Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hanzo sat at the bar for the third night in a row, holding a beer in two hands staring at it with the eyes of a man who hasn’t sleep well, or at all, for the last month or two. To say he had insomnia was an understatement. Ever since he was in high school Hanzo had not had a normal sleep schedule.

For as long as he could remember he’d had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. More than once he’d scared the daylights out of the guards that watched over his family’s estate as they were not expecting the, then teenaged, son of the estate owner to be mindlessly roaming the halls at 4am.

Fortunately, his parents took him to see a specialist and fortunately, the specialist prescribed Hanzo medicine that would help him to sleep. Unfortunately, when you’ve been taking the same medication for two and a half decades it tends to get less effective with time and by less effective, Hanzo, of course, meant not effective at all.

Mind you, he had tried every available option to try and keep his insomnia under control. It started by going to another specialist but, try as he may, the specialist was unable to find another medication that worked for Hanzo. Next were the home remedies, but no matter how much he exercised or meditated, or how early he ate, or if he took a hot shower, or if he put his phone away three hours before bedtime, he still laid awake in his bed staring at a crack in his ceiling wishing for the sweet release of sleep.

Which is how he wound up sitting in a bar a block from his apartment. Over the last few weeks he’d ended up here more often than not, on nights he couldn’t sleep, which was all of them, nursing a beer and listening, but not hearing, the bartender ramble on about the trials and tribulation of being a bartender and a young woman in this day and age. It wasn’t that Hanzo disliked the bartender but she liked to talk and Hanzo was far too tired to keep up with her.

As he sat there, mindlessly picking at the label on his bottle, Hanzo heard the door chime as someone entered the bar. Seeing as how it was 3am and, in the week that Hanzo had been sitting here, no one had entered the bar after 2am, he was curious to see who dare to disturb his misery.

The bartender abruptly cut off her story as she moved to greet the newcomer and Hanzo turned tired eyes on the man that entered. Dropping down on a barstool one away from Hanzo’s own was a full-fledged cowboy. We’re talking hat, flannel, denim jeans, and boots. This man had on the whole kit and as he spoke to order a whiskey Hanzo found he had the drawl too.

Usually Hanzo was a very professional and respectful man, having grown up in a business-oriented family and all, but at this point in his life he hadn’t slept in longer than he cared to think about, which is how he ended up staring at the cowboy with a slightly confused look on his face.

It probably didn’t help that he had gotten lost in his thoughts, with the same stupid look on his face, still staring at the cowboy, and zoned out. Hanzo was jolted back into reality when there were suddenly fingers in his face, snapping to get his attention.

As his eyes focused on the fingers, he watched as they returned to the person they belonged to and settled next to the glass of whiskey on the bar. Hanzo was then vaguely aware that the cowboy next to him was talking, and by the time he’d focused enough to be able to actually catch the words the cowboy was saying, he was already halfway into a sentence.

Still staring, Hanzo tried to focus, “...burn a hole into my forehead.”

Hanzo blinked a few times, “I am sorry, but I am a little sleep deprived at the moment and didn’t quite catch that.”

The cowboy chuckled, “I said, if you stare any harder ya just might burn a hole into my forehead.”

Hanzo turned his eyes back to the bottle in his hands, “I do apologize, as stated, I am sleep deprived and my head is not quite in the right place as of now.”

“It’s no thing, you just had me worried that I'd done something wrong. I don’t usually wind up in bars at 3am and didn’t want to be breaking some unspoken rule.”

Hanzo shook his head, “it does not matter to me what you do at 3am but it is unusual to have people entering the bar this late, usually the door only chimes for people leaving.”

Glancing at the cowboy, Hanzo found him staring into his glass of whiskey, “ya, I hear ya, usually I wouldn’t be entering a bar at this hour but, well, I've had a very long, hard day.”

Seeing an opportunity to potentially help, Hanzo asked the cowboy about what was bothering him. After some resistance he opened up and the two men sat at the bar talking well into the wee hours of the morning.

As Hanzo listened to the cowboy he could feel his eyes grow heavier, then he could feel his head grow heavier, then his head was resting on the bar. He figured resting his tired eyes for a moment couldn’t hurt.

After what felt like just a few seconds he could feel his shoulder being shaken, he picked up his head and squinted into the face of the cowboy next to him, “you doin alright there, fella? Ya been restin your head on the bar for, like, 15 minutes. Didja fall asleep? Kinda sounded like you were snorin.”

