Forging New Paths

Luca was mostly asleep already, but turned his body sleepily into Watson's warmth when it came to him, instinctively seeking out his little friend. After he’d felt better about accidentally squashing Watson in the night, he’d decided he really liked napping with the cat at his side.

"Oh, that," Evelyn said with a little nod, crouching down to give Watson a little attention before he ran off. "I remember you saying that, but we hadn’t had the chance yet. I might have enough ingredients."

She was content to let him do the searching, since he seemed to know what he was doing, and just directed him to cabinets or pulled out utensils as needed. "Of course. I won’t forget." Anthony couldn’t come, but she wasn’t against sharing whenever they could. He deserved a home-cooked meal every now and again. "Shall I look up a recipe, or do you think you've got it?"
 
"I've got a recipe here on my phone, actually," Garrett said with a warm smile. Over the next few minutes, he preheated the oven and pulled out all the ingredients for the recipe. "All right. Do you want to slice chicken or cut up the vegetables?" he offered.

Eventually, the shepherd's pie was baking in the oven, and the hearty smell wafted throughout the house. It was clear that Garrett had gained a lot more experience in the kitchen. There was a lot less mess, he knew more of what he was doing, and the food itself was better quality than what he used to make.

He whistled cheerfully when at last it was time to start slicing up the pie. "There we go! Look at that. What a beauty, huh?" he asked with a grin. "We make a pretty good team in the kitchen! Should I go wake Luca up for supper?" he added.
 
Having someone else in her kitchen wasn’t something she was used to, but Evelyn found herself strangely content with it all. She left her cell phone nearby playing quiet music, and occasionally hummed a bit under her breath as she went about chopping vegetables into little, bite sized pieces. It was calming, really, having someone else so close and moving around near her without having to worry at all what he was doing. She trusted that Garrett would clean whatever mess he made, if he made one, and would be careful not to bump into her as they shared space in the somewhat small area. It was different from having Luca with her, teaching him how to do a few little things at a time, but it was nice in its own way. She’d never thought she would feel so at peace having someone else in her safe space again.

They whiled away the time the pie was cooking with cleanup and preparing the table, and when it was all done Evelyn only gave Garrett a small smile. "If you’d like to do it yourself. I’m sure he'll be hungry once he’s up." She knew that Garrett enjoyed his time with Luca, so she tried to consciously give up the little things she always did on her own to take care of him. One day little things like that would be fond memories, she thought, and it wasn’t fair of her to take them all for herself.
 
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The detective nodded gratefully. He hoped one day Luca would come out on his own, without any prodding or guidance, and he knew he'd be absolutely shocked when that day arrived. But for now, he and Evelyn could enjoy teaching Luca how to wake up and when to come out to eat. There was something so heartwarming about how much he trusted them both.

Garrett went up to Luca's room and knocked on the door. "Luca," he called, loud enough to be heard but with a soft tone, "Supper's ready. Are you hungry? You want to come out to eat?" he offered.

Watson perked up right away. He licked Luca's cheek, encouraging him to wake up. The faster they all got to the table, the faster he could beg for scraps.
 
Luca was still sleeping soundly when Garrett came to get him, only starting to rouse at the knock on his cracked open door, and Watson moving next to him. He squeezed his eyes shut a little tighter at first when Watson licked him, then just made a groggy sound and shifted to push himself up until he was mostly sitting. His body felt oddly heavy still, unused to physical activity, but he had gotten enough rest to be able to move around again.

"Supper?" He murmured sleepily, rubbing at his eyes for a moment before getting a bit unsteadily to his feet, watching Watson as he got down and hurried to the door. Was it time for dinner? Had he slept a long time, or a little? Sleep was so strange, he could never tell.

Now, at least, when he woke up it was only from sleep his body went through on his own, not the long drag that came from the medicine that made him sleep. He couldn’t sleep well without it, but he was used to that, too. It felt better to be tired from not sleeping that to be groggy at all times because of medicine.

"Smells nice," he mumbled as he pulled his door carefully open a bit more, wondering why Garrett hadn’t come inside. Was he supposed to go to the table now?
 
Garrett, as usual, was trying to subtly show Luca what boundaries were. He wouldn't go into the boy's room without asking. He smiled and nodded, heading back towards the kitchen. "Thanks! I'm glad you think so," he replied. "Evelyn and I made shepherd's pie. And it turned out pretty good. At least, it looks nice. We'll see how it tastes," he added with a laugh.

He went to the kitchen and got Watson's bowl of food ready, which he soon set in the special cat chair. Then he washed his hands again and started dishing up the slices of pie. "What would everyone like to drink with their pie today?" he asked.

Watson started eating at once, making tiny satisfied sounds as he gulped down his dinner.
 
Luca followed after Garrett, still waking up despite the temptation of good food and an empty stomach. He went to Evelyn first when she turned to look at him and approached, standing still and content while she fixed a bit of his bed head with her fingers.

