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"Exactly," Lucas agreed, nodding grimly. "They send us into this war without any weapons, so to speak. It makes me question...everything."

The werewolf made a soft, almost whuffled sound. "Is that really failing? If he's still caged...that's good, right? Our 'failure' doesn't result in the end of the world. That's another thing I never really understood."

"If our failure doesn't end the world, then that's a pretty damn good type of failure," he half grumbled, toothy in his displeasure of the whole thing. "Shun, you're one of the few that's been straight with me, and I appreciate that. And I don't mean to stir the pot, but ********. What are we really fighting for? Murdering people and breaking seals that were willingly made and with the purpose of saving the world...now they need to be broken? We have to spill blood?" He didn't say it out loud, but he didn't have to: why did they have to be murdered? Why push the so called saviors to that edge of sanity?

Lucas pinched the bridge of his nose with his good hand, eyes closed, trying to come up with any rationality that this was the right thing to do -- to play these so called reindeer games, to partake in a war that had no clear winning outcome...but it was getting harder the further down the rabbit hole they went. "I don't know what to do now," he finally said at length. "The library didn't help, the so called gate keepers wont help...so what's the next move?"

"I definitely couldn't stay out of it," he responded with some lament in his tone, "there are too many people who are important to me who are caught up in the thick of things. I'd never let them face this alone. But..."

Lucas shook his head very slightly, eyes slightly unfocused. "Staying alive and doing the right thing...not sure how hand in hand those go by the rules of the Otherplace." Blinking, he returned his gaze to Shun's, leaning onto the table by his elbows. "What I need to figure out is if following those rules is worthwhile, or if I should be going by my own. Doing what I feel is right. And determining if I can live with myself, either way."

Lucas shook his head slowly again, a theme for the night. "It's not just me, though. If it were, I could be the diligent soldier I know to be, but..." There was Rylan, his Pack, Sunny...Shun himself, even. "The choices I make have to be with everyone in mind, not just introspection."

He offered a vague smile, expression troubled. "I will act, I promise, Detective. But to what extent, I'm...at a loss." A soft sigh followed the words. "I suppose I should open a communication with one or two of those people."

"Shun, I'm not sure we were ever meant to have solid footing here." The words were simple, but tired. "Nothing we've experienced suggests we can ever have an upper hand, especially if we just digest what we've been told."

Lucas lifted his gaze to meet the Detective's again. "You're not alone. I don't know what's going to happen in the near future, but I'm a phone call away. I've got your back. Even if we should - " he smiled wryly, " - end up on opposing sides, I'm grateful and I wont ever forget our discussions. It's a nice foothold of sanity in a whirlwind of bullshit."

Too many maybes. It was exhausting. "I'm with you on that," he chuckled, running a hand through his short hair and glancing at his watch. "I'll let you go, Detective, I've a boyfriend getting off duty and I'm not done chewing him out with all of this."

Lucas slid out of the booth and offered a crooked smile to Shun. "It's good to see you. One day, we should probably actually have lunch, build a positive memory of our meetings other than doom and gloom."

He knew it was likely to never happen, but he'd be remiss if he didn't at least say it. Shun was a good guy, and they both deserved better than this.