Hanzo blinked at him before checking the clock behind the bar, 6am, time to head home. He looked back to the cowboy, “maybe I did, insomnia will do that to you sometimes,” he trailed off as he stood and stretched tired muscles, “anyway, it is time for me to head home.”

Dropping his money on the bar he turned to make his way to the exit. The cowboy downed the rest of his whiskey and stood as well placing a hand on Hanzo’s shoulder to stop him, “ya know, I feel better after having talked to you and I'm just now realizing I never did ask for your name.”

Hanzo turned and blinked up at the cowboy as he mumbled, “we never did introduce ourselves, did we?” he offered a hand to the cowboy, “Well, I am Hanzo.”

Taking the offered hand, the cowboy smiled, “I’m Jesse, nice to formerly meet ya, Hanzo.”

Hanzo smiled back at Jesse and the cowboy turned to place some money on the bar as well, “I’ll walk out with ya, I should be heading home too.”

Hanzo nodded and turned towards the door. Holding it as he passed through, he heard a muttered ‘thank ya kindly.’ Trying to gather his thoughts he turned to face Jesse, “I do not live far from here and can just walk, are you going to be okay to get home?”

Jesse nodded, “ya I work near here but I live on the other side of town so I'll just call a cab,” he extended his hand to Hanzo, “it was really nice talkin’ with ya, Hanzo, I hope to see you ‘round.”

With Jesse’s hand still in his own, Hanzo nodded, “I end up here more often than is probably healthy as of late, so if you ever need someone to talk to, you can most likely find me here.”

Releasing Hanzo from the hand shake Jesse chuckled, “I appreciate the offer, Hanzo, I'll be sure to remember that next time I'm havin’ a shitty day.” Hanzo gave Jesse a little wave as he turned towards his apartment, Jesse returned the gesture before pulling his phone out of his pocket to call a cab.

~~~

Jesse was pissed, like, not punching things pissed, more like, it was 3:30 in the morning and he needed a drink pissed. He'd had another shitty day at work, been accused of stealing, again, and to top it all off his mom had called him asking when he was going to settle down and give her some grandkids, for the fifth time this month.

So, ya it was a stressful day, he stepped out of the cab and rubbed a hand over his eyes, glancing up at the neon sign above the door of the bar. The same one from a week ago when he met a half asleep, yet charming man. He was praying to every god he could come up with that Hanzo was having difficulties sleeping again, which was selfish of him, but he was ignoring that for now, he could feel guilty later.

Pulling the door open Jesse’s eyes immediately scanned the bar, the cowboy let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding as his eyes landed on a familiar black bun. Same as last time, at the sound of the door chime Hanzo turned to look at who had entered.

Unlike last time, when Hanzo’s tired eyes registered who he was looking at his face perked up with recognition. Jesse made his way over and sat on the stool next to Hanzo, “fancy seein’ you here, Hanzo”

The man smiled up at him, “good evening, Jesse, I told you, I spent way too much time here.”

Jesse chuckled and ordered a drink, “that you did.”

Hanzo took a drink from the bottle in his hands, “so what brings you back to my home away from home?”

“Ahhhhh, its nothing, just a rough day, needed a drink.”

Hanzo nodded as he stared at his bottle, “I see, want to talk about it? I am more than willing to belittle any name you give me if it will make you feel better.”

Jesse laughed, “as much as I appreciate the offer and as much as I would really enjoy it, I think just some company that doesn’t want something from me would be nice.”

Hanzo smiled at the cowboy, “all I want is sleep and seeing as how you cannot give that to me then I am more than happy to waste some hours with you.”

Jesse felt the knot in his chest loosen as he began to talk to Hanzo about absolutely nothing. He didn’t want to talk about what was bothering him because he knew with the right distraction that the problems of today would fade and he’d feel better.

It was 6 am and the men were sitting in comfortable silence once more. Jesse sipped on his whiskey as he watched Hanzo’s eyes slowly drift closed and his head start to droop. After a moment Hanzo snapped his head back up but it was seconds before his head was drooping once more.

Downing the rest of his drink Jesse placed a hand on the smaller man’s shoulder, “it looks like you’re about to fall asleep right here on the bar, I’m thinkin’ it’s time for us to call it a night.”

Jesse stood as Hanzo’s ever so tired eyes followed him, Jesse dropped a few bills on the bar and Hanzo pulled himself off his stool and did the same. Both men exited the bar and after they said their goodbyes Jesse watched as Hanzo started to walk away, within moments he had misstepped and stumbled over his own feet.

Jesse caught up to him quickly and looped Hanzo’s arm up over his broad shoulders, “I’m not sure if you’re drunk or half asleep but you look like you’re about to fall over, let me help you to your apartment.”

Hanzo didn’t put up any fight and simply leaned into Jesse and laid his head on his chest. Jesse chuckled, “don’t go fallin’ asleep on me, Hanzo, ya gotta tell me where your apartment is.”

Hanzo grumbled out directions and a building number and settled back in. Seeing as how he wasn’t really walking, he was just kind of letting Jesse pull him along, Jesse figured it would just be quicker and easier to carry the man to his apartment.

He stopped for a moment and swept the Japanese man up into his arms bridal style, again, Hanzo didn’t resist, he simply looped his arms around Jesse’s neck and seemed to fall asleep. Jesse found it rather amusing and slightly adorable, if he was being honest, Hanzo was incredibly pliable in this state, he truly wasn’t sure if the smaller man was really just that tired or if he’d drank too much.

As he walked, Jesse got to thinking about it and realized that during the whole time Jesse sat with him at the bar he’d only had a bottle and a half of beer, so unless he was pounding them down before hand, the poor man was honestly just that tired.

He stopped in front of the building with the number Hanzo had told him. He looked down at the man in his arms, face lax with sleep and snoring ever so slightly, he really did hate to wake him but he had no way of knowing which apartment was Hanzo’s or any way to get in if he did.

After standing there for a solid five minutes trying to come up with something Jesse put Hanzo down, “heya, Hanzo, we’re at your apartment.”

The smaller man blinked at Jesse blearily while Jesse held him upright, after glancing up at the building he turned back to Jesse, “thank you, I do apologize for all of that, usually I am more reserved but then again usually my brain is not soup from lack of sleep.”

Jesse looked at Hanzo and felt bad, again, that he had to wake him, “I understand, insomnia can be a real bitch.”

Hanzo nodded before turning and heading up the stairs to his apartment calling good night over his shoulder. Jesse responded in kind before pulling his phone out and calling a cab.

