Doggie?

Who: Nic and Dan
Where: Their Room
When: 5:00 p.m.

Dan hadn't left the room all day - he'd had the world's shortest conversation with Cal over tools and he'd borderline lost it to Emma voer the journals. That had actually helped. Nic had been sleeping and Dan had been able to have a silent breakdown for a while, tears rolling down his cheeks as he'd typed and Nic need never know, Dan could continue to be being strong for him.

He'd also talked to Zhen, filling her in when their friend had brought them up food, talking quietly at the door, their tones hushed - both of them in agreement that if Nic wasn't awake, they weren't going to wake him. The food was the type which could be eaten cold, so Dan had put it to one side after Zhen had gone and gotten on with busy-work, just ebcause he had to keep himself busy.

Nic hadn't even realized he'd fallen asleep. Eventually it just happened, inevitable after the emotional beating he'd had earlier that morning. As much as he'd tried to fight it, he'd crashed with Dan at his side, comforted by the fact that his boyfriend would keep watch. It was for that reason alone that he was able to sleep, though he woke with a start, feeling rested, though panicked that he'd been vulnerable in the first place.

"Baby?" Nic called out, eyes opening as he curled up again, immediately tense. It was a sense of preservation that kept him doing so, as if he could protect himself physically by rolling into a ball. He knew it wasn't logical, but he wasn't exactly thinking the motion through.

Dan looked up and turned as soon as he heard Nic stir, stupidly attuned to movement from the bed. By the time NIc called out, he was there, sitting down at his side, his arms going round the other man. "Here, I'm here," he whispered, crawling up onto the bed, albeit above the covers.

All it took was Dan's presence for Nic to breathe a sigh of relief, closing his eyes as his arms wrapped around Dan. "I fell asleep," Nic said, and he knew Dan would know why that bothered him. "Did anything happen? How long have I been out?" he asked. It seemed like seconds, but he felt rested enough that he knew his perception wasn't accurate.

"A few hours," Dan said, settling himself back against the headboard. "You haven't missed anything. There's a run in the house on people wanting to make better locks and bars for their doors. Some bloke came and borrowed my tools. Zhen brought food. And Emma reckons we should get a guard dog."

"We all need better locks," Nic said, looking towards the door. He knew Dan had set it up while he'd been in the shower, but he hadn't had time to take a look at it. It was similar to the last one made for him, yet more skillfully done. It was obvious Dan was getting better with experience. "A guard dog?" he asked, uncurling enough to look for said food. "Would they do something like that?"

"They did for Hannah," Dan pointed out. "I don't know if she asked for it or what, but apparently that's how she got the dog, I guess. I don't know how you'd feel about a dog - or maybe a cat? Do they do guard-cats? Probably not. But something that would wake up if someone tried to get in the room. I dunno - I just... What do you think?" Dan asked, indecisively.

Nic nodded and thought about it for a second before answering. "I think I'd like that. A dog, not a cat. Something that would bark at the door if someone started messing with it. Would wake us up," Nic said, and the idea started to grow on him more and more by the minute. "I'd worry about it, that someone would do something to it, but... I'd feel safer."

"Then I'll put in a request," Dan assured him. He'd never really seen himself as owning a dog - least of all a guard dog type. Maybe something smaller, cuter. And starting out as a puppy, but if they were getting a guard dog it'd have to be grown and trained. but, it was a good idea. "You have any preference for breed, or just what comes?" he asked. Right now, he'd give Nic the moon on a stick if he could manage it.

If Nic stepped back to think about it, he wouldn't have pegged Dan as the dog sort either, but he'd grown up with one and, at the moment, it sounded like a good idea. "If I could pick? A Labrador Retriever or a Golden Retriever. I know they're both extremely trainable, very smart dogs, they bark loud enough to wake us both, though they're not... I don't know. I couldn't own a Doberman or anything like that."

Oh thank god for that, Dan thought - somehow a Doberman would have been too much. He'd never had a dog before and whilst he wasn't against it, he was a little twitchy about it as well. He didn't exactly have a whole lot of experience with dogs - especially not the kind of dogs that guarded and possibly barked and bit.

Though Nic wasn't completely with it, he was always very aware of Dan-- of what he said, of what he didn't say, and right now, of his silence. Nic chewed on his lip, hesitating, then pushed on forward. "What do you want to do?" Nic asked. At some point, he wanted a dog, but he wouldn't have chosen this environment either. He'd wanted to be some place happy and sunny, where he and Dan could have a puppy to cuddle and pet, not one to guard their door at night. It might have been slightly disappointing, but he knew he could love the dog anyways, adore it if it made him safer.

Dan cocked a half smile. "I want to do whatever's best for us and right now, I think that maybe this is what's best for us. I know I'd sleep better knowing someone was watching over us - and not via CCTV either," he joked, though it fell rather flat. "It's just not how I saw us getting a pet together, y'know?"

Nic gave a little nod, then slid his arm around Dan with a sigh. "I kind of saw us with an apartment, maybe a small house, and a puppy... that we pick out together... because we want one, not because we need one," Nic said, though he was aware things didn't always work out the way he planned. That didn't mean they couldn't have that some day. This would just have to come first.

