Hello, Everybody!

Alriiiight. So, this isn't the first HiNaBN fic I've ever written, it's just the first one that's been completed. I adore this comic. For serious. It has filled my head with so many wonderful story ideas and rescued me from the desert known as "writer's block." So, fluffy little oneshot between Hanna and {…} with mentions of Conrad. Be warned! Here, there be WAFF!

(First time writing in {…}'s POV. Please be kind)

Disclaimer: I do not own Hanna is Not a Boy's Name, nor any of the characters/locations therein. I do, however, own the story.

Brothers in Spirit

It had been nearly an entire year since I came to live with one Hanna Falk Cross. It had been…interesting, to say the least. There had been mishaps, oh yes, but in my opinion, as neither one of us was dead, (well, dead again, in my case) they had all been worth it. And hey, our cases had even increased in number by a little.

There was the time that the exuberant redhead had been hired to rid one of the city's smaller museums of a troublesome spirit that had taken up residence in the basement. It turned out to just be the artist of one of the museum's un-exhibited paintings, upset that the piece –which had been a gift for her mother - had been taken from her private collection. The mother was contacted and the painting returned and the spirit was able to rest peacefully. Admittedly, I was impressed with how smoothly the whole thing had gone.

Then there had, of course, been the no-so-smooth adventures; such as the incident with the fire golem down the street, but that was neither here nor there. The point was that time had come and gone and now it was almost a year later. Only a month left to go.

To me it didn't really matter all that much; after all, what was one more year to someone who had already spent ten before that without a pulse or a heartbeat? However, it did tend to make the corner of my mouth rise in an almost-smile to think that I had known Hanna for so long already. Speaking of whom…

I glanced over at the cracked and half-melted plastic clock hanging crookedly on the wall. Quarter past. Hanna was late getting home from his day-job. Not that that was really all that strange, the man had been held back before. I shrugged inwardly and popped a plate of food for him into the microwave. Just some fried ham and a potato. He could heat it up when he made it back.

Another hour had passed before I heard the door open and my employer walked in. He was a bit out of breath – though he attempted to hide it – and his hair was sticking to his forehead slightly. He must have been running at least part of the way.

As soon as he saw me the already present grin on his face stretched even wider. "Oh, hey, Percival! Sorry about being late, I kinda got a little distracted with some stuff but I hurried back as soon as I could get away." He stepped further into the room and closed the door behind him.

I set my book down and stood up from where I had been seated on the floor. As Hanna began to tug off his work clothes and fish around for a new shirt, I headed for the kitchen to nuke his cold dinner.

"Hey, whoa, that smells good!" he called over his shoulder, voice muffled by fabric. "You're awesome, man!" I pulled the plate out of the microwave and set it on the counter just as he came bounding up beside me. Eagerly, he plunked down and commenced eating.

Having already cleaned up while waiting for him I just leaned my body against the wall and allowed my mind to wander. After a bit, and probably without really thinking, I found myself wondering aloud, "Did they make you work overtime?"

He twitched slightly, most likely not expecting me to speak, and glanced up at me from behind his glasses. "Uhm, well…no, actually." he said a little sheepishly around a mouthful of potato. He swallowed. "I uhm, went and stopped by Conrad's place. You know, dropped off his blood supply for the week and all that." He waved one hand dismissively and shoveled more food into his mouth.

"You didn't have to do that right after work. You could have come back and I would have gone with you." Just in case.

"Well yeah, but I figured it was on the way, so…" he trailed off.

I quirked a brow. The department store where Hanna worked was in one direction from our apartment building and Conrad's own apartment was in the opposite. Doc Worth's place – where Hanna would have needed to go to get the blood for Conrad - was in entirely another. He was hiding something, didn't want to talk about where he'd been. I sighed mentally but didn't say anything. If he wanted to avoid the subject I would let him. He wasn't bleeding, after all.

The conversation was dropped, nothing more said on the matter, and so I did not bother to bring it back up.

