Hank drove up to his house, blasting heavy metal music after a long fucking day of work. Nothing should've been different, given it had only been a few hours, yet once he got there he was nearly blinded.
"what the fuck." He said tiredly, and he gets out of his car.
his house was covered in red and green lights, that were placed far too perfectly to have been done by a human being. which made sense, given the only people who live with him are an android, and a giant Saint Bernard. Though last time he checked sumo couldn't use a ladder.
He walked in, seeing the outside was not where the decorating had ended. The place was decked out with a tree, wreaths, tinsel, and scented candles that made the entire house smell like warm artificial cinnamon. All of that not even mentioning Connor wearing a Christmas themed apron, and sumo having on a Santa hat. All of that to say, it was a lot, especially when he'd expected nothing at all.
"Welcome home Lieutenant." Connor said, cheerfully walking over. his apron was covered in flour that he obviously didn't want to get on the floor given how carefully he was moving.
"Hi? what did you do to the house?" Hank asked, and Connor tilts his head, as though that question was odd. despite y'know the house being too much for Saint Nic himself.
"I decorated?" He said, playing dumb to what Hank meant, and he could tell this instantly with the mere glint in the boys eyes. he stared at him trying his best to hide this, forgetting that hank was a Lieutenant for a reason. even if he didn't show it.
"I realized....why did you decorate?" He asked, being more clear in hopes of an actual answer. Which was obviously too much to ask for, as Connor just blinked up at him before saying.
"It's Christmas?" He said, barely holding back a smirk. "haha Con, but I'm serious. what's all this shit for?" He said blandly looking at the dogs dumb hat.
"I thought it might lighten your spirits, given everything that's been happening lately. I wanted to lower your stress, and thought this might do it." He said, with a genuinely sweet smile. Now Hank knew he didn't need it, and in all honesty it wouldn't help, but he couldn't bear to tell Connor that. especially after all the work he'd put into this over the top Christmas barf.
Hank and him move on from that pretty quick, and go back to their normal night schedule. In which Hank tries to grabs his bottle like he always did, and Connor smacks his wrist away "Connor you said—"
"one shot a night. Hank I know full well if I hand it over so early, I won't get it back. at least with the whiskey still in it." Hank huffs, even if that were true he didn't need to be a dick about it.
Hank gives up very quickly after that, and goes to start watching the game while Connor makes dinner. In which the android makes multiple comments on the plays, or more often Hank's complaining.
"How is it my fault that I hate our team losing?" Hank huffed to Connor, as he started setting the table. placing everything perfectly first try with no effort as usual. making it look actually decent, even compared to when he had his life together and gave a shit.
"I'm not saying that, I'm saying You don't need to yell at the tv when you're angry." The android said, finally placing the food down. before going to feed sumo, who immediately ran to his bowl as soon as the food hit the dish, and started eating "especially given the fact that they can't hear you."
"If they could I'd say worse." Hank muttered annoyed, and he could tell Connor rolled his eyes hard. Even before he turns around to see it as he heads to the table.
They eat, and Hank looks around the house again. "you must've really had nothing to do huh?" Hank said, and Connor stayed quiet for a moment. He looked down at his food making it harder for Hank to see his face before he smiled. "I just wanted to make you happier, I told you."
Hank noticed the effort he was putting into that smile. He noticed the hesitation, he noticed his led spin yellow. all the little things that Connor, despite being an expert liar, couldn't hide. and it concerned him really, Connor was usually very honest. "Connor, is something wrong?"
Connor tilts his head, "why do you ask?" He responded, clearly avoiding the question, as he got up to clean his plate. "you were lying, you don't usually do that shit. at least not to me."
"why would I be lying about that?" Connor asked, still avoiding, and Hank was getting a tad agitated. which y'know, not the best move when you're trying to get someone to talk about their feelings. Though to be fair it's been a while since he's done this
"I don't fucking know! why don't you tell me!? I'm the one clearly confused here!" He huffs, as Connor puts his plate on the drying rack, and goes on to ignore him. which only pisses him off more. "hello?" He asked harshly, as Connor continued cleaning plates by hand.
"Y'know we have a dishwasher right?" He said, trying to get him to talk by annoying him unintentionally, or not. Which was a choice, and despite him being sure the kid knows this, the android still answers.
"I'm well aware, I just would rather do it myself." He said sounding snippy, which if Hank wasn't so annoyed he'd probably understand. but of course he instead just scoffs, and walks back to the couch. They then stay quiet for the entire time Connor cleans up dinner.
Hank takes his one shot and sighs, as Connor had started walking around doing chores, that had obviously been done earlier today. dusting, fixing the books and photos to be perfect. when they hadn't moved. He was confused, but too stubborn to break the silence yet. so he instead just watches him quietly, trying to figure out why he was doing this.
He started going through options, realizing pretty quickly the android is bored, and ultimately it made sense. Connor didn't really have anything but this place. The main people in Jericho are always traveling, and he'd stopped working at the end of the revolution, he has nothing but Hank's mess of a life to do anything with or about.
Hank immediately felt like an ass, and like usual he very suddenly spoke. "I'm sorry." Connor paused for a moment. "I know." he said, and continued cleaning, which only made Hank feel worse. He wished he could do more to fix it, but androids still couldn't work those kinda jobs yet. so he was stuck, or more Connor was stuck.
They move on from the argument, while hank internally keeps trying to think of any solution. not succeeding as far as he could tell. as the best present he could think of is him getting his job back. considering he was bored, and clearly wanted to go back to it. As often Connor tried to butt his nose in Hank's cases, convince the man to let him drive him to crime scenes, and overall kept trying to do anything to help without crossing the line.
It would be a great present, but it's still not legally possible. so Hank was stuck, there was nothing he could think of that would compare to that one thing now that it had come into his head.
"Hank are you alright?" Connor asked, as he'd finished redoing every chore in the house, in the hour Hank had been sitting there ignoring the tv. Connor was now sitting next to him playing with sumo, who was trying to eat his hand.
"Yeah, I'm fine. just thinking about Christmas y'know." He said, and Connor looks at him curiously. clearly noticing something off, but he didn't acknowledge it, and instead went back to playing with the giant dog.
Hank sighs, he just wanted to find a way to make him happy, how the hell could he manage that.
