Accident Prone - Becoming Human

Old Wounds

While he slowly recovered from his injuries Connor had taken to sleeping on the couch for a few more nights as he was still hesitant to be alone, even if that meant being in a separate room from Hank for even a few hours. No longer suffering from chronic nightmares or pain, Connor managed to doze comfortably without any further incident during his final days of healing. With Sumo laying on the floor next to the couch and Hank asleep in the recliner a few feet away, the unorthodox family had found a few moments of peace after enduring days of Hell courtesy of hatred and bigotry still scarring parts of the world with blackness.

Barely three in the morning was greeted by a low 'buzzing' sound that emanated from Hank's phone sitting on the small table next to the recliner. The sound was enough to rouse the sleeping senior detective from his slumber despite his own exhaustion. As he looked at the caller I.D. displayed on the glowing screen Hank's grogginess was replaced by an anxious alertness causing him to practically jump to his feet as he walked through the livingroom to answer the phone outside the backdoor more discreetly.

"Hank?" Connor's eyes partially opened as he sensed the senior detective now awake and heard the phone 'buzzing' in Hank's hand. "What's wrong?"

"...Nothing. It's a personal call." Hank never broke his stride as he crossed the livingroom into the kitchen and pulled open the backdoor to answer the phone in private. His voice was as alert as his pace as he stepped outside and addressed Connor from the distance. "Go back to sleep, I'll be back in a minute."

Still too tired from his devastating injuries and still needing to rest in order to fully reboot his processor, Connor willingly laid his head back down on the pillow and closed his eyes to return cooperatively to rest mode once more. Laying still and quiet Connor listened to the sound of Hank pacing about on the back deck, his heavy footsteps moving rhythmically back and forth outside the door, then stopping abruptly.

At the silence Connor turned his head slightly against the pillow as he listened to the sudden quiet and waited for the backdoor to open up, but it remained shut. Curious about the unexpected stillness and corresponding silence Connor waited for a few minutes before he rose from the couch and walked very slowly toward the kitchen, craning his neck to try to see Hank on the back deck through the kitchen window as he walked.

Sumo got up from the floor and joined Connor in the kitchen with his own curiosity, but the deviant didn't want Sumo outside so late at night.

"No, Sumo. Go lay down."

Reluctant to go away Sumo continued toward the backdoor with his tail wagging slowly.

"Sumo." Connor didn't raise his voice but he did put some authority into it as he tried to command the almost grown puppy into obedience. "Go lay down."

The still learning but lovable young dog slowly walked away from the door and eyed Connor expectantly as if the deviant was going to suddenly change his mind and let him outside.

"Lay down."

Moving quicker Sumo finally went to his pillow in the corner of the livingroom and laid down with a slight grumble under his breath as he watched Connor walk to the backdoor without him.

"Good boy. Now stay."

Peering through the window of the backdoor Connor saw Hank sitting down on the steps of the back deck with his hands folded neatly together as a single fist and pressed against his bearded chin as he leaned forward with his elbows propped up against his knees. The phone was sitting next to Hank completely forgotten and the lack of motion from Hank himself was disconcerting to the ever empathetic deviant who saw him.