Seeing Connor open up like this - exposing himself to Hank’s blue hues, allowing his synthetic skin to retract and show what lay beneath - it hit a spot deep inside the old cop’s chest, causing a sudden wave of warmth to spread through the whole of his chest, with his smile turning even more soft and gentle than before. He tilted his head, brows furrowing in deep affection as he allowed the whole of his palm to press against the smooth side of the younger’s face, thumb trailing along a carefully sculpted cheekbone to paint soothing circles into the plastic.

The lieutenant was well-aware of the fact that this gesture - the act of deactivating the skin, laying bare the truth lingering beneath - meant a lot, more than any other gesture could at this very moment. Connor was offering himself, the most vulnerable state of his own form, trusting Hank with every fiber of his existence.

The younger was still struggling with his own origin, yet decided to open up completely to the other - simple words wouldn’t be able to express the same amount of love as this single action did, making the lieutant’s heart become all warm, fuzzy and big, filled with so much raw fondness and emotion that the organ felt close to breaking free from behind his sternum.

“—No need to force yourself to do anythin’ you don’t want to - or can’t do - just yet, honey. You can always take your sweet time with me - I’ll still be there for you, day an’ night, for as long as you’ll want me to be by your side.”

Awfully sappy, but damn, it was the truth that spoke from a set of beard framed lips - and Hank even had to swallow hard to stop a tight lump from forming within his throat. … Wasn’t working too well, though.

“We are partners, remember? —In each an’ every single way.”

              once hank doesn’t pull away, once he doesn’t ask connor what was wrong, if there was something happening to cause him to take off his  skin -- connor looks back up at him, and the affection that he found in the mans gaze was enough to cause the rest of his defenses to fall. the hand that had been keeping hanks in place on the side of connors face softens its hold, slowly sliding down his arm.  

              it felt like those sort of things, communicating with hank about what he was thinking, what he was feeling -- it would become easier over time, as he figures out what it actually was that was going on within his mind.  and, in a way, it was already becoming easier. connor wouldn’t have been able to show this to hank a few weeks ago, allow himself to be this vulnerable, show hank a side of himself that he always felt like he had to keep hidden.  

              ❛ i know... ❜  head tilts so he can gently kiss hanks palm, eyes remaining on the others.   ❛  thank you, hank. ❜  for the gift, for the security that he offered connor -- for everything,  but he didn’t know how to put that in simple terms,  so he just smiles, reaches out and mirrors the action of cupping the others face in his hand.  

Connor seemed to be quite confident in that regard - not caring much about what other people thought about him, or what they might think when realizing that he was an Android rather than a human being, which definitely was a healthy way to handle the future in that regard.

It almost surprised the old cop a little - had expected the young man to be a little more… unsure when it came to humans and their perception of his kind, especially with him asking about whether he should remove the LED connected to his temple or not. And it surprised Hank even more when Connor even went as far as saying that he liked its purpose, in a way, at least when it came to the lieutenant himself.

It made Hank smile once more, brows lifting as he took in the sight of those deep brown doe-eyes in front of him.

“Well - that it definitely does.” And the cop actually found himself glancing at that LED more often than not, especially when his companion seemed to be frozen in place or… stuck, somehow. Quiet, not talking about whatever he was currently thinking on. Blue usually was a safe color, yellow hinted at the Android processing things in one way or another, and red told that he was in clear distress.

Chuckling to himself, Hank allowed one of his hands to move so he could place his fingertip against the pulsing light on the younger one’s temple, tapping it gently while tilting his head. “—It’s actually quite useful, especially since you tend to keep things to yourself. While it does not tell me what exactly’s goin’ on inside your head, it does help me to figure out when to intervene.”

              the gesture of hank moving a hand up to gently place a fingertip onto connors temple, onto his led, felt intimate. with slight hesitation, he removes the synthetic skin that acted somewhat as a barrier between connor and hank. one of connors hands come up, holds onto hanks and tries to press his palm against connors face.  he’s never... shown hank himself before, never really wanted to look at himself like that, so he could respect that hank might not want to, either. 

              but the contact of hanks warm, large hand on the side of his face was nice, comforting.  regardless of the fact that his led spins yellow just once, because he is still nervous, closing his eyes instead of meeting hanks gaze in thought that he may find something that he did not want to see.  

Babe, huh? An interesting choice - one that made Hank chuckle sheepishly in return, accompanied by him lifting his brows and shrugging ever so slightly with blue hues drifting away for a second, only to return to dark doe-eyes shortly after.

