[FIN] Laid to Rest

[BlackPidgeot]

Upon arriving to Grande Ile, Yuri merely followed Luke and his father to their manor. The man being overwhelmed with the luxury and extravagance of the place. Not to mention all of the hired servants. He'd even been assigned a personal maid to attend to his needs. This was just... so weird. A part of him wanted to bolt out of there as fast as he could run and go straight to the Lower Quarter. However, he was here for Luke, so that wasn't an option.

Having been assigned a room, Yuri also had a set of clothes shoved at him. Something "nice and befitting a member of the household security" even though it looked nothing like what the other hired hands were wearing. Grudgingly, he put the thing on, brooding over the fact that it reminded him of the military uniforms he use to wear. At least he could move in it well enough. He also put his hair up in a ponytail.

Remaining close to Luke, Yuri again followed the family to where the funeral was held a couple days later. Feeling rather out of place, he remained stoic and serious.

He was one of the few allowed in the sanctuary of an elaborate church with a weapon. The building was massive. He'd seen it several times in passing, but had never actually gone inside. It figured that nobles would hold such ceremonies there.

He couldn't help but notice the throngs of people that had shown up. Most of them being of the nobility, and even a detail of soldiers. And for a moment he thought he caught a glimpse of a man with blue eyes and blonde hair.  

[Suudonym]

Luke was not by any stretch of the imagination equipped to handle this. It was only too recently that he had been within the large church for his mother's funeral, and now he was here again for yet another of the grim ceremonies. Luke spent his days in a state of continuing exhaustion, refusing all verbal conversation, refusing even his own thoughts until those fleeting moments when he was asleep and nightmares distorted his memories and imagination. His attendance to the funeral - he had been warned by his father, with a few words of sympathy, against misconduct - was with pale features, dark eyes, and a strange dissonance with his surroundings. More than grief, however, those dark eyes betrayed pure resentment. Before his mother's funeral, the fact that the Fabre household had two sons had been a personal matter within the family. So who exactly were all these people, these noble families so entangled in politics that they would force themselves in an affair as intimate as a funeral for a person they had only recently discovered had existed? For the time being, he allowed this silent indignation to supercede thoughts and feelings that threatened to cripple him entirely the moment the bridle slipped.  

[BlackPidgeot]

Yuri wouldn't pretend to know anything about Luke's family, but he had known that Asch was a Rocket. Did any of these people here even know him or what he'd done with his life? He seriously doubted it. Nobles did like to make a big show of everything, usually with pomp and circumstances, even at funerals.

Still, the man stood by Luke's side, a silent pillar of support should he need him. Black eyes lifted to see the casket where the young man laid. A row of 19 candles set up nearby, reminding him just how young the pair of twins were. He hadn't even made it to adulthood, and yet had been forced to make such weighty decisions. It hardly seemed fair, but Yuri already knew how unfair and cruel the world really was.

Both Luke and his father were then prompted to light the candles at their leisure. And Yuri's gaze slid over to the boy who was obviously unwell.  

[Suudonym]

Luke's father turned to his son, waiting expectantly for him to join him before he proceeded with the rites, but Luke recoiled a few steps and rooted himself there, an expression that could only be called terrified locked firmly on the ground at his feet. He was certain that for all the world it looked like a conscious refusal to participate properly, the very kind of misconduct his father had warned against, but he simply couldn't will himself to move. With any motion he would completely lose himself, and with the eyes of many of the other attendees watching him ("That's the brother, right?", "The poor child…", "Why is he just standing there?", "Is he okay?") he hardly found it prudent to run or shout or collapse or any of the responses he wasn't entirely confident in his ability to control.  

[BlackPidgeot]

Hearing the murmurings of the people behind them, Yuri closed his eyes in a disgusted expression. This was just, not right. It only served to remind him how much he disliked the nobility. Their insensitive, selfish nature was nothing short of appalling.

"Luke..." he said quietly, again looking to the boy who seemed frozen in fear. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to. It's your choice."

