explode. 

While his heart did remain as stable as it always had, although beating much faster, something that did explode was the tint of red color that came all over his cheeks. He remained frozen, desperately trying to keep himself calm, yet feeling Henry’s slender body and soft cheek lean against his shoulder... He had to keep himself from letting out a gulp in an attempt to pull himself together, afraid that it would wake the peaceful doctor.

He did not have the heart to wake him up, yet he did not have to just yet, as the other Lodgers seemed to have caught up on Dr. Jekyll’s current... Position, situation. They all did their best to quiet down their games, although not much noise had been made to begin with, yet they all decided that it was getting late, and soon others might drop down dead asleep like Jekyll if they continued. Virginia seemed particularly intrigued by the situation Griffin found himself in, sparing no chance in gently teasing the biochemist, yet Griffin himself could do nothing but hiss in defense.

No one had the heart to wake Jekyll up, yet Virginia and Griffin had no choice. They nudged him awake, poor Henry was still just as gone as before, yet conscious enough so they could help him to his feet. Together they grabbed his arms and supported him through the corridors until they arrived at the office. Virginia pocketed a keyring from Henry’s pocket, unlocking the door as they helped him inside, carefully moving him to his bedroom. Henry seemed to fall asleep again the moment his head hit the pillows.

The junior neo-alchemist and the biochemist tippy-toed out of the office in silence and yet, as Virginia closed the office door behind them, she seemed to not have been able to keep quiet any longer.

“That surely was a night of fun for you, hmm?”

“Shut up.” Griffin grumbled, pushing his tinted glasses higher up on his nose, yet Virginia just laughed.

Perhaps being seated next to Henry, and perhaps having been used as a pillow... Had been nicer than he really liked to admit, just because it was Dr. Jekyll. 

At least no one could deny that they hadn’t had a night of fun.