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Dakota sank deeper into the couch cushions, adjusting so that he could spread his legs out in front of himself, heels resting on the bottom lip of the coffee table, his ankle cracking with the movement as he stretched. He nearly knocked over his water bottle when he adjusted, the metal container balanced precariously next to him. It wouldn’t spill, but it was in the right position so Dakota didn’t really want to have to readjust.
He had a blanket settled over his lap even though he would normally overheat. It was a little cold in the base at the moment, so to avoid shivering, he snuggled up underneath one of the many blankets that had found their way into the living room and was tucked underneath it. It was one of the softer flannel blankets that had been left out after many movie nights and had just become part of the living room furniture.
In front of him, on the TV, the sounds of his video game hummed from the speakers, as he pressed buttons on the controller clutched tightly in his hands. His character on screen hopped from platform to platform as he bumbled through the relatively easy puzzles. Dakota was not very good at the puzzle aspect of this game, he only liked it because of the platforming.
The little character jumped again and Dakota safely maneuvered to a calmer platform towards the top of the map. He let the controller rest in his lap for a moment as he cracked his knuckles, stretching his fingers and clenching his hands in and out of a fist to get rid of the stiffness. He leaned further back against the couch and lifted his arms above his head until he heard a satisfying pop from his shoulders, a small bit of pain lessening from his back.
It wasn’t even like he had been hunched over, Dakota figured that he had been allowing his body the proper amount of stretching and good posture to hopefully let him sit for a bit longer without pain. But something always seemed to ache whenever he sat down for too long. He just readjusted again to get comfortable, sinking deeper into the couch.
The blanket began to slip down his hips which Dakota quickly pulled back up to rest over his lap before it could fall to the floor. He picked up the controller and went back to his game, only pausing for a moment a few seconds later to take a drink from his water bottle.
He had only been sitting here for a little bit, an hour at most, and was just starting to get into the game which had been slow in the beginning. But Dakota had played it before, so he vaguely knew what he was doing (he had watched Vyncent play it a few times). However, he didn’t know the solutions to the beginning world levels and was struggling a little bit with those. Who knew that video games could be hard?
The sound of someone approaching caused Dakota to look over his shoulder slightly, not completely turning his attention away from the game but wanting to see who it was. And since Dakota didn’t have Vyncent’s sense of hearing, he actually had to look to see.
Standing in the entrance to the living room turned out to be William, hovering slightly and examining the scene before him. He had his hood pulled up over his head and was wearing a baggy gray sweatshirt. The only reason Dakota could tell that it was him with a quick glance backward was because of the way he stood and his height. William always slouched slightly, his shoulders pulled up to practically hide in any sort of crowds, it was like he was constantly cowering.
“Hey, Will,” Dakota called, turning back to the TV, and pulling his legs back from the coffee table to cross in front of himself. William said nothing, but hummed softly from the back of his throat, not getting any closer to the couch or where Dakota was sitting.
A few seconds passed, and Dakota took another glance over his shoulder to see if William was still there, or if he had just merely passed through to get to somewhere else in the base. But he was still there, standing like a deer caught in the headlights with his eyes wide and his hand pulled up to his face, covering his mouth.
In his other hand, he held the stuffed cat that Tide had gotten for him a few months ago, the plush object pulled up to his chest. He rubbed his fingers over the soft fur, squeezing gently and pulling at the ears as a way to fidget.
He stood there quietly, swaying back and forth with his sweatshirt sleeves pulled over his hands to cover his palms, bangs falling in front of his face. His face was flushed slightly and it almost looked like he had been crying with the red rings around his eyes and the marks down his cheeks.
“Hey,” Dakota said softly, pausing his game and twisting so that he could face William with more attention focused on the other boy, “you okay?”
William finally pulled his gaze away from the TV now that Dakota had paused it. He shifted his weight from foot to foot and rocked back and forth. He said nothing, sucking in a shaky breath and tilting his head to the side, lifting his shoulders in what could be interpreted as a small shrug. He lifted the hand still holding onto his stuffed cat and rubbed his eyes.
“You wanna come sit with me?” Dakota offered, patting the cushion next to him with a gentle invitation. William sniffled and nodded, silently shuffling over to the couch, finally moving from where he sat.
His sweatshirt hung baggy off his form, bunching up at his waist where he wore a pair of pale blue sweatpants that dragged on the floor when he walked because they were too big for him. But most of William’s clothes were too big for him anyway.
Dakota made room for William as he plopped down on the couch next to Dakota, setting his stuffed animal in his lap and staring down at it, avoiding looking over. He sniffled again and pulled on the ears of the toy cat, rubbing the soft fur as if looking for some sort of comfort. William dropped his other hand from his mouth and Dakota noticed the blue pacifier that he had been chewing on, fingers twisting around the small handle. How Dakota hadn’t noticed it before was a mystery.
If it were possible for Dakota to soften any further, he did. A small pit of worry began to grow in the center of Dakota’s chest, concern for William making him forget all about the game that he had been previously playing.
“Are you small right now?” Dakota asked as softly as he could, approaching it gently, knowing how sensitive William was about the topic. William pulled his knees up to his chest and gave no reaction for a few seconds, face heating up even more. Then, he hid his face, and gave a short nod, a whine bubbling up from the back of his throat.
“‘M sorry…” he mumbled, voice barely above a whisper and muffled where he had hidden his face in his knees. His voice shook like he was trying to hold back tears and he whined again, shoulders shaking slightly as he pulled on his hoodie strings to tighten the hood around his face, “can’t help it…”
“Hey, that’s alright,” Dakota reassured him, “you don’t need to apologize, and you don’t need to be embarrassed about it.”