About a week or so later my thoughts turned once again to the approaching, for lack of a better word, anniversary. I wondered if perhaps I should get a gift for Hanna, or do something nice for him. After all, he had taken me in without question when I showed up at his apartment in the middle of the night. Most anyone else would have screamed at the sight of a zombie in their threshold and then slammed the door shut and bolted it. But not Hanna. And while the whole "one year" thing was really not all that important to me, I was grateful to the young investigator for all that he had done for me. It was rare to find someone with such a big heart anymore. I wondered briefly if he even knew just how long it had been.

I was broken from my musings by the sound of Hanna's cell phone going off. I frowned slightly and paused in my work., turning to look for the thing amidst the clutter on the floor. I hadn't been aware he had left without it that morning. I shrugged, Oh well, and went back to dusting off the windowsill.

It could not be considered an invasion of privacy that I heard the message being left on my friend's voicemail. I did not once touch the phone. Hell, I didn't even know where it was exactly. However, the speaker must have been left on because I could quite clearly hear Conrad's voice filtering through.

"Hey, Hanna, it's me. Listen, I had some free time the last couple of nights so I went ahead and finished the thing. It's done. I even emailed it off to somebody I know who can print you out a mock-up. You should be able to come take a look at it sometime next week." There was a pause as the vampire let out a tiny sigh, then, "Look…you don't…have to pay me or anything for this. I think it's a great idea, to be honest. So, yeah. Happy…whatever. Ah fuck it." And then the line went dead.

I blinked in confusion. What on earth? But it was not my place to go poking around, and most certainly not when I had accidentally overheard what sounded like something that was between someone else. So I resolved to let it go. If it turned out to be important then I'd be let in on it. If not, then I had no need to worry.

Hanna arrived right on time – or at least, on Hanna Time – and as he was changing and I was pulling the milk out of the refrigerator, I said, "Conrad called earlier."

"Huh?" he asked, head popping out of his shirt as he pulled it on.

I nodded my head slightly in the direction where I thought his cell might be hiding. "You left your phone here today."

He trudged over and began sifting through the pile of clothes by his mattress. "Oh. Uhm, did he say anything?"

I refrained from pointing out that people tended to talk when using a phone and instead gave a little one-shouldered shrug. "I didn't pick up."

"Oh." Though his response was non-committal I could just catch the breath of relief that came with it. He flicked aside another piece of clothing and let out a triumphant little noise and snatched his phone up off the floor. He turned away to listen to the one new message.

I tried my hardest to look as though I was uninterested by running a dish or two under the faucet, but I couldn't help but watch my roommate's face as he listened gleefully to Conrad's voice, which was just barely audible - but not discernable - through the earpiece. He looked nearly ready to squeal in delight. I was expecting to hear a joyful "gnee!" any second now, but, to my surprise, it never came; though his face still sported a Cheshire-cat grin. I quickly turned back to the sink, thinking idly that the bowl in my hands should have had a hole eroded into it by now. "What did he have to say?" I asked off-handedly.

"What? Oh, nothing much. Just letting me know something." He shrugged.

It was clear to me that I was not going to get any straight answers out of him, at least not tonight, and so I, once again, dropped the subject. I did not however, let it slip from my mind entirely. Hanna had always been good at dodging subjects he was uncomfortable with, but now he was starting to outright hide things from me. I was beginning to get just the tiniest bit suspicious – but only because I was worried that he might be planning something stupid. He did, after all, do stupid things on a daily basis. He also tended to get hurt a lot. I gave a mental sigh, which I seemed to be doing of lot of lately, and said nothing more.

The next week was relatively normal, or as normal as one can get with living in that particular household. The only thing that seemed out of place was Hanna's giddier-than-usual attitude. Not even the rain that had been gushing out of the sky in torrents for the last few days did anything to lessen his, seemingly unfounded, excitement. Had it not been combined with the previous strangeness he had been displaying, I might not have thought too terribly much of it. Now, however, I was beginning to wonder just what he was so excited for. I had not forgotten the one-year mark fast approaching, but as Hanna had not made any mention of it what so ever, I figured it was unrelated. Though in retrospect I should have learned by then to never assume with Hanna Cross.

