I'm sick of the things I do when I'm nervous

[jakeplatt]

Edit: Seeing as this thread has now, uh, progressed, I think it's time I should say:
WARNING! Contains slash
=D

[Tag Lukey - Wont fit in the title ¬.¬]

Jake stood at the edge of the crowd of people watching the new Lord's speech. There'd been loads of rumours about him - some said he was really charitable and hospitable, he'd even had his servants eat dinner with him the other day. But there were others, mainly women, who spoke quite badly of him. Jake tried to avoid the gossip as far as possible. It wasn’t that he disliked it, it just made him feel uncomfortable. Especially what the ladies were saying. There were a couple of them chatting about it a little way along from him, even as the Lord - Someoneorother Mannering, it seemed - was speaking. He tried to block out what they were saying and focus on the stage, but seeing the man who was the subject of their gossip, as hard as he tried to block it out, caused a blush to rise in his cheeks.

He was almost relieved when Lord Mannering finished his speech and everyone started talking. He could lose his thoughts in the incoherent babble of lots of voices. However, now everyone seemed to be dispersing, meeting up with friends and generally socialising. Jake puked awkwardly at his own sleeve; Emma had run off with her friends from the marketplace as soon as they'd arrived and he'd been left to stand on his own whilst Lord Mannering was talking. At least he had the mask. Emma had spent days weaving it out of straw and lining it with fabric she'd bought from Kate so it didn’t itch. He liked the anonymity it gave him. He'd even had a shave - though it’d been Emma who pestered him into it - so hopefully no one would recognise him. Still, he felt somewhat awkward, stood there on his own.

[Luke Scarlett]

Luke was here under protest. He was still doing his best to show to Kate, through the fine art of sulking, that he would much rather be at the outlaw's camp. He knew it was rude, Kate was being kind enough to put him up, but she'd known him for too long for him to feel too guilty about acting so much like a spoilt brat. Besides it wasn't like she wasn't getting her revenge in the most evil way possible, if he had to act as a rough model for one more shirt or pair of breeches that she was tacking up he was going to scream. He had been pricked by so many pins in the last week (especially with the influx of orders for the fair) that he was surprised he didn't leak whenever he drank anything. He had to persuade Jake to let him start work on the farm soon or he wouldn't be held responsible for his actions.

Some pompous lord was making a speech, but Luke ignored him in favour of eyeing the spread of food available for all. He'd already seen a woman have her children fill their pockets, small hands reaching out to grab everything and anything. His stomach rumbled a little at the smells and sights, ever since staying with Kate he was beginning to remember what it meant to always be hungry, the gnawing feeling forever in the pit of his gut. He wasn't sure if it was just Kate's father being particularly cruel with the portions or if poverty had really struck the town of Knighton that badly. He hadn't complained though, if it was needed he would gladly have given up even more of his share to Kate and her sisters.

Luke's eyes flicked back to the man standing nearby. He was familiar, but it was so hard to tell with the mask obscuring half his face. Looking at the mask reminded him of his own and he tugged at it with a scowl. Kate had designed it, and given him little choice about wearing it. He didn't like it, he thought it made his ears stick out where the twine rested on them and it itched terribly. Suddenly it clicked as to who exactly he was staring so rudely at: Jake! Sidling over he nudged the dark haired boy in the side with an elbow. He looked different without his stubbly beard and Luke hoped it wasn't a case of mistaken identity.

”Need company?” He asked amiably, seeing someone he knew had cheered him up considerably.

[jakeplatt]

Jake nearly jumped out of his skin as he felt and elbow in his side. He whipped round to see a young man standing next to him and had to prevent himself from yelping in fright. The new arrival had a blue-ish mask coving the top part of his face and was grinning at him. It took him a moment to work out who it was, everyone looked so similar with their masks on. He knew he'd make a fool out of himself before the day was out. "Luke?" He asked, hoping he'd come to the right conclusion. He was fairly sure he had, and was glad to have found someone he knew. Well technically, Luke had found him, but it was nice, either way. "Yeah" He replied, smiling back "Company is something I seem to be rather lacking in at the moment.”

