past au with @audicphilia!
Io had taken up residence near the foot of his bed, legs crossed beneath him and a thick tome lying open before him, yet his eyes were hardly occupied with the text. For the past few hours, his heart had felt tight in his chest ( each resounding beat which followed almost a surprise, as it had seemed far too constricted to follow its usual task ). Although his palms rested atop his knees, the tension was fairly palpable within his fingertips. However, as soon as the warm light bleeding through the faint crack beneath his door was snuffed out, Io couldn’t scramble down from the position quickly enough for his liking — long legs tripping him along the way until his feet touched down on the carpeted floor. One of his pillows was strategically placed beneath the mattress comforter, more out of habit than necessity. He knew his mother was aware of the fact that he didn’t sleep in his own bed, more often than not; her pointed glances some evenings in his direction upon an announcement that he was going to sleep were telling of her mindset, which was simultaneously nice and embarrassing. She worried about Io on general principle, which was a comforting reminder, although he wished she didn’t believe he would forget himself quite so easily. Regardless, at the very least, she was discreet enough to never reveal such looks his way when anyone aside from the two of them were around; and perhaps they were more helpful than he would like to admit to himself.
That evening, however, had been an entirely different matter. Inherent awareness that his mother was directing him a concerned gaze over something else had his stomach in knots. There was only one person Io was certain could ground him and waiting until nightfall, when he knew there would be no one else about to overhear, had seemed agonizingly slow. Had the minute hands on the clock ever ticked quite so slowly before? Footsteps soft, he pulled the bedroom door open with a practiced ease which produced an almost eerie silence in spite of the movement. He closed it just as quietly behind him, awaiting the nearly inaudible click which would inform him it was adequately in place. Tracing his way down the hall was so much a part of Io now that he harbored no doubts that he could fully traverse it in his sleep, and seemingly had on mornings when he woke to find himself in bed next to Yuuta instead of his own, which he had settled into the night before. Now, once his hand rested upon the golden knob adorning Yuuta’s door, Io only hesitated a moment before pushing it inwards, stepping inside, and shutting it. Tentative steps were taken, even though though such slowness was hardly imperative, a hand reaching out to rest against the desk he knew was to his left. “Yuuta?” The inquiry left his lips in a slightly hoarse whisper, though he wouldn’t risk clearing his throat until he knew whether Yuuta was awake. “Are you up?” Upon seeing Yuuta stir, Io mounted the bed and took a seat on top of the covers.
His lower lip kneaded between his teeth for a moment before he spoke further. “I’m worried about that breakfast with my father tomorrow.” He and Yuuta had been reading together on the couch in the library when his mother had popped in to inform him, and Dekker and Mamoru’s presence across the room playing chess had preventing him from asking for further details. Io was certain it was about his brother; it had to be. “I never eat with him alone. I think it’s about Dekker, but he seems the same, so I don’t think it has to do with those blood tests he took last week.” He sighed, then. “I’m sorry. It’s probably nothing, but I can’t stop thinking about it.” Merely the act of saying the words in Yuuta’s presence eased the tension in his chest somewhat. His fingers moved as if of their own accord, threading through Yuuta’s silky hair and brushing through the strands as if to remove any tangles, although there were none. “Tomorrow — afterwards? Will you go with me to walk in the garden for a while? We can go over by the trees where we played knights and dragons all the time.” For the first time since his mother’s news, a smile curved his mouth and a soft, amused hum sounded in his throat. “Maybe we can even go swim in the lake.”