~~~

Hanzo blearily made his way up the steps, trying to find his keys and his sense of embarrassment. After all he had just been carried home by a relative stranger, not to mention fallen asleep in his damn arms, but all Hanzo could focus on was being annoyed that Jesse had woken him up.

In the logical part of his brain that had been significantly reduced due to lack of sleep Hanzo knew that Jesse had to wake him up, he couldn’t just stand in the street while he held a grown ass man and let him sleep no matter how much Hanzo had really wished he had.

It was immensely odd to Hanzo that sleep seemed to come easier to him in the presence of Jesse. Hanzo had been to that bar a number of times over the last few weeks and the only nights that he could remember feeling drowsy were the two nights that Jesse came to sit with him. Not to mention, he had literally fallen asleep while Jesse held him.

Finding his keys and unlocking the door Hanzo made his way inside. He kicked off his shoes and stripped down to his briefs as he made his way to his bed. To be honest, he was trying to get into bed as quickly as possible to attempt to hold onto this drowsiness he was feeling.

Last time he sat with Jesse the drowsiness had worn off by the time he reached his apartment but this time Jesse had carried him home and Hanzo was hoping that if he got into bed quick enough, he might be able to get some sleep.

He dropped into bed and covered up and within minutes he was asleep, unfortunately when he woke again and looked at his bedside clock the little red numbers only read 8:21am he groaned and rolled over but he knew he wasn’t going back to sleep. Sitting up he glared at the clock before getting up and getting on with his day.

Chapter Text

Alright so maybe today had been a good day and there was no reason to be at the little bar where he knew a certain insomniac was liable to be. I mean, other than to see, said insomniac. It had only been two days since he was here last but he couldn’t get Hanzo’s sleeping face out of his head.

It was so weird too, because Hanzo seemed to have no problem falling asleep when Jesse was with him. He'd passed out on the bar the first night and then fallen asleep in Jesse’s arms the second night. Jesse didn’t want to assume that he actually was able to help the other man fall asleep but it kind of seemed that way.

