Ah.

There it was.

That little twitch of discomfort, a fidget in place. Lucas left the silence to drag on as long as she'd let it. He wanted her to be uncomfortable, to feel unwelcome in his space. She was like a fly wandering dangerously close to a web it wouldn't be able to escape from, and most spiders he knew wouldn't hesitate in trapping it. But Lucas wasn't a spider.

And mostly he just wanted her to leave.

After all, there weren't many friendly faces bold enough to attempt to do what this girl was currently trying to do. Lucas was not a social creature. ...At least not by any human nature. One could argue that whatever bit of human Lucas once possessed was long since gone, and well... the dog half of him? 'Let sleeping dogs lie' never felt so damned accurate. Some dogs just don't play nice.

Genetics or whatever. Though the drugs probably didn't help, either.

The cigarette between his fingers burned a dull orange as it slowly smoldered into ash. Lucas wondered if he'd managed to stay quiet for just a moment longer, would that have been enough for her to give up? To get the message? To go ahead and fuck right off? It didn't seem like it mattered much now. A couple words was all it took for those eyes to light up bright with... what, excitement? Pride? Oh, had she won? Had she gotten the big bad grump to talk? Someone tell this girl to get a life.

The emotion in her eyes, though... Lucas watched it warily. He was certain his own eyes hadn't looked like that in a long, long time. He wasn't envious, by any means. If anything it made him want to push her away further - physically. Perhaps even into the fountain if he could manage. But it was a reminder that he was too close too the surface - too close to recognize or to care. He wanted to go back under.

He wanted to go. back. under.

The back of his hand wiped the start of a cold sweat from his forehead, fingers dragging slowly through his hair with a tempered sigh. What was she on about, now? Something about the woods? Running?

"No," Lucas replied idly, though he wasn't even sure what the question was at this point. No seemed like a good answer. No was always a good answer. One last drag of his dying cigarette and Lucas tossed the burnt butt into the fountain with little to no tact in the matter. People had already thrown coins in it, anyways. It was practically a trash can. He glanced up in time to catch the tail end of the girl's words and to see the sudden shift of her face. Lucas probably didn't give her the immediate reaction she was hoping for. Instead of being shocked or wide-eyed, Lucas's expression didn't really... change. That deep dark stare of his remained and Lucas fell back into silence.

Was that... supposed to be him? The face wasn't one he readily recognized - that much was probably obvious. When was the last time he'd looked into a mirror? ...Seen a picture? He couldn't place it. The face staring back at him was smirking and playful but all Lucas saw was a ghost. A dead man. His eyes were hollow. Skin pale. Hair matted and unstyled. He'd lost muscle definition - didn't he used to have cheeks? Was his face slimmer now? Thinner? When did that happen? And did he care?

It was hard to pay attention to a decaying body when all you craved was an absence of the mind. Lucas was by no means small - he was a big, strong kid. Always had been. But pieces of him were wearing away, bit by bit by bit. Pieces he didn't care to notice, even now. Especially now.

"Hm." He mused. "Probably." Lucas haphazardly agreed and shifted in place. To a stand. Because he was leaving now.

Because he never asked for any of this shit.

His hands found the pockets of his hoodie and with a languid roll of his shoulders, the weredog took a few steps forward to lean down to shifter-girl's level. Not too close - never too close. But certainly close enough.

"But why would you ever want to?"

Lucas