The Best and the Worst of You
Chapter 7: Tired Arin
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The two men were cuddled up on Dan’s couch together, with a fluffy brown blanket draped over their knees. They were meant to be at the Grump Space at least three hours ago, but Arin had streamed video compilations of horseshoe crabs on Dan’s television, and they’d gone through nearly every available video until they were led to Vine compilations. When the last compilation ended, Dan made the executive decision to switch off the TV, Arin groaning in response and cuddling into Dan’s side. Dan shook his head, moving so that Arin would be more comfortable.
“What time even is it?” Dan chuckled, pulling out his phone from his pocket. He read the time and frowned. “Aren’t we meant to be at the Grump Space?” He looked over to Arin, who was incredibly warm and definitely didn’t look like he’d be moving any time soon. “Arin.”
Arin slowly shifted and looked up at Dan sleepily, a soft smile over his face. Dan couldn’t hate that look at all. “Mm…?” The younger man hummed.
“Are we going to the office at any point to record?” Dan asked, moving a hand over Arin’s head to play with his hair. “I know you’re tired, and if you’re not up to it…”
“No, we gotta…” Arin groaned in response, sitting up and yawning quietly. “We gotta record. We didn’t record at all yesterday.” He scratched his head. And Arin was right - their upload schedule had been very spotty over the past couple of days. It couldn’t be helped - especially after the trauma they’d both experienced yesterday.
Dan offered to drive to the Space, a sleepy Arin sat in the passenger seat of his car. Dan glanced over at the other man occasionally, checking he wasn’t going to fall asleep before they got there. Since they’d missed a few sessions, it’d be an intense day of gaming for them both. They hit traffic lights, and as Dan looked over, he immediately recognised that Arin had his eyes shut.
“Arin, buddy…” Dan warned, nudging his shoulder. “I’m gonna stop off at the store, maybe you can pick up some energy drinks or something?” Dan frowned, watching as Arin opened one eye and nodded. He wasn’t aware of it, but Arin must not have slept well at all last night. He, on the other hand, had slept like a fucking baby after such a stressful evening. He really felt sorry for Arin - it wasn’t his fault any of this was happening, and clearly it affected him more than it should.
“I didn’t sleep…” Arin quietly admitted, mostly to himself. Dan could tell because he was shutting his eyes again. The lights turned green and Dan huffed, driving towards the local store. He wondered if he should just turn the car around and go home. But no; Arin would be mad at him, and everyone at the Space would worry. Not that they weren’t worried, anyway.
A few minutes passed, and Dan was pulling into the driveway of the 7-11 nearest to the Space. He looked at Arin again, who was passed out, looking incredibly peaceful. Dan bit his lip, leaning closer to him and speaking in a hushed voice.
“How many Monsters do you reckon you’ll need?” Dan stirred Arin from his slumber. Arin jolted, looking at Dan in confusion before understanding.
“‘Bout 5.” He mumbled, trying to sit himself up in the chair. “I’ll get you the money for it when we get to the Space…” Arin stretched his arms out, and Dan raised an eyebrow. Arin must be really tired, if he was offering to pay.
Dan hurried into the 7-11, leaving Arin to sleep in the car. He shuffled to where the drinks fridge was and tucked five Monster cans under his arm, grabbing a sparkling water for himself. He also picked up a Kit Kat for Arin on his way to the tills.
Making his way back to the car, he could already see through the window that Arin was sleeping peacefully. He felt bad as he clicked open the driver’s door, slipping inside - it obviously woke Arin up, who looked displeased. Dan gently dropped the five energy drinks onto Arin’s lap, holding up the Kit Kat in front of his face to catch his attention. Arin’s eyes immediately lit up, and he sat up properly, taking the Kit Kat from Dan.
“For me? Thank you…” Arin smiled happily, quickly opening up the packet and breaking off one of the fingers of the bar. Dan sat back and took a sip from his sparkling water, a smile across his face.
It wasn’t more than 2 hours before they’d ran into a problem.
Arin kept falling asleep in episodes, and Dan was really struggling to make up for Arin’s silence. Dan began to feel how Arin must have felt with him earlier in the week - with Dan constantly being tired from travelling. Dan, unlike Arin, was never angry. He could never be angry at someone like Arin. Whilst Arin was out cold, he finished up the episode himself, even keeping to the traditional ‘Next time on Game Grumps’. He quietly maneuvered himself about the room, stopping the game capture and recordings, fiddling with wires and buttons. He’d only ever done this once before by himself, but he figured the once was enough to know by now how to do it all properly.
Arin didn’t stir from his sleep, surprisingly, and Dan made a decision to leave him resting in the Grump room for a little while. He draped one of the blankets from his office over the younger man and closed the door behind him, strolling into the office. Checking the time, he hushed a small sigh. It was already turning 6, and he’d done nothing of proper use with himself. Feeling a weird kind of weight in his chest, he sought out Ross, who was running over some scripts with someone Dan didn’t quite recognise in Ross’ office.
“Whatcha up to?” Dan asked, peering over Ross’ shoulder. Ross tilted his head back and looked up at Dan with a smile.
“Dan.” He acknowledged the other man’s presence, sliding his chair back a bit. The man next to him did the same. “We’re just running over some stuff for Gameoverse. Lines and stuff.”
“Oh, that’s cool. How… How long do you think you’ll be?” Dan asked nervously, running a hand over his hair. Ross raised an eyebrow and looked at the stranger next to him, glancing back at Dan.
“I can pause it if you need to talk.” Ross folded his arms, watching Dan warily. “You never come to me first, though. So I guess it must be important…” He looked at the man sat next to him and shrugged. “If you’re good with it, we can come back to this in about an hour.” Ross suggested, the other man nodding and agreeing, walking to the other room. Ross watched him leave, and once he was out of sight, he turned back to Dan.
