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Hanako didn't know how long he had cried in the hotel room. He wasn't even sure why. Overall, he blamed it on the lack of sleep, generally exhausting day and the effects of re-reading Jack's last text to him. Perhaps even at how Hanako chickened out even replying. He had just left Burnett like that. On read. This was supposed to be easy, not involving tearing up. It was like a snowball effect rolled down starting with that stupid 707 cosplay, that spiralled into Hanako almost dying, and then those texts. He felt insane for most of the night. Retracing every step he made yesterday, from what he said, to how he reacted. Counting up the piling regrets so much so that he had gotten what potentially was just 25 minutes of sleep before dawn broke. He then spent the early morning getting the freshest bread he could get from the convenience store, and begging the morning shift receptionist with similar skin tones to him to lend him their makeup. The redness from his eyeballs had lessened significanly after using a cold tin can over it for a while, but it didn't realy help the evident puffyness and eyebags. God - he really would rather not go out like this. Much less let Jack see him this way. He did his best to use the receptionists make-up to make himself somewhat presentable. The concealer covering his more evident eyebags, but it being a few shades fairer than Hanako made the make up way too obvious upon closer inspection. The blush added an unnatural tinge of pink to his cheek that did bring come colour back to his face. But in the end his face stayed the same. Weighed with guilt, exhaustion, and .. missing something.

 

He tried not to walk too slow when he found his way back home, as if he was in a rush before he even realised what his feet were doing. For someone who slept so little, he seemed to be in a hurry to get back home. He did however - stand in front of his apartment door for a few moments. Suddenly getting cold feet. He was certain Jack wanted to see him from the way he acted yesterday. But standing in front of the door of the place he had avoided all day yesterday make doubt grow. Sending his stomach to churn and his heart spikes making his hands tremble by his sides. Hesitantly so, he knocked - almost too quiet. As if he was afraid of making his presence known. Before he had even thought of knocking again, the door had already swung open from the inside. Instead of worrying how he looked in front of Jack, or what to say, his body had responded faster to seeing that face he had grown so accustomed to. Without thinking, Hanako rushed forward to wrap Jack in a tight hug, burying his face in between the crook of the redhead's neck. " Im here" he said, his voice tense, almost shaky. " I don't hate you. I'm sorry..."

Jack hadn't bothered with make-up or cold tins like Hanako had. He guessed Hanako would have been able to tell at a glance that he had cried himself to sleep no matter what he tried to do to hide it. Aside from his bedhead hair, which always looked like he had just rolled out of bed, he looked terrible. Still, he'd opened the door for his roommate and, just as he had been trying to find the right words to properly apologize in a way befitting the situation - in a way that Hanako deserved - he was hit with a hug he would never have expected in a million years. "T-tone...?" he uttered weakly, wondering if he was still dreaming in bed. But no, the warmth of Hanako's body and the tight grip of his hug was all that was needed to assure him that no, it was reality. Shocked and overwhelmed by a tidal wave of emotions, Jack's breathing hitched before he hugged Hanako tightly back. "Don't you ever f*cking scare me like that again!" he exhaled with a voice so broken it sounded more like breath than audibly spoken words as his fingers clutched his peer so tight, they were likely to leave bruises though his clothes.

Hana let out a slight gasp, like he had just resurfaced from deep waters when the other hugged him back tightly. The fact that there was a real chance that he wouldn't have been able to hold anyone like this if it weren't for sinope sinking deep into his bones.
Nevermind how tightly Jack gripped him, it hurt a lot more inside for Hana to care. The fear and exhaustion finally caught up to him when he heard Jack's broken voice. The struggle and the worry in it pushed Hanako to release the last bit of faux confidence that he could barely keep up himself. His words were a string of mumbled apologies, drowned out by the sobbing Jack's voice seemed to encourage out of Hanako. His head remained on Jack's shoulder as if ashamed. Unable to look at Jack in the eye at the moment. Simply content with hugging Jack tightly, and feeling the pressed warmth of Jack's arms around him. A physical sign that he wasn't alone.

Jack sniffed, trying to bring himself back from being on the verge of tears and recompose himself as he felt Hanako rest his head on his shoulder.  What sounded strangely and uncharacteristically like apologies was vaguely comprehensible beneath the sobbing and Jack tried to rub Hanako's back comfortingly. Then he drew him into the apartment, wanting to get him out of the cool morning air. "Come inside. You'll catch a cold if you haven't already," he said, trying not to let the thick lump of emotion in his throat be heard in his voice. "You must be hungry. I'll warm you up some chicken soup. Are you hurt?"

