august dunks his sandwich into the bowl of soup. he eats, teeth ripping toasted bread. crumbs fleck scarred skin of his chin, his hole-bitten hoodie. the sweatshirt was drenched with rain. he’d been trapped in stormy conditions. a shiver rattles him. “ i might know some things. ” words come hushed but curt.

Lucas sighs, a careful thing lest he give away too much feeling within it, and cuts his gaze to the fogged window across sticky flooring brought to attention through half-arsed lighting. The rain plays a hard beat against smudged glass, war drums for the battle that august is just another pawn in, and the agent frowns as attention once again focuses to the boy's soaked clothing. "Here. Might be a bit big, but ..It's dry, at least." Weight shifts as he shrugs out of his jacket, placing it on the table as an offering before picking at his own food.

         allie often wonders if lucas is lonely all of the time, or maybe just doesn’t have very many friends. she thinks its why he’s so grumpy all of the time, and so bossy. but, additionally, it explains his tendency to forget that she’s right behind him- or to tell her when she should be. of course, allie understands. she’s a fluttery, forgetful girl, hard to remember and harder to keep still. she’s never been good at the same things that he’s good at, but she imagines it’s why they make such a great team.

         … except when something scary happens and lucas starts running. he has longer legs, and knows where he’s going. allie has neither of those things, and often fawns. at least she’s trying, this time! she’s mostly kept up with lucas and been sort of quiet as he tucks into an alley. allie trusts him, of course, she has to- but she’s scared, too. just as scared, in fact. it pools in her eyes and she tries not to shake as her heart races faster than her head can keep up with it, frightful swallowtails flooding her ribcage. lucas says something, but she can’t quite hear it over the sound of her own heart. all that matters, and all she can hear is that lucas says safe. 

         so, she follows him.

Allie is behind him - he can feel her there, a nervous hum just off the edge of his hip - and Lucas tries to pace his steps in some semblance of effort to not leave her behind. He needs time to think, time to plan - and the imagined baying of the hounds at their heels sends a cold sweat down the back of his neck, giving rise to goosebumps at the touch of a faintest breeze. He mumbles something that's meant to be reassuring, ponders for a half a second whether he should be offering the girl stumbling behind him an assist as ridiculous as a piggyback ride or something before deciding against it and ducking to the left. It's narrower here, the walls press together, holding the echo of their footfalls hostage and Lucas pushes forward, following the map that's drawn itself in his head.

The place is easy enough to find, a vacant flat that he'd rented months ago through a third party - a hidden sanctuary should need ever call for it. He thinks longingly of the spare keys that were left sitting atop his table, frown deepening as he tests a kitchen window. He feels it catch, pulls harder, muscles straining until there's a release of tension as glass slides up old wood.... For the first time, he takes a deep breath, willing his thundering heart to slow down. They'd made it.

"In here." It's a short directive, flat and leaving no tone for argument as he pulls himself up, long legs eating up the space between window and ground. He hears her when he's halfway through, wonders if she can hear the eternally long sigh that escapes him. He should leave her, should stop trying to protect this thing that wasn't his .. but instead the agent is shifting backwards, weight hitting the ground beside her once more with a short huff of breath. Blue eyes study her - all wide eyed, like the whole world is new- and Lucas cocks his head, gauging what best to do. He contemplates tossing her upwards, a sort of hurried just get inside ... but instead he shocks even himself, fingers interlacing and long legs bending just in front of her.