The next two days pass in an awkward sort of routine, a mix of recovery and strange domesticity. I sleep in late, far later than I usually would, and Lukas takes care of the animals and does… Whatever it is Lukas does when left to his own devices. By the time I drag myself out of bed and shuffle into the living room in the afternoons, he’s usually already made himself comfortable, a cup of tea in hand and Roxy lying contentedly at his feet. When I finally get tired of lying around doing nothing, I join him on the couch. We watch a movie together and inevitably end up ordering takeout because neither of us is in the mood to cook. It’s a surprisingly calm couple of days, given the chaos we’ve been dealing with recently. And in that time, I learn a lot about Lukas, more than I would have expected. For starters, I learn that he prefers tea to coffee, which seems odd, I would have expected him to be a coffee junkie. He carefully manages Roxy’s diet, making sure she gets the perfect balance of nutrients to keep her healthy, yet he doesn’t seem to worry nearly as much about his own meals. If I had to guess, I’d say his diet involves a lot of vending machines and convenience store snacks. I also find out that Lukas has a surprising dislike for horror movies. He claims they’re ‘too fake’ and that the effects always look ridiculous. On the other hand, he’s an unapologetic fan of romantic comedies, a fact that both surprises and amuses me. Watching him laugh at some cheesy misunderstanding in a movie or sigh over a cute ending is downright hilarious, given the man’s usual calm and composed demeanor. Then there’s the work thing. Lukas is a TOTAL workaholic. Even now, when it’s obvious that taking time off is necessary, he looks like he’s crawling out of his skin from the lack of productivity. I get it, though. I like my job too, and knowing that I’ve had to dip into my accumulated leave because of everything that’s been happening is frustrating. Still, I suspect Lukas’s issue is less about liking his work and more about needing something to focus on so he doesn’t dwell on everything that’s going wrong in his life. And then there’s the flirting. Oh, the flirting. If Lukas has any redeeming qualities, his sense of humor is definitely not one of them, at least when it comes to his absolutely TERRIBLE pick up lines. He seems to have an infinite supply of them, each more ridiculous than the last.
“Did it hurt when you fell from heaven? Because it looks like the landing really ruffled your feathers.” He delivers every line with a totally straight face which just makes them all the more ridiculous.
“What does that even mean?” I ask. He shrugs, completely unapologetic.
“It means you’re angelic and that you’re kind of a bit of a mess. But in a good way.” He says calmly. His lines are infuriating because I don’t know whether to laugh or throw a pillow at his head. I usually settle for rolling my eyes or just pretending I didn’t hear anything. Despite all that, or maybe because of it, the days feel oddly normal. It’s like we’ve slipped into some alternate reality where life is quiet and predictable, where Lukas and I actually get along, and there aren’t any demons, necromancers, or exploding cars to worry about. But obviously that can’t last.
Finally, FINALLY I’m well enough to leave the house. I’m still not one hundred percent, and I still don’t really have much magic. But I don’t feel empty anymore. I can feel hints of it inside me. To make sure I’m REALLY up to being out and about, Lukas and I decide to take Roxy for a walk. He’s taken her a couple times, but he’s stayed close to my place and it’s obvious that she’s getting a bit antsy. My place really isn’t big enough for such a large dog. She’s been cooped up. I feel kind of terrible about it. As we walk, the sunshine feels like medicine. The warm light and cool breeze make everything seem brighter, and for the first time in days, I feel almost normal. My cheery mood is definitely helped by Lukas’s earlier gesture, this morning, he ordered me a new laptop. I tried to protest, of course. I barely managed a half hearted, ‘You don’t have to do that,’ before he shot me down.
“Your laptop was destroyed by my family.” He said simply.
“Of course I’m replacing it.” He said it like it wasn’t even something to be debated. I could have argued that he isn’t responsible for them, I could have argued a lot of things, but Lukas seemed determined to get it for me, and the selfish side of me won out and I agreed. I’m also feeling more like myself today, I took the time to dress up for the first time in days, hair styled, makeup done, a cute outfit instead of loungewear. Lukas didn’t comment, but I caught him glancing at me a few times with an expression I couldn’t quite decipher. We’re on our way back to my place, Roxy trotting happily at our sides, when my phone rings.
“Good morning!” I answer brightly.
“Hey, is this Clare?” A vaguely familiar male voice asks.
“Yep, that’s me.” I reply, curious now.
“Oh, good. This is Damien. Rina’s brother, you know, the human. We met at that crime scene. I got your number from Eli.” He says, sounding awkward but polite. I grin at the reminder.
“Yes, Damien, I remember you. What’s up?” I answer cheerfully. Lukas, who’s been walking just a step behind me, raises an eyebrow and lightly places a hand on my shoulder, using his mind reading to listen in on the phone call via my thoughts.
“Well, Eli told me about the kinds of cases you’ve been looking into.” Damien continues.
“And I was sorting through some old paperwork earlier when I found something that might be relevant. It wasn’t flagged as a magical case at the time, Eli wasn’t involved, and back then, I didn’t even know magic existed. But now that I’ve taken a closer look… It seems odd.” He pauses.
“What kind of odd?” I press eagerly. Damien hesitates for a second, then continues.
“I’m not exactly an expert on this kind of thing, and it was written off as a prank gone wrong, but it involved several bodies going missing. Temporarily, at least. At the time, it didn’t set off any red flags, but now…” He trails off.
“Woah, that definitely sounds like something we’d want to know more about. Can we meet up somewhere to talk?” I ask eagerly. Damien starts to respond, but I hear Eli’s voice in the background, speaking loud enough to carry over the phone.
“Tell them to meet us for lunch!” He insists. Damien tries to insist that there is work to be done, but Eli is having none of it, and somehow two minutes later we’ve all agreed to meet up for lunch, and not just anywhere, at an actually fairly high end restaurant. The good news is, it’s close enough that we can walk. Convenient since I still have no car.