Work Text:
Looking up from his cipher, Luca goes to read the ping on his communicator. "Healing progress 43%", it reads, and Luca smiles. Eli is so kind, taking care of their teammates like that. He turns back to the cipher page he's working on.
The numbers and letters that form the encrypted password chunk look off. Unfamiliar. What had he been doing? Decoding, obviously, but where was he going with this..?
He can't just pick up where he left off, can he… Luca scans the page, looking for a chunk he can recognize. XZ62Y? Nope. 5U2JA isn't looking right either. Luca runs a hand through his hair, his mind blank. He balls his hands up while doing so, tugging at the roots. He can't remember. He can't remember?
How many ciphers are left anyways? Why isn't he transmitting to the other cipher, fuck, what if someone is in a chase and he doesn't remember? But everyone is at full health… Why did he even look away from the cipher in the first place?
Hearing loud footsteps behind him, Luca whips around and expects the worst. Thankfully, he's wrong, and Kurt comes running up. The clock strapped to his back goes tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock and the mechanical noise soothes Luca's nerves. The "prisoner" smiles, and Kurt waves. He approaches Luca's cipher and quickly inputs the rest of the code. Kurt grins as he does so. "Lucky that Jack teleported halfway across the map, huh?"
'Oh yes.' Luca remembers. 'Jack teleported to the wrong cipher.'
The light at the top of the machine lights up and the sirens wail. Luca follows the Explorer to the nearby gate and waits anxiously as Kurt inputs the passcode. It's without incident, but Luca still feels guilty for slacking off.
In the lobby, before they all go their separate ways, Eli claps a hand on Luca's shoulder. "Thank you for shocking Jack, it gave me just enough time to send Brooke to Patricia. Wonderful timing!" The seer's eyes shine happily. A four-man escape was a great accomplishment.
Too bad Luca couldn't remember half the match.
"Thanks!" Luca laughs, grinning to cover his own confusion. "Good save!"
As the survivors all disperse, readying themselves for the evening, Luca heads back to his room. He has to repair his circuit box, Mary smashed it up really bad. Or was it Mad Eyes? Oh, no matter. He has work to do.
--
It feels like it's only been a second when Luca hears a knock on his door.
"Come in!" He shouts, not bothering to look up. Steady hands are needed for soldering. The creak of his room door being pushed open sounds behind him and light footsteps enter his room.
A hand is on his shoulder, and Luca drops the soldering iron. "Shit-" He looks up. "Andrew, god, you scared me. What do you need?"
Andrew's eyebrows are knit together, a perfect picture of concern. "You weren't at dinner. I brought you a plate but it's still by your door, cold…" The fair-haired man searches Luca's face. "Are you alright..?"
Alright? Of course, he's alright! He's the famous inventor, Luca Balsa! But when he tells Andrew this, it doesn't seem to calm the other man at all.
"I just thought you'd be hungry… Your hands are shaking, Luca. You've done your work, please come to eat?"
"What do you mean, Andy? I've still got-"
The words die in Luca's mouth as he turns around and looks at the box behind him. The iron is still on, but the box is fixed, outer casing hammered back into shape and screws tightly in place. The on/off switch is freshly soldered in place.
"I- I-" Luca stammers out the noise, again and again. He was just starting, he can't have finished. "I needed to fix the case, Andrew." he finishes, voice small.
"You fixed the case yesterday," Andrew says. "Are you sure you're alright? Would you like me to call for Doctor D-"
"I'M ALRIGHT!" Luca shouts, uncharacteristically loud. Andrew flinches back at the rise in tone. "I'm- I'm fine. I- I need to be alone!"
He stands abruptly from his chair and begins to shove Andrew out. The grave keeper looks as if he wants to protest, but says nothing. Not even when Luca slams the door in his face.
The "prisoner" slumps down against the closed door.
He didn't. He didn't fix the box. Mary- Michiko- Mad Eyes- Whoever it was, they broke his circuits in the last match and he needed to fix them! Andrew even watched it happen! He couldn't have fixed it yesterday. Repairs, maybe. Andrew must have gotten confused. Andrew didn't know much about electronics. But how is this box intact? Did he hide the other one somewhere?
Luca looks to the wall where he copied down today's matches, hoping to see the name of the blasted hunter that smashed up his work. Instead, the list reads:
ARMS FACTORY - THE RIPPER
LUCA BALSA - "PRISONER"
ELI CLARK - SEER
PATRICIA DORVAL - ENCHANTRESS
KURT FRANK - EXPLORER
No. No, that wasn't right.
Luca pulls at the chain around his neck, desperate for air. It clangs, and he does it again, movements more desperate. "No-" Luca pants, breath speeding up. "No- That's not-"
Looking to his right, there are two plates resting on the floor. One is empty, and the other is full. The full one seems to be dinner, though it's not much of a sight to behold. The gravy on top of the roast has congealed as it cooled, now resembling some kind of meat jello. There are vegetables on the side, potatoes too, though they're coated in gravy as well. With shaky fingers (why is he shaking?) Luca grabs a piece of cut-up carrot and puts it in his mouth.
