Chapter Text
⋆｡°✩ lukas’ pov
It had been a few months since Lukas had first met Aiden. They’d quickly realised that they had a lot in common; they disliked their parents, loved the same foods, went to the woods often, and absolutely despised this one hallway monitor at the elementary school.
It was winter now. The cosy orange and red leaves from the autumn had long since fallen from the trees, making way for glistening white snow to blanket Beacontown. The river had, miraculously, stayed liquid. How the winding body of water had slipped through the grasp of the cold was beyond Lukas.
Lukas didn’t press the matter of Aiden’s parents— it was clear that it was a touchy subject. However, he had gathered that they were wildly different from his parents, who were a bit too helicopter-y and kept pushing for him to do everything perfectly. Aiden’s parents mostly ignored him and yelled at him when they didn’t. Sure, Lukas’ parents would scold him sometimes, but it seemed that Aiden’s parents did it far more frequently.
He did notice that Aiden seemed a lot happier after spending time with Lukas.
The two had decided to build a tree house. It wasn’t just for Aiden to stay in when going home wasn’t a desirable thing; it was also for the two to hang out. Soon enough, it had turned into a hideout for them, complete with curtains made with old jeans, a large snack box tucked in the corner, blankets, and a few posters of the Order of the Stone.
Lukas’ favourite was Soren; his designs were so intricate and unique, and just… wow. He was also the leader of the Order and probably the most knowledgeable. He hoped that, one day, he’d meet him. Aiden apparently really liked Gabriel. Lukas could see why. They both had swords and likely enjoyed slaying mobs, and he seemed to be the most “out-there” member of the Order, so Aiden could learn a lot from him without having to spend tons of money for a keynote.
“Do you think Soren would make me his apprentice if I met him and, you know, proved my worth?” Lukas asked.
They were in the treehouse, cold wind sneaking through the gaps in the hatch. Lukas was in the middle of taping the windows shut so that they’d be a bit warmer, and Aiden was rifling through his homework folder. He shrugged.
“That’s if you can find him. If I meet Gabriel, I’ll ask him for you,” Aiden offered.
“Aww, you don’t have to do that!” Lukas smiled, scooting over to Aiden (the ceiling was too low for standing).
“I’m just such a nice guy. You should be thankful!” Aiden replied, nudging him.
“I am, I am,” Lukas chuckled, playfully shoving Aiden in return.
Aiden’s expression froze before he gave a slightly strained smile, looking away.
“Oh, shoot— sorry,” Lukas mumbled, quickly retracting his hand, pulling it to his chest. Internally freaking out, his mind flitted through several unpleasant thoughts. Did I upset him? Did I hurt him? Why am I SO inattentive?
They sat in awkward silence for a few seconds before Aiden stretched and continued searching through his folder. “Nah, don’t worry about it. I’m fine. Oh, sh—“
A crumpled piece of paper fluttered onto the floor in front of Lukas. He picked it up, about to give it to Aiden, when he saw the words Happy Birthday, Aiden! written on it in scribbly handwriting, complete with a green-and-white birthday cake sticker attached to it.
“Hey, did you just have a birthday?” he questioned, handing it to Aiden.
“Oh, um-“ he stammered.
“And you didn’t think to tell me?!” Lukas exclaimed.
“I didn’t want you to worry about getting me a gift or something, I-”
Lukas stared at Aiden. Hard. “I’m your friend, dummy. Of course I’m gonna get you something!”
He leaned on the wall, thinking. Aiden sat across from him, fidgeting with the corner of the folder. What would Aiden want, anyway? Probably not a book, since he didn’t seem like the reader type. Was there anything that would be useful?
Actually, there was. A sword.
Aiden had mentioned before that his favourite Order member was Gabriel, he had a stone sword, and seemed quite enthusiastic about killing mobs. And he was pretty sure that his parents had some iron ingots in a chest somewhere in the house, so getting Aiden an upgrade, fortunately, wouldn’t be insanely difficult. Lukas smiled to himself slightly.
“Hey, so, what exactly are you doing?” Aiden questioned, shaking him from his thoughts.
“Thinking?”
“Why?”
“That might be the silliest thing I’ve heard all day.”
“Oookay. Well, why-?”
“Because I am concocting a plan.”
“...Uh huh. Oh, um, speaking of day…” Aiden gestured to the window, where the light from outside was beginning to fade.
Lukas sighed. Of course, it was getting late already. “Right, right. Probably wouldn’t be great to get mauled to death by a zombie.”
The two started gathering their things; Lukas hastily shoved his book & quill, books, and water bottle into his bag, while Aiden stowed the Happy birthday! Note back into his folder, putting it in his bag as well. After tidying the tree house up some, Lukas shimmied over to the hatch and kicked it open, placing his foot on the nearest rung. Aiden watched as he began to descend the ladder.
“So… wanna meet up tomorrow? Around… one? That’s when my parents are out,” Aiden suggested, beginning his own climb down.
Lukas, observing the other, replied, “Yeah, sounds good.”
The two started down the snow-covered path, talking occasionally. After several minutes, with Lukas falling to the snowy ground too many times to count, they got to central Beacontown, where they parted ways. Aiden began travelling towards the heart of the city while Lukas headed to a more dispersed area where his house was.
When he finally arrived on the porch, he was given the usual “it’s-not-safe-to-be-outside-after-dark” talk by his dad. He nodded, shrugged off his coat, and started up the stairs to his room. Once inside, he hurried to his desk and grabbed a sheet of paper, intending on writing out a plan for Aiden’s birthday celebration.
First, the iron sword – easy enough to make; all he had to do was ask his parents for two iron ingots, and he already had a stick. Then, a cake. Or a pie. Or a cookie. He wasn’t entirely sure how to make the first two options…
For thirty minutes, Lukas sat there, jotting down his ideas. By the time he flopped down onto his bed, the paper was littered with little notes and sketches that definitely would not make sense the next morning. But that was a later issue.