“Ohhh… Yeah, I understand now. Is he scared of me?” Marco glanced between Skye and Lucas. The latter was still trying to control his shaking, so Marco got his answer. “Hey, bud, I’m not gonna hurt you.” “H-How do I know I can trust you?” “Uh… I dunno? You just can?”
Skye buried his face in the other's hair, humming softly, "It's okay.. he won't hurt you.. he wouldn't be in here right now if I thought he would…"
Lucas closed his eyes and drew his knees up to his chest. He was sure that Marco was a nice person, but he just couldn’t trust him yet. Marco looked at the younger boy worriedly. “He must’ve had it pretty rough, huh…?” He asked Skye quietly.
Skye nodded, hugging him, "Yeah.. and hopefully I can make sure it gets better, somewhat.." he said quietly.
“Do you know what exactly happened, anyways?” Marco turned his eyes back up to Skye. “Why he’s so scared of unfamiliar people?”
"I know what happened, but it's personal to him.. not my place to share.." he said quietly, wanting the other to be able to actually trust him, and not rat him out.
Marco nodded. “Understandable. I’m pretty sure I know what’s happening anyways.” He checked to make sure that Lucas’s eyes were closed before mouthing ‘abuse?’ to Skye.
Skye nodded, carefully pulling up his sleeve, 'his'he mouthed.
‘Shit, that looks pretty bad…’ Marco looked back over at Lucas with a newfound concern. Lucas cautiously opened his eyes again, tugging his sleeves down over his wrists without even thinking about it.
Skye nodded, hugging Lucas tightly.
“So, uh, what’s your name, kid?” (I’m presuming Marco’s a bit older lol) Lucas looked up at Marco, hesitating for a few seconds before speaking. “L-Lucas…” “That’s nice. I’m Marco, but I think you already know that. Skye and I are friends.”
Skye smiled, knowing that Marco was about 6 months older than him.
“You can relax, Lucas. I’m not here to hurt anybody.” Marco smiled encouragingly, trying to get Lucas to relax. After a minute or two, Lucas finally managed to force himself to stop shaking. “I-I’m sorry… I’m… I’m sure you’re very nice, I-I just have really bad trust issues an-“ “Hey, hey, it’s alright. You don’t need to apologize for anything.” “B-But I feel like I was rude and you don’t deserve that…” Marco glanced at Skye again. “You’ve got every right to be cautious, okay? Don’t be sorry.” Lucas seemed like he wanted to apologize again, but resigned to just keep quiet and stay huddled by Skye.
Skye sighed, "It's okay.. everyone has their issues.." he murmured.
I should probably let the kid be for a little bit. Marco thought. “So, how’re things for you, Skye? Good, I hope?”
"Yeah, still trying to find a job before winter, but I'll be okay" he said, "What about you?"
“Still living in the same shithole. So yeah, I’m good. I heard Filipe stole a whole bag of apples from a vendor without being caught, so I’ll probably pick some up from him at some point.”
"Really? I might just go track him down too…" said Skye, "Though seriously, what place in this town isn't a shithole?"
Marco shrugged. “Wait wait wait, look.” He said quietly, nodding towards Lucas. “He’s… relaxed. I think he’s asleep.”
Skye couldn't help smiling at his sleeping soulmate, pressing a tender kiss to his forehead. "Gods… I think I'm already in love with him…"
Marco smirked a bit. "Alright, now he's asleep can you tell me what's up with him? Why would he do… that… to his arms?"
"I'm not sure… but apparently his dad is an alcoholic homophobic a-hole who blames him for the death of his twin brother…" said Skye, "At least as far as I understand.."
"Woah, shit. That sucks… What about his mom? Is she around at all?" Marco glanced at Lucas's arms, cringing to think about the full extent of what was under the bandages.
"No… as far as I can tell his mom passed ages ago…" he said quietly.
"Mmm… I'm glad he got out of there. How long has this been going on? Is his dad looking for him?"