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The battle subway’s station always seemed to just keep spinning around, no matter if you were standing up or sitting down. Even after all the times you had sat on one of the benches in front of the central pillar, either waiting for your chance to make your way through the coaches to get a higher streak or waiting to meet up with someone. That day, it was the latter activity. Your college classes wrapped up early, and you had already texted the younger boss of the battle subway to make plans. Said plan was simple, just going out for lunch during his break.
It was an activity you dreaded, but already figured out a way to work around it. All you had to say is that you had a big breakfast or that you simply weren’t hungry, and if that didn’t work – buy a sandwich and then throw it in the bin while pretending to go to the toilet. You had done it time and time before, and this time would be just the same. Though there was one thing that could have made you have to prepare a bit more – the other subway boss.
You were much closer with the younger brother, Emmet, since you much preferred double battles and had worked your way up to battling him countless times. You knew he could be a lot more oblivious to someone acting strange, since he knew that practically everyone around him thought he was strange. He wouldn’t be the first one to put together that something might be seriously wrong, that’s for sure. That’s not to say he wasn’t smart, because you knew he was – and had built your excuses and their complimentary facial expressions around how you knew his mind worked, just to make sure he wouldn’t suspect a thing.
The other brother though, who’s name you could barely remember, was a lot different. Sure, physically he was the same as Emmet but personality wise, their differences shone through. You had never really seen or spoken to him, maybe you exchanged some greetings with each other before going on with what you were doing – but that was it. Supposedly, he seemed collected outside of battle but when in battle, he’d be a shouting maniac, or that’s what the rumors said anyway. But you didn’t know if he was more likely to be aware of certain behaviors, you didn’t really know anything about him other than he was more serious and didn’t seem to get out often.
Which was exactly why Emmet thought it was a great idea to bring his brother along with you two on their lunch break, he’d get to hang out with you and his brother would be getting out and maybe you two would become friends. And you didn’t have the heart to tell him you didn’t think it was a good idea, because you did think it was a good and kind gesture. It was your own personal issues that made you want to avoid the situation, but despite it – you agreed.
Bouncing your leg up and down to try make time pass quicker, you tried to think of any excuses you could to give to Emmet’s brother if he started to become suspicious – an excuse thought out enough as to throw him off the track but genuine enough as to make it sound like you hadn’t been planning it. You weren’t terrible at thinking of things on the spot, but you weren’t great at it either – especially not if it was a 6’ 2” man towering above of you asking why you weren’t eating. Then again, there was the possibility that he wouldn’t show up at all – it had happened before, where he was simply too busy with work to take a break.
In the mist of your brainstorming, you felt a wave of heat suddenly run over you and to your dismay, it was exactly what you thought it was. Your body was freaking out that you hadn’t eaten in almost a day, and its only way to express that was making you burn alive in your own skin and burn your esophagus with stomach acid from the bottom to the top – making it feel as if you could feel every bit of it at once. The nausea was the worst part, on top of everything else – you had never actually thrown up but there was no telling if you ever would. You didn’t want to make a show of yourself, throwing up in the middle of the station – and you didn’t want either of the twin bosses to walk in and see vomit on the floor of the station they ran with pride.
So, like anyone else, you quickly stood up to try and find the nearest set of toilets. Unfortunately, you didn’t get very far. As you stood up, the edges of your vision went dark and black and white specs faded in and out randomly – before everything went completely black. That was the last thing you could remember.
Until you woke up, that is. As you opened your eyes, the first thing you could see was a ceiling fan still on the ceiling as you heard the humming of some sort of machinery near you. The room was warm, but not to the point of feeling like you were suffocating – a welcoming, soft warm feeling. The burning feeling had passed, and you were back to feeling like you were freezing, as you usually felt. The room was dim, not quite dark like the middle of the night but enough to make someone want to turn on a light. But there was a bigger issue at hand, just where were you?
The station was bright, well-lit and loud – so you knew you weren’t there. Unless you were in a restricted zone that only the bosses and other staff were allowed access, but that only brought up more questions. You realized that you had most definitely passed out, which on one hand was better than throwing up but now you had no clue what was happening.
