#02. gemini

But then, just as quickly as the tension entered the other man's body, Heba watched it noticeably drain away again as he responded. Ah, there was the man his brother described. Still, he remained silent for another few moments, letting the tension build just to see if he'd falter again.

If he was going to approve of anyone, Yugi was seeing, that person would first have to hold their own. And if they couldn't hold their own when facing him, they probably couldn't with anyone else either. And so he allowed the silence to stretch for good five seconds.. Ten seconds.. Fifteen seconds until finally his frown eased and he nodded.

"Good. I'd hate to have to bury you. Yugi wouldn't like that very much." And that was putting it lightly. However, just as quickly as his frown smoothed out, it came right back as he glared at the taller man again. "That said, if you hurt him, I won't hesitate."

Cont.

He's okay..

Physically okay anyway, but that was enough to have him relaxing for now as he held up a finger in the universal "just a sec" gesture. He couldn't even remember if he locked his door on his flight out of the apartment before. But it didn't really matter much when it came to what could have been troubling his brother.

"What's going on?" he finally managed after a moment of soft panting. "I can feel your worry, bro," he added, finally coming out of the doorway to let the door close behind him.

Indeed, he could still see the shadows of worry and something else there in the identical violet eyes. What had caused it? Bullying again? If someone bullied him then-

"Who's ass am I kicking?" he demanded, a frown crinkling his brows downward. He noticed a distinct lack of another person as well and his frown deepened. "It better not have been that walking mummy!"

cont.

Apparently, youkai for example were supposed to be extinct. But he saw more than a few of them. Then there was also what his brother told him about the fae realm and how they both apparently had fae blood in them.

The only thing that Heba was unsure of was who this guy was. Even the ping of familiarity deep down didn't soften his expression. If anything, it hardened even more from what he heard.

"Oh, you mistook me for Yugi huh? Wrong twin. But exactly do you want with my brother?" he replied, eyes narrowing further as he folded his arms.

cont.

"Happy birthday, Yugi," he replied, returning the warm hug with one of his own.

Seeing his twin on their shared birthday was still something that brought a smile to his face. But the way each of his brother's friends turned to look still set him on edge even now. So he was thankful when Yugi took his hand and led him a small distance away.

It seemed that his twin was reading his mind as well with what he suggested they do later that day. Must be that twin telepathy thing that people theorized about.

"Sounds good. In the meantime, don't worry about me and just enjoy yourself."

Cont.

"Mm yeah, running is a part of the training," he explained as he wiped his mouth and resealed his bottle. "You need to push yourself to your limit and then push past that limit. But to get you used to it, we'll just do a half mile first."

As he spoke, he pulled his hair back into his usual ponytail, a bit more messy this time though. It was more for necessity than just style this time of course. His own hair however wasn't important. They'd be using a lot of energy doing this, so was glad to hear his twin had eaten well already. Even so..

"It wouldn't hurt to have granola bars and such too, to replenish the energy lost."

cont.

"I may start charging rent for my shoulder," he joked, but didn't even try to push his brother away. Instead he leaned his head over to rest it against his twin's head. As close to a hug as he could manage while also focusing on his game. Up until it was paused at least and his twin got his full attention. "Just tired or is something on your mind?" he added.

"Yugi, I missed you," he replied, hugging him tightly and uncaring of anyone else that may be in the room. "How are you doing? Father sends his regards."

And more than just his regards at that considering the chests that were pushed through the portal by servants before they bowed and disappeared back through it, the door closing as if it was never there.

cont.

"I'll drink to that!" he agreed, laughing as he poured each of them a shot. He quickly threw his own back before he could let himself think too much about it. A new year, a new chance to be the brother's they didn't get to be before, complete with twin mischief. That sounded like a great year to him!

cont.