"Did you sleep well?" She murmured softly, smiling a little at the closed eyes and sleepy grunt she got in response. She hadn’t truly needed her Insight to tell her how much he liked simple, gentle human contact. The way he had lived, it wasn’t surprising that he was extremely touch starved, so she was always sure to give him soft touches or gentle caresses every now and again. "That’s good. Hungry? Why don’t you go and sit with Watson?"

When she let him go he only nodded again, wandering over to the table to sit down and starting to look more awake as he watched Watson eating. He even smiled just a little at the sounds Watson made, interpreting them as happy noises. He was glad his small, furry friend liked his food.

"Luca, apple juice?" Evelyn asked when Garrett moved to get drinks, thinking he could use the sugar, and smiled at the quiet ‘yes, please' that eventually came from the table. "One apple juice for him, and just water for me. I’ll get the plates, you get the glasses?"
 
"Deal," Garrett replied, heading off to get the drinks ready and pour the glasses. But as Evelyn gently fixed Luca's hair, he couldn't help being just a tiny bit jealous of how everyone else could touch each other without worry. He knew that his power was part of the reason Luca was safe now in the first place. But there were times when he wishes he could be just as carefree with his hands as Luca and Evelyn were.

He smiled and settled down with the group once everyone's food was ready, and he scooped up a bite of his pie with his fork. "So," he said at last, "We had a pretty full day, huh? I'm guessing everyone will probably want to head to sleep after dinner?"
 
Evelyn gave a little bit of a shrug as she took her first bite, chewing and swallowing before finally responding. "I shouldn’t lay down so soon after eating," she said thoughtfully, rather than extending a direct invitation for him to stay. If he wanted to go, she was happy enough to stay up and read for a while, but if he wanted to stay she wouldn’t mind.

Despite having started to eat, Luca had gone a bit distant-eyed, staring in concentration at the table for a moment before finally looking at them again. ". . . If I sleep again . . . will you go?" He was tired still, but he was always tired. If staying up meant Garrett and Watson would stay, was it okay to stay up? He didn't want them to leave yet.

Evelyn hid a small, fond smile behind her glass as she took a drink, looking sidelong at Garrett in anticipation of his answer. It was as much of a 'please stay' as he was likely to get from Luca, and she couldn’t help feeling some amusement at waiting for his response.
 
The detective's eyes sparkled. He'd been around the pair long enough to recognize a subtle invitation when he saw one. He smiled warmly and leaned back in his chair. "No, Luca, I don't have to go," he replied. "Sometimes I do. But not tonight." He turned slightly towards Evelyn and gave her a grateful smile.

Watson soon finished his meal and groomed himself clean. Then he hopped out of his chair and went to Luca's side instead, hopping up into the boy's lap.

Garrett chuckled. "And Watson knows it, too. So! Do you both have any plans for the evening? We could maybe do a board game or puzzle, or a movie, maybe," he offered.
 
The addendum of sometimes having to go away was a good one, Evelyn thought, though the entire interaction still made her smile a little. Luca was used to having Garrett around, and missed him terribly when he was gone, but eventually she was sure they wouldn’t spend quite so much time in the same space, once her work and Garrett’s inevitably began to pick up. When he smiled at her, she only took another innocent bite of her dinner, as if she had no idea what he was so pleased about, but there was an amused shine in her eyes.

Luca was still eating when Watson came to sit with him, but automatically made room anyway, hunching a bit awkwardly over the cat's body in order to keep his lap level and also be able to eat his food over the table. "Oh," he murmured thoughtfully, pleased by Garrett's continued stay in their house but distracted by the thought of other activities. "I don’t remember games. . ."

"We could give a board game a shot," Evelyn said with a noncommital shrug. "I’ve got a couple lying around, I’m sure, and it’ll be a better game with three of us." It was difficult to find games that were good for two people, but she thought teaching Luca a board game might help him with his ability to pay attention to other people, and to make a practice of speaking more out loud.
 
"I don't suppose you have Candy Land? Or Sorry?" Garrett asked hopefully. Then he gasped in delight. "Oh! Or Clue! I like Clue as well. Although that one requires a lot of thinking, and my brain's pretty fried," he admitted with a chuckle. Candy Land and Sorry were both not only nostalgic favorites for him, but they were pretty easy to play, which hopefully meant they wouldn't be overwhelming for Luca to learn if he was already exhausted.

His phone buzzed, and he pulled it out to read the text, smiling a few moments later. ". . . Ah. Anthony wants to know if he should include a roller coaster in the carnival," he announced. He raised an eyebrow. "Obviously it won't be a full scale one. I am rather curious about what it'll look like, though. What do you think, Evelyn?"
 
"I believe I do have Sorry buried in the hall closet somewhere." Evelyn said thoughtfully, nodding a bit as she considered the idea. "Clue started as many arguments as Monoploy, in my house, so you’ll not find either of those here." It was a thought that made her smile, now, though it had been best to remove those games from the house when she was a child. Sorry would be simple enough for Luca, though she wasn’t sure how well he would do with the 'killing' of other people's figures. It would probably be fun.

