interstellar5555 | I won't pretend that I intend to stop living

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I won't pretend that I intend to stop living

Who: erryone in Pride
What: recovering from the events of December 7
When: late December 7/early December 8 - ???
Where: Pride HQ and wherever else they're allowed to go
Warnings: ~~Carnies?~~ references to I Will Twist the Knife

So maybe you've just gotten back from the most mellow kidnapping ever and you're itching to tell your bandmates about what went on with the cool helmeted guys while everyone else was at that stuffy party. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a little while to tell them, but that's okay - surely you can keep yourselves occupied until everyone else returns.

Or maybe you're one of those who wound up at that party of Naomi's, and your night was a little less fun. Now you're back at HQ, possibly with mended physical injuries and almost certainly with a few new psychological scars. Now's your chance to check in on your friends and bandmates who missed out on all the trauma and deal with things as best you can.

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[A few days after everything settles, Luci finds herself venturing out of the Carnie suite to have a cup of coffee at the HQ cafe. Baby steps. She's doing this re-entry into Pride life slowly.]

[Very slowly, apparently. She's almost unrecognizable without her makeup or her hair pulled back. She looks tired, or paranoid, or both as she stirs her coffee and eyes the pastry case.]

[By this point Maxxie has pulled himself out of the oppressive funk that he was in to begin with, partly because he's taken it on himself to try and be strong for all his friends who actually did get hurt, unlike himself who just had to witness it. It's not full-tilt signature Maxxie cheeriness yet, but he's moving and alert and responsive and might crack a gentle smile if he's prompted.]

[He's still going to the cafe because being around the guys 24/7 is hard enough without the trauma colouring their interactions, and they don't make an awful coffee. He doesn't even recognize Luci until he's nearly tripped over the chair across from her, accidentally kicking it and jostling the table slightly, not enough to spill anything but the chair makes some noise when its feet scrape across the floor.]

[Maxxie quickly makes sure his coffee isn't spilled and then looks down at her.]

Oh, sorry, usually I'm a bit more graceful than-- oh, shit.

[His mouth falls open a bit in recognition.]

[Luci jumps a little when the chair gets jostled and looks up at Maxxie. It's pretty obvious from his tone that he has no idea who he's talking to, and it makes Luci smile wryly when he finally puts it together.]

Yeah, that's a pretty accurate description of how I look. Sorry to startle you with my face, Maxxie.

No, it wasn't that, I was just a bit... lost in my own head is all.

[He laughs a little bashfully.]

You mind if I sit?

Join the club. [She gestures to he seat in front of her.] You doing alright after all of that? Or at least better than a few days ago?

[Maxxie sits, setting his coffee and pastry down and sighing.]

Yeah, I think so. Everything's still majorly fucked up but seems like everyone's doing okay...

I feel like that's the understatement of the year. [She sits back, fussing with her coffee cup in thought.] But yeah, it seems like we're all getting on. We really don't have a choice do we? Kind of 'Perform or Die' now. [Luci picks up her cup and has a sip.]

[Maxxie chews on his lip, looking down at his coffee.]

Least we're all alive to do it.

I guess so. [Luci sets her cup back down and twists it a little in a thoughtful fidget.] It's rough for me-- I hate having anyone tell me what to do, but... whenever it comes to doing what management tells me I'm just... spineless.

[Annoyed, Luci picks up her cup again and drinks.] It's always bothered me.

[He gives her a nervous laugh.] I'd never expect that, coming from you.

[And then back down at his coffee bashfully.] I'm the same way though. 'Course, I'm like that with anyone.

What, spineless? [Luci snorts and shakes her head with an amused grin.] Kind of hard to do what we do with no backbone.

I dunno, I guess it's not that I don't have backbone, I just... I don't like fighting with people, you know? If Manny starts getting angry I'd rather just give up than let it go on.

I know how that is-- when Camilla asks, I don't stand around. [Luci shifts uncomfortably and hides behind her cup for a moment.] I think there's a difference between fighting and conflict though. Conflict is pretty inevitable, not everyone thinks the same. Maybe you just haven't had a conflict that you think is worth pushing back over yet.

...but if you ever decide to fight someone, like actually fist-to-face, please text and wait until I get there. [She grins, because that would be amusing as anything.]

[Another nervous laugh.]

I dunno, I don't think that's ever going to happen. It's just so much energy disliking someone that much.

Lazy pacifist? [Luci laughs with him, though she seems actually amused and not nervous at all.] I don't know, I think everyone finds something they can't sit down and take. So it's not our managers-- [She shrugs.] --big deal.

I guess.

[Maxxie's never thought about it before. He doesn't know where the line is - what wouldn't he be able to sit down and take? Other than someone hurting his friends, which happened, but in that situation he felt way too helpless to do anything about it. That seems to be a common thing for him, feeling helpless.]

Manny's alright most of the time anyway. He's just looking out for us.

Be grateful your manager is just looking out for you. I'm legitimately terrified of Camilla. [Luci snorts-- just thinking about it makes her need a cigarette.] Mind if I have a smoke?

Oh, I dunno if we're allowed in here...

[He looks around the cafe.]

But, you know, I could have one too. You wanna step outside for a minute?

[Luci gives him a flat look. Not Allowed? Good gravy, he really is a pushover sometimes.]

As long as there aren't any cameras. [She says, picking up her coffee and heading towards the back of the building. No fucking way is she being snapped by the paparazzi when she's looking like a pleb.]

[Maxxie shrugs.]

The guards'll follow us out anyway. They'll wanna make sure we're not going anywhere.

It's not the fans I'm worried about. You're looking right at my face right now, Maxxie, I like it that my fans think I never have bad days.

[Sure enough, as they head out back, a suit follows them. Luci gives him an eyeroll and stops ten feet from the door before pulling out her cigarette case and lighter.]

[He frowns thoughtfully before he lights his own.]

Everyone has bad days.

[She lets a laugh out between her teeth and the cigarette.]

Not Lucifer, darling. Lucifer is like... looking right at the sun. [She smirks and lights her cigarette.] The sun doesn't have bad days, it only disappears for a while.

[Maxxie thinks on this with a ghost of a smile, looking up at the sky as if he's considering the literal application of this metaphor.]

Sometimes the clouds get in the way. Doesn't make the sun any less bright, though.

[Luci blinks as she lights her cigarette, closes the lighter, pulls the cigarette out of her mouth and laughs.] Touche. I guess I try to keep my cloudy days to a minimum.

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