What are men to rocks and mountains

The hour that was

"Are you quite alright, Theo?" He asked. The Captain nodded shortly, following it up by a soft; "Yes, quite good thank you."
But William wasn't convinced, and so he tried to press further.

"I haven't seen you around much. Is there something on your mind?" He said, his soft tone slowly waning off.
"Not really, you know how tiring Pat's clubs can be." The Captain replied nonchalantly.
"There haven't been that many clubs though, right? But I still haven't seen you much."
"Well- I, erhm... I've been busy patrolling the grounds. We had a break-in last month you know."
"You've been patrolling all day, every day?"
"As it happens, mostly I have yes."
"Really? Because it seems you've been avoiding me. If there's anything wrong you can tell me, Teddy." William said, getting more and more worked up. The Captain's refusal to admit something was bothering him was infuriating. The man was obviously struggling with something, something he refused to share- at least with William, and he just couldn't understand why.
"There is nothing wrong Havers. That's enough." The Captain said, sounding more cross than he'd meant to. He just really wanted Havers to drop the subject.

"Yes! It's enough, Teddy. I've had enough of this nonsense. I need you to tell me what I've done wrong." He said, frustratedly.

"Havers-" The Captain tried to say, but William cut him off.

"Stop calling me Havers! I thought we were past that, Theo. All these years we've spend going around in circles, tiptoeing around each other like idiots. And now I finally have you... and for no reason- this entire week you have spent avoiding me and acting indifferent." He'd opened the gates now. All the pent-up frustrations of the last week were coming out, and he wasn't able to stop. Why wasn't he able to stop?

"It's not-" The Captain tried to say again, but William wasn't having it.

"These games, this dance, I'm sick of it. If there is something going on or something that you're struggling with I want you to tell me- or so help me god I will not leave you alone until you do."

"You don't understand Havers... I want to-" He said, trailing off at the end.
"But what? Theo, I want to be with you. Every day with you is wonderful, I have never been happier in my life than I was these past few weeks. Being here with you, finally being able to be who we are, together. To live our lives-"

"Except I can't do that, can I William? We both seem to have forgotten that I'm dead." The Captain spat, finally giving in to shut William up. And it worked, because Havers looked at him silently, his mouth still open from where he was ready to continue his own rant. The confession seemed to break a dam for the Captain though, and everything began to spill out.

"You can go and live your life. You are free to go and grow older, to travel, to live your life. And I will be stuck. I can't grow older, people won't be able to see me. I may be able to leave the house now but to where? There is no future for me. There is no future for us. But there can be for you. With that Dave fellow perhaps."

Both men remained silent for a second, both their minds racing. William especially, who had been listening to the Captain finally spilling his heart out. His mind was blank for a few seconds as he tried to process what the man just said. But then the confusion was replaced by frustration and anger. He had somewhat forgotten that Theo technically was no longer a real person. But he wasn't any less real to him. He still loved him the same.

"Dave? I don't love Dave, I love you, you idiot!" He almost yelled, his eyes growing a bit watery. Did the Captain really think that low of himself?

"And do you think you just get to decide that on your own? Without even asking me? How is that fair Theo?" He said loudly, not caring who heard. His face was probably turning tomato-red in the heat of the moment. But the Captain seemed to be in a state himself, not really hearing anything and growing more angry himself. He tapped his right heel onto the floorboards in protest and tightened the grip on his swagger stick, like he usually did when he found himself in an uncomfortable situation.