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Sebastian sat in bed with their legs to their chest, burying their head in their knees trying to breathe. They mumbled reassuring words to themself but it didn’t seem to work.
‘Just a week. It’ll only be a week.’ they told themself, trying to regain their composure.
‘It shouldn’t hurt this much. It’s not like this is a new thing. You’re just being dramatic’ They ridiculed, tightening their grip on themself.
They jumped at the knock at the door. Quickly rubbing their eyes on their sleeves they yelled “Come back later, I’m not feeling good.”
At the prolonged silence, they thought that was all it took. They curled back up and continued trying to focus on their breathing, now staring at the intricately designed patterns on the walls. The door knob rattled, stealing Sebastian’s attention back to it. Their heart sank.
“I said I wasn’t feeling well! Please go away!” They snapped, throwing a pillow at the door frustrated, it landing with a thump.
“ ‘Bastian? Is everything alright? Hey come unlock this door,” yelled a familiar voice from the other side ignoring them. Sebastian’s eyes widened and went to get up, collapsing back down once remembering their predicament.
“I, uhm, I’m fine don’t worry, why, why don’t you come back later?” They yelled back, almost certainly expecting him to not listen and ask again. When he didn’t and Sebastian heard footsteps fading down the hallway they sat baffled. Quickly shaking it off, they went back to staring at the wall, a terrible but welcomed distraction.
A few more silent moments went by before Sebastian heard talking from outside the room and the door click. A mix of anxiety and relief washed over them as the door opened. Lucio stepping through, Portia, who had unlocked the door glanced into the room to Sebastian.
“Hey Sebastian, you alright? Lucio hunted me down determined something was wro-” she was in the middle of her sentence when Lucio interrupted her.
“Thanks red-head, why don’t you take the rest of the day off?” He suggested closing the door before she could reply and turning his attention to the disheveled magician curled up in bed.
“Sebastian, what’s wrong? Did something happen? Did someone do something? If they did I swear honey I’ll make sure they regret it.” He fussed as he made his way over to the bed, hesitating for a moment looking to Sebastian.
“Is it okay for me to sit down?” He asked, Sebastian couldn’t help the small smile that grew on their face as they nodded.
“Yea… thanks for asking,” they murmured, Lucio sitting down next to Sebastian placing an arm around them.
“Of course, “ he paused “what’s the matter?” he repeated, worry clear in his voice. It broke Sebastian, they’re fine, they’ll be fine, they tried over and over again to reassure themself. They began shaking, pulling away from Lucio they tried to move back closer to the wall. Leaving the warmth of his side to the coldness of the room sent a jolt through them.
“‘Bastian…” the way he said their name, the affection and concern in his tone. Sebastian choked up shaking their head.
“N,no I’m fine.” They repeated, though it sounded more as if they were trying to convince themself rather than Lucio. Lucio’s eyes widened as he saw tears escaped Sebastian’s, reaching his arms out to them as he moved closer.
“H,hey! It’s alright, it’ll be alright,” He tried to reassure them as Sebastian collapsed into his arms shaking. Wrapping his arms around them, he laid the two of them down
“It’s okay, just breathe okay?” He hummed running a hand through their hair, the other holding them close. Sebastian nodded fists tight around the soft fabric of Lucio’s shirt, their head buried in his chest taking shaky breaths.
Some time passed as their breathing steadied, their grip on Lucio’s clothing began to loosen. Lucio opened his eyes and looked down to Sebastian who had fallen asleep.
A sad smile spread across his face as he gave them a kiss on the head. He reached for the blanket, pulling it over the two of them. The sleeping magician shifted closer to him, curled up close to his side.
They were usually so confident, so strong. It almost intimidated him really, although he’d never admit that out loud. Seeing them like this- a pang of agony ripped through his chest. Maybe the two of them could talk about it in the morning, he thought to himself. But now? Now, they would rest.