Work Text:
Dakota loved William. Really, he did. William was one of his best friends, he was smart (sometimes) and even if their opinions on things differed a lot but that didn’t make him care for William any less. He would do whatever he could to keep William (and Vyncent) safe since they were the people that Dakota cared for the most, even Tide was on that list. And he knew that William would do the same, even if he didn’t show it the same way, Dakota firmly and truly believed that William would do what he could to protect them.
And Dakota really loved William in all those ways. On the bad days when he couldn’t seem to manage the normal Dakota Energy, William would sit with him silently and just bask in each other’s presence. Dakota didn’t need to put up a high-energy front around William because he would just go along with anything and he made Dakota feel safe.
He allowed Dakota to relax because he seemed to have an air of reassurance surrounding him, even if a lot of the time he seemed stressed out of his mind (he had enough stress for the three of them). And Dakota found that he was nice to sit with, especially if he needed some silence, or just to be by someone without really trying too hard to interact. He let Dakota hang off of him or hold hands when they walked or he would just put up with whatever contact that Dakota initiated, going far enough to reciprocate it. William just had a gentle enough energy that made it easy for Dakota to settle with.
And when they were on missions, even if his plans didn’t always work, or the way he took charge sometimes seemed to grate on Dakota’s nerves. He knew that William had the best intentions. Even if they didn’t always share the same morals behind things.
So really, he cared so much for William that sometimes it made him want to tear up with emotion. And he wasn’t a super emotional person in that sense, it took a lot to get him to cry. But love for his friends would make him get overwhelmed with feelings any day.
With all that in mind, and with how much Dakota loved William and how Dakota would do anything to make sure that the others were safe and well... William was still going to be the death of him one of these days.
Dakota leaned his head back against the armrest of the couch, a heavy sigh bubbling out of his throat as he silently laughed at himself and the predicament that he had gotten into.
The only thing that he could see of William was the top of his head and the fluffy black curls that stuck up in miscellaneous places. Besides that, he was completely burrowed underneath a thick blanket, the only thing keeping Dakota from overheating being the chill that he radiated.
His arms were wrapped around Dakota’s lower back, fingers occasionally twitching against the dip of his skin as he deflated more with each shaky breath. Dakota could hear his breathing and the shaky way that he took each inhale, the air puffed against his chest from where William had his face tucked.
William was completely laying on top of Dakota’s chest, their legs tangled together and almost hanging off the way too small couch. He didn’t weigh that much, but it was enough pressure that normally Dakota would find it comforting, enough to allow him to relax and sometimes even fall asleep. It did a lot better than normal weighted blankets that never provided him with enough weight.
He had cuddled up on top of Dakota a while ago and Dakota had held him just as close, managing to relax a little bit and smooth out the tension that had been plaguing him all day. Immediately, William buried his face against Dakota’s chest, snuggling under a blanket that he had dragged with him and allowed himself to practically deflate, an aura of cold air surrounding him. He picked at the back of Dakota’s shirt and twisted the hem around his finger, eyelids fluttering occasionally as he glanced up to gauge Dakota’s expression.
They had talked quietly about things like video games or people at school (that William somehow had a lot of gossips about) and Dakota loved every time that he made William laugh. He would squeeze William a little bit tighter, hands curling his waist as a wide grin split across his face and made his cheeks flush with excitement just to hear the breathless wheezing chuckles from William’s lips. William’s cheeks would flush a dark shade of red and he would hide it against Dakota’s shirt, shoulders shaking with how hard he was laughing.
That was one of Dakota’s favorite things, being able to make one of his friends laugh. Especially with how flustered William always got when he laughed. His reactions were always the funniest.
But the two of them settled after a little bit, Dakota brought one hand up to play with William’s hair, loving the way that his curls would bounce back up when tugged on. His hair was too frizzy to do that, not in the way that William’s ringlet curls would.
William let out a sigh and fell quiet, burying his face against Dakota’s chest in a way that made it hard to see his expression. Dakota shuffled a bit so that he could lean his shoulder against the armrest of the couch and didn’t have to deal with the painful crick of his neck later. William allowed himself to be moved easily, holding onto Dakota’s waist a little tighter with the thought that Dakota was going to try and pull away before relaxing once again.
