Work Text:
Lukas held up a hand to keep the rain out of his eyes as he surveyed the cloudy sky. As he’d expected, the clouds were covering every inch of the sky.
So much for knowing what time it is.
It didn’t really matter what time it was, but still, it would’ve been nice to know how many more hours until sunrise. Lukas had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep that night. Lukas dropped his hand and tucked his arm back under his jacket. He shivered and lowered his head.
Across the treehouse, one of the wooden planks creaked. Lukas quickly closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. After a moment without another sound, Lukas opened his eyes and saw Axel had shifted positions slightly.
Was he awake? Lukas hoped not. He was too worn out to argue about anything right now.
Lukas felt a flash a resentment towards Axel. Lukas would agree that they were in the midst of a terrible situation, but that was no reason for Axel to take out his unease on the people around him. Lukas couldn’t help but feel that if the others disliked him so much, why did they insist on keeping him around?
Lukas’ eyes flicked toward Jesse, curled up with Rueben on the opposite side of the treehouse. Jesse’s behavior hadn’t made sense to him, but then again, Lukas hadn’t fully been able to make sense of his own actions that day either.
I mean, why was he here with people he barely knows instead of with the friends he’s known for years? Why had he decided to go accompany people who either tolerate or outright hate him? He’d known Petra a bit better at least, but now she was gone.
The reminder of Petra brought Lukas up short. He was thrown back to the moment the giant obsidian black tentacles had thrown him and Jesse through the portal, leaving Petra behind. He couldn’t get the image of those burning purple eyes and gigantic teeth of the Wither out of his head now that he’d dredged them up.
A shiver down Lukas’ spine that wasn’t caused by the rain.
Why had he been able to escape when so many people hadn’t? Petra was probably the most fierce and capable person he knew, and she hadn’t made it out. So why was he provided the luxury of survival?
Lukas knew he should’ve stayed. He should’ve tried to help fight back like Petra had. He should’ve looked for the Ocelots above all else. Maybe if he’d been with them, they would be here in the treehouse too. Or at least he could’ve met their fate with them.
Lukas shrank further into himself. He’d left them. He should’ve stayed no matter how dangerous it was to find his friends. As a result, he had no idea where Aiden, Maya, or Gill was now. Were they able to take shelter somewhere safe, or had they been carried away in the powerful pull of that giant Wither? The latter thought was too terrible to consider.
Lukas eyes roved down to the Ocelot logo on his jacket, slightly faded with wear and spattered with stray raindrops.
A fresh wave of guilt cascaded upon him. Here he was feeling miserable for himself when his friends were who knows where going through who knows what.
He thought back to when he’d first presented his friends with the jackets. Gill had been absolutely ecstatic, and had practically tackled himself and Lukas to the ground in his joy. Maya had scoffed about the jackets being gaudy, but after she put it on she wore it for rest of the day. And even Aiden had smiled and bragged about how the Ocelots were no doubt going to be the talk of the town with such cool jackets.
Lukas’ face trembled as he smiled weakly at the happy memories. Then Lukas sobbed and the tears fell freely. Any amount of time could’ve passed as Lukas broke down. It could’ve been anywhere from five minutes to an hour. But he cried until the tears stopped and the exhaustion of the day finally caught up to him. Lukas pulled his legs close and rested his forehead on his knees, and finally fell asleep.