absolutely loving all of the dethstaff content today. decided to focus on a rarepair i became privy to after seeing @yourprettyfacebones's adorable art of them!
btw i alternate between he and they pronouns for dick due to my headcanon, sorry if that becomes confusing >_<
The recording room was trashed. Beyond trashed, really.
Two tables were littered with pizza crusts and puddles of liquids in varying sizes, some of which had wads of paper towels soaking in them from half-assed attempts at cleaning them up. A stale odor lingered in the air that was difficult to place; if the group of drunken men that used the room an hour prior were any indication, the smell was either urine, vomit or sweat. Whatever it was, it wasn't strong enough to overpower the intoxicating cologne of the man laying across Charles' lap.
"Real glad you could come this time 'round, babe," Dick muttered, nuzzling into the crook of his partner's neck. Hard liquor always seemed to make them clingy; they had refused to budge from their spot on Charles' lap ever since he first sat at the recording booth. "Last year was so booooring without you. Hardly a sensible conversation to be had with those idiots- I'll be honest, I only stuck around for the cake 'n booze."
Charles chuckled lowly. Though he enjoyed their company, he was inclined to agree. "They, ah. Have their moments. I've found it's better to listen than to try talking to them."
The hand holding Dick's shoulder in place moved to cradle their head instead. He was right, Charles hadn't been able to come to the previous year's get-together, nor the one before that. This wasn't out of choice; there was work to be done, and he was the only one capable of doing it. The sheer amount of hoops he had to jump through to be there this year made his head spin.
Dick relaxed against his partner's gentle touch. "How do you do it? You're not trippin' balls all the time like I am, are you? You've gotta be." Ironically, there wasn't a single trace of psychedelics in their system. This was the most sober Dick had been in over a week.
Charles paused; he was tempted to answer truthfully. No. The time wasn't right. "Well," he began, a coy half smile gracing his lips. "Let's just say I have a frosted friend that's always there when I need them."
The two of them laughed before quietly settling into each other's presences again. Despite the horrible mess and tomorrow's duties looming over their heads, this is where they found peace. It would all work out in the end.
Ok, so, I love love love the whole opposites attract thing with Knubbdensen. They're both smart, know when to use brute force (though Charles knows the meaning of discretion), and I think they'd balance each other out in a way that isn't toxic. I think Dick would help loosen Charles up and Charles would be an anchor for Dick.
I think Dickface is cute as all get out. They're both weirdos, they both suck with women, they're both not conventionally attractive, they've got the whole friendship going on. ~However~ I think they'd realistically kill each other in a relationship. I love reading Dickface stuff, but Murderface is king brat and Dick is very not gonna put up with the bs and I just cannot see it beyond a friendship. They're like Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo to me. (Which I might draw now if I ever get around to it, now that I've put this in writing.)
So it's Knubbdensen, for sure, even though I think Dickface is a cute AF concept.
if you feel like it, i would absolutely love something w/ knubdensen with #56 or #86 of those love prompts 😭
Yes to both!! Gotta love them! And apologies for this being late!! I really needed to write fluff tonight so this helped me finally finish it so I hope that this was worth the wait!
100 Ways to Say I Love You Prompts[Open]
56.) “It Brings Out Your Eyes.”
Word Count: 962 Words
There was always something nice about being able to have enough time to actually dress for an occasion and not throw in something lazily like the other boys. Time was valuable in the music industry. Friends had mental breakdowns and quit because of it. Projects that couldn’t meet the deadline were shelved away, never to see the public eye. Luckily for Dick though, he never had to go through any of those things personally. Time was still young for him but all he needed was to remember those cold nights in jail and that became his driving force for not falling under like the rest of them.
Working with Dethklok had shown how much power time was given. A little too much power if he had to be honest. Despite all the planning ahead and schedules and meetings, everything was crammed to the last possible minute and somehow, they managed to pull it off. It left him with a sense of euphoria and exhaustion each time they worked and finished on a song. Thank God that he managed to fix up the album with just minutes to spare to the deadline. And now, he got to celebrate the product of caffeine pills, sleepless nights and whatever else he managed to get his hands on.