He turned to look at the festivities going on around them and sighed. Emma had tried to talk him into entering the archery competition, but he point blank refused. There was no way he was going to make a fool out of himself - or any more of a fool of himself - in front of the whole village. He was going to try and avoid the mead, as well, last time he'd had something to drink thinks had ended up disastrously. He felt his cheeks begin to colour at the mere thought of it and had to bite his lips to try and distract himself. There were far to many embarrassing memories stored in his head already, without him creating any more.

A familiar girlish scream drew his attention over to where some children were playing at the edge of the square. He recognised Emma immediately, despite her straw mask, which was already starting to look a little bettered. He smiled, at least one of them was having fun. “My last lot of company abandoned me to go play in mud” he said, only half faking the exasperation.

[Luke Scarlett]

Luke gave a quick nod to confirm to Jake that he was indeed the younger Scarlett brother. Introductions out of the way he relaxed a little, rubbing irritably at the twine that was tickling the top of his ear and looking about at the people around him with idle disinterest. Most of the village children were playing a game of tag at the edge of the square that seemed to involve a lot more splashing in the mud than actually chasing each other.

"You could always join them. It looks like fun." Luke suggested with a grin, only half joking. He knew Jake was probably a little old to be playing children's games, but Luke could still remember playing chase, or knights and maidens, in Locksley. He missed it, even if Will and the other kids had always made him be the dragon. They had been simpler times and rolling around in the mud was certainly preferable to trying to be adult and make polite conversation.

Behaving in the proper way was more trouble than it was worth. Kate's father had sat them down before they left and laid down some strict rules. "Don't bother the nobles, direct anyone interested in business my direction, do not touch the ale and under no circumstances talk to any men!" Well, Luke had assumed that the last rule only applied to Peter's daughters otherwise he'd already failed.

He didn't mind talking to Jake though and there wasn't much to do until the competition started. It was the only thing he was really looking forward to. Shooting was one of the few things that Luke could confidently say he was good at and, even though he was already beginning to feel the familiar stirrings of nerves in his stomach, he was looking forward to showing Allan "Second Only to Robin" A Dale that he wasn't the only one in Nottingham that could hit a target. He didn't think he would win though, Robin could beat them all with his eyes closed and he would no doubt find some way of entering. He wondered if Marian ever got tired of being second place to Much Robin's need to show the Sheriff up at every possible opportunity.

"Are you entering?" He asked, pointing at the queue of people waiting to sign up. He wanted to ask Jake to come with him while he did so, but he wasn't sure if it would be rude, or if Jake would even want to come with him. Nerves were eating away at his confidence with every passing minute and if he didn't go over there soon he would miss his chance, and never hear the end of it from Allan.

[jakeplatt]

“I’d need to be a lot more drunk before you got me near the mud” Jake replied with a laugh, his mind still partially focused on his sister. It occurred to him a moment alter that that probably hadn’t come out the way he’d meant it to “Working on a farm is muddy business” He continued hurriedly, trying to cover his mistake “I get enough of it most days without jumping in it on public holidays as well” Oh great, and that had sounded stern and reprimanding. Jake had to physically stop himself from swearing. He really was no good at this kind of thing. “Plus, Emma would probably kill me if I messed up this outfit” He said, hoping that’d put at least a slightly light-hearted slant on everything he’d said already. Maybe he would be better off playing in the mud.

Jake sighed and turned to look at the queue of people lining up to take part in the competition, the main vent of the day. He’d half wanted to sign up in the faint hope that Robin Hood and his men would be present - he assumed they would be, they had to be, that was the way things worked, outlaws seeking the prize out from under the nose of the sheriff - and that they’d see him shoot, he’d be amazing, and they’d recruit him on the stop. Thankfully, the part of his mind that still had a basis in reality stopped him from doing so. He was hopeless with a bow, and all these ideas of sudden spurts of brilliance under pressure were a load of rubbish. He could make a fool of himself easily enough without the help of pointy things on sticks.

