Luke Henry is cursed to live for (aneternity) wrote in rooms,
Re: Queens: Evie/Wren/Luke
[Luke flinched when Evie squeezed his shoulder; he couldn't help it. Leftover fears and the whisper of a touch that had felt very, very real, those things lingered, but he pretended it hadn't happened. Brushed it off, simple as that. Maybe nobody had noticed.
Then she sat, and he was quiet, too, just listening. He was well-versed in the art of pretending, and so he could tell that Evie was deliberately keeping things light, trying to lessen what she'd gone through. They were all doing it, weren't they? Pretending. Skimming over the bad things. He hadn't even talked to anyone about what he'd seen and heard, not aside from Thomas, and that had been unintentional, when he was out of his mind and near delirious from exhaustion. They hadn't been there for Evie, the guilt that seeped out as she spoke reminded him of that, but it wasn't their fault. Wren had been blank, empty, no words and insanity, and he hadn't been much better.
But he did remember Shane. As a rule, Luke didn't trust most people, but Shane had seemed okay at Thanksgiving, and he couldn't be that bad if he'd given Evie a place to stay. He gave Wren's fingers a squeeze when they slid down and wound with his, and he watched as she gave Gus some bread, another troubled look passing over his expression at her vacant smile.
He looked down at Lia, momentarily distracted, but Wren's failed whisper drew his attention right back up. Another reassuring squeeze, fingers entwined, and he leaned over to kiss her cheek.] I'll get the lemonade. [He stooped to pick up Lia, and maybe it was intentional, handing her over to Wren. Maybe.] We were all pretty terrible after we got out. It's a good thing, that Evie had people to help her. And it was nice of Shane to give her a place to stay.
[That said, and with an apologetic glance over at Evie, he went into the kitchen to get the lemonade.]