The Forest

-31-

"Lucius?"

Somehow, miraculously, he had been falling asleep, but the sound of his brother's voice jolted him back to the bedroom. He jerked up from where he had folded over on the windowsill. Darius stood in the doorway, his hair awry and cheeks flushed from cold. His heart skipped a beat.
"What the hell are you doing back here? Where are-" Darius' hands were empty. Lucius froze. Dead, barren, empty. The breath slowly drained away from his chest.
"What've you done with them?"
Darius splayed his fingers, "Let me explain-"
"What have you done with them?!" He leapt from the bed and came down on his brother, "You filthy liar! I knew I couldn't trust you! Where the fuck-"
"Lucius!" Those empty hands clamped on his shoulders. "Listen! They're perfectly alright! Stop for a second and I'll explain."
The fervour of his eyes was startling. His brother seemed, for once, worryingly genuine. But words were just words, and Viridis and Bree were nowhere to be seen.
"Where are they?!"
"Someplace safe. I'll tell you, but only if you hear me out."
It hit like a punch to the guts. That was his plan, it always had been— to take the little guys and use them against him. It should have been obvious. He despaired, "You can't do that— you can't use them like hostages!"
His brother grappled with him as he tried to get to the door. "I wouldn't think of doing them any harm! It's nothing like that. They're safe, I promise— Please, would you just listen?"

He had no choice. Months in the woods had hardened his muscles and trained his stamina, but Darius was simply taller, bigger. And he had the key to get out. And Bree and Vids now, apparently. There was nothing to do but surrender to the bed, where he dropped onto the mattress with a heaving creak. His brother knelt across the floor from him. Fine. Darius wanted to be heard out?— let him explain. He would listen. But Lucius made sure there was no love in his eyes.

Darius clasped his hands on his legs, watching carefully. There was a pause before he began speaking, as if he was gathering his thoughts, puzzling over the best way to express them. Every second that ticked by felt like a lifetime. If Bree and Vids had so much as a scratch...
His words, when they eventually came, were soft, "Aren't you happy here?"
He almost charged the door again. It had to be some kind of joke, some time-wasting ploy. "What the fuck does that have to do with anything?!"
"Are you not happy here?" He persisted.
Anger continued to fizzle for a hot moment, then he slumped back. Happy. He shrugged.
"I'm talking to you. It's polite if you answer."
"All you ever do is talk." He hissed through gritted teeth.
Darius had to process that.

"Then you talk. Alright? You talk and I'll listen." The rug creased beneath his knees as he shifted, adjusting his weight. It couldn't have been very comfortable sitting there like that.
He regarded his brother uneasily. What are you playing at?
"You aren't happy here?"
It wasn't yet clear what exactly Darius was doing, but he supposed there was no choice but to answer if he wanted to guarantee the little guys' safety. "I... dunno. I guess mum and dad won't be angry with me forever, but I..." suddenly, the words wouldn't come. They were there in his throat, crushed-down hurts that squirmed at the chance of actually being spoken aloud, but he didn't know how to explain something so nonphysical— the ache in his chest, the soreness in his breath that had been around since the start of winter. He shrugged submissively, "I dunno."
Darius' expression was difficult to read. "I thought you would be happy to be home. At least a little bit."
He clenched his hands. "This ain't home." He hissed.
His brother looked appalled. "Why would you say something so horrible? You have everything you could ever want here, yours for the taking, and all you are is ungrateful."
He shook his head for lack of words. Darius didn't understand. And he didn't know how to make him understand, he didn't want to have to. His brother should have cared enough to figure out for himself.
But he didn't. Care. None of them did.
His eyes were abruptly hot, his throat all tight and his head in tangles. He turned away before his brother could see.