He nearly jumped again when Luke asked him if he was going to enter. Had he noticed the wistful way Jake had been staring at the queue? A blush started to rise in Jakes cheeks - he really hoped it was just a coincidence, he didn’t want anyone knowing he harboured desires to be an outlaw. “Not on your life!” He replied, trying his best to cover his tracks “I shoot about as well as a chicken half way through laying an egg” He realised the allegory was fairly odd she he carried on quickly “I’ll stick to philos-farm work.” He groaned inwardly at that. Nice one, Jake, he thought. He’d managed to keep his aspirations of being an outlaw hidden, but had just gone and mentioned philosophy. Perfect.

[OOC - Yay for chicken based similes!]

[Luke Scarlett]

"Well I'm sure that can be arranged." He said, laughing along with Jake. "There's plenty of ale available. Or mead if you'd prefer. Are you sure I can't tempt you to a drink?" He pointed at a table laden with food and mugs of drink and laughed even harder as he imagined Jake's little sister telling the man what to do. "How old is your sister?" He asked, a teasing amusement to his voice as he grabbed hold of Jake's arm and dragged him in the direction of the food stall. Even if he couldn't persuade Jake to have a drink he was still hungry and he wasn't going to pass up free food for anything.

Luke grinned again as Jake steadfastly refused to enter. He couldn't possibly be as bad as he claimed, he was probably just being shy. "Come on Jake." He said with just the right hint of a whine in his voice. It was a technique he'd used many a time on Will when he was trying to get his own way. "It'll be fun! Are there no fair maidens that you want to impress?" He asked and nudged Jake in the side with an elbow while he waggled his eyebrows in an over the top gesture of suggestion.

He paused for a moment, slightly confused by Jake's last sentence. "What's philos-farming then?" He questioned curiously. He blushed slightly realising he probably sounded ridiculous. Jake would laugh at him when he realised just how little Luke knew about working on a farm.

(OOC: OMG arggh! They're getting shorter and shorter. *Mourns for uber posts*)

[jakeplatt]

Jake's face turned the colour of beetroot as Luke agreed to him getting drunk. He'd not even meant to say it, now he sounded like an alcoholic. He glanced sidelong at the table Luke was pointing to. It was one of many dotted around the square, each of them bowing under the weight of the piles food and drink that Lord Mannering had supplied. There were even carts rumbling around supplying ale to those to lazy to head for the tables. Jake shuddered to think what'd happen if he did actually get drunk - then again, maybe he could use a little Dutch courage...

"How old is your sister?" Jake didn't miss the tease in Luke's question. He scowled slightly, but only in jest "She's 15." He said, before realising that probably made him sound incredibly feeble "But she's very bossy!" He added defensively, folding his arms across his chest like a petulant child. He didn't have much of a chance to sulk, though, as the next moment Luke had grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the neared food-bearing table.

As Luke tried to persuade him to enter, he grabbed one of the mugs of ale and started drinking it, as quickly as he could. However, he way half way through a gulp when Luke asked him about impressing "fair maidens""Maidens?" He spluttered, trying not to spit ale everywhere. He'd never even considered the possibility that archery was for impressing maidens, he'd always seen it for hunting, fighting, violent things. But hadn't he himself been thinking of impressing a certain outlaw earlier? "Well, there is someone I want to impress" He said, earnestly "But I doubt he's going to be here" Jake chucked back the rest of his ale, now he'd recovered from his earlier chocking "Plus. I told you. I'm not entering" He continued, from the inside of his tankard.

Jake couldn’t help but smile, despite his embarrassment, when Luke mistook his change of word for a word in it’s own right. “Oh, it’s a type of agricultural cultivation” He replied knowingly, sticking his hands in his pockets and rocking backwards and forwards on the balls of his feet like he’d seen his father do so many times when he was younger. But he couldn’t keep a straight face and started snorting with laughter seconds later. It looked like the ale was going to his head already.

