I can't stop thinking about sick!Herbert in the basement, sweating through his grimy suit clothes. He's been down there all day and night— the only reason he can even remember what day of the week it is because he's constantly making notes of times and reactions in tissue samples. His temperature's running as hot as the humid air in the basement, surely tainting his results. The longer he goes without eating, without sleeping, as much of his weakened reagent he uses to offset it, Herbert feels more and more faint as his body cries out for the basic needs for it to function. He's not the machine he wants to be. He's practically wobbling on his feet when Dan incessantly begs him to just finish up for the night and go get some rest. Herbert even looks feverish, his immune system absolutely tanking with the complete lack of care he's put into himself, severely lacking the proper proteins to fully function as a human being. His face is flushed and his tired eyes wild and frantic with his research, and Dan practically has to drag him out of the basement himself when Herbert damn near collapses into him and keeps insisting he’s fine.
Dan's pretty concerned but somewhat awkward about a deliriously tired Herbert now in his care, this cold and unbreakable machine of a roommate acting so very much like an indignant child to be put to bed. He shuffles around and gives Herbert a pair of his sleeping clothes and insists he wear them bc a) Herbert's feverish and sweating through his filthy suit covered in smeared bits of what Dan can only assume used to be a person, and b) he honestly doesn't even know if Herbert owns anything that isn't formal attire. It's an argument that Herbert is all too tired to formulate the right responses to win, every good excuse dying in the back of his throat as he angrily snatches up Dan's pajamas to put them on to make him shut up and leave him alone. (Why do I imagine him grumpy and in loose red coca-cola pants?) Dan's prob overtly satisfied, and trying to keep his smug expression down. It's just not that often Herbert shows anyone that he was still human— that the blood that flowed through his veins was not the rancid green of his reagent, not a monstrous beast of his own making, but the same red blood as theirs, just a scholar absolutely encumbered by his desperation to prove himself to the people who told him he was too mad and could never finish his work.
A pouting child.
Seeing Herbert outside of his tailored suits certainly cuts back on the demigod image he'd managed to rack up for himself. A quick and dangerously high temperature reading from Dan, much to Herbert's dismay, leads him to ushering Herb to the couch for some much rest and plenty of fluids to be drinking to get his temperature back to a safer level. And Herbert? Herbert's protesting the entire way but eventually & grumpily passes out & slumps over onto Dan, who happily drinks his favorite coffee and watches a movie so the snake doesn’t slither out of his grasp again. Herbert has something to say about something every five minutes, whether it's about the dumb plot or Dan being controlling (he's not, you're just bordering on very dangerously feverish and he doesn't want your emaciated ass to die in his basement, you stubborn bastard), or Dan caring too much about anything outside of Herbert’s experiments.
Just.
Dan caring for a sick Herbert and going out of his way to be nice and make sure Herbert doesn't cook his own brain while Herbert is complaining very loudly the entire time. Herbert eventually giving in and Dan trying not to be TOO smug bc he know he would never hear the end of it from Herbert if he showed the satisfaction of winning.
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