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The pain ebbed and started to recede, leaving Lucas with nothing but feeling like a gigantic a**. "I'm -- I'm sorry, Zac, I'm usually a bit more collected but I guess this is all taking a bigger toll on me than I...realized."

He glanced down at his prosthetic hand, having no real idea what the blue blazes was going on with it. It was like...like his wrist was swollen. There was no way he could just ignore it, the fear and thrill of feeling overwhelming him still.

Lucas flicked his gaze back to Zac, surprise in his features. "Hey, you don't...I mean, you really don't have to." Some days, though, he really had to admit he was disabled. End of story. "...if it's not too much. I walked here, I don't live far, so, it's...if it's too heavy, I'll swing by your workplace later to pick them up."

"That's -- kind of you." He chuckled a little when Zac said he was pretty cool. Lucas wasn't sure he'd ever been described as such in so many words, but with as low as he was feeling, he'd take it. "You're an inspiration, Zac. I could stand to learn from your strength."

He got to his feet, holding his prosthetic hand to keep it easily from sight, nodding a little towards the teen. "It's just -- it's just flashes. Images, phantom pains, discomfort." Lucas paused, adding carefully, "A lady with red hair. It's -- I didn't want to burden you, but I'm realizing with each passing hour that keeping it to myself isn't...doing anyone any favors."

Smiling in a wry manner, he waited for Zac to gather all the stuff before leading the way out, glancing down at his hand and the strange angle of his fingers before covering it again. "So what...what's changed in you, with this place?"

Pausing to fix Zac with a look, he spoke in a tone that would not accept argument against it. "Zac, strength comes in many forms. It's not always physical. It's doing what others can't. Right now, you're stronger than me, and I'm grateful for it."

What the teen said next went clean over his head, brows furrowing and casting him a confused look. He still didn't know why Autumn had landed in the hospital or what it had to do with a deal (he remembered the demonic analogy he'd made earlier, she mentioned burned lungs), so he let it go. He was pretty sure he wouldn't ever fully understand what the hell was going on.

"I don't mind," he shrugged, "I don't feel safe anywhere, if that's what you mean. She showed up in my room, on my bed, and turned my hand into a paw." Saying the words out loud set his teeth on edge, scowling for a moment. "Long red hair on one side, a white...kind of abstract tattoo up her arm. She was...comforting." And that was exactly why he didn't trust her.

"--right, you mentioned that," he mentally kicked himself - though it could have been part of the power itself - exhaling deeply through his nose. "I'm gonna be honest with you, Zac. I don't like the idea of you being afraid or scared of this s**t." His eyes flickered back to the teen's face. "Do you have anyone that is with you, that can give you any sort of peace?" Autumn's words about him being motherless rung in his ears, but that wasn't for him to repeat.

A flicker of a smile formed, but barely. "Yeah, I guess her place is a little small for two of you." Lucas chuckled in a faint, rueful manner. "No, it's -- it's okay. I like my place. And I don't want to bring Lady there, just because I'm there. You're cautious of a place, I'm...cautious of myself." He paused, before adding quietly, "I don't want to risk hurting anyone."

He finally let go of his hand, letting it swing at his side while they walked, his fingers still curled oddly in a way he couldn't fix with his own effort. "Don't put yourself in danger, Zac, okay? This -- I mean, it could really all just be some sort of delirium, some sort of fever dream. I -- I could be sending us both on a wild goosechase." His smile was tentative, strained. "It's why I wanted to research first, before I said anything, but...my arm acted up, and...even I'm not immune to panic."

Heaping a sigh, Lucas listened and looked distant. "She said silver wouldn't hurt, but I'm not even sure she can be trusted. I don't trust Pax, I don't trust this magic you guys are dabbling in." He glanced to Zac in apology. "Just -- take care of yourself, okay? Autumn would skin me if something happened to you while you were doing research for me."

"We don't know, Zac," he said softly. "She came to me here, in this world. How can we know?" That question seemed to be the one that would haunt him; it was the last thing he said to Autumn and if it was one of the last things he said to Zac, he'd do the world a favor and take a long walk off a short pier.

"The full moon is on the twenty first," he nodded, "and I'm going to lock everything." Lucas paused again, pointing towards a building they were approaching. "If your Guardian gets a call about a disturbance here then, tell him to pack something bigger than bullets. Just to be safe."

Zac's stomp and insistence only endeared him to the ex-soldier, a quick and crooked grin forming in response. "I like you, Zac," he said warmly, "you're a good guy. Don't worry. I'm not sure bullets would be enough if I was actually a rampaging monster." Something in the way Zac was becoming distressed was pulling out his logic, which also meant he was dismissing his situation entirely.

"I mean, the chances of me actually turning into something are probably pretty slim. I can't imagine that I, some random handicap nobody, am going to be the first of some otherworldly phenomena of magic being that strong this side." He rolled both shoulders in a shrug. "I'm probably misinterpreting something, so, hold off on the welder's goggles, okay?"

"More that I don't want to be tied down by the one good arm I have, that's -- kind of a scary notion to me." Lucas laughed though, getting them through the door into the building. "I will. I'll text you. I don't really have anyone else who knows about this, so -- sorry, you're my lifeline right now."

The comment, however, was met with a sharp backwards glance. "If anyone speaks of that or that awful sparkly vampire movie, I'll be very pissed off." His grumpy tone suggested he wouldn't actually be angry, just...well, grumpy.