the bones of our past - Lockwood x Lucy

Seek and Run

Upon opening the door, Sam's face split into a huge grin as he saw Lucy. Then, however, his eyes settled on Lockwood right next to her, and his smile turned into a scowl.

"Good," Lockwood thought, very privately, to himself.

He wouldn't describe himself as a possessive person, of course, or even a jealous one. But for reasons beyond his understanding, he just did not like Sam. Did not like him, for the life of him. He could die, really, for all Lockwood cared.

"How nice to meet you again!" Lockwood greeted him with a bright smile on his face. "How are you on this fine evening?"

Sam looked at him dumbfounded, slightly out of breath. He wore pyjamas - a top with a sleeping sheep on it and matching pants - but he didn't seem to notice. "Fine, thanks, I guess? What are you guys doing here? It's almost night."

"Exactly," Lockwood smiled. "Would you mind if we came in for a cup of tea? I'm terribly thirsty. And we have an offer you won't be able to refuse."

Sam opened the door wider for them, still a bit bewildered and eyeing Lockwood cautiously, who didn't miss the way a flush crept up Colby's neck as Lucy squeezed past him with a friendly nod of her head.

Lockwood quickly followed her. "Nice clothing," he uttered as he and Sam were closest. "That sheep looks very cosy on there." He gave him another bright smile before he fully moved past, feeling very gleeful and proud when he noticed Sam's blush deepening and him looking down at himself, horrified.

Lockwood's smile stopped, however, when George threw him a look. "What?"

George shook his head. "You two owe me compensational money for personal suffering."

They sat down on the small couch whilst Sam was busy making them tea. He did, intermittently, go into his bedroom to change outfits.

"Alright," he said as he gave everyone their respective cup. "What has brought you here?"

"We want to help you get rid of the visitor that's plaguing your home," Lockwood said nonchalantly.

"What?"

"Assuming it hasn't already been dealt with? I apologize, but this morning it sounded like that was still a pressing issue-"

"It is!" Sam quickly got out. "The ghost must still be there, no one's been able to locate the source."

"Well, then let us be the ones to do it."

Sam looked taken aback. "But... are you sure? I could go back home? You would do that for me?" Then, he made a grimace. "How much would that cost me?"

Lockwood waved his words away. "Oh, we're such good friends, it'll be free of charge." He watched Sam's face break out into a grin before he spoke again. "However, there is a favour you could grant us."

"Anything."

"Well, we stumbled upon these papers during our investigation," Lockwood explained, taking them out of George's grasp and holding them up for Sam to see. "Sadly, they were written in German, which none of us speaks. They are not all that important, frankly, but it would still be nice to have the whole picture," he downplayed. "You said your uncle lived in Germany for a while, correct?"

Sam's eyes widened excitedly. "Yes! And he does have a few German books on his shelf at home - he didn't teach me enough of it to translate it freely, but with those books, I could get that sorted out in a few hours, tops."

Lockwood's smile grew brighter still. "Excellent. Then we have a deal: We clear your house of the ghost, and you translate these pages for us."

He felt Lucy's and George's incredulous looks on him then. He still hadn't told them the plan, but frankly, he liked it that way - surprising them just felt that much nicer.