Work Text:
Aaron Hotchner
A man who never smiles or laughs, everybody knows it, but nobody can do anything about it. Not even himself
“..and she said WHAT” Morgan said, finishing his joke, smiling when it earned him a few chuckles from the people who sat near him. JJ who was sitting on the other side of the plane gave him thumbs up, and even Reid cracked a smile. But his gaze stopped at Hotch who was looking at some file, he looked calm, but it was only at the first sight. Morgan could see how he bit inside of his cheek to keep himself from smiling. One question, why?
Sometimes he allowed himself to crack a smile in front of everyone, but he also took the part of a stoic leader too close to his heart; or at least the team thinks this way
There were moments when they were playing cards, or sitting at the office. There were moments when he smiled or even laughed. But they were so small and so quick, almost invisible. At some point everybody knew that they can’t influent on this but on the other hand, every-time he smiled or even chuckled, it just felt so.. complete
For a few days Derek kept in mind this, everything. He started to notice how Hotch could say something with a straight face, but the second he turns the back to his coworkers he smirks. There were questions that nobody asked, back in his head. There could be some deep dialogue between them, but Derek knew when the time would come, plus it’s not like he doesn’t have any work to do
;
Team decided to go to the club bar, take a break eventually. Everyone was there except for Gideon who decided to spend his time in the woods by himself
“Have you ever noticed how he never smiles?” Derek’s voice rang through the bar, quiet enough for nobody to hear him clearly, but loud enough for people around him to understand what he meant. He furrowed his brows a bit, and turned his head to his fellow teammates
“Really not sure about it, maybe.. sometimes?” Prentiss responded with a small smile, taking a sip of her beer and looking at another person who was sitting on the other side of her
“Well, I saw him doing it a few times for sure, so he is not immune to smiling” Reid said, his gaze stopped at something in the background, so he looked like he was hypnotised for a few seconds “Actually have you ever know that an average adult laughs only 17 times a day while a child laughs about 300 times a day”
“Well I’m not sure that the fact that he never smiles has to do something with his age” Morgan said, taking a sip of his drink
JJ at the same time was chatting with some guys from the bar and playing games with them while Penelope was dancing in the middle of the dance floor like she was the only one there, showing everyone who is their daddy
Prentiss looked at Garcia a few times before she finished her beer and looked at two men on each side of her
“Sorry, but I just have to join her” she grinned, looking at the blond girl again
“Take Reid with you, maybe you can teach him some dance moves” Morgan chuckled, and quirked an eyebrow at the younger male next to him
“Nononohono, I’m not good at this— please Morgan don’t do this” Spencer giggled through sentence and even if he was serious, Derek saw a smile creeping onto his face as Prentiss took his hand and pulled him further on the dance floor. He glanced at Morgan the last time until disappeared in the crowd
Morgan smiled to himself and looked in the Hotch’s direction. He was sitting in the corner, on the sofa next to Haley, bit drunk, so his usually serious facial features melted in something more human
Derek took his drink and danced up to their table, felling the rhythm in his ears. The pair turned his head to him, offering him a seat in front of them
“You like my dance moves?” Morgan said with a grin plastered on his face
“Very much so” “Don’t think I’m the right person to answer this” Haley and Hotch said at the same time. Even though the Aaron’s comment wasn’t very welcoming, there were no venom in his words, he just simply smiled afterwards and took a sip of his drink.