[Luke Scarlett]

"Riiight." Luke said, chuckling and sounding sceptical. "And you're no push over at all Jake." He followed Jake's example and took a mug of ale, but he only managed a sip before he grimaced with disgust. For some reason he'd managed to forget that ale tasted so bitter, possibly because he'd only had it once or twice before, Will and his father would never let him near it. He was mildly impressed that Jake had managed to drink so much of his own mug full so quickly.

"He?" Luke blurted, thoroughly confused. Who could Jake possibly want to impress? He'd made the maiden comment in jest, half expecting Jake to announce that he wanted to win Kate's favour. Everyone seemed to want to, Kate seemed to attract handsome young men (and Allan), it wasn't fair because Luke didn't stand a chance. He certainly hadn't thought that Jake would seriously want to impress somebody, especially not a man!

"Are you sure I can't persuade you? The worst that can happen is missing the target." He coaxed. Jake probably just needed a little encouragement, and Luke had taken it upon himself to be the one to give it. He would get Jake to sign up even if he had to physically drag him over to do so.

"It is?" He asked, still curious, everything about Jake's farm was fascinating at the moment, although that was possibly because he hadn't actually had to do a hard day's work yet. Then Jake burst into laughter and Luke frowned. " You're pulling my leg aren't you?" He accused, not really mad at his friend for having some fun at his expense. It was his own fault for being so naive about farming and he had just spent the last 10 minutes teasing Jake about his bossy sister and fair maidens.

(OOC: I <3 Allan and his hawtness really, I just couldn't resist Luke making a jibe because he's jealous. *hides* Don't kill me?)

[jakeplatt]

“I'm not a push over!” Jake retorted, jabbing Luke in the ribs with his elbow “You don't wanna know what'd happen if I did try and do something she didn't like.” Jake shuddered, as if remembering something awful. The truth is, the worst thing Emma would do was tease him, or give him that disappointed look that made him feel so incredibly guilty, but that was bad enough! He didn’t think he'd be able to cope if she really was as bad as he was making out.

He could tell the ale was going to his head already, he’d begun loosening up already. He’d have to be careful, any looser and he was liable to fall down around his own ankles. He eyed the nearly empty mug of ale in his hand, but before he could even consider filling it up again, Luke said something that made him nearly drop the damn thing anyway.

“He?”

“Uh, I, er,” Jake stammered incoherently, his face immediately tuning bright red “I didn’t- no- it’s not! How could you-?” He stopped talking, though his mouth was still opening and closing like a fish out of water. Maybe he’d read the implication into Luke’s words, but he seemed to be suggesting that his desire- no desire really wasn’t the right word - want, his want to impress a man should be the same as the way in which he would want to impress a woman.

Jake drew out the long, complicated explanation in his head, trying to cover up the truth of the matter with words. Suddenly, wanting to be seen shooting by Robin Hood didn’t seem nearly such a bad thing to admit. “Talent!” He exclaimed “It’s talent I want him to see. With a bow!” hoping that was sufficient enough explanation, and not trusting himself to say anything else, Jake grabbed at the stopper on the nearest keg and refilled his tankard, focusing on the dark, bubbling liquid so as not to have to meet Luke’s eyes.

He was immensely grateful when the other young man decided to change the subject. He downed the entire new lot of ale before replying. “No, not entering. It’d be like shooting myself in the foot” he mumbled, staring down at his now empty mug and wondering how it had come to be like that. Magically, his embarrassment seemed to have disappeared to the same place his ale had, wherever that was. “Not literally” he added, just in case Luke was in any doubt.

Now that he’d had something to drink, he was far less worried about discussing philosophy. “Yep. Leg pulling” he confirmed, stretching his hand out to the table to steady himself. Suddenly, he was feeling quite light headed “I think I need to sit down” He mumbled, dimly aware that this was going to make him seem even more feeble than being bossed around by a girl. “C’mon I’ll tell you about Aristotle’s coercive system of tragedy”

[Luke Scarlett]

Jake began to stutter over his words and he looked both stunned and mortified at the same time, an expression that Luke hadn't thought possible before. Luke got the sinking feeling that he had just said something both incredibly rude and far too prying. He flushed red, he had more tact than that! Well, he didn't, but he didn't usually feel so bad about putting his foot in it. Jake seemed to have that effect on him.

