[RQ] in the unsettled margins

Luka

Let's draw a line between us, paint a map back to the start
Leaving footprints to remind us -

Luka is not naturally predisposed to feeling or even being awkward, so he approaches the situation with the same level-headed focus he normally retains. While Warden Deimos inspires great respect, and as such makes him feel eternally small and foolish at his side, there is some gratitude to be had in being paired with the man when his skills so vastly outpace Luka’s. Hopefully it would ensure any lackluster performance would be bridged swiftly, leaving the wall better off.

“Of course,” he intones seriously, “whatever I can do to help.” His days are usually spent in the service of others, but they are admittedly usually odd jobs or tasks for neighbors. They adore him now, but it’s nice to do something with a wider impact. His focused expression cracks briefly into surprise at the ensuing question. Not that he believes the Warden to be unkind, but because he does not often consider himself or his own disposition in a light fit for reporting back on. “I’m well. Soleil took the destruction really hard; I’ve just been trying to support her, and our neighbors.” His family had come through okay, and selfishly, that was all Luka could care about.

Eyeing the hole in the wall, Luka kneels down and uses the handle of his trowel to thunk away at it, knocking in portions to determine where the weak parts need to be replaced and where the stronger, stabler portions remain where they can attach the compound. While kneeling he realizes - as he often does, and always belatedly - that he should probably return the question for the sake of social politeness, and looks up at Deimos from where he kneels in the snow. “And you?”

That where you go, I go
And if you fall, I fall