Forging New Paths

Luca was quiet as Garrett spoke, for a moment, taking it in and trying to listen well. It wasn't so much that he thought Garrett would tell him no, it was just that he was still unused to asking for things that he hadn't explicitly been told were his. As much as he had been shooed out of the kitchen for fear of making a mess or finding things he wasn't supposed to have, it was still strange, being able to walk into one while there were others awake in the house and just take whatever he wanted. It still felt like he needed to ask permission for everything.

Finally, Luca nodded a little to show he'd heard, and after a pause wrinkled his nose a bit at the idea of ice. ". . . Can I have a straw?"

"Luca doesn't like when ice touches his teeth," Evelyn explained with a little smile, glad for the way Garrett always tried to make everything very clear and to teach the younger man things as best he could. "If you don't keep straws in the house, it's all right." He would be fine with just cool water, it didn't need to have ice.
 
Garrett blinked. "Oh, good point. I guess straws aren't technically food or drink. Yeah, you can definitely have a straw! And let me fix my statement a bit. Everything in this house, except for case information, active evidence, the oven, or knives and guns, you're allowed to use whenever you want. And those things you can ask about if you need them." He ambled off to make Luca a glass of ice water, topping it with a silly straw.

Clearly the silly straws had always been in Garrett's possession even before he met Luca; he had an entire drawer of them. "So that's where the straws are," he explained, holding out the water glass to Luca. "Do you want me to show you how the sandwich bar works?"
 
Garrett was getting very specific, and while clarification was always good, Evelyn got the feeling Luca was beginning to feel overwhelmed by the time it ended. He stayed quiet and just watched while Garrett got ice and water, and carefully accepted the glass once it had a straw in it.

"Thank you. . ." He said softly, but spent a minute staring at the straw before finally taking a sip. It was such a funny shape, he couldn't remember if he'd ever used straws like that.

"I'm sure we could figure it out," Evelyn said, putting a gentle hand on Luca's shoulder to urge him forward after Garrett, "but Luca's got his hands full with his glass now, so why don't you give him a hand?" It would give him a chance to practice asking for the things he wanted out loud, if Garrett acted as his hands for a moment.
 
The detective smiled gently and nodded. "Sure thing. I'll make my sandwich first as an example. I like all the toppings." He kept his movements calm and spoke gently as he worked, carefully stacking his sandwich and explaining what the different toppings were. " - and then I usually use these as the sides," he added, putting a few sides on his plate. He went and set his meal at the table.

Then he got a new plate and smiled. "All right, here's what I'm thinking the fastest way to make this is. I'll point at something, and you can tell me yes if you want it or no if you don't." He pointed at the bread and smiled. "Bread?"

He was hoping the yes or no answers might help Luca not feel quite as overwhelmed.
 
Luca wandered after Garrett, watching closely despite knowing how to make a sandwich on his own, at least. There were a lot of choices, though, more than he was used to, and he held his glass in both hands and let Watson balance on his own when it was his turn to choose things. It felt strange, directing someone into doing something for him, and a couple of times Garrett looked at him for answers he wouldn't speak, would only shake his head or nod. Evelyn decided not to press him for verbal responses, for now. He hadn't been with them long, after all, not compared to how long he had been away. He needed time.

When Luca's sandwich was all gathered together and set at the table, he gave Garrett a quiet "Thank you" and sat down very carefully next to it. After a moment, he glanced over at the little seat attached to the table, and then at the cat resting on his shoulder still. "Should Watson . . . go in his chair?" He didn't want to accidentally knock Watson off his shoulder by moving his arm around, and he wasn't sure he could eat one-handed.
 
Garrett was mostly relieved that Luca seemed a little less overwhelmed by yes or no questions. The nods or shaking heads were quite enough for him. As someone who'd spent years studying the way different people acted and communicated, any signals that were clear were fine by him, verbal or otherwise. He did his best to keep his tone relaxed and quiet so Luca wouldn't feel rushed.

At last, Luca's sandwich was complete, and Garrett set it gently on the table. He smiled at the boy warmly. "You're very welcome! I'm happy to help. And yes, I think Watson should go in his chair. I'll call him over." He went to the chair and patted it. "Watson! Din-din!" he called.

The second "din" had barely left his mouth when Watson leapt off of Luca and hurried to go sit in the chair. He was a smart kitten, and he knew exactly where to go to get his food the fastest.

Garrett chuckled and ruffled Watson's ears, who purred in response. "Good boy." He reached for Watson's food and water dishes and smiled. "I'll give these to Watson once Evelyn sits down, so we can all eat together. How did both of your days go?" he added.
 
Luca blinked at Garrett when he said he would call Watson, and when the cat leaped away his eyes widened a little. That was all? Just a word or two, and Watson knew to go to his seat? He really was a smart kitty.

"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying," Evelyn said with a little smile on her face, amused. "You don't have to wait for me." She was done assembling her sandwich a moment later, though, and settled into the chair next to Luca which was furthest away from Watson's little seat. She would let Garret guess whether or not it was on purpose.

