Window Boy || reddie

1

Notes: 1930s au based on the post above. Richie's the navy boy, Eddie's the banker's son.

Richie wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm, squinting at the bright sun. He exhaled heavily, letting his arm drop back down. He'd been hauling cargo for the past few hours down at the shipyard, and he was getting tired. Someone clapped a hand on his shoulder, and Richie looked up to see who it was.

"We're on break, kid." It was Richie's best friend, Bill. "Go sit in the shade for a while. I'm going to get a newspaper."

Richie smiled at his friend, nodding. "Alright."

Richie walked across the shipyard, picking up a little blue book that he'd laid down on a box earlier. He had purchased it a little while back for 5¢, and he'd been working on reading it during his breaks. He was literate, and very intelligent, but he was a slow reader, and he struggled sometimes with the convoluted words in his books.

The little blue book currently in his hands was titled "Homosexual Life," and it interested Richie greatly, for obvious reasons. He had been obsessing over it for days now. Almost as much as he'd been obsessing over something else, which was of the same nature, in a way.

Richie stepped into a shady area by the bakery, right across from the bank. Richie pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, lighting it with a match and putting it between his lips as he opened the book to his dog-eared page.

Richie read only a few words before looking up at the bank. It had been his main point of interest for over a week now, his chief obsession. Not because of the business itself, but because of the window boy.

The window boy would show up to look at Richie every day. Usually he would be talking to someone else or cleaning the windows or doing some other task, but he'd always work his way over to the glass and look out at Richie and smile. Richie would grin back and sometimes the boy would wink or blush. Richie thought he was cute. Someday, he'd like to talk to the boy. He wanted to know his name. Richie wanted to feel the soft curls that framed his freckled face so beautifully on his fingers.

But so far, they had only looked, only flirted with their eyes. The window boy had beautiful hazel eyes, wide and trusting. And golden skin that would probably be so soft and yielding under Richie's touch. It was his dream to speak to the boy, but it would be strange for a man like him to walk into the bank.

Richie bet that the window boy would be able to read the book he was holding with ease. He'd help him through it, gentle and intelligent. And then they would kiss under the light of the stars, hands roaming and hearts pounding.

Richie knew he wasn't supposed to be having these kinds of thoughts. He knew he should be interested in a nice girl, not the random boy in the window. But he'd stopped minding as soon as he'd seen him.

Sure enough, as Richie watched the window, the boy walked past, shooting a glance outside. He looked to be on his way out, and he slowed his pace for a second to smile at Richie once he spotted him. Richie pulled his cigarette away from his mouth, blowing the smoke out in the boy's direction. The boy grinned, stepping out of Richie's field of vision for a second to walk out of the bank.

He was dressed well, like something Richie would wear to church. Richie never really dressed well, usually just throwing on a dirty shirt and a pair of pants, sliding on his boots and cap, and calling it an outfit. But the window boy dressed all proper, shirt tucked into his trousers, a vest fitted to his torso. Richie would love to strip away all the layers he had on (and fuck him into next week), but now wasn't the time to think about that, because the window boy was approaching him.

Richie was a jittery ball of nerves. He laid his book down, standing up and fixing his shirt absentmindedly as the window boy walked closer. It was happening. He would finally hear the boy's voice.

"Hello." The window boy said, stopping a little in front of Richie, hands clasped behind his back. He was several inches shorter than Richie was, looking up at him with rosy cheeks and soft hair and bright eyes.

His voice was angelic. It was sweet like honey, and so bright and friendly. The window boy looked even better up close. Richie could spot every freckle, every curve in his face, the soft dimples his gorgeous smile elicited. Richie's mouth fell open a little at the boy's beauty. He had never seen a man who was so pretty. He was everything Richie had imagined.

"Hello." He said back, clearing his throat as he stuck his cigarette back between his lips. The window boy's eyes flickered down to his mouth, watching the action. His face seemed to soften a little, as if his mind were drifting.

"What's a nice boy like you doing out here on such a fine day?" The window boy asked, gaze meandering back up Richie's face to his eyes. "It's hot out here."

"I'm working in the shipyard. Me and my pal Bill work together on it. We've been hauling cargo here for a while." Richie answered as he took the cigarette back in between his fingers, trying to keep his wild thoughts in check and in focus.

"Sounds like hard work." The boy smiled wider, standing up a bit higher, pleased. "You must be strong, mister...?"

"Richie. I'm Richie. Tozier." Richie stammered, internally cursing himself for his awkwardness.

The window boy extended his hand. Richie almost felt nervous to take it. The boy's hand was so clean, whereas Richie had been sweating in the sun all day. But he reached out and shook the small hand anyway, loving how it fit perfectly in his, and the window boy didn't seem to mind. They held hands a second longer than they needed to.

"Nice to meet you." The window boy said in that same sweet, soft, low voice he'd been using. His eyes were hooded ever-so-slightly, his eyelashes casting delicate shadows onto the chocolatey spirals in his eyes.

"Nice to meet you, too. What's your name?" Richie asked as they released each other's hands. He was desperate to put a name to this pretty face.

The boy seemed to ponder it for a bit, his eyes wandering up towards the sky, his lips parting slightly in thought. His arm returned behind his back, which seemed to be his natural position. Richie had to keep himself from openly drooling.

"You haven't earned it yet, Tozier." He said finally, grinning with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Richie suddenly felt rather competitive, determination gripping him. He grinned back at the boy. So it's a game, then.

"I hope you'll change your mind in the coming days, beautiful." Richie replied, reveling in the way that the window boy's ears and cheeks flushed at the statement. Richie tapped the ash off of his cigarette, not minding that he was wasting it.

"We'll see." The boy bit his lip. "I'd better be off. It was a pleasure talking to you. I don't often get to see young men as handsome as you are. Despite you having dirt all over your nose." His eyes crinkled a bit as he grinned wider.

Richie quickly brought his shirt up to clean his nose off, and the window boy's eyes snapped to the sliver of skin that was exposed. Richie let the fabric fall back, seeing the boy very clearly staring at the place where his shirt had ridden up. The boy's eyes traveled the rest of the way down his body before returning to Richie's eyes, completely unashamed that he'd been caught. Richie smiled a bit, pink tinting his cheeks.

"I'll talk to you again tomorrow?" Richie phrased the statement more like a hopeful question.

"Yes, definitely. Goodbye, Richie." The window boy nodded his head slightly before walking away. Richie watched him leave, exhaling nervously.

He would find out that boy's name. He swore it.