Sleep

I wanna sleep in your car while you're driving, lay in your lap when I'm crying

Beyblade Burst - Dante Koryu & Lui Shirosagi

Dedicated to Daia: may we remain best friends, and continue encouraging each other to keep writing (even if our busy lives mean that less and less time can be devoted to it and to each other) 

*Also, Daia, this isn't your actual birthday present, I may or may not be still writing that ;3*

-

Dante would be fine, Lui told himself.

They had made a plan (him, Arman, and Delta)—Arman would go on the trip to Beigoma with Tango, Ichika, and his brother, Delta would stay at the Victories' headquarters (somehow managing to invite Pheng Hope in the process), and Lui would stay over at the Victories' with Dante.

Dante would be fine.

The first thing Lui noticed when he arrived was that Dante was far from fine.

It wasn't notable to the naked eye, of course—not that Dante was, by any means, a specimen to be studied intensely—but it was plain as day to anyone who truly knew Dante.

His once wide, bright green eyes were dimmer, a faded, murky blue-green that starkly contrasted his light blond hair. His movements were more tense, stiff and unrelaxed unlike how he usually milled about the warehouse. And the purple rings under his eyes, barely noticeable, but still very much there.

Dante, in his typical fashion, denied all of it. He was fine, apparently, acting as if the mere hour of sleep he got was sufficient for his daily activities.

Daily activities which included Spring cleaning the entire Victories' warehouse.

(Briefly, Lui considered the plan was made just so Lui would help them with chores. Pheng too, after he'd been brutally awoken by Delta's broom. Lui had to admit that had been funny.)

Delta had split up the work between them: him and Pheng would sweep the floors, and Lui and Dante were to clean the wall of windows on the door to the warehouse. Tomorrow, they would take care of tidying up inside, all the knick-knacks and items that got misplaced from their regular use. Then, they would enjoy the rest of the week they had to themselves.

Delta had denied Lui's wishes to throw a huge party and invite all of the bladers in the area.

So, Lui was left to hold the ladder as Dante cleaned the taller windows.

Lui glanced up. "Missed a spot."

Dante scoffed. "I did not!"

"The top left corner. There's dirt."

Dante groaned, before leaning over to scrub the leftmost window.

Unconsciously, Lui's grip on the ladder tightened. "Do you have some sort of death wish? I'm not catching you if you fall."

"Psht. You know you would." Dante replied, going back to the window he was originally working on.

Lui couldn't argue with him there.

This was Dante. Bright, extroverted, adventurous, Dante. He got into more scrapes than he could manage to get himself out of, his positive attitude able to make him ignore everything clearly steering him towards danger. Him not batting an eye when he stepped into Lui's abode was frankly impressive. Incredibly stupid, yes, but impressive.

And that was Lui's brother. In a roundabout way, being that neither were related in a family sense, and they hadn't grown up together by any means. Dante was Lui's brother because he saw parts of himself in the younger, the fiery, passionate spirit that fueled them both.