“Hey, don’t be mean” Haley said, poking her husband’s side, making him to flinch and slightly choke on his drink
“Don’t—” he was cut off by another poke, making him jerk away now as he took a napkin to clean his lips and chin from a mess
“Yo, what was that?” Morgan smiled, his eyes were running from Haley to Hotch every second until he got an answer
“You don’t know? He’s ticklish, I though maybe someone knew, especially you” Hailey smirked, looking at Aaron who choked on his drunk again, but now, all by himself “He usually doesn’t smile, so this is one and only way to make him; because he doesn’t have a sense of humour either” she whispered the last part, earning a sigh from her husband
“No way man, is this real?” Derek’s eyes were lit up by a second, he looked like he just found a golden ticket
“Don’t even think about it” his boss’s voice was something between serious, amusing and terrified about the fact that his wife just announced
“What’s his worst spots?” Morgan tried to keep a conversation in this topic, smirking at Hotch whose eyes just widened when he heard woman respond to this question effortlessly
“Well, if I’m not wrong it’s his sides, ribs and maybe knees—” she tried to tell Derek most of it, knowing what’s his plan was already until she was cutoff by her husband himself, elbowing her in the side
“..actually if you got him laughing, every spot would work, especially when he’s drunk” she whispered and winked to a man infront of her until she was shushed again
“Don’t listen to her” Hotch replied, looking dead serious at his wife and then at Derek
Phone on the table rang, taking everyone attention, making them forget about a new discovery (happily for Hotch)
“Give me a few minutes” Haley picked up the phone and smirked at Morgan before she stood up, ready to answer the call “I’m also going to take more drinks” were the last words she said until she drowned in the crowd of people
Silence froze in the air for a second before they made an eye contact, dark eyes full of mischief met slightly widened, tensed eyes of another man
Morgan thought about it for a split second before thinking “ah, fuck it” and moving on the previously Haley’s seat, next to Hotch
“So how’s— how is Jack doing?” Derek asked, trying to make a conversation but Aaron could hear fake innocence in his voice. He squinted his eyes at him for a few moments until trusting him that he is a grown man who wouldn’t do something so childish.. or would he?
“He is alright like always” Hotch said, but being tipsy didn’t mean being blind. He saw Morgan’s hand trying to poke him in the same spot Haley did, and he immediately caught Derek’s hand, trying to put it away
“So you really is ticklish if you are so scared of me poking you”
“I’m not, and you are being ridiculous” Hotch said with a slight smile on his face; maybe it was alcohol, maybe it was just his mischievous side. Derek couldn’t tell
Morgan didn’t waste any time, moving his second hand fast enough to make a contact with Hotch’s side, earning a sound which sounded like a stiffed giggle. He let go of Morgan’s hand (big mistake), trying to protect his torso
And now younger man used his both hands to dig into Hotch’s sides earning new sounds that his boss tried so hard to muffle
“Come on man, relax. You know that you want to laugh, it’s been a rough week—” Derek even didn’t finish his sentence when Aaron’s facade broke into small pieces. He tried to curl up, mouth slightly opened and small chuckles and giggles filled the air
“Stohohop Mohorgahan” despite how much he tried to wipe off the smile on his face he couldn’t. Usually he could turn off his sensitivity, usually but not now
“This is gold” Morgan chuckled, moving his hands up, now going for his ribs. Aaron tried to push off his hands but he felt how useless his arms became, everything he could do is just to hold on to Morgan, desperately trying to push him away
His giggling turned into pure laughter when he felt knuckles being rubbed into his lower ribs. Hotch uncurled and tried to back off, hitting the wall with his back. He threw his head back and tried to cover his mouth with one hand, so other people couldn’t hear him
“dEHERehek” Aaron tried to make him stop verbally and furrowed his brows to sound more intimidating and serious, but a rare smile on his face ruined the whole picture
“You should laugh more often Hotch, it wouldn’t mean that you are less professional, and honestly it’s like the first time I see you like this” and it was true. Aaron couldn’t remember himself when he expressed his joy with more that a chuckle
“..and you have nice laugh by the way” Morgan teased, grinning like a Cheshire cat and looked at his boss; eyes closed shut, smile baring all his teeth and his laugh. Well it was hard to tell because nobody has ever heard him laugh like this. It was so high-pitched comparing to his voice and but on the other hand it even suited him in some way
At some point Derek just started to laugh with Hotch, maybe he didn’t even notice that
“What did Haley said was a good spot, knees?” Morgan let go of Hotch’s torso, and squeezed both of his knees, earning a snort
“Yohuhu thIHINK YOuhu arEHE BEHEteher thahan mehehe? Aaron laughed, putting all his strength into digging into Derek sides which made him to back off
“Hehey!” Morgan stopped, pulling his hands to protect himself
“Yohohu wihil NEVER speak of thihis” even when tickling stopped, a huge grin was still plastered on Hotch’s face. He let out a few giggles until sitting straight and elbowing Morgan in the side
“I won’t, cross my heart and stuff” Derek joked, earning rolled eyes from his boss. It was refreshing to see him like this not gonna lie
Haley came back almost immediately after everything finished, but by a sparkle in both of their eyes she could tell, she just knew
Maybe, just maybe Hotch wasn’t “that” drunk, maybe he could shove Morgan far enough so he wouldn’t reach him, maybe he could fight back, or maybe he just needed that laugh. I guess we’ll never know