Infinity, Taken Literally

Identity 24

The strong hands don't let him move away, doing the opposite and instead pulling him in. "Reki," The voice is in his ear now. "Focus on my voice," Why is someone here? Why is he helping? "You need to breathe," He can't. "It's okay Reki, breathe in." The voice is firm and demanding.

"I – I." Wasting a breath that he can't take on trying to speak, Reki gasps pitifully. Trying to blink through the rain and tears clouding his vision, he searches for some hint of who's in front of him. A flash of colour makes his heart skip a beat. The pale pink hair is unmistakable. Even through the rain and tears, it's as clear as day. A fresh wave of emotions and panic crash over him.

The hands on his arms squeeze reassuringly. "Don't talk." Cherry's expression hardens in determination at the silent plea for help in Reki's eyes. "Breathe in," He pauses, waiting. "Breath in and focus on the feeling of the fabric in your hand." The fabric? Numbly, Reki's gaze drops down to his clasped fists. That's right, he is holding onto the edge of Cherry's shirt. When did he do that? "Breathe in," Cherry reminds, and he turns his attention away from his hands. The distraction seems to alleviate some of the pressure on his chest and he manages to suck in a wheezing gasp of air.

The sound of himself struggling to breathe threatens to undo the sliver of progress they'd made. "What does the ground feel like?" Cherry's question takes him by surprise and for a moment, Reki doesn't know if he'd heard him wrong. It takes another failed attempt at breathing for Cherry to prompt him again. "The ground Reki."

Willing to do anything by now, he does as told and stares at the ground. Cherry waits impatiently as the boy's face goes from panicked to confused. "Wet." Reki decides after another wheezing breath. His voice comes out almost silent and a cough wracks his body the moment the words leave his mouth.

"What can you hear?"

He's faster to react this time, changing his attention from the ground to his ears. "Rain."

"What does the object in your hands feel like?" Digging his nails into the fabric, Reki stares at his hands.

"Soft." His voice is no longer followed by a cough or wheeze. Cherry releases his hold just enough to allow Reki to pull back. "Breath out." He instructs when it's clear that he's struggling too. Focusing on doing as told, Reki lifts his head and forces himself to exhale. "Breathe in."

When he finally gasps in a deep breath of air, Cherry's shoulders drop in relief. "Cher-ry," He chokes out and another wave of hot tears follow.

Cherry's face softens. "Keep breathing." It takes a dozen more cycles of inhaling and exhaling for Reki to gather himself enough to form words.

"I'm sorry," He snivels.

Cherry's face drops like it's painful to hear Reki apologizing. "It's okay." Not giving him another chance to speak, Cherry wraps his arms around the boy. Reki freezes in the embrace. It takes a moment to understand what's happening, and another further to relax into the hold. Dropping his head onto Cherry's shoulder, Reki lets the tears flow freely.

Neither keep track of how long they stay like that. Reki breaking down, gripping onto the man for dear life as he uses the rain to hide his own tears. Cherry doesn't move, even when the rain dies off into a drizzle before stopping, even when Reki's tears dry up and he can't manage anything more than the occasional wet hiccup. He lets the boy hide away for as long as he needs.

When Reki eventually moves, he slowly let's go of his tight hold on Cherry's clothes and shakily sits back without looking up. Cherry watches with a fond expression, loosening his hold.

"I'm sorry." Wiping at his face, Reki stares at the ground like he's too afraid to look up.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." He closes his eyes like it could be enough to hide from the emotions in Cherry's voice. "I'm just glad that it's you," Reki sniffles and tears threaten to fall again.