The Walking Dead game is HELLA RAD. This story is also posted on Lunaescence as another pen-name of mine, 'Kyuun'. Am I the only one drawn to Luke? And heavily impacted by the game? I love Clementine. /deep sigh.
Spoilers for S2 EP3 of the game series.
If you don't like second POV, uh, then that kinda sucks. For me, of course. Whatever floats your boat yo. Enjoy readers!
[Y/N] stands for 'Your Name'. Luke x Reader/You.
"You want to fuck him."
"I-…"
You stare wide-eyed at the previously silent woman. "What," you begin with hints of red on your cheeks and a curl of amusement on your lips, "kind of wording is that?"
Her short hair twists messily as she turns her head away from you. You realise you don't even know her name, but it's not that surprising seeing as you'd only spent – what – two days in this… community.
"'Kay," she sneers but not in any negative sense, "you LIKE him."
It interests you to know that a stranger like her could tell you something you hadn't really told anyone, save for long-time asshole and friend Nick, and Sarah at one point and Rebecca at another point—but that didn't matter.
"Pipe down a little would 'ya?" you mutter, shooting a pointed look at the man a few metres away from you before regarding the woman with a frown.
You don't take her for a person who actually likes small talk, so why is she talking to you anyway?
(her reasons probably go along the lines of her desire for you to go away, somehow in some disconnected way)
Still, you can't say you're not curious.
Pulling a blasé mask over what little embarrassment you felt, oh, you'd figured out your feelings long ago, you turned your gaze to the back of her head. "What do you mean?" the question slips out as casually as you intend and you wonder if her facial expression isn't one of a perceptive amusement. That's what you think she gets out of staying silent all the time anyway, because keeping your mouth shut and ears open means that you hear double the amount of what you would when speaking. Right?
"What, do you want me to recite a vivid description of how your eyes follow his every move?"
"No," you grin this time even if she can't see it, "but that'd definitely be interesting. Tell me, before all shit hit the fan, where you one of those types who read erotica in your spare time and never told anyone for fear of losing the image of the whole lone wolf thing you got going on?"
She ignores you for the most part but you don't miss the way her body tenses at the mention of the good old days.
"No." Her voice is brittle. "But I bet you read that kind of filth."
Ah, this kind you banter; you missed.
"Well," you hum lowly, aware of the eyes glancing towards you and the female you were conversing with, "you can't keep a girl away from her smut."
Perhaps the others were wondering why you were bothering to talk to the 'crazy freak' in the corner but seeing as the plan would go ahead whether or not everyone liked it, you might as well take time to get to know the ones you were going to conduct it with.
After a short silence, you laugh, "I can't believe we just talked about that."
"Would you rather me remind you about the possibilities of the plan failing and your friends dying a horrible death tonight?"
That shuts you up and the feeling of friendliness you had going around you all but disperses with the cold air. You don't bother to pull your dirtied sleeves down to shield the goose bumps on your arms.
"…wow," a sarcastic edge appears in your voice, "well if you fall down, I'm definitely not going to help you up."
She actually snorts at this, your flimsy promise sailing away because it doesn't affect her in one bit and she knows how capable she is. You shift in your spot, mind prompted by the chances of failure and suddenly how daunting the task of waking up tomorrow morning actually looked.
Clementine's little figure appears in front of you and as she passes by you call out to her. She stops, turning her head towards you and you offer her a little smile. "Are you... getting ready, Clem?"
Slowly, she nods, her eyes drawing downwards for a bit as if to say 'I'm tired' and you feel sad for a moment, wondering why all the risks had to fall on this one child.
"You're amazing," you say as sincerely as you can, briefly travelling your gaze over the where the rectangular-bumped shape used to be in her jacket pocket. "You did really good yesterday. We owe a lot to you."
"I'm part of the group," she replies finally, "…let's do our best."
Your little smile stretches into a wide grin because she's a gem.
"Of course. Now get some rest before you do the thing, you little fruit," you tell her warmly and she blinks and shrugs, before traversing elsewhere. Bonny probably wouldn't mind waiting a bit before the plan was carried out.
"…told you she probably wouldn't die," the girl beside you mutters roughly.
"Yes, thank you for the reassurance."
Your knees crack slightly as you get up and stretch for a few beats. "It was nice talking to you, ice woman." And before you go, you add, "and I bet you were the type who read olden day romances."
Luke is sitting by the inanimate fire along with Rebecca and a quick sweep of the grounds tells you that Troy isn't there to beat your asses for not being in bed.
"Oh," you murmur, so only she can hear, "and yeah, I kinda do wanna tap that."
She coughs and you get the feeling that's her tough way of laughing.
Your feet carries you to where Rebecca sits, eyes sunken haggardly and worry niggles inside of you.
"Hey, Rebecca," you begin in a hushed tone drastically different to the voice you were using with the ice woman, "you sure you don't want to get some rest?"
"I'm not fragile!" she snaps, her voice ringing out for a few beats before she sends a self-conscious glance to the people trying to sleep and her tone softens, "I-I'm sorry [Y/N], I just-"
"It's okay!" you try to laugh, easily sweeping off any trace of being taken aback. "Y'know, if your kid is half as feisty as you, I'll be a bit worried. And constantly entertained."
A tiny quirk of the lips tells you that she's gotten used to your sense of humour and she heaves a heavy sigh through her nose. "Thanks," is the dry reply you get.
You turn your eyes towards Luke and find his eyes are already on you so you tilt your head and waggle your eyebrows, "Got something to say?"
You try not to notice how tired he looks and how much you want him to get a good night's rest so you don't have to worry about him much in the days to come.
"How…" he hesitates and something twinges in your chest. You missed his voice. "How is… she?"
"Not as bad as Kenny," you remark offhandedly and when he raises an unimpressed brow you nod apologetically, "right, bad joke. Um… she's a bit crude. A firecracker like Bec here but a silent one. Icy." Observant, you forget to mention.
Luke nods and your everlasting ability to joke and make light of things falters as the shape of his jaw catches your eye. Not that you can make much out of his face anyway, in this dim lighting.
"What were you talking about?" he inquires, genuinely curious.
You stare at him.
When your butt is settled comfortably on your chair, you settle your chin into your propped up arm and stare at him again.
"Those little eye crinkles you have when you smile and how happy I feel when you're happy," you answer, equally as genuine but who knows if he even knows the difference.
He blinks and you're not as perceptive as Rebecca who has her eyes sat openly on Luke's face – who can see the intense surprise and who can spot the crimson cheeks despite the darker crimson smeared across them and who knows you mean what you say. The two of you don't even notice and finally, Luke sputters, "O-okay, what were you really talking about?"
You snicker, "How good you'd be in bed."
Luke groans exasperatedly and buries his head in his hands. You restrain the laughter bubbling in your throat. "We were talking about the plan."
"Thank you!" he mutters beneath his breath, turning his face away from you and you give him a sweet grin.
"Get some rest, the both of you. Don't stay up too long planning my demise or you'll be super tired!" And with that, you shimmy away, intent on getting some sleep. If you'd listened hard enough, you'd have caught the eerie susurration of the undead just outside of the blockades holding you in this confined space; you'd have caught Nick's gentle snoring; and you'd have caught Rebecca saying, "I think she meant what she said," and Luke's reply of, "Not you too!"