Pulling the door open he found Hanzo in the same spot as usual but this time he had his head resting on the bar in front of him. Also, unlike the last two times, Hanzo didn’t look up at the sound of the door chime. Maybe he was asleep at the bar again which would mean that Jesse was wrong. For some reason his heart sank at the prospect.

He went over and sat next to him anyway, “hiya Hanzo, how’ve you been?”

Without lifting his head from the bar, he responded with, “tired,” and somehow his voice sounded even more strained than usual.

Jesse had an idea but he wasn’t sure how Hanzo would respond to it. If he was right, and Hanzo slept better when he was near, then he’d be more than happy to have the Japanese man come over to his place and get some much-needed shut eye, but they were in a bar after all and he didn’t want to come across as a creep, so he had to do this tactfully.

“Still not sleepin’ well, I take it?”

Hanzo scoffed into the bar, “the last time I got more than 30 minutes of sleep was when you walked me home, and even then, I was only able to sleep for 2 hours before I was awake. Again.”

This was his chance, “about that, I don’t wanna try and make myself out to be somethin’ I'm not but,”

Hanzo cut him off, still talking into the bar, “but, for some reason I seem to be able to sleep when you are with me.”

Jesse stared at the side of his shaved head in shock, honestly though he shouldn’t be surprised, Hanzo was the one with the sleeping disorder after all so he’d be more likely to notice an oddity in his sleep patterns.

Jesse chuckled, “so you’ve noticed too.”

At that Hanzo turned his head on the bar and looked at Jesse, “I literally fell asleep while you were carrying me, yes, I noticed.”

Jesse nodded, “fair enough.”

Hanzo looked at him for another moment, “I was wondering if you would indulge me, as you well know my apartment is just down the road...”

This time Jesse cut Hanzo off, “and you want me to come over and sit with you and see if you’ll fall asleep.” Hanzo picked up his head and gave the cowboy and inquisitive look, Jesse chuckled, “ya, if you hadn’t of asked, I was gonna offer to have you come over to my place and hang out.”

Hanzo sat at the bar silently, staring at Jesse for a long few seconds, “why?”

Jesse cocked his head to the side, “why, what?”

Hanzo continued to stare down Jesse with a hard look in his eye, “why would you invite me over, how much sleep I get does not matter to you at all, so why help me?”

Jesse rubbed at the back of his neck, “well, cause, you helped me.”

The cowboy watched as Hanzo’s face started to cloud with annoyance, “I have never helped you, what are you talking about?”

Jesse smiled at the smaller man, “but ya have helped me, sittin’ here, drinkin’ with me, talkin’ with me, it’s been more beneficial for my mental state than ya know, you’re great company, especially for a down on his luck cowboy with no one to talk to.”

Hanzo’s face started to clear and a small smile graced his features, “really? Talking with me has helped you?”

Jesse chuckled, “you’re darn right it has, so how’s about we get on outta here and try and get you some rest.”

Hanzo finished off his beer, “at this point I am willing to try just about anything, even inviting a near stranger into my house.”

Jesse finished his drink, “Hanzo, ya wound me, I thought we were friends,” both men chuckled as they made their way out of the bar.

~~~

Jesse walked in step with Hanzo as they made their way down the block to Hanzo’s apartment. Both men chatted as they went making easy conversation, Hanzo wasn’t one to invite strange men into his home but he was more than capable of defending himself, not that he thought Jesse would try anything but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

Hanzo tried to keep his feet under him as they made their way up the stairs and unlocked the door. The absolute lack of sleep was really getting to his concentration and fine motor skills as of late, he found himself zoning out, dropping things, forgetting what he was doing, and tripping over stuff more frequently lately.

Pushing the door open Hanzo stepped into the apartment and started taking off his shoes, “welcome to my home, please leave your boots by the door.”

Jesse obliged and kicked off his boots before following Hanzo into the living room, Jesse looked around as Hanzo plopped himself onto the couch, “this is a pretty nice place ya got here.”

Hanzo nodded, he was absent mindedly staring in the general direction of the tv when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. Hanzo started, “oh jeez I'm sorry Hanzo but ya kinda zoned out, you ok?”

Hanzo looked up at him, “I am sorry, the side effects of the insomnia have been getting worse, can I get you anything to drink?”

Jesse sat down on the couch next to him looking a little fidgety, “oh no, I'm good, so uh,” he rubbed at the back of his neck, “how’re we doin’ this?”

Hanzo blinked once, twice before realizing what Jesse was referring to, “oh yes, the reason I invited you over, I figure we can sit here, in the living room, and watch a movie or something and hopefully, I will fall asleep.”

Jesse still looked apprehensive, “and you’re sure its ok that I be here while your sleepin’?”

Hanzo dug the heels of his hands into his eyes and let out a sigh, “look, I am desperate, I need to sleep, and if you being here will allow me to sleep then go ahead and steal all of my shit just do not wake me while you do it.”

Jesse chuckled, “ok ok Hanzo, I hear ya, where’re your movies? I’ll pick somethin’ out since hopefully I'll be the only one awake to watch it.”

Pulling one of his hands from his face Hanzo pointed towards the bookshelf where his small collection of DVDs sat. He heard as Jesse stood up from the couch and made his way towards the movies. A few moments later Jesse was standing by Hanzo once more.

“Alright, this one looks pretty good, where’s your player? I’ll get it set up.”

Hanzo pushed himself off the couch and held out his hand to take the movie, “let me.”

Jesse handed him the movie but didn’t sit down, “hey, uh, before we get settled into this I gotta use the bathroom real quick.”

Hanzo answered without turning from the player, “down the hall, second door on the left.”

