Lucas Looks To See Marama Studying Him Curiously.

@fromcamadams

Lucas barges into Cameron's office, breathing heavy like an enraged bull.

"You'll never believe what those motherfucking monsters just pulled on me," he says, voice quivering with rage that's he's trying to contain. He drops the remains of the rotary phone onto Cam's desk.

"They think they can get away with this shit any longer? Well, I'm this close to just barging into those woods, guns blazing."

He paces the room, not wanting his anger to be directed at her.

@patroclusblossom (lucas)

You're sitting in the sheriff's station like you do most days, you sure do take your job seriously. It feels like any other day, just make it through and survive, that's what you've been doing for seven years now. Only something is different today; the phone rings. It's been sitting on the desk since before you came here but has never once rang, yet today it is. Do you answer it? Are you hearing things and just hoping that it would finally ring and give some sign of an outside world? If you answer the phone, you hear a voice you thought you would never hear again. "Hey Lu," the voice that sounds suspiciously like your brother says. But your brother has been dead for seven years, it was impossible. Yet it sounds just like him. "Miss me?" He asks through the phone. "You're doing a good job of watching everyone, making sure they're safe. Why couldn't you do that for me? Why couldn't you protect me?" Then the line goes silent. No matter how hard you try, you can't make the voice come back. What just happened? Was that really your brother? Or are you finally starting to lose it?

Lucas considers this. He's been in a lot of the woods around town but hasn't come across a tree like that. Of course, that's not at all surprising. Still, it has him thinking.

"Okay," he says, focusing back on Elm. "That's good. Was there anything else?"

He gives her a small smile.

ELM CONSIDERS THE QUESTION FOR A MOMENT BEFORE SHRUGGING . " it's the only thing i remember ." elm wonders if that's enough to make it notable . there's another beat of thought where their head tilts before they're adding a, " there was a moon over it ." their brows furrow a bit . " it was full and ..." a thoughtful pause before elm is making a round gesture with their hands . " the tree was by itself . in a circle, like this ."

Lucas swallows. He wants to read between the lines, search past the casual tone.

But he doesn't.

He kisses Rae's forehead, the last intimate gesture he'll allow himself today, then steps back.

"Stay safe tonight," he says, trying to keep the sad tremble out of his voice. "I'll pick you up in the morning."

He walks backward, keep their hands connected until he couldn't anymore.

as they approached his house, rae's steps slowed, mirroring lucas'. the weight of the day's events hung heavy in the air between them. he found himself reluctant to let go of his hand.

"i… i don't know," rae admitted, his voice soft. his breath caught in his throat. he wanted lucas to stay, desperately. but he also knew the complexities of their relationship, the raw emotions that still lingered.

"you don't have to stay," he said, trying to make his tone sound casual. "i'll be fine. just… it's been a long day. and… you know." he shrugged.

Lucas shuts the book so Cherry can't read his notes.

"Can anyone vouch for your whereabouts then? It would've been between 10:30–11."

Honestly, Lucas does have bigger fish to fry, but it's his job to help everyone feel safe. If someone is burglarizing other people, that will just make a bad situation worse.

He's not sure if Cherry is the actual culprit. She just has the most priors involving theft, and they did accuse her, so he has to be thorough.

CHERRY SIGHS AS SHE LEANS A HIP AGAINST THE DOORFRAME . her expression scrunches with it . " i mean, yeah, you prolly definitely got bigger fish to fry than me ." charlie would imagine so at least but what the hell does she know about being a cop ? all she's sure about is that someone will probably try to rope her into helping in some way today, and as reluctant as she usually was she knew she'd probably give in for at least a little bit . after all, they all got royally fucked by the storm . so when lucas shoots her an unimpressed look her expression only twists . " who the fuck said that ?" she moves as if to peer at his notebook . " i was workin' yesterday morning !"

Lucas approaches cautiously, trying not to spook her like she's a deer that could leap into action at any second. His hands up to show he means no ill will.

"You can't really blame us for being cautious now, can you? We don't want you to get hurt. Or worse."

He winces at the memories of bodies. Especially those of newcomers who didn't know better or tried to deny the reality before them.

where : the edge of the forest / town with : open

— RAYS from the afternoon sun shine through the trees , melting away the remaining frost on the yellowing leaves and warming greer's near windburnt cheeks . though a chilly autumn was no irregularity for the detroit native , there was something sinister in the air , something she tries desperately to ignore , that makes the cold air seem to seep into her weary bones , inescapable no matter how many layers she may wear . despite this , her glove - less right hand remains outside of her coat pocket , a nearly finished cigarette held tightly between two pinkened fingers , orange lighter clutched in the palm of her hand . the unease only worsens the longer she stares into the woods , the shadows among the trees looking all the more ominous . she takes a deep inhale , the harshness of the cold air stinging her nose and throat as she does so , refreshing and punishing at the same time . as she exhales , she closes her eyes , cutting herself off from staring into the forest , and the dark , irrational thoughts that seem to cluster in her mind whenever she was near it . footsteps approach , the sound of gravel crunching taking away from the otherwise eerie silence , and successfully pulling the young woman from her reverie . greer's eyes remain closed for a moment longer , this time to contain an eye roll . “ i'm not running off again , you guys don't have to keep threatening to ‘ restrain me ’ . ” forever assuming rather than asking , disinterest and annoyance cloud greer's voice . her eyes open only to fall into a scowl as she turns to look at the one who interrupts her moping . “ what do you want ? ”

Adrien perks up even more. There's a little shop here? His fingers already twitch, wanting to get work done inside.

"So when it comes to these talismans I've heard about, they only work if there's like an unbroken 'barrier?' So no open windows or doors?"

He's noticed some temporary solutions already up, but he's also noticed a lot of residents give those wary looks. As if they're expecting something to jump through them.

"hey, that's better than a lot of these kids around here," cam said with a laugh before opening the front door of colony house. "come on, i'll show you my little make-shift shop." really it was just a shed on the side of the house where she keeps her personal stash of tools so that no one in the house can steal them. god know everything else in this house goes missing and stashed away.

"A good point," he says, dropping his arms into a relaxed casual stance. "I guess we just wanna be 100% certain, you know? Doesn’t hurt being cautious."

He smiles warmly at her, hoping that maybe he can get her to drop her guard enough to at least let him look around.

WELL, WHEN HE PHRASES IT LIKE THAT SHE CAN KINDA SEE WHY SHE'S FIRST ON THE LIST . she crosses her arms she moves to lean on the doorframe, easily replying, " well, i'm not gonna tattle ." she huffs a bit, gesturing with a hand . " how do they even know the booze is really missin' ?" she tries with an arch of her brows . " maybe it's just lost !"

"Shit! Airplanes? That sounds awesome. I've always wanted to get a look inside one. Hell, I've always wanted to fly in one."

He chuckles, though it sobers a bit when they ask him about his mechanic history.

"I mean, yeah, ever since I could hold a wrench. My dad taught me a lot of the basics before he and my mom... and then my uncle showed me a bunch of stuff after along with some family friends."

He blinks quickly so he doesn't tear up thinking about his parents.

"Yeah, I used to work on airplanes, it seemed fitting enough." Ellington shrugs, "But it just kind of became a thing. There'd been a few people who had some knowledge but not enough to get this town in shape when I first got here," they are tinkering about in the tool box, searching, "There was so much that needed fixing. Although I didn't necessarily have a lot of knowledge about anything other than airplane engines, you kinda just... figure it out? Plus, I've always enjoyed fixing things." Ellington approaches the vehicle again, a wrench in hand, "What about you? You always been a mechanic?"

LORD HAVE MERCY