“Babe makes me sound like I’m some young, hot thing in my mid-twenties, an’ i’m none of all of that.” Amused, but also feeling a bit flattered, Hank could tell that his cheeks took on some additional warmth once more - and he realized he’d probably been blushing more times on this single damn day alone than the rest of his decade-long life.

“—But, uhm, yeah… seriously, you can call me whatever you wanna call me.” And if his stupidly endearing Android partner chose to call him fucking babe of all names there were, the lieutenant surely wouldn’t complain - probably feel a little weird at first, but… he would get used to it, eventually.

He gave Connor’s hand another squeeze, his own mind reminding the old cop that they were a damn couple now, in a romantic relationship - which meant that doing certain things were considered okay at this point. Appropriate, even. So he used his other hand to brush that cute strand of hair out of Connor’s face, just to watch it jump back into place right after. Stubborn thing. Made him chuckle once more.

                the blush was adorable. a warmth spreading across hanks features frequently as connor speaks with him - acting so bashful, as though his cock hadn’t been in connors mouth just moments ago. what hank says though -- about not being a young hot thing... which,  sure, was partially true, it still causes connor to look momentarily confused, brows knitting together and head tilting a bit. 

                ❛ — are you just being humble, or do you truly not realize how attractive you are? ❜    sure, he wasn’t a young hot thing that was in his twenties, but he was probably the prettiest man connor’s ever seen. and he thinks, at least, that other people are able to recognize that in hank, too.  

“First of all - no, it does not change how I view you, Connor.”

It really did not. For Hank, the LED circling slowly (or quickly, depending on the situation) attached to the younger’s temple was just… there. It was a part of him, something that did belong to his frame, something the old cop had gotten used to - and yes, he did throw glances at the thing at some moments, just to see what was going on with his companion, as the color usually told much about his state of mind.

But…

A sigh escaped him - a soft one - accompanied by the old cop’s smile growing more gentle as the seconds passed between them.

“… I have to admit, though - your LED does tell about where you come from - who you are. An’ there may be people out there who…” Hesitating, Hank’s blue hues dropped for a second, to their hands still holding onto each other. … Made him trail his thumb along the artificial skin, along Connor’s own, slimmer digits, massaging whatever parts of those hands he was able to reach - painting small little circles.

“…—-Well, who gonna be nasty ‘bout it, y’know? You were designed to look as human as possible, but CyberLife made you wear an LED an’ those clothes to make it easier for us to tell when we’re talkin’ to robots. —It is dehumanizin’, I agree, an’ I can understand why it makes you feel this way. Getting rid of the LED would make it harder on those assholes to treat you badly because of who you are - but you gonna have to make that decision yourself.”

…

“I want you to know, Connor, that I will support you, no matter what.”

                        even if connor couldn’t physically feel the touch, the gentle hold of his hands calmed him -- reminded him that hank was right here, that he wasn’t going anywhere so long as connor wanted him by his side.      

                        ❛ i don’t care what other people think, especially their opinions on what i am. ❜  not that he was taking back the fact that he didn’t enjoy being branded as cyberlife’s product, with their logo and his serial number available for everyone to see.  but he didn’t want to keep it if it made it harder for hank to see him as someone.  not that he was going to say it, because he knew it was irrational, not the nicest thing to think, either, considering what they’ve been through.   

the confession

when you say "i love you," it carries the whole weight of your heart. it feels like closing your eyes and stepping off a cliff. maybe you've been planning to tell them for days now, or maybe it's just slipped out without you realizing, either way, it was inevitable. it's relief and dread all at once, it's mortifying yet hopeful. the words hang heavy and suspended in the air, thick enough to choke on, a brief and perilous moment against the mortal pull of gravity.

tagged by: @handerscn​ 

Connor didn’t need to speak the one’s name he was obviously referring to out loud, and Hank found himself chuckling at the thought of Reed’s reaction to the old cop managing to catch himself an (unbelievably pretty) Android as a partner. Part of him actually wanted to make their relationship painfully obvious in front of that asshole’s face, just to see his features distort into obvious disgust, to ruin his fucking day (week, month perhaps), but… well, the younger was right. Better keep it low, for their own sanity’s sake.

…Though Hank was quite sure that he would probably let his hand linger on the small of Connor’s back for a second too long for it to be considered appropriate, with his fingers coming in contact with that pretty, little bum belonging to his colleague, just when the Detective was coincidally letting his gaze trail over to the two of them. All on accident, of course. Whoops. Sorry about that.

The touch to his cheek caused Hank to tilt his hand into that palm, blue hues lingering on the beautiful brown ones in front of him with his amusement turning into a soft smile, filled with deep fondness - his heart swelling, warmth flooding his chest at Connor’s words. It just felt good to hear it spoken aloud, his mind being at ease with the confirmation of his partner feeling the same as Hank himself did.

