[ He didn't get lucky. He scouted Trench for a month before finally choosing a place he could 'fix up'. Of course, it's simple and a little pretentious but he likes it. Your brother may have also spent a few months redecorating an old house to his specifications. He's never shied away from hard work and building a place he could be comfortable in was worth it. It's been three months since he stopped doing any major work on the place, coinciding with how much more time he's invested into his Hunter work and friends. Funny how that works. As for the dual nature of the place... we don't talk about that. Let him have his little pleasures. He likes sitting on the ledge of the wood on the waterside watching the fish. Two are koi. Did he purchase five of them, each one for ten vials of his blood? We don't talk about that either. Or the fact that two of them swam up the river never to be seen again within the first day. The third got eaten by a hungry bear just up the stream, but two stayed. He's pleased about that. Their coloring is also pure coincidence.
As for Kizu, she's autonomous of her Sleeper but in the end, she still places his safety above everything. It's why she's never fully trusted Dabi. Touya as Shouto calls him. Kizu isn't convinced, but he brought him here when she was busy ripping out the corruption taking root and for that alone she lets him carry him here, allowing him entry. There were few people she would have allowed to take Shouto in that state and Dabi just so happens to be one of them, not by her virtue but Shouto's. She's still his omen after all. So, when she appears in front of him to grant him entry, she finally gets a glimpse of his omen, cloaked in flame-like shadows. She stares right back at it, tail swishing behind her unconcerned by its half-constructed presence. The omen vanishes and Kizu loses interest and shimmers gold before fading back into her incorporeal form, slipping inside her Sleeper of her own free will.
A few minutes later, Kizu is having an amusing time watching Dabi deal with the weight of her Sleeper, not offering to help one bit. Shouto for his part lightly wakes up, head swimming with incoherent thoughts when Touya sets him down on the tatami mats. He grips onto him, not wanting to let go even in his sleep, but eventually sleep takes him down again and his muscles loosen just enough to let Touya slip out of his grip.
Lying on the tatami mats in his room, Shouto curls in on himself, breath coming out lightly when a blanket is tossed over him. He's still under the blanket, his breathing very slow but deep. When Touya leaves him, he doesn't move, a good indication that he'll be okay or stay put at least. Neither of which proves true when the nightmares come.
Delicate orbs of light floating in the night sky. The beat of butterfly wings. A sea of blue. Endeavor's caricature beating another kid. Icy blades. Blue flames. A cloak made of light and blood all around him. He drowns in it. Chokes. The paleblood sparkling under the red moon as another life passes on.
Shouto chokes on his sobs and the room is smothered in frost. His heart races in his chest and he sits up, curling into himself. Kizu is there, manifesting. She tries to calm him down but the corruption has its claws in him and she shoves an image of his brother sleeping in the living room into his head. It throws his thoughts into a jumble a dozen questions spring to life focused on Touya and not Allen which helps ease the burden on his heart. Kizu uses the lull to push him up to his feet and through the shoji screen doors into the living room. ]
... Tou--
[ His voice cracks halfway through his name, eyes searching for the promise of a familiar face, while his eyes adjust to the dark. He doesn't wait, barreling forward, tripping twice but Kizu is there to steady him while he heads for the reading nook he sometimes napped in. ]
*chucks shouto at him* You thought you could escape!!! HA! Did you forget your brother's a leech!!!
As for Kizu, she's autonomous of her Sleeper but in the end, she still places his safety above everything. It's why she's never fully trusted Dabi. Touya as Shouto calls him. Kizu isn't convinced, but he brought him here when she was busy ripping out the corruption taking root and for that alone she lets him carry him here, allowing him entry. There were few people she would have allowed to take Shouto in that state and Dabi just so happens to be one of them, not by her virtue but Shouto's. She's still his omen after all. So, when she appears in front of him to grant him entry, she finally gets a glimpse of his omen, cloaked in flame-like shadows. She stares right back at it, tail swishing behind her unconcerned by its half-constructed presence. The omen vanishes and Kizu loses interest and shimmers gold before fading back into her incorporeal form, slipping inside her Sleeper of her own free will.
A few minutes later, Kizu is having an amusing time watching Dabi deal with the weight of her Sleeper, not offering to help one bit. Shouto for his part lightly wakes up, head swimming with incoherent thoughts when Touya sets him down on the tatami mats. He grips onto him, not wanting to let go even in his sleep, but eventually sleep takes him down again and his muscles loosen just enough to let Touya slip out of his grip.
Lying on the tatami mats in his room, Shouto curls in on himself, breath coming out lightly when a blanket is tossed over him. He's still under the blanket, his breathing very slow but deep. When Touya leaves him, he doesn't move, a good indication that he'll be okay or stay put at least. Neither of which proves true when the nightmares come.
Delicate orbs of light floating in the night sky. The beat of butterfly wings. A sea of blue. Endeavor's caricature beating another kid. Icy blades. Blue flames. A cloak made of light and blood all around him. He drowns in it. Chokes. The paleblood sparkling under the red moon as another life passes on.
Shouto chokes on his sobs and the room is smothered in frost. His heart races in his chest and he sits up, curling into himself. Kizu is there, manifesting. She tries to calm him down but the corruption has its claws in him and she shoves an image of his brother sleeping in the living room into his head. It throws his thoughts into a jumble a dozen questions spring to life focused on Touya and not Allen which helps ease the burden on his heart. Kizu uses the lull to push him up to his feet and through the shoji screen doors into the living room. ]
... Tou--
[ His voice cracks halfway through his name, eyes searching for the promise of a familiar face, while his eyes adjust to the dark. He doesn't wait, barreling forward, tripping twice but Kizu is there to steady him while he heads for the reading nook he sometimes napped in. ]