Dirk was the first one to wake up. Before he even attempted to open his eyes he was aware of the steady weight draped across his chest and the tickle of hair under his chin. Taking a deep breath while his mind was still muddled with sleep he appreciated the smell that surrounded him, the smell that could be nothing else but Todd. Without thinking he pulled the warm body closer as he buried his nose in the brunet's hair.
It was only when Todd started to shift in his arms and let out a small content sigh that Dirk realised what he was doing. That was how Dirk found himself sprawled on him back, spread eagle on the cold floor. After he realised what he might be giving away he had attempted to jump up from the bed, apparently forgetting the weight holding him down, making him flail rather inelegantly before toppling off with a loud thud as he hit ground.
Now Todd was poking his sleep mussed head over the side of the bed with a look of sleepy confusion and amusement. In a rough voice he asked the clumsy man, "You okay, Dirk?" He had one eye partially squinted as he cocked his head to the side and also asked, "Need help up?" Before Dirk could responded he was being pulled up by a hand until he was lying on the bed again. He could feel his blush burning from his back all the way to his hair line.
Taking in a deep breath he was finally able to squeak out, "Thanks, Todd." He could see in his peripherals that Todd had his head tuned to look at him but he kept his eyes glued to the log ceiling. He was focused on keeping his breathing as steady as possible.
Apparently though, Todd was having none of that as he flat out asked, "What's wrong, Dirk? Are you okay?" When he refused to answer, it obviously gave Todd the wrong idea, as he asked self-consciously, "Is it how we woke up?" Seemingly distressed quite a bit he further asked, "Did it bother you that we were touching? I swear I didn't mean to." Todd was getting increasingly panicked as he started to ramble, "I just have a habit of doing that in my sleep. I latch on to the closest thing in reach and hug it, I've always been like that. That was why when we were little Amanda used to crawl into my bed if she had a really mad nightmare because she found it comforting, but when we got older she'd refuse to share a bed with me because she said it was suffocating. Though after she got the disease, those first few weeks, she crawled into my bed most nights, though it terrified me I'd trigger an attack, but she said it did the opposite, that it held them off because it kept her calm. She's always said, right from the start, she finds her attacks happen more often than not when she's feeling really emotional, so feeling safe and comfortable helped her stave off the attacks."
Stopping only to take a deep breath Todd seemed ready to continue his spiral down so Dirk jumped in to assure him, "No, Todd, it's not that, well not that exactly. I've always rather loved that comfort myself, not that I have much opportunity to get it." Oh god, now he was doing it. "Also not that I've never had it, just not often, you know, with the life I lead." He was yelling at himself internally to just shut up as he continued, "I was actually really quite cozy when I woke up but I also have a tendency to do the same thing in my sleep and I was just rather worried that you wouldn't appreciate it, so I was trying to extract myself before you woke up and I made you feel uncomfortable or made things awkward." He finally chanced a look at Todd as he found the words finally stopping but was not expecting the look of affectionate exasperation he saw there.
Smirking, Todd asked, "So you thought flinging yourself off the bed would be less awkward?" Dirk could see Todd fighting against a laugh as he looked back at him steadily.
His inflection making it more of a question than a statement, all Dirk could say was, "…yes?" This time Todd did laugh, a proper laugh Dirk had only heard a handful of times, as he put his hand over his eyes. Soon enough Dirk was laughing to, unable to stop himself in the face of Todd's infectious laughter.
The moment, however, was interrupted by a loud knock on the door as Amanda's mischievous voice came drifting through asking, "Are you two decent? Can I come in or will I be interrupting something?"
Unaffected by the question Todd simply yelled back, "Yes, Amanda, you can come in."
Before he had even finished answering the question Amanda was rushing in like a five year old before throwing herself in the bed between the two, though there wasn't much space so she ended up a little on both of them. She was smiling brightly as she asked, "So what was that commotion we heard a few minutes ago, huh?" As if her tone wasn't blatant enough with the insinuation she smirked and raised an eyebrow at each in turn.
