[open] that's my cross to bear

[elio]

elio

some say I should learn to cry but I only learned how to fight
and I know everything must die but nothing fades like the light

"Home," Elio murmurs on a laugh, tilting his already standoffish head away from Eyas. Where was home, now? Now that Taiga thinks him an enemy and a joke? Loess never felt like home, even when Elio stuck close to Lepis' side. An arduous sigh heaves the golden man's sides. He only knows home in his dreams and even those dreams do not mimic large, centuries-old redwoods. Lio doesn't remember the last time he laid his head down and truly felt comfortable.

Though, Eyas does offer open, awaiting arms; and perhaps he should have said home as a question. Where is her home? Loess? Taiga? Some land opposite Beqanna Elio has not taken the time to visit, much less get to know?

Eyas' nose burrowed in Elio's neck is a warm, if shocking, sensation. He hesitantly tucks his head, resting his chin lightly on her dappled skin. Home comes to mind again: Elio's mind twists and twists until it is being wrung out, taut and painful as pain rushes out soon followed by slow, methodical understanding. He could be here, in this moment, with his sister just as vulnerable as he beneath their father's shadow. He could be here, even if it took squeezing out every distracting, self-deprecating thought. He could find a way out of his own selfish orbit.

"I do my best, sister," Elio murmurs, following it with a quiet laugh. He doesn't want her to worry, even if she offers a back to bear the weights of his regrets.

The earlier question burbles like hiccups in his throat: "Where is home, Eyas? Have you found somewhere?" Somewhere safe, or whole, or even just a little warm. He doesn't know what somewhere means. He hopes she does.

@[Eyas] <3