Would It Smell As Sweet? [open]

[lukecolburn]

Luke was eternally grateful that he didn’t have a disease. Nothing that required medical attention. Just looking at the pharmacy made him nervous – there was no possible way to trust the people behind the counter to hand out the correct items. Plenty of times a week in the news, there were reports of misadministration of medicine and people ended up in the hospital, which was equally as unnerving. London was going down the drain. The fit stayed alive and the ill or weak simply died out. What natural causes didn’t cause, the rest of the deaths were easily made up in murders or cases of missing people. Luke was one of the lucky ones. He never had to go to the hospital unless it was to walk Serenity there –making sure she was safe. He had never been a part of a scandal, and so far his luck of staying away from the dangerous werewolves and vampires, and even humans, had stuck with him. Luke could hold his own in this city. He knew how to converse with those that weren’t human. He knew how to hold the air about himself that, though he was only human, he was perfectly capable of hurting someone.

He stepped aside to give Serenity room to order her insulin. She stepped up and said hello to a rather surly looking man, who spoke rather rudely as well. Luke kept his eyes on this nurse who turned around and barked at the nurses scuttling around in the background, in between shelves and in and out of doors. The nurse turned for a minute and caught Luke’s eyes, the warning in them, and mumbled to Serenity what the price was. Luke quietly crossed his arms while they waited for the insulin to come to the front, making sure not to be distracted by the long string of medical emergencies behind them while they waited. At last, she received her insulin and turned around to face him with an air of pride. He nodded quietly and waited for her to walk in front of him, placing a hand between her shoulder blades to guide her to and through the exit. A few scattered people watched them as they left, but the majority of the customers were too busy in their own misery.

They stepped back onto the sidewalk and Luke let out a sigh –one of released tension. “Let’s go back home so you can do that in a safer place. The wait will be all right?” Though he glanced at her after talking, his question was a rhetorical one. After so much of London, Luke wanted to go back home and watch TV, or sit in his chair and take a nap. He turned and headed for home, slowing his pace for Serenity to walk next to him so she wouldn’t get left behind.

When they reached home, Luke pulled out his ring of keys and unlocked the front door. Once he and Serenity were inside, he locked the door behind them and proceeded to walk around the house, checking the windows and pulling the shades up to let some light in. Once that was finished, he went into the living room and collapsed into his comfy chair. He wasn’t sure where Serenity had headed off to to take care of her insulin, but he was sure she’d find her way to the living room before long. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, picking his left arm up and pressing his eyes into his elbow. He sighed heavily and relaxed there, enjoying the quiet of his own home once again.