~~~

“Thank ya, kindly,” Jesse tipped his hat even though Hanzo wouldn’t see it and turned down the hall. Being just a little on the nosey side he glanced into the doors as he went by, first door lead into the kitchen, the room was small but well kept.

Next door on the other side of the hallway appeared to be Hanzo’s bedroom, glancing behind him Jesse made sure Hanzo was still in the living room and pushed the door open a little farther. Taking a step into the room he glanced around, the bed sat unmade to the left the only other furniture was a dresser, nightstand, lamp, and mirror.

There was a shelf on the same wall as the door and on it sat a few figures that looked an awful lot like Japanese dragons. There were three figures, one was of two blue dragons, another was a single green dragon, and the third was three dragons, two blue and one green, all twined together, they looked to be sleeping.

Sweeping his gaze across the rest of the room he noticed a few wall hangings and other small decorations that also looked to be Japanese in origin. Jesse stepped back into the hallway and glanced behind again to make sure Hanzo hadn't noticed his snooping.

He made his way to the last door in the hallway, reaching in he flicked on the light. It was a small space, clean, but mostly empty. There were no decorations just basic bathroom essentials. Jesse did his thing and washed his hands before making his way back into the living room.

Hanzo was sitting on one side of the couch with his legs tucked up underneath him and his head resting on a pillow he had balled up in his arms. He was leaning against the arm of the couch with a remote in one hand.

He glanced up as Jesse entered the room, “I have it all set up, all you have to do is press play,” he offered the cowboy the remote.

Jesse took it and sat on the other end of the couch, “thank ya, kindly,” he pressed play and watched as the opening credits began to run across the screen.

After they were about ten minutes into the movie Jesse glanced over to see if Hanzo was watching. The poor man was already fast asleep. A smile graced Jesse’s features as he turned back to the movie, he was so glad he could let Hanzo sleep this time and not have to wake him up.

Jesse sat through the whole movie and only checked on Hanzo when the end credits had begun to roll.

It was a pretty good movie, if he was honest, he’d enjoyed it. Glancing at Hanzo he found the man still asleep in the same position he’d been in for two hours. Jesse sat there for a moment trying to figure out what to do next.

It was 6am and Jesse needed to get to sleep, however, he couldn’t exactly just leave. Hanzo was still asleep so that meant, for some reason, Jesses proximity made him sleep. If he left now Hanzo would surely wake up in a few hours, he couldn’t sleep on the couch because that’s where Hanzo was, he couldn’t sleep on the loveseat because he was much too big, and there was no way he was sleeping in Hanzo’s bed without the man’s permission.

He didn’t want to wake Hanzo either and have him move to his bed for fear he wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep. He studied the Japanese man for a moment, I mean, he could carry him, he’d done it before...

That seemed to be his best option at the moment, he just hoped Hanzo wouldn't be mad at him when he woke up.

Jesse stood from the couch and stretched. Then he took his hat off and set it on the coffee table before heading to Hanzo’s room to make sure the covers were pulled back enough that he could lay Hanzo down. Heading back into the living room he stood in front of Hanzo, watching him sleep for just a moment. He looked so peaceful, although with his eyes closed, he could see just how bad the bags under his eyes were.

