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[heyboss]

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[falkeditupagain]

[Immediately following this conversation.]

Hanna has been hiding for days. He'd come out long enough to apologize and talk to Saga and what she'd told him brought him right back to the book fort the morning after.

But Malcolm has absolutely no subtly and in Hanna's expert opinion, no tact, and he finds himself standing in front of Sheehan and Arthur's shared door.

He knocks quietly and shoves his hands in his pockets, staring a hole into the floor. If he let's his fists unclench in his pockets he's going to start shaking.

[heyboss]

Sheehan's in and Arthur isn't, which is fortunate for Hanna. Sheehan opens the door and steps back with a cautious smile.

He sees the stress; he welcomes him with no fear.

"Hey Hanna. Come on in."

[falkeditupagain]

He doesn't walk past him so much as into him, shuffling forward to hit his forehead onto his chest and close his eyes.

He doesn't ask for a hug, but it's very obvious that he wants one, or maybe needs it.

[heyboss]

Oh that is a very obvious cry for attention and Sheehan immediately wraps him up, trying to move him out of the way so he can shut the door.

He doesn't push him away or get him to stop. He doesn't demand answers. He gives him space for this right now, this moment of need.

[falkeditupagain]

Hanna shuffles without much protest so that he can shut the door, leaning heavily against him.

When it's shut and it's just them his arms come up finally, wrapping around him as tightly as he can and squeezes. He doesn't cry, he's been doing enough of that lately, but if he hadn't just spent the night doing so, he probably would have.

There are a lot of things that he could say, but he doesn't exactly want to talk about what just happened with Malcolm, it would feel like tattling.

He would if it was for deflection, but he's a little tired of that now too after the last week. So he rewinds back to just before he started hiding, and addresses the issue he's set aside.

"I know I said so before...but you really do kinda look like my dad." A quick breath in, his voice kind of muffled with his face squished to Sheehan's chest, "I- I didn't really know what to do when you started sounding like him too, so I got angry. I shouldn't have done that." He probably shouldn't have punched Arthur either, but... "by the way, Arthur sucks at interrogations. His approach is like... trying to carve marble with a sledgehammer." He can still make excuses for that one though.

[heyboss]

Sheehan keeps his arms around him, even gently trailing his fingers through Hanna's hair. Paternal, like he would do with a child. Which may or may not help Hanna's perception of him.

"Your anger is legitimate, Hanna. You were feeling uncomfortable in a lot of ways, and anger is a natural response to it. I don't hold any grudges or anything. I had just hoped we'd be able to have this conversation once you were feeling less defensive," he tells him. "And - I don't even want to know what Arthur said, do I?"

[falkeditupagain]

He doesn't really think about it much right now, there's a lot going on in that little head of his and it feels nice, calming even. He kind of needs that, trying to slow his breathing down, eyes still closed.

"I mean, it also didn't help that it sounded like maybe You thought I'd be cruel on purpose which also just-" he makes a frustrated noise, knows that's more an excuse but had been on his mind anyways.

He lifts his head finally, looking up at him with a tired smile, "something, something maybe the world isn't as kind as you think it is." As if Hanna didn't already know.

"There's more, but I'd rather not repeat assumptions that are entirely way off base. Fucking prick." He'll happily sit next to him at breakfast when he starts coming around again though. Water under the bridge.

[heyboss]

"I apologize for that, Hanna. I was trying to get you to see that what you were doing could be cruel and I hoped that would affect you because you are most certainly not cruel. But if I gave you the impression that I believed you capable of that, I'm sorry." He gives him a gentle squeeze.

That's more important for him to know than anything else.

"Who's a prick?"

[falkeditupagain]

"Accepted," he mumbles softly.

There are a few different people he could say, but he was talking about Arthur. "Your darling dearest."

[heyboss]

"Ah, yes. I understand now." He had been so focused on the first part that he nearly missed the grumbling about Arthur.

"And he is, you're right."

He's not going to defend him for something he might have very well been a fucking prick about.

[falkeditupagain]

"Vinny's like that too, though he's a hell of a lot more subtle about it." Which in his mind makes it funnier, but he isn't looking forward to being on the receiving end of that again.