It was really none of his business who Jake wanted to impress. He felt incredibly stupid for seemingly getting completely the wrong idea, it was perfectly natural for him to want to show off his talent to another man, Luke was guilty of the very same thing, he had a bet with Allan after all. And Kate was always complaining about how men felt the constant need to see who could pee the highest. He didn't think Jake meant it in quite that way though, he didn't seem particularly egotistical and from the protests he was making about entering nor was he much of a show-off.

"Sorry," Luke said looking sheepish. "I only wondered who it could be..." He trailed off hoping it was enough reassure Jake that he wasn't accusing him of anything immoral and that he understood.

"I still think you should enter though." He pressed, not willing to give in just yet, even though Jake was already beginning to fret once more. "How will you ever impress this mystery man," He paused to wiggle his fingers at Jake dramatically, unable to resist the gentle teasing since the man had pulled the wool over his eyes about the farming thing. "If you won't even give it a try?"

Luke was glad he hadn't taken to the taste of ale. While Jake's downing of his drink had been impressive at the time it didn't look like nearly so much fun now that the man wasn't quite so steady on his feet. ”Sure,” He agreed readily, eyeing up a quiet corner near the village homes. He was getting tired of getting elbowed out of the way by other people far too keen to get their hands on free drinks, clearly standing too close to the food tables was like taking your life into your hands.

Grabbing his barely touched drink and a hunk of bread, he'd heard eating something helped stop you from getting so drunk and by the looks of it Jake needed it, he moved away from the table. ”So, who's this Aristotle bloke and why's he harping on about tragedy?” He asked as he walked. ”What does coerc- co-,” Luke stumbled over the unfamiliar word and blushed a little. ”That word mean?”

[jakeplatt]

Jake’s mind was in turmoil. Luke had turned as red as he was, if not more so, so he had clearly not meant his words in the way Jake had taken them. Well, he probably hadn’t. It seemed that way anyway. And that mean Jake’s mind had read those things into what he’d said, and that was the scary part. Why the hell had he thought that? It was an entirely illogical conclusion to jump to - it wasn’t as if, well, that, it wasn’t like - things like that, they didn’t happen.

Jake couldn’t bring himself to think about it directly, even in his mind he had to use euphemisms and diesis to handle the matter, half for proprieties sake, half for fear of what would happen if he thought about it any further. It was his own twisted mind that had come up with it, god knows what would happen if it was allowed to dwell on the subject. He flicked his eyes up to Luke but had to look away immediately before his mind did something he didn’t want it to. He blushed harder than ever and had to bite down on his bottom lip from the utter horror he felt at the whole situation

Ale. Ale was good. Jake took another swig from his tankard, letting its entire contents pour down his throat. It was surprisingly effective, both at helping push the events of the last few minutes out of his mind, and making him very unsteady on his feet. By the time Luke changed the subject to the archery competition, Jake could almost totally ignore the treacherous thoughts bubbling under his façade of normality, but he pushed those aside. He dimly realised that the fact that he was sagging onto the table they were stood next to probably gave away his grossly intoxicated state although given present circumstances, he’d rather Luke think him a drunk than anything else.

However, he nearly choked at what Luke said next. “How will you ever impress this mystery man?” Jake had to make a physical effort to keep his mind where he’d just been fighting so hard to put it. Luke couldn’t have possibly meant it in the way Jake thought he might - no it was his own mind. He could have cried at that thought; that one simple comment could turn his mind so! He looked at the ale in his hands, hope welling up inside of him. It had to be the ale - he’d never thought like this before, once he was sober he never would again. Thank god. If he kept thinking like this they’d hang him, or worse.

Relieved by this epiphany, Jake threw himself back into the conversation with full force. He grabbed onto Luke’s arm as he moved away from the table, with the intention of steering, although he was having to put post of his concentration in making his feet follow one another and not wander off on their own.