The fun part with working with Dethklok was the manager. And the parties. But mostly the manager. Specifically, it was the quiet moments whether it was at the recording studio or in one of their bedrooms and it was just the two of them. The times were few but were a delight when they did. Charles did try to put time set aside for him. He was easily able to mask it as ‘work matters’ and what they did afterwards was certainly not worked related but nobody needed to know that.
Putting on their final touches for their outfits to prepare for the album release party? Definitely something that was work related. They didn’t necessarily need the help with their outfits; they had their own tastes that neither was willing to give up. But having a person give in some comments such as ‘You’re looking handsome’ was far better than just staring at a mirror.
With just an hour to go until the release party, they were almost done with their outfits. He had insisted to help with Charles’ tie, not because he couldn’t do it but because he honestly liked doing it for him. With how much he was able to do things so efficiently, it felt nice to be needed for something even if it was as small as tying a tie.
Dick finished with his tie in just under a few seconds. He stepped back just to make sure he did the correctly and he obviously did as he was an expert at ties (but that didn’t mean he couldn’t use it as an excuse to take a good look at him).
“How do I look?” Charles asked.
“Handsome, as always.” Dick responded with a smile as he reached up to kiss him. He was careful to not ruin the suit he had meticulously helped straighten.
Charles kissed him back, “Thanks for the help, Dick. Now, why don’t I help you with your tie now?”
Dick rummaged through his drawer. He chose to live outside of Mordhaus as he had other bands to produce but he was given a room just for those long nights. It was honestly a blessing because it brought less baggage and less chances of forgetting to bring certain things. Unfortunately, he had to take his ties out to the cleaners, and he must’ve left them at his home. He had no ties now and this was not good at all. If he had no ties he wasn’t going to show up; that was honestly worse than having to go to jail.
“Dick, are you alright?” Charles asked as he noticed his frantically searching.
“Uh...yeah, totally, babe! Just have one teeny tiny problem.”
“And what’s that?”
“I forgot my ties at home.”
“Oh. Well you can borrow one of mine. Hold on for just a moment.” Charles answered. Before Dick could say another word, the other already left his room.
Charles came back a few moments later with a few different colored ties, “I ah wasn’t sure which color you would have preferred but I think one of these would look best on you.”
Dick smiled as he took the ties. He went to the mirror to decide which color tie would look good on his suit. His suit was a dark grey and the colors Charles provided were a dark red, dark green and a navy blue. He honestly would’ve gone with something a bit more vibrant but it felt nice to get to wear something the other picked out. It was the little things that kept their relationship as colorful as it could be, “What color do you think would look best?”
“Ah the green one. It really brings out your eyes.” He answered with a soft chuckle and Dick laughed.
“Very funny; all the ties would match my eyes anyway. You wanna help?”
“Of course,” Charles helped with his tie. He was a bit slower compared to Dick but he still carried the swiftness and efficiency that came with experience. Pretty soon, he finished with the tie and stepped back.
“How do I look, babe?” Dick asked.
“Handsome, as always.” Charles said with a smile.
They shared another kiss. They had about 45 minutes until the celebration began but nothing would hurt about sharing a drink as they watched guests arrive. They could take their time. Wow.
Dick managed to look at the mirror before they left. The dark green really did go with his eyes after all.
86) “You’re important too.”
Word Count: 1044
Trigger Warning: Depression (But there is a bittersweet/happy ending)
It’s hard to remember it, honestly.
Charles knew he was important, but it was hard to realize that sometimes. After all, he had an image to maintain. And such an image meant that he had to do certain things, behave a certain way and talk to the right people. He knew what to do. It wasn’t like this was his first day in the music industry and he had almost every golden contact amateur would be begging on his front steps for. He had everything he could possibly want.
He knew how to take care of himself. He made sure he had time for his personal life and for the most part, he was successful. He was able to take breaks and have time to himself alongside time with his friends and his relationship with Dick. He kept to the schedule and even with Dethklok’s usual antics, he was able to keep up with it well.
