Actions

Work Header

Digging My Knees Into the Soft Carpet

Summary:

“Ted, jus’-” Schlatt exhales harshly, grits his teeth against what might have been a sob. “Jus’ shuttup.”

Ted shuts up- watches his friend push the heels of his hands back and forth across the carpet for some time before lifting them to intertwine behind his head and leaning down until his head's practically resting on his knees.

“Jus’- jus’ gimme a min’te,” Schlatt mumbles.

Notes:

This has a fairly graphic panic attack in it! Please be safe <3 I know that's what most of you are here for, but still. Stay safe, click away if you need to.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

"You good?"

It's the first thing Ted asks when he spots Schlatt stumbling out of his room later that day, less bleary-eyed than he'd expected.

"Yeah, fine," Schlatt says, almost rasping, takes what he must think is a subtly deep breath. "Just gonna get some water."

Ted doesn't believe it for a second. His friend is shivering, eyes glazed over, knuckles white where they grip the doorframe of the living room.

He's not sick- Schlatt is impossible when he's sick: he either stays in his room until it blows over or complains about it so vehemently even Charlie gets a little fed up.

He's not asking for help, nor is he keeping to himself. Ted can't quite place what it is until a second before he has to- when Schlatt tries to brush past him and suddenly loses all control of breathing.

"Woah-" Ted strides over, hands shooting out to catch Schlatt under the arms as his friend practically keels over, knees buckling and hand slipping down the wall so fast Ted winces in sympathy.

"Okay," Ted says, soft and calm, gently lowering Schlatt until his kness are folded under him, hands braced on either side of him. "Down we go."

Schlatt swears, loudly, voice hoarse- and it finally clicks in Ted's brain, watching his friend's shaking get worse, his teeth beginning to chatter and his breaths coming out in uneven, tiny sips of air, now.

"Just breathe, Schlatty," Ted mumbles, rubbing Schlatt's back, slow and careful. "'S just a panic attack, it'll pass. Promise."

Schlatt huffs angrily, coughs a little, glares half-heartedly up at Ted. "Ea-easy for you ta s-say, you. . . you aren't th' one h-havin' it!"

"Schlatt, you-!" It's Charlie, suddenly there, sliding into the hallway with wide, worried eyes. His eyes soften in understanding after a moment, and he swallows. "Oh."

"Water," he decides firmly, seconds later, and disappears again.

Schlatt shudders hard, squeezes his eyes shut for a moment, presses his hands hard against the carpeted floor, shoulders tensing with the strain of it. Something akin to a groan slips out.

"Schlatt-" Ted tries, hand stilling to rest between Schlatt's shoulder blades.

"Ted, Jus'-" Schlatt exhales harshly, grits his teeth against what might have been a sob. "Jus' shuttup."

Ted shuts up, watches his friend push the heels of his hands back and forth across the carpet for some time before lifting them to intertwine behind his head and leaning down until his head's practically resting against his knees.

"Jus'- jus' gimme a min'te," Schlatt mumbles, still shaking horribly under Ted's hand. Ted waits a beat, then slides his hand so it's gently massaging the nape of his neck, scratching a little here and there.

Charlie comes back moments later, sharing a worried look with Ted as he places the water and some ibuprofen on the floor next to them.

He's brought a blanket, too, drapes it carefully over his their friend as he slowly comes down. It takes a long while, and at some point Charlie takes to playing iCarly from his phone, very softly, in the background. It's just compilations off YouTube- but it seems to help, and eventually Schlatt stops shaking as much and can raise his head a little.

"Never liked that season," Schlatt mumbles, reluctant and hoarse.

"Yeah, it was so out of pocket," Charlie murmurs back, soft and casual. "And not in a good way."

"Sorry-" Schlatt says after a long moment, eyes closed and brow drawn in exhaustion. "Hate when that happens."

"All good," Ted tells him, slipping down to the small of his back, rubbing in slow circles. "You don't exactly have any control over it."

"Still," Schlatt mumbles, slowly sitting up. He leans into Ted's hand, relaxing a little. He accepts the bottle of water when Charlie takes his hand and gently presses the bottle into it He takes small, slow sips, every movement dripping with exhaustion.

He huffs out a laugh as he hands the bottle back to Charlie, rubbing at his eyes, "I think I can actually take that nap, now."

Charlie laughs softly, "How about a movie to bore you to sleep, instead?"

"Yeah-" Ted jumps in, smiling a little, "I'll even explain all the behind-the-scenes stuff. That'll send you right over."

Schlatt grins a little, small and pointed at the carpet- almost like it's a secret he's keeping: "Yeah- yeah I'd like that."

Notes:

The basic idea for this is just a panic attack sort out of nowhere, with seemingly no trigger. In my head, writing this, there was no trigger- but please feel free to headcanon or something : ) Ted and Charlie and Schlatt have all had panic and anxiety attacks in front of each other more than once, at least, so Charlie and Ted aren't really daunted in the face of it, just sad and worried for Schlatt. This is all in the same universe as my other CS and LC fics, and is set in one of the BnB's they would've stayed in for one of the chuckle weeks- though I wasn't picturing a specific one.

Also- soon: I got one cooking for our boi Ted, too : ))

Series this work belongs to: