In the early morning a week later when everything has calmed down Lucio sat at the large dining table alone to have breakfast since his parents were gone for work yet seeing a maid carry his little brother around to take care of him for the day he knows this all to well....this is how he started off in life and he does not want that for his brother. "Miss? I will take care of my brother"
The maid stops in her tracks and gives Lucio a smile "my young lord there is no need for that. You are a child yourself you should not need to care for him"
Lucio stands up and walks over to her extending his arms for his little brother "please" he spoke and the maid sighs knowing she cannot disobey the higher rank their orders. She carefully places the baby in his arms.
"I wanted to feed him so i will prepare a bottle for him" she spoke turning away to go to the kitchen yet she notices Lucio following her. "Young lord. With all due respect....what are you doing?"
The young boy looks up at her and the other servants in the kitchen " want to learn how to make the bottle myself. I want to take care of him when my parents cannot do that."
Sasha furrows her brows and walks over crouching down infront of him "i know what you are doing young lord but you are a child yourself you should not be taking care of him all on your own."
"I am not. If i have a question i will ask you or Leon. You two practically raised me...i do not want for Valerius to go trough what i have been trough. The be neglected by your own family." He whispers and looks down at the baby.
Sasha sadly smiles up at him knowing how good his heart and that it is in the right place yet she found it sad that it has to come to this that he, a child is willing to give up on his own childhood to take care of his brother. "This is a great responsibility "
Lucio gives her a nod before he sits down on a chair in the kitchen so when he was given the bottle he can properly feed his younger brother as to everybody their surprise he did it correctly the first try. "I know. But i will take all responsibility, i will take all his tasks, i will do anything he has to do so that he can play around and have a good childhood, a fun one..the one i did not get" he whispers and watches how his brother looks up at him with those blue eyes as he can see he clearly will look more like their mother.
It was two years later and Lucio is ten now as for Valerian he is two.
Their parents had gotten more busy so his father would give Lucio some tasks aswell which he would carry out while taking care of Valerius. At the moment Lucio was sitting in the small library with Valerius on his lap as he was reading a book feeling tired from the overbearing workload and from how much responsibility he has yet he keeps on going. "Brother-..."
Lucio his attention went to Valerius giving him a tired smile "yes? What is it?"
"Dog" Valerius spoke. He cannot speak full sentences yet so often it would be a bunch of words mixed together so Lucio or anybody else has to figure out what he says.
Lucio turns his head to the door of the library and trough the glass he can see three dogs sitting there. Their mother has fostered some dogs to keep them company so Lucio smiles softly " do you want to play with the dogs?" Seeing his little brother nod he stands up and carries him outside of the small library as the dogs are following them. He sits down in the middle of the ballroom with Valerius in his arms so if the dogs go a little crazy he can keep Valerius safe for in the moment yet the dogs are calm and just lay at their feet. Slowly he puts his younger brother down and lets him pet the dogs yet he keeps a close eye on him despite him being incredible tired. He smiles when he hears Valerius giggle and watches how the smaller dog licks his hand each time Val tries to pet him. Lucio smiles as he pets the older dog who has his head resting on Lucio his lap. Lucio wishes Valerius can run around like any other child but he cant due to the disability he is born with yet since he is training to use a leg brace to help him walk or walk in general they suspect he needs crutches or atleast one crutch or cane to help him walk. His attention did turn to the other dog who stares at the back door and is growling. Lucio swiftly turns around and sees a dark figure dissapear and since it was still dark outside he could not really see who it was. He was not scared yet he pulls Valerius close to him who was scared as he rubs his little brother his back gently who hided his face in Lucio his chest. "Shhhtt it is nothing" he whispers. It was a lie but it is better to lie then to further scare the child. He picks Valerius up and carries him to his bedroom where he would change him into sleepwear since it was time for his nap since Valerius has to sleep often because of his illness which makes him very tired at random of times. He watches the two large dogs join him on the bed as Lucio picks the smaller dog up and sets it down on the bed. "They will protect you okay? I will be back in a hour to see if you are still asleep" he spoke and tucks Valerius in.
Despite Lucio working a lot he still would manage to spoil his brother with anything he wanted. Before he realises it he sees Valerius is already asleep hugging the smaller dog. Lucio would smile and press a kiss on his forehead before he pats the other dogs their heads leaving the room soon enough. Wanting to go to work again he makes his way to his study and right as he walks a corner he was almost teckled by Leon but Lucio teckles the man with him so both landed on the ground.
Leon would chuckle and sit up "i cannot fool you anymore hmm? You look like a corpse. Go to sleep you need it" he spoke standing up before he extends his hand to help him stand up.
Lucio takes Leon his hand and gets pulled up with such ease like he weighs nothing but then again he is very slender. "You trained me well that is why...but can i ask a favor of you?"
Leon crosses his arms and tilts his head just a little wondering what this favor will be "and that is? Dont tell me i have to be kind to my ex..."
Lucio looks at him really confused as he crosses his arms aswell just staring at him confused what he is speaking off "wait...you guys broke up? When? What happened?"
"Oh...i thought Sasha would have told you. I caught him cheating" he shrugs and fixing some of his own brunette hair "so i cheated back. It was a messy break up"
The young lord just looks at him speechless as his lips are parted wanting to say something yet it does not come out. "You are the most pettiest person i have met...the favor i wanted to ask you is that i saw somebody watching me and Valerius in the ballroom. They dissapeared and a dog growled at that person so it is somebody he does not know. I want you to find out who it is"
Listening to the information Leon knows who it may be so he lets out a deep sigh as he seems rather concerned in the moment"recently Fatui agents have tried to breach the fencing for some unknown reason. Luckily the guards can stop them but i suppose this one slipped trough their fingers. " he spoke thinking some more about it to think of what they can do. "Next time that happens see it as practice...teckle that person and question him or her. Simple and easy as that."
