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Stubborn as Luke was, he didn't share the trait with his stomach, and the sound and scent of cooking drew his attention more than he would admit. He was pulled a short distance from his lethargy, straightening his posture slightly and pulling a hand tiredly across his face. None of his thoughts connected rationally or even coherently; all he could really do right now was stop thinking about it. Maybe it wouldn't be the simplest task at the moment, but... well, he already had one distraction at his disposal...

Well that was just challenging his stubborn nature. Luke would spend several long moments fidgeting idly and considering empty considerations before eventually pushing to his feet. He steadied himself briefly with a hand on the wall, as if he had forgotten how to stand, and reluctantly made his short way to the table. He paused just before it with a hesitant disposition that seemed to seek the formality of an invitation before he would properly join.

He frowned slightly but didn't linger much longer before seating himself. He still wasn't sure if he was actually hungry or not, but he at least faintly recognized the attraction to the scent. Slowly, almost falteringly, he retrieved one of the fried things from the offered plate, consuming it in small bites and attempting to place his focus on the flavor. It was certainly tasty enough, but it failed to fully commandeer his attention as he had hoped it might. At length, he actually managed to pin down his voice and attach solid thoughts to it, hushed though the ensuing words were, "How can you act so normal...?" It was a persistent curiosity that he had been wondering for a while. It was almost as though Yuri had completely forgotten what had happened, and if that was indeed the case, Luke wanted to know how.

Though a valiant effort indeed, Luke couldn't produce an explanation even when he tried - and he was certainly trying, as evidenced by the small, soundless motions of his mouth, his increasingly troubled expression, or the ensuing rigidity of his posture. Frustrated, he aborted the effort and settled for something easier to say, "You know what I mean."

The initial response made him feel ill. He didn't really want to think about how short life could be. It inevitably led to thoughts that he badly wanted to discard.

Yuri's following critique tipped Luke briefly away from the quiet, frightened disposition he'd fallen into, and he replied with all urgency in his voice, "That's not what I wanted to do! That's not what I ever want to do! I never wanted anyone to get hurt! I--" His words caught, choked in an almost sobbed breath. He drew backwards, compressing and wrapping himself in his arms, glaring into his lap, and trembling almost violently. Gradually he came to force himself to believe that he was dreaming, though this was to little avail.

He did indeed have a quick reply for the question, though it lacked the usual confidence with which it would be delivered, "To protect people." Perhaps he had simply never thought through what the implications of protection were.

"But that's not..." It wasn't fair. It was never fair for one to live at the expense of another. "He was just some crook... He was only a thief, and I..." And he killed him. Was a murderer any better than a mugger just because the former claimed to be protecting someone? "What about his friends, or his family? What happens when he never comes back, or if they find him like that, or...?"

Arceus damn it all, he was not going to cry. Tears or no, however, the emotional strain of it all was obviously taking a heavy toll on the boy, his face pale and his eyes dim. His still shivered, as though unbearably cold, and he was mildly aware of the dull throb of a headache. Naive was hardly the extent of it; it appeared as though Luke was someone who could be moved to physical illness by the witness of death.

He had some recognition that life wasn't fair, like being confined to his home for events he didn't even remember or being hated for stealing a life he didn't even know wasn't his. This wasn't a matter like that, though. In normal injustices, one could at least seek to right the wrong, but if it was life and death, then one party just had to accept that they wouldn't exist anymore because of the actions of someone else. How was that in any way acceptable?

Luke could find no counter to Yuri's words. He didn't know what he would have done if either of the two had been killed, but he didn't want the thief to have to die either. Why couldn't all of them live? They could have just disabled him and gotten the police involved, but then the gun, but... Damn it.

The final statement roused some sense of confusion, and he raised his head slightly, his expression betraying every ounce of emotion in his head. "What..." He remembered Yuri's final blow, but certainly that didn't excuse him of condemning the man...