There’s not much for him to do but stand there while she scans him and the room like… like. He’s not really sure what she’s looking for but- it’s like a barcode. Reading something that doesn’t even look like letters to him. Luke folds his arms behind his back and does his best to be unobstructive. What she’s already told him-if you needed a place you should have said- left plenty of room for doubt, or a changed mind, or a suggestion of where else he could go. All of it fair enough but way less ideal— someplace else might be just as crashable, a couch was a couch was a couch, but whatever people were there wouldn’t be someone he knew. Someone who didn’t get mad about him climbing through windows, and who could rib him about his digging, and who he could, instead of an answer, give nothing but a fully petulant I-am-Not-a-fan-of-vogue face (mouth half open, tongue hanging out.)
Or, even worse, there could be no one else there at all.
It’s not until she sits that he turns his arms loose again. They swing, for a moment, throwing off the uncertainty to give him back his usual ease. It’s that ease which drags him to sit, too. Not on the bed as she has, but the floor next to it: he backs against it, legs crossed and knees bouncing.
“Deal with ‘em,” he echoes, none of her drawl but plenty of his own exaggeration, “it sounds so hardcore when you say it like that.” He leans back, head against the mattress so that he can look up at her. “You should hire a bodyguard or somethin’, that way you don’t have to do the dealing. I mean they should totally stop trying it, breaking in and stuff,” -not an ounce of self-awareness- “but…I mean they probably won’t. Those guys’ll chase you right off a cliff, huh?”
carmen stifles a laugh as he sits, OFF the bed, next to her. “ you don’t have to sit down there, you’re not a pet. but i’m sure you had no problem putting those grubby paws of yours all over everything when i couldn’t see it. ” her tone is full teasing as she scoots over, making room for him if he WISHES. he doesn’t look hurt, or particularly starved, or dirty, though the last two are HARD to tell, and she’ll probably enforce some NOURISHMENT AND A SHOWER on him anyways even if it isn’t necessary. carmen’s almost CERTAIN he won’t mind, she definitely wouldn’t have when she was in his shoes. her bathroom is MUCH TOO LARGE for any one person to ever have, it makes her feel BETTER to share it. how humble, she knows. but she’s HARDLY EVER HOME anyways, if she could call ‘ random, expensive penthouse suit no. 56 ’ home, so it wasn’t like it would be an INTRUSION.
an entertained, fond smile- one he never FAILS to bring out -crosses cherry red lips, ones she still needs to wipe off. “ well you know how hardcore i am, some of my shoes are sharp enough to slit a man’s throat. not that i’d know anythin’ about that, it’s just an observation. ” a BODYGUARD is something she had considered many times, and she had GONE THROUGH with it, once. only to have been taken advantage of, again. her PRIVACY, her trust. now, she was A LOT MORE CAREFUL with those things, and she hasn’t found someone worthy enough for the job.
“ i had one, he was a creep and he fucked me over. went behind my back and snitched every little thing i did to the tabloids. but hey- if he was still here and bustin’ every cute boy band member that snuck in, you’d be back on the streets. ” she nods with a hum, head lulling to the side. “ yeah, and then they’d take pictures of my body and write fake stories about how it happened. so fun. ”