if he's around someone and conversation dies out, like he's disappointing them by not having anything to say. Like he needs to apologize for not filling that space with something.

There are times when a silence between people feels like a void he has to yell into or it'll swallow

up everything in the room. With Connor, it just feels intimate. A way to share space even if they don't have thoughts to share with each other.

Another way that having Connor around hurts sometimes, because it feels like something it's not, but still Hank knows it's precious.

Most of the rest of the walk is spent in that sweet, close silence. The humidity is so oppressive it feels like a blanket, almost like it's dulling the other sounds of nighttime. Cicadas yell at each other in the trees. A group of teens curses and laughs while playing basketball