" Soup...?" laughs between choked sobs " I .. hardly feel the need to drink .. let alone eat something.. " leans away, trying to wipe his tears " do you.. really .. even wanna warm some soup.. for me despite me being such .. a .. a.. " he struggles to find the words, between embarrassment and trying to breathe better after crying

"You will after you dehydrate yourself from all this crying," Jack said, as if he hadn't been ready to bawl his eyes out all over again himself. "Come on..." When Hanako asked if he really wanted to warm soup for him, the redhead shook his head in exasperation and took a shuddering breath to keep in the tears some more. "No, stupid, that's why I offered," he joked with an eyeroll and a pained smile. "Of course I do. Stop being such a baby."

" You're offering.. becuase I was an a**.. a dumbass... and an a**..? W-where's the yelling? You said yesterday you'd be yelling at me the second you hear me, not warm me up soup "M-me? But your- you-re - " he sniffed back tears, trying to take tissue from the nearest counter. " you look worse than me!"

 

"I did yell at you," Jack argued. "I warned you never to scare me like that again. Or wasn't that enough for you to get the message?" He snorted at being told he looked worse. "Yeah, well how would you know? You haven't seen us side by side. Besides...who said I wasn't going to make some for myself, too?"

"I dunno! Will you yell at me more if I said ' yes that wasn't enough'?" he argued back, mumbled the next part softer. " you and i both know you have more reason than just that to yell at me...." swatted Jack's shoulder lightly with a frown at the retort " ... would you have eaten anything if I wasn't home yet? "

Jack stopped and stared at Hanako a minute in blatant disbelief. "...Do you...want me to yell at you more? Because that's what it's sounding like youre arguing for right now." He blinked. "More reason than scaring me because I thought you were dead? Like what?" He stared at the place he had been swatted, then back at Hanako. "Why the hell does that matter?!"

" It makes more sense to me ", he stressed on 'me' , pointing to himself. " well-" he paused. " if you ... compare that side by side to the other reasons it looks ridiculous. Fine. But I could list a bunch of things! Not texting you back, not charging my phone, taking too long outside, hitting you with a pillow, being overdramatic when you cosplayed seven. And then getting upset when you called me-" he grimaced and tensed, his voice quieter. " When you called me shallow.." he tried to sound casual with his next words. As casual as someone who just had a breakdown does anyway. " But - well- its not ... that false anyway whatever -" " Because!" He exclaimed, "  Because it makes me sick trying to gauge out how scared you were!" He exclaimed exasperated, feeling like tearing up again so he covered his eyes with the tissue he found. " so sick that I chickened out wanting to call you even when I really really wanted to. At least if I didn't know I didn't have to worry but thats all for ******** nothing if i made you so scared you skipped meals!" He stopped raising his voice as an attempt to distract himself from the new tears forming in his eyes. He sniffed back sobs, moved the tissue away from his face. His eyes evidently puffy again, with lightly red eyes and smudged blush and mascara. " When was the last time you ate?" He asked in a weaker voice.

"Honestly...I don't care about any of those other things anymore now that I know you're safe." Jack answered. "Anyway, I was at fault for a lot of them, too. Buying that cosplay to tease you, texting you to pretend to be a character you liked, insulting you - anyone would have gotten upset. And I was technically the one who started it." The redhead looked confused. "You...chicken out on calling me because you wanted to know how scared I was?" Hearing Hanako continue, he at least realized his peer felt bad for having made him worry so much, so he hugged him again. "Heh...probably the last time you did," he chuckled quietly. "Come on. You must be starved."

" it was funny.." he said weakly still trying to calm himself down, dabbing his eyes . " when you played seven so bad I did laugh a lot.." "No..." he shaked his head, " I- I was .. avoiding calling cause if I did call you.. that mightve.. been all it took for me to just.. check out and run back home..." he said quietly, crossing his arms defensively. " i dont know .. I wasn't thinking.. " His arms uncrossed hesitantly as his body went stiff from Jack's hug. Gingerly holding him losely like he was holding back from hugging him. Only suddenly hugging him when he mentioned his last statement. Like preventing him from moving. " ... you haven't eaten anything since I left the house yesterday.. yes or no.." he asked without looking at Jack.

"Well sorrryyyy," Jack huffed, sounding a little indignant at having played 707 so badly. "That's what I get for trying to impersonate characters I don't know, I guess..." He frowned at Hanako's comment about not having called because he was worried it would have made him want to run back home. He would have asked why Hanako had wanted to stay away so bad that he was worried about being tempted to come home, but since Hanako said he hadn't known what he was thinking, Jack kept quiet on that subject. His eyes widened at being caught so suddenly by Hanako's hug. "...Yes...?" he mumbled sheepishly.

He laughed the indignant tone " Well... if the goal was to make me laugh then isn't that a win? That was the goal right? A prank? For laughs?" Hanako stayed quiet for a moment, still clinging to Jack " you don't sound sure"

Jack cracked a smile then. "Yeaaah, I guess so. I wanted to amuse you. I'm just sorry I upset you, too." Then he sighed. "Okay, yes, I haven't eaten anything since you left the house yesterday. I was...too worried."

