Took a nap after my all-nighter- it's still biting me in the arse but less now-

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Trigger Warning: abuse/harm to others
***
Lea was more than concerned when Tom didn't show up for first meal whatsoever, even after an hour had pass.

The guards allowed the prisoners to be escorted to either the courtyard or their rooms after their first meal, and while Lea would usually choose courtyard, that would always be when Tom was there, plus...he might be having a feel-bad moment...

That's what Lea called them.
When all your emotions build up against you at a quickly escalating pace until you just turn-

Blank.
That's the look Tom had on when Lea entered the room. Just sitting on Lea's bed, staring at the floor, with an ever so blank smile and hollow eyes.

"Tom?" Lea blinked.

Tom didn't even flinch.

"Shit, man, come on, this is my thing not yours." Lea approached Tom but Tom chuckled which caused Lea to stop.

"Ah, so he speaks." Lea was trying not to- well, not to freak out, "Silent again? Tom?"

There was a delayed response.

"Why are you toying with me?" Tom murmured, gaze still fixed like stone.

"Wh-what?" Lea laughed nervously, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Tom kept his eyes trained on the ground beneath his feet, "Why are you lying?"

"Lying?" Lea scoffed, "About what?"

"Everything," Tom smiled hysterically, then standing up suddenly, "You," He turned to Lea with a dead glare, "Are doing exactly what Roman did to me!"

Lea furrowed his brow, "Excuse me?"

Tom took a few accusing steps towards Lea, "Tread carefully, Lea- I'm a coiled snake."

Lea paused before snickering.

Tom frowned, "What?" He snapped.

"You're a- coiled snake? That just- sounds a bit petty." Lea grinned.

Tom's face flushed red, "Wh-Whatever!"

"Tom, what is this about?" Lea sighed.

"You! You're- you're fooling me so that you can be some top dog! You're using me to look more powerful! You don't care! You're just being...selfish!" Tom hissed.

Lea folded his arms very slowly and was silent with an expression that could send the likes of anyone running- except the stubborn boy in front of him. Lea was thankful his shades hid what actual emotion that was reflected in his eyes.

"Silent? Again? Are you going to go all blank and emotionless? Again? Because that's who you really are? Go ahead, admit it! You don't care!" Tom was being unreasonable as his fists were balled up now, "Y-you're just a sociopathic teenager who's playing with my emotions!"

Lea let out a growling sound and with that, snapped, brashly advancing forward and grabbing Tom by the shoulders, pushing him against the wall, "I am not a sociopath!" He yelled in Tom's face.

Tom was shaking, with fear and in pain, "M-my shoulders- your nails are digging into my shoulders-"

"Don't go around assuming things, Thomas! And don't forget who I am and what I've done- you don't have power! You are dirt beneath my foot rank wise and I'm not afraid to stomp on you!" Lea snarled.

Tom let out a small cry as he was shrinking down, trying to make himself small and less of a target while Lea was mentally wrestling with the guilt in his mind before he threw Tom said, causing him to stagger back onto the bottom bunk.

Lea ripped his sunglasses from his own face, exposes bloodshot eyes that stared down at Tom, "I wish I didn't care!" He then reached into his pocket and chucked the pudding cup he had saved at Tom who flinched as it hit him.

Lea wanted to storm out of the room but into he went straight for the wall and slammed his fist down on it before sliding down against it into a sitting position, knees drawn up to his chest as he held them there, staring tiredly forward with wide eyes.

Tom felt like he had just had a heart attack before the shock sharply went away enough for him to feel the scourging pain of the cuts the finger nails had made on his back. He didn't want to move in fear of Lea hurting him again if he got up, so he thought about this...his little sister had tantrums like this sometimes...the best thing to do was to treat it like there's a wounded animal...be slow, gentle, and don't let them know you're afraid, don't give them that negative energy...

Tom slowly slipped his shirt off, wincing as he saw the blood stains on the back of it- he then turned to the stone wall behind him, wiping the dust from it with the shirt before balling up the shirt and leaning against it on the wall so there was a thick fabric soaking up the blood, and the wall provided some cool temperature to the wound through the balled up shirt. Tom felt vulnerable in this state but knew that an open wound that got infected would be worse than a potential attack from Lea...and Tom was pretty sure he wasn't going to hurt him after this when he looked over to see the state the other was in, one arm used to hold his knees to his chest and the other covering his face as he rocked back and forth, shaking his head with slight murmurs.

Tom wished he could be open about how he felt towards Lea...and he wished he could be there for him now, when he was at his lowest point.

When Tom had hit rock bottom...Lea had been there for him- why couldn't he be there for Lea right now? Maybe he could...it's what Lea had done...