maid • kaeya

xxx

• third person •

"Luca." Leon approached him, kneeling down. "We need to quickly get our stuff and find August."

Luca stared at the blood pooled beneath his knees, his pupils shaking.

"Luca," Leon called again. He grabbed his hand, dripping with the blood of his opponents. "It's okay. We're going to find him. It's not your fault, okay?"

"He's going to die," Luca whispered. "He's going to die, and it'll be all my fault."

"He won't. And it won't be your fault. August isn't their target, remember? They've just taken him hostage."

"Why..?" Luca's voice cracked. His eyes were fixed upon his reflection in the blood before him. "Why must he be the sacrifice..? He never did anything... They could have just taken me... A few seconds more and my legs would have gave out..."

With a sigh, Leon fiddled with Luca's fingers, the blood upon them gradually beginning to dry. "They want to make you weak. So you can't kill your uncle. It doesn't always mean physical weakness, you know."

"They know you're too strong right now, so they need to weaken you to kill you. You know this, Luca."

Leon frowned when Luca fell silent. He began to take harsh breaths, before the blood that dripped off his chin slowly changed into the most delicate of water droplets.

He's crying...

"I want to go home," he whispered. "I miss my daughter so much..."

"August misses his sister too, you know? So we have to find him quick and finish this job, so we can get home quicker... It's already becoming three months since we left... I don't really have anything to come back to but even I'm starting to feel a little homesick." Leon laughed.

"I'm sorry," Luca murmured beneath his breath.

With a smile, Leon shook his head. "Let's quickly get our stuff before reinforcements are sent to get them instead. We need to get August's stuff from his room too. And look."

Finally, Luca's eyes lit up. Leon had pulled out a few messily folded sheets of paper from his pocket.

"(Y/N)'s letters!!" Luca exclaimed. "When did you..?"

"I grabbed them during the fight. Didn't want all the blood to get on them, haha." Leon grinned sheepishly, about to rub his neck, but quickly realised that he couldn't move his arm.

Fuck... I was so focussed on getting Luca back to his senses I completely forgot that I'm bleeding out.

Luca rapidly wiped off his bloody hands against his clothes, taking the letters, instantly reading through them all for at least the fifteenth time.

"Luca, ugh..." Leon winced. Now the pain's getting me all at once. Great.

Luca's eyebrows raised. "What's wrong?"

"Could you-" Leon's teeth gritted within his smile, rapidly taking hold of his injured arm, "do some quick first aid..? I was... kind of shot." Luca's pupils dilated. "Don't worry, it's not that serious."

"What?!" Luca exclaimed. Leon blinked at his ununusally wide eyes. "Have you been bleeding out this entire time?!" Leon didn't even get a chance to reply when Luca scurried to the wound, examining it beneath his shirt. "You need a working arm, you know! Your fists are your strength!"

A silly smile spread across Leon's lips. "Are you scolding me?" he asked softly.

"Of course I-!" Luca lifted his head. His mouth slowly closed as he took notice of the slightly dazed look on Leon's face. Blood began to rush to his cheeks in embarrassment.