While Dirk choked on air Todd used his best exasperated big brother voice before telling her, "Nothing happened, Amanda." A big goofy smile spread across his face as he added, "Dirk just thought it would be a fun and completely not awkward idea to flail off the bed first thing in the morning."
The two siblings were laughing hysterically as Dirk let out an indignant sound in protect. As Farah wandered into the room with Vogel on her heals he tried to defend himself, "It was not my intention to fall out of the bed, simply to leave it, the flailing and the falling where just an unhappy result of being trapped under Todd's weight." As the words left his mouth he was horrified by what they implied but he couldn't un-ring that bell. Instead he tensed up to wait for the response and could swear he felt Todd do the same.
Though he was sure all three had something to say to that it was actually Vogel who spoke first, asking with a nod of his chin, "Why was he on top of you?"
Amanda, true to form, spoke before either Todd or he could, saying, "Careful, Vogel, do we really want details on what they were doing?"
As the other three snickered Todd finally found his voice as he said, a little unsure, "I hug in my sleep?" It came out as a question which only made them laugh harder. Todd sent Dirk a frustrated look in commiseration over his sister's head as she laughed up at the ceiling.
Finally, when the others had calmed down Amanda took pity on Dirk after seeing the look of confused hurt, confirming, "He does do that. He's like an octopus when he sleeps. If you're in arms reach you will be snuggled."
Raising his eyebrow, Todd said, "Well, I seem to remember plenty of times you took advantage of that over our lives."
Lifting her hands in surrender, she defended, "Hey, I wasn't knocking it, just confirming that you do in fact do it."
At that, a silence passed over the room. Unable to handle it Dirk spoke before thinking, blurting, "I'm a sleep snuggler as well I'm afraid." With that the room burst into laughter again, Todd included, leaving Dirk to pout, again making the room laugh harder.
This time when the laughter stopped everyone started moving, getting ready for the day. As Todd and Amanda made breakfast Farah worked with Dirk on setting up what they'd need to make a plan while Vogel disappeared outside for a little while. When he showed up again he was caring a chest full of random odds and ends. He impressed Farah when he pulled out mapped plans of a government building the other three Rowdy's had made from memory.
She only put the maps down when Amanda waved a plate of pancakes under her nose. They had a rather relaxing meal as they all came to the same mutual conclusion again that Todd in fact could cook quite well. After they were done, and the other three where finishing the dish's, Amanda made Todd take one of her pills, though he said he'd only take it if she took one too.
Before long, they were all huddled around the coffee table trying to make a plan of attack. It wasn't going all that smoothly though because Dirk and Vogel were big on dealing with things as they came, whereas Farah was all plan, plan, plan. She wanted contingency plans for contingency plans and Dirk thought they would only hurt their chances, saying it would only distract them from actual solutions to problems that might pop up. Meanwhile, the two siblings were caught in between.
The arguing only stopped when Vogel's stomach growled loudly and they decided to break for lunch. Farah cooked this time, insisting that Todd sit back and relax. She ended up making simple soup and sandwiches but they were well received.
After everyone was done eating Amanda, Farah and Vogel were feeling a little antsy so Todd and Dirk ushered them outside for a walk as they said they'd do the dishes. The two relished the peace and quiet before silently getting to work, shoulder to shoulder, Todd washing and Dirk drying and putting away. At first Dirk was to distracted by Todd's fingers brushing his every time he was passed something to notice, but about half way through he became aware of Todd becoming rather tense. When he looked over it was to see Todd rather lost in thought, and not very pleasant seeming thought either. His brows were furrowed and there was a slight frown on his face as he looked down into the dish water.