You started to sit up, which is when you realized that someone had put a blanket and a jacket over you. The blanket was soft to the touch and held onto heat in a way that made you not want to ever take it off. The jacket was, quite frankly, huge and had almost completely covered the blanket itself, let alone you. It seemed to be mainly dark, aside from red stripes and almost comedically large cuffs. You swore you had seen it before but couldn’t put your finger on it. The sofa you were on seemed to take up a good portion of the room you were in, it seemed much more modern than the coffee table in front of it. It had enough room for you to be fast asleep on it and still have space. The coffee table wasn’t too special, there were a few books and magazines along with a coaster and a plate mat that seemed out of place in the room.
You could only focus on your surroundings for so long before your mind went back to the most obvious question – where were you and who brought you here?
That question would be quickly answered, though with a result you hadn’t quite expected. The door near the end of the sofa slid open, letting light pour in that somewhat burned to look at. Judging by the shape of the figure standing in the doorway, you thought it was Emmet but as your eyes adjusted you quickly recognized the man’s signature frown. He didn’t have his signature coat on, but rather just the long sleeve shirt he probably wore under it all the time. That’s when your mind finally put everything together, that jacket? It was his. And the chances that he was the one that brought you here, rather than his more eccentric brother, seemed higher than ever.
Your eyes quickly focused on what he was holding – a plate. You felt your heart drop, what were you going to do? Maybe if he left to go back to work, then you could hide them somewhere or if there was a bin, you could hide them there. But that felt wrong, especially if it turned out he did this because you couldn’t go to lunch, he was just trying to be nice. All these thoughts flooded your brain within a split second, you hadn’t planned for any of this to happen.
“Oh, you’re awake. That is good.”
You didn’t respond, how could you? Your mind was running millions of situations and you could barely focus on what was actually going on. The towering man walked over to the far side of the coffee table and placed the plate down, before sitting down and crossing his legs across from you. It didn’t seem like you were going to find a way out easily. You looked at the plate – chicken nuggets and chips. You were somewhat surprised; it was just so simple and you had thought that someone who seemed so serious would eat more ‘mature’ food. But you didn’t have time to think about what food you even thought he ate beforehand, the more time you stared silent at the plate was more time you were showing your true feelings.
“Ah, that’s very nice of you to do. Thank you but I’m not really that hungry honestly.”
You stuttered out, not helping your case at all. You tried to look up to see his face, where you were met with the same face he always had – a frown with his eyes half closed. But the more you looked, something felt different. He wasn't mad, that was obvious, but rather something more akin to melancholy. It was the same frown, but something in his eyes showed that he actually…cared.
“I’m trying to help you.”
You weren’t sure how to feel, how was it even possible that he could know? You put so much effort into covering up your tracks, and you hadn’t even gone to lunch with him before or anything like that. Maybe he just guessed, you thought to yourself, you could still turn it around.
“You’re so sweet but I really don’t need help with anything…”
You try to say it as clear as you could, but you mouth made your words shaky at best. You couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t give it away. This was the one thing you knew to let you have some sort of control in your life, the idea of it being ripped away from you was horrifying.
“You passed out and were freezing cold, there’s not a lot of things that cause both.”
How were you even meant to reply? You had become so used to being cold all the time that it didn’t even cross your mind that anyone else would notice. You knew the station was warm, if not sweltering at times, but you didn’t really think you were that cold in comparison. You felt trapped, you didn’t know how to confront your own issue – but you felt something warm fill your stomach.
For the first time in a while, you felt warmth that wasn’t melting your insides but was soft. Were you…no, surely not, you thought. You weren’t one for the cold but sweet types, at least you didn’t think so. You just thought that it was taking some time for you to develop a crush on Emmet, he was sweet and full of energy but despite how much you wish for it to happen, you never got butterflies in your stomach just by being near him. But this was different, you had never even thought of it before. Maybe it was because you had never really seen him before, let alone had a proper conversation with him, but these feelings were building up all on their own and you weren’t sure how to react to it.
