Hal is listening to music when he hears a knock on the front door, and he almost ignores it, or calls for Annie, but she's upstairs putting Eve to sleep and the last thing he wants is half an hour of listening to her cry again.
"Who's there?" he asks, voice even as he turns off the music and heads to the door, cautious.
" 's me, Hal," he hears, Tom's tone almost plaintiff and he opens the door to find him standing there holding a pair of plastic bags, completely drenched. "I forgo' the key," Tom offers as way of apology and Hal takes a large step back, allowing him a wide berth for entry.
Tom enters, starting to make his way accross the living room, leaving a damp trail behind him until Hal speaks up, visibly bothered. "Stop. Right there. One moment!"
It takes a matter of seconds for Hal to climb the stairs, and Tom stands shivering in the middle of the living room, keeping a firm hold on his patience to keep from putting the groceries away as he can barely make out Hal speaking to Annie. In less than a minute though, Hal returns, loaded down with what must be half of the clean towels in the house, and a blanket on top of that, and he drops the pile onto the couch, pulling out what must have once been a beach towel and holding it out between his spread arms, keeping his gaze carefully on Tom's face, and using the towel to block the rest of him when he spoke. "Strip."
"Hal," Tom complains, his eyes flicking from the window to the stairway, his voice somewhat effected by the shivering he was still doing, "I'll get the drips, 'm not goin'ta take off me clothes in the living room."
"You're freezing," Hal tells him flatly, "and you're not getting a cold around me. I've asked Annie to stay upstairs, and the door is locked and the window frosted, and I promise not to look. Do it."
Tom sighs, long-sufferingly, but puts down the bag and takes off his coat, moving onto his shirt before he notices Hal still standing there holding the towel, eyes closed and head turned away. "Y'don' hafta do tha' y'know," he tells him, rolling his eyes briefly while he continues to undress. "It's no' like ya've never seen me in the nuddy before."
Hal doesn't respond, and Tom shakes his head, putting the last of his clothes in the pile and moving forward to take the towel he was holding off of him, startling him and taking advantage of the opportunity to hug him with the towel between them.
"Ha," he tells Hal, and there's a moment of shock before Hal actually moves, laughing just softly and wrapping the towel, and his own arms around him, his small smile only partially forced.
"Dry off," Hal tells him finally, tucking the towel in around the back and just barely kissing him before he can change his mind about the idea, Tom's lips cold against his. "I'll put the things away."
Tom obeys, wrapping himself up in the blanket once he finishes, and follows Hal into the kitchen where he's started to boil water, and kisses the back of his neck before going to curl up on the couch and wait for him.