Granted its not what his father had said, but well... father be damned.  

[Suudonym]

Lord Fabre saw Luke's stubborn hesitation, and though he didn't hear what Yuri told his son, he countered it nonetheless, "Lucien, don't disrespect your brother like this."

Yuri's words were vastly more appealing than his father's, and Luke shook his head defiantly, withdrawing another step and trembling lightly. This was beyond his capabilities.  

[BlackPidgeot]

Dammit, what was with that guy and ordering his son around like this? Yuri had thought the man might be pretty decent, but now? He was starting to have his doubts.

"It's your choice, Luke," Yuri said quietly.

Really, the man didn't want to cause a scene at Asch's funeral. But Yuri could feel his blood boiling at the situation Luke had been thrust into.  

[Suudonym]

Under his father's gaze, under the eyes of those that had gathered to mourn, Luke gave up. He was done. No more. Green eyes fell shut from a rapid draining of his strength that prevented him from supporting himself any longer. A startled murmur spread through the assembly, and Lord Fabre's complexion blanched as he assumed the worst, "Lucien!"  

[BlackPidgeot]

Yuri's eyes flew wide as Luke crumpled before his very eyes. Quickly he caught the boy, not withholding the glare that he aimed at the boy's father.

"Dammit, did you really have to push him like that? The hell is wrong with you!"

Not waiting for any sort of rebuttal, Yuri gathered Luke up in his arms and promptly began to exit the room.  

[Suudonym]

Lord Fabre stared startled momentarily, hesitating between his responsibilities as one of the heads of Parliament and his responsibilities as Luke's father. It wasn't long before he decided on the latter, following after Yuri to the entryway, "Take him to his room. I'll call for a physician." He'd figure a way out of the mess he was putting himself in when his only remaining family's life wasn't in danger.

For Luke's part, though he was thoroughly unconscious, he was certainly nowhere near the state he had been in only a short time in the past. Physical and emotional stress were plain in his features, as was a fever's warmth.  

[BlackPidgeot]

"Right," Yuri said coolly. "I'll worry about Luke. See to your other son." Meaning Asch of course. The guy at least deserved a decent funeral. Even if his brother wasn't present.

Yuri ignored the various stares and whisperings of the nobles around him. Instead, Yuri carried Luke back to his home and into his room, where he laid the boy on his bed. Fetching a cool, damp rag, he placed it on the young noble's forehead. Then took a position sitting on the corner of the bed, his sword held against his shoulder like some kind of sentinel.  

[Suudonym]

The man exhaled a light sigh, nodding in acceptance and turning to return to the ceremony after making a brief call.

Luke slept with no awareness of the things that transpired. The summoned physician arrived in short order, ascertaining that the fever was unrelated to any serious complications and was likely only the result of stress. That stress manifested in more ways than just the fever, nightmares clenching his hands, contorting his features, and shortening his breath.  

[BlackPidgeot]

When the doctor came, Yuri took to leaning against the wall instead. Listening and watching to what the man had to say as he looked over Luke. Also demanding if there was anything that could be done for him, cause clearly the boy wasn't doing very well.

However, he didn't exactly get satisfactory answers and merely just kept his guard over the boy as he slept.  

[Suudonym]

Luke eventually curled tightly into himself, half awake but unable to distinguish clearly between consciousness and unconsciousness. The sight of his room puzzled him, his memories temporarily addled by the anxieties that had accumulated. Yuri's presence was a confusion as well, and he quickly gave up on trying to piece together where he was or what had happened. Without giving it any distinct thought, Luke spoke in a dejected, murmuring tone, "Asch died."  

[BlackPidgeot]

Yuri just continued to stand there in silence. At some point Repede had wandered in as well and laid down in front of Luke's bed, closing his eye to nap. The dark haired stared at the floor in silence as the minutes ticked away, allowing his thoughts to wander.

However, his attention snapped back to the present and he looked up as Luke began to stir... and then spoke.

"Yeah," Yuri said back.

After a pause he continued.

"How're you feeling?"