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By all accounts, Herbert couldn't be considered human. Shouldn’t be considered human. Everyone who had ever met him saw that right away. Everyone but Dan.
Dan should have labeled him off as a mad man and just as much of a monster as the things his green glowing goo created like everyone else. But he didn’t. He should have kicked him out of his life a long time ago, the second he found his cat in the man’s minifridge. If not then, then when he brought the damn thing back to life. If not then, then after they killed it again and the man collapsed into a laughing fit, blood trickling lazily from his mutilated back and the scratches on his cheek.
But he didn’t.
Dan let him stay, even went as far as to help the younger man with his ungodly experiments.
And where did that get him? He sure as hell knows where it got everyone else in his life.
Dead.
His soon-to-be-father-in-law. His professor. His fiance. All dead.
Dan went against his better judgement and let the little man stick around until he was all Dan had left. Dan’s only friend, if he could even call him that. His, for lack of a better phrase, last resort.
Dan had gotten choked out, stabbed, and nearly killed enough times to last four lifetimes for this man. Yet after all that, after everything that should have made Dan punch Herbert, pack his things, and leave; he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Especially not when every once in a while, the other man’s mask slipped, and the soft, squishy human underneath faced the sun.
----
They’d been eating together, Herbert rambling between bites about his latest idea for an experiment and what they would need to do for it. Dan was only half listening, nodding and humming along with him when appropriate.
“And I believe we can get results quite quickly if-” A sharp hiccup cut the small man’s sentence short, startling them both.
They stared at each other, waiting, until another high pitched hiccup tore through Herbert, making his thin chest jump.
Dan couldn’t help the disbelieving smile that spread across his face while Herbert’s brow furrowed in annoyance.
“That’s what you get for talking while you eat.” Dan teased, taking another bite of his own meal just to add insult to injury.
Herbert in turn rolled his eyes, the venom behind the action lost as another hiccup made him jump.
“You need me to scare you?” Dan offered, trying and failing to mask his quickly growing amusement
“Ha-” Hiccup. “Ha.” Herbert snarked, grabbing his glass of water. He sucked in as much air as he could through his mouth, pinched his nose, then brought the glass to his lips and drank.
That is what finally made Dan break down laughing, the sight of his roommate now red cheeked and chugging down his water hilarious.
When the glass was empty, Dan halted his laughter and Herbert stopped and exhaled slowly through his nose, the pair waiting and staring at each other again with bated breaths.
Herbert hummed. “I think I'm fine n-” Hiccup.
Dan howled in laughter loud enough to echo through the house while Herbert cursed under his breath and moved to refill his glass to try again.
----
It wasn’t often Dan saw Herbert sleep. The man either was up before he was or was locked away in his room.
But there was always a first for everything.
And this first was walking into the lab and finding Herbert slouched over the table.
Dan’s hair stood on end at the sight, his first instinct to think something bad had happened to his housemate.
But a soft snore echoing through the room made a cry of Herbert’s name die in his throat, relief flooding Dan’s system. With a hand on his chest in an attempt to slow his pounding heart, he walked up to the scientist with the intent of shaking him awake and sending him to bed, but once he was close enough, he paused.
This was the first time Dan had ever seen Herbert look so relaxed. His face was slack, lips parted, and cheek smushed against his hand. He looked young.
Innocent and fragile in the muted light of the basement.
And what surprised Dan the most was that he snored. A tiny, very human noise that made Dan feel soft around the edges.
As Dan reached out to nudge Herbert awake and just before he made contact, the small man whimpered and shifted before mumbling, “5 cc’s for the frog please, Dan.”
Daniel bit his lip to keep from laughing. Of course Herbert talks in his sleep. Only a crazy bastard like him was capable of doing something so...cute? Dan thought it was cute.
Daniel finally bit the bullet and carefully laid a hand on Herbert’s shoulder, the man instantly jumping awake with a snort.
“It’s me.” Dan informed quietly, keeping his hand on the other man’s shoulder. “Go to bed, Herb.”
