Chapter Text
“You know I want you,” Connor allowed his voice to echo through the spotlights and shadow, reverberating off the columns that held his entire act aloft. The familiar creak and rustle of the pulleys, the scent of rope on his palm. He was surrounded by everything that had ever made him feel alive. And in the midst of it all, he was willing to allow Hank - this human - into his sanctuary. To say that he had been drawn here would be an overstatement.
It was Fate that brought them together.
“It’s not a secret I try to hide, Hank,” he continued to the sterile silence. The name of this man and all he embodied pulsed through his neural systems. Warm Hank. Kind Hank. Hank who believed the lie that he was all beer belly and apprehension. Hank whose confidence had plummeted with each glance cast their way. Even now, Connor could sense the dip in the serotonin coursing through his veins, but it hadn’t been his vitals interface that had alerted him.
It had been the acrid shift in the air when Hank had loosened the grip on his hand.