Carter stepped out of the bathroom in his pajamas, toweling off his hair. He tossed the towel over to the hamper, then crossed over to where Luke sat on the bed. He sat beside him, leaning over to wrap his arms around his boyfriend's middle.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, tugging Luke a little closer for some snuggles. He had no idea what kind of side effects there might be- if any- after turning to stone and returning to one's usual form. Luke probably could stand to eat. And sleep. He'd stayed outside for most of the time Luke was out in the woods- Theo refused to leave, and Carter hadn't wanted to leave her alone. It had taken some time before she'd let Carter take Luke home to clean up, rest, and do whatever he needed. They'd hang out with her later, but for now, he wanted to check in.
"I have something for you, too. When you're ready."
For the most part, Luke had no idea what had happened. One second he'd been fixing a shoelace and the next moment, it felt like, he'd blinked and Carter and Theo were there.
He had a vague memory of… snakes?
‘I missed something,’ he'd gathered.
Days, actually. He'd missed days. Luke couldn't imagine what it'd been like for Carter and Theo but he'd thanked them both for keeping watch over him and gone home eventually, feeling mostly… stiff. Sore. A little tired.
“I'm good,” Luke assured him, wrapping his arms around him. “A little stiff in the joints but that's probably to be expected.” He tilted his head at what Carter said after.
“A depetrification present?”
"A one year sobriety present, but it can double as a depetrification present," Carter replied with a laugh. He gave Luke a squeeze, leaning over to press a kiss to his cheek. "There's cake, too, which we can break into now, or save it for whenever Theo comes by."
He was tired, too, and probably could stand to eat something a little more substantial than he had. Robbie had brought sandwiches, and the others had come and gone, checking in on him and Theo, but Carter hadn't really had the stomach for much. "I had plans, you know, to celebrate. I just didn't expect you to turn to stone just to avoid the temptation."
He was joking, and he gave Luke a small squeeze to show it. "But I can get the present for you if you want?"
Luke exhaled a laugh through his nose at the joke, turning to stone to avoid temptation. “Hey, a year's a year, however I got there,” he insisted, smiling up at Carter.
He squeezed him back, and leaned up to kiss his cheek. “We can have cake too, we'll save her a piece,” he reasoned. Theo wouldn't mind. Luke was hungry, but not as starving as one would expect for a guy who hadn't eaten in days.
It really felt like all that time had been the blink of an eye.
“I can't believe I missed my year,” he remarked softly.
"It is. And I'm proud of you for getting there." Even if he hadn't been too pleased at Luke turning to stone, but that wasn't Luke's fault. It was the fault of those gorgons and the sea god that the others had been worried about. And now he had that stone thing in the water offshore that was threatening everyone, and Carter wanted to tear it all down, to destroy the god and his minions to keep Luke and his loved ones safe.
"Absolutely. It's..kind of a lot of cake, so we can share it with whoever you want later." Carter fell quiet for a long moment. "I know. But nobody could have known or suspected that you'd run into a gorgon. I didn't even know those existed here- they're all mythology back home."
Luke chuckled again and rested his head against Carter's arm for a second. “If there's that much cake, we could see if anyone in the pack wants any. I know how you werewolves can pack it away,” he teased a bit.
And he nodded, and pressed a kiss to Carter's shoulder. “You didn't have to get me a present,” he told him to be polite, but the excited gleam in his eye said, yeah I'll take my gift now. “But thank you.”
Carter smiled, dropping a kiss to the top of Luke's head. He was glad to hear him laughing, happy about something. "Yeah, if you wanna share it. Who knows, maybe we'll finish it between us."
They never could tell- Luke could often keep up with Carter's eating pretty well. He gave Luke another squeeze, breaking into laughter at Luke's half hearted insistence. "I know I don't have to. But we've been doing the monthly gifts, and one year is a big deal! It's incredible, and you deserve something fun for it."
He pushed himself up from the bed, ambling over to the closet. He rummaged for a moment, then pulled out a wrapped package. Turning, he returned to Luke, trying not to shake it to give it away. "Happy Sober-versary!"
Luke grinned at that. “I'm not Robbie's boyfriend, I can't somehow eat seven pounds of frosting and keep living.” He was sure, at the very least, his stomach would get upset at it.
He brightened a little at the mention of the monthly gifts because he really loved and looked forward to his little Lego men. It was like his thing with Carter.
What Carter pulled out of the closet wasn't a Lego man though. Way too big. He perked up and reached out to take it, ripping into the paper. His face totally lit up when he saw it.
“This is so cool,” he gushed as he got all the paper off and turned it over to see the back. “We're going to have so much fun putting this together.”
"Robbie's boyfriend is also a werewolf. The frosting thing is a little weird, though- human or werewolf." Carter scrunched up his nose. He felt a wave of blue thinking about the two- his feelings around Robbie were a bit complicated at the moment, as were his around the pack. He had thought he was finding a place here, but with everything happening, his mind was a little bit scattered.
Still. He shook that off as Luke brightened up, unable to help his own smile. "I thought there'd be enough room for us to add your monthly figurines, and more as time goes on."
Carter had gotten him the biggest Lego castle set that they sold. It would be fun for the both of them, and might give Luke something to focus on other than his cravings. "I don't know where we wanna set it up, maybe get a table specifically for it in the living room?"
Luke couldn't tell that Carter was blue, exactly, but he was pretty good at telling when he wasn't feeling great about something. He set his hand on his shoulder and gave it a little squeeze.
“I love it. It definitely needs it's own table, this is going to be a huge project. Completely epic. Thank you so much,” he got up to give him a tight hug.
Carter shook his head, smiling as Luke squeezed his shoulder. "'m glad you like it," he admitted. Carter knew that Luke was pretty used to his shenanigans by now, but still. It was nice that he seemed to appreciate them rather than find them over the top and too childish.
He closed his eyes as Luke scooped him into a hug and he held him back just as tightly, tension draining from his shoulders. "I'm just glad you're okay. I was really scared, and I couldn't- I don't know what I would've done if you didn't come back.."
“Hey,” he whispered, and he squeezed Carter tight. He hated that he couldn't promise he'd always be here. He wanted to be, but the mist could come and take him back. Or it could take Carter, or both of them.
“It's okay. I'm okay,” he assured him, and he cupped his cheek and kissed him softly. “Don't think about me not coming back.” A moment passed and he added, “at least I made a really handsome statue.”
Carter's fingers curled in the back of Luke's shirt, and he smiled faintly at the kiss. "You did, sure. But I think I like you warm and squishy like you are now a whole lot better. But the blanket and the hat we put on you were really flattering."
He dropped his head to Luke's shoulder. "I'll be able to laugh about it or make jokes later. Probably. I think." It was just still a little too raw, a little too close for him. "I'm just glad you're here."
“Sorry,” he whispered, about making jokes too soon. It was easy on him, all he had needed to do was turn into stone, he hadn't even known it was happening. Carter and Theo had been out there for days.
“I'm here. All warm and squishy,” he promised.
Carter was still for a long moment before he pulled back, pressing another kiss to Luke's lips. "Yes, you are. And I don't know about you, but I could use some food and some cake."
Standing, he held a hand out in offering. "And maybe we can start on that castle, if you wanted?"