Avrey felt his fear, the comfort he seemed to bring to the boy, and he slowly returned his touch, holding Lumi's tiny hands in his.
"I-I-I know, I know. B-but I can tell who you are." He smiled, tapping his head. "A-and you're really special."
He smoothed a hand through their hair, holding him still while he positioned himself to sit on the bed.
"P-p-people…. th-they thought I was an awful kid too. I-I-I don't want anyone else to feel that way. I-I'll never get tired of you, okay? I just-just want to take care of you. I-I want you to be happy."
He brought his hands back down to Lumi's nodding while he sincerely looked into their eyes.
"I won't leave, ever."
Lumi gripped Avrey's hands, biting his lip as his tears threatened to spill over. They shuddered at first when Avrey ran his hand through their hair, but he soon relaxed into the touch with his eyes closed. They tended to act out and cause trouble when they wanted attention, and his sets of foster parents couldn't handle all of his issues. They curled up tighter and sniffled, keeping close to Avrey. "Why… do you want to take care of me…?"
Avrey smiled, continuing his gentle touch on the boy while his own tears were on the brink of trickling down his face. He gently rubbed Lumi's hands, sighing gently while he thought of a response. Why?
"Because… B-because you deserve it. You deserve to be taken care of, a-and I want to do it."
"What do I deserve it for? I haven't done anything to earn it." Lumi replied weakly, avoiding eye contact with Avrey. "I'm just a random kid that ran away to… to live alone on the streets. I'm… I don't deserve to be taken care of… and I can take care of myself okay, can't I? I've survived this long."
Avrey smiled, putting a hand to the side of Lumi's face to look at him better.
"B-because you shouldn't take care of yourself. Y-you're still a kid, a-and you need a good place to live. Y-you deserve a good home to grow up in, a-a-and I want to help you. I want to, really."
Lumi seemed uncomfortable to meet Avrey's eyes and looked away again, tilting his chin down and out of the man's hold. "But… it's good to be independent, isn't it? So people don't have to take care of me…?" They looked down at the IV in their arm, clearly disturbed by it.
