"Chesh?"

Hearing Hanna's worried voice made Church want to get up, but dammit all if he wasn't hurting like hell. After a few tries he sighed and turned his aching head toward the door and forced his eyes to open.

"Hey there, little monkey."

Hanna smiled, making Church's chest twitch from something he had begun feeling ever since he'd taken him home that night months ago. It didn't hurt, per-say, but it was... uncomfortable.

"Come say hi to Chesh?" he whispered before closing his eyes for a big yawn. When he opened them back up there was a chubby puppy being pushed up onto his bed by its bum, and it already looked half asleep, per usual.

"I don't want that fluffy poo-bag up here, Hanna."

The little boy pursed his lips and began pouting.

Every time. 

"Fine, but if it pees up here you're doing the laundry," Church groaned, scooting over slowly so that Hanna could finish shoving the annoying thing onto his bed. He obviously had no idea what laundry was, but it made Church feel better saying it, at least. 

Hanna quickly climbed up once the dog was shoved against Church's left shoulder. He snuggled against him, using the puppy as a makeshift pillow, then lifted his big bright eyes up to meet his.

"Chesh is okay? Righ'?" he mumbled as he tried to hug him. Church winced, but thankfully Hanna didn't catch it. 

"Just a little hurt, Hanna. I'll be better soon." 

Giving the boy a small smile, Church gently tugged him into his lap after scooting up a bit against the pillows. It took a minute since he needed to be sure that the blanket didn't slip and show off his newly acquired burns, but he quickly realized there was one he had forgotten to hide when Hanna gasped.

Soft, tiny fingers ran over the cross along his neck and then the sound of sniffling quickly followed.

"I'm fine, Hanna."

"Chesh is hurted!"

The kid started crying immediately, making Church wince. 

"Michael!" Church shouted toward the door, praying that he was there. Thankfully, it opened a moment later. Michael frowned when he saw Hanna bawling against him.

"How do I stop it?" Church pleaded, not used to crying. The kid pouted like no other, but tears were rare and unwanted. 

Michael's brows rose, then he grinned, making Church want to growl.

"What?" he hissed quietly, glaring daggers at the priest as he walked over and leaned down. Since it looked like he wanted to whisper something to him, Church tilted his head and leaned closer.

"Wrap your arms around him in a hug, then rub your hand over his back gently and whisper that you'll be okay and that he doesn't have to worry."

Why the hell would that matter to a kid who hardly understands anything yet? 

Michael leaned back and grinned, making Church sigh and look down at Hanna.

This isn't going to work... I already told him that I would be fine but he ignored me. 

After rolling his eyes, Church let his arms awkwardly wrap around Hanna's little body, left hand rubbing up and down his back soothingly as he whispered into his hair. 

"I'll be fine, don't worry. Chesh is strong, right Hanna?" 

 He gave a shaky nod and finally quieted enough to allow Church's headache a chance to calm a little.

"There we go. Can you be a good boy and help Michael around the apartment while I'm resting?"

Hanna looked up at him, chewing his bottom lip. Church glanced up at Michael, honestly wanting to hide beneath the blanket. He usually just told Hanna to go to his room until he was feeling better, but that seemed inappropriate now. 

Noticing movement near his side, he reached over and grabbed the dog.

I hate dogs.

"Hey Hanna, Max needs you to take care of him while Chesh gets better."

He held the chubby dog up as he spoke, holding its front paws above its head as it gave Hanna a blank stare. The boy didn't seem to mind the dog's lack of caring, because he quickly scooted off of Church's chest and wrapped Max in a strong hug, nuzzling the fuzzball with a sad smile.

"I take cawe of Mats while Chesh get better."

Giving him a tired smile, Church gave his head a pat.

"Thank you, Hanna. That will help me get better much faster."

His teary face lit up like the sun, evidently happy that he was able to actually help him get better... even though he technically wasn't.

Realizing that Church was probably at his kindness limit, Michael quickly scooped Hanna off of the bed with Max and set them both on the floor.

"Can you go play in the living room with Max for a little bit, Hanna? I'll take care of Church for awhile."

He seemed hesitant at first, but after he offered him a reassuring smile, he gave a small nod and tugged Max into the hallway. Michael followed him so that he could quietly shut the door. He knew that Church could hear them if anything seemed off, so he turned around and faced the demon watching him with an unusual weariness in his dark eyes.

