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Two fingers pressed against his thumb, two fingers pressed against his palm; Mikaela stares at Yuu with a kind softness that silently asks him to remain still as Mika reaches forward. Mikaela whispers and draws his fingers against Yuu-- forehead, heart, right shoulder. Yuu frowns as he takes Mika's wrist, stopping him from finishing the movement. "Why are you doing this?" he asks.
"Because you won't," Mikaela says softly, pushing against Yuu's grip to press his fingers against the boy's left shoulder.
"Cross yourself. At least you believe in it," Yuu huffs.
Mikaela laughs and shakes his head. "I already do-- daily. But that's irrelevant, it's you who doesn't."
Yuu shrugs, leaning back against the wall. "Fine, go ahead, but it's a waste of time."
"It is not!" Mika pouts at Yuu much like a child does, placing his hands on the other's shoulders. "It matters to me."
Yuuichirou sighs, sitting forward again. "I know it does," he mutters, his voice implying it shouldn't. Mikaela ignores it-- Yuu had long since made it clear that he believes Mikaela should give up on it all, and Mikaela is sick of insisting that he can't.
Yuu abandons his protesting and inches closer; Mikaela finds himself taking a deep breath and resisting the urge to pull him even closer still. Yuuichirou does it instead, leaning forward until there's barely a centimeter between them. "Tell me if I'm doing this right," Yuu murmurs, and before Mika can ask what he means Yuu is pressing his fingers against Mika's forehead.
Mika moves his hand to cover his mouth, biting his cheeks to stop from laughing. Yuu moves his hand to Mika's chest, then his left shoulder (the wrong one, Mika thinks and bites his cheeks harder). After Yuu puts his fingers against his right shoulder, Mika loses his grip and bursts into laughter. "What are you doing?"
"Crossing you! Wasn't that obvious?" Yuu snaps, glaring at him. "It couldn't have been that bad," he grumbles. Mikaela giggles, shaking his head. For a moment, he thinks he sees Yuu's face flush.
"No, no, it was fine, it's just… it was backwards." He takes Yuu's hand and leans forward until their foreheads touch, gently moving Yuu's fingers until they're in the right form. "It's the right shoulder first. Like this," he murmurs, moving Yuu's hand to cross himself again.
Yuu is silent, eyes focused on their hands. He's studying his fingers, memorizing the positioning as though it was something he actually meant to use again. Mikaela is studying his lips, still resisting the urge to lean closer. Eventually he shifts his gaze to Yuu's eyes again and realizes that Yuu has begun to stare at him, too, and feels his cheeks begin to warm.
"You try," Mika finally whispers, breaking the silence and letting him focus on something else.
Yuu reaches forward to touch Mika's forehead again but Mika shakes his head. "No, you," he says. Yuu reluctantly moves his hand to his own forehead, allowing Mika to guide him through the rest and say the appropriate words as Yuu remains quiet. When they finish, Mika pulls Yuu's hand closer to hold it between both of his. "There," he murmurs. "Better."
Mikaela watches Yuu closely again, realizing from his expression that Yuu means to resume his protesting, though protest what, exactly, Mika isn't sure of this time. But rather than get into another argument, Mika leans forward and gently kisses Yuu, teeth clenched (he still can't get over his fear that he will accidentally turn Yuu).
Yuuichirou flushes again and Mika quickly follows suit. "Why did you do that?" Yuu stammers.
"Because," Mikaela smirks. "You weren't going to."