Conclusion.

[Disclaimer: I do not own the PPC.  That is the property of Jay and Acacia.  I do, however, own Drew and Lucius.  This is the final part of a three part series, which started in Confrontation., and was continued in Click.  However, I would recommend reading it the order of publication, which means starting with Click., and then reading Confrontation..  The entire series takes place between Intermissions One and Two.  Thanks to Caddy-Shack, EllipsisFlood, and JulyFlame for beta-ing.]

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Lucius leaned against the console.  “It has been an interesting day.”

Drew nodded weakly.  “Indeed it has.”  He spun his chair half-heartedly.
“Lucius, look.  I... I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have acted the way I did.”

Lucius nodded.  “It’s alright.  I also overreacted.”  He sighed.  “I’m going to go get some food.  You want anything?”

“Nothing in particular.  I’ll go with whatever you get.”

Lucius patted his friend on the shoulder.  “Alright, mate.  I’ll be back in a bit.”

A few hours later, Lucius poked his head through the door.  “Hey, Drew?”

Drew was curled up in his chair.  Lucius sighed, and put down the tray, which was laden with food.  He shook his partner awake.

“Drew?  You okay?”

Drew started.  “Hm?  You’re back?”

“Yeah.  I went to the cafeteria, but none of it quite looked... edible.  So I kind of made some stuff up as I went along.”  He gestured at the tray, which held several plates of pasta,  fish, and what appeared to be a cake.

“You made all of this?”

Lucius nodded happily.  “Yes.  I admit, I went a bit overboard, but I haven’t
really had a chance to cook for anybody in a pretty long time.”

“Oh!  Neat!”  Drew poked the pasta.  “It looks pretty good.”

Lucius grinned.  “Help yourself, mate!”

“Damn.  That tasted even better than it looked.”

“I have plenty of practice.  I am Camorri.”

Drew looked at the fish.  “I must admit, I am not too sure about the fish.”

Lucius cocked an eyebrow.  “Oh?”

“I’ve had bad experiences with fish in the past.”

“Ah.  You may as well try it.  I shall take full responsibility should you get sick.”

Drew shot a mournful glance at the cake.  “Alright.  If you insist.”

“Okay, that was also pretty good.”

Lucius grinned.  “I am glad you like it.”

Drew looked around nervously.  “Hey, Lucius?”

“Yeah?”

“Are... Are we okay?”

Lucius looked surprised.  “Of course we are.”  He raised his eyebrow again.  “Why would you think that we weren’t?”

Drew stood up.  “I... I don’t know.  I just feel really bad about what
happened.”  He punched Lucius lightly on the shoulder.  “If we are good, I... I’m going to go take a nap.

With that, Drew wandered off.

Confrontation.

[Disclaimer:  I do not own the PPC, which is the property of Jay and Acacia.  I do own Drew and Lucius.  This takes place before Click.  It also contains references to the backstory bits of both Drew and Lucius, as well as Mission Three spoilers. Also also, mild profanity warning! Thanks to Vixenmage and JulyFlame for beta work!]

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Confrontations tend to have build-up.  A variety of contributing factors come together, until emotions boil over.

Such was the case in Response Centre 43042.

“Drew, turn the music down.”

“Don’t wanna.”

Lucius reached over and shut his partner’s laptop.  “There’s some... stuff we need to talk about.”

Drew rolled his eyes.  “I’m sure we do.”  He crossed his arms and lay back
in his seat.  “What shall we talk about?  The fact that I’m a zombie?
Because surely that’s the only thing that you put your serious voice on for.”

“Drew...
that’s not...”  Lucius sighed.  “I know we mostly talk about that.
But, that’s not quite want I wanted to talk about.”  He sat down.  “We
haven’t really talked about... Well, if you’re okay.”

Drew snorted.  “You’re not my mother.”

“Godsdammit Drew.  You are my partner and my... friend.”

“You paused.”

“I have had... trouble with friends in the past.”

