Hi pia, I hope today was a good one :) I really miss Connor and Hank, so I thought to ask and maybe you won't mind answering *you can never know where the spoilers lies* What was Hank take on seeing the picture Connor sent him of himself and the amazing sumo? He was avoiding the awesome dog, but he answered pretty fast. I couldn't not imagine what Hank was thinking
Tbh I think Hanks reaction was a whole mix of things, especially as Connor sent the pic with the message: Kara thinks you’re a coward. And Hank knows exactly what that’s referring to (i.e. that he basically ran away from his own dog because of guilt - and also because I don’t think he could handle saying goodbye to Sumo again, let alone hello, so he just didn’t).
So I think a part of him found it really adorable. Like whatever things inside of him assess cuteness just skyrocketed and he probably facepalmed over it. And then there’s the fact that Connor is obviously not only making friends with his dog but clearly really likes Sumo, given they’re both lying on a bed together, and Hank knows Kara has the ‘no Sumo on furniture unless it’s Alice and Alice’s bed.’ And he would’ve immediately seen that it wasn’t Alice’s bed too. So he already knows that Connor is either breaking the rules for Sumo, or that Kara’s allowed Connor to break the rules because he’s made such a good bond with him already.
Then there’s the ‘Kara thinks you’re a coward.’ Tbh, if Connor hadn’t followed that up with another message, Hank wouldn’t have replied. That’s a pretty confrontational line, and Connor pretty naturally tries to bait Hank, even when he thinks he’s not. Connor’s kind of an interesting character to me because he doesn’t think thinks like ‘oh Hank ran away from Sumo that’s an asshole thing to do’ he just on the surface observes that, but he’s pretty judgemental beneath all those layers. It’s just he can’t access his own judgement a lot of the other until another person gives him permission by mentioning it themselves (see: Hank ragging on Connor’s father so much that Connor could finally do it in a more blatant way).
So Connor immediately had the judgement of ‘Hank’s running away from his dog, that’s kind of ridiculous, who runs away from a dog?’ but it never surfaced until Kara said what she said, and that empowered Connor to be like ‘hey guess what Kara said.’ (Imho, I also think this is a way for Connor to avoid saying: I think this. To displace the responsibility of the thought onto someone else, out of fear of punishment. I don’t think he genuinely expects Hank to punish him, it’s just something I think he does as someone who was raised with Perkins).
And so anyway, Hank was pissed off at that line, and guilty, and probably a bit ashamed, and probably ready to be like ‘welp I don’t have to talk to you again basically so fuck off’ until Connor picked a neutral subject: We should talk about the case.
Which is something Hank does want to do! But it also sets off alarm bells in his head because he knows how self-destructive Connor is about it. And he knows Connor needs a break, and frankly, so does he. I don’t think Hank is really telling Connor he needs a break only for Connor’s welfare, it’s a way of securing some thinking space for himself too. Like, he has a lot to reassess, especially re: his own behaviour towards Connor. And he is not a soft or tender person, so I think that’s something he’s aware of too: that Connor needs someone like Kara more than him (he’s wrong, too, btw, although Connor does need a break. But Connor does better with someone like Hank, than someone overtly soft and tender like Markus or Luuk or Kara).
Ah so yeah! Lots of stuff! Mostly ‘shit that’s adorable’ ‘oh no he’s friends with my dog’ the blaring of guilt and shame and missing Sumo like an arrow to the heart (er, that chapter title...) and wanting space away from Connor but then getting this cute photo of this guy he likes to fuck (really likes to fuck) and like, probably also a very mild background thread of arousal because Hank is into Connor in a way that he’s never been into a human before and that bothers him.
...Thanks for letting me ramble, anon! :D