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Connor very rarely laughed, and when he did, it was almost without fail a soft chuckle. He was still extremely reserved and learning how to feel, let alone express, emotions. That was why Hank was so surprised when he heard Connor... giggle. There was no other word for it. He had never heard Connor make a sound anything like that before.
"Connor??" Hank poked his head into the living room.
The kid was watching one of those animal videos he liked so much. He was curled up on the couch in a perfectly ordinary fashion. Sumo sat near him on the floor. It all looked completely normal, except... Connor was grinning. He was grinning wide and easily and for quite a long time.
"These animals are that funny, huh?" Hank stepped up next to the couch, interested to see what was so good.
Connor giggled again, longer this time, as a puppy got so excited to eat its back legs lifted into the air and it fell face-first into its bowl of food. "Yeah," he agreed.
Hank was still confused. This seemed the same as any other video of this type. So why such a big reaction? He sat next to Connor, listening to him giggle his little heart out at the next couple of clips, and couldn't help but smile. It was good to see the android loosen up like this.
But the next second something very different happened. Connor gasped and sat forward, going from grinning to stricken in a split second. His LED flashed incessantly as he intently processed what he was seeing.
It was a cat in a Home Depot bucket full of water, rapidly spinning around in circles. Connor couldn't take his eyes off it, and when that particular clip ended, he paused the video quickly.
"Did - did he like it???" Connor asked in evident distress, unsure if the cat had been playing or panicking.
Hank's eyebrows had shot up near his hairline. "I dunno," he said, studying Connor with some worry now.
Connor was clicking through the rest of the video, but the cat never came back. "I just want to know if he liked it..." Defeated, he finally let the video continue playing, only to DIE laughing at a frog jumping at the camera, causing the cameraperson to scream.
Hank had never heard Connor laugh this loud, especially right after being so upset. Even Sumo's head came up to see what was going on. The lieutenant snorted out a little laugh of his own. "Y'know, buddy, if I didn't know any better I'd ask if you've been drinking."
Connor paused the video and turned to him, genuinely confused. "Why would you ask that?"
"You're not acting like yourself. When's the last time you remember laughing that hard or having moodswings like that?"
Connor thought about it. "I don't know," he said casually. "I guess maybe I haven't."
"Yeah, you definitely haven't. What's going on? You okay?"
Connor shrugged. "I think so. I might just be a little tired."
"Hold on." Hank was remembering several days over the last couple of weeks where Connor had seemed tired and Hank had urged him to rest. He was only now realizing he'd never actually seen Connor sleeping at any point. "When's the last time you slept?"
Now Connor's smile dropped completely. "Um," is all he said.
"Connor!" Hank closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're telling me it's been weeks?!"
"I'll sleep tonight!" Connor promised.
"You'd better." Hank glanced over at Connor, and the man slowly smiled. "I'll be damned."
"What?"
"You're slaphappy!"
Connor's head cooked like a dog's. "What is 'slaphappy'?"
"When you get so tired you get downright loopy."
"I'm not loopy!"
"Oh yeah?" Hank hit play on the video again.
It was a possum eating a Drumstick ice cream cone. Connor tried to keep a straight face, but the corners of his mouth just kept turning upward. He finally covered his mouth with both hands, let out a snigger, and then a loud snort.
That got Hank laughing, too. "See?? I told you you're loopy!"
"I'm not, he's just so cute!" Connor tried to defend himself, but he was laughing so hard at his own snort the words were barely intelligible. Tears started to stream out of his eyes.
"Connor! You need to go to bed!" Hank laughed, surprised.
"No!! I want to just finish this video!"
"I don't think you're gonna make it that long!"
"I can!! I can make it!" Connor sat forward in his determination, still chortling.
Hank found he couldn't stop laughing either. Much as he wanted Connor to get the rest that was clearly, desperately needed, it was highly entertaining to see the android this giddy.
Tears continued to pour down Connor's face as he laughed harder and harder at each successive clip. Sumo eventually got so excited by all the merriment that he jumped up and started licking at the tears. Connor dissolved into giggles again.
"Sumo, get down, leave him alone!" Hank chuckled, pushing Sumo gently. "He needs to sleep!"
"Noo!" Connor cried again as Sumo returned to the floor, panting happily. "The video's not over yet!"
"But I think your eyes are closing, kid."
Connor glared at Hank (though he was still smiling) with heavily hooded eyes. "Are not."
Hank laughed again. "Can you even see me through those eyelids?" He waved his hand in front of Connor's eyes, and Connor goodnaturedly slapped it away. Still laughing, Hank put an arm around the kid's shoulders, only to be surprised by Connor leaning into the embrace, resting his head on Hank's shoulder. Connor almost never let himself get this comfortable - Hank was afraid to move and scare him away.
"We'll finish this video."
"Okay," Hank couldn't help but agree.
Connor's laughter continued to make Hank laugh in turn. But when Hank really lost it is when Connor finally laughed so hard he couldn't "catch his breath" in order to speak, another first.
"I ran - so many - preconstructions- for how that might end - and that wasn't ANY of them!!" Connor barely wheezed out around his constant mirth.
Hank could feel tears in his own eyes now. "Please, please Connor, go to sleep!"
"Not yet," Connor could still barely speak.
"My god," Hank rolled his eyes through more laughter.
A couple of minutes later, the video finally, finally came to an end. Hank wiped at his eyes and smiled down at Connor. "Okay, no more excuses. You've gotta sleep."
Connor sighed happily as his laughter faded away at last. He turned his head to a more comfortable position on Hank's shoulder, closed his eyes, and he was out.
Hank was frozen in shock for a moment. This was the first time Connor had ever fallen asleep on top of him on purpose. It meant Connor felt safe and comfortable with him, in this strange new civilian life the android was still getting used to. Sometimes Hank still couldn't understand why he, of all people, is the one Connor had become attached to. But right now, he found it made him happy and almost honored.
The lieutenant made eye contact with Sumo. "Well. Guess I'm not goin' anywhere for a while." He settled in and switched the TV to show last night's Gears game.