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Near-suffocating desperation rouses Ortho from a too-long slumber in the form of a tight embrace and weeping sobs. It catches him off guard, like a reboot to a system he hadn’t known he’d turned off — but as he wakes, jolted into action by the boy that crouches over him and weeps into his shoulder, there is little doubt in his mind that, at least, he is safe above all. Beloved — perhaps to the point of true pain — above all.
“Ortho,” Idia babbles, “Ortho, Ortho...”
His eyes open fully, to scan his big brother’s face as Idia pulls back with an erratic breath; he hasn’t slept, has barely eaten, and although the sickly white of his skin and hollow gray beneath his eyes are telltale enough, the statistics of his wellbeing that flash across Ortho’s vision to drive it home feel new and invasive in a way that the gears clicking in the back of Ortho’s mind can’t quite understand. But regardless of his quiet peril, the strings that pull at his heart are as tangible as the percentages that flicker and fade with the back-and-forth dart of his eyes — and, as his brother hiccups with a choking sob, so awfully fiercely do those heartstrings threaten to tear.
“Big bro,” Ortho says, works the familiar words on a tongue that feels foreign in his mouth. His own little arms creak metallically as they encircle Idia’s torso and hug him close, soft and hesitant in their endeavor. “Big bro, what's wrong?”
Despite Ortho's concerned prompting, Idia is wordless, seemingly unhearing if it were not for the terribly sharp heave and shudder of his chest. He presses frantic kisses to Ortho's face, his forehead, as big tears roll down his cheeks and disappear with little more than a hiss into the flicking fire of their hair.
Ortho’s hug has placed Idia’s expression out of his line of sight, small as his frame is — but as his sensors relay a whirl of something like distress and exhaustion and bittersweet success to his mind, Ortho tries quite hard not to imagine the scenario that has brought his big brother weeping to his knees, where Idia sinks his weight onto Ortho and wraps him dearly close within his arms once more.