Sometimes life just happened to disregard all your careful planning anyway and throw in all sorts of problems/emotions that you simply can’t control anymore.
Charles was aware of it. He understood the feeling of waking up with a numb feeling and feeling almost emotionless. He understood the days where it felt longer than usual, almost wanting to put a stop to it and the lack of motivation that was just slowly beginning to eat at him alive.
He couldn’t let it effect his work. No. He had something far more important to do.
And so he simply took Prozac to let the feelings subside until the effects wore off and he was left feeling those God-awful feelings again. He had to continue working and had to continue doing so. He wouldn’t take a break over feelings that would eventually pass. Though nearly a month later, they really didn’t and his work was now just starting to pile up.
It didn’t really help that he had been forced to cancel plans due to him slowly slacking off. Friends were understandable at least (if they hadn’t then, they wouldn’t be his friends now), Dethklok were fine with him having to postpone meetings though not without asking if he was okay because he rarely had to postpone meetings so last minute, and Dick was just getting a bit worried. Okay, a lot worried.
He hadn’t seen Charles in almost a few weeks at least and any plans of hanging out were immediately cancelled because he just lost track of time and got so busy. It wasn’t even hell week or having to prepare for a press release or a new album. Something was wrong.
He found Charles in his office, going over mountains of paperwork. He almost didn’t acknowledge that Dick was in the office until he spoke up, “Hey, Charles?”
He looked up, almost a bit surprised to see him, “Oh, Dick. I’m surprised to see you here.”
“Well yeah, we haven’t seen each other in a few weeks! I was getting a bit worried!”
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to avoid you-work is just getting a bit ah hectic right now.”
“Well, can you take the night off, babe?”
“I’m sorry, Dick, I have work to do at the moment.” Charles answered apologetically.
“Alright, I’ll stay then.” He answered with a shrug.
“You don’t have to. I don’t want to keep you here if you don’t want to.”
“Well I offered myself. Besides, I just wanted to see you. It’s been so long, anyway.” He took one of the office chairs to sit next to him, “But are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He answered almost automatically. One look from Dick and it was clear he didn’t believe in the answer, so he caved in, “I’m just a little tired, is all. I promise when I get this done, we can do something together.”
“How long have you been feeling tired?” Dick asked.
“Just for a small while. It happens, it’s nothing to worry about. I just need to sleep better.”
“Is that really all you need? To sleep more? Are you sure it’s not something else?” Dick may have never been a therapist (and why would he be one?) but he knew Charles and how humans worked. Adults especially often hid what they often felt by using words that were safer. ‘I’m tired’ could mean a multitude of things and it was something that he needed to figure out.
Charles paused with his work momentarily before setting the pen down, “I guess. I just don’t know, honestly.”
“Well, take a few days off to figure it out. It’s not like its tax season or anything important. You can just leave this to your assistants, right?”
“Well, yes, but-“
“Then do it, please.”
Charles wanted to argue. It meant giving up and caving into whatever he had been fighting so desperately. He didn’t want to just take a few days off, but he knew Dick was right. It was enough incentive to get him to agree, “Alright. I’ll call them in the morning to help me out.”
Dick smiled, “Great, let’s get you to bed now.”
Charles was honestly at his complete mercy and he didn’t protest when Dick dragged him to his room. God, when was the last time he slept honestly? He was afraid to know the answer.
Dick, thankfully, didn’t press further which Charles was glad about. He didn’t want to explore emotions that he wasn’t ready to express or talk about things he wasn’t ready to talk about. He did the talking for them both and it worked out well as they got ready for bed.
“You’re important to me. You know that, right?” Charles said finally as they laid down. He had been uncharacteristically quiet since they were in his room but if that was the only thing Dick managed to get out of him, he was fine with that. He was fine to help him out however he can. They’ll get through it.
Dick smiled and kissed him gently before pulling him closer, “Of course, I do. But you’re important too, babe. Don’t forget that either.”
The words wouldn’t cure what Charles had been feeling for over a month. But it did help him sleep peacefully for the first time in a while.