Herbert blinked slowly at him for a moment like a tired child, the words clicking enough for him to finally stand without a word and walk towards the stairs. Daniel sighed and shook his head before following him up, a smile playing on his lips as he recalled that Herbert had said his name; had been dreaming about him.
--------------
The first thing to catch Dan’s attention was a soft curse and a sniffle coming from the kitchen.
It was late, well into the AM when Dan was woken up by a muffled shout and a crash downstairs.
“Herbert?” He called aloud, stepping into the kitchen to find the smaller man standing in front of the running sink with his back to him. “What happened?”
“I’m-” A sniffle cut him off. “I’m fine, Daniel. Just had a little mixup is all.”
Dan walked up behind the other man and grabbed his shoulder, Herbert jumping at the touch as expected.
“Did you cut yourself?”
When Dan spun him around, he made a noise of protest but Dan ignored him and continued on. Herbert’s glasses were off and eyes squinted. His cheeks were blotchy and tear streaked. His nose was red and runny, another sniffle escaping him.
“Have you been...crying?” Dan questioned softly.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Herbert scoffed, rubbing at his face with the heels of his hands. “I mixed up the wrong chemicals and the end product created irritating vapors.”
“Well then stop touching your face!” Dan cried, snatching the shorter’s hands up by the wrists. “Lemme help you before you make it worse! Sit up on the counter.”
Herbert took two steps the wrong way before stopping. “I can’t fucking see, Dan.” The scientist snarked.
Dan shot him a useless glare and grabbed him by the hips, maneuvering him back until his tailbone met the edge of the counter. “Can you get up on your own or do you need me to pick you up too?” Dan quipped back, writing off the dark flush across Herbert’s cheeks as the irritation worsening.
The small man eventually was able to clamber up onto the counter on his own, giving Dan time to grab a rag and run it under the cold tap. After ringing it out, he moved back in front of Herbert and knocked his knees apart, settling between them and leaning in close.
“I’m gonna touch your face now.” Dan warned before he cupped his housemate’s hot cheek and ran the cold rag over his skin. He pressed it to one of Herbert’s eyes for a moment, not missing the way the man leant into the touch, before pulling it back, running it under the tap again and repeating on the other side. After that sweep, he wet the rag a third time, folded it into thirds, and pressed the cool strip over both of Herbert’s eyes; putting a finger under his chin to tip his head back.
“Let that sit for a second. It should help with the irritation.” Dan instructed, watching as Herbert’s Adam's apple jumped as he swallowed. Water dripped from the rag and ran down his temples, trailing down his neck and soaking into his loose collar.
They sat in silence until Herbert tilted his head forwards again and peeled the towel from his face, his eyes still closed.
Dan looked him over. He’s seen Herbert without his glasses plenty of times, but never this close. Never after he’d had a good cry like now and was left pink cheeked and sleepy looking. Herbert’s lashes were long and dark, fluttering before he blinked his eyes open again, Dan catching the way his pupils shrank and adjusted once they were exposed to the light of the kitchen again.
Dan still hadn’t taken his finger away from under Herbert’s chin.
“How you feeling?” Dan whispered, much softer than necessary.
“Better.” Herbert mumbled, blinking a few more times. “Thank you, Dan.”
Dan nodded in reply, leaning close again to take one last look into Herbert’s eyes, catching the way they widened at the movement, before mindlessly swiping a thumb over Herbert’s cheek to catch a stray drop of water that had come off the rag. He took said rag from the other man’s hand, tossed it into the sink, and washed his own hands before departing back towards his own room again.
“Good night, Herbert. Get some sleep.” Dan called over his shoulder, leaving Herbert to stare after him from his seat on the counter, the ghost feeling of Dan’s hands on his hips and fingers on his face warming his cheeks again.
---------------
Dan had poked him in the side while they were together in the basement, a warning that the taller man was gonna reach past him. Instead of simply taking the prod and scooting over as expected, Herbert flinched with a squeak and swatted his hand away.
The taller of the two narrowed his eyes at the other, the noise replaying over and over in his head.
“Are you-”
“No.” Herbert snapped, his defensive tone betraying him.
