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Hook is startled awake by Danhausen bursting into his bedroom in a flurry of movement and sound and– why the hell is he here?
“Oh my god!” Danhausen exclaims, gratingly high in that way he has about him as he clutches his chest; shoulders sagging as soon as he meets Hook’s eyes.
Hook’s half open ass eyes, which should be fully closed. His eyelids are weighted; fighting against sleep and shock to stay open while he tries to understand what he’s seeing. More importantly why he’s seeing it.
Danhausen is standing in the middle of his bedroom, wearing a band t-shirt and no makeup. It helps narrow down some possibilities, but Hook’s ruffled that he needs to use his brain cells for anything other than counting sheep right now. They'd been texting for most of the day yesterday and Danhausen had been talking like he'd been at home in Michigan? So what gives? He'd made no mention of traveling either and Danhausen’s favorite thing in the world was to whine about his inevitable upcoming travel woes.
Hook had been annoyed by it until he started to witness the demon’s poor luck first hand. Something bizarrely improbable and highly inconvenient happened to Danhausen nearly every time they traveled together and almost every single time they didn’t. Ergo, Danhausen saying nothing yesterday about his intentions to curse the TSA (which was a frequent promise and as a frequent flier, Hook supports it) and showing up in New York, in Hook’s apartment, stands out as one of the stranger things his friend has done.
Whatever reason Danhausen may have for being here, it likely has nothing to do with work. Hook would’ve caught wind of it or Danhausen would be in makeup if it did.
“D, what the hell?” Hook moans, blinking owlishly at the clock on his bedside table. It’s late morning according to the time and the light flooding through the shades he leaves half open, but it’s also his day off. He wasn’t planning on being awake for another hour. “I gave you that key in case of an emergency," Hook reminds him. The bitterness of being pulled from slumber coats his words. He can't tell if Danhausen hears it and is ignoring it, or if it's just another one of those human social cues that the demon conveniently fails to register.
Instead, Danhausen nods empathetically and drops the large backpack he has with him from off of his shoulder. Danhausen’s carry-on bag. He’s planning on staying somewhere for at least a few days judging by how the bag is bursting at the seams. Hook already knows he’s going to offer Danhausen a place to stay regardless of why he’s in town, but the question remains: what is happening? And why couldn’t it have happened much later in the afternoon?
“Yes, yes. Danhausen knows!” Danhausen proclaims, tossing his hands into the air, grin edging into a decidedly manic territory. Danhausen holds his hands out to his sides, “There is an emergency and that is why Danhausen is here.”
That gets Hook’s attention. The word makes his lungs twist and his heart skip. Danhausen grinning should put him at ease, but unfortunately it doesn’t mean that there isn’t a crisis afoot. Hook’s made that mistake before; he has such a love hate relationship with that smile. More so one than the other, but that’s his business.
Hook sits up and scoots back on his hands so he’s sitting upright against the headboard. “Wha– what’s wrong? Are you okay?” Rubbing a hand over his face and blinking sleep from his eyes, Hook scans Danhausen’s body. He looks fine? No visible injuries anyway. The tension in his chest eases up a bit.
“What?” Danhausen asks sharply and shakes his head, as if he’s confused as to why Hook would even ask. His eyes widen as realization dawns and waves a dismissive hand, “Oh, yes, Danhausen is fine.”
But now Danhausen is staring at Hook, who’s staring back at him with one eye open slightly wider than the other as he struggles to get his bearings back from the clutches of sleep. Danhausen doesn’t volunteer anything else; simply crosses his hands at the wrist and places them high on his chest.
Digging his knuckles into the corners of his eyes, Hook summons the patience that only Danhausen can invoke from him.
