Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa CLAMP owns them
Note: Partner fic is over at induco on LJ.
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Click, clack. Click, clack. Two heels and two toes. No, wait. Click. An extra heel.
Subaru sighed quietly to himself as he glanced over the top of the book he was attempting to read. The keyword was 'attempting', as he had been doing for the past week or so that had left him confined to the rather uncomfortable bed in an old rental apartment. In truth he'd silently hoped that his brother wouldn't be back so early from his wandering about the streets, it wasn't that he didn't enjoy his brother's company, heaven forbid it, it was just that in all honesty it was rather impossible to read through anything and pay attention to the words while the other twin was sat on the bed. Or the windowsill. Or, for that matter, the floor in between the bed and the windowsill.
How could he ever favour a book over his one and only twin? The simple answer was that he couldn't, no matter how interesting said book was or whether his brother would continue to, quite frankly, mope in his own stubborn silence. No, Subaru would always without a second to hesitate turn to his brother the moment he stepped into the room and perched somewhere with a depressed and reserved ifeel/i about him. It was just how they had always worked out between themselves, Kamui would silently try to both hideaway and ask for help while Subaru was left to try and soothe his brother's pain and ease his fears. He was the comforter while his brother was ultimately trying to prove that he was the perfect emotionless protective shield.
Today, however, there was a strange difference in the air from the moment the door was unlocked and pushed open. Subaru noted how a heel followed the soft sweeping of the door rather than the usual toe. Strange, he'd never known Kamui to walk twice on his heel, at least not since he was a really young boy. Even then he'd only do such a thing when he got into an argument with their mother over something, primarily their father. That alone was enough to send alarm bells ringing in Subaru's mind, if he'd been the cursing type he would have gladly sprouted out several in that moment as he absently marked his book page as he set it down on his lap. He didn't dare move from the bed; if the loud crashing and banging was any indication then it was best to let Kamui have his moment to vent.
Subaru had learnt during their childhood that sometimes it was best to just let his brother throw his tantrum and comfort when the other came along afterwards. Interrupting seemed to just add onto problems by making the rather temperamental vampire feel guilty for causing enough worry to be sought out and soothed on the spot. No, sometimes it was just easier to let the other believe that he wouldn't be heard and wait for the acknowledgement that there iwas/i another vampire nearby who would obviously be concerned and willing to just simply be there without probing into problems. A free shoulder and a pair of open ears without a tongue to say everything that, without a doubt, screamed within Kamui's mind.
Sure enough there soon followed the clatter of further footsteps, the sound was coming closer and slowing with each step.
The vampire picked up his book and settled into a position of mock reading, not for a moment attempting to pick up where he'd stopped but instead merely pretending for the sake of letting his brother do as he wished without worried eyes tracing his every move. He quickly brushed off his mental worries and fears for his twin, knowing full well that Kamui would try to read that before even touching the door handle, let alone stepping a foot inside the shared bedroom. He'd made that mistake several times and merely had his brother step in, mention not to worry and then promptly settle in for the night and stay silent on whatever the problem was for days on end. In some cases it seemed that, well, ilying/i to his brother was the only way to gain his dwindling openness anymore. Not that it was his fault; he was just trying to stop Subaru from worrying after all and simply trying to be the strong one. It might not have been the best way to do that but Subaru truly did find the sentiment sweet in a way, a little daft but sweet and thoughtful in Kamui's own small way.
Slowly the door was pushed open; Subaru carefully glanced over the top of the book he was trying to look interested in without starting to read again. He noted the rather tired look on his brother's downturned face before looking away again. Best not to linger on that look for too long, he could tell simply from the other's posture that he would be crawling under the covers beside him soon enough.
Sure enough Kamui did just that. He promptly kicked off his shoes and dumped his jacket onto the floor, much to Subaru's dislike or as Kamui liked to put it his 'obsessive clean genes', and quickly moved into the bathroom only to return a moment later in some dry substitute night clothing. The two had never been ones for actually changing clothes for sleeping but as their hosts had insisted that they 'act natural', something which meant going through the hassle of changing clothing during different times of the day even if they weren't planning on sleeping at all. Either way, the vampire crawled under the covers on his side of the double bed and shuffled along the whole way until he was curled up by Subaru's side. Said vampire carefully put his book on the bedside table and rather awkwardly shuffled until he was down on eye-level and facing his brother.
The green-eyed twin took one short moment to take in the look on his brother's face, an attempt to try and predict the problem at hand without asking the other, before closing the rather small gap and pulling him into a hug. A very small muffled sound could be heard before the other twin hugged back, burying his face into his brother's shoulder. Subaru slowly moved one of his hands to brush through the other's hair, his other hand gently stroking his back in a comforting gesture. He wasn't really expecting Kamui to say anything today, maybe not even tomorrow when he was sure to stay in bed and by his side, but Subaru could hope that this would be one of the times when he would get an explanation one day.
He nuzzled the top of his brother's head as he settled to sleep, knowing very well that Kamui would easily fall asleep like this as long as he knew for certain that Subaru would be there when he woke up. A very small smile crossed his lips when he heard the silent 'sorry' by his ear, a soft shushing sound soon following as a response. No, Kamui didn't really need to speak at all. As long as Subaru could be there for him like this then maybe it really didn't matter whether he knew the whole story or not.
As long as his brother didn't break he would be happy with just staying by his side like this, a comforting shoulder and a pair of open ears.