They stared at each other, a cheeky grin splitting across Dan’s face.
“Cain.” Herbert growled, hackles raised like a cornered animal. “Don’t you dare-”
As the last syllable left his mouth, Dan’s hands flew to Herbert’s sides, nimble doctor’s fingers wiggling between his ribs.
“DANIEL!” Herbert shrieked, a very new noise followed by an even newer one. A loud high laugh, rather than his usual mocking cackle or amused pigeon laugh.
“D-Daniel! St-STOP!” He cried, batting at his housemates arms to no avail, left to thrash and squirm, pinned between Dan and the workbench.
“What are you gonna do about it?” Dan teased, grinning from ear to ear.
Herbert got his hands on Dan’s chest and shoved, scrambling a safe distance away. He was panting, pale cheeks flushed with color.
“Bastard!” He snapped, smoothing out his shirt that had come half untucked in the scuffle and attempting to catch his breath.
The sight only made Daniel himself laugh. “Now I have something to threaten you with when you don’t listen to take better care of yourself.” He teased. ”I catch you down here when you should be sleeping-” He raised his hands and wiggled his fingers threateningly. “You’re gonna get it.”
“Fuck off.” Herbert spat, though any heat behind it was lost with the tiny smile quirking his lips. “We have work to do.”
-------------
It was Saturday, Dan having stumbled out of his room earlier than he normally would. His stomach rumbled at him and forced him out of the comfort of his warm sheets. As he passed the stairs leading to the basement, his ears were perked by the muffled sound of music playing.
It was rare for Herbert to listen to music while he worked, Dan the one to usually turn on the radio while they were down there to bob his head to while they did something mundane, like clean or write out transcripts.
Dan tiptoed down the stairs, curiosity getting the best of him as it always did with anything concerning West doing something normal people did.
Herbert stood before the stainless steel autopsy table, hands working on something Dan couldn’t see. The radio sat perched on the corner of the table, out of harm's way in case something was spilled but close enough to be reached if needed, volume turned low. Dan smiled as his housemate’s head began to bob to the beat, right foot tapping in time to the rhythm. Dan vaguely remembered the lyrics to this song, the name and singer lost to him, yet Herbert seemed to know the tune by heart.
When he began to hum softly along to it, Dan felt something warm settle in his chest. He was so focused on Herbert in his little bubble, he jumped when Herbert turned around to face him, a beaker in hand.
When Herbert caught sight of him on the stairs, the shorter man jumped as well, his humming cut short by a muffled noise of surprise.
“Dan.” He greeted as he continued on his path to take the beaker in his hand to the fridge in the corner of the room. “You’re up early.”
“I was hungry.” Dan responded, leaning his hip against the rail with his arms crossed. “And curious to see where the music was coming from.”
Herbert wiped his hands on a rag from the table. “I turned it on for the morning news and was too busy to turn it off once they started playing the drivel that passes for music nowadays.”
“Yeah. You really seemed to despise it. What, with you humming along to it and all.”
Herbert shot him a look. “And people say I have a staring problem.” He muttered before reaching for the radio.
“Hey, hold on!” Dan laughed, rushing over to snatch Herbert’s hand up and keep him from turning off the song Dan was a tad more familiar with.
He looped an arm around the smaller man’s waist, held his hand tighter, and pulled him close; swinging them to the dance music.
“Dan! Let go!” He hissed, leaned back as far as he could despite the arm anchored around his waist keeping him close. Dan only laughed and sang off tune to the song, keeping them moving around the basement.
“Dance with me!” He teased, catching Herbert’s eyes which glared at him behind square framed lenses. “Or does little Herby have two left feet?”
Those same eyes went wide at the nickname, a hard shove separating them while also throwing Herbert off balance.
Dan recovered quickly, just fast enough to lunge forwards and try to catch his housemate. All he was successful at though was cupping the back of Herbert’s head and falling with him, his forearms and Herbert's ass taking the brunt of the fall rather than Herbert’s head, which was tucked safely into Dan’s shoulder.
