Chapter 315: Drunk baby Guides are not Casper’s forte

Casper and Theo found themselves in a rather peculiar situation. They were not prepared, as a unit, to deal with the rather curious case of Charlie, which worried the Guide who watched what was happening before them.

One who hadn’t been abandoned by his new family, but was being protected, yet clearly didn’t feel that way. Casper knew that Charlie was of age, so this wasn’t underage drinking, but it felt like it.

He’d never encountered something this strange and perplexing before in his life.

Theo was doing his best to control the wily Charlie, who was simultaneously crying and laughing, a cup in his hand that he simply refused to let go of. Unfortunately for him, Theo was a Water Esper, so liquids weren’t exactly safe from the man.

Casper watched from a safe distance as he held a bowl in his hands to help ease Theo’s burdens as he simply removed the contents of the glass from Charlie’s glass and into Casper’s bowl. The sound that left Charlie’s lips as he realised what was happening made Casper wince.

He felt like a horrible person simply because he was preventing Charlie from falling into ruin.

"MY DRINK!" Charlie cried, and there was a small, snarky part of Casper that wanted to argue that this wasn’t his drink, it was the Woods’, but that would win him no brownie points. Casper winced as Theo sputtered, his hair getting in his face as he tried to control the wiggling mass that was Charlie.

"Charlie, you’ve had enough." Theo told him pleadingly and Charlie started sobbing.

"No! I want to drink more!" He was truly acting like a child, which only made Casper feel vindicated in taking away the overly sweet-smelling concoction.

"Charlie, that’s enough." Casper snapped, trying to be the bad guy. Charlie’s gaze snapped to Casper, the tears overflowing easily, his eyes a wild, glowing blue as his hair, banded with his true ashy tone, fell around his face. Casper’s heart tore in two having to use this kind of tone on the younger Guide, but he didn’t want Theo or Charlie to hurt themselves.

They didn’t have a telekinetic close on hand right now, and Charlie was becoming a danger to himself. He’d take the physical and emotional blow of having Charlie dislike him going forward if he had to. No one else should.

"What?" Charlie asked, and Casper felt his heart squeeze. The man was...too much for him. Too sweet, even after all that had happened to him. Innocent in a way that Casper would never be able to fabricate.

"Charlie." Theo started, his voice softer, sweeter, "you’ve had enough to drink, sweetie. You don’t need anymore. Otherwise, you’re going to have a terrible headache tomorrow." Theo was the sweetie. Who else would be able to draw Charlie’s attention in such a smooth way after literally holding onto him and restricting him with his arms? Charlie didn’t even look bothered, turning his gaze towards the white-haired man and staring at him blankly.

"A headache?" Charlie repeated and Theo nodded. "Then Taylor will get rid of it." He said, not missing a beat. Theo paused, and Casper realised that they might have raised a monster in that second.

A sweet, innocent, but spoiled monster.

"She has other duties tomorrow." Casper said, drawing his attention towards him again. Theo scowled once his eyes were off of him. Aware of what Casper was doing, and clearly not pleased with it. Casper didn’t care. He was used to people not liking him recently. That was his new thing.

Being the one that everyone despised.

"She can’t always be at your beck and call, Charlie. She’s a busy person." Charlie’s face crumpled again, tears pouring from his eyes as he bent, using Theo to hold himself up as he went parallel with the floor. The tears spilled over, splattering onto the floor. Each one was a nail through Casper’s heart.

"Everyone’s too busy for Charlie." He said in the third person and Casper winced. Ah fuck. So this was the reason why he was crying and drinking himself stupid. Theo gave Casper a helpless look, clearly out of his depths, and it wasn’t like Casper was going to do any better.

He didn’t talk to his family either, and while his personal life wasn’t as bad as Theo’s or the Captain’s, it wasn’t great either. At least with his family it was semi-normal, the rest?

Casper didn’t want to talk about it.

"That’s not-" Casper cut off with a sigh, growing frustrated for a second before he spun and marched the bowl back into the kitchen. He placed the bowl in the sink, scowling as he turned and came towards Theo and Charlie. Theo watched him, obviously concerned as Casper reached for Charlie’s cheeks.

Charlie let out a howl as Casper pinched them, scowling at the cute, young, sweet S Class Guide.

"Why do you think they left you behind, Charlie? Hmm? It certainly wasn’t because they didn’t care about you, that’s for sure." Casper told him sternly. "It’s because they care about you. Charlie, the E.A.G. wants us dead. Me, you, Brent, Kellen. Mr. Woods. They want any and all Guides either dead or under their thumb and you? Who we’re pretty sure has already been under their thumb and under their control for who knows how long? They would really want you back." Charlie stared at Casper blankly as he spoke. "Or dead, am I clear?" Casper demanded.