"We had a rather slow morning," she said as she settled in. "I just lost track of time."

Luca gave her an almost confused look, wondering what it was that she considered 'slow'. He hadn't done much but get himself showered and dressed, and looked at a book, but she had been moving around all morning, between her bedroom where her computer was and back to where he was sitting in the living room to keep an eye on him. Maybe she hadn't been busy and she just felt like moving around. He couldn't tell.
 
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The detective chuckled, and once Evelyn was comfortable, he gave Watson his meal and then sat down to eat his own food. He didn't pay much mind to where Evelyn sat at the table; she and Luca both looked relaxed and happy. That was enough.

"I'm glad it wasn't a stressful morning for you, then," Garrett replied, biting into his sandwich. "Anyway, it's not like you were late. You can't be late when there isn't a specific time set." He swallowed his bite and nodded. "So I was thinking . . . maybe after lunch we could make Watson's hideaway, and then after that I could give you both a few lessons about hand to hand combat and detective skills! How does that sound?" he offered.
 
Evelyn's eyes narrowed at Garrett even as Luca's drifted rather quickly away. His phone buzzed almost before he finished speaking, with a quick, terse message. Nix that. We'll talk later. She hadn't had time to talk it over with Luca yet, and was surprised he'd brought it up so quickly. 'Combat' was not the word she would have used.

"My father insisted I take kickboxing classes before I moved out on my own," she said aloud after a pause to calmly brush the thought away, a sort of teasing smile on her face. "I bet I could kick your ass."

That didn't make Luca less confused or worried, but the jest did, at least, make the hard set of his shoulders relax some.
 
Garrett blinked in confusion. Hadn't Evelyn suggested he teach Luca some self defense in the first place? But maybe he'd remembered wrong, or something else was the matter. He shrugged and smiled. "I bet you could!" he agreed. "But the point of the training would be self defense, not kicking other people's asses."

He waved a hand. "Anyway, maybe we could just make Watson's hideout, then. I've got plenty of boxes and art supplies! And Luca, I remember that design you made for your cake. I know with your creativity, Watson will have the best hideout ever."

At the very least, he could tell Luca seemed uncomfortable with the thought of combat training. But he knew Luca had been looking forward to making Watson a hideout, so if he focused on that, maybe he could get the boy to relax again.
 
There were too many things wrong to count - too soon, subject not broached delicately enough, no consulting with her about when and how they should say it - and Evelyn didn't want to make Garrett feel bad but as much as he had worked on being gentle to Luca there were still some things he didn't anticipate. The only thing Luca could associate the word 'combat' with was being sent out to commit mass murder.

We can talk tonight, she sent again, so he could look when he felt like it, and quietly took a bite of her lunch. But we do need to talk first.

Luca was shifty, eyes straying back and forth but mostly staying away, like if he didn't make eye contact he wouldn't have to talk about it. He didn't feel good, even when Garrett said that combat was meant for self defense. It didn't match up with how he saw the word, and when praised about his creativity he only barely came out of his quickly placed shell.

". . . I'll try." He managed quietly, and didn't quite start to pick at his lunch yet. He didn't know the first thing about hideouts, not unless they were the small, dark places he was sometimes made to wait in before or after he'd been sent to do 'work'. Somehow, he didn't think that was what Watson would like.
 
Garrett took a brief moment to answer the text when he could. Ah. My apologies. I could've sworn we talked about including self defense plans in the scedhule today. Aside from that, Garrett himself had no idea "combat" and "self defense" were very, very different terms to Luca. Garrett only saw them as synonyms.

Still, he smiled patiently at Luca and took a sip of his drink. "Tell you what. What if we looked at a few different pictures first, for inspiration? I printed some out for us to look through!" he added.

He'd at least had the good sense to print out specific images rather than Google "hideout" and pray nothing came up that would scare Luca or bring back bad memories. The pictures he'd printed were of a treehouse, his own detective office (of course), a planetarium, and a tent.

They weren't exactly the best hideout pictures. But for what they were making for Watson, they were just fine.
 
Evelyn was relatively certain they hadn't discussed a date, yet, and for a moment had a brief thought that this was why she had custody in the divorce, but didn't think he would find it funny in the moment. It helped her relax, at least, and she resolved to try to be more patient with his apparent learning curve when it came to being very careful around trauma. She supposed she could thank her mother for her own relative success at it, so far.

Luca's attention drifted a bit closer at the idea of looking at pictures, and after a pause he managed the effort of reaching for his water to take a few sips through the funny looking straw. He wasn't sure how to make something out of cardboard that looked like those things, but some of them interesting, at least.

He was silent for a little while and then, finally, went so far as to point at the picture of a treehouse, with a thoughtful tilt of his head. "I had one," he murmured softly, hesitantly, "I think. . ." He thought he remembered it, climbing into a little fort in a tree when he was little. Maybe it hadn't been his, and he just remembered playing in it. It felt like a very, very long time ago.
 