Immediately, he feels the urge to vomit. The nausea that he's felt comes forth in full swing, no longer taking a backseat seat to the panic. Oh, is he hungry or is he sick? Did he eat the plate next to it? God, he doesn't know. He doesn't know anything anymore, does he?
Tears hit his pants and soak into the dark fabric. Luca tugs at his hair again, and more tears fall, both from the pain and his nerves. Now crying, he sits like this for a while. How long, he doesn't know.
Another knock sounds at his door. Immediately, Luca stops crying. He'll have to be quiet, pretend he isn't here. Nobody can see him like this. He holds his breath in an attempt to stop his ragged breathing, but it makes him cough and splutter instead.
"Luca?" Andrew's muffled voice comes through the door. "Luca, would you let me back in now? I'm… I'm worried."
"I'm fine." Luca croaks, nose clogged from crying. He shakes on the floor. The nausea runs through his veins and his mouth fills with saliva. He's gonna vomit, he's sure of it.
Andrew is silent on the other side of the door. Luca manages a "Please, leave." without feeling like he's about to barf. He doesn't hear Andrew's footsteps. "Please."
There's the sound of Andrew clearing his throat on the other side. "Uh- um. You said… I know you don't remember but you said not to- to leave you even if you asked… I brought another plate, I hope I wasn't gone too long. I don't have to come in, I don't think. But will you take your supper?"
"Can't. 'll barf."
"You said- you don't remember, but you said that if you're hungry you get nauseous… I got nauseous too, when I lived at Lutz." There's shuffling noises and the sound of what's probably Andrew sitting on the other side of the door. "Supper is warm, at least this one. Would you try? For me?"
The door clicks open. Andrew watches as Luca's face comes into view, eyes puffy and tired. He hands the plate out to Luca, who slowly opens the door and steps aside. "I can come in?" Andrew asks, and Luca nods. The grave keeper hurries inside, and the door is shut behind him. The "prisoner" crouches back down and sits on the floor. Andrew squats beside him, placing the plate gently down before arranging himself in a more comfortable sitting position.
The grave keeper holds out silverware for Luca to take, but the other man has his eyes closed, head pressed against his knees. So Andrew scoots ever-so-slightly closer, and tears a chunk of bread from the piece on his plate. He gently touches Luca's hand, and when he receives no response, presses the chunk of food into Luca's palm. His head raises off of his knees and he looks at the food, eyes unfocused.
"If I throw up, I'm blaming you." Luca says, but there's no venom behind it. He takes a bite of it and chews, swallowing hard. Then another.
Andrew continues to pass chunks to him, eventually dipping them in the gravy when Luca decides that he can stomach it. The inventor leans against Andrew's shoulder, eating slowly. Tears leak from his eyes, left over from earlier, and they soak into Andrew's jacket and feel cool against Luca's cheek. As Luca eats more, he notices his nausea slowly dissipates. "You were right." He tells Andrew. "It was because I was hungry."
The grave keeper nods, listening to Luca speak. When the food is finished, Luca lowers his head to Andrew's chest. Andrew turns, pulling Luca closer. "Thank you." Andrew whispers, holding the "prisoner" close. Luca doesn't know what he's being thanked for. He yelled at Andrew and kicked him out, that's nothing to be proud of. When he says this, Andrew shakes his head. He doesn't elaborate, opting instead to stroke Luca's hair. His long fingers comb through it, much gentler than Luca, even on a good day.
It's a while of sitting like this, Luca pressed to Andrew's chest. Occasionally, Luca will ask a question ("What's the date today, then?" or "Aesop was in the match on Saturday, right?") and Andrew will answer ("August 3rd, 1889." and "No, that was Sunday. You had Saturday off.") until the conversation slowly drifts away into silence. Andrew continues to stroke Luca's hair, or pet his back, until he hears a soft snore from the man beneath him.
Slowly, as not to wake the sleeping man up, Andrew rises. He thanks his job for the strength it has given him. If he didn't dig graves for a living, he might have had trouble carrying Luca.
He walks to Luca's bed, and sets the man upon it, pulling the covers so Luca is mostly tucked in. Then, Andrew moves about the room, taking empty (or in some cases, full) dishes and stacking them up by the door. Taking one last look at the "prisoner", Andrew takes the dishes up in his arms and leaves, closing the door behind him.
--
In the morning, Luca wakes up.
He's not on the floor like he thought that he'd be. As he pieces together the events of last night, he spies a small folded paper on his desk and hurries over to investigate.
Opening the paper, there's a small paragraph written in shaky letters.
"Dear Luca,
I am sorry to have scared you yesterday. I did not know.
Yesterday, you had a match with Kurt, Patricia, Eli, and Jack. I asked them all what happened in the match, I hope you do not mind."
Below, there's a summary of his previous match. Luca feels himself tear up, but he blinks them back, continuing to read. Andrew left him with his migraine medicine too, from Emily. He downs the pill with a nearby glass of water, which is probably Andrew's doing as well.
Luca washes his face and puts on clean clothes, making his way to the dining hall. There's a spring in his step that wasn't there yesterday. And when he gets to breakfast, Andrew is the first one to greet him.