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Kicking at a stone, Lucas kept one eye on the hyper dog while he took in his surroundings and mused. He let the dog decide their path once again while he thought and today Reuben led them to a river.

Reuben took a quick drink, then started running down the length of the river. He'd picked up a familiar scent. Soon he had come upon Nita, and hurried up to greet her with a few kisses.

Running to keep up with Reuben, Lucas called after him, then started to slow when he realized that the dog had come across someone new. Stepping forward, he laughed and gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry about that."

He studied the girl for a moment. He wasn't quite sure what she was becoming. Another animal he wasn't quite familiar with.

Lucas did not join them on the rock and remained on the ground near the edge. He shook his head at her response. "No, I'm not. My name is Lucas. I'm a friend of Emelyn's. I'm watching Reuben here while she's... in the labs."

Lucas sighed and lowered himself into a sitting postion on the ground nearby, setting his messenger bag beside him. He was a little uneasy talking to this girl. She wasn't like Emerwyn. But then, he'd met Emerwyn prior to the incident. This girl was still a stranger to him. He wasn't sure how much of what happened he should tell to her. He had no idea if Emelyn wanted things like this to be kept private. This girl did, however, seem genuinely concerned about the hedgehog woman and might be friends. And Emelyn really did need friends right now.

While he spoke he kept his eyes trained on the water in front of him. "A few weeks back Emelyn was attacked by someone," he decided to omit Joliette. "I found her hurt and took her back to my duplex. I took care of her while she recuperated and watched Reuben." He tried to think about how best to explain the next part. "About a week ago I... believe she saw her reflection, shattered my mirror and took off. I later learned from the labs that she had been taken in with self-inflicted wounds."

He felt horrible for excluding the part about him being the one to even suggest that she see her reflection, but he just couldn't bring himself to say it to this stranger.

"I've called nearly every day and I've only been able to speak with some lab techs. They tell me that they are caring for her and that she'll be released when she's ready. Other than that, nothing. They won't let me see her. All they allowed was a note Emerwyn and I wrote for her."

Moving his eyes away from the river, he looked up at Nita. "I never got your name."

"I hope she gets out soon, too." He smiled at her thank you, not sure of how to respond to it. "Once she gets out, you should go see her. It would be good for her to talk to some friends."

He pretended to think back. "Oh, I think you did. Sorry," he smiled. He had hoped to use it as something to lighten the mood a bit and perhaps start to move the discussion on to something else. It was a weak attempt, but the tears he had thought he'd seen welling up in her eyes made him desperate. If there was anything he couldn't stand, it was a girls tears.

"I arrived back in August, so over a month. What about you?"

Reuben tried to climb into Nita's lap, eager for more attention.

"Two months?" He thought about it for a moment. He wasn't exactly sure what month it was. There was no calender and time seemed to meld together, each day almost like the last. He was certain he'd been there for around a month, but two months? Had he lost that much track of the time?

"I don't even know what day of the week it is. Is it a monday or a thursday?" he scratched the fur on his cheek.

"Um... you don't mind me asking, but, um... what animal are you... you know."