At the subject of Anthony's text she fought down the urge to laugh and just raised an eyebrow instead. "A roller coaster for who? Watson?" She didn’t like the way that made Luca look down at the cat, as if he were heavily considering the idea, and was quick to move on. "If he feels like building something, I won’t stop him. Maybe it will be Lego-sized." Even if they were in some parallel dimension where he somehow managed to build something human-sized, she wouldn't trust riding it if it cost her her life.
 
Garrett chuckled and got up from the table, making his way towards the closet. "Sorry it is, then! It's a nice, easy game to learn, too. And so satisfying." He was grateful that when the Sorry card was played, the pieces would be sent back home. It wasn't like in checkers where pieces were considered "killed" - which he'd worried might have upset Luca on some level.

He shook his head and started rummaging through the closet, searching for the board game. "No, not for Watson - although Watson is invited to the carnival. He said it would be for us. And also that it wouldn't be quite like a regular coaster. I suppose I'll tell him to go ahead and build it, and if we don't like how it turns out, we won't have to ride it. How does that sound?" he added.

Then he found the board game. "Oh! Here's Sorry!" he announced. "Would you both like to play?"
 
Evelyn only smiled a little and didn’t stop Garrett from walking off, amused and perhaps a bit happy that he was comfortable enough in her home to go searching through the closet as if it were his own. It was reassuring, at least, to know he felt welcome, even if she knew she wasn’t always the warmest of people, and appreciated having her personal space.

"I won’t touch it," She said of the roller coaster even as she cleared the table in preparation for the game, "but if you two would like to, I wish you the best."

Luca looked between them as they spoke, stomach full and safe in the house with them both, relaxed as he ever was. "I can play?" It had been a long time since he'd played games. He didn’t think he remembered how.

Evelyn only smiled and gave his shoulder a little pat on her way by. "Of course. We'll teach you."
 
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"You sure can!" Garrett replied, carrying the Sorry game back to the table and gently setting it down. He smiled and began opening the box to set up the pieces. "Which color do you want to play as, Luca? Hm?" Once Luca had picked a color, Garrett swiveled the board so that color was facing Luca.

He spent a few minutes explaining how the game worked. Then he shuffled the cards and set them down on the draw pile. "All right, Luca. How would you like to go first?"

His eyes twinkled as he glanced up at Evelyn. "By the way - you have a very liberal use of the word 'bury.' Your closet is more organized than my entire apartment."
 
Evelyn let Luca had blue and took red for herself, settling in to play with them. She was quiet as Garrett explained, and afterwards only gave Luca gentle reminders about what he needed to get a man out of home, which direction he was going and what the slides did.

"If I have to move one thing to get to it," she said primly, as she moved one of her own pieces, doing her best not to smile, "and I don’t use it much, I consider it buried."

Luca was too concentrated on reading the cards and figuring out if he remembered the game to engage much, but did nod when they helped him and asked quiet questions if he got stuck.
 
Garrett didn't bother holding back a laugh. "Fair enough, I suppose! Your house is a considerable amount cleaner than my apartment. That's for sure. Anyway, I'm glad I was able to find the game."

He settled down happily to play the game with Luca and Evelyn, gently giving Luca pointers when needed. At some point, one of his pieces fell off the board, and he burst out laughing again when Watson swatted it across the floor.

It occurred to him, not for the first time, just how much Evelyn, Luca, and Watson felt like family. He watched the pair take their turns next with a soft expression. There had to be some way besides a hug he could express just how much they meant to him. He just wasn't sure how yet. Maybe through cooking?

"Say, how about I get us all some hot cocoa and marshmallows?" he offered, standing up from the table.
 
"Rest assured," Evelyn said, smiling a little finally at the way he laughed, "that is only thanks to constant maintenance." She worked hard to keep her space clean, and she was home more often now that Luca was with her all the time. Garrett was just busy, and though she wouldn’t say it she wasn’t sure he’d had anyone else to keep it clean for before now.

Luca flinched in surprise when the piece fell, having attempted to stop it and missed, but when Garrett laughed at the way Watson played with it Luca only looked at him, and after a moment smiled in a way that Evelyn could only think of as fond. She had long suspected it made Luca happy to see the people he cared most about happy. In the moment, she wished she was quick enough to catch a photo of them before it was gone.

"Why don’t you let me know when the water is hot," Evelyn suggested for herself instead, "and I’ll come make myself some tea. Looks like Watson's joining in on the fun."
 
"Certainly. No trouble at all," Garrett replied. He made his way to the kitchen, humming quietly while heating up water and getting out cups for tea and cocoa. "Luca? Would you like tea, water, or something else?"

Once the water was at the right temperature, he called Evelyn and Luca in so he could get all their drinks ready. "I have to tell you both, this has been a wonderful day. I'm glad to have spent it with you both." He shuffled a bit to one side. "And I wanted to ask - I know with my powers, hugs and touch aren't always the most comfortable thing. Are there other ways I can show you I care?"