Sharp Like a Knife, Like a Needle
Written for dixid, Yuletide 2009
by ames

Henry was not having the best day. The security cameras in the Sanctuary were freaking out, thanks to a new abnormal that Magnus had brought in the night before that emitted weirdo electrical signals. It was driving Henry nuts; every time the creature had an energy burst, all the cameras in an eighty-foot radius fritzed and filled the monitors with nothing but static. This was a serious pain in Henry's backside, because it meant that he had to replace cameras in the Shoe, in the main gallery, elevators, and even a couple of the external security cameras - and he had to do it soon, before the creature had another burst. The doc wasn't saying anything, but she'd given Henry one of those looks.

He turned the corner, pushing his cart down the hall past the library. "OK," he said under his breath. "Elevator camera first. Then down into the Shoe to get those, then back to get everything calibrated, and then-- " He stopped in front of the elevator doors, pushed the button, and sighed. "I need to be about a foot taller for this job. Or start remembering to bring the stepladder with me."

The elevator doors opened and Henry backed into the elevator, pulling the cart with him.

"Um, trying to get out here," said a voice behind him.

Henry turned, and grinned. "Oh, hey Will, didn't see you there. I just gotta fix this camera, replace the sensor."

Will frowned from his position wedged in the corner of the elevator. The elevator wasn't huge, and with the two men plus the cart, there wasn't a lot of free space. "When did it break? It was working fine this morning."

"Yeah, well, the doc's new abnormal had an electro-fit and shorted out cameras all over the Sanctuary." Henry stared up at the corner camera. "I wish I had a ladder."

"Oh," Will said, dubiously. "Well, I'll just climb over the cart or -- can I get out, or do you need help?

"What?" Henry said. "Oh, no, I can do it. You go do your thing, I'll be fine. Here, I'll clear off the stuff on top so you can get over."

Will nodded and edged his way along the wall past Henry and around the piles of electronics, and carefully climbed over the cart. Henry flipped open the elevator maintenance panel and keyed in the code to prevent anyone from calling it on one of the other floors.

"Hey," Will said. Henry looked up, surprised. "You sure you don't need help? Cause I'm not really doing anything right now."

Henry cocked his head. "Aren't you supposed to go with Magnus to pick up that bird-thing from the docks? The one with the teeth and the-- " He flapped his hands up by his ears.

Will grinned. "Yeah, but that's not until later. The shipment was delayed, so I've got some time."

Henry considered. Truth be told, he'd kind of avoided spending a lot of alone time with Will lately, and he was beginning to suspect that Will was catching on. He stared up at the camera. It really was too far for him to reach and his stepstool was in the basement. Henry glanced at Will, taking in his jeans and thin hoodie. He licked his lips quickly, then shook his head. "Nah, I got it. Just, if you could pull that plant over here, and block the door open for me, I can bring the cart in further and stand on it."

Will nodded and started wrestling the plant and its heavy container over to the door, while Henry stepped back and tried to calculate how high the camera was and whether he was going to have to get his stepstool after all.

"Got it," Will said. Henry pulled the cart through the doorway into the elevator, catching the closing doors with his foot, while Will pulled the plant in and propped the doors open with it. Henry nodded, and pushed the cart in the corner where the camera was. He checked to see that he had a screwdriver in his jacket pocket, and climbed on top.

"Dammit," he breathed, stretching as far as he could, but still coming a little short.

"I could do it," Will suggested.

Henry huffed a little in frustration. "You wouldn't know what to do, and it's too hard to explain. If you hold the cart steady for me, I can maybe reach if I stand on my tiptoes."

"Yeah, sure," Will said. "Anything to help, you know."

Henry turned back to the corner. He could feel the cart stabilizing as Will grabbed hold of the sides. "Yeah, this is gonna work," he said. Bracing one hand on the wall, Henry reached up with the other and unscrewed the access panel to the camera. Damn thing was completely fried.

"You know," Will said from below. "There's probably an easier way to do this."

"My ladder is down in the basement," Henry said. "And honestly, I'm too lazy to go get it. Hand me that thing over there, with the wires."

Will carefully let go of the cart and grabbed the circuit card off the floor. He handed it up to Henry and paused with a considering look on his face. "You know, if I lean against the cart, I can push it against the corner and the walls, and then support you by the legs. Since you won't let me do it for you."

Henry looked back and down at Will. "You know how to rewire fried electronics?"

"No."

"OK, then." Henry considered, and nodded. "Sure, that'll work. Just don't let me fall, or kick you in the head, or anything."

"Not a concern," Will said lightly. "Hang on." Henry felt a slight jolt as Will pushed the cart more firmly into the corner. "You good?"

"Yeah," Henry said.

"OK," Will said, and grasped Henry's legs low around the ankle. "This good?"

Henry shook his head. "No, if you hold that low, I can't get up on my toes to reach the higher stuff."

"Right," Will said. He repositioned, wrapping long fingers around the lower part of Henry's calf, right at the spot where the muscle swelled out. "How's this?"

Henry coughed. "Yeah, that'll do. Just, you know, be careful."

Henry worked on the camera, asking Will to hand him parts or tools when needed. He tried very hard to concentrate only on the electronics, and not at all on the fact that Will's hands were on his legs, or to imagine what they must look like, where Will's face was in proximity to his own body, or how his own body was reacting.

"You know," Will said, his voice oddly husky. "I've been wondering about something."

Henry froze, hands above his head. "Yeah?" He cleared his throat.

"Yeah," Will replied. "Your piercings."

