Luke is about to suggest vampires when Reid tells him not to and so he bites down on his lower lip and keeps it to himself. It sounds like vampires, though, even if that's not what Reid wants to hear and Luke makes a note to check it out as best he can. People have been talking a little bit about vampires lately, how some of them seem to be getting a little more aggressive than they've been in the past and he doesn't know if that's something to do with Darrow or if there's something bigger at play, but if even the law enforcement officials are noticing something strange is going on in the city, he's willing to bet it's going to get worse before it gets any better. And the thought of Reid out there with vampires makes him nervous. It makes Luke's stomach turn over uncomfortably as he considers all the possible endings for a case with a vampire as the culprit. He doesn't fool himself into thinking what Reid does is easy by any means, but if he's going to take on a psychopath, at least there's always the guarantee that he or she will still die like any other human. At the end of the day, a human criminal is still human, no matter how broken they are on the inside. A vampire, though, isn't susceptible to the same injuries that a human would be. Reid's gun wouldn't do a thing against one and while Luke has never had any particular problem with the vampires in his world, he knows they're not bound by the same laws here. A vampire in Darrow doesn't have to worry about breaking the law and having the Clave come after them.
It makes him nervous, thinking of Reid trying to deal with someone like that. Someone like Camille, perhaps, who has always followed the laws, but who Luke also knows is capable of so much damage and so much bloodshed. Vampires, like warlocks, live long enough to learn how to manipulate almost any situation they find themselves in and while they're not all terrible, while he can point to Simon as an example of a vampire who wants so badly to be good, there's still danger there. Too much danger.
"Please don't throw confetti at me," Luke requests with a smile, tilting his head so he can look at Reid's cheek. He wants to reach out and gently lift the ice pack so he can check on the state of the swelling, but even though Reid had told him it was okay earlier, he's still a little cautious when it comes to touching him without being invited. It's been made fairly clear to him through watching Reid interact with other people that he's not exceptionally comfortable with casual touching and while he's said the words to make Luke thinks it's okay, he's still uncertain. How much of that has to do with his own insecurities, he doesn't really know, but he imagines it's not a small amount. It isn't as if Jocelyn had spent all their time together rejecting him, he thinks their friendship had remained fairly strong despite his proposal and her gentle attempt at letting him down. He had never asked again, but he remembers moments, little instances throughout the years that had always made it very clear that her feelings hadn't changed. He would reach for something for her at the same time she would, their fingers would brush and she would jerk her hand back as if his touch burned her. She would catch him looking at her every now and then, and her brow would crease before she glanced away quickly, as if she didn't want him to know she had seen.
In the end, it all amounts to tiny rejections every day. And while Luke thinks he'd weathered them rather well, all things considered, it isn't something he'd like to repeat ever again. That's why he had never indicated to Alaric that there might be a chance to explore something more. It's why he's sitting here with Reid, unable to reach out and touch him like he wants to, and it's why he's letting himself focus on what Reid has said about the woman's husband. How he wasn't surprised she had died, just angry.
There are certain lives in which one might live in that sort of fear every day. Certainly he and Jocelyn had been on edge for a long time. Neither of them had ever been convinced that Valentine was really dead and discovering that he'd come for her and the cup, discovering that she was in a coma and Valentine was still out there hadn't entirely surprised Luke. He'd been angry, he'd been desperate to do anything in his power to protect Clary, but he hadn't been particularly surprised and on that level, at least, he thinks he can understand this Mr. Hansen. Sometimes the things that seem like they should be the most unexpected really aren't.
"It's alright," he continues. "If you want to talk about it, I'm happy to be here for you to bounce ideas off of. I know I'm not exactly a law enforcement official, but I have experience in... that other aspect of it that you've asked me not to say." He's smiling as he speaks, unable to help himself, not because anything is particularly funny, but because he just likes being with Reid. He likes spending time with him, he likes listening to him speak and if Reid wants to talk about what happened, he'll be more than happy to just listen, even if it is his birthday. It's not as if he's ever done anything particularly special and this is already significantly better than some of the birthdays he's spent more or less alone.
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It makes him nervous, thinking of Reid trying to deal with someone like that. Someone like Camille, perhaps, who has always followed the laws, but who Luke also knows is capable of so much damage and so much bloodshed. Vampires, like warlocks, live long enough to learn how to manipulate almost any situation they find themselves in and while they're not all terrible, while he can point to Simon as an example of a vampire who wants so badly to be good, there's still danger there. Too much danger.
"Please don't throw confetti at me," Luke requests with a smile, tilting his head so he can look at Reid's cheek. He wants to reach out and gently lift the ice pack so he can check on the state of the swelling, but even though Reid had told him it was okay earlier, he's still a little cautious when it comes to touching him without being invited. It's been made fairly clear to him through watching Reid interact with other people that he's not exceptionally comfortable with casual touching and while he's said the words to make Luke thinks it's okay, he's still uncertain. How much of that has to do with his own insecurities, he doesn't really know, but he imagines it's not a small amount. It isn't as if Jocelyn had spent all their time together rejecting him, he thinks their friendship had remained fairly strong despite his proposal and her gentle attempt at letting him down. He had never asked again, but he remembers moments, little instances throughout the years that had always made it very clear that her feelings hadn't changed. He would reach for something for her at the same time she would, their fingers would brush and she would jerk her hand back as if his touch burned her. She would catch him looking at her every now and then, and her brow would crease before she glanced away quickly, as if she didn't want him to know she had seen.
In the end, it all amounts to tiny rejections every day. And while Luke thinks he'd weathered them rather well, all things considered, it isn't something he'd like to repeat ever again. That's why he had never indicated to Alaric that there might be a chance to explore something more. It's why he's sitting here with Reid, unable to reach out and touch him like he wants to, and it's why he's letting himself focus on what Reid has said about the woman's husband. How he wasn't surprised she had died, just angry.
There are certain lives in which one might live in that sort of fear every day. Certainly he and Jocelyn had been on edge for a long time. Neither of them had ever been convinced that Valentine was really dead and discovering that he'd come for her and the cup, discovering that she was in a coma and Valentine was still out there hadn't entirely surprised Luke. He'd been angry, he'd been desperate to do anything in his power to protect Clary, but he hadn't been particularly surprised and on that level, at least, he thinks he can understand this Mr. Hansen. Sometimes the things that seem like they should be the most unexpected really aren't.
"It's alright," he continues. "If you want to talk about it, I'm happy to be here for you to bounce ideas off of. I know I'm not exactly a law enforcement official, but I have experience in... that other aspect of it that you've asked me not to say." He's smiling as he speaks, unable to help himself, not because anything is particularly funny, but because he just likes being with Reid. He likes spending time with him, he likes listening to him speak and if Reid wants to talk about what happened, he'll be more than happy to just listen, even if it is his birthday. It's not as if he's ever done anything particularly special and this is already significantly better than some of the birthdays he's spent more or less alone.