Chapter Text
The rain wouldn’t let up.
The further Edgar travelled through the town the more aggressive the rain got. Seems like there would be thunder and lightning soon. His raincoat really wasn’t doing it’s job at this point. He could feel his boots fill with rain water the more he treaded and his clothes getting soaked more and more. Would the weather even clear up tomorrow?
Where did Luca say the laboratory was again? He should’ve double checked the address his letter came from. He could only hope he was going the right direction.
Edgar’s fingers and nose numbed more and more by the minute. None of his rainwear kept him dry since the wind coming from the ocean just threw it right in his direction. Curse how aggressive the weather would get around here.
A low rumbling sound came from the core of the earth. There’s the thunder. Edgar kept his eyes towards the ground until he saw the sky flash in the corner of his eyes. And there’s the lightning… The thunder didn’t bother Edgar much but being vulnerable outside in the rain made him unnerved. He couldn’t tell if his hands were shaking from the coldness or his own anxiety.
He put down his umbrella as he strayed towards the sidewalks where the awnings hung. They were damp too. The edges of them dripped with more rain water as they hardly kept the sidewalk underneath them dry.
What is there to even think about when all you see is rain, water, more water, being wet, puddles, coldness, and more rain everywhere? The sky was an ugly grey and it made the world below lose it’s colors. There were no hints of blues or purples. It looked like the world was just a black and white film Edgar would see in the movie theaters.
While he peered at the signs atop the buildings nothing said laboratory. He was nearing the outskirts of the town. It was bound to get darker soon which meant even lower temperatures with rougher winds. The walk home would be worse than now.
The hills were in sight. Where could Luca possibly be? He’d passed through all of town and the only place left was a… laboratory. A lab right outside the woods that’s it!
As Edgar made his run for the hills he heard something echoing in the thunder. He turned himself to the direction of the sound.
It was Luca, and he was just as soaked as him. He sat there laughing in the face of the rain.
“Luca!” Edgar tried shouting into cupped hands to no response, “LUCA!!” The figure turned his way. Luca began waving towards Edgar as the lightning struck down behind him.
Edgar quickly hurried his way up. His boots leaked like buckets full of water and the rubbing sensation of his wet socks on his feet was uncomfortable to move in.
“Why are you out here like this? Aren’t you worried about catching a cold?!” Edgar scolded him.
“I should ask you the same. You didn’t think to write me back instead of coming out here?” Luca chuckled.
“I was worried the postman wouldn’t get out here quick enough. Not in this weather anyways…” Edgar answered trying to shake water out of his boots. He glanced down to pay attention to his own shoes but got sidetracked by the fact Luca wasn’t wearing any.
“Why not take your shoes off instead?”
“My feet will get cold.”
“Not if they’re numb already.” Luca grinned. He watched as water dripped down his face and curved at his cheeks. His sleeves were rolled up and clung to his skin for dear life. You could see all of his exposed hair standing up from the cold if it wasn’t clamped on his forehead. He really looked stunning out in the rain somehow. The only place he could feel heat was in his cheeks from such an amazing revelation.
Edgar gave in and squatted down to take his boots and socks off. “Do you like this weather? My sister does.” He asked, trying to act like his heart wasn’t skipping a beat whenever he got a glance of Luca’s face.
“It’s nice. I cram myself up in a laboratory heated by the machinery surrounding me, so the rain is always so refreshing. You must not care for it?”
“I don’t care for many things. I have a preferred weather type. Rain is fine but lightning makes me a bit uneasy.”
Luca seemed to howl over such a childish fear. The skies followed suit as they rumbled with him. “The chances of lightning striking you are so low Edgar! How immature for you!” He said in between his fits of laugher. The lightning struck down behind the horizons again as Edgar jumped a bit but, tried to remain cool. His heart felt it was gonna jump out of his chest from both embarrassment and awe.
Edgar took a moment so he wouldn’t embarrass himself by saying anything stupid to Luca’s face. “It’s really not funny… I’ve heard of it happening to people.” Edgar mumbled.