" ... I'm sorry too. Making you think I.. fell for you cause of the costume. That .. probably.. felt .. awful.. wasn't it? Thats probably the last thing you wanted" " .... youre a ******** idiot.." _he says quietyly as tightens his grip around Jack. " youre supposed to be my roomate why are you so..  like .. this like.. caring and for what..."

Jack shook his head and waved a hand dismissively. "No, you were right. It didn't make sense that you would have fallen for me with something as silly as that. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions and taken it so seriously." His eyes widened as Hanako tightened his grip on him. "Whoa, hey, easy! I still need to breathe!" Chuckling softly, he said, "What, roommates can't worry and care about each other?"

Hanako stayed quiet and gave no reply to Jack's words " Good!" he yelled, frustrated, as he hugged Jack tighter, almost like he intended to crush him a little " Cause I havent been able to breathe properly since I was here last time!" Still, the crushing hug didn't last too long before Hanako loosened his grip and leaned away from Jack, being able to look at his face despite how awful he mightve looked with all his cosmetics smudged and remnants of his crying hardly faded " ..... do you want me to hit you with a pillow again..." he warned, his tone choked a little as if holding back another sob. " what the ******** do you mean... what kind of roomate stops eating out of worry! Are you seriously admitting that care about me this much that you can't eat or sleep until you know im safe and okay?!"

"-ACK!!" And crush Jack Hanako did. The redhead was glad it wasn't for long as he took deep breaths to restore the oxygen in his lungs. "What do you mean you haven't been able to breath properly since last time?" he asked with concern. Noticing the smudged makeup, he took a tissue and dabbed at Hanako's face himself. He regarded his roommate seriously when he asked what kind of roommate stopped eating out of worry. "One who has legitimate reason to worry about his roommates' safety," he answered seriously. "I know what kind of dangers this city hides. So yeah...I'm admitting that."

" I dont knoooooww!" he wailed, relunctantly letting Jack dab his smudged make up away. " It's just .. been hurting a lot in here " he placed a hand on his chest, " im tired, cold hungry - tired ! And the last 24 hours have been so long and now you're not yelling and - and warming up soup for me - us!" he sniffed a little from unwanted sobbing. " And now im crying like a child when I dont want to! Everything is just so.. so wrong and.. I don't know..." he spoke softer, " its been- hard to breathe". His sobs stopped for a moment, as if Jack's next words astounded him so much. Speechless, clearly not expecting Jack to admit it so easily.

Hanako talking about how it was hard to breathe because the inside of his chest hurt a lot made Jack smile involuntarily. He rubbed Hanako's back and moved behind him to put his hands on his shoulders and gently guide him into the kitchen. "Here. Sit. I'll get you a jacket and a blanket and some soup. Then, when we're warm and fed, we can get some well-earned rest. Alright? How does that sound?"

"..... what are you smiling about.." he grumbled with a weak glare. " is this funny to you? Is my stress amusing? I could be sick! Or worse! " he huffed, but allowing Jack to guide him to the kitchen. He slumped his shoulders in defeat, following Jack's instructions without complaint this time. Mind still trying to wrap around Jack's confession. He crossed his arms, rubbing his shoulders trying to soothe himself as he sat down. He didn't look at Jack but nodded weakly at his suggestion. ".. okay..."

"You're...just acting cute, is all," Jack answered, wishing he could wipe the smile off his face so he could avoid making Hanako feel self-conscious. As that was proving really difficult to do, however, he simply tried to look away and avoid his gaze instead. "I didn't know you cared so much, either." *Nodding in approval at Hanako's confirmation, Jack went and got him a jacket to put around his shoulders and a blanket to put over his legs and lap. Then he went to work getting the soup ready. "I'm...really glad you're safe, Tone,"  he said with a small smile still on his lips, heating up the soup.

Hanako gave him an incredulous look, keeping his glare on him despite Jack looking away. " Sleep with one eye open" he grumbled, though softening when Jack placed a jacket on him. He gingerly put his arms in the sleeves. As he did that, Jack also placed a blanket on his lap. So uncertain about this act of service, Hanako tensed - not saying anything. Looking down on his lap. While Jack got the soup ready, Hanako's eyes widened. Feeling his eyes sting once more, he kept his eyes on his lap. Pulling the jacket closer to him as if it was the only proper protective shield. Whether it was him protecting himself from Jack's words that still seemed hard for Hanako to sink in, or something else entirely different - Hanako was unsure. Hanako wouldn't be able to say much during the meal that Jack heated up for them. Semingly lost in thought, tired, and looking worse than when he first came back. Unprompted, during the middle of the meal, Hanako only mumbled the next few words. " ..I'm glad you're here.." he confessed, his eyes looking straight at the soup. Like a fleeting whisper, if Jack didn't catch it the first time, that was not Hanako's problem.