Dakota tried to strike up another conversation, glancing over at the clock across the room before asking William what time they should start making lunch.
But there was no response from William, even when Dakota nudged his shoulder a little bit and asked the same question again.
“Will?” Dakota muttered, making an attempt to smooth William’s bangs back to see a bit more of his face. William snuffled and he scrunched up his nose as Dakota tried to move him a little bit, his grip tightened.
When Dakota was finally able to see his features, he noticed with a mix of emotions that William’s eyes were shut and his breathing had evened out a lot more than before. He didn’t react when Dakota poked his forehead or his cheeks, only grumbled softly and tried to hide once again in the front of Dakota’s shirt.
He was asleep. Very much asleep. Dakota didn’t even know when that happened, they had been talking for a while.
Once William was asleep, that meant that there was a good chance that Dakota would not be able to get up from the couch for a while, especially with how deeply William slept around the others. If shaking his shoulder didn’t wake him up, there was no way he would be up anytime soon. What was worse was that every time Dakota moved, William unconsciously curled closer, silently begging him not to leave. His fingers twitched occasionally or his expression would scrunch up and if Dakota tried to move his arms away it looked almost as if William would start crying. He had that same unconscious look on his face when he was about to cry (even if Dakota was sure he wouldn’t).
And curse the love that he had for William because who would Dakota be if he just left him alone? When he woke up he would probably be disoriented and even more confused if he wasn’t able to find Dakota anywhere nearby. That happened a lot, especially in the morning when William would leave his room a little confused about where he was, it didn’t take long for him to come back to normal but it was still a bit uncomfortable for everyone when he would squint and look around curiously.
So even if Dakota really didn’t like sitting in one place for a long time, he’d sit with William laying fully on top of him so that William could get some well-deserved sleep. Normally, he would take a nap with William, more than content to snooze for a little bit while they relaxed.
But Dakota felt way too awake to try and sleep, he had been invested in their conversation and hadn’t even felt a little tired, that’s how focused he was paying attention. Not at all like what usually happened when William cuddled up to him. It usually made him exhausted, William was calm enough that when he would lean against him it was comforting enough that Dakota could relax. But not when it was the middle of the day.
He was stuck. If he moved he didn’t want to wake William up or leave him alone when he eventually did wake up. Sure, Dakota was pretty confident in his ability to wiggle out of someone’s grasp when they were asleep. But he felt a little bad doing it to William when he knew that William never slept well.
William deserved the sleep, a nap wouldn’t hurt. And a little bit of rest once in a while was good for both of them.
Even if Dakota’s stomach was beginning to rumble as it neared lunchtime. He grumbled under his breath and tilted his head back until he was staring up at the ceiling, the patterns of the tiles stretching across the surface. One of the tiles was missing from one of Dakota’s escapades.
William was even snoring softly, the sound faint enough that Dakota originally thought it was just the wheezing way that he breathed. But listening closely, it definitely sounded like snoring. It was a little funny to listen to. He sounded like a dog snuffling and wheezing. His fingers twitched in his sleep and he shifted slightly, unconsciously snuggling closer. Dakota squeezed one arm around his midsection, silently reassuring him with the hug.
At least one good thing about the situation was that when William was asleep, he couldn’t oppose Dakota messing with his hair (not that he ever did unless they were in public). So Dakota continued to play with his curls, running his fingers through his bangs and watching the coils bounce absently. William’s hair was fun to play with, especially when it was slightly damp and easier to pull into tiny braids or ponytails. And since William loved him too, he never could say no.
Which was the entire reason why William’s nails were painted a gentle lavender, or how sometimes he would let Vyncent do his face with way too much makeup for anyone to ever wear casually, or how he let Dakota take his shirts when he needed something to sit and be comfy in. He loved them too much to ever say no to things like that, even if he would sit and blush the whole time, looking away embarrassed. But Dakota figured that if William ever got up the nerve to ask them for things, Dakota would never say no either.
Dakota would listen to William talk about mysteries or some puzzle video game for hours if William really wanted to. Or if he wanted to sleep in Dakota’s room because he was too scared to be alone, Dakota wouldn’t even hesitate before saying yes. Or if he wanted to sit down in the living room, reading poetry out loud(both his own and from the large book that he kept on his desk) until his voice was hoarse from all the talking, Dakota would love to listen.
