:// soft and bitter.
avxia:
[ ... ]
still, he does it. he takes jeno inside, hand on his arm, door closed behind them. he guides the boy to the bathroom. there’s the smell of alcohol in the air, the way it is when it’s been warmed inside someone’s body, and there’s an aloneness in the air. the very distinct awareness that they are alone in a closed space.
still, xia reminds himself that this is about getting jeno as far away from a cold as possible.
“take off your clothes and dry off,” he tells jeno, handing him a towel, “i’ll be back.” he exits the bathroom to grab a fresh set of clothes from his brother’s closet, and he returns moments later. folded sweater and pants in hand.
jeno can’t think.
he blinks slowly, and he thinks it’s probably visible-- the cogs in his brain working in overtime in their sluggish state, trying to process what’s happening-- to process the situation he’s found himself in. and jeno lets him touch, lets his hands move his body for him, guide him into the warm apartment with a gentle grasp on his arm.
there’s a staleness, not in his breath but in the area surrounding them. there’s a dullness in his eyes, lips parting slowly, helplessly, as his fingers try to grasp onto the soft towel pressed into his hands. and he can do nothing but obey, compliant-- not wanting to cause more trouble than he already has. so he sits down on the closed toilet lid, lower lip trapped beneath his teeth as his hair drags the towel listlessly through his damp hair.
and he feels it now-- the wet of his clothes seeping into his skin as the warmth of the alcohol slips away. his teeth starts to chatter and he curls into himself, hands setting the towel on the sink and tugging the buttons open on his soaked shirt so he could run the warmth of the towel over his torso as well.
he blinks slowly as xia enters the bathroom, eyes slow and lethargic, round like a deer caught in headlights as he quietly reaches out for the clothes. “...thank you.”
“i-- uh. sorry. don’t know how i ended up here.”
