✓LIFE SENTENCE|| TodoDeku Au

☆Seven☆

~ Third Person P.O.V ~

"Listening. That was all I ever wanted someone to do, yet never received such a privilege. Until you . . ."
— BisexualCricket, Poetry Journal 

They were barely on their second day.

It was rather early in the morning, the sun hadn't even risen above the horizon yet creating a picturesque scene on the vast canvas known as the sky. Hues of indigo and violet shimmering through the translucent fabric of the drapes, flooding the room and painting a plethora of shadows and adding an odd sense of definition to everything. And here Shoto lied on his bed, eyes shot open and staring at the ceiling.

Sleep was a pleasure he had never really been able to indulge in, for he was either haunted by insufferable nightmares, or by the burden of his thoughts. The most he'd ever really get was a few hours per day for the past few decades or so. How he has been able to function for this long will forever remain a mystery to him. However, the only thing that had seemed to be troubling this particular night was the sleeping boy only a few feet across the room. It consternated him more than anything — how someone who had only spoken a sentence to him caused him so much . . . perplexity? No. That word didn't seem to fir right for how he was feeling at that moment. 

In the past few hours of him lying awake, there were a few things he had noticed about Izuku. One: he took awfully long to actually fall into a consistent slumber. If Shoto had a dime for how many times the freckled male had woken up throughout the night he'd have more wealth than he already does right now. Shoto had always made sure to at least pretend to be asleep whenever the time did come, watching through hooded eyes as Izuku would slowly rise up and run his fingers through his ringlets. A hand would fist itself into the fabric of his shirt every so often. Two: he always looked in Shoto's direction, most likely checking if he were awake or not.

And for some reason unbeknownst to the duel-haired male — that only seemed to add fuel to the fire of his inquisitiveness.

Turquoise and gray eyes flickered over towards the digital clock resting on the nightstand, 4:14 a.m., it read. The time on the clock flickered in a muted green, contrasting to the beauty of outside. A sigh left Shoto's lips as he pressed all of his weight into the bed, his ears honed in on the soft crinkling noise the sheets made as he did so. Just as he was about to slip his eyes close the ragged sound of panting echoed throughout the room.

Izuku had huddled himself against the corner of his bed, fingers curling around the strands of his hair as he squeezed his eyes shut. It took a moment for Shoto to fully register what was happening — but he recognized that look all too well, for he had worn the same expression countless times before . . .  

Paralyzing fear.  

"Hey," Shoto whispered softly, earning the boy's attention. Slowly the elder sat up, careful not to move forward in any way — phycology courses were really paying off. "It's okay."

Green eyes widened as he backed away even more, repeatedly shaking his head as he gasped for air. Izuku's hands instantly shot up to his throat, the buzzing underneath his skin humming at a regular pace as flashes from his previous night terror had resurfaced. Piercing blue eyes calculated his every move in said nightmare, hands crawling on every crevice of his flesh. The habitual feeling of his airway swelling, threatening to burst at any moment.

"Deep breaths, yeah? It was only a dream," he soothed lowly, sinking onto the floor in a couching position. Little by little making his way over to the shaking male. "You're safe."

That seemed to be a trigger for Izuku, for his eyes had slowly un-widened and his breathing began to regulate. However, he still kept his distance from the man; watching his every move with skepticism.