I’m really out here with the taste in men of a repressed victorian gentleman I’m like “when he’s in his shirtsleeves 😳😩” “when he’s in his dressing gown and his leg slips out a bit and you see his sock garters 👀🙈” like sir I think you’re unwell
When his shirt isn’t buttoned up all the way and you can see his clavicle
“Look, you can’t have that fish. They’re not - they don’t like that.”
*tap tap*
“I can see the fish. I see the one you’re pointing at. Doesn’t change -”
*tap tap*
“… I’m leaving. You can either come with me and say goodbye to Mr. Fish or… I’ll be honest, that’s your only option here. We’re closed.”
*sad tap tap*
“We’ll all miss Mr. Fish.”
(spoiler alert: this is now my head-fan-canon for how connor and hank meet in that goddamn mafia au. ain’t nobody gonna tell hank what fish he can’t tap at but a waiter on very little sleep with way too much confidence at his first shift in a ‘fancy venue’, but who’s still used to dealing with the randos that hung around back when he was working at jimmy’s)
THIS!
I mean…
Why does this all fit their expressions so well?
God, that’s why I love HankCon so much - because even the actors themselves just look perfect together! This is the most unique and best dhip ever! The most unique union !!!
(reblogging what I wrote in the comments)
@pupmkincake2000 I would love for them to have a bit of rocky first-sight moment, just to get their personalities across when they aren’t trying to impress each other at all so we can really see how different they are with other later 😍
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I’m thinking if Hank’s had a long, rough day and been dragged to yet another ‘innocent business dinner’ at this restaurant that Connor’s brand-new to, he might have too much to drink that night and go bother the fish
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Connor sees this, rolls his eyes, writes Hank off as 'one of those’ (“Guess money doesn’t change everything”), and then sees it’s closing time - and no one has dared to go up to Hank to tell him. Everyone else knows damn well who Hank is.
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But Connor’s used to these people. He just got this job as an upgrade from Jimmy’s, and this guy is way better than those ones. Hank’s just bothering the fish and being annoying - and Connor has better things to do, so he goes to hurry Hank up out of here.
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That’s the hushed gossip for the whole next week, until Hank’s back for a different dinner. Connor doesn’t quite get a look at him or recognize him, and it’s not 'til Hank - out of a vague retracing of his steps from the week before - strolls over to the fish tank that Connor puts two and two together.
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So now Connor’s keeping an eye on Hank with a little more interest, and then noticing the much more… authoritative way Hank’s managing the table when he’s sober. And Connor goes on with his work, not noticing that his sudden focus on Hank perked up Hank’s attention, who’s always got an eye out for anyone sizing him up.
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It’s not until the end of the night that Hank, having realized who Connor is (“He’s either a brave kid or stupid”), decides to go talk to him - obviously heading to the fish tank again, that should get Connor’s attention.
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And Connor immediately snaps upright with a roll of his eyes that Hank can see from across the room, like Hank just shattered the air of respectability by 'getting drunk when Connor must not have been looking’ and getting ready to be a problem again.
Except this time, Hank is sober - and curious.
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So Hank plays it up: what’s Connor going to do when Hank’s 'drunk’ again and bothering the fish? Enough time’s gone by. Surely Hank’s reputation has gotten around. A goddamn waiter isn’t going to hassle him out of here-
“We’re not doing this again.”
Oh.
Well.
That’s the first time in years - decades? - anyone’s dared to take that tone with Hank.
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And Hank does it again: next week, new dinner specifically scheduled for when Connor’s supposed to be working. Hank runs a respectable table, is fully aware that he’s catching Connor’s eye, then waits 'til the end to be spontaneously 'not sober’ to… go bother the fish.
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It’s almost a routine for them by the fifth time. And he notices - 'cause he’s actually perfectly fine, he hasn’t had a drink since he fell off the wagon that first night - that Connor’s got just as much sass, but a lot less bite.
It’s fun for them. Short twenty minutes after closing time, just enough to get some brave-or-stupid-and-fearless attention from this… waiter. To the head of the mob.
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The sixth time Hank goes, Connor isn’t there.
Because not everyone has a death wish - or doesn’t think they do - like Connor does, talking to Hank like that.
The restaurant owner finally panicked and fired this smart-mouthed kid that got hired. Apologies for the poor matters, Mr. Anderson, please don’t burn down my restaurant, I fired him as soon as I heard.
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Which is when Hank - who is now utterly fascinated by this kid who’d talk so frankly to him, really holding his feet to the fire, not leaving any room for excuses on being a mess when he’d proved how respectable he could be - decides to hire Connor himself.
The restaurant owner talks immediately.
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Hank goes to Connor’s apartment. It’s not the best - very reflective of his salary, aware of what it is and unashamed. Connor didn’t strike Hank as the type to complain, and more of the type to turn his nose up at people trying to buy their way into good graces.
That’s what Hank wants beside him. Someone who can read other people, sense the stress and desperation, let Hank know when someone’s lying.
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And the fact that Connor himself has been something to look at - as enticing as those stupid fuckin’ fish he’d been annoying on that first drunk night - was a big point in Connor’s favour too.
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Hank expects this to be kind of a reveal: hi, I own this city, I wasn’t drunk on those other nights, and I want you to work for me.
And he expects there to be a moment of consideration.
He does not expect Connor to instantly come back with, “Salary or hourly?”
Which… doesn’t put the 'brave or stupid’ question to rest.
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They talk for a bit. Hank’s noticing how much warmer Connor’s being, and starts to wonder if maybe… Connor’s suddenly responding to Hank’s status and power after all. And he’s a bit annoyed by that, since Hank came here Connor specifically because Connor didn’t seem like the type to be dazzled by that stuff.
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Connor shrugs at him. He says it’s not that he’s impressed by it - he eventually figured out who Hank was and had his 'oh shit’ moment, but he wasn’t sleeping with his own fish the next night so Connor assumed it was all okay. Or that Hank forgot.
But, Connor stresses, he’s not going into this to be put into a box of “never wants anything nice ever.” He likes what he likes, and Hank’s going to have to accept that Connor’s a person who controls his own interests.
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It’s not a 'challenge’ so much as it is more of that honesty Hank’s coming to expect from this kid. And there’s way that Connor said he “likes what he likes” that catches Hank’s ear and gets stuck there.
So Hank asks again. Is Connor interested?
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“I might be.”
Connor does not elaborate beyond that.
Hank is very curious now, and plays along just enough to ask, “What’s holding you back?”
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“Am I going to see you bothering the fish again?”
And at first, it sounds like a joke, but there’s a tone in there that comes from someone who’s worked at a bar and seen people waste away over a glass. So when Hank says, “No. You won’t. Or at least you shouldn’t,” it’s every bit of the honesty he knows Connor deserves by now.
But Hank does buy a fish tank just so Connor doesn’t get too cocky about it. :)
Christians hate when a gay man goes “fuck it, I’ll gladly go to Hell if you want me to so bad” because it takes the edge away from their tools of fear. If they can’t scare you with threats of eternal damnation then one of their main weapons is taken away.