Vivian & Rugir Part 7

“It's nothing special, come along.” He took Rugir’s hand and, slowly, led him to the kitchen and set him down on a stool on the corner. “This is still new to me, father and I used to have people do this sort of thing for us, but now I do it all myself.” He got to work on the dishes and cleaning the kitchen, showing Rugir what he did when Rugir was asleep or when he was between assignments and recovering from assignments. It was a nasty business, working. So he did the chores that he would normally do and he made them lunch and he gave Rugir his medicine. It was just drops now, mixed into his tea, instead of the tonics. The whole thing only took half of an hour and the eating didn’t even take that long again. 

He worked on a puzzle that had been packed away just before going to gather Rugir from the hospital and he caught upon his mail and the newspaper. He played some music on the oversized radio. He tried not to do anything that actually turned into his actual work. 

There was a hand on his arm and he stopped to look at Rugir, to see his twin watching him so ardently, even with bags under his eyes. 

“Happy?” 

Vivian put his hand on Rugir’s cheek, leaning in, forehead to forehead. He thought of the past few weeks, how stressful it had been to take care of Rugir, how much better he could be doing. But he thought of the misery of being alone, settling their father’s affairs, working himself until he was shaking and unable to tell present from future, how it was before he had his twin with him. 

“I’m happier now, with you here, no matter what challenges it brings me.” 

Rugir looked him over, eyes still a bit glassy, but he was more present than before, he was more real, more solid. He was thinking for himself and the thoughts came slowly but they settled and they mattered. Rugir was becoming human again. He licked his lips, the bitten red raspberry of them. 

Rugir pressed forward and Vivian thought that he was falling at first but he wasn’t, he was sliding into Vivian, pressing their lips together, soft and warm and alive. His eyes were closed and there was adoration in his mouth. It was the same sort of kiss that Vivian gave his cheeks, temple, and brow, but there was more to it too, a desperation, a need to reciprocate. 

When Vivian opened his mouth, kissed back, beautiful raspberry lips on beautiful raspberry lips, Rugir moaned, a little soft note, hardly more than a sigh. He could not grip Vivian but his hands were in Vivian’s jacket and he was leaning against a chest within which beat the same blood. 

They were twins, they were brothers, this was wrong, this was disgusting. What a perfect boy, who could want to hurt him? Who could deny Rugir anything? He was so soft and lovely and kind, always had been, his strangeness as a child only adding to his allure. Vivian had wanted to protect him from everything then and that was just as true now. He leaned into the kiss, hand tangling in Rugir’s hair. 

And then he was struck with logic, with understanding, and he pulled away almost violently. 

“We can’t do this,” Vivian demanded, “Do you understand what you’re doing?” 

Rugir was sick, wasn’t all the way there, mentally, the drugs were there for mental illnesses that may or may not have existed. He couldn’t be trusted with decisions like this, not yet. He was a child who had been hurt so terribly. 

Rugir’s eyes were red, wet, spilling. He was so pretty when he cried, the tip of his nose turning pink, his eyelashes clumping together and looking so thick. It made Vivian want to kiss him again, kiss those tears away. He bites his lip, not just biting but chewing, making it all the more red. 

“Do you know who I am?” Vivian asked. 

And the expression on Rugir’s face told him everything that he needed to know. His eyes went wide and, still crying, he stared at Vivian, trying to understand, to make sense of his features. Surely Vivian’s name had been said in front of him but that didn’t matter, not when Rugir may not have heard it or remembered it through the drugs that he was on. He could not be blamed for this, especially with what he had been forced to do. 

“My name is Vivian Tiepo. I’m your twin brother,” he explained, putting his hands on Rugir’s shoulders, keeping those striking eyes on him. 

“Brother…” Rugir all but murmured it, and then there was a little smile, just for a moment, as he looked at Vivian, astonished. “Vivian…” 

“Yes, Darling, I’m your brother. This is our home.” 

The smile shifted to wonder. What a wonderful thing. 

“Vivian.”