winterpapen is more than canon
whether you believe Richard and Henry’s relationship was requited or not you cannot deny there WAS homoerotic subtext, Richard did not compare his dynamic with Henry to Achilles and Patroclus for no reason…the last scene being between them and the “i loved him too!” was more than enough to prove their relationship was not just platonic or manipulative. Especially since richard declared his love for Henry in the same context as Camilla did…come on now.
Henry showed rare moments of vulnerability with Richard such as when Henry was in near tears after julian left and sat alone with Richard in the library where richard greeted him “hey…hey Henry it’s me” ???? he wouldn’t have shown that kind of emotion around anyone else in the greek class. He also opened up to Richard in that same scene about how Julian was more of a father to him than his actual father.
Their conversation in the country house as well where Henry was able to recognise that Richard hated where he came from and Henry admitting he felt the same.
I can also recall their argument outside of Henry’s apartment while Henry was gardening. Richard was near tears despite Henry being unusually calm and dismissive instead of hostile and belittling like his arguments with Bunny or Charles.
Another point is that Henry saving Richard was more than enough to buy Richard’s trust and loyalty, Henry did not need to go out of his way to yell at the nurses for being too aggressive with him while he was asleep, reading to him at the hospital and never leaving his side and giving Richard his own bed for the rest of the winter as well as preparing him meals and taking care of him.
Henry purposely came back to Hampden from Rome looking for Richard for days instead of busying himself in his work or studies like he often would.
Henry’s mom holding Richard’s hand at the hospital, staying by his side nearly everyday and thanking him for being such a great friend to her son also proved so much even if she was under the impression he took a bullet for Henry. Henry’s mom knew about Richard despite this which I find very lovely.
Richard still driving Henry’s car all those years later is also very heartwarming considering the many memories they shared there both good and bad like the time Henry told Richard to drive him to the optometrist in order to get away from Bunny but they ended up just driving around by themselves.
There was also this one particular scene where Henry knocks on Richard’s dorm and awkwardly maybe even shyly asks him if he’d like to go for a drive with him alone and Richard grabs his coat without a word and they wind up going out to lunch together.
Henry admitting that he wanted to include Richard in the bacchanal but did not due to the other members not entirely accepting him or deeming him worthy enough is another interesting point. Henry tells Richard he’d always known he’d figure out what they did to the farmer even if the rest did not deem Richard smart enough to uncover what they had done.
Henry tasting burnt coffee and thinking of Richard first thing.
Henry driving to Richard’s dorm at night when they both couldn’t sleep.
Henry did in fact care for Richard and admired him
Their relationship was not solely built on manipulation and control