Henry drew in a shuddering breath as Will slid his hands up the backs of Henry's legs, thumbs pressing into the muscle, and stopping just at the knee. "What - what about them?" Henry shifted his legs a little further apart, solely to help with balance, and tried not to move too much. Or collapse. Or hump the wall.

"Body modification crosses cultures," Will said, his voice taking on that slight academic tone it got when he was in lecture-mode. "People get piercings for cosmetic reasons, or because it's expected in their culture, or to show their individuality." He paused. Henry could feel Will's breath through his jeans, warm against the back of his thighs. "Sometimes, because they think it's sexy."

Henry swallowed. "Well, yeah. Some of that. It's a little complicated."

Will was silent. Henry felt Will give a light squeeze to his legs, and then let go. Henry turned carefully so his back was to the wall, and slid down to sit on the cart. He took a breath and said, "I didn't know what was happening to me. I thought, hey, puberty, everyone's body goes a little haywire, right? Mine was just hitting me a little later than most."

Will nodded, eyes serious. He leaned against the back wall with his hands in his pockets and just listened.

"So, I was going a little crazy," Henry said. "I was tired all the time but kind of jumpy, I kept yelling at people. Ashley and I had it out a few times." He grinned ruefully. "She totally kicked my ass, of course, but the fighting helped. But then it would start over again, this weird kind of buzzing beneath my skin."

"The wolf," Will said softly.

"Yeah. So one night I was out in Old City, looking to burn off some energy. I went to Limelight, that club over by the Warehouse District."

Will whistled, eyebrows raised. "That's a rough area."

Henry smiled briefly. "I was feeling rough. Anyway, there was this guy there. Rick. He was all. . ." Henry waved his hands in the general direction of his torso. "Lots of body mod. And we got to talking, and I asked him about it." He looked away, not wanting to tell Will about his up-close examination of Rick's piercings, in the corner of the club, in the dark, all slick sweat and hands sliding on skin, tweaking metal hoops that glistened against ebony skin, and finding posts in surprising places. He cleared his throat roughly and continued. "So he said that it felt good to do, that it was hot to look at."

"Yeah?" Will asked.

"And I thought, my body is mine," Henry continued, still resolutely not looking at Will. "It doesn't belong to this wolf, this thing. It's mine. And I get to say what happens to it. And what I do with it."

"Control," Will said, nodding.

"So Rick took me to his guy," Henry continued. "And he said, what do you want first, eyebrow, ear, navel." And Rick had leaned against Henry's back, hands sliding up his torso to thumb rock-hard nipples, and Henry said do the right one, and when the needle went through his skin, Rick bit the top of his ear, sending pleasure and pain shocking through his body, down his spine. "And I chose, and that was the first one."

Will shifted against the wall. "How was it - did it hurt?"

Henry turned and looked at Will full-on. "You've got ink," he said.

"Yeah," Will said.

"How did that feel?" Henry said.

Will held his gaze for a few minutes, then smiled. "The outlining, that kind of hurt, like a razor blade being drawn down my skin. But it was good too, and when he filled it in, that -" He laughed lightly. "That felt great."

Henry smiled back. "Like that. Kind of. And I got a little hooked, went back the next month for another one, and again a few months after that."

Will swallowed. Henry could see his throat work, smell the faint tinge of sweat in the air, and maybe hints of something else. "I have to admit," Will said, his voice a little shaky. "I was surprised."

"Just by the piercings?" Henry asked, smiling a little.

"No, no, not just by that, no," Will said, a touch ruefully. "I mean, right then I was more thinking about how you'd just saved my life, and what I'd seen you do. But later -- yeah, it surprised me."

Henry shrugged a shoulder. "It's not something that comes up in conversation."

"No," Will agreed.

Henry sat quietly watching Will, who was apparently lost in his own thoughts. They didn't spend a lot of quiet time together; either something was Happening with a capital H and they were in full-on mission mode, or they were hanging out playing video games, or not hanging out at all. Which was the case lately. So Henry didn't get much of an opportunity to just look at Will, not in the way that he'd found himself wanting to the past few weeks.

"So, Rick," Will said.

"He was just a guy," Henry replied, voice soft. "It was a long time ago, haven't seen him in years."

Will nodded sharply. "Right."

Henry's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, not taking his eyes off Will, and thumbed it on. "Yeah?"

"Henry," Magnus's voice was faintly tinny, but as brisk as ever. "Have you repaired the camera over by the east entrance to the Shoe yet?"

"Not yet, doc, just finishing the elevator camera," he replied. Will shook himself lightly and ran a hand through his hair.

"Have you seen Will?" Magnus asked. "I need him with me, our delivery has arrived."

"Tell her I'm on my way," Will said, pushing off of the wall. Henry relayed the message and hung up, still watching Will. "Um, look," Will said. "Do you want to grab a beer or something later? Get out of the Sanctuary a little. I used to know this little place with the most amazing hamburgers. . . " He trailed off.

"Yeah," Henry said. "Come find me. I'll be around."

Will nodded sharply and left, squeezing through the door, and pulling out his own phone. "Magnus," he said, striding down the hall, voice fading.

Henry sat on the cart, quiet. He wasn't thinking of Will, or of Rick. Instead, he remembered the sharp sensation of the needle going through sensitive skin, and the sense of ownership and power he'd felt. He reached up and lightly thumbed his right nipple, feeling the post through his t-shirt.

Then he smiled, and got back to work. Cameras were blown out all over the Sanctuary, and he suddenly had plans for the evening.

END