My Precious Cargo ⚔ Volume 2 (An AtsuKage ff) ✔

IX

Following after Tobio, he walked through the half-open door to find the Prince pacing back and forth, arms wrapped around his stomach as he kept his gaze trained on the ground; his hat and book on the desk. His breaths were shaky and rapid, and he grew paler than normal. Quickly shutting the door behind him, he took a step closer.

"Tobio?" he called out quietly, but his voice still made his love flinch.

Tobio looked up and at him with shaking eyes, his lips parting and closing as he tried to find the words but couldn't. He took in a deep breath that he held, unable to let out as he tensed up again. Damn, Atsumu thought, he was having a panic attack wasn't he. Slowly he made his way over to Tobio, asking permission to touch him before slowly guiding him to the bed after he received a nod of confirmation.

"I need you to breathe with me, love. You need to let that breath out, okay? It's okay, yer safe in here, aye?"

Gently unwrapping one of Tobio's arms, he placed the palm against his chest, taking deep breaths himself to get Tobio to copy him. It took some more coaxing before Tobio shakily released his breath, the rapidity declining until his breathing matched Atsumu's.

"Yer doing great. Yer okay with me, baby." He continued to whisper assurances until Tobio returned to normal; knowing the boy was now probably tired and heavy, he shuffled closer to put an arm around his waist, letting him lean on his body for support.

"Can you talk to me, love? Tell me what's going on."

"I-I..." the Prince stammered for a moment before taking a slow breath and continuing, "there were t-two men." Another deep breath. "They are on my father's council."

Now it was Atsumu's turn to be surprised. Knowing Tobio's his father he could guess his council members were just as bad. He wondered about how much influence they had over the man, and thus how much influence they had over the way he treated his son. He didn't know how much Tobio interacted with the council, but the thought of them doing something hurtful to him directly or not made him angry.

Tobio was probably thinking about all sorts of horrible things right now, and he knew he needed to get him to stay present to help him. He grabbed the book that was tossed on the desk when he went over to Tobio, and put it in Tobio's lap, silently asking him to hold it. When Tobio picked it up and read the front and back, a his lips turned upwards as he looked up at the Captain.

"Thankyou."

"No problem."

Atsumu placed a soft kiss against Tobio's lips, deepening it at the sigh he relieved from the younger male. Bringing a hand to cup his cheek, he dared to swipe his tongue at Tobio's bottom lip, making the Prince chuckle a little before pulling him closer with his coat, parting his lips to invite him inside. The content hum from Tobio assured him that he was feeling better now and was more present, and when they pulled apart, panting softly, he could see Tobio looking directly at him.

"Are you feeling better now?" Atsumu asked softly.

"Mhm. But I am a little tired, and my head hurts."

"You should stay in bed, and maybe take a nap if yer want to. I'll get you some water."

"Okay."

Leaving the room whilst Tobio took his boots and belt off to lay down, he crossed the deck and saw most of the crew were back beside his brother and Kita. Knowing they would be on their way soon, he went down to the kitchen and grabbed a cup, filling it with some water before quickly returning. He gave it to Tobio who had a few mouthfuls, before sitting with him until he fell asleep.

He ended up lying down next to the Prince, slowly rubbing a warm hand up and down his back until the breaths against his neck evened out; after waiting a little while longer to make sure Tobio wouldn't wake up, he gently stood up from the bed and left their room. They had just begun sailing from the port, the crew all turning to him for an explanation.

Before he told them he wanted to know how much they managed to get.

"We got most things, besides grease and half of the rum."

That was fine, they could do without a shiny deck for a little longer, and the rum wasn't top priority right now.

"What's wrong?" Osamu asked. "Yer look stressed. Why did yer make us rush to leave?"

"Where's Tobio?" Kita added, looking at the closed door behind their Captain with concern.

"I went to get my watch fixed and he spotted two men looking at him through the window. They were his father's men, on his damn council."

"Did they recognised him?" Kita wanted confirmation, breaking the tense silence amongst the crew's worry.

"Likely. We didn't stick around to find out. Lucky we got back in time... he's just had a panic attack."

"Was it bad? Is he doin' okay?" Suna questioned, looking even more worried now. Hadn't Tobio been through enough?

"Aye, he's sleeping now. But that's another thing."

"What?"

"I don't think he's sleeping properly again. He said there's no night terrors, or just a wee amount compared to before but-"

"Do you think it has anything to do with what the witches gave him?" Osamu questioned.

"It could be." Kita answered before turning to look at Atsumu. "You should keep an eye out, there may be side-effects of that potion that we don't know about yet."

"Aye."

It was quiet a moment longer until Aran spoke up.

"Captain, were yer followed?"

"Not sure." Atsumu replied honestly with a sigh. "Hope not."

"You should stay with him." Kita advised, sensing the worry in Atsumu's body. "We can sort everything out and we'll get you both for dinner, aye?"

"Aye, thankyou." he said earnestly.

"He's making you softer by the day." teased Osamu.

"Shut yer trap!" he yelled with no bite.

Returning to his quarters, he didn't hesitate to remove his things before joining his lover in bed, putting a blanket over them both as they stayed atop the covers. Holding him close, he could now spend time looking at Tobio's very attractive face. He did this most mornings, waking up earlier so he could spend a few minutes appreciating the beauty beside him. But that was when the light was still emerging, and now in the full daylight he could see the traces of black rimmed under Tobio's eyes. The sight made him sigh, cursing himself for not noticing sooner.

Of course Tobio wouldn't say he wasn't getting as much sleep anymore. He wasn't one to burden others with his problems, but just as Tobio was someone Atsumu trusted, he wanted Tobio to trust him too. Their relationship was still knew, and they were still discovering new things about each other, so he knew it would take time with someone like Tobio to be completely open and vulnerable with each other. But he wanted them to be honest with each other as much as they could; it made him question if he wasn't doing something right or properly if Tobio wasn't telling him something.

Then Tobio's voice appeared in his head, telling him that he was thinking something stupid and that he wasn't doing anything wrong. It was just that it took a while for the Prince to open up about certain things and so he should wait patiently for him to talk with him about his worries or concerns.

But for now he was okay, they were safe and back out on the open sea meaning they could relax for a while. Tomorrow was a new day...