Eddy started laughing, a startling sound in its volume and depth.  It was rich, vibrant, and totally unexpected; Luke stood there and stared in surprise, listening and wondering why on Earth the man was laughing.  Was he laughing at him...?  Or...?  It didn't sound mean, it sounded wonderful, but Luke remained confused.<br/><br/>So he did now it... Maybe there was some readon, some private joke that accounted for the laughter.  Luke didn't ask, unsure of how to, and then Eddy had answered his compliment, which set the boy's mind in other directions.  He smelled like rain and a bit of smoke, from the alley and the smog... but it was turned into something warm, alive, and Luke was happy to bask in it for a little while.<br/><br/>"It's up here," he said, motioning towards a row of crumbling apartments.  They would have been leaning or falling down if they weren't jammed next to each other-- peeled paint, rusty faux gates at the fronts, cracked windows as old as the buildings...  Luke stopped at the front door of one, and pointed at a dark window on the third floor.<br/><br/>"My stop," he said with a small smile, a bit shy and even apologetic.  Even wasted, he knew it wasn't a pretty picture, and for some reason it was kind of embarrassing to show Eddy where he lived.  He paused on the steps, lightly swaying, and then spoke in a tentative, quiet voice, grey-blue eyes gentle and filled with a buried hope.  "Do... do you want to come up?  You can come in, if... if you want..."