ruffians | the punchline to the joke is asking "someone save us"

[Luci draws her hands back, but obviously not because Terry hurt her-- she's just surprised by his gumption.]

I don't know if I'm annoyed or aroused.

Both?

[He glances up at her with something that's almost an amused smile while he shoves all the folders in his bag.]

Maybe even at the same time. [She smirks and ruffles his already wild hair.] Alright, confiscating this~ [Luci reaches to take the bag and maybe even hold it out of his reach if she can manage it.]

And you can find us a place that delivers.

[Terry snorts and shakes his head. He ordered in enough times with Maxxie, he probably knows every place in a 2-mile radius that'll deliver to the building. If they're still willing at least.]

Just don't wreck it. The lease for this place is in there.

I would love to see the landlord who could forcibly remove me from these premises. [But she doesn't destroy the bag. She does carry it over to her room and pitch it somewhere in there and shut the door. She's probably rationalizing that Terry won't go into her space without her permission.]

I don't want pizza, but anything else is fair game.

[If it was Yuffie, he wouldn't care, he's literally wrestled her for stuff she's hidden in her clothes before. But he has a bit more respect for Luci's space. He just flops down on the couch and pulls his phone out.]

There's a Chinese place that me and... Uh... We...

[Terry swallows and shakes his head. Maybe not that one then.]

... How about Lebanese?

[Luci comes around the back of the couch, watching Terry closely but not saying anything immediately. She can read between the lines, of course. After a moment, she leans over the back of the couch and wraps her arms around Terry's shoulders.] Sure, sounds good.

[She lets that sit for a moment, then:] It's alright darling, you don't have to hide it around me. You're wearing it like a particularly oversized coat.

[He appreciates it more than he has words for, bringing a hand up to rest on her arm in a small gesture of thanks.]

I'm not hiding it, I just... Gotta keep moving forward, you know?

[Grief takes time, and it's not something Terry has an abundance of right now. Maybe when they make real strides forward he'll reach out to a therapist or something, but until then the bes he's gonna get is moments like this.]

[God but he's so fucking thankful he still has friends like this around. Even if he can't fathom what he dis to deserve them.]

Well you could at least say his name. Just because he never got to second base with me doesn't mean I don't miss him too. [She finishes that with a particularly firm and aggressive squeeze of Terry's shoulders before letting him go and heading for the kitchen. Delivery booze is not a thing, but she can provide.]

It feels like every time you get close, you pussy out and pull up.

[Rude.]

I just don't want to talk about it.

[Terry kicks his shoes off and pulls his feet up on the couch, hugging his knees to his chest. Absently he picks at a loose thread on one of the rips in his jeans and sighs.]

I mean, it's not like sitting here all "I miss Maxxie more than I've got words for" is gonna change anything. He's still gone.

It doesn't feel any better to say it out loud? [There's noise from the kitchen that sounds like Luci's making herself a drink.] Because I hear that confession is supposed to make everything okay.

[Jokes aside...]

You're right that it won't change anything. But if you want me to tell you that it's better to keep your thoughts and feelings inside and to yourself, you're going to be disappointed darling.

[The irony of Terrance "Let's talk about your feelings" Ward refusing to open up is totally lost on him, and he shakes his head.]

I don't wanna bother you with my shit just because I'm feeling like crap.

Terry. Love. [Luci comes around the corner with her whiskey and the bottle in her other hand.] Why am I even here if not to listen to your shit? I could be blowing up a bar right now, and several months ago even I'd wonder why I'm here instead.

[She rolls over the back of the couch, somehow keeping her whiskey upright, and lands next to Terry right in his personal space.] But what can I say? You were good to me, and I want to be good to you.

This is being good to me.

[The good being the bottle he takes from Luci and puts a leg down to accommodate her all in his space.]

I should be used to this stuff anyway.

Mm. [She lets him have the bottle and takes a generous sip from her tumbler.] We lost a lot of people, but each one was pain of a different kind. Getting used to it would mean everybody meant the same thing to us.

[She slings an arm around his shoulders again.] I would be deeply disturbed if you became used to people suddenly vanishing out of your life. It hurts because you care, that's not a bad thing.

Kinda the norm, even before I got here.

[Terry shrugs a shoulder, looking down at the bottle in his hand.]

Mom's in an asylum, Dad sent me off like he couldn't wait to forget about me-- not that I really blame him. First day of training... [Oof, there's one he's never said out loud. Terry takes a deep swig of his drink and sighs.] Got another recruit killed on the first day of training.

[Yeah, he needs another big gulp of that whiskey.]

Losing people is kinda my thing at this point.

Point still stands. [She puts her fingers under Terry's chin and gently encourages him to look at her.] It may be your thing, but you don't get numb to it. That matters. I like that about you. You care about all this dumbass paperwork weeks after everything ended because it could get better for somebody else.

You talk a good game about loss being your 'thing', but you like to build, don't you?

I want things to be better.

[Terry frowns back at her, sad and tired.]

People still need this place, or something like it. I just... [He sighs and shakes his head.] It can be something good. Not what it was before.

So why does it have to be you, hm? Why not let somebody else take point on all of this? You're not directly obligated to give anybody something better.

Because the last person we trusted to run this place was using us all as cosmic batteries for some kind of weird inter-dimensional ritual?

[Not to mention the shit she pulled on a personal level.]

[She sighs, long and aggravated.]

One of these days Terry, I'm going to hold you down and not let you up until you admit I have a point. I'm making good points here.

[That one actually gets a laugh out of him.]

Once I know what I need, I'll ask for help. I just need to figure it out first.

If you don't ask, you know what'll happen. [She grumbles into her glass and eases up on the personal space invasion.]

Maxxie would be disappointed if I let you beat yourself up like this, I'm not facing that boy's wrath without making some sort of effort.

[Wow, low blow. That good mood he was cultivating evaporates and he clenches his jaw.]

Well none of us are facing anything from him, so you don't need to worry.

Oh I'll believe that when I see it. I've been yanked from home and had a whammy put on me so hard I forgot I was a fucking god. [She takes another drink.] After that, my motto is 'Anything Is Possible'.

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