A small smile spread across Dakota’s lips as he stared at the boy cuddled against his chest. He let out a slow breath that ruffled William’s hair and held him a little tighter.
But his stomach rumbled again and Dakota was reminded of the more pressing issue at hand. However much he loved William didn’t stop the fact that he was really hungry and he was stuck on the couch because he felt bad about moving.
Struggling to get his phone out of his pocket, Dakota shuffled a little bit, holding onto William so he didn’t fall off the couch before resettling. He slid his phone out of his pocket and lifted it up a little bit so that he could see it over William’s mass of curls.
The screen was cracked in a few different places, and when Dakota clicked the power button, it took a second or two before his home screen flashed up. It was a picture of all three of them on the first day of school, a picture that Tide had insisted on taking. There was a framed version of it on the wall. Dakota smiled at it before opening up his messages.
He struggled with one hand to shakily text Tide.
‘Can u bring me some food pls!!!!!’ Followed by a bunch of food emojis that Dakota could find without searching too hard.
Dakota thought for a few seconds, his lip twitching slightly as he looked back down at William’s sleeping form practically deflated against his chest. He really did look like a sad balloon when he was all sprawled out like that on top of Dakota. It was a little funny.
Dakota added another text.
‘Will is asleep on me!’
That seemed like it would be good enough. Tide would understand what Dakota meant. He had seen the way that William always seems to drift off a little bit when someone hugs him for too long. They knew he didn’t sleep much.
Dakota tucked his phone underneath his thigh and hoped that Tide would respond soon. He had no idea what the superhero was doing at the moment, but he was at least partly sure that he was still in the base at the very least. It would be a little awkward if he wasn’t but Tide usually let them know when he was going to be leaving for a bit and when he figured he would be back. And Dakota prided himself in being able to remember when people said they were leaving.
His phone vibrated and Dakota pulled it out to see the message from Tide pop up. It was just a thumbs-up emoji and a smiley face emoji. Dakota chuckled softly.
A few minutes later, Dakota heard footsteps down the hall which were soon to be accompanied by Tide. He looked over at Dakota laying on the couch with William completely passed out on top of him and chuckled softly.
“Looks like he’s out,” Tide commented, a steady smile splitting his face and scrunching up the corners of his eyes.
“Passed out,” Dakota agreed with a nod, smoothing his hand over the top of William’s head and pushing his bangs back. William snuffled softly and pressed his face deeper into Dakota’s chest, but besides that, he didn’t stir.
“I’ll make you a sandwich,” Tide said, walking over to the couch and patting Dakota on the top of the head before stepping towards the kitchen.
“Thank you,” Dakota called after him, sinking deeper into the couch cushions. If he thought about it, the entire situation was a little funny.
He had to text Tide just to bring him some food because if he left there was a good chance that William would wake up (the lack of heat would cause him to shiver himself awake or something like that) and Dakota wanted to make sure he slept. But also Dakota was hungry since it was just getting to meal time and he hadn’t eaten for a few hours.
Dakota could hear Tide clattering around in the kitchen as he made some food. Dakota appreciated it.
So while he waited, Dakota just held William tighter and traced little patterns into his back, hoping that he was having a good nap and good dreams. Everyone knew that he needed sleep, even Dakota.
At least he wasn’t shivering for once, the constant tremors that usually wracked his form were often enough to make Dakota shake. But he seemed comfortable with the thick blanket wrapped around his shoulders and Dakota underneath him to provide enough body heat for both of them. That was good.
Even if his stomach rumbled, Dakota would let William sleep. At least he had Tide who was willing to make him some food because he understood how important it was not to move when someone fell asleep on another person.
And it would be a little funny for Dakota to be able to playfully tease William about it when he woke up. Since he often did fall asleep relatively quickly when someone gave him something warm (whether it be a mug of tea or a long hug). It was cute.
As much as Dakota loved William, he was sure that it was going to be the death of him one of these days. Especially when his heart hurt at the idea of waking him up just to go get some food. Curse him for caring so much about his friends.