Chapter Text
Hank pulled up to the little farmhouse at the end of the lane. He double checked the address on his phone, then looked back up at the house. It was a bit small, he thought, to be a halfway home for androids. But he figured maybe if it had a basement, it wouldn’t be too bad.
He got out of his car, small flakes of snow mixing into the gray of his hair. He crunched his way through the snow, noting how the sidewalk, littered with footprints, could use a shoveling. He knocked on the front door, the soft murmurings behind it stilling.
The door creaked open, and a young woman stared at him. “Who are you?”
“Uh, Hank Anderson,” he said. “Connor sent me.”
“You need to go see Rose,” the woman said. “She’s around back.”
The door slammed shut and Hank sighed. He immediately regretted letting Connor rope him into this. All he had said was that he wanted to help the androids more, now that he knew how human they were. He pictured helping organize rallies or hiring more androids at the DPD, not going out to the middle of nowhere and just, “helping around the house” as Connor had put it. Hank wasn’t even sure how Connor knew about this place.
There was a small greenhouse in the backyard, standing strong next to the dead fields of winter. A woman was cutting logs next to it, breathing out with a soft yell when she drove the ax into the wood.
Hank walked up and cleared his throat. The woman startled, then turned around. Hank tried to fight the flush that rose to his cheeks as the woman’s warm eyes landed on him.
“Yes?” she asked, her song a beautiful melody. “Can I help you.”
“Actually,” Hank took a step closer, “I’m here to help you. I’m Hank Anderson.”
“Oh, yes.” The woman smiled, and Hank swallowed hard. “Connor said you would be coming. I’m Rose.” She held out a hand to him and he took it, his own hand shaking slightly. “I really appreciate the help. It’s been a bit rough with my son gone.”
“Can I ask what happened?” Hank said, fearing any response.
“He’s decided to stay with his uncle in Canada for a bit. There’s still a few androids up there and,” she smiled, a few tears forming in her eyes, “he wanted to keep an eye on them, make sure they were safe.”
Hank couldn’t help but share her smile. “Sounds like a great kid.”
“He really is.”
“Well, uh, I can do that for ya, if you want.” Hank nodded to the pile of wood, already stepping towards the ax stuck in the one log.
“You don’t mind?” Rose asked, looking to the side a bit.
“Oh, uh, not at all.”
Rose nodded at him. “Thank you.”
Hank nodded back, picking up the ax and driving it into the wood, splitting the log in half. Rose hummed softly and Hank looked back, catching her eyes drifting over his body. She turned to go into the house, giggling under her breath, and Hank’s face wasn’t just red from physical exertion
-
About twenty minutes of log cutting later, Hank was back to regretting his decision to help. He shivered, deciding he needed to get somewhere warm before he caught hypothermia from how much he was sweating.
He knocked on the backdoor of the house and Rose’s melodic voice called out, “Come on in!”
He knocked the snow off his boots and shrugged off his coat, looking around at the small kitchen. Rose wandered in, smiling at him.
“Would you like some coffee?”
There was a burst of laughter from the living room.
“I would love some, thank you.”
Rose turned the coffee maker on and leaned against the counter, looking at Hank. “Have a seat,” she said. “You look like you’ve been working hard.”
Hank smirked a bit, not mentioning the few times he caught her looking at him out the window.
“So, uh,” he said, sitting down, “How exactly do you know Connor?”
“Kara introduced us,” Rose said. “She thought he might know some people who could help with the home, having the connections he has.” She chuckled. “Guess she was right.”
“I hope I can be more help,” Hank said. “I think it’s really great what you’re doing here. I mean, I didn’t always, you know, know things, but uh, ah…” Hank let his rambling fade away and luckily the coffee pot saved him by alerting them to its conclusion.
Rose poured him a mug and sat down at the table with him. There was another rumble of laughter and Hank looked over his shoulder, spying a group of androids sitting cuddled on the couch, pretending like they weren’t looking at him.
“Don’t mind them,” Rose said, her cheeks darkening a bit.
“Well, uh,” Hank stood up, his body still a little cold, but his face hot, “I should probably get back to it. Can’t have you guys freezing over the winter now.”
He hurried out of the room, relaxing into the thump thump thump of steel on wood.
-
Hank spent the day doing various outdoor tasks, popping in every few minutes for warmth, ignoring the giggles from the androids as best he could. He shoveled the walkway and even dug out Rose’s truck. The sun was starting to set when he was getting ready to leave.
“I really did appreciate all the help,” Rose said. She fidgeted with her fingers, looking down at the ground. Her foot drew circles in the snow.
If Hank didn’t know better he would have thought she was flirting.
“No problem,” Hank said, clearing his throat. “You’ve got my number, feel free to call anytime. Really.”
Rose looked up at him, a sparkle in her eye. “I will,” she said.
Hank smiled at her, his heart beating quick in his chest. Rose stepped forward, leaning up a bit and placing a kiss to his cheek.
“Seriously,” Hank said, a warmth spreading through his body. “Anytime.”