“In what storybooks?! How absurd, Valden!” Luca was grabbing his stomach at this point. Some of the water on his face was probably his own tears of laughter. The wind was picking up more by the moment. Edgar quickly pushed his own coat down to try and keep his pants semi-dry. He tried to fidget with some of the cloth bundled in his hands instead of making up a proper response.
“It’s a long walk isn’t it?” Luca fixed his posture to address the taller man. “You can always spend the night. We have a spare bed here.”
“You sleep here?”
“Most of the time. Why would I walk home when the place I have here is nicer than my own apartment?”
An apartment? Does he live alone then? All Edgar ever knew was living with family in rather spacious houses. He can’t imagine having such little room for himself.
“Ah, you’re probably taken aback by the fact I live in an apartment aren’t you? My parents aren’t here anymore. I’ve been alone since I was 17.”
Edgar tried to stop his jaw from dropping. Did he actually feel bad for him? He tried to speak but refused to let any words slip out.
“Don’t feel bad! Sorry, that’s probably a lot let’s get you inside, shall we? Even I’m a bit cold now.” Luca had laid a hand on his arm. It was so warm compared to the freezing rain that had trickled on his skin for the last 45 minutes.
Edgar gently pushed Luca’s hand off his arm. “Unfortunately, I can’t stay. I must get home or else my father would be…displeased.” An understatement.
“Let me at least dry you off before you head home again?” Luca insisted. He was a cute beggar.
He took a moment to stare in his eyes. The reflective silver color had toned down from the bad lighting to almost black. You could see the lightning flash back in them, and for a split second, the silver returned.
Luca’s eyes had somewhat darted to the rest of Edgar’s body. He was fairly bad at keeping eye contact, but he was damn good at masking it most of the time. Something Edgar only picked up on now.
“Fine but make it quick. It’s gonna get dark.” Luca nodded as he led Edgar down the hill inside the lab.
The door pushed open. “Be careful, a lot of things in here are full of electricity and I have no intention of frying you.” Luca said trying to lead Edgar in without either of them dripping water on fragile inventions. “Can you wait here a moment? I’ll go get towels.”
Edgar noticed how stuffy it must’ve been in the lab if Luca slaved away in here all day. The heat was nice now after being in the rain for all that time.
He peaked around at some of the inventions laying on the desks nearby. Wires were almost everywhere on the floor, you’d wonder how to untangle them and what machines they belong to.
Luca quickly came back from the hallway he disappeared into with rather nice looking towels. He hopped over some of the wires as he made his way back to the painter.
“Here ya go! Sometimes our towels we use for the machines end up in the cabinets with the normal ones, sorry about that.” Luca sat there continuing to dry his hair.
Before he could say anything, he noticed oil and other liquids spilled all over the towel Luca was cleaning himself up with. Edgar cringed a bit as he double checked his own towel just in case.
“So is it just you and Mr. Lorenz here?” Edgar said patting himself down, “You sure get a lot of work done between the two of you.”
“Most of this is mine. It’s like a 70:30 ratio of work around here.” Luca had noticed the sudden quietness from Edgar.
“Weird he makes you do all the work.”
“Doc’s 30% is more challenging than mine debatably!! It’s even I swear!” He sounds a bit defensive of the man. Luca really gives Mr. Lorenz everything doesn’t he?
Edgar nodded, accepting Luca’s response to his questions. He just now really took a moment to look at him. Luca looked like a big scraggly dog. Maybe if you stuck some ears on him and taught him a trick or two the difference would be near nonexistent.
Edgar tried to conceal his joy at the thought of such a thing by turning his smirk to a more neutral face.
“What’re you thinking about?” Luca picked up on Edgar’s facial expressions.
Edgar snapping back into the reality of the situation felt his eyes widen. “Nothing! It’s best I get going, Balsa! The sun’s setting after all!” Edgar stammered as he jumped back to try and find the doorknob.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodbye, Luca!” and like that the door was shut. Edgar was long gone within a minute as he scurried off towards his own home.
Luca stared at the door, processing the quickly concluded ending to their meeting. He smiled a bit. Edgar wasn’t that hard to crack open after all.