Through some collaboration of navigation, they ended up in a shaded spot to the side of the square. No benches had been set out here, presumably because it had been thought most people would be further into the square, so Jake sat him self down on the sparse grass and lent against the stone wall of the nearest building. “Aristotle” He said, looking at Luke “was possibly the greatest man who ever lived. Second to Plato, of course. Philosophers, they were. But Aristotle had the right idea - tragedies. All the Greek tragedies - Oedipus the King, Agamemnon, even the stories of Troy, all written according to his coercive system of tragedy.”

Jake looked away at that point, as in a moment of lucidity he’d suddenly realised he’d been focusing on Luke’s lips. He put his head back against the wall and closed his eyes in an attempt to break the chain of thought, but only found himself imagining Luke’s face again in full force. He opened them immediately and looked out across the fair. Anne Carpenter was probably out there somewhere. Perhaps if he hunted her down then- well he wasn’t sure what would happen then. Perhaps all the feelings he was having towards Luke now would be transferred to her. The trouble was, he infinitely preferred Luke’s company - It wasn’t that he disliked Anne, he just found Luke easy to talk to, and that never happened to him, never. It was probably a sign they were destined to be true friends, or-

This time Jake considered hitting himself in the face. If he didn’t stop thinking these things soon, something would happen. He refrained from thinking about what, but he knew it was going to be bad.

[Luke Scarlett]

Jake seemed to be determined to drink himself into a stupor and Luke watched nervously as he downed his second (or was it third?) mug of ale. He hoped it wasn't his fault that Jake was drinking so much, it would be just like him to be making the man so uncomfortable he was driven to alcohol and not even realise he was doing it. Or maybe he was just boring and Jake was trying to find a way to forget that he was in poor company. Neither of these options really appealed to Luke and he began to try and think of a way to apologise or make it up to Jake somehow.

Before he could think of anything half decent to say, Jake grabbed his arm and began to pull him off through the milling crowd. The grip at least assured him that he wasn't completely unwanted and Luke grinned with relief, almost tripping over his own feet as he tried to stop Jake from swaying into an unsuspecting villager. Maybe his company was more a necessity than anything else right now. He tugged Jake upright, steering him carefully to the edge of the square which, by some miracle, they managed to reach without any mishaps.

Jake quite happily settled down on the floor and Luke followed suit, setting his barely touched mug of ale down on the ground next to him, just out of his friend's reach. As far as he was concerned Jake had quite enough alcohol in his system and his proof was the man's inability to stand up straight (or at all right now Luke suspected) and the fact that he seemed to have transformed into a person who was far more talkative than before. What Jake was talking about though was a mystery to Luke. He seemed to have adopted some kind of code.

”Philos-” Luke gave up trying to say the word, at least he recognised it. ”They're those guys that... thought up stuff right?” He asked just to be sure. Normally he would never dreamt of asking so many questions, especially ones that he would certain made him look stupid, but Jake put him at ease. Besides the man was really quite drunk, the chances of him remembering this conversation were slim.

”Troy is the story with the giant horse, some theatre company came through Loxley and put on a play about it when I was younger. It all seemed a bit unbelievable to me.” He knew he was prattling. Jake probably hadn't brought up the subject of Aristotle just to hear tales of his rather uninteresting childhood but Luke wasn't sure what else to say and he wanted to keep the man talking. ”So Aristotle was a playwright?”

Luke glanced over at Jake. He had a rather pained expression on his face, either Luke had said something particularly stupid or the drink was catching up to his friend. ”Are you ok?” He asked concerned. ”You don't feel sick do you? I can go and try to find you some water or you could try eating something.” He held out the bread he'd grabbed from the table before they made their way over to sit down. He didn't want Jake throwing up everywhere, he wasn't very good at dealing with sick people.

[jakeplatt]

Jake could tell he‘d had too much to drink. As if the stumbling over his own feet and inability to stand up on his own hadn’t need enough, his arms were now flailing like a windmill in a hurricane. He couldn’t help it - when he really got into things he gesticulated a lot at the best of times, but evidently this was amplified by how much He’d drunk. “Yeah, they thought stuff” He explained, his brain to addled by alcohol to think of a better description “But the point is, what did they think?” He doubted Luke would be able to answer the question, but at that moment, he didn’t feel any better able to answer it himself. He hiccoughed.