Ever so gently he reached his arms under the sleeping man and lifted him up to his chest. As soon as he had Hanzo pressed against his chest the smaller man turned his face towards Jesse and snuggled into his plush chest. His eyes hadn’t opened so Jesse just assumed he was unaware of what he was doing, that didn’t stop the rosy color that dusted the cowboy’s cheeks though.

Ever so carefully Jesse made his way to Hanzo’s bedroom. Gently, he laid him on the mattress and watched as he flipped over and snuggled down into his pillow. Jesse smiled as he pulled the covers up to cover him. For some reason he had a very strong desire to kiss him on the cheek before leaving the room.

Obviously, he didn’t, as that would be creepy, but he chuckled to himself as he made his way back to the living room. Grabbing the pillow Hanzo had been hugging and the blanket off a chair in the corner, Jesse made himself comfortable on the couch and was quickly asleep.

~~~

Hanzo woke up, of course he woke up, the universe didn’t allow him to sleep. Glancing at the clock on the nightstand it read 8am. Still groggy and disoriented Hanzo tried to remember what happened last night.

He remembered going to the bar, feeling worse than he had in a long time. He remembered Jesse coming in and sitting with him, and he remembered Jesse agreeing to come to his apartment and sit with him so he could try and get some sleep.

He sat up in his bed, rubbing at his eyes, when he had fallen asleep a wonderful four hours ago, Jesse had still been here and he’d been asleep on the couch so how did he get to his bed? He had no recollection of Jesse waking him so the cowboy must’ve carried him. Does that mean he left?

Hanzo pushed the covers off of himself before getting up and stumbling into the living room. Peering over the back of the couch he found Jesse’s large form asleep there. Hanzo let out a sigh of relief as he braced his hands on the back of the couch, watching Jesse as he snored softly.

If Jesse was still here then why had he woken up? Clearly Jesse’s proximity helped him sleep as he had been asleep for four glorious hours. Maybe that was it, maybe the distance between the couch and the bed was too far for whatever was tying Hanzo’s ability to sleep to this large, kind-hearted man.

Hanzo wasn’t about to question it, the longer he stayed awake while Jesse was still here was less time he could be sleeping while Jesse was still here. Hanzo turned back to his bedroom and grabbed his pillow and blanket and made himself a nice little cocoon on the loveseat. Once he was settled in, he glanced at Jesse and immediately his eyes started to droop.

The Japanese man whispered a goodnight in Jesse’s general direction before he was engulfed by sleep once more.

~~~

Jesse’s startled awake by the sound of the alarm on his phone going off, finding it on the coffee table he quickly shuts it off. Rubbing a hand over his eyes, the cowboy can hear a rustling sound coming from somewhere by his feet. Glancing over at the sound, he finds the blanket on the loveseat is moving. Still groggy and half asleep he sits up to get a better look at the blanket.

Jesse notices the blanket has stopped moving and what appears to be long black hair is poking out of one end of it. Hanzo? But how could Hanzo be on the loveseat when he knows, for a fact, he had put the insomniac in his bed last night. As he’s pondering, the blanket moves again and suddenly amber eyes are peering at him over the edge of the blanket.

“Oh, uh, good morning Hanzo, I didn’t mean to wake ya, I'm sorry, I put you in your room so I figured my alarm wouldn’t wake ya...”

The cowboy trailed off as the amber eyes continued to stare him down, “What time is it?”

Jesse squints at his phone to get the exact time, “it’s 12:32”

Jesse watches as Hanzo sits up and the blanket falls to reveal his whole face which is smiling just slightly, “really?, I got a full eight hours of sleep last night?” the Japanese man asks, before looking down at his hands as he sits there looking immensely pleased.

Jesse can’t help the smile spreading across his face as he looks at the insomniac so happy, “so I take it me being here helped you to sleep? Why’d you leave your bed and come to sleep out here though?”

Still smiling Hanzo looks up at Jesse, “I did wake up around 8am and thought you had left since I had awoken but when I found you out here, I assumed you had moved me too far away for whatever connects my ability to sleep to you, so, I moved out here to be closer to you.”

Jesse felt a blush peek at the edges of his cheeks, “really you had to be even closer? Your room is only like 20 feet away.”

