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The first time it happens, Mako shakes him awake and walks him to his room with a firm hand on his back.
The second time it happens, Aleksis has to sling a mostly limp arm across his shoulders and drag the poor little guy to the residential wing while leaning down to accommodate his hight (or lack thereof).
The third time it happens, Stacker rolls his eyes and hauls him back to his quarters while considering giving him a month of vacation, just to make up on all the sleep he's lost.
The fourth time it happens, Herc finds him in a mostly empty LOCCENT at four in the morning, looking dead. Literally dead. And he panics, because finding anyone dead at four in the morning is distressing, especially when it's the guy who keeps the entire damn Shatterdome up and running.
“Tendo,” he calls out, voice low and scratchy, failing to rouse the sleeping tech. He tries again, not bothering to keep the desperation out of his tone. When he reaches the console where Tendo is slumped with his body half in a holographic display, he takes in the seven empty coffee cups and realizes, holy shit, he's finally done it. Tendo Choi has overdosed on caffeine.
But then there's a noise, a small rush of air from Tendo's nose, and most of Herc's fears are assuaged. Herc rubs the rest of the sleep out of his eyes and reaches forward to put one big hand on Tendo's back. There's a slow, lazy rise and fall, and Herc's muddled brain is finally convinced that Tendo isn't actually dead.
“Tendo, buddy,” he smacks Tendo on the back, trying to wake him. “You gotta get up, mate. Can't sleep here.”
Tendo doesn't react, so Herc tries to drag him up into a sitting position by the shoulders. Unfortunately, Tendo stays limp and just lets Herc manipulate him like a doll full of sand. Herc sighs, because seriously, it is way too early to deal with this. He slaps Tendo's face lightly, and finally gets some sort of a response.
Blinking at the dim blue lights filling LOCCENT, Tendo sways a moment before saying, “Huh?”
It's not much, but Herc will take what he can get. “Come on, we need to get you up.”
“Time is it?” Tendo slurs, rubbing at his eyes.
“Almost four,” Herc says, before hauling Tendo up on his feet with his hands under Tendo's arms. It doesn't work quiet as planned, though, because Tendo's legs seem to have liquified. He stays limp, falling heavily against Herc, and shoves his face in Herc's neck. His breath is slow and wet against Herc's throat.
The threat of getting drooled on spurs Herc into action, so he does the first thing that comes to mind.
Ducking down and praying Tendo doesn't drop to the floor in the process, Herc hooks one arm under his knees and lifts him up into a bridal carry. He expects some negative reaction, a sudden freak out or a sleepy protest. But Tendo just curls his arms against Herc's chest like a cat and bows his head under Herc's chin.
Alright then.
Herc begins the long and arduous task of getting Tendo somewhere safe and soft on his own wobbly legs. The Shatterdome is mostly quiet at this time, the people who are awake are either coming off shifts or starting new ones. They pass a few workers, and get plenty of sympathetic glances.
Tendo, of course, falls back asleep long before they make it to the residential wing. The way his body expands and contracts with each slow breath is almost enough to lull Herc to sleep; the soft puffs of air across Herc's collar bones feels like a serenade straight out of a dream. But he pushes on through the temptation to succumb to sleep, because dozing in a hallway with a man in his arms is hardly professional behavior.
He's got to at least make it to a bed first.
By the time they get to Tendo's room, Herc feels like he's ready to drop. He sits Tendo on the ground to fish through his pockets for the key, and then halls him up over his shoulder once the door is unlocked. Inside, he puts Tendo down on his bed as gently as he can. Not like it matters, since Tendo drops like dead weight onto the blankets with only the smallest grunt.
He's halfway to the door when he glances back and his dad senses flare up. Tendo's still fully dressed, lying on top of his covers. He doesn't seem to mind from where he's fast asleep, but the itch to take care of him is too strong to ignore. Herc walks over and drags his shoes off and undoes his bow tie. The suspenders have to at least come off his shoulders, and Tendo is pliable enough that Herc just sits him up and drags them down so they rest around his hips. Tendo blinks a few times, but Herc just hushes him.
The blanket folds over his body, and Herc feels satisfied. And tired, much more tired. Tendo is nestled under the covers, looking warm and comfortable, and oh, what the hell. Herc doesn't need to be anywhere until at least nine, no harm in getting a few more hours of shut-eye now that he's exhausted.
Kicking his plain combat boots off, Herc sits on the bed and tries to urge Tendo up against the wall so there's actually room for two grown men. He gingerly curls up on his side atop the covers, as if anything but a Kaiju could bother Tendo right now, and lets himself nod off to sound of soft breathing behind him.
He wakes up around 6:30 with Tendo's face pressed between his shoulder blades. Extracting himself is awkward, the bed is small and he's a bit cramped and uncomfortable. He stands up, and Tendo rolls over in his place to grab weakly at the sheets. His rosary is still wrapped around his hand, and Herc considers waking him up so he can change into something a bit more comfortable.
But no, Herc just scribbles out a note that says sleep well, and leaves. He finds Stacker soon, explains why Tendo might be showing up to his shift late. Stacker nods, understands, says he's glad Tendo is actually getting some real sleep.
It's not until around 10:30 that Herc finds himself back in LOCCENT after hearing that Tendo was up and kicking. He spots him in no time, sitting at his usual station with a fresh shirt on.
“Morning, Sleeping Beauty,” Herc booms, startling a few technicians.
“Hey there, Mr. Sandman,” Tendo greets, spinning around in his chair to face Herc. “I hear your my knight in flannel pajamas.”
“Actually, I was wearing fatigue pants and a sweater,” Herc says, placing a cup of coffee in front of Tendo, who accepts it gladly. There's still bags under his eyes, all dark and haggard, but he's smiling over the rim of the mug.
“Who the hell wears fatigues at five in the morning?”
“It was closer to four,” Herc grouses, and Tendo actually looks sheepish for a moment. “I couldn't sleep, so I decided to get ready early.”
“Sure, you slept just fine in my room,” Tendo mumbles, and Herc's eyebrows knit.
“How the hell do you remember that?” Herc asks.
“Hard to miss a buff guy rolling into a single bed with you,” Tendo grins. “But don't worry, I won't let it out to the public that you're a cuddler.”
Herc lightly cuffs him on the ear for that one. Tendo just laughs and tries to duck away from the assault.
“Low blow, man, beating up on the sleep deprived like that.”
“Should be damn well rested after this morning.”
“Thanks, by the way,” Tendo says, and turns back to his console. “I'd be up shit creek without a paddle if it wasn't for you and your insomnia.”
“You'll still be screwed if you don't start sleeping like a normal person,” Herc says, like he's chastising a child.
“Yeah, okay, don't want to incur the wrath of Papa Hansen,” Tendo says, and Herc considers smacking him again.
It's only about a week later when Stacker approaches Herc in the evening with an armful of Tendo. Herc just sighs and buries his face in his hands.
“It wouldn't surprise me if the last time he slept was when you took him back to his room,” Stacker says, and holds his arms out like he's trying to pawn a large baby off to Herc. “Care to work your magic again, ranger?”
Herc scrubs his hands down his face and moves to collect Tendo into his own arms. The weight feels strange at first; Tendo might be tiny next to the rangers but he's still a full grown man. It doesn't help that he's all dead weight, lolling against Herc like he's used to this already.
Little shit's probably doing this on purpose, Herc thinks, and starts the trek back to Tendo's room.