"Alan, wait." Alan stopped at the foot of the stairs and waited for John to catch up.
"Hey John. Are you ok?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"I dunno. You're on Earth."
John shook his head and smiled the 'I'm humouring my little brother' smile.
"You scared me. A lot."
He wasn't sure if he'd fully comprehended the situation he'd been in until that moment. John's emotions were locked away, especially when he was working. To scare John was an achievement he wasn't sure if he was proud of.
"Shit, I was nearly fried. And catapulted into deep space."
John didn't tell him off for swearing if he felt it was justified and really, today was enough justification.
"But you weren't, you survived."
"Yeah, but I was scared too."
"You could've fooled me."
Alan rolled his eyes. "Yeah right John, I think I've fooled you, like, six times in my whole life."
That got a little laugh. "I know you too well. You were scared but you still aced it. Hug?"
Alan decided not to comment on the once-in-a-blue-moon event of John initiating physical contact. If he wanted a hug, then Alan wasn't going to say no. He felt like he needed a hug anyway. "Hug."
He sank into his arms and enjoyed their closeness. It would be a while before he'd see John in person again, and even longer before he got another hug. John's hugs were the best, probably because they were so rare.
"Please try not to scare me like that again." It was murmured into his hair, soft and vulnerable and completely compelling.
He still hesitated, his answer was mumbled into John's shirt. "I can't promise I won't, but I promise I'll try."
"I guess that's good enough. You smell like fried circuits by the way."
Alan looked up and loosened the hug. "Do I? How do you even know what that smells like?"
"Half my childhood smelt like fried circuits," John let him go. "I've got to get back to work."
"Yeah, I need to sleep," Alan took one step. "Don't wake me up."
"No promises. Sleep well."
"I will if you don't wake me up with alarms."
"No promises."
"John!"
"No promises!"