Hanzo pulled the blanket away from him as he stood up and stretched his arms up above his head, the stretch pulled up at the bottom of his shirt and Jesse was able to glance the smooth plane of Hanzo’s porcelain abs, the blush deepened just slightly.

Hanzo talked as he made his way to the kitchen, “for some reason my ability to sleep is tied to you and you’re going to sit there and question distance?” he heard Hanzo chuckle from the kitchen.

Pushing himself off the couch, Jesse stretched as well before turning towards the kitchen. As Jesse entered the room Hanzo motions to the table, “sit, I will make breakfast, unless you need to go, I know I have kept you here for quite a while.”

Jesse sat and shook his head, “I've got about an hour before I gotta head out, no worries.”

Hanzo spoke into the fridge as he was pulling out ingredients, “good.”

As Hanzo straightened up and made his way to the stove Jesse could see the insomniac still had the small smile on his face, to be honest this was the longest the cowboy had seen Hanzo keep a smile, probably because last night was the longest Hanzo had slept since he’d met him.

Hanzo made breakfast for himself and Jesse, the two men talked as they ate and then they continued to talk well after they were done eating. Jesse knew it was just about time for him to go but he was so very reluctant to leave.

Checking the time on the stove Jesse realized he’d been sitting at the table with Hanzo for almost two hours and if he didn’t leave now, he would never have enough time to get everything done before work. Voicing that it was time to head out the larger man pushed himself up from the table before making his way back into the living room to grab his hat and phone.

Once the hat was firmly on his head, he turned to Hanzo, who’d followed him out of the kitchen, “I’d just love to stay longer but I've got work this evenin’ but umm,” the cowboy trailed off, unsure on how to proceed with his current thought before Hanzo cut in.

“I understand, thank you for coming over and sitting with me so I could get some rest, you will never know how much I appreciate it.”

Hanzo bowed to him and Jesse rubbed at the back of his neck, “about that, um.”

The insomniac cut him off, “yes, well, if you are not comfortable with coming over here while I sleep, I absolutely understand, I will...”

This time Jesse cut Hanzo off, “oh no, no no no, darlin’ its nothin’ like that, I am more than happy to come over anytime ya need to get a little shut eye, I just wasn’t sure how to say that without comin’ off as a creep.”

Hanzo chuckled, “You do not sound like a creep but are you sure? I do not want to be putting you out in anyway.”

“It's not puttin’ me out darlin’, how’s about this, we trade numbers and anytime you need me to come over you just gimmie a call or shoot me a text and I'll be over here lickity split.”

Hanzo agreed and the men exchanged phone numbers before Jesse headed out for the day, Hanzo thanked the cowboy again before he started down the stairs and Hanzo closed the door behind him.

~~~

Hanzo stood there, listening to the heavy sound of Jesse’s boots on the stairs and then the sound of the door opening and closing behind him. With eight restful hours of sleep under his belt Hanzo was starting to come back to his old self and with that came the embarrassment he couldn’t quite muster up last night.

He had invited a damn near stranger into his home last night to sit with him while he slept like some kind of child that needed a babysitter. He had been carried to bed and then snuck out of his bed because some otherworldly force was connecting him to the cowboy that was sleeping on his couch.

He'd been an awful host as well; he didn’t even offer Jesse a place to sleep before he was snoring away on the couch next to him! Selfish is what he had been and that wasn’t fair to Jesse.

Pushing himself away from the door Hanzo turned to face the living room where pillows and blankets were strewn about. As he set to putting them away the Japanese man was berating himself for how he behaved while Jesse was here. The fact that he could barely keep himself upright last night from lack of sleep never even crossed his mind during his mental beatdown.

As Hanzo was getting ready to leave for work, he decided he was not going to call Jesse no matter how badly he wanted to because the cowboy most likely thought the worst of him for how he acted last night and he would not have his insomnia burdening someone else. It was Hanzo’s problem to deal with.

~~~

Jesse floated through work on cloud nine. Nothing anybody said to him really made it passed the smile on his face. He was so happy about how much he’d been able to help Hanzo last night, because of him the other man was able to get a full, restful, night's sleep.

Not to mention, that now he had Hanzo’s number so he could get in touch with him literally whenever he wanted to, he could text him right now in fact, but he didn’t because he’d just left his home not even 12 hours ago. He didn’t want to come on too strong even if he’d be more than happy to sleep on Hanzo’s couch every night for the rest of his life just to be able to spend time with the insomniac.

