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Remus was lying in his bed. His skin was red, and splotchy, and painful. He was wheezing softly. Something was wrong. He could feel it. He needed help. But he couldn't... move... his body felt heavy, and he was so tired... He couldn't even reach for his phone... He idly wondered if this was the end.
He wondered who would find his body. He hoped not Roman. That would break him. But not Logan either. Remus didn't want his beloved to have to find his body. Regardless, he'd probably shut down, shutting off his emotions again. Janus would probably be okay. Sure, inside they'd be broken, but they'd be able to hold it together for as long as the others needed. Afterwards, Janus would probably drink themselves numb again. Logan would also probably drink too much. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if everyone got wasted. That idea made Remus a little happy. The idea of everyone getting wasted at his funeral…
His chest felt tight. Breathing was getting harder. His skin burned, but was also growing numb. He thought about the time he’d let fire ants crawl up his arm. It kinda felt like that, but also nothing like that. He couldn’t tell if he was scared to be dying or relieved it was finally over. His head was all swimmy, and he was tired. Remus’s eyelids felt heavy. He slowly let them drift closed as he heard someone enter his room. He wasn’t sure, but he could almost hear them talking. They touched his arm, sending fire across his skin, but he didn’t even have the strength to wince. He wondered what the person was saying. Were they talking to him or someone else? He didn’t know what was happening outside of his numb bubble. Was he already dead? He couldn’t tell. He was probably dead. His head felt swimmy. Like he was drowning. He’d never drowned before, but there was a first time for everything. There was something in his mouth. Something sour and acidic. He could almost see light through his eyelids. Was that The Light? Was he going towards it? He thought about his brother again. He couldn’t really hold onto a concrete thought, but he knew he was thinking about his brother. His body felt cold, but also like he was on fire. Roman was the last coherent thought that passed through Remus’s mind before it shut off.
*****
Remus heard Roman’s voice before any other sensation reached him. He must’ve moved, his head lolling to the side as his eyes began to open. He wasn’t aware of it. The first thing he was aware of was Roman’s voice. “Remus.” He breathed. There was a softness, a relief to his voice. Remus’s senses seemed to slowly wake up, his eyes opening just barely. It was dark. No, dim. In the room they were in, the lights had been turned down low. Roman was there, his mahogany eyes that mirrored Remus’s own, shining with the tears falling down his face. He was… it looked like a smile. A watery smile. Remus blinked slowly, starting to take everything else in. They were in Logan’s lab, which was set up as a makeshift med bay. Remus was in a bed. Roman was in a chair next to him, holding Remus’s hand loosely. Roman was wearing thick gloves- No. Remus’s hands were wrapped up in clean white bandages. Remus was covered in bandages. They weren’t even bloody. That was no fun. Remus tried to move his other arm, the one Roman wasn’t holding and touch the bandages on his chest, but his arm felt like it was full of cement. “Remus,” Roman said again. Remus’s eyes and head drifted lazily over to his twin’s face. “You are okay. You are safe. Do you remember what happened?” He didn’t. His mind was soup, and he couldn’t remember much. He just blinked slowly. “That is alright,” Roman said, gently cradling Remus in his arms. It felt nice. Remus allowed himself to fall asleep again in Roman’s arms.
Remus would later learn what exactly had happened. Apparently, the factory that made the laundry soap they used had made a mistake and accidentally put regular soap in the hypoallergenic bottle. No one had noticed a difference, and Patton had washed everyone’s sheets that day. Then, when Remus had gone to bed that night, he’d had a massive allergic reaction that nearly ended his life. Thankfully, Roman had gone to check on him and administered Remus’s EpiPen just in time. When asked why he’d decided to check on Remus, Roman has said he’d had ‘A sudden feeling that something was wrong.’ Virgil would later half-joke that it was twin telepathy, something Logan promptly dismissed. Logan had also been in the room when Remus had awoken, but he had been near the foot of the bed, outside of Remus’s line of sight. Remus could tell Logan also was very worried, as much as he tried to hide it, even from himself. Remus was just happy he was here. Janus was drinking when Remus was allowed to leave the med bay and was brought to the living room, where the others could stay with him. They were clearly also quite distraught about almost losing Remus, but Virgil was perched on the couch next to them, making sure they didn’t overindulge. Babysitting probably helped distract Virgil from the anxiety he felt about how close Remus had come to dying. Ironically, Virgil seemed the calmest about the whole situation, other than Logan’s faux numbness. Patton, on the other hand, was the opposite of calm. He felt extremely guilty for not noticing the detergent was wrong and was sobbing, begging Remus for forgiveness. Logan was trying to redirect Patton, but Remus just gave the father a gentle pat on the head, his way of telling Patton that he forgave him. Virgil suggested they watch a movie, since they were all pretty tired from the long night, but none of them were probably going to get any sleep. Everyone agreed, even Remus gave a small nod, cradled in Roman’s arms once again. Honestly, he didn’t care what they did as long as he was safe in his brother’s arms.