Adrien Giggles.

With his ankle now secure, he slowly moves to stand on it. It's just a sprain. It can't be that ba-

"Shit!"

He falls back onto his ass, relieving the pressure from his ankle. How is that only a sprain?

"Doesn't matter if they understand," he grits through the ebbing pain. "It's still my job."

He tries to stand again.

she rolls her eyes; sometimes the pain is more convincing. "alright, let's try it." becca stands and goes behind the bar, hoping for anything that could work. everything's a little messy, but she manages to pull out a couple of washcloths from behind a box. at least they smell clean.

"you won't be useful to anyone out there if you're limping along, too." with a handful of barspoons and folded towels, lucas' ankle is barely held in place as she finishes the knots. it won't do much if he's out running around. "jim will understand- everyone will."

"I can definitely handle that," Lucas replies with a snicker.

He looks up at Ana, smirk softening to a smile.

"And I appreciate you. Lesbian drama and all, because I know you've got my back too."

Anastasia smirks back, crossing her arms and giving Lucas a playful nudge. "Exactly. I expect a perfect balance of polite intimidation and subtle protectiveness. Think you can handle that?”

She raises an eyebrow, teasing. "I need you to be just threatening enough to keep her on her toes but not so much that she thinks she’s about to get ambushed every time she looks at you." With a laugh, she adds, “But really, you’ve always had my back and I appreciate you."

Lucas enters, seeing Rae covering a body. The brief look Lucas gets tells him it's not Kina. Which probably means Rae already did her.

"Hope I didn't interrupt," Lucas says gently, shutting the door behind him. "I just had to check in on you."

He steps closer, placing a hand on Rae's back between his shoulder blades. A touch he hasn't done often since they broke it off years ago. It's too intimate for friends after what they tried to be.

But this moment? This moment requires intimacy.

"How are you?"

he should’ve been working, another victim waited for him on the table. instead he sat on the stool & stared blankly at the autopsy notes before him. the knock at the door caught him off guard, the voice less so.

he contemplated telling luc to leave him alone, but knew well enough that he wouldn’t listen. “come in,” rae emotionlessly called back as he got up to cover the occupant of the table — a stranger this time.

Adrien is immediately interested in the little she'd said. He walks further into the room.

"You know, I was thinking we could probably make some decent windmills to generate power," he says, looking down at the book she was reading. "It's pretty windy here, and it'd be more reliable than solar power."

"It's cool," she said looking at the source from inside the notebook from where she was sitting on the floor. "I'm just trying to figure out new power source, but with limited- " she said before glancing up to see who was speaking to her before closing the book. "Do you need something?"

RAFAEL SILVA — Instagram (2024)

Adrien nods. He was never too good at people's layers either. Too scared that they'd leave if he got too deep.

He perks up at the mention of the watch.

"Oh, do you still have it? Did you get it working? He promised to find me something to work on, too."

He smiles at El to show them he's hearing them.

"I wouldn't mind this becoming home. At least for a little bit."

Ellington pauses mid-motion, resting a hand on the side of the engine as they process Adrien’s words. They snort softly at his teasing, shaking their head.

"Yeah, Cherry is good folk. But good doesn’t always mean simple, you know?" They shoot Adrien a sidelong glance, their smirk faint but fond, as if already regretting how much they’re saying. "She’s... just got layers. And I’m not exactly an expert at peeling those back without making a mess."

They wipe their hands on a nearby rag and lean against the workbench, looking thoughtfully at Adrien. "Muz, huh? Yeah, he’s cool. He’s got good instincts. He brought me some busted-up watch to fix the other day—it was a cool project."

They tilt their head slightly, a touch of mischief in their smile, "stick around long enough, and this place’ll start feeling more like home... or at least something close to it."

Lucas gives him a dubious look, not really believing him at his word but not really able to call him a liar either.

Then he eyes the bench, wary. If he sits, he's not sure he'll stand back up any time soon. But getting off his feet sounds so nice.

He sighs and settles down next to Muz.

"If I fall asleep, you better wake me up," he says with a relieved sigh.

'Lucas, baby, what d'ya mean, man? Full twelve hours, me. Sleep the whole night through.' Twelve hours total in the four months since landing in this town, a bit more likely. But he lets a smile slip. 'Need your beauty sleep, man. Come sit for a bit. Gimme company.'

Lucas actually let's out a chuckle.

"Yeah, I imagine it is. You want help moving some of this out of the way?"

He studies the guy's face and recognizes the tired look in the lines of his face. Hard not to recognize that here.

It took Ares a moment to realize someone was talking to him. His mind had been elsewhere, more so than usual. The storm had worn him down, striking just as he’d begun to feel the faintest sense of settling into his new reality. Now, exhaustion weighed heavily on him, like the life had been drained from his body. As always, he masked it, though the dark circles beneath his eyes probably betrayed him more than he’d like to admit.

"No, no… everything’s fine, I assure you," he said, shaking off the fog. "Just taking a wellness walk to, uh, clear my head." If that’s what we’re calling it, he thought but didn’t say. Instead, he flashed the officer a polite, if not slightly forced, smile. "Though, it’s a bit tricky with all the rubble around."

Lucas listens intently, making sure Elm knows he's really listening to her, giving her space to talk about anything.

He quirks an eye up. If she felt the need to mention it, then it must be something to consider important.

"What was notable about the tree?"

ELM TAKES A MOMENT TO THINK ABOUT IT . " i was with bruna in the community kitchen ." elm shrugs . " we were doing chores together to keep busy during the storm ." a beat before elm admits, " i don't remember why i left . i don't remember leaving ... but i know they were there ." they wrap their fingers around their laces again and again, eyes on the motion before, " after that i woke up in the forest and walked back . my shoes were gone ." a pause before they tilt their head, meet lucas' eyes and add, " ... i remember a tree ."

"Oh yeah. The tractors, the irrigation system, the heating, the A/C, the oven, the TV."

He straightens up, holding a metal panel. He examines it, wondering what it could be used for.

"I also worked at a T-Mobile store for a summer, so I learned a lot about cell phones, tablets, and smart watches."

He purses his lips, then shrugs and drops the panel back into the pile. He looks over at Muz and smiles again.

So the quote on quote joke didn't seem to land. Muz narrowly avoids disappointment, thinking he had been making good attempts at friendliness there. 'A farm?' he asks, tone a little more enthusiastic. He watches Adrien fiddle through that pile. 'You worked on the tractors and that there?'