sociallychallenged | (no subject)

[Connor just rubs his eyes and shifts underneath Hank slightly, giving him a sleepy smile.]

You were dreaming.

[He’d almost feel bad about waking him up, but this is Connor we’re talking about.]

How do you feel?

Yeah... yeah we were on a case and we were trying to drive to the location but the address kept changing.... It was fucked up. Never mind. Didn't make any sense.

[He blinks hard, feeling a familiar pressure behind his eyes.]

Not too bad, but I better get some water and some pills before it catches up to me.

[And he notes that Connor's not jerking away from him, not shoving him off, not irritated despite the fact he just proved himself very uncomfortable.]

[For a man that's been shoving away any sort of friendship or intimacy for years, it's nice. Regardless of any other confusing feelings, that one is certain.] What about you?

I feel alright. A little groggy, but fine otherwise.

[But he only had hard lemonade, and he still had water afterwards.]

Last night was fun. We should do it again sometime.

Yeah, I'd like that.

[He finally has his buddy to drink with. And roll around on, he guesses. ...And to take on dates? You know what? He's just going to have to pick a good time to discuss that their partnership feels a little stronger than just friendship. But not right now.]

[Right now, it's just nice to feel comfortable with him.]

It's the only time I'll ever get away with kicking your ass. [He smiles warmly down at Connor, before wincing. Yup. Time to go get that water.]

It is.

[He agrees, and again is a little disappointed when Hank moves away. He likes being close to him, he’s found.]

I suppose we’ll be leaving here soon. We should take down Charlotte’s web.

You're a confident little shit, aren't you. [He teases, before parting to grab a bottle to fill with water and the headache medicine. He'll get another bottle before they go. Seems like they'll need it.]

Never thought I'd hear that sentence outside of having to organize a bookshelf. One thing I do like here. A lot of real books, even if they're a bit on the mild side. [He looks up at the web, seeing it speckled with a few colorful pieces of paper he'd thrown up there while bored. At least he'll get to take those down.]

[He finishes taking the pills, before looking over at Connor.]

You know uh... [He clears his throat.] ...I'm a little uh.... [Oh. Well. There's some awkwardness making it hard to talk. But he gathers it up, puts his mind to it because it feels important.] I'm a little friendlier with you, than I would be with anyone else. But... that was a little friendlier than most friends are with each other in general. And I'm a little worried that 'cause you're normally an android and not a lot of people have even been willing to give you the time of day, you don't got a lot of context. So just remember, if I do something that bothers the hell out of you, tell me or suplex me or something. I don't want to leave you feeling like those other androids felt. [Even if Connor is human now.]

...If I'm just bothering you a little bit, it might be intentional so don't worry about that.

[Connor tilts his head a little, expression mildly confused.]

Which androids?

[He’s not really sure what Hank means when he says they were being friendlier than normal. But Hank is his first friendship, and so he’s right, Connor doesn’t have a lot to go on.]

Nothing bothered me about last night, Lieutenant. I enjoyed myself.

[He doesn’t even realise he just called him Lieutenant again. It’s a habit.]

Connor, other than you every android that I ever met that deviated was driven off the deep end by a human. You're the only one I know of that just... I don't know. Decided to. Every one of the others got fucked up somehow by humans being constantly shitty to them.

I know some others did it or that it spread somehow without the trauma. But they weren't ones that I met.

[Hank's experience was at least enlightening, but not exactly positive. Other than Connor, he only met deviants that were deeply hurt by humans. Or broken by a long line of exposure.]

Anyway... Good. Good, I'll just uh. [He looks up at the ceiling, and sighs deeply. Yup. His life now. Cleaning giant spiderwebs off the ceiling while talking to his human android partner about their relationship.] Broom. Right.

[Connor just nods and gets a broom too, though he does keep looking at Hank.]

What do you mean we were friendlier than most friends are?

[He says it like it’s a bad thing, or at least something to be worried about. But surely the friendlier they are, the better?]

Normally friends are a "go fishing together" thing not a "wrestle on the bed" thing. [Save for a time or two in college but those ended a different way.]

I mean, I used to be friends with Fowler. I'd have never gone anywhere near his fuckin' neck. [Number one in his fucking weird thoughts of the day, that right there. And it's just began. He didn't need that. No one needed that.]

It's a little more intimate and personal.

[He wipes a hand towel around the broom head and uses that to start swiping it down.] Average friends just sort of get drunk and laugh together and at each other. You might get a drunken hug or two. Chalk it up to 'toxic masculinity' or 'fear of intimacy' or whatever the catch phrase of the day is... [It's easier to talk about if he's not looking at Connor, actually. Cleaning down the web helps.] I liked it, don't get me wrong. Ten out of ten, would do again. But that's not average palling around.

[Connor starts to help get the web down, though it's hard. Spinarak webs are tough.]

What would you say we are, then? If not average friends?

Uh... I don't know. I guess above average friends. I just call you 'my partner' to everyone. Which isn't exactly right, it just means I work with you, but it can mean a lot of other stuff too.

[He gets a good swath of it down, pulls off the completely covered towel, before getting another one. He'll have to leave a tip for room service for damn sure.]

But that's just... for context. It's not a complaint. I just wanted you to know that- fuck it. Nevermind. I'm rambling.

[Connor just looks a little confused as he helps get the web down, and when it's all done he gives Hank a semi-serious look.]

If I ever overstep my boundaries, I'd like for you to tell me.

[He doesn't want to make Hank uncomfortable. The fact that they needed to have this talk in the first place seems to imply that someone went a little overboard somewhere.]

You didn't. Everything you did, I wanted.

[Hank assures him, realizing fully well how he's making this all sound.]

You didn't do anything wrong. [He finally looks at him and sees both the seriousness and confusion. Not... what he wanted, really.] It's probably just the headache talking, anyway.

If you're sure.

[He does relax a little, at least. Not fully though, and he still looks a bit distracted as he goes about dumping the towels with cobweb on them.]

Maybe you should rest for a little while.