"Says you-..."
"Hey i trained you didnt i?!" He spoke poking Lucio his forehead and Lucio is almost as tall as him and for a ten year old that is pretty tall " get to bed i will find out who it is in the meantime"
"No i have to do work and i need to go to my lessons" Lucio spoke thinking of what else he has to do "in a hour i have to return to Valerius to check up on him and if he is awake i have to take care of him while working and doing lessons. If he still is asleep i will have to come back that next hour-..." Lucio starts to name all the things he has to do not noticing how unamused Leon was who lets out a yawn.
"Listen kid -...you have to much on your plate. It is okay to rest once in a while you know? You will have a burn out sooner or later. I get it that you want Valerius to grow up peacefully so he can have a happy childhood but this is too much for you. You barely have time to eat and that is why you got so slender. You barely have any sleep. I am surprised you are even standing at the moment" he spoke poking Lucio his slender arm almost implying that all he can see is a skeleton with no meat on it.
Lucio shakes his head smiling as a soft chuckle would leave his lips "truely i am fine. Now then, i will go to my lessons before going to work again " he spoke and walks to the ballroom yet not seeing the teacher there it was odd since he himself was late so why is Raoul not here yet moments later he came walking in from the outside giving Lucio a bright smile which is unusual for him. "You seem happy. What is it?"
"Can i not be happy to see you?" He asks and sits down besides him on the bench off the piano. "Go on play something. I want to see if you have improved"
Lucio just stares at him finding it unusual of how cheerfull he seems "you thought my piano and violin since i five... "
Raoul lets out a soft him and flips the page to the song he has to play "well then. Proof me that you can play then" he spoke and signals to the paper as it was a hard to play song.
Having so many notes on the pages and not having properly slept for a while it took Lucio out of it his vision going blurry for a moment yet he recollects himself and places his fingers on the keys. His eyes scan over the paper. At first he was doing great yet the tempo slowed down more...and more...and more as his head was hanging low. Raoul noticed what was about to happen so he immitatly lays Lucio down on the ground and presses his cold hand against the other his forehead trying to keep him awake from going unconscious. "Stay with me okay? Breath-...i will get you to your room when you are able to stand and lean onto me" he spoke calmly and in a soothing way to let him know it was okay what just happened. "I will not allow you to work for a few days"
"You are...not my doctor" Lucio mumbles closing his eyes for a moment before he opens them again as luckily his vision is a little more clear again. "Help me stand please" he spoke.
Raoul did as requested and helps the young lord stand up wrapping his arm around his waist so that he is supporting the other. "I know...but you need to rest up. Maids will take care of Valerius so do not worry about him. He will understand you cannot be with him twenty-four seven"
Walking to Lucio his bedroom the teacher lays him on the bed and takes Lucio his boots off but that is about it not going to overstep boundaries. "I will inform everybody you will be in bed for a couple of days. I will inform your pare-.."
"No-no...!" Lucio sits straight up in bed but sitting up so fast made him dizzy again so he covers his face with a hand "please...they cannot know i am slacking..."
Raoul looks down and gives him a nod understanding the situation. Lucio never slacks at all. He is the most hard working in this house taking care of so many things at such a young age. He understands that he never had a childhood and had to be a adult so to speak at all times. Lucio seeks validation from his parents that he will never get as it was useless to work this hard without getting any praise from them. Not to mention he has to take care of his little brother during all of this. It was a hard decision he has to make yet he is willing to do it if that means Lucio can get back to health, have time to eat, have time to sleep, have time to do something fun. "I am going to quit giving you lessons. You have mastered what you have to master so there is no point in giving you lessons anymore. I am doing this so those two to four hours you can eat and sleep. Do not stuff those hours full with work understood?" He spoke and lays Lucio back on the bed so he would be laying flat on his back as he tucks the young lord in.
"Then...we wont be able to see eachother again" he whispers sounding very upset about it since he has grown very fond of Raoul. It is well known that with Lucio his parents leaving for work he has seperation anxiety and he has grown close to many people in this house so for these lessons to stop made his heart ache and his anxiety grow. "Please...do not return to Fontaine and stay here please. You do not have to teach me anything just please-..." Lucio spoke having tears fill his eyes.
Raoul just looks down at the other with a sad expression yet he gives him a sad smile hoping that will bring some comfort "if i do not teach you then i do not have a reason to stay. I will return to Fontaine yet i promise you i will write you letters often. Now do not cry. This day has been a lot for you already so close your eyes and let sleep take over you " he spoke yet that being said he watches how the other hugs himself beneath the covers and has tears stream down his face. He has grown so close to him yet despite keeping it professional almost all of the time Lucio feels like a son to him so it pains him aswell "get better soon" he spoke and places a hand onto his shoulder before he leaves the room.
Lucio feels so alone again as he hates this feeling. He just feels his stomach grumble as he was hungry yet so tired all at once. He has more time to take care of hinself ywt he knows eventually ro work would be puled up anyways. For now he would close his eyes and try his best to sleep.
Like i am willing to make this story so extremely dark i will have to put all the trigger warnings infront of it so if you all are up for a extremely fucked up story how it originally was intended to be then let me know.
(I do not mind if it will be a more tame version so just let me know what you prefer and what you all feel most comfortable with)