Dan cuddled him back, shuffling down a little as he allowed himself a small smile and a momentary warm glow, despite everything - but then talk of their living together after all this always did that to him. "We've got time for all of that," Dan agreed, but his smile faded as he thought of how much he'd panicked when he'd thought Nic was gone, how he'd realised that even knowing where to find him wasn't enough - he couldn't get through this without him. Don't leave me, never leave me.

Time was something they had plenty of, just not where Nic wanted it. Nine more months of this hell was just a bit terrifying, now that he had a better idea of what the scientists and his housemates were capable of. Surviving wasn't enough. They had to survive together. "I wish we had a plan," Nic said. "Something that we could rely on to keep us safe and together... What do you think the other couples in the house do?" He wasn't even sure which couples he was referring to, but he knew there was at least one other long standing relationship to look at. Nic just didn't know either person in it well enough to inquire.

"I don't think there are that many couples in the house," Dan told him. "Aaaaand, of the ones I know? I'd say Kales and Emma rely on the fact that he hacked someone apart with a machete and Rain and Everett rely on the fact that Everett's a police officer. Which means they both have scary points on their side that we don't get to have."

Nic's expression almost turned to one of pouting, based on the fact that he was coming up short. Mentally he wondered what needed to be done to earn that sort of reputation, but if he wasn't willing to kill anyone (which he wasn't), then that just wasn't going to happen. "That sucks," he said, feeling like they were coming up short. "Somehow I don't see either of us as seeming appropriately scary. Any ideas?"

"Aside from coming up with a system of traps and falls that a Disney kids movie would be proud of? No, not really. Apart from a dog. One that barks - but not too vicious. I'd like to think he could be a pet as well as a guard dog. Maybe when nobody's looking." Yeah, Dan was a total sap - but Nic knew that already.

"I don't want anything too vicious," Nic agreed. "The last thing we need is being scared of our own guard dog. I named a retriever because they're generally nice dogs, but they're big and can be trained to bark if someone tries to get in the door. I recognize that we can't prevent any sort of airborn drugging they might do, but considering the fact that we were hit on the head with a wrench, I'm not sure our in-house attacker is that skilled." Or, Nic could hope. If it was just physical violence they had to prepare for, a dog might really do the trick.

"A retriever it is then," Dan agreed, kissing Nic on the forehead. "You want me to put in a request to the scientists for one?" he asked.

"Yes," Nic said, the knot of tension in his chest loosening up just a touch. "I think... maybe... sleep might be possible for both of us if we had one." Which meant, in Nic's head, that he'd be staying up all night tonight, watching over Dan as Dan had watched over him. Both of them asleep at the same time wasn't something Nic was okay with yet, though he hoped to get back there... some day.

Dan hugged him close for a moment, then let him go, standing up and crossing to the computer to rattle off a quick note to the scientists. He wondered if they'd respond - if they were going to fill it, how long it would take. Or whether they'd just sit there and laugh at them and their predicament. Hopefully not the second one, though right now it was difficult not to listen to the inner voice of paranoia.

The sense of distress that came over Nic when Dan released him was ridiculous, and Nic knew as much. It was something he was going to have to work on, as he knew that Dan wasn't expected to hold him 24-hours of the day. That was insane. Nic took a deep breath, comforting himself with the fact that Dan was still within reach. "This is gonna take some getting used to," he said softly, seeking out the food Dan said Zhen had brought by. He hadn't eaten all day and it was starting to get to him.

Dan looked over and cocked an eyebrow. "Which bit?" he asked, closing down the monitor and returning to the bed, snagging himself some food at the same time.

"The part where I have to let go of you," Nic said with a nervous little laugh. "It's not practical. I'm not a child. It's just... I need to feel safe in this room. If I can be okay with that, then I can slowly get myself out again..." He hoped. He already knew this was going to be an issue.

"Well," Dan said, slipping under the covers this time and snuggling down against Nic, putting the food down on the side table, forgotten for now. "You're not a child," he agreed. "But what happened today means you're allowed not to be totally with it right now. And I'm gonna be here, I'm not going anywhere - to be honest, I think you're gonna get sick of me being clingy. Because... Yeah." Because I woke up and you weren't there.

"I don't mind," Nic said, snuggling back against Dan. "I can't see me getting sick of you. I can see me getting sick of this room, eventually, but not any time soon. I've just... never been quite this clingy." It wouldn't have felt odd to him if it weren't for the reasoning behind it. He'd liked having Dan around before, but now he needed him on a different level, one that seemed just a little excessive.

"Hmm, but I like clingy," Dan pouted, because cute cuddliness seemed very much needed right now. He splayed a hand across Nic's chest, his head on his shoulder. "So feel free to be as clingy as you like for as long as you like." He didn't say anything about the room - they'd work on that over the coming days, he was sure.

Dan pouting was always good to get a tiny smile out of Nic and he cuddled back, attempting to pretend everything was the same as it had been the day before. "You might regret that," Nic said softly, a touch of amusement to his voice. He kissed Dan on the forehead as he wondered what to do next, how to prepare for the coming days. Nothing could have prepared him for what had happened that morning, but he had to try. He couldn't just sit back and let things like this continue to happen. Not to anyone else, and certainly not to him.