“What’s the emergency then?” Hook asks, trying to sound neutral and not murderous. The latter is mostly his default in the morning. But when Danhausen winces, shoulders hunching inward, Hook knows he didn’t thread the needle as closely as he’d hoped. “D,” Hook sighs on a huff of air, voice rough like sandpaper in his ears. “I’ve been awake for five minutes and I’ve been confused for all of them. I’m not mad. But you gotta give me a reason to stay that way,” he reasons, tired and gentle. Because it’s Danhausen and Hook can be annoyed and irritated, but he’s still in that frustrating stage of a crush where he can’t stay mad at him.
Hook’s been at that stage for almost a year now… he’s self-aware enough to know that he’s in denial about what he feels; that it’s something he should probably deal with. But he’s also a male in his early twenties so you know, he’s just as fine fucking not doing that, thank you very much.
Danhausen’s cheeks go pink, smile faltering and slowly falling. He clears his throat and makes a couple of false starts before seeming to settle. He clasps his hands over his stomach and grumbles at the floor, “Danhausen missed you.”
Hook blinks slowly. That’s not… what he was expecting. But the truth is that Danhausen says a lot of things. This would hardly be the first time he’s said something that Hook wanted to mean one thing, but actually meant another. Hook will spare himself the heartache and assume it’s not what it sounds like. Danhausen can be a bit extreme at times and Hook doesn’t want to embarrass himself by reading too much into it. They’re friends and Danhausen is prone to extreme feelings about all kinds of things (here’s looking at you TSA). Missing Hook just happens to be one of them today.
The corner of Hook’s mouth lifts as he says, “D… that’s not an emergency worth you using the key to my place. That’s a fucking phone call or a text,” Hook laughs, unable to stop the fond smile that drags his dimples out for the world against his will. As far as reasons to be woken up out of a sound sleep go, this is a nice one. It makes Hook’s stomach flutter and flop because yeah, it’s actually a really, really nice reason to be woken up. But it’s not– Danhausen doesn’t mean it like–.
Danhausen points at Hook in a reprimand, “No sweari–”
“Nope. You checked that shit at the door. You’re not breaking into my apartment and telling me I can’t curse.” Hook says, rolling his eyes.
Danhausen scratches at his chin and squints up into the flaking ceiling paint above. Hook hopes he doesn’t get any lead in his eye.
“Ah, when Hook says it like this… Danhausen thinks he may have, possibly, sort of made a mistake in coming here. Should Danhausen leave?” The demon asks, hanging his head while seemingly trying to gauge Hook’s reaction. He rocks back and forth from toe to heel; puckers his mouth and makes a popping sound. “Danhausen did not think this through,” he admits, sounding sheepish; regretful.
The cold-hearted handsome devil is a character. Full stop. Hook acts tough and puts on a mean face, but he’s a teddy bear when it comes to people he cares for. Seeing Danhausen unsure of himself when he’s normally such a creature of confidence pulls at Hook’s heart strings and makes him feel like a heel.
Hook scoffs like Danhausen’s suggestion is the most ridiculous proposal he’s ever heard. “No. Don’t leave. I just… Fuck, let me get dressed. We can go grab breakfast or something.” Hook offers off-handedly. His heart swells; pushes against his rib cage like it’ll need to grow around the bone to accommodate how good Danhausen’s answering smile makes him feel.
“Breakfast would be quite nice. Does Hook treat all his home invaders this well?” Danhausen asks.
Hook twists his mouth to the side to hide his smile, but it’s no use. “Only the ones I’m trying to keep around. So no. What are you even doing in New York?” Hook asks, kicking his feet out from under the blankets and sitting on the edge of the bed. He’s in sweatpants so it’s hardly indecent. Hook pats the side of the bed, no sense in leaving Danhausen to stand in the middle of the room. Danhausen comes to sit next to him almost immediately.
Danhausen waves his hand and then the question to the side, “That is hardly of import.”
Hook holds the edge of the mattress in his palms, bracing himself as the last traces of sleep keep the room spinning a little. Tilting his head toward Danhausen, his eyes narrow. “Why are you really here?” The question comes out rougher than he means it, voice sounding like gravel from disuse.
