Nucleic † Dennor

Home Again

There was a car waiting outside the safe house to take them home. Upon entering the car, an officer asked where they'd like to be dropped off. Lukas and Mathias simply looked at one another, not knowing what to do. They didn't really want to be separated again.

"Do you want to go back to my apartment?" Lukas asked Mathias under his breath, not wanting the officer to hear him.

"I haven't been back to my place since.. y'know..." Mathias trailed off, "I kind of want to get out of these clothes." Lukas gave an understanding nod, noting how frustrating it must've been for Mathias to be wearing the itchy clothes he had been given by officers at the police station. The garments had definitely been taken out of the lost and found.

Mathias gave the officer his address and they were off. Although spending the majority of the ride staring out the window, Lukas would occasionally turn to see Mathias looking out the window as if he had never been in a car before. He had this childlike look on his face, very obviously enjoying his newfound liberation. Lukas turned back to his window with a smile, glad they were both finally out of danger.

They had been driving for quite some time and had entered the city before Lukas felt Mathias place a hand on his thigh. Lukas looked down in surprise at the hand before looking up at the man attached to it. Mathias simply grinned.

"I'm so excited to be home" the Dane stated, his blue eyes practically twinkling as they continued through the city streets. Lukas gave a soft, toothless smile, also excited to be returning to some sort of normalcy.

They drove right past Lukas's neighborhood on the way to Mathias's apartment. It was only a few minutes until the car stopped. Almost trembling in excitement, Mathias flung the door of the car open, said a quick thank you, and proceeded onto the sidewalk in front of what Lukas assumed was his apartment. Lukas followed with a restrained smile at the dopey man bouncing around in front of him.

"You actually live really close to me" Lukas admitted, looking up at the narrow grey apartment building Mathias was approaching. It would've been a 20 minute walk, maybe a 5 minute bike ride.

"Well that's lucky" Mathias replied with a grin as he dug through one of the potted plants in front of the doorstep. Lukas stared at him with a confused tilt of the head, wondering if Mathias had finally lost his mind. Moments later he felt a rush of relief as Mathias triumphantly raised his arm with a key in hand. "Thank god its still here. I have no idea what they did with my key when they grabbed me off the street!"

Mathias shot up from the ground and tapped the code on pinpad outside the door. Holding the door open for Lukas, Mathias proceeded into the old building. They walked up a dark, wrought iron spiral staircase, passing the first and second floors until reaching the third, where Mathias paused in front of a dark wooden door. After wiping the dirt off the silver key, he stuck it in the oddly ornate victorian rim lock before turning the doorknob and walking inside.

"Welcome to my humble abode" Mathias practically sang, a facetious tone to his speech. Lukas walked inside and was surprised. Their homes were polar opposites. Both beautiful in their own way, but different. Whereas Lukas had his sleek, modern apartment with little to no clutter, Mathias lived as if he were a professor in an old victorian library.

With espresso-colored wooden furniture taking up the living room and books scattered around and in stacks littering the dusty apartment, Lukas felt like he was intruding on an intimate study session. The clutter would've given him a panic attack if it weren't so charming. He had some house plants, which were now brown and wilted, being left untouched while their owner was absent. There were quirky paintings on the wall, and for some reason, on the desk, a human skull?

"I missed you so much!" Lukas suddenly heard, following the sound to find Mathias face down on his brown leather couch, melting into it with an exasperated sigh. Lukas stifled a laugh. Mathias shot back up and ran past Lukas into another room. Lukas followed into his quaint kitchen, whose sink still held the unwashed dishes from the morning he dissapeared. Mathias seemed to pause on the sink, intrigued and horrified at the thought of dishes left untouched. He wondered how many people dissapeared, their leftover plates, cups, and bowls the only things in their apartment to signify the last time they had been there.

Lukas, sensing a weird vibe from the zoned-out Dane, decided to speak up. "What's with the skull on your desk?" Mathias snapped out of his trance at the question, seeming energized by the thought.

"I work at the natural history museum for now but am trying to secure a position as a professor at the University. I specialize in human evolution. That's some dudes skull from the 1800s. I'm a paleontology nerd" Mathias explained passionately.

"Oh that's cool. How long have you been working at the museum?" Lukas asked. Mathias seemed to ponder the thought for a moment before a realization struck him.

"Oh my god I completely forgot I got fired" Mathias exclaimed, now laughing, "The day I went missing a bunch of stuff happened to me and I was so late I was fired before my first tour."

"Talk about a bad day" Lukas uttered, suddenly feeling bad for the Dane.

"It's okay though! My candidate application for the University should get a response by next week. Hopefully I will have a job by then" he said optimistically.

Lukas was starting to realize how little he knew about Mathias's life. He felt like he'd known him for so long but that was to be expected. Stressful situations have a special way of strengthening the bond between two people. You don't need to know every last detail about someone to know that you were meant to cross paths. Pondering their strange, somewhat unfamiliar relationship, Lukas recalled a promise he made back when he had first helped Mathias escape from the lab.

"So, when do you want to go to that restaurant? I think you suggested some place close to your apartment?" Lukas spoke, his heart racing slightly as he suggested they follow through on their plans for a date. He was never one to initiate, but he couldn't help himself. Now that he was spending real time with Mathias he was feeling things he had never felt before. He wanted to build on that. It was something new.

Mathias replied with a smile, seeming slightly surprised Lukas had brought it up. "Oh you mean our date?" Mathias teased, knowing Lukas would rather die than call it an actual date. Lukas grew a bit flustered, glaring at Mathias in annoyance as a devlish grin spread across his face.

"Sure" Lukas replied curtly.

"What was that? What are we doing?" Mathias pushed, embarrassing the already uncomfortable Norwegian further.

"Going out to eat" Lukas responded, now annoyed. Mathias took a step closer before placing a hand on Lukas's chin and tilting his head slightly upwards.

"I didn't quite hear that" Mathias joked, now inches from his face. Lukas felt his heart beating hard in his chest as he was pinned back against the kitchen counter.

"You're an idiot" Lukas muttered, now bright red and averting eye contact. Mathias smiled before leaning forwards and placing a kiss on his lips. Lukas remained rigid, not wanting to give in to the teasing. When Mathias backed away, the Norwegian cleared his throat and regained his composure. Mathias, stifling a victorious laugh, turned away from Lukas and opened his fridge, bracing himself for the worst. Who knew what had gone rotten while he was gone.

Luckily, Mathias was a typical 20-something year old man. Only a case of beer and a carton of eggs remained. Throwing the eggs away, Mathias turned back to Lukas, who had fully recovered from the teasing and had continued to admire his quirky apartment.

"So what next?"

-

Another update. Wow? Me? Updating? What's going on? Isolation? Perhaps! Anyway.. your guys' comments are the best I just wanna thank you all.. can't believe I have such great readers. Thank you so much for reading. Hope you enjoyed!