“You’ve known Arin for a long time, right?” Dan started, dragging a chair over to sit by Ross, dragging the door closed at the same time.
“Not as long as Suzy has. You could talk to her.” He shrugged, turning back to his screen. Dan grabbed his shoulder and turned him back around with a sigh.
“Suzy’s not here, and I need to hear it from someone who won’t object every flaw I’m about to point out.” Dan’s voice bordered desperation, and Ross’ eyes widened.
“Oh shit…” Ross turned to face Dan properly. “Well, you’re right. Did something happen?”
Dan prepared himself, hands fumbling in his lap. He knew that he should probably just confront Arin about this kind of stuff, but he didn’t know if it was just him being someone who worried too much.
“He didn’t sleep last night, and I’m just really worried something’s wrong.” Dan looked down at his hands with an exasperated sigh. “I don’t know if it’s him and Suzy, or anything going on outside that we don’t know about.” Dan looked at Ross, who’s face frowned in recognition. Ross must have noticed, too - or even, maybe he knew something. “I mean- God, Ross. When I was out yesterday, I met an Arin who was literally seconds away from killing himself.” He watched Ross’ face as he tensed, clearly concerned. “I stopped him.” Ross let out a breath he didn’t even realise he was holding in.
“But that’s not our Arin.” Ross tapped against the table, his brain running wildly now. Was Arin okay? He’d noticed Arin had been a little more distant recently, but hadn’t thought much of it until just now.
“Right.” Dan confirmed, crossing his arms and sitting back in the chair. “But I got back, and Suzy said Arin had a really bad, unexplainable panic attack.” Dan frowned, Ross shaking his head in tow. “When I told him about the other Arin, it made him really uncomfortable. He’s spoken about death before only recently, but like…” Dan groaned and covered his face with his hands. “Do you think? Arin might be depressed, or something? Something’s going on, and it pains me that I don’t know what the Hell’s going on, and…”
“Where is he?” Ross suddenly asked, quick, worried. Dan shook his head and waved a hand dismissively. He’d never taken Ross as the kind of person to worry so much.
“Grump room. He fell asleep.” Dan mumbled. “God, I don’t know what to do, Ross. I can’t talk to him about it, ‘cos he’ll get all upset. I can’t talk to Suzy, because she’ll just worry more and freak out and shit.”
“Yeah…” Ross nodded with a sigh. “I think just… talk to him. Even if he does get upset… Better to do that, then leave it to become something worse…” Ross frowned.
The two of them jolted upon hearing even the weakest knock against the door. Ross and Dan exchanged a concerned glance, and then Ross stood up to open the door. Standing before them was Arin, looking at them both sleepily. His hair was rustled, and he still seemed really tired. He hadn’t slept for long.
“I thought we were recording…” Arin grumbled, sounding a bit hurt. Dan stood up to match his height and nodded quickly, feeling bad for leaving him.
“We were, but you kept falling asleep, buddy…” Dan frowned, putting a hand on Arin’s shoulder. “So I stopped it. We got about two episodes done, but you should really rest up. I don’t want you to die by being overtired and fuelled only by energy drinks.” Arin seemed to huff a quiet laugh, shaking his head.
“I can stay up… It’s not even late.” Arin propped himself against the doorway to Ross’ office, a lazy grin on his face. Ross merely rolled his eyes, turning back to his screen and scrolling through the script again.
“It’s not late, but you literally didn’t sleep all night. You told me that.” Dan looped an arm around Arin’s waist and pulled him close for a quick hug. “I don’t mind if you want to call today off and go home. We can space everything out, I’m sure Ross wouldn’t mind recording some Steam Train stuff with me before I leave.” Dan glanced at Ross, who looked dumbfounded. “And we can even get some Grumpcade stuff out. We’ve got that special with Brian and Audrey to come out, yet.” Dan reassured him, patting him on the back. Arin seemed to mumble something sleepily into his shoulder, and Dan just laughed.
“C’mon, big cat. Let’s get you home. Or at least, to mine.” Dan stopped and thought for a second. Suzy wasn’t at the Grump Space, and neither was Barry, so he assumed that they were both at Arin’s still. He waited for a response, but Arin was already falling asleep leant against him, which made Dan giggle.
“Can you two lovebirds just go home already?” Ross sighed, deferring back to his usual persona. Dan was nearly surprised. “I’ve got work to do.”
Dan said that he didn’t mind carrying Arin back to the car and such, but Arin was very adamant that Dan wouldn’t be able to. They were back on the same couch at least twenty minutes later, minus the energy drinks. Arin refused to sleep anywhere other than right next to Dan, for some unknown reason.
“You want me to sleep with you?” Dan looked confused. Arin shook his head and cuddled up to Dan on the couch.
“No, I mean-” Arin looked embarrassed, tucking his fringe behind his ear. “Just… stay with me whilst I sleep. Until you go.” Dan nodded and ran his hands through the younger man’s hair, just for something to do. Arin wasn’t sleeping for some reason - Dan thought he was tired. It’s the whole reason they came home. His conversation with Ross arose in his thoughts again and he looked to Arin with a worried expression.
“Is something wrong?” He asked very quietly, as if there were anyone else in the room to hear them. But they were alone, and even Barry probably wouldn’t be back until the late evening. Arin looked up at Dan, suddenly seeming very sad, as if he could cry. Dan hugged him tightly and rubbed his back.”Hey, c’mon… I’m right here.”
Arin stayed quiet for a while, just trying not to spill any tears. His voice was muffled by Dan’s shirt, so Dan pulled back and gave him some room to breathe. Arin took a sharp breath in and stared up at Dan. His voice was cold, terrified.
“I had a dream that you didn’t come back.”