Danhausen’s face does a complicated sort of cycling through emotions. He mirrors Hook then, holding onto the mattress with his palms. The hands that lie between them aren’t touching, but their pinkies are only a hair away from brushing against each other. Hook resists the urge to close the gap. But the fact that it’s there and he wants to close it so badly makes his teeth itch.
Danhausen frowns, “I uh, well, that is to say that, umm…” He looks up at the ceiling again, distracted. “Hook’s light fixture is missing a bulb,” Danhausen points a pale finger at the lone bare lightbulb in the center of the ceiling, “And it does not have a hat.”
“You’re stalling.” Hook asserts.
Danhausen sighs loudly. He rocks back on his palms and extends his legs out as far as they can go. He rolls his ankles in circles before clunking his boots back onto the floor. He clears his throat and gives Hook a tight smile that doesn’t meet his eyes. “I missed you,” Danhausen confesses to his boots with a shrug, like it’s that simple.
Hook doesn’t think that it is. But then again, this is also the second time Danhausen has said it. So maybe it is? Hook’s put in a lot of effort to hide his interest in Danhausen. He’s buried it deep under jokes and playful shoulder punches and shy smiles that Hook passes off as him just being awkward, even though the only person he ever seems to get that awkward around is Danhausen. Has he been so invested in ignoring his own feelings that he’d stopped looking for flickers that they could be returned?
Because, if Hook is looking for a flicker now… showing up in a state you don’t live in because you miss someone looks a lot like a bonfire.
Hook sucks in a short breath through his teeth. Shaking a hand through his hair, he attempts to resolve some of the bed head he can feel. Just for something to do. A way to buy himself time, a way to not think about how he can feel the heat of Danhausen’s hand beside his on light blue sheets.
It can’t hurt to test the waters. Hook’s already shelved the possibility of his crush on Danhausen ever being anything more than that. He doesn’t really have anything to lose.
Hook clears his throat and turns his face to Danhausen as he says, “You would’ve seen me at work in a couple of days.”
Danhausen nods, expression solemn. “Yes. Danhausen did consider this. But the only thing Danhausen could think about was seeing Hook. He could not get anything else done. Everything Danhausen did reminded him of Hook! I was losing my mind! Danhausen is useless when this happens on any day, but yesterday was very vexing. And so I booked a flight. That was the emergency. Danhausen’s brain was broken for a spell and seeing Hook will fix it. It always does.”
Hook’s heart is a drumline that won’t be silenced. He notices the flush on Danhausen’s pale skin. As Hook replays the words, traces the syllables with his lips as he mouths to himself, he hears what wasn’t said. That this isn’t the first time this has happened; it’s only the first time Danhausen has acted on it. Acted on it in that brashly impulsive way he does everything that’s as likely to amuse Hook as it is to send him to his limit.
“You got on a plane,” Hook says slowly, “Because you couldn’t stop thinking about me?”
“Yes,” Danhausen agrees with an air of exasperation. “Danhausen was left with no choice. It would be much easier if Danhausen and Hook lived together.”
And as a months old argument comes roaring back to the forefront Hook realizes that he may have missed some very obvious signs.
“Not this again,” Hook groans and covers his face with his palm to hide his smile. He’s an idiot. They both are. It all makes so much sense now. But Hook decides to roll with it– commit to the bit.
Danhausen flails his hand and dramatically crosses one leg over the other, as though he’s locking himself in place for the latest round of this stupid, stupid fight. “Yes, this again!” Danhausen insists.
“Just because we’re tag partners doesn’t mean we need to live together,” Hook reminds him for no less than the one hundredth time. When Danhausen had first started bringing up the idea of them living together, Hook had assumed it was just Danhausen Logic™. They were friends, they worked together, they talked nearly 24/7, they tried to coordinate their travel itineraries so they could hang out before and after shows, and they spent time together when they were in each other's cities. By Danhausen Logic™ if all they ever did was fuss about finding time to spend together why don’t they just live together and take the – Oh.