Dirk tried to catch his eye but when that failed he settled a hand on Todd's shoulder, intending to ask if he was okay, but before he could get a sound out Todd was flinching back rather violently as the plate he was holding slipped from his hand, smashing on the ground and making him flinch again. Once more, before Dirk could get a sound out, Todd was seizing up, hands going to his throat as he started to gasp, stumbling forward. Dirk was at his side before he could collapse onto the broken glass, instead lifting him in his arms and going to the couch. He knew the smaller man was having an attack but he had no idea what to do. This wasn't like the other two, this one could actually hurt him, it could kill him, he wasn't breathing. Panicking he wished he had his phone but the first thing Farah had done was throw them out the window after leaving the diner. That was when he remembered her mentioning buying some burners. Rushing to the drawer he thought he remembered her putting them into he was grateful to find a couple in there as well as a list of the numbers. The first one was still in the draw as well but the second was picked up after only one ring. He had never been so grateful to hear one of the Rowdy 3's voices.
Rushing back to Todd's side he all but yelled in a panic, "Todd is having am attack, I need to talk to Amanda immediately."
He let out a sigh of relief when Amanda came on asking in very serious voice, "What's happening, Dirk? What kind of attack is it?"
Dirk felt his panic rising again as he told her, "I don't know! He's not breathing, it's like he's choking on something but we were just doing dishes so it can't be that and..."
Interrupting him, Amanda told him, "He drowning, Dirk. You have to get him to breath or he could hemorrhage his lungs." Dirk felt tears in his eyes as he imagined what Todd was going through as Amanda took a second to think. He could hear the sound of them running on the other side before she asked, "Do you think you could get him to swallow a pill? I have some in my tin on the kitchen table, the blue and white ones; they help stop an attack after it starts."
He thought about it for a second but was pretty sure Todd wouldn't be able to take a pill if he couldn't even take a breath, so frantically he begged her, "Please, there must be something else, anything else I can do. Please Amanda, what do I do?" He didn't care that tears of panic and fear were falling down his face now as he waited for a response.
Amanda let out a loud breath before offering, "You can try to trick his brain. Make it think you are fixing whatever it thinks is happening to him."
Grabbing onto the thought Dirk tried to think of a way to trick a brain that was already tricking itself. Suddenly he had an idea, so throwing the phone to the side he sprinted into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. As he came to a skidding halt beside the couch he threw the water across Todd's face before bending down to pinch his nose and blowing two long breaths into his mouth before pulling back to do a few half strength compressions. When he noticed Todd's lips turning an alarming shade of blue he bent down again to blow two more breaths into his lungs. This time he was rewarded with Todd sputtering on air for a moment before gasping in lungfuls of air.
Dirk let out a relived sigh before realising that Todd was now hyperventilating. He at least knew how to handle that. He quickly rearranged Todd on the couch until he was behind him, the shorter man's back pressed against his chest, as he started to direct him in a calm, at least as calm as he could make it, soothing voice. "Todd, I need you to try and listen, okay? I want you to feel my chest as I breathe and to try and match it. When I breathe in, you breathe in, when I breathe out, you do to. Okay, can you do that for me?" When Todd nodded jerkily he let out a deep breath and encouraged Todd to do the same. "Okay, great, Todd, you're doing great. Now in… and out… and in… and out."
It didn't take too long to get the other man's breathing back to normal but the second it was Dirk found Todd tuning in his arms and burying his face in his neck and shoulder. At first when he felt him start to shake he was afraid it was another attack but when he felt a hot tear hit his neck Dirk realised that Todd was crying; not just crying, but sobbing. Feeling his own tears overwhelm him again he pulled the smaller man closer as he hid his face in his hair. He started whispering comforting nothings that even he wasn't paying attention to as he started to rock them slightly from side to side, hands rubbing up and down Todd's back.
That was the first thing the other three saw as they came crashing through the door moments later, the two clutching to each other desperately. Amanda and Farah found themselves frozen to the spot at the sight. Farah fighting back an urge to cry herself and Amanda didn't even bother to try. The only reason she hadn't started crying before was because she had known it would slow her down. Now that she saw her brother was okay she let them take her over as cried in the doorway, Farah putting a comforting arm around her shoulder before pulling her into a tight hug. Vogel, for his part, once again simply walked up to the two on the couch and held his hands over them. Amanda and Farah watched as the blue misty light seemed to keep coming until finally it petered out and Vogel backed up a few steps. It seemed to do the trick as Todd finally stopped sobbing as he went silent against Dirk's chest, falling asleep moments later.