He wasn’t properly set off, though, until Luke said he found the story of Troy unbelievable “No no no no no” Jake corrected, getting to his knees and turning himself to face Luke properly. “Don’t you see. It’s the epic tradition. And more than that - it’s about love. My father always said that Helen was an unfaithful strumpet, but the way I see it - she loved Paris, not Menelaus. Wouldn’t you defy society’s expectations, if you loved someone? Shame they both died” He sagged slightly at that, slipping from on top of his bent legs so they stuck out one way and his body lent against the wall.

In the process of his collapse, he’s missed Luke’s next question. “Hmm? No. Well- no. Not really. But it’s debateable” He thought about it, trying to work out the best way of explaining it to Luke. It may have been because she was drunk, but for some reason he wanted Luke to understand what he was talking about.

This time it was his own thought process that made him miss what Luke was saying “Hmm?” He asked again “What? No, I’m fine. I was just thinking” He smiled at Luke’s offer of water, but shook his head “No, thank you” How kind it was of Luke to odder to look after him. No one had done that. He was always the one doing the looking after - Emma, his mother, he’d always taken care of them. But now-

He felt tears well up in his eyes “Thank you” He repeated, this time in a whisper, then leant across to kiss Luke full on the mouth, before passing out in his lap.

[Luke Scarlett]

"Uhhh..." Luke looked at Jake not sure if he was supposed to answer that question or not. It was a confusing one and considering he still wasn't quite sure what a philosopher even was and he thought it was rather mean of Jake to put him on the spot like that. Luke thought stuff up all the time, but somehow he didn't think griping about his brother or pondering what was for dinner were really the right kind of thoughts. So philosophers must do some kind of special thinking. It sounded like quite a cool job if you asked him, being paid to sit around and just think, what a scam.

"Love?" Clearly Luke had missed that part of the play. He remembered the horse and a fort and a beach... something about a really big war and a fighter with ankles. Luke was momentarily distracted by his strange thoughts, a fighter with ankles? Everybody had ankles didn't they? Anyway the point was he didn't remember anything about love, but his little boy's brain had been distracted by a couple of dogs fighting over a scrap of food during the play, especially when the actors got to that boring talky part. He didn't say anything about this out loud though, because Jake seemed to be quite animated about the subject and he didn't want to offend the man by admitting he'd found a couple of mutt's scraping more interesting at the time.

"People do stupid things when they're in love." He pointed out, thinking about a boy back in Scarborough who'd turned up to sing outside a girl's window every night for a week to try and win her heart. It had been particularly annoying because Luke had heard better voices on a yowling cat and he'd been trying to sleep. But love wasn't all bad, you had to be blind to miss the way Robin and Marian looked at each other and if that was what love was like it didn't look so bad.

Jake seemed quite distracted and it appeared the alcohol was catching up with him because he seemed far more thankful for Luke's simple offer of help than strictly necessary. It was only a glass of water and some bread... He looked at Jake a little worried as tears welled up in the man's eyes, he hadn't meant to make him cry, Luke suspected he was making a bit of a mess of this conversation. And then Jake kissed him and Luke was too shocked to move, his eyes widened in surprise and he was so stunned that he almost didn't move in time to catch the man as he slumped unconscious against him.

Luke propped Jake up against the wall, making sure there was no danger that he slid down onto the floor. Then he scrambled to his feet and wrung his hands with worry. Why had Jake done that? He looked at the sleeping man, his heart pounding in his chest and without even realising his hand went up to his lips. Maybe he hadn't meant to kiss him, maybe he'd leaned in to whisper something and had just sort of slipped. It seemed pretty unlikely and Luke ignored the small part of him that thought that he didn't really want to it be a mistake. With a final, slightly wistful glance at Jake, Luke ambled back over to crowd. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to find a drink.