the twink in black tights - hank x connor

Waking Up, But Did You Really Sleep?

SUMMARY: Hank has trouble finding the motivation to get up, and Connor gets scolded by Simon when he arrives at work.

Hank woke up with a terrible headache. It felt like somebody was fucking drilling into his brain. He knew it wasn't a hangover; the bottle he had kept when he got rid of his alcohol remained blissfully untouched, and he'd stayed home that night, restless. He got up from the couch, stretching and wincing when he felt pain in his neck. He didn't even remember falling asleep. He wanted so badly to collapse back onto the couch, but then again, he wouldn't be able to see Connor if he did that.

So he got up. He went into the bathroom and took a piss, then gave himself a long look in the mirror. He found that he didn't recognize the person staring back at him, eyes sunken, beard unkempt. He painfully realized he'd let himself fall apart. He let this happen.

And as much as it hurt to think it, he knew that Cole wouldn't have wanted this.

He took a shower and trimmed up his beard, and on a whim, he trimmed his hair. He still had some skill from when he used to give himself haircuts in his teenage years. It wasn't much more than a trim, but it did wonders for his confidence. He brushed his teeth, then went to his bedroom to get dressed.

It hurt with every step he took. Probably because of the yoga. Despite his pain, he felt a bit of pride for actually going through with it, and he didn't let any self-deprecating thoughts kill the small amount of confidence it gave him.

He walked into the living room, borderline limping, and greeted Sumo, who had padded over to him almost as soon as he walked out from his bedroom. He scratched the dog's chin for a moment before getting himself food. He looked in his cabinets, expectations low, and grabbed himself a box of some...  uh... Dried Grape Bran.

He winced with almost every step. He expected to be sore, but this was fucking overkill. He grabbed the milk and poured it into the bowl, almost spilling it in the process. He didn't even eat much of it and ended up throwing most of it away. He didn't have much of an appetite this morning.

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Connor woke up at 5 in the morning. He only slept for about 26 minutes. He dragged himself off of the sofa, hitting his knee on the coffee table. He let out a cry as he gripped his quickly-bruising knee. He almost fell over but balanced himself.

At least he was awake now.

He got into his uniform, not having too much trouble doing so since he was only wearing his old shirt and boxers. He pulled on his tights and black shorts and put on his usual work apron over the old T-shirt. It wasn't torn or dirty, so he didn't care enough to change it. He used the bathroom and went to the mirror. His expectations were low, but... Yikes. He tried to comb his hair flat (unsuccessfully) and applied foundation over his eye bags in an attempt to cover them. It worked well enough.

Minutes later, he was driving to the cafe when he heard his car make a concerning sputtering sound. He tensed as he stopped at a red light. It didn't happen again that morning, and he got to the cafe and parked in his usual spot on the side of the building. He got out of his car, subconsciously still attempting to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He made his way to the staff entrance sluggishly.

He greeted Jerry 2- helpfully, their nametags had them ordered from oldest to youngest by seconds-, who was cleaning mugs and preparing to open the cafe. Jerry 3 was cleaning tables and Jerry 1 was counting money from the register. Connor could tell from the redhead's mumbles that he was trying to figure out how much would be left after paying bills and how much he could pay the employees. Connor and Simon weren't paid too much, but they were doing well enough financially, so it worked out enough. Plus, it seemed that every few days, another person would find the cafe and incorporate it into their daily routine as Hank had begun to do.

Connor felt his heart twist as his brain wandered into Hank Territory. He snapped back into reality when Kara arrived noisily, red-faced.

"Sorry, I'm so late!" She panted. She really wasn't late, though, and Connor gave her a small smile.

"No worries, Kara, we haven't opened yet!" Jerry 1 laughed, patting Kara on the back, who was catching her breath. Kara lived close by, so she biked to work. She didn't have a car, either, so it's not like there were many other alternatives.

"Hi, Kara," Connor said, his voice sounding tired and unlike him. Kara gave him a look that he couldn't bother to comprehend and he made his way to the kitchen. He saw Simon in the back preparing things to bake. He was tempted to just fall onto the floor and sleep, but he gave Simon a half-hearted wave. Simon turned to him.

"Hey Co... Dude..." Simon looked concerned; his brows were drawn together.

"What?" Connor asked quietly, not even having the energy to speak loud. Simon huffed and pulled Connor into the staff restroom. He let Connor go and pointed to the mirror. Connor only just saw himself for the first time since that morning when he applied the foundation. It was smeared and it was quite obvious that he was trying to cover the eye bags. He looked at Simon, feeling guilty. "Sorry..." He mumbled.

"Apologize to yourself, Connor." Simon sighed. "This is the kind of shit you pulled in college trying to pass an exam, not... not now."

"I know. I just can't stop thinking about him." Connor admitted, although it clearly wasn't a shock to Simon. Connor was constantly wanting to talk to Hank, but he never knew how to help. He especially had no idea how to confess to Hank. He wiped the rest of the foundation off, because at least then it wouldn't be obvious that he failed at concealing it.

"Just... take it slow," Simon advised. Connor nodded. He tried to fix his hair, but it clearly didn't feel like cooperating, so he walked out with Simon behind him. Simon put the pastries in the oven, and Connor prepared coffee. Despite being a waiter, he knew how to make the foods they had on the menu. And, of course, he knew how to make coffee. He served the people who came every day their usual orders, growing more worried as more time passed without Hank showing up. He almost dropped a platter with a ham and cheese croissant and orange juice for North. He handed Chloe, who was next to North, her coffee, which had been in the other hand.

"Connor, are you alright?" North asked, more than likely because she saw the dark circles under his eyes.

"Peachy." He said heartily, his voice sounding a lot cheerier than he expected. He was about to walk away, but North slapped his hand and put a 5 dollar bill in it.

"I hope this helps with something," North flashed him a hopeful smile, Chloe laying on her shoulder quietly. Connor smiled back and mouthed 'thank you', walking back into the kitchen.

The door opened with quiet bells (they'd been attached to the door about a week back for the approaching holiday) jingling. Connor's head whipped around hopefully.

It was Hank.