As Amanda finally approached her brother Vogel reached out a hand as she passed taking the edge of her emotions off, to her relief, before she fell to her knees beside the couch. She cautiously reached out a hand as she soothed her brother's hair back before leaning forward and kissing him on the cheek. Quietly, she told him, "You had better never scare me like that again or I'll kick your ass, Todd."
Dirk was the one that responded, adding in a wobbly voice, "And I'll help her do it."
A few minutes later when it was clear Todd was down for the count Amanda finally asked Dirk, "How did you do it?"
She was still sitting sentry next to her brother so Dirk looked at the roof, not making eye contact as he answered sheepishly, "I might have thrown water on his face then given him CPR." He looked down when Amanda let out a hoot of laughter, ready to defend his actions, when he saw the look of amazed adoration on her face, a lot like the one Todd sometimes got while looking at him when he's done something particularly clever. Looking at her now the resemblance between siblings was uncanny.
Finally, Amanda said, "I can't believe you thought to do that, and that it worked. That's amazing." She was looking at him in wonder as she whispered under her breath what sounded suspiciously like, "It's like you were made for each other." Whether that was what she actually said or if it was just wishful thinking, he still felt a blush creeping up the back of his neck so he put his head back to look at the ceiling again.
In a small whisper, he said back, "Thank you, Amanda."
The three of them stayed like that for hours. Todd was out cold and Amanda was drifting in and out as she leaned against Dirk's shoulder. At some point he to fell asleep only waking up when he felt a hand on top of his head. It was Farah smiling down at him. Talking quietly he told him she and Vogel were going to start making something to eat for dinner. Nodding, Dirk settled more comfortably, wanting to soak up the feeling of Todd in his arms for as long as possible before he'd have to wake him up to eat. He also took comfort in the feel of Amanda breathing softly at his side. For the first time in a very, very long time he felt like he had a family again, and this one felt better then his real one ever had.
When it came time to eat Dirk was a little grateful that Todd and Amanda woke up on their own. He doubted he would have been able to bring himself to wake either of them. Dinner was a rather somber affair. The only thing Todd said was to thank Farah and Vogel for the meal and compliment it, and no one pushed him to say more. Amanda knew what it was like, after an attack like that, the ones that could actually do real damage, so she gave him space and the others seemed to take their ques from her. Vogel, for his part, was extremely aware of what he had been through, haven taken on those emotions. Farah could see that it had wiped Todd out, not to mention she noticed the little sympathetic looks Vogel kept sending him, so instead she chatted with Amanda and Vogel throughout dinner. Dirk himself was almost just as quiet as Todd. He only talked when spoken to directly and even then it was monosyllable responses. Again, they all understood. Dirk had been the one home alone with Todd, no idea what to do. Not to mention they were all perfectly aware of how he felt about Todd.
Before Todd could even think to try and help with dishes Amanda was pulling him from his chair and toward the couch. She pulled him down after her before snuggling into his side. There was no TV to watch so they simply sat there watching the fire in the wood stove as it danced around. Todd was more than happy to accept his sister's comfort and enjoy the moment. A short time later, after the dishes were done, the other three joined them. Dirk sat down on Todd's other side and when the other man shifted his weight so he was leaning into him he happily wrapped an arm around him, letting his hand rest on Amanda's back. Farah and Vogel got comfortable in the two armchairs by the couch, and they stayed like that for another few hours, no one really wanting to feel alone in that moment.
When they did get up to retire to bed it was with quick hugs exchanged before nightly routines were performed. Before long Todd and Dirk were collapsing into bed releasing twin sighs of relief. After they were both under the covers they didn't even bother to exchange words before Todd was curling up into Dirk's side, head pillowed on his chest. This time Todd didn't have to say the words out loud, as he wrapped an arm tighter around Dirk, the thank you implied in the hugging squeeze.
Dirk wanted to make sure Todd was in a peaceful sleep before letting his own guard over the man down, so he stayed up for a while watching before letting himself be pulled into sleep as well, though his was far from peaceful.