He wasn't a good looking man. By no stretch of the imagination could anyone classify him as such. Passing him on the street, Dan would probably feel the urge to look away quickly, if he even noticed him in the first place, but tonight, he wasn't looking away at all. Tonight, he was staring.
They had been hiding together for hours, stuck, while he tried to think of what came next. If his partner was uncomfortable about how exposed he was, he had so far done a good job of not showing it. Somehow, he was harder to read this way. Dan had gotten so used to having to rely on everything but his face to tell what he was feeling that actually seeing Rorschach's face gave nothing away.
At first he had barely given the man's looks much thought; it had been hectic from the start and between getting him out of the prison and Laurie disappearing after they made it home, all on top of running from the police, there hadn't been much time to worry about something so small. It was only after they were alone and silent that he began to steal glances, wanting to take in as much as he could.
Soon enough, he was all out staring. Rorschach wasn't looking back or reacting to any of the glances and so Dan grew less and less subtle. He was really seeing the man he had relied on so much in the past, the man he had trusted his life with countless times, but that wasn't what it felt like. Though he knew they were the same person, the face he looked at now belonged to a stranger.
"You're staring again," he said, turning and startling Dan.
"Well, I was just..." What could he really say to explain himself? There didn't seem to be any excuse.
"Why?"
The more he thought about the truth, the more he realized that it wasn't exactly unreasonable and he didn't really have anything to be ashamed of. He didn't have anything to hide from and didn't know why he felt like he did. "I've known you for twenty years and this is the first time I've seen your face," he said. "You're lucky I don't have a sketchbook out."
The other man grunted and he laughed to himself. "I'm serious, this is a pretty special occasion from where I'm standing. I'm just taking it all in."
Again, he didn't get a vocal response, but Rorschach looked away this time and again Dan laughed to himself, though he was a bit less sure now. Maybe he wasn't as justified in staring as he thought, or maybe there was an entirely different source to the discomfort. Maybe it was all too much for either of them to take in with everything that was happening, and he decided to try to keep his eyes to himself for a bit, as difficult as that may be.