[For Baze] Dated to the wee hours of 27 April

[illuxinated]

For the entire walk home, Lux keeps it together. It had been easier to do in the clinic, feeling like she needed to be strong for Jason. It wasn't as if she'd been the one buried alive, and it didn't seem fair to cry all over him or make a scene. James had been there, so eventually she'd left, and let the numb feeling carry her down the winding

Comments

[weusedtoshine]

She always knocks, even though he's told her that she doesn't have to, and he's yanking the door open with that on his lips before he sees her crying, sees the state of her and the bandages on her fingers.

"Jesus, Lux," he says, reaching out for her without hesitation, catching her by the shoulder and pulling her closer. "What happened?"

[illuxinated]

At first she can't speak at all, throat choked with sobs as she clings to Baze, face buried against the soft cotton of his shirt. She wants to just stay here, just like this forever, making up for all of the times when she never had it, never had anyone to run to or depend on.

"It's Jason," she finally manages to say, voice stilted and tight with emotion, her shoulders still shaking. "He was- he was- he was in the ground and I thought he was going to die, I thought I couldn't dig fast enough, I thought- I thought-" Another wave of emotion chokes her off, and she turns her face back in against Baze's chest.

[weusedtoshine]

Both of his arms are wrapped tight around her, keeping her close as he tries to take in what she's just said to him. He cradles the back of her head, fingers pressed into her hair.

"Hey," he says, gently. "Hey. I've got you, okay? You're okay. Where's Jason now?"

He barely knows the kid but if he's got to go out and get him, he will. There's pretty much nothing he wouldn't do for Lux at this point.

[illuxinated]

It takes her a moment, time needed to roughly swallow back her emotion enough that she can speak again, can collect herself into something that makes even a little bit of sense.

"The clinic," she answers, the word half-muffled against Baze's t-shirt. "He's okay. He was hurt, but he'll be okay." Physically, at least, but maybe Jason's never been okay mentally or emotionally. Kids like the two of them so rarely are.

Drawing back, she peers up at Baze with despairing, red-rimmed eyes. "I have to tell you something. About when I was in the coma." If she doesn't do it now, maybe she never will.