“—Well then, honey… looks like I get to use all my shitty terms of endearment on you, huh? I’ve got a few… can circle through them all from time to time to keep things interestin’…” Yes, Hank did add a wink to his spoken words, a hint of playful mirth clinging to the corners of his eyes.

                  connor had known that hank had beautiful eyes, that they were ones that he ewas able to get lost in so easily -- captivating and kind.  but they were especially beautiful now, when hank looks at him, the way he smiles, leans into the gentle touch that connor hand on the side of his face..  he knew what that rush felt like, the warmth and admiration, to see it visually represented back to him in hanks features, in the way he spoke, it felt surreal. dream like. 

                  the term used,  honey,  it was probably one that was meant to make connor laugh.. which he does,  light heartedly,  but it also makes him feel -- soft,  warm,  happy.   oddly familiar, like it was something that hank had called connor hundreds of times before.  ❛ that may not be all that bad. ❜    it’s made out to sound as though it’s no big deal,  or he tries to convey it that way,  at least,  but he’s sure that hank could see through his nonchalant demeanor.  

He’ll keep that in mind. Hank wondered what exactly - the fact that watching his Android parter taking matters into his own hands got the poor lieutenant all excited, or the words of wisdom he’s told the younger about living his own life and all that, including the fact that he wouldn’t be opposed to… be included in future stuff that went into much more intimate territory?

Well… probably both, he thought to himself as Hank swallowed, feeling a bit more heat rising up to his cheeks, which made him lift his hand to scratch the back of his neck rather awkwardly. That feeling of embarassment did fade a little, however, with Connor changing the topic to their relationship as a whole - asking a very important question, causing blue hues to flick back to meet the Android’s beautiful, dark brown ones.

Are we exclusive now?

“—Well, uh, yes … if you wanna be, that is. I mean, I’m usually not that type of guy who likes foolin’ around without things bein’ serious, so… to me, this—…” A naked hand gestured at both of them, “… —is important. Is a serious thing. I like you a lot, Connor, more so than I probably should.”

Probably, but Hank didn’t care much. A small smile tugged on the corners of his beard framed lips, followed by him tilting his head, allowing a breath to escape his nostrils.

“In case someone’s gonna ask ‘bout us an’ you’re okay with… our relationship bein’ spoken about, I’ll definitely tell that you’re my partner. —Boyfriend? Yeah, somethin’ like that. I ain’t shy about who I love an’ feel close to. —Though I know we need to keep things down at work, especially since we’re expected to act professionally.”

                there’s a sort of expectation set that connor would eventually become disappointed with something hank says, that the other would let it slip that he didn’t care to let the other people in his life know about what connor meant to him -- because the android knew what some of his friends would probably think,  what they might say..  not that connor particularly cared what any of his other coworkers may think,  but he figured hank might. 

                still -- hank doesn’t seem bothered with that at all, saying that so long as connor wanted other people to know, that he’d be comfortable with calling him his partner. a hand comes up to rest idly on the side of hanks face for a moment, wanting to hold his gaze -- a soft smile covering his features. 

The confession about Connor not even having looked for a new place up until now made that smile widen significantly along the lieutenant’s beard framed lips - a somewhat cheeky expression lingering on his own, old features, accompanied by a low, amused chuckle. Part of him wasn’t even surprised about the fact, with the Android being… well, his stubborn self.

It was endearing and cute at the same time. Made Hank’s heart feel all warm and fuzzy once more…

Yeah, seemed like Connor would stay around for… well, forever then, because the lieutenant wasn’t planning on letting him go anytime soon - and as the Android had said, he would be around for as long as the old cop would have him. Easy as that.

The next question, however, made him pause - brows lifting ever so slightly, head tilting as blue hues took in the sight of his companion with a hint of curiosity written over his face. He blinked - once, twice - knitting his brows after a while.

“…—Well, uh … do you want to do it?” Because Connor shouldn’t have to change himself for the sake of passing as a living being. If he felt more comfortable without the LED, however, it was his right to remove it, as it was his own body he dealt with, and he was allowed to make changes in whichever way he desired. “You’re allowed to do whatever you wanna do, Connor. It’s your body, an’ your life. —You are free, no need to listen to anyone else but your own self.”

                    it was hard to explain, the LED felt like an extension of the jacket, something that was an instant identifier for what made connor different from everyone else... but it also didn’t hold the same weight that the branded jacket did, and it served no real purpose, so he didn’t need to keep it.. but he didn’t want for it to look like he was ashamed of anything, either.