#cuphand

It had been just 3 week since Henry and Jake had become friends with the mysterious stranger they met at the bar that night. In those 3 short weeks Henry made sure to make his new friend comfortable and even offered to let him stay at his home after finding out Jimmy was sleeping out in the woods. Jake opposed and despised all of this, he couldn't understand why Henry would be so reckless and not stop to think of the consequences. Just in the first week he invited this new person to casually waltz into his house and treat it like his own. This morning Henry and Jake ate alone, it was a Tuesday which meant that Jimmy was fishing in the river a short distance from Henry's home. Jake stared down at his plate as Henry tilted his head, popping another bite of fried egg into his mouth. "What's wrong with you today? you've been acting strange this past week." Henry mumbled, his mouth full.

Jake scoffed and shook his head. "Don't talk with your mouth full Henry, its unbecoming." He said softly moving to take a bite of his own eggs. "I'm just worried about the fact that you let a total stranger wander in and out of your house freely. That's all. You met him twice and now all of a sudden he's living with you." Henry rose a brow. "Well that's not entirely true, I got to know him better before letting him live with me!" He chirped and wiped his mouth. "Jimmy isn't a stranger, he's my friend, I think you would really get along with him if you tried!" He smiled. "Besides, I'm not sure I understand why you're bothered by that of all things. You didn't mind when Helena lived with me a few years back and we had only met her." Jake sighed and shook his head. "Nevermind … Nothing ever gets through that think skull of yours," he said, standing up and knocking on Henry's head gently with his fist, "I'm gonna head to work... gotta work a long shift today." With that Jake swiftly left, walking out the door and keeping a swift pace to get to work. He didn't have to be there for another hour or so, but he couldn't stand trying to reason with Henry at this point in their friendship. He was to stubborn and oblivious to things. Henry wouldn't know someone's intentions if it bit him on the nose. He was never to terribly bright.

Henry was left sitting at his table flabbergasted. He didn't understand why his friend would be acting this way. Did he do something wrong? Maybe when Jimmy got home they could work it out together. He shook his head and focused on finishing his half eaten food. After about thirty minutes of eating he started to clean up his and Jake's plates, taking them to the sink to be washed later, after dumping the half eaten food from Jakes plate into the slop bucket for the chickens to eat later.

Henry yawned as Jimmy walked into the house, carrying 4 fish and his rod. Henry smiled and waved at him. Jimmy waved casually before bringing the fish over and putting them in the empty side of the sink. He smiled softly at Henry. "So, how did it go with Jake today?" He said softly, his voice as gruff and low as ever.

Henry shook his head. "Well I didn't get to tell him anything, he's been in a sour mood since I offered to let you stay." He muttered.

Jimmy frowned and gently pet Henry's cheek, his cup hand smooth and warm. "Well to be fair, I was kinda sour when we first met." he replied softly. I'm sure you'll be able to tell him soon. Besides I really do think you should talk to him about it... I have an inkling he has more than just friendship feelings for you."

Henry laughed at the idea and gently grabbed his cup. "Psh don't be crazy! We are just best friends!!" He laughed loudly, the sound bellowing from his chest in a roar. Jimmy shook his head and pulled his hand away. "You truly are oblivious, Henry, love, he cares for you more than you think, I've seen him look at you." Henry rose a brow and shook his head. "Don't be silly... he couldn't..." He paused and looked down for a moment before looking back up once more. "Could he..?"

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Once, a long time ago, there was a boy. The boy was small and strong. He didn't know very much, but was incredibly resourceful. His name was Henry. Henry was often made fun of for how his face looked. The long mark across his left eye a constant reminder of the silly accident that made his life hell. One would think, something so small as a scar would cause no harm or malice to befall upon someone. In this case, one would be wrong.

Henry never thought in all his life he would see the end of the relentless torment and bullying he received from peers and family members. 'All of this?" he would often wonder. 'I deserve all of this for an accident with a chicken?' The answer often alluded him. That is, until he turned 20. On his 20th birthday Henry and his only friend Jake were out at the pub. Jake too, was an outcast, though the reasoning for his was more along the lines of him talking to Henry. Down at the very end of the bar they saw a man. He was.... a very strange man to say the least, he was holding his pint of beer with a red solo cup. Jake turned to watch as he leaned over to Henry. "What an odd fellow, do you think its hard to drink with cups on your hands?"

Henry stared longer at the man. He was wearing a dark cloak that covered up his face just enough so Henry couldn't make out his features. Sure enough when he looked at his hands the mysterious stranger appeared to have cups on over his hands. Wait. Were they over his hands? They didn't look as if he could pull them off at will. In fact they more or less looked fused to his hands. "Huh...." Henry trailed off and without even thinking he walked over and sat on the stool beside the cloaked figure. The man stopped and put his drink down. He gave a sidelong glance to Henry and sneered. "Any reason you chose that seat out of the rest of the empty bar." The figured grumbled. His voice was low and gravely, toned down so it almost came out as a whisper. Henry shook his head gently. "No," he replied softly. "you just looked like you could use a friend." He smiled. The man looked up at Henry and rose a brow. The man had short brown hair that framed his face in soft waves. He stared at Henry with bright red eyes and a sad face. Henry tilted his head and smiled. "So are the cups a costume?" He asked.

The man shook his head and grunted. "No." He stated, grumpily. Henry pursed his lips. "What's your name?" Henry asked, sensing that the cups were a sensitive topic for the tall, brown headed man. "My name is Henry!" He chirped. The man sighed. "Wow you really don't give up huh? listen Kid you don't want to talk to me do you understand?" He said staring at Henry with a fury Henry's only seen twice before. Henry simply smiled. "Well anyone who says that obviously could use a friend!" he grinned as Jake finally gained the courage to walk over. "Henry, maybe we should leave him alone." Jake pleaded tugging henry's shirt.

Jake was a small man, only a few months younger than Henry. He was a tiefling, shorter than most, but his long black hair and fair light blue skin made up for it. His eyes filled with worry and dread as Henry shook his head and rubbed his hand off. "Come on Jake, I'm sure it's fine!" Henry smiled at him carelessly. "What's the harm in the three of us miscreants being friends." He threw a wink towards the stranger sitting beside him. The man sighed deeply. "Fine, you can call me Jimmy, but don't say I didn't warn ya." He grunted and took another swig from his pint. "And no, you can't ask how my hands work or what happened." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~