MCSM Countdown Day 8
Lukas couldn’t sleep, no matter what he tried. He’d thought the night before had been bad, anxious about what sort of “game” Jesse and Ivor would have to go through, but that was nothing compared to what he was feeling right now. Now Jesse was going at it alone, relying only on the other competitors when no one knew if the speech would be enough to get through to them. And to top it all off, Jesse had taken Hadrian’s deal for her freedom in exchange for theirs, which now included the imprisoned Axel and Olivia.
And apparently he wasn’t he only one unable to sleep, not that it was really surprising. When he heard someone get out of their bed, he truthfully expected it to be Jesse, the one who probably had the most to worry about at this point. When he opened his eyes though, he was instead greeted to the sight of Petra, and though it was dark, there was just enough light coming in through the window that he could see in her body language just how tense she was. That or it was the anxious pacing that gave her away.
With a sigh Lukas sat up and swung his legs over the edge of his bed. It wasn’t like he was really going to get much sleep tonight anyway. “Something must really be eating you if you’re not even going to pretend to sleep like I am.” He said quietly as he stood, a shaky attempt at humor.
Petra huffed in annoyance as he approached, though she at least stopped the pacing. “Wow, I wonder what gave you that idea. It’s not like our friends have been kidnapped and another one just sold herself for them and the whole plan for getting us all free relies on a bunch of people we know nothing about.”
“Petra-” Lukas tried to speak, to say something to try and calm her down and ease the situation, but as he was quickly interrupted, which was usually not a good sign when trying to get through to Petra. If she didn’t listen it kinda made things just a little bit harder.
"I just can’t believe she’d take that creep’s deal, what was she thinking?!” Petra whispered, loud and harsh.
Lukas stole a glance at their two sleeping companions, making sure they wouldn’t wake. Once satisfied, he replied as softly as he could manage, grateful she was actually letting him speak this time. “You know what she was thinking, Petra. She was thinking she was saving Axel, Olivia, and the rest of us from being stuck in those mines for the rest of our lives. You don’t honestly think she’d have even considered the other option for a second, do you? And what would you have said if she had?”
“I would’ve said...good for her for not falling for his stupid lies!” Petra hissed, crossing her arms with a sufficiently annoyed expression on her face. The moment she got defensive with her answer, they both knew she didn’t mean it.
“You would’ve been angry no matter what she’d chosen and you know it.” His reply was gentle, no malice present, only soft and knowing. “Cut her some slack, Petra. She’s trying to look out for everyone else, that’s just how she is.”
“Well she should at least try and figure out a way to do it first without signing her life away like it was nothing!” Petra said, throwing her arms up in frustration. Lukas stole another glance at Jesse and Ivor, who still seemed to be unaware.
“And if she’d chosen not to take the deal, to risk Axel and Olivia’s safety? It was kind of a no win situation.” Lukas argued, not unkindly.
“Ugh, stop doing that!” Crossing her arms, Petra glowered halfheartedly at him and Lukas had a feeling he’d gotten his point across.
“What, being right?” He replied with a half smile in another attempt to lighten the mood. He almost wanted to laugh at the expression on her face, now more of a pout than anything else.
“Yes, you know-it-all.” Their eyes met and he could see now that she was smiling slightly now, hesitant though it was. “That doesn’t mean I have to like it though.”
Lukas simply shrugged in response. “I don’t like it either, but she’d give up her freedom, her life, for any one of you in a heartbeat. Sometimes I think she’s a little too eager to put everyone else before her own well-being, but that’s a fight we’ll have to have with her after we get out of here.”
“You too.” Petra said seriously.
“What?” Confused, Lukas quirked an eyebrow at her.
“She’d do the same for you too you know. Like it or not you’re a part of this group and you’re our friend and that includes being her friend. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Jesse’s friends mean way more to her than her own well-being do any day. You’d think after all everything we’ve gone through you’d know how much she cared about you by now.”
Well Lukas hadn’t been expecting that. He’d grown to care about them all after the witherstorm incident, and especially these three during their portal hopping the past few weeks but he didn’t know how much the feelings were reciprocated. Between what had happened with his former best friends and being brought along “to be a buffer” between Petra and Ivor, it was hard to trust that sort of thing.
Both Petra and Lukas whirled in surprise when a new voice entered their conversation. "If you two are quite finished having your little heart to heart, could you please be quiet and go to bed? It’s a wonder you haven’t woken Jesse yet with all your blathering on.” Lukas had a feeling that Ivor wasn’t really all that annoyed by their conversation, but he was putting on a good show of it.
“Yeah yeah, we’re going.” Petra grumbled with a roll of her eyes. She pat Lukas on the shoulder as she mad her way passed him to her bed (a little harder than he would’ve liked, not that he’d admit it).
“Sorry Ivor.” Lukas shook his head, smiling slightly in Ivor’s direction as he followed Petra’s lead and settled himself back into his bed. He wasn’t sure if it’d help either of them sleep any better than before, but it at least felt good to talk about things, even just a little. They’d have plenty of time to talk about anything and everything later, so long as they made it through tomorrow.