comes from nowhere

Lucas isn’t a super social butterfly or a party kinda guy, but if it’s close personal friends he loves hosting them at his place.

Why’d you even come around if you’re going to be such a downer?

Everyone can easily become happier if they acquire these few simple new things!

Can you just not take a hint, or what? Way to bring down the mood.

I got my eye on you, boy. Don’t even think about tryin’ anything funny.

Seriously, it’s like he goes out of his way to be sad or something.

You could at least try to smile.

Boney’s head rests heavy on the bedside. The dog looks up at him, dark eyes doleful and worried. He whines, smacks his chops, tongue peeking out the tip of his muzzle.

It’s late afternoon, but Lucas hasn’t found it in him to do anything these past few hours but lie in bed and drift in and out of uneasy sleep. He doesn’t stir much, only moving his arm enough to gently stroke his dog behind the ears. Boney turns his head, licks his boy’s hand.

Poor boy. He’s starting to get hungry, Lucas is sure. Okay. Up and at ‘em.

Takes him a good deal longer to get himself up and out of the bed than he’d prefer, but he’s up. Finally. He crosses the few feet to the other end of the house, catching his reflection in their sole mirror. His hair’s an unkempt disaster. What else is new?

He really shouldn’t have gone into town yesterday.

Lucas searches the cupboard and retrieves a few eggs and the flint, lighting the stove and readying the sole frying pan. Boney sits beside him, head tilted and ears drooping with a look that plainly says “Lucas, are you feeling OK?”

“I’m okay enough,” Lucas replies. Expression absent, he starts whipping the eggs into a wooden bowl. “Thanks for reminding me.”

He focuses on keeping the omelet from getting too thoroughly cooked, though his mind keeps wanting to wander.

He shouldn’t dwell on it but he can’t help it. Lucas can’t exist solely on his own. Boney is a pillar, but he can’t bake bread. And Flint’s never around anymore, so of course he has to go into town every now and again.

Ugh. It wasn’t so bad before, but after anyone that expressed any drive to help him out was driven out by lightning strikes...? He can’t rely on Alec; his grandfather is basically incarcerated. Lighter’s too busy trying to salvage the wreckage of his family home. Who even knows where Duster is, or the older girl from the castle.

The lightning is merciless. It’s as if God himself has a grudge against him, taken sides with the invader. No one but the passive and unsympathetic remain in Tazmily. It’s a wonder the people there are willing to sell him anything he needs to live at all, taking all the open hostility into account.

He flips the omelet and lets it cook for just a moment more before sliding it out of the pan. He cuts it in half, the center just soft enough to begin flowing out. Half is deposited into Boney’s dish. He sits down to eat his share.

The words stung. Ion hesitates at first, making his presence known before speaking up. This boy…he sounded just like Sync. Clutching his chest, Ion’s voice is soft.  “While that’s true…it doesn’t mean those that are unlucky are doomed to be unhappy forever.”  He’s right though–ultimately strength didn’t matter in the end. 

“Oh. I was... kinda talking to myself.”

It’s so awkward when people just respond to you out of the blue. Then again he’s ruminating on random conversations he’s been eavesdropping on, so it’s only fair to be a good sport about it. He guesses. Lucas shrugs.

(YOURE SO RIGHT And i have like. 120 icons of him if you want em–)

Lucas’ house pantry has been dwindling. Problematic when you have no money. By some dumb luck he’d caught word of a magnanimous provisions supplier, but in this sort of place, it seems too good to be true...

He takes a pack of gum off a shelf and idly tosses it in his hand.

“Hey, you staff here?”

He tests a nearby lady for an answer, though he’s not actually sure if she’s affiliated with this place. It’ll be awkward if she’s just some random person browsing like he is... but he goes on asking anyway.

No cap...!

...but this will be selective. I don’t want to put out any more than 2-3 starters at the absolute most.

The parks near the house he’s designated are finally quiet enough to venture out to. Now that the festival’s over, the day is quiet, and Lucas can find the place pleasant. All the lights, crowds, noise, it’d just been an overload to avoid. Too much on his mind right now. He could handle maybe one person at a time and that’d be it.

This “city”, such as it is, isn’t like the one on that lonely island off the coast of Nowhere. That’s not to say he likes it, or his circumstances, yet there’s a sense of... authenticity here that’s a minor source of peace. At least the place has trees. It’s not completely dreary. Uniformed soldiers don’t march down the street. No chimera charging at him in a blind frenzy also a decent sign.

...Something else comes charging soon enough. Ah, it’s a little grey dog! Who seems to be greatly enjoying bursting through the piles of dry crackling petals below the soft pink trees overhead. The sweater suggests this one’s got a companion, who must be nearby...

Surely it wouldn’t hurt to try calling out. Lucas could use the company of a dog, if just for a little while. At that moment it really strikes him just how much he misses having Boney around. Wherever he is, Lucas can only hope he’s being taken care of...

Lucas’ face lights up when the dog responds and comes trotting over. He kneels, extends a hand to sniff. He doesn’t try going in for the petting just yet, but he speaks to the hound softly. Not far away, he feels someone else approach.

“Koromaru? That your name? I like it,” says Lucas, and turns his head to the boy who walks up. His heart skips a beat. He couldn’t even begin to guess at why. For a moment he thought he’d felt something familiar, but...

No, this guy... is a stranger. Lucas smiles politely.