Just Five More Minutes

Busy Man

I had always hated my life before three years ago. It was a struggle to survive with the problems that plagued my mind, then the Red Plague came and took my life. I was brought back by Asra but everything seemed...off. We all worked together to defeat the Devil, prevent him from putting our worlds in a blender and settling Lucio's debts along the way. He had his faults and when I realized that, I abandoned all thoughts of self importance. I put him first, even if doing so put me in danger or made me sick. He was always there to protect me from the world and its harmful actions, but he couldn't protect me from myself. As far as I was concerned, I wasn't his partner, I was a lowly peasant who should have been grateful to breathe the same air as him. Sleeping got more difficult as the nights passed, being next to him only caused my heart to hurt more every night and it got harder for me to fall asleep. I would play with his hair or doodle on his skin with my fingertips until he fell asleep, then I would go away and hide myself in a hole I made, far away from the palace.

While it was a place that comforted me, it was also where I belonged, away from the royalty and shiny utensils and expensive clothes that the palace held. (I begged Nadia to let him stay.) I didn't want to leave Lucio, it wasn't his fault I felt this way. No, I wanted to do everything in my power to make him happy and keep him satisfied in life. He looked happy enough and I let a smile spread across my lips. I leaned down and kissed his nose, it twitched a little, and it made me happy. That night, I fell asleep in my love's arms and for once, felt like I was whole. It all changed when I woke up to a screaming death match between someone and someone else, and Lucio wasn't in the room. I got up, put my day clothes on and left the room, going down the stairs to see if I could find the commotion. I ended up in some hallway, everything still a blur from just waking up. I started to recognize the voices, one belonged to Vulgora, the other belonged to Lucio. Vulgora's words stopped my heart mid-beat.

They said I didn't belong and I was using Lucio to gain power and money. "Not that I care what their intentions are, I'LL SMASH THEM TO PIECES!" Lucio's hands balled into fists and I reached up to rub my chest, neither of them had noticed me yet. "Touch them and I will kill you with my bare hands." Vulgora laughed. "They're lying to you. They never go anywhere near you at night, or in a meeting, or at dinner. Haven't you noticed? And what about the things they say? They run around like your personal slave. They're not your partner, they don't even care about you." "Y-you're wrong." Lucio spun around, eyes wide, and shock written all over his face. "Y/N! Did we wake you up, I'm sorry." He tried to come over to me but I held a hand out. "D-did I...do I not do good?" I struggled to get the words out as tears spilled over my eyes. "Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry, I didn't mean it." Lucio draped his whole body over me and enveloped me in a hug. "You didn't do anything wrong, you've done everything perfectly."

Vulgora laughed their nasty laugh and went on a rant about how pathetic I was, how weak and utterly useless I was. Despite Lucio shielding me from all of it, I couldn't handle it. I broke free from his tight embrace and ran away from the palace. I dove into the familiar maze and ducked low to the ground, crawling so people couldn't see me. I made my way out and sprinted the short distance to my hiding space. I barely went in when I collapsed, covering my mouth and trembling with the force of my sobs. I heard voices from the start of the maze and held my breath, covering my mouth and nose in another attempt to silence myself. "Where did they go...Y/N!!" Lucio's voice seemed to boom from all over the place. "Find them! Find Y/N or so help me you will regret it for the rest of your natural lives!!" I've never heard him this mad before and it scared me, causing a more violent sob to leave me. "What was that?" Valerius sounded dangerously close to me, then I saw him step in front of me. "There you are. Lucio! They're over here!" "N-no..."

He ignored me and the sound of leaves rustling could be heard until Lucio burst through a wall of the maze and skidded to a halt, barely missing Valerius. His job done, the Consul left and Lucio dropped to his knees in front of me, eyes shiny with unshed tears. This wasn't supposed to happen, he wasn't supposed to see me this weak. "Y/N...what happened? What are you doing here?" I couldn't hold the noises back anymore and Lucio crawled over to me, wrapping his arms around me. "D-don't! Y-your clothes w-w-will be ruined!" He chuckled and held me tighter. "They're just clothes, I can buy more. I can't get another one of you." "Why...why do y-you care about me?" "What do you mean? We're partners, I care about you in many ways. What's been happening with you lately? Vulgora wasn't lying, you stay away from me, leave the room even if it's just us two, I know you're not sleeping as much, I haven't seen you eat anything until I bring it up. What's going on?" I tried to tug away but his grip was strong. "I don't deserve to be around you, Lucio."

He held my arms to my sides and gently pushed me down til I laid on my back. "What are you talking about? Is someone else making you uncomfortable? Tell me who it is, I'll tear them apart." "I-it's me. I can't...I can't live like this. I don't deserve to be treated so nicely by someone like you, I don't deserve all the things you give me or anything. I'm just a worthless peasant like Vulgora said." He covered my mouth with his flesh hand. "Don't ever listen to what they say. They'll piss off anyone just to fight them. I love you, I have since you came to me a long time ago, and I always will. I want you to be happy, I give you gifts because you deserve them, nobody works harder than you to make me happy but...that's not what I want." My eyes squeezed shut and more tears streamed down my face. "What makes me happy, is seeing you happy. I haven't seen you smile in a long time and it hurts, makes me wonder what's wrong. Stop doubting yourself ok? And look at me." I opened my eyes but couldn't see him.

"There is nobody that I would rather have by my side than you. Do you...want that? Do you want to be with me?" He pulled his hand away. "I-I do! I want nothing more than to be with you but I'll always feel like I don't deserve you." "Then I'll always be here to prove you wrong." He sat back and pulled me onto his lap, moved my legs so I'd straddle him and he wrapped my arms around his neck. "I love you Y/N." "I love y-you too. I'm so sorry for doing this." He put a finger against my lips. "Shh, don't apologize for how you feel." We stayed in my safe space for a while longer before we had to go back inside to take a bath and get clean.