“Danhausen is aware that tag partners do not need to be roommates! But Danhausen is a demon sort of fellow and Hook did not know about this ailment. So, perhaps now is a good time to revisit this, yes?”
“D, I don’t think that’s the problem. I think, uh, maybe we–”
Danhausen holds a hand out to cut Hook off. “Yes, yes, Hook understands this is maybe not so normal of a custom for human types. But Danhausen’s illness was not like this before and it is getting worse! How is Danhausen meant to function without Hook? He can not focus on anything. All his food tastes bland. And everything Danhausen does he just ends up texting Hook about anyway. Hook is so powerful that Danhausen becomes sick when he is away from him. But! If Hookhausen lived together, Danhausen would be cured!” He finishes in a dramatic flourish, hands rising and then dropping to his knees, resting his case.
Hook can not believe that this is his life. He can not believe that Danhausen snuck into his heart through the floorboards in the basement while Hook was off making sure the windows and doors of it were sealed shut. He pinches the bridge of his nose and drums his fingers along the edge of the bed.
This is a real conversation they’re about to have. He is going to have to explain this in his actual real life.
“D,” Hook starts, clears his throat. He’s fighting down a laugh that wants to bubble up from his throat, but he shoves the words loose instead. There will be plenty of time for laughing later. “I uh, think I may know what’s wrong with you.”
“Oh!” Danhausen’s lips form a tiny ‘o’ shape and hold there for a moment. “Has Hook cursed Danhausen by accident? Danhausen has considered this as the issue seems to be terribly Hook-centric. Danhausen is not mad if so! He did not know that Hook had curse powers, but Danhausen has certainly cursed some people by mistake when he first discovered his so it’s all quite forgivable.”
“Well… I guess, technically, it’s sort of a curse in its own way? But uh, we can test for it,” Hook nods to himself, feeling self-assured, gaining traction as the idea forms. “Yeah,” he says, voice stronger, “We can test for it.”
Danhausen beams, brows raised high and face glowing. “Ah, very good! Danhausen knew Hook could fix him. What is this test?”
Hook smirks as his plan comes together. He shifts so that he’s facing Danhausen; sitting on the edge of the bed, one leg bent at the knee on the mattress and the other leg extended out, foot resting on the floor. Danhausen does the same and folds his hands in his lap, giving Hook his full attention.
“Okay,” Hook says, “I’m going to ask you a few things. And I need you to answer honestly. Don’t overthink anything. Just say the first that comes to mind.”
Danhausen nods, “Sounds easy enough. Danhausen can do this. Will this cure me?”
Hook laughs, deep and rich with irony that Danhausen can’t appreciate, “Uh, probably not.” Danhausen frowns and Hook rushes to tack on, “But it will make things better. I think.” Danhausen tilts his head from side to side, seemingly weighing his options. He eventually shrugs and makes a gesture with his hand for Hook to keep going. “How long have you been… thinking about me this much?” Hook asks.
Danhausen's eyes reduce to slits as he looks into the distance somewhere over Hook’s shoulder. “Eh, perhaps several months or so, I suppose. Danhausen has been thinking about Hook since he first saw him. Hook leaves quite an impression.”
Hook looks down at his blankets to hide the heat he feels blooming in the apple of his cheeks. He picks at a piece of lint that isn’t there. Uses the seconds to compose himself, tamp down the smile that’s threatening to split his face. He feels a bit silly that he hadn’t realized it all before now. Wrapped up in cellophane, left over tight, and steadfastly denying his feelings to the point that he couldn’t bring himself to consider that maybe Danhausen felt the same.
