Lachlan's P.O.V.
I swung my arms around me, spinning in circles. Yes, we had only been in quarantine a week but I was already going slightly insane. Normally I didn't go anywhere but I think the knowledge that I could go somewhere if I wanted to kept everything at bay. Now I was stuck inside for the foreseeable future I felt like I was going crazy and I think the only reason I had gone mad was because Vikk was stuck here with me. I sat back down in my office chair.
He hadn't been impressed when he missed the last flight out of the country and because the British government was fucking useless, they hadn't bothered to take their citizens back. So I was stuck with one of them- not that I minded, of course. He could still work from mine even though we had to share the set-up and it meant I couldn't live stream, but we worked around it to get our videos out on schedule and mostly on time. Not that I kept to actually getting videos out on a certain time anyway, but hey.
"Lachlan!" Vikk called up the stairs, and I stuck my head around the corner. "Do you have any tea!?"
"Top cupboard!" I yelled back. "Above the jug! Behind the milo and coffee probably!"
There was nothing for a few moments, then-
"Do you want anything!?"
"No thanks!" I called. "I'm good!"
I went back to editing my latest video, sound proof headphones on, so I didn't actually hear him enter the office until I saw his reflection cast across my monitors. I turned in my seat, pulling my headphones down with one eyebrow raised.
"Yo? Do you... want anything?"
"No." He shook his head over the rim of his mug. "I'm just bored." He paused, flopping down on the couch just to the right of my set-up. "Is this not driving you insane?"
"What? The lockdown? No, not really. It's not like I go anywhere anyway." I shrugged. "Besides, I am a bit insane anyway."
"Well, you've got an entire house and massive backyard and pool." He raised one eyebrow. "The guys at home are not doing so well, I'll tell you that." I managed to laugh, kicking my feet up to rest on the bar under my desk.
"Bet you're glad your not there, huh, with the nutjob in charge. To be fair the idiot here isn't much better, but at least we aren't America."
"Mm. It's bad, but we could be America."
There was silence for another few minutes and I went back to editing. I assumed that Vikk just wanted some company, it was late and he was probably going to head to bed soon. Coming to Australia had apparently been good for his sleep schedule, I didn't know why, but apparently it had been. My sleep schedule was wack, so I probably wouldn't even be attempting to go to bed until at least 1am.
"Do you worry about everything going on?" He finally said. "That you might get sick? That one of your family members might get sick?"
"Not particularly. Mitch is with Jake in Canada and they're chilling, Jacquie and Steph are fine, my parents aren't even 60 yet. Grandparents passed years ago. There's no one I know whose at high risk, so it's kind of just an annoyance for me. Plus, Aussie's done pretty well at stopping the spread. Why? Are you?"
"A little, yeah." He paused, looking away from me. "My brother's immunocompromised, so is my niece. My parents are getting older and I know they aren't taking this whole thing seriously, they're still doing everything themselves. I worry about them."
"Come 'ere Vikk." I held my arms for him, pulling him into my lap. He leaned back against me, tense, as his eyes closed. "What else is on your mind? I can tell there's something else."
"I'm immunocompromised too." He finally blurted out, face crumpling as he started to cry. "I'm really high risk, if I get it I might end up in the hospital or worse. I'm glad I'm not at home because of the way they're handling it but it's still bad, and I'm scared. I'm taking immunosuppressant drugs because of genetic condition, it affects my brother and niece too, and I don't what to do. I'm scared to leave the house and-"
I cut him off with a tight hug, pulling him close to my chest. He began to sob openly, breaking down against me, having finally let out everything he had been holding in for quite a while. I held him, letting him bury his head in my chest.
"It's okay to be scared Vikk." I whispered. "And I understand that, but you're safe here. Now that I know about everything you don't have to go anywhere, not until this blows over, and I won't go anywhere either."
His head began to nod as the sobs slowed, the poor boy was exhausted and his emotionally draining confession had utterly destroyed him. I scooped him up in my arms and initially aimed to take him to the guest room, where he had been staying previously, but he refused to let me go. His face was pinched, he looked... weary.
"Do you want me to stay?"
"Please." He mumbled, hands still holding a death grip on my shirt. "I don't think I want to be alone right now." So I carried him to my bedroom instead, with the bigger and much more comfortable bed.
"Alright. I'll stay."
I stayed with Vikk until he fell asleep beside me, grip finally loosening enough that I managed to slip away. He didn't stir, deep in sleep after finally having gotten everything he had been holding onto tight. I was glad that he trusted me enough to tell me about it because I figured not many did, he wasn't an open person and this was likely something he had kept close to his chest. Being immunocompromised was a scary thing.
Sighing, I slid back into my office chair but I wasn't able to concentrate enough to actually work on anything. All that was on my mind was Vikk. He was scared and rightly so, in this environment of fear and uncertainty when no one knew what was going to happen next, and he was at risk. If he caught it, it wouldn't be good. Worrying about his brother and niece as well probably wasn't helping anything.
I stayed in my office for only 20 minutes before giving in and returning to bed. Despite it only being 10pm everything Vikk had told me had run me down and now I just wanted to sleep. Crawling into bed beside him I wrapped my arms around the slightly older boy once again, smiling as, even while he slept, he cuddled himself closer to me.
"It'll be just fine Vikk." I whispered. "I promise. It'll all be okay."