Of course, he couldn’t let Hanzo know that, that was the kind of thing that scared people off, especially this early into whatever it was Hanzo and Jesse had going. So, the cowboy decided to wait and let Hanzo come to him since he was the one with the sleeping disorder anyway.

The problem arose, however, when Hanzo didn’t text him.

It’d been a week since he’d been over to the insomniac’s apartment and it was wearing on Jesse since he really wanted to see him again but more than that, he was worried, unless Jesse was able to flip a switch in Hanzo’s head after just one night, he was still an insomniac.

That meant Hanzo had been running on roughly eight hours of sleep for the last seven days and Jesse didn’t like the thought of that one bit. Poor man had to be exhausted.

Being the impulsive type he was, instead of texting and taking the chance that Hanzo would lie to him about how well he’d been sleeping, the cowboy just decided he would go see him.

Pushing his way through the door he scanned the bar before realizing Hanzo wasn’t here. Jesse deflated before deciding he wasn’t giving up on the insomniac that easy. After asking the bartender, who informed him that he hadn’t seen Hanzo since sometime last week, Jesse decided it was time to put that phone number to good use.

Stepping out of the bar he dialed up the number he had saved for the insomniac and listened as it rang once, twice, three times before a familiar voice picked up, “awfully late to be calling people is it not?”

Immediately Jesse’s stomach sank, “shit, I didn’t wake ya did I?”

Hanzo let out a dry chuckle, “in order to wake someone they need to have the ability to sleep.”

Worry laced Jesse’s words, “you’re still not sleepin’? Darlin’ why haven’t you called me, I told you to call me anytime.”

Hanzo got quiet, “I did not want to be a burden.”

Jesse shook his head and put a hand to his hip, “you’re not a burden, look, I'm right here at the bar, how ‘bout I walk down to your place and we can talk about this, and maybe get you some sleep, you must be exhausted.”

Hanzo was still quiet, “it is not so bad, I have managed worse...”

The Japanese man trailed off and Jesse was getting more aggravated the more Hanzo spoke because here he was ready and willing to help this man and he was just being so stubborn about it, “that’s not the point, Hanzo, look, can I just come over, I wanna see you and I need to talk to you.”

There was a pause before Hanzo responded, “okay, fine.”

Immediately Jesse stared walking towards the apartment, “good, I'll be there in ten.”

Nine minutes later Jesse taking the stairs to Hanzo’s apartment two at a time, as he reached the top the door swung open and a very tired looking Hanzo was standing in front of him.

He wanted to reach out and pull Hanzo into his arms but he knew that was inappropriate of him, instead he looked the smaller man over, the bags under his eyes were heavy and his hair and skin didn’t look as healthy as it probably should.

The smaller man turned from the door after telling the cowboy to leave his boots on the mat. Jesse watched Hanzo move to the couch and sit down and Hanzo watched Jesse take off his boots. As Jesse made his way to the couch Hanzo spoke up, “what did you want to talk about?”

Jesse tried to keep the annoyance out of his voice, “how ‘bout we talk ‘bout the fact that I can help ya to sleep, which you so obviously need, and you refuse to call me.”

Hanzo looked down to his hands in his lap, “I did not want to burden you with...”

Jesse cut him off, “Hanzo, darlin’, you’re not a burden and I don’t want you to think that, bein’ able to come over here and help ya get some sleep is somethin’ I will never mind.”

Hanzo was quiet for a moment, staring at his hands in his lap, “if you are sure...”

Jesse smiled at him, “I have never been more sure in my life, in fact, I'm already here, why don’t we pop on a movie and you get snuggled up on the loveseat and well get you some much deserved shut eye.”

Hanzo lifted his head and locked eyes with Jesse and there was relief in their amber depths, “thank you, I am so tired, from the insomnia and from trying to stay away from you, too. I really like spending time with you, you know, when I am not dead to the world.”

Jesse’s heart sung and his smile broadened, “I really enjoy spendin’ time with you too, darlin’, even when we’re both passed out.”

Both men laughed and before he could second guess himself Jesse reached out and wrapped broad arms around the smaller man and, after a moment, Hanzo returned the gesture before both men got up and got on with their evening plans of getting Hanzo to sleep.