Puzzle 34

[hintcoinplz]

[726 Anderson Lane.]

[Luke had only been gone a little over three hours, but the way he's stumbling into the house makes it look like he's been gone for a week. The front of his shirt is covered in blood, and he has a nasty bite on his shoulder. Despite that? He doesn't look scared or traumatized, as he usually does with each horrible event the town puts them through.

Instead, he looks really tired.

He darts towards the kitchen, and rummages for something to eat and drink. He's tempted to find someplace to sleep, but there's still a few things he needs to do first. The first thing he needs to do is make a phone call...]

[Phone.]

What all was found in those portals? What did everyone see? The more you can tell me, the better. We ought to start making a record of our discoveries as soon as possible.

[Around town.]

[After a fresh change of clothes, Luke doesn't look that much better, but at least he's not covered in blood anymore. His first goal is to check on the people he traveled with in the void and make sure they all came back in one piece. While he's mostly interested in checking up on people he knows, he'll stop for just about anyone.

When he's finished making sure everyone is okay, he'll go pay a visit to a certain sea creature at the lake.]

[462 Stone Street - Late night]

[The event may be over, but Luke's paranoia gets the better of him. He's spent most of his day fighting sleep and stalking his Mayfield family just in case they don't get eaten by a glitch or something. But even as he tries to go to bed, he still keeps waking up in the middle of the night thanks to some very nasty nightmares.

Deciding sleep is a lost cause, he slips out of the house in the middle of the night, still in his pajamas. He makes his way over to 462 Stone Street to check up on a certain puzzler. Worried about waking them up, he ends up sitting outside the door like a creeper while he decides if he should knock or not.

Unfortunately his lack of sleep catches up with him, because before he can make a decision, he dozes off on the doorstep of the Nigma family. If Edward or Ema checks outside in the middle of the night, they'll find Luke curled up and fast asleep on the porch.]

Comments

phone

[achromous]

I was in a wasteland--sort of like what happened in Mayfield last November, if you were there. Which portal did you go through?

Re: phone

[hintcoinplz]

The one I went through led to a massive void! We were protected by a bubble, but then these monstrous drones kept trying to break through to attack us.

phone

[achromous]

A void? Like--there were these little pockets of nothing in the air in the wasteland. Was it just all that around you? It must have been awful.

action - around town

[truffulacide]

[if Luke should find himself walking past the park, he might hear the sound of guitar playing if he sticks around long enough to listen.

investigate?]

Re: action - around town

[hintcoinplz]

[The music catches his attention, and Luke is lured to the source of the sound. He'll stop a few feet away, letting the Once-ler finish his song before interrupting.]

[truffulacide]

[he's sitting Indian style under a tree, same one he usually sits under, strumming out a song. it's one of those rare moments where he looks peaceful - really genuinely serene. it's all the more remarkable if you take the dark circles under his eyes into consideration, and the length of gauze wrapped around his neck to hold a bandage that already needs changing in place.

at first, it seems like he doesn't notice Luke at all, but when he finishes...]

Well?

[- he can only be addressing one person.]

phone;

[endlesswitch]

Left out, were you?

Re: phone;

[hintcoinplz]

I wish! I just spent the last few hours in a big glitchy hole.

[endlesswitch]

... A shame! You missed quite the excitement!

Somewhere nearish 307 Miller

[bread_goes_bip]

[Death has been... basically worried sick about Luke]

There you are!

[hintcoinplz]

Uh, h-hi miss Didi.

[Big grin. See? Everything's fine. Just ignore that bite wound on his shoulder there.]

[bread_goes_bip]

Where were you? What happened?

[You do not have superpowers don't tell her you went in]

around town YOLO

[werejew]

[Oh hey, guess who's just kind of sitting on the sidewalk in front of the library, staring at a yellow flower in her hands. She looks completely unharmed, like she hadn't even been in the void at all.

She hears him coming and glances up at him, but quickly goes back to staring at the flower. She doesn't say anything.]

Re: around town YOLO

[hintcoinplz]

Annie.

[Admittedly he's intrigued by the flower, but right now he's got other things on his mind. He hasn't forgotten what happened in the void, and intends to let her know about it.

His voice is stern, and he folds his arms across his chest. It's meant to look intimidating, but instead it just comes off as him looking like he's pouting.]

[werejew]

Oh, um. Hey, kiddo. [She has an odd expression on her face, as if she's almost nervous about something.] You doing okay? How's your shoulder?

[462 Stone Street]

[questionauthority]

[That's odd. Edward could have sworn he'd heard something at the door not so long ago. His brilliant mind (and his girlfriend, too) are both quick to tell him that there's nothing there, that he should just go back to bed. But that't the thing about great minds: they think alike.

Eddie can't help his paranoia either, it seems, so he finds himself wandering down the staircase of his dimly lit house, cane at the ready on the off-chance of any unwanted intruders. But when he pulls the front door open... he finds something else altogether.

He finds Luke.]

[glowing_skye]

[When Edward returned from the portal, Ema was worried about him. He was bruised and covered in blood that didn't seem to be his, which had her wondering what the hell even happened. Edward was too wrung out to talk about it, though, so she's left well enough alone so far.

Of course, injuries are sometime mental. He's been insisting all night that something's outside, and after a night of telling him to just go back to bed already he's finally gone to take a look. Grumbling, Ema's right behind him.

From behind Edward, Ema can't tell that Luke's curled up on their porch just yet.]

See? No burglars or sneaky Mayfield monsters trying to tear the house down. Can we please sleep now?

[hintcoinplz]

[Luke doesn't respond to the noise around him. He's curled up on his side, twitching in his sleep.]

[Around Town]

[ceasetoexist]

[Pokey was himself out around the town too. Unlike Luke he didn't have any particular reason; it had just become habit to walk around the town every now and then when he had nothing better to do. Still Pokey ends up spotting Luke as he makes his own rounds.

It's odd. Luke isn't really much more than a casual acquaintance. He isn't a stranger to Pokey but it isn't like Pokey's ever made the time to get to know the other boy better. Usually it should be easy for him to just continue walking by.

For some odd reason though, he just feels like saying hello. So he nods in Luke's direction as they pass.]

Hey.

....You get through the latest round of crazy crap alright?

[Around Town]

[hintcoinplz]

[Luke glances at Pokey as soon as he hears his voice. He gives him a friendly smile before moving towards him.]

I was all right. For the most part.

[Even if he did get bitten and knocked around.]

I think I may have spotted you when we were in that void. How did you hold up?

Re: [Around Town]

[ceasetoexist]

[Pokey shrugs a bit. He didn't suffer any serious injuries or go through anything particularly traumatic. So truth be told it was a pretty good event for him.]

Alright. Learned my robot maid has a combat function, which would have been nice to know earlier.

...I guess I just want to know what'll happen next.

Around town

[noluckduck]

[Clover happened to be heading for the lake as well - as coincidence would have it, she ends up running into Luke. He was in that portal too, wasn't he? Loosha told her--

Well, she's not going to tell him the details of how she knew, if it can at all be avoided.] Hey, Luke! Ya doin' ok?

Around town

[hintcoinplz]

Oh, hello Clover! [He gives her a small smile.] I'm doing all right. How are you?

[Around Town] (Sorry if this is too late!)

[a_clockwork_melody]

[Aurica was walking around too, humming a soft, quiet tune to herself, when she would notice a person she didn't see in quite a while.]

Luke...? Hello! [She waved enthusiastically, remembering him.]

[Around Town]

[hintcoinplz]

[Luke pauses at the familiar voice, turning around quickly.]

Ah-! Miss Aurica, you're back too? The last time I saw you, you were droned!