Our eyes seemed to be locked in an awkward exchange, neither Mathias or I seemed to be able to turn away from one another. It was only after a sharp tug of the Dane's tie that had jerked his head downwards with the material. He never seemed to sound nervous, always being so confident with himself.
Tearing my thoughts away, I knelt down in a swift motion to pick up the plate and toast off of the floor. It was a reasonable enough excuse to look away. "A-Apologies..." I muttered softly as I stood again, quickly turning heel and making my way back towards the kitchen. A hand on my shoulder stopped me in my tracks, feeling it press down firmly as if it were a warning. "What is it, Lukas?" I hadn't needed to turn around to know who it had been. Nonetheless, I still turned to meet his eyes. They had looked apologetic in a way, almost as if he was ashamed by what had just happened. "Please forgive me." His words had caused me to freeze once again. Why was he asking for forgiveness? Unsure how to answer, I simply nodded softly. Not much of a response, I must admit, but at this point, words wouldn't have had been any better.
Out of the corner of my eye, I should see Mathias adjusting his tie and looking around before hesitantly standing up and leaving the room. Now it was just Lukas and I, all chance of a distraction had disappeared now. Our exchange of uncomfortable looks continued a moment longer in uninterrupted silence, each of us waiting for the other to break it. Normally I could handle the looks, but it was simply intimidating more than anything else at the moment. He was almost daring me to speak before him. "It's not being my business. Why would it be affecting me?" I finally spoke, hoping my answer would satisfy him. Judging by his eyes though, it hadn't.
One thing I had learnt with Lukas, you shouldn't watch his expression, but his eyes instead. It was the clearest give-away with his emotions. He had prided himself on not letting raw emotions control his level-headedness, or rather what he thought of himself. Only Berwald, Tino and I seemed to be able to distinguish his emotions from one another. Mathias simply seemed oblivious to it all.
"Because you are my little brother, and I know that it is affecting you." Lukas' voice had been soft, but stern as per-usual. The violet eyes had dulled, showing his real concern. "No, it isn't." I assured him, taking his hand off of my shoulder. "Stop pretending, Emil. I can tell you are lying." He replied flatly, the brief swell of emotion causing me to cross my arms in response. "You are being your own person, as am I. Your choices are not affecting me!"
His whole composure had dropped upon hearing my words. My stupid mouth had screwed up the situation even more than before. "You're right. My choices aren't having anything to do with you." He turned away, slowly walking out of the room and leaving me standing in the doorway with a dumbfound expression. "… But I wasn't meaning Mathias was being a choice..." I muttered softly, a small part of me begging internally that Lukas would've heard me.
A/N: Not a long chapter, I'm afraid, but it will continue further in later chapters. The story will continue by the inter-changing point of views of Emil and Mathias. I rather like the dynamic it creates~!