After a moment to come back to themselves, Dan pulled back with Herbert’s head still cradled in his hands, straddling Herbert’s thin hips.
“Holy shit, Herbert! Are you okay?” He asked, fingers shifting in the other man’s hair. It was just long enough for it to catch around Dan’s fingers, wiry to the touch but not unpleasant.
Herbert only stared up at him, music still playing softly from the radio.
“Don’t ever call me Herby ever again.”
He said it with such conviction, his expression so petulant, that Dan couldn’t help but laugh. He laughed long and loud and ducked his head to rest it against Herbert’s sternum.
“You damn drama queen!” He wheezed.
As Dan heaved for breath, a hand came up and playfully pinched his ear, the thin chest under him jumping with a scoff. “Idiot.” Herbert quietly chiding him with no real bite and a smile in his voice.
----------
“Oh! OH!” Herbert shouted from across the lab, shooting to a stand and making Dan’s head whip up to see what was going on.
The scientist had been hunched over a tray on the table in the middle of the room for the past 30 minutes, quiet save for the clicks and pings of glass vials and metal tools.
Dan couldn’t help but flinch as Herbert threw his hands up with a triumphant laugh, a wide grin splitting across his face as he seemed to be nearly bouncing in place.
It was the most excited Dan had ever seen him.
“Daniel!” He cried, locking eyes with him and rushing over to grab his hands and actually start bouncing on his feet. “It worked!”
Dan was lost for a second, struck dumb by Herbert’s eyes again; the usually flat green now bright with excitement for once rather than mania. “What..what worked?”
Herbert took that as his queue to burst into a full blown explanation of what he had been fiddling with, Dan only half listening to him describe something about oxygen levels in the blood and a new reagent formula.
Dan had been too busy staring at him to care. Staring at the way the left side of Herbert’s mouth tilted just a smidge higher than the right, flashing winsomely crooked white teeth. How plush and pouty his lips were when they weren’t pressed in an irritated line. At how he actually looked his age with his face open with glee and excitement rather than pinched in concentration or annoyance.
Dan suddenly felt like kissing him. Felt like taking his hands out of the smaller man’s grasp, taking his face between his palms, and kissing him quiet. Kissing him breathless. Kissing him until when he pulled back, Herbert looked just as dumb as Dan felt around him sometimes.
And that’s what he did.
He pulled his hands back, the movement going ignored, but them moving to cup Herbert’s jaw made him stop dead in his tracks. Dan leaned in slowly, never breaking eye contact and giving Herbert time to retaliate; to pull away or punch him or just be his usual snippy self.
Instead the shorter man stared right back, lips parted and eyes wide. A silent game of chicken brewing in the quickly dwindling space between them until there was no space left.
If Dan was being honest, it wasn’t a great kiss. He had missed the mark, pecking the left corner Herbert’s mouth and awkwardly bumping his nose against the other man’s glasses.
But nonetheless the touch made Herbert gasp and fist the front of Dan’s shirt. Pulling back, Dan found that Herbert had screwed his eyes shut only to snap them open again, pupils blown wide. The hand still twisted in Dan’s shirt was trembling.
“Kiss me right or I’ll cut your arms off and stick them on backwards.”
The husky threat was enough for Dan to dive in again, properly hitting his mark this time. He took the surprised grunt from the other man as a good sign, the small hand burying itself in his hair egging him on until they were both breathing hard through their noses and he had Herbert crushed against his front.
Pulling back, Dan couldn’t help the breathless laugh that rushed out of him when Herbert tried to chase after his mouth, stopping and blinking dumbly up at him.
“Not that I’m complaining, Daniel.” Herbert murmured after a moment, untangling his fingers from Dan’s hair and dropping his hand to Dan’s shoulder instead. “But why?”
Dan had to mull that over, still a little kiss drunk himself. “I-I don’t know. I guess...you just look really cute when you're excited?...And I couldn't help myself?”
Herbert could only reply with a soft “Oh...okay”, his cheeks going rosy.
Dan smiled at that, shifting on his feet. “Can...I do it again?”
“Yes.”