"Anyways, I should also probably say sorry for punching him even if I think he kind of deserved it."

[heyboss]

"Don't apologize unless you're actually remorseful," he points out. "But Arthur doesn't hold it against you. He knows what he's doing when he gets like that."

Sheehan had seen the bruise, of course. It doesn't mean he likes it, but he gets it.

[falkeditupagain]

"Mmmm...yeah, I'm really not." He doesn't much hold it against Arthur either though... "He's not talking to Sokie like that, is he? She'd rip him apart I'm sure, but...yeesh."

[heyboss]

Sheehan shakes his head. "You can talk to Sokie about it yourself. I'm pretty sure that she will tell you whatever you want to know."

[falkeditupagain]

"You're a smart man," he wouldn't really want to get in the middle of that either.

His hold loosens in Sheehan, taking in a breath and releasing it to try and lessen the tension in his shoulders. But, despite that he still doesn't quite move from the entryway, nor does he feel like indicating he wants him to stop holding him.

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

[heyboss]

He loosens his grip but doesn't let go. He just lets him guide the amount of touch that he wants. "Of course. I'll - even do my best to answer."

[falkeditupagain]

Usually it's a normal amount, but after hiding away for almost a week he kind of missed human contact outside of being slammed into the floor by Malcolm and then Arthur, as well as those short few minutes where he'd kind of cried all over him. Being avoidant of your issues made being an extrovert hard.

"What's the plan for you, once your done here, like big picture. I know you said you were going to live with Arthur and John, but... you gonna figure out how to forge some credentials, start a practice? Or do something else?"

[heyboss]

Fortunately, he had his shit figured out a few weeks ago, or he'd still be living in limbo.

"I had the Admiral take care of that," he explains. "Transferred my credentials, bank accounts, reputation, and everything else to Arthur's world. It was what my last deal was. Nana forced me to use it on myself."

[falkeditupagain]

That wasn't exactly what he was expecting, "oh shit...well? That's convenient. With inflation you probably made a pretty chunk of change if you're bringing your money back, what, twenty years?"

[heyboss]

"Moving from the 50s to the early 30s, specifically," he points out, because the postwar economy was great when compared to just after the crash.

"But I'm not eager to get there, really. It's a new city, a new place, and everyone I care about is here."

[falkeditupagain]

This is why never got good grades in history, it's the little things and those essay questions that would get him every time.

He doesn't look exactly convinced by what he says though, eyeing him.

"Sokie said the three of you had one foot out the door already, you sure about that?" As if just admitting that will get Sheehan to break if he was at all trying to lie to him.

[heyboss]

Sheehan looks confused. And after that passes, he's distraught. He puts his hands on Hanna's shoulders and looks down at him.

"Hey. I don't know what information Sokie has, but we're not leaving. I'm not leaving. I have no intention of leaving. I'm not here for the deals. I don't need a deal and then I'm automatically done."

[falkeditupagain]

He should feel silly for believing something she said while they were both stoned and she was upset, but... it's a little hard not to. Everyone leaves eventually, and he doesn't think it would feel better to know when it would happen, but...maybe if he had some warning it wouldn't hurt so bad.

"But you will, eventually." He's aware that this place isn't meant to be a forever home, it's a halfway house at best, "you'd say something, right? If you were going to? If you knew you were?"

[heyboss]

He looks down at him again and tries to get his gaze. "Hanna. I will not knowingly leave this place without giving you advance notice. Alright? But I wouldn't leave until after you got your life back anyway. If I do leave before then, get Iris to check on me. Or John, if he can."

[falkeditupagain]

His breath catches in his throat in a bad way and he has to look away. Sometimes, he wishes he could just be normal about this shit, and it would make things easier.

He has to take a few steps back, scrubbing his face and his hair as if he can delete the invasive thought that just shot through his mind and groans.

"Fuck. Don't- Don't say it like that. Or I'll start dragging my feet." He's still got David's letter in his pocket and that to him is a promise, to cross the finish line more, and yet he knows if that will shorten the time, he'd try not to.