Times like this were also why Garrett was so, so thankful Evelyn was looking into getting a therapist for Luca. Garrett's main difficulties with Luca's trauma were mostly that he didn't know any of the specifics of it, and he didn't always link certain conversations or moments to the trauma as fast as Evelyn did.

All he knew so far was that Luca had been made to kill people, probably with his shadow power, that Luca had been trapped in a single room, and that Luca had not been given any choices while being trapped.

But the good news was he was learning. Every time he discovered something that made Luca uncomfortable or upset, he would do his best to stop.

Though he still had trouble distinguishing when Luca was feeling overwhelmed by choices or when he was just thoughtfully processing choices.

At the moment, it seemed like Luca was at least interested again, so he nodded and pointed at the treehouse picture. "You did, huh?" he asked with a smile. "Do you think Watson would like a treehouse hideout?"
 
Evelyn blamed herself, really, for the way that Garrett occasionally still stepped on the land mines surrounding Luca's every moment of existence. She had promised herself she would talk to him more about sensitivity, and thinking through what each word could possibly mean, but she hadn't made the time for it yet. She knew she needed to, and perhaps today once the 'hideout' was finished she would. Or perhaps she would write down some of her thoughts and let him read it at his leisure. She would have to ask which he preferred.

Luca's eyes were fixed on the picture, though for a moment his mind was elsewhere. Eventually, he frowned a little and looked towards the living room. "There aren't . . . trees?" How could they make Watson a treehouse with no trees? Wouldn't it just be a house? He had a feeling he was missing something.
 
Garrett couldn't help but chuckle a little at that. "No, there aren't trees. But we can make trees!" he explained, brightening at the fact he would get to introduce Luca to one of the greatest skills that could come in handy as a detective - creativity. "The pile of cardboard and art supplies out there - they could be anything. Trees, boats, offices, horses. All it takes is a little imagination and some paint."

He smiled and waved his hands a bit. "But I'm getting ahead of myself. First things first, do you want to make the hideout a treehouse theme?"

Watson wanted to be included in what the pair was doing, like many cats. So after his meal was finished he scampered over across the table. Then he jumped over and landed on the pile of papers, swishing his tail and rolling happily.
 
Structurally Luca didn't think that they would be able to make a house in a tree, but maybe a house with trees in the outside of it was close enough? He had to think of what shapes they could make, and how big it needed to be for Watson to fit inside, and what the cardboard could do. Round things were probably too hard, so the planetarium didn't seem very possible.

"Maybe . . . a house, with trees?" It would probably be easier than a treehouse, he thought, and only reached out to Watson to give him scratches when he came over, unbothered by him being in the way.

Evelyn reached over to gently touch his arm and gesture at his plate when she had his attention. "Are you still hungry, Luca?" She counted it as an improvement if his mood when he actually pulled it closer to finally start eating.
 
"That would be a good hideout, too!" Garrett agreed at once. He leaned in a bit and smiled. "I'm going to tell you a secret, though. Watson is going to like the hideout no matter what it looks like, because it will smell like us and have something for him to climb into."

He, too, was relieved when Luca started eating again.

Watson meowed and batted at one of the papers, and Garrett smiled and picked him up to cuddle him and give him a kiss. "Hey, silly. Are you excited for your new hideout?" Garrett reached over with a free hand to grab a piece of paper and a pencil. "Luca, would you do the honors of making us a sketch to plan the hideout? Then we'll know what to make it look like."
 
Luca seemed to relax, knowing that Watson would like his hideout no matter what. It made him feel better that Watson liked things that smelled like him, for some reason. Like he was important to someone.

When Garrett gave him paper and pencil, Luca thought for a little while and finally started drawing, in careful strokes that made Evelyn think he did a lot of doodling in his time spent locked up. She didn't try to stop him, only touched his arm now and again to prompt him to take another bite of his sandwich before focusing on drawing again. Eventually he had a drawing made up of a small house with a round doorway, a couple of similarly round windows, and a few trees on either side. The trees were drawn very flat, with little dimension, and Evelyn got the feeling it was because Luca was aware they would be made of thin cardboard. All in all, it was very good, she thought, for someone who'd never taken any art classes and had only practiced alone.
 
Garrett's eyes glittered. He was very glad Luca spent most of his time with Evelyn, because as it was he had a lot of tendencies that staying with Garrett would've only made stronger. Getting so focused on a project that he forgot to eat had happened more times than Garrett could count.

But luckily a gentle tap or two from Evelyn reminded Luca that food was important as well.

Eventually the drawing was finished. Garrett nodded proudly and smiled. "Now that is a very detailed blueprint!" he said. "Oh - before we start, I should let you know . . . the materials we're using aren't necessarily the strongest, and sometimes Watson uses his claws on his toys. There's a small chance he might break or tear parts of the hideout. Is that okay with you?"
 
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