"Uh-" Charlie started but Casper went off again.

"To even consider bringing you to a foreign country without declaring that you even officially exist here is dangerous and stupid, Charlie. The Woods don’t strike me as the stupid kind, even after raising Kellen and letting him do whatever the hell he wants."

"Cas." Theo warned and Casper bit his lip, reining in his own personal anger. Charlie didn’t need that right now. He probably didn’t even need this lecture, but damnit, he was going to get it. Even if he didn’t remember it tomorrow.

"They care about you too much, Charlie. They left you here, in our care, to keep you safe. They gave you a role, they’ve been training you, and while they have been using kid gloves on you, you need it! You have no common sense, Charlie! You never have!" Casper told him and watched as Charlie’s eyes widened.

"Common sense?" He asked and Casper nodded, holding the man’s cheeks in his hands.

"What would have happened if we hadn’t come to check on you? You would have passed out, no one would have known, and what if you had hurt yourself? You could have died, you fool! Drowning in vomit and sadness. You would have broken their hearts, Charlie." Casper scolded.

However, it didn’t feel like what he was saying was getting through to Charlie and in frustration, Casper let go of his face and spun, anger welling up inside of him again. He wanted to curse, but instead he listened to Theo do a better job of what he’d been trying to do.

"What Cas is trying to say, Charlie, is that it was for your safety that you were left behind. Not because they didn’t want to be with you or cared about you less. They left Gwen behind, didn’t they? And you’re in charge of visiting her in their stead?" Theo poked and Charlie sucked in. When Casper glanced over at them, Charlie was nodding.

"Y-Yeah." He agreed and Theo let out a soft breath.

"Then they didn’t leave you without giving you something to do or consider you, Charlie. They gave you a very important job. They didn’t forget about you. That’s what Casper is trying to say." That seemed to get through to the younger Guide and he began to cry again. This time, it wasn’t the same, but instead tears of relief.

Casper wanted to cry too.

Why was it that he wasn’t able to get through to Charlie, but Theo had? What was different between them? Was it because Casper had taken on the villain role and thus, Charlie was less willing to listen to him? Casper tried not to let it upset him, even though it did, and instead turned and moved towards the kitchen.

Charlie had drank enough that he was probably hungry now. The least Casper could do was make him something before they put him to bed. Casper frowned as he headed for the kitchen, his chest tight, but ignoring it.

~

"That wasn’t exactly what I was expecting." Theo muttered, a bit of laughter to his voice as they both collapsed onto the couch in the Wood’s living room after putting Charlie to bed. He’d only just fallen asleep and it had felt like they were putting a toddler to bed, not someone almost fully grown.

"What the hell was that?" Casper asked, and Theo turned to him, smiling. Both men were leaning back, their heads resting on the edge of the couch, side by side. Theo reached for Casper’s hand, taking it in his own and Casper felt his face heat.

"That, Cas, was what I believe was a young man throwing a temper tantrum away from his parents." Theo said, grinning. "The Woods are going to be delighted when they hear about this." He told him and Casper wondered how that was possible. He’d be terribly embarrassed if the roles were reversed.

"How?" Casper asked and Theo smiled. He squeezed Casper’s hand tightly.

"Well, Charlie rarely shows his anger or frustration. At least, that’s what Rhys said. This will be a good thing, even if some of their more precious liquor is gone. The consequences of having kids, I guess, even if they aren’t biologically yours." There was a light in Theo’s eyes, one that Casper hadn’t seen before.

It was like he was thrilled, or excited by what he was seeing. Casper wasn’t sure what that meant, but looking at Theo while he spoke of Charlie like that made Casper uncomfortable.

"What are you doing?" Casper asked, giving a weak attempt to pull his hand away from Theo’s grasp and Theo chuckled. He kept eye contact with Casper as he raised their joined hands and pressed a kiss against Casper’s skin.

"I’m showing you affection after you got emotional dealing with Charlie." Theo told him. Casper felt his face flush. "I thought it was cute, but I also know that you’re sensitive to these kinds of things. Besides, Charlie didn’t mean anything by his words or actions. You were just speaking too quickly for his drunk mind to follow along." Theo told him and it was alarming to Casper how easily the other man could see through him.

Casper turned his head away, staring in the opposite direction as his cheeks burned. His glasses shifted as he did so, his vision blurring as he turned to the other side.

"You’re adorable." Theo murmured, making Casper blush more.

"We shouldn’t overstay our welcome." Casper muttered, getting to his feet but importantly, still holding Theo’s hand. Theo grinned at the bashful man, getting to his feet and adjusting Casper’s wonky glasses for him.

"We shouldn’t. Charlie’s asleep, and in good hands now. We should get our own rest. In my apartment?" Theo asked and blushing still, Casper nodded.