At any rate, I had yet to think of anything to do for him for that date. So once again, as he was off at work, I began to muse on the subject. I really only had about a week and a half left and, though I should have had some idea as to what to do by now, surely, I did not. Perhaps some kind of get-together with the whole crew? No. The event in question was a little too personal to really properly celebrate with a party. A new pack of magic marker for his runes? No again. First of all, that was much too impersonal, and secondly, he had already picked up a new set the day before. I was at a bit of a loss.

He ended up being late again that night and while I didn't ask, I already knew that it must have had something to do with the message I had secretly heard the week before.

By the time the next week had rolled around I had finally settled on possibly buying Hanna the entire set of his favorite comic book series. Whenever we happened to make it into a bookstore he would often wander over to read through a few issues, new or not. My idea was that if he knew just what the gift was for then he would know that I did not forget. If he did not, then I would just tell him that it was for everything he had done for me so far. It would be honest enough, and he would be spared the unnecessary guilt I knew he would feel for not remembering, too. Okay, so maybe the comic book thing was a little bit lame, but it was the best I had so far. Maybe I'll make him some cupcakes or something. I haven't tried that yet.

The last few days passed rather quickly. On the eve of the one-year mark I had managed to procure a muffin tin, mix, those little crinkly paper things, icing, and the comics and had successfully hidden them away in the cupboards for the next day. I was not too terribly thrilled with myself, but I reasoned that I could always spread it out over the course of a month or so – giving myself time to come up with a few other ideas. I checked that half-ruined clock of ours and then set out what I would need to make dinner.

When Hanna opened the door, just as I was wiping off the countertop, he looked positively ecstatic. He was almost visibly shaking, he was so excited, and his smile was so huge that I thought his face would split literally in two like something out of a bad horror movie. But then he reined it in, not having noticed that I was watching. He gave a little twitch or two – or a dozen – as he tried to stifle whatever it was that had him so damned enthusiastic. I turned around before he could look in my direction.

The rest of the evening went by without incident. Hanna, for his part, was doing a pretty good job of keeping his energy under wraps. In return, I simply ignored it when it showed through and did not let on that I knew it was there at all. Luckily for me, my regular, impassive demeanor let me get away with it. Although on the inside I was honestly a tad nervous. Not because of my partner, but because of the upcoming day. It was a good thing I did not need to sleep because I was certain that even if I did, I would not be sleeping tonight.

After dinner, Hanna flipped through a few of his books of magic, sitting a little too quietly over on his mattress. Once again, I ignored it. We talked a little – mostly him – about some of the new runes he was attempting to perfect, but other than that there was relative silence. Eventually he got up to go hunt for his toothbrush, flinging a pair of dinosaur-themed sleep pants over his shoulder as he walked the oh-so-far five steps to the bathroom. Just as the door closed, I thought I saw something fluttering in my peripheral vision.

I glanced up and sure enough, something had evidentially fallen out of his pocket and landed right outside the bathroom. Curious, and sick to death (no pun intended) of keeping my curiosity locked away, I stood up quietly and went to investigate. There, on the floor, was what looked for all the world like one of Hanna's old business cards. Just like the one I have. I knelt to pick it up.

It must have been a newer, redesigned logo, because while it was similar to my copy there were some mild changes. Much like his original card design, this one had one of his runes on it. Sharp, stylized lettering spelled out #306 and the apartment's street address just to the side of the symbol. I rather liked it so far. I flipped the piece of paper over. Then frowned.

Something was different about this particular card; it seemed…off somehow. And I just could not figure out what it was. Then I saw it. Instead of the customary Hanna Cross up near the top, there was instead an entirely new set of words.

Cross Brothers - Paranormal Investigations.

