Reap the Earth at Which you Stand [boyxboy]

Chapter XXX

~Friday 5th January 2018~

"Don't tell me you stayed out here all night," Mylo teased, rousing Vasile from his thoughts as he settled down next to the man. As always, Mylo lifted Vasile's arm and draped it around him, snuggling into the man's side and pulling the blanket around him up to his chin. He had always been one to enjoy close contact, especially if it meant he could share in the gargoyle's heightened body heat when the temperature around them dropped cold.

"Only since sunrise," if Mylo didn't spend all day in bed with Akos, he often did wake up early like Vasile. Morning had always been something the two had to share, something simple and friendly, something that was solely theirs. Even when Akos found out about their time together, he didn't try to intrude. It was harmless really, and good for Mylo to have ties to the other gargoyles he lived with. It lessened the isolation he was forced into.

"Best place to watch it, I remember you telling me that when I was a little kid," Mylo mused, his eyes trained on the horizon as Vasile's were, lingering over the buildings lined with the golden glow of the dawn sun, "whenever I'd wake up before Koko, I'd run into your room and we would come sit out here. If it was cold, you'd make us hot chocolate. If it was warm, we'd have ice tea," an absent smile crept onto Vasile's lips at the memories, although there was a certain sadness to it. He wished he could have shared those moments with Dakota too, he wished he could have shared a lifetime with that boy.

"I remember Akos yelling at me multiple times over the years because I'd brought you out here and you'd gotten sick. You always had such a shitty immune system," Mylo giggled as Vasile made a show of tucking the blanket around him where it had fallen away, "how was I supposed to know that human children were so fragile?" It hadn't been until Mylo had turned ten that Vasile, Akos and Izelon felt as though they had some semblance of understanding the boy. Humans were tricky, human children were worse. Vasile had some level of experience from growing up with a younger sister, however, she had been nothing like Mylo. A gargoyle, for one, and a girl. They were all out of their depth in equals parts. Maybe that only made it more endearing when they banded together to ensure Mylo had the best childhood possible in his situation.

"You should bring De out here next time he stays over. I'm sure he's probably an ass if you wake him up early enough but I think you'd both benefit from it," it sounded like a wonderful idea, "I might even make you hot chocolate if Koko actually lets me out of his sight," Vasile peered over his shoulder, finding that, of course, Akos was lingering in his bedroom doorway. He wasn't quite through the threshold, nor was he paying particular attention to the two since he seemed to be on a phone call, but he was still there.

"You've been slipping up, Mylo, you know that," despite Mylo's cheerful nature, he hadn't been in the best of states recently. Akos had caught him in the bathroom, he hadn't purged but they all knew the signs. They had all dropped their guard, grown lenient since they were focused on welcoming Dakota. Mylo was back on probation until he could prove he could be trusted.

"It was one time, V, and I didn't even do anything," Mylo muttered, the happiness void from his tone, "surely you should all be proud of me for that, I stopped myself," Mylo didn't sound all too proud himself. He knew what he was doing was wrong, he knew it was unhealthy, he had that lecture hundreds of times over the years. Still, it didn't help. Telling him that what he was doing was harming himself didn't make any difference. It was a compulsion, a need to control, and it wouldn't ever disappear entirely. There wasn't a cure, Mylo would have to cope with it for the rest of his life. Vasile only hoped the comfort and encouragement to be healthy by his family would be enough to help him in the long run. It had worked so far.

"I never said we weren't proud, Mylo, you've come far from where you were. We're all proud of you, but you know what Akos is like. He worries about you, this kind of disorder doesn't just disappear, it's forever. Don't you think it's better that we're all overreacting than letting you get back to that place again?" Mylo nodded weakly, staring down at Vasile's arm around him, resting his head on the man's shoulder. He didn't need to be reminded of what his disorder was doing to Akos. It had changed the man over the years, made him angry, unhappy. No matter the mask he wore, no matter the brief moments of happiness that shone through, he wasn't the man he used to be. Vasile never blamed Mylo for that, he didn't need that kind of guilt on his plate as well. But they all knew it was the fear of losing the boy that had darkened Akos. One day, he would shatter entirely, and Vasile wasn't sure what might be able to put those pieces back together.