Luke Henry is cursed to live for (aneternity) wrote in rooms,
Re: Queens: Evie/Wren/Luke
[It was good that Evie had called before knocking. Luke was wary of everything these days, but at least forewarning gave him time to prepare. And, too, it was easier to soothe those irrational fears that just wouldn't go away when he knew someone would be coming over. Unexpected was bad. His world was still small, and trust was limited. He hadn't left the house, had barely gone farther than the backyard, and even though he was sleeping a little more each night the nightmares hadn't gone away yet.
Having the kids back helped, though. He didn't think they were dead. They were familiar, and he'd missed them, and Lia's babbling drowned out the echo of Jude's voice in his ear better than almost anything else could. Gus was quiet, Gus was wary, but he was usually like that after time apart. It was okay. He'd get better. Luke had nowhere else to go, nowhere else to be; he wasn't near ready to go back to work yet, much less leave Wren and the kids alone.
He could be patient.
When Evie knocked, he was on the floor. Jeans, a t-shirt, and a gray zip-up hoodie overtop, trying to coax out an invitation into Gus's pillow fort; Luke thought he was making progress. He'd watched Lia until she fell asleep, and he watched Wren, too, in the kitchen, looking for any signs of that old blankness creeping back in. Finch growled quietly from within the fort, but Luke shushed him and he settled easily enough.
He told Gus it was just Evie and Daisy, reassuring, and got to his feet. Thomas had dismantled his gun but that wasn't his only one; he wasn't armed, no, his paranoia had settled since then. He did know where it was, though. The gun. He'd timed how quickly he could get to it if he needed to. Things like that were reassuring to him.
There was a moment, so very brief, before Wren opened the door, when fear took over and he thought--really, really thought--that it would be someone else entirely. Not Evie, but Jude, maybe. Or one of the dead men. He knew those fears weren't rational, just like he knew Silent Hill was in another door, far away, and nothing had followed them here. He knew it hadn't been real. But knowing didn't change how it felt, and it didn't change what he remembered.
But the moment passed, and it was okay. It was just Evie and Daisy. He exhaled a quiet little breath of relief.
He came up behind Wren on socked feet when she looked over her shoulder, a hand at the small of her back, the touch meant to confirm and assure.] Hey. [Luke managed a smile, even though he couldn't help looking past Evie, outside, just to make sure there was nobody else around. And maybe she didn't look okay, but he could barely fix himself. He could barely fix Wren. Fixing somebody else, there wasn't enough of him to do that.] Come in. [And then Lia started crying, and Luke glanced back.] I'll get her. Lock the door. [To Wren; he was still adamant about doors and windows being locked, about everything being secure. He stepped back, back, and went to scoop up the little girl.]