Moving closer to Danhausen so that their knees on the bed are touching, Hook picks up Danhausen’s hand in both of his. Danhausen chirps in surprise, but Hook can’t look at him; he’s scared he’ll lose his nerve. He flips Danhausen’s hand over so it’s palm side up and presses his thumbs into Danhausen’s palm. Danhausen sucks in a quick breath and there’s no way for him to hide his shiver. Hook can feel it; he can see the gooseflesh raising along Danhausen’s arm.
Swallowing hard, Hook takes a steadying breath and asks, “What do you feel right now, D?” One of Hook’s thumbs is still massaging Danhausen’s palm, while his fingertips trace up and down the length of each of Danhausen’s fingers. Danhausen doesn’t answer right away and Hook prompts him with a reminder, “Say the first thing that comes to mind.”
Danhausen’s free hand twitches in his lap, like he wants to move it, but doesn’t know where. He chuckles and Hook looks up to find Danhausen’s eyes closely following the lazy drag of Hook’s fingers along his hand.
Danhausen says, “Danhausen feels nice. Nervous…among other things.” Danhausen’s tongue darts out to follow the curve of his bottom lip. His head is still turned down when he looks up at Hook from under his lashes.
“You want to tell me what some of those other things are? I’d like to hear them. See if we match.” Hook rumbles as his fingertip lands in the center of Danhausen’s palm, spirals outwards in a lazy drag before retracing its steps.
“Oh. That… Danhausen had not considered the obvious reason for his troublesome malady. But it does make much more sense now. Danhausen is, eh, out of practice with such affairs, one might say.” Danhausen says and Hook meets his eyes to find a cautious smile waiting for him.
“Yeah?”
“Danhausen thinks he knows what is happening now. He understands that tag team partners do not need to live together, but…” Danhausen’s teeth sink into his bottom lip, worrying the flesh until it’s flushed a deep pink that Hook is overwhelmed with the desire to taste.
“Say it. Don’t overthink it,” Hook encourages, a little shove to get them over the edge.
Danhausen smiles, lopsided and dopey; happy. “Danhausen may have a better way.”
And then Danhausen is moving faster than Hook can account for. Danhausen is in Hook’s lap and straddling his waist, pushing him down onto the still sleep warm bed sheets. Hook gasps on impact, air ripped from his lungs and then greedily swallowed down in an instant by Danhausen’s kiss. Hook’s groan is muffled by Danhausen’s lips. He wraps his arms around Danhausen’s neck, hand threading through the shortened strands at the back of Danhausen’s head; tugging in a way that makes Danhausen hiss. Hook finds himself eager to see what else he can do to pull more noises from him.
Danhausen pulls back and it’s a good thing because Hook is lightheaded and needs the oxygen. Chest heaving in concert with Hook’s, Danhausen is looking down at him with wide adoring eyes. Danhausen’s smirk is mischievous as he says, “Tag partners do not need to live together–”
“You’re doing this right now?” This fucking guy.
“But!” Danhausen tuts, tapping his finger against Hook’s nose and forcing his face to scrunch up. “It’s far more normal for other types of partners to live together, is it not? Maybe Hookhausen should look into that instead.”
Hook stares up at him, mouth agape. “Wow. You’re not even going to buy me breakfast first? Just going to break into my apartment–”
“Hook gave Danhausen a key.”
“Kiss me once, skip dating and go straight to moving in together?” Hook deadpans and continues to stare at Danhausen, expectantly. Every muscle in his face twitches, conspiring against his effort to contain his smile.
Danhausen looks away from Hook, appearing to mull it over. He makes a sound of consideration and then nods. “Yes. Yes, that is exactly what Danhausen thinks is best.”
Before Hook can summon the mock outrage to protest, a hand skates up the side of his bare ribs. He reflexively shies away, yelping and snorting a laugh because the touch tickles. Hook kisses Danhausen’s smile, lips touching teeth for only an instant before Danhausen’s tongue is lapping at the seam of Hook’s mouth, begging for entry. And how could Hook ever deny him?
His lease is up in a couple of months anyway.