"You must really be feeling bad," he noted as he walked over, pulling a tube of burn medicine from his pocket. Church sighed at the sight of it and relaxed back against the bed as Michael pulled the blanket aside in order to start rubbing it along his burnt legs. Church just grumbled in response as Michael continued working his way up toward his torso. The medicine was cold, but judging from the content expression on Church's face, it probably felt really good.

"How do you do that so often?"

Michael's eyes rose to his questioningly as he worked the medicine over his thighs. 

"What?"

"Be nice. It hurts."

He couldn't stop the laugh that snuck out of his mouth at that comment. 

"Really? How so?"

Church rolled his eyes and shrugged, then winced from the movement.

"My heart. It hurt when I tried to comfort Hanna. I don't like it."

Michael's hands paused on his torso, the muscles taught beneath his fingers as he leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to the part he hadn't rubbed medicine on yet, then whispered against his skin, "oh?" 

 Church growled quietly and tried to sit up, but his body was having none of it.

"You're only doing that because I can't do you right n—" a deep breath cut his sentence in half before he finished, "...naughty priest."

Michael shook his head and sighed as he  continued rubbing the medicine up along Church's chest, though he didn't get too badly burned there.

"There is a difference, Church. Flip over."

He knew he wouldn't want to move because of the pain, but he sucked it up and did as told, though he waited a minute for the medicine to dry a little before finally moving onto his belly. Once he was settled again Michael started at his shoulders and began to work his way down, being gentler since the back of his legs and torso took most of the damage.

"Difference? Between me having sex with you and what?" Church sneered into his pillow. Rolling his eyes. Michael wanted to push on one of Church's bad burns, but knew that it wouldn't help either of them. Heck, it would probably just make him get pissed.

"There's a difference between sex and love," he eventually mumbled, trying his best to push away the demons of his religion that were telling him to go back to the church and fix his horrible mistake. 

When he didn't even get a response from Church his heart sank and he bit his lower lip, hard. He knew that it wasn't going to be easy explaining to a demon who had no experience in the emotion, but Church was really making it hard to even try.

"I love you, Church. Does that mean nothing to you? Even though you don't know how to return the feelings yet?"

He sat down on his heels next to the bed and watched as Church slowly tried to turn his head on the pillow and look at him. His hair was a complete messy mop of black and there were dark circles beneath his eyes, telling him that he had likely not slept much during the night.

"Hanna loves you, too. I know he means something to you because your heart hurt when he was upset. Church, that's how it's supposed to be. It means you care about something besides yourself and want to protect it."

His eyes blinked closed, reopening after a long moment of silence.

"Then how come I don't feel that with you?"

Michael's mouth felt dry immediately and he had to bite his tongue to keep the tears from coming to the surface.

"I... don't know," he whispered, breaking eye contact and looking down at his shaking hands on his knees. It was depressingly quiet in the room for several long minutes before he felt a faint brush against his bangs and looked up to see Church's fingers. He scooted a little closer and put his forehead on the edge of the bed, making it much easier for Church to reach. His fingers slowly wound through his short hair, soothing some of the stress he was carrying on his shoulders.

"That's what you want from me? You want me to feel that pain in my heart with you?"

Michael slowly nodded before reaching up and grabbing his wrist gently, effectively stopping his fingers' exploration of his hair as he nuzzled against his palm.

"Yes. I want that. If something happens to me, I want that feeling to find its way into your heart."

Church gave a deep chuckle and moved his hand so that it was resting against his cheek, thumb rubbing slowly along Michael's jawline.

"And I suppose that once I have that feeling, you'll let me bed you as much as I please?"

Michael could hear the sarcasm dripping from his voice, but swallowed his unease and nodded, making Church's eyes widen in surprise, mouth slightly open.

"If you feel that way. If you feel the same as I do when I think something might happen to you, then yes, Church. I'll sleep with you."

He could see the man's inner demon watching through his eyes, trying to pull him back into his former way of thinking just like his own had. He could do it if he wanted. He could just go find someone and mate, then leave... but he didn't seem to want that. 

Standing up, Michael licked his dry lips and gave him a small smile.

"I'll leave you to your thoughts. Get some rest, Church." 

"Why would I work to get that bad feeling when I could just go screw someone else with no strings or pain?"

He hadn't expected a response, but when Church spoke, Michael stopped by the door and looked over his shoulder at him. 

 "You can do that, Church. I won't stop you. But, if you want me, as much as I want you, then I think you'll find out that the pain is worth it."

Church eyed him suspiciously, but he could see nervousness and confusion there as well, making him smile inwardly.

"Get some rest. I'll look after Hanna until you're feeling better."

With that, Michael quietly slipped out the door, closing it with a near-silent click behind himself.