With another whine, William shook his head.
“Will, it’s okay,” Dakota reached out and put a hand on William’s head, smoothing it down to rest on the center of his shoulders, rubbing gentle circles against his back, “did something happen, or are you just having a bad night?”
William peeked over his knees to look at Dakota, tears welling up in his brown eyes. He shakily reached over to hold up two fingers. The second statement. Bad night, then. Dakota clicked his tongue sympathetically and reached out to pull William closer to his side, tucking his head against his shoulder. William allowed himself to be moved without resistance, sniffling slightly as he hid behind his stuffed animal and the layers of fabric on his hoodie.
“You’re okay, baby,” Dakota hugged him against his side and rubbed his shoulder, squeezing him gently, the pet name slipping out accidentally.
William accepted the hug and shifted so that he could bury his face against Dakota’s arm, scooting closer to leech off of his warmth and comfort. Dakota pulled the blanket so that he could tuck it over William’s lap as well as his own. William was shivering enough that it made Dakota vibrate, his trembling contagious as he sniffled and held back tears.
Dakota reached up to push his hood off of his head, smoothing his fingers through William’s hair and rubbing his head, combing through knots as gently as he could. William practically melted at the contact, clinging tighter to Dakota and humming softly from the back of his throat.
A few stray tears slipped past his closed eyes and William pawed at his face, chewing on his pacifier and trying to snuggle closer. He pulled at the fabric of his sweatshirt and babbled incoherently, mumbling things that either Dakota couldn’t hear or just couldn’t understand.
“Come here,” Dakota adjusted once more, moving his water bottle and the game controller off to the side so he could pull William onto his lap. William allowed himself to be moved, burying his face against Dakota’s shoulder and curling up against him as if he were the smaller one. Technically William was taller than Dakota, but that didn’t matter right now, not when William needed many hugs.
Dakota held William up to his chest and leaned back against the couch cushions, wrapping both arms around his back. William continued to hold onto his stuffed cat, humming and making quiet noises absently, holding onto Dakota just as tightly as he was hugged, whimpering with his lips trembling.
“See, you’re okay,” Dakota continued to slide his fingers through the hair at the back of William’s neck, twisting his fingers around the black curls. William sank against Dakota, melting completely and slipping deeper into little space, small sniffles or hiccups still causing his shoulders to shake occasionally.
Maybe William just felt comfortable enough with Dakota holding him, but as Dakota was running his fingers through his hair, more and more tears began falling down his face. He hiccuped and whined, rubbing his eyes and pawing at his face as more tears fell, silent sobs causing his shoulders to shake.
He cried softly, his sniffles and whines heartbreaking as Dakota tried to comfort him. He rocked William slightly, holding him tightly and whispering gentle reassurances whenever he thought of something that might ease some of William’s sadness.
Whenever a larger sob tore itself from William’s throat, Dakota would hold him a little tighter and squeeze him to his chest. He tucked William’s head underneath his chin and petted his hair, offering him as much comfort as he physically could, wishing that he knew how to do more to help William feel better. He hated seeing William cry, and he hated it even more when William was small and couldn’t help the tears that slipped past his eyes, it broke his heart.
It made Dakota want to bundle William up in as many blankets as he possibly could and hold him tight.
But a few minutes passed, and William seemed to calm down a little bit. Still snuggled against Dakota and showed no intentions of wanting to get up any time soon. He just settled as comfortably as he could, rubbing his stuffed cat like it were an actual cat, thumbs massaging the ears and petting quietly. He poked Dakota in the stomach with the nose of the cat and sniffled, yawning through the pacifier and sighing deeply.
“You wanna play video games with me?” Dakota suggested, figuring it might cheer him up a bit, he pressed a small kiss to the crown of William’s head. William shook his head and babbled quietly, twisting his fingers around the fabric of Dakota’s shirt and allowing the sleeves of his sweatshirt to fall over his hands.
“Okay, how about a movie?”
William shook his head again, he pointed to the video game controller that Dakota had moved to the side and then poked Dakota. He sniffled and pawed at his face, rubbing his tears and dropping his head back to Dakota’s chest.
“You want me to play?” Dakota asked, raising one eyebrow as he held William, releasing his grip slightly whenever William adjusted slightly, shifting to get comfortable. That question received a nod from William. He let his head drop against Dakota’s chest with a small thunk, shoulders slumping.
Dakota huffed a small but loving chuckle, “Okay, I’ll play, you can watch.”
William giggled quietly and sniffled again, adjusting so that he could peek through his bangs and watch the TV. Dakota wrapped William in his arms, holding the controller in front of William so that he could still hug the other boy tightly. He didn’t need to see the buttons anyway.
He waited until William was comfortable before unpausing the game, listening to William hum softly. Occasionally, he would bump his head against the underside of Dakota’s chin and Dakota would chuckle and lean down to kiss the top of his head.
Dakota continued playing his video game, this time with William watching with focused interest, still recovering from his cries as he calmed down, relaxing against Dakota. He yawned and sunk further into the embrace, playing with Dakota’s leather bracelet and humming.
It felt nice to have some company now, it made the living room seem a little less open and empty to have someone else snuggled up with him, especially William. Dakota would play for another few hours if it would provide some sort of solace to William.
Dakota sank further against the couch cushions and pulled William closer, leaning his chin on top of William’s head and holding him tightly. It only took a few minutes for William’s humming to taper off and his head to lull against Dakota’s chest, and it took a few minutes longer for Dakota to notice that William had fallen asleep.