Cross Brothers? My brows furrowed in confusion. The words were right there before me and yet it felt as though I couldn't process them properly. I stared at the little thing in my hand to the point where my luminescent eyes could have burned a hole through it.

"Hey, Lancelot, did you wash out the toothpaste glass? Cuz I swear that I—" he stopped mid-sentence, eyes glued to me and the card I held. His expression slipped from brief shock and apprehension to something akin to disappointment.

"Hanna?" I held the card up between my thumb and forefinger. "What is this?"

"Awwww, maaaan! You weren't supposed to see that until tomorrow!" He looked ready to pout and for an instant I felt guilt trickle through my body. But then his words registered and I blinked out of habit. Tomorrow? So I guess he does know after all?

I looked at him, still maintaining a mostly apathetic appearance. "What is it?" I repeated.

He sighed and then offered me a shy smile before averting his eyes. He scratched at the back of his head absently. "Well, you see, I've been meaning to have some new business cards printed off because, you know, my old ones have just my name on them and since we're partners I thought you should be on there too, and I thought the timing would be appropriate because we've been working together for nearly a year now – a whole year tomorrow, actually!" He flashed a grin, "And so since you don't remember when your birthday is I figured we could celebrate it on the day we met, cuz in a way it's kinda like, I dunno, the day you started your new life as my sidekick, or something…" Hanna coughed lightly and let himself trail off.

"But why does it say Cross Brothers?" I asked gently, mildly shocked by what the redhead had just spouted out.

"Uhhh, well, eheheh, see, that one's just a prototype, but I when I asked Conrad to design them, (That explained the voicemail and the solitary trips to his apartment, I thought) he asked me what I wanted it to say and I suggested maybe putting our names on it but then he said that since you didn't have a set name yet that would be hard as hell to do. I mean, I remember you saying that you liked Galahad, but…" He turned his eyes down to his hands, which he had begun to fiddle with.

For a moment, all was silent. And then, quietly, slowly, as though he didn't quite feel comfortable with this, he spoke. "You know…I'm an only child, and…"

I listened closely, burning his words into my memory banks; it was incomprehensibly rare for Hanna to say anything at all about himself or his past, and certainly not his family. I felt as though I were being given the highest honor anyone could receive. And so I kept silent and still, not wanting to do anything to disturb the fragile gift.

He shifted a little and pressed his index fingers together. "I guess I just always secretly wished I wasn't. I wanted…" he swallowed, "well, I wanted a brother…"

I was floored, to say the least. Is he saying…?

"And since, yanno, you've been here so long, I've…kinda started to think of you as family, so..." He finally looked up at me, glasses sliding a few centimeters down his nose.

I think my mind must have shut down for a good second or two. I just stood there, looking at my friend, watching him try to read me. Hanna…wants me as a brother? I felt the corners of my mouth start to turn upward. "Does this mean you're adopting me?" I asked, the barest hint of a chuckle audible in my voice.

Hanna's head shot up. "Uh, well, I mean I…" He gave a nervous half-smile and I could see that his face and ears were tinted pink. "If-if that's okay, with you I guess. Is…that okay?" His expression held just the tiniest bit of child-like hope.

In my chest I felt a kind of warmth, something that I had not known for the longest time and had forgotten even existed. Normally I am not one for visible emotions but this was more than just a smile. There was a tugging sensation at my facial muscles, my lips pulling back almost as far as they could reach. I was touched. More than touched, even. I think…if I had still been able to I would have been tearing up. It was as close to a full out grin as I had probably ever come.

"Is that a yes?" he exclaimed.

All I could do was nod in return. As the wiry little man launched himself at me, long arms wrapping around me tightly, I let my eyes close. So yeah, my present to him was probably dull, especially compared to what he had just given me, but just seeing his face at my nod was enough to let me know. He wouldn't care. This, this right here was all that he had wanted all along. A brother. A family.

And as I wrapped my own arms around him, returning the hug, I realized that this was exactly what I had wanted too.

Musical Muse: Threads of Fate Soundtrack – Dew Prism