You tried to look him in the face but you couldn’t, your eyes immediately went to his and you had to look away as the flustered feeling was far too overwhelming. Then, you came to another realization – you didn’t want to hurt him. He was so nice, even if you had only just really met him. He saw you pass out and brought you to some private room and left you to sleep, but made sure you were wrapped up and warm. And what were you doing? Starving yourself and trying to reject the first help anyone had ever tried to give you. It felt like your mind was battling itself, whether to feel guilty for doing this to someone you have feelings for or to ignore it all and keep the one thing you knew how to control.
“And over the past few months, you’ve just been getting more tired. You haven’t battled in weeks now.”
Maybe you weren’t as good as hiding it as you thought. You used to do the challenges at least twice a week, then just once a week, and now not at all. You thought back to the mornings you looked at yourself and saw just how sunken in your eyes had gotten, but wrote it off as something only you saw getting worse and worse as each day passed. Putting it all together, it really was obvious something was happening. This only made you feel more guilty, had he been watching you deteriorate with every time you would come to hang out with his brother? And you still hadn’t bothered to learn his name.
“Can I ask something?”
You turned to sit properly on the sofa, letting one of your arms reach over the grab his jacket and try to drape it over your shoulders. Even though quite a bit of it wasn’t even on you due to just how long it was, the collar and top half of it was and felt oddly comforting – even though you had never even touched it before. But the idea of him caring enough to leave you his signature jacket was enough for your heart to beat faster than it had in years. You cleared your throat to try regaining some more composure. “I’m sorry but what is your name? I…” You couldn’t think of a good excuse as to why you didn’t know, and even then – what would be the point in lying now? It would just hurt someone in the long run.
“I’m Ingo.”
He seemed to be a bit happier, which you didn’t expect at all – you thought he would be even just a bit annoyed because of how much Emmet talked about him. You were probably more disappointed in yourself than he ever could be, but you couldn’t shake that feeling that somehow, you’d disappoint him. Either way, his frown seemed to be more neutral and the weight in the air lifted a bit, but not entirely.
You knew there was only one thing you could do, and whether it was the fear of hurting the man you found yourself head over heels for or the urges to eat everything, plate included, - you picked up one of the chicken nuggets and started to eat it. Even though your stomach felt like it wasn’t going to let it go down, you pushed through it and ate the whole thing. And like that, you wanted to eat each of them – chicken nuggets were always a comfort for you.
As you reached for the next chicken nugget, Ingo stood up and walked out of the room without another word. You were a bit worried that you had done something wrong, since it seemed random, but the atmosphere still felt lighter, happier – safer. Even though the disgusting feeling in your throat didn’t go away, you continued to eat the nuggets one by one. Your mind was filled with thoughts of him trying to make the chicken nuggets and not quite getting it, or him awkwardly trying to order some at a fast-food restaurant just for you to have. You were never really one for those fluffy types of thoughts, but you weren’t complaining. The idea of someone caring about you was enough.
About a minute or two later, Ingo walked back in with two coffee cups. The smell of bitterness but also a strong strain of toffee filled the room, the strain getting stronger as he put one of the cups on the coaster closer to you. It was some sort of coffee with toffee, or something else just as sugary – you didn't mind at all, it was clear that you needed a shot of sugar to give you any sort of energy. You looked back up at him, wiping some crumbs off your mouth, and you were a bit taken a back. He seemed to be smiling, or at least as much of a smile as he could have. Your eyes darted away, knowing your face had gone red. You couldn’t hide anything, especially not such an obvious crush.
“Now…Tell me what’s wrong.”
You weren’t sure what you were expecting him to say, but you should’ve expected it to be as straightforward as it was. That wasn’t a bad thing, he was very clearly letting you go on to say whatever you wanted on your own terms. And there wasn’t any reason not to tell him. Though, you did think about telling him about how you’ve suddenly started to really like him before anything else.
You had a suspicion that he already knew, and that you already knew what his response would be. You were the only person you knew who had seen either of the twins without their jackets on, so he had already made it clear how he felt in his own way – as per usual.