Drew cocked an eyebrow.  “Well, that’s another thing we should talk about now, isn’t it?”

Lucius sighed.  “Yes.  It is.  But the main problem right now is you.”

“Oh, so I’m a problem now?  Well, you might as well leave me to my wallowing, hm?  I mean, it’s not like you’re forced to be cooped up in here.  You get to go out on missions and other exciting stuff.”

Lucius sighed again.  “Thirteenth.  This is going absolutely nowhere.”

“No, it’s going somewhere!  I mean, we’ve just figured out that you think that I’m a problem!”

“Drew, I don’t think that at all.  You should know this.”

“What, so I’m an idiot for not knowing?”  He smiled.  “Or, maybe, you just don’t know what you think!”

He stood up.  “I mean, you’ve been hurt in the past, have you?  Hm?  Well, you know what?  So have I.”  His voice rose.  “Shit, you don’t know the half of it.”

Lucius buried his face in his hands.  “Don’t talk about it like that.  You don’t know.  You weren’t there.”

Drew leaned forward.  “Hey.  Hey.  You’re forgetting something.  You weren’t there for my past either.”

“Godsdammit Drew, you are my friend, and I care about you very much.  But right now, the only thing I want is to hurt you.”

Drew snorted.  “Piss off.  You can’t hurt me.  I’m undead.  Also?  I watched my lo-my best friend off himself right in front of me.”

“I was tricked into killing both of my best friends.”

“Yeah?  Well?  You know what?  I...”  He paused, then sat back down.  “Shit.”

They sat like that for some time.  Neither of them spoke.

After what felt like hours, Lucius broke the silence.

“Drew?”

Drew sniffed.

Lucius stood up, and put his hand on his friend's shoulder.  “Do... do you need a hug?”

“No.”  He shook his head, then looked up.  “I think we need to talk.”

Click.

[Disclaimer: I do not own the PPC.  That is the property of Jay and Acacia.  I do own Drew and Lucius.  Just a heads up, this story swaps between three points of view.  The first bit (normal font) is Lucius’ side of an interview of some sort.  The second bit (italics) is the conversation between Drew and Lucius as they prepare to get pictures taken.  The final bit (in grey) is Drew’s side of an interview that takes place after Lucius’ bit.  Some parts of this will make more sense if you have read Drew's backstory bit, Lucius' backstory bit, Lucius and Drew’s third mission, and the subsequent intermissions.  Of course, it’s not necessary to read these, but if you haven’t already, you may want to.  Thanks to JulyFlame, Aster, and FlareShard for beta duty! Special thanks to JulyFlame for the picture!]

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Working with Drew?  It’s... interesting.  I don’t mean it’s bad.  Definitely not bad.  He’s a nice guy.  Just a little... unhinged, I suppose.  It’s not his fault.

     “I still don’t see why we need to do this.”
“I’m assuming it’s for our files.”
“Well, why didn’t they let us wear our uniforms?”
“Drew, the last thing I wanted was to see you change.  I’m just as unhappy about this as you are.”

     I like Lucius.  He’s nice.  It’s good to have a partner again, so it works out pretty well, I think.

     “Well, at least I’m wearing pants.”
“They don’t have anything like what I’d normally wear.  You’re lucky.  You wear jeans with your uniform.”
“Whatever.  I’m still the only one wearing pants at the moment.”

It’s... hard to explain.  I don’t like going into details, but, well, let’s just say I don’t like opening up.  It’s not that I don’t trust Drew, it’s just... I don’t want to have to relive the past.

     “Drew?”
“Mmmmyes?”
“Why are you wearing a corset?”
“It’s the manliest thing I can find.”
“Take that off.”
“Fine, geeze.  You don’t need to be a jerk about it.”

I don’t know why, but I don’t know that much about him.  I’ve... tried bringing his past up, but I don’t think he hears me.  Well, no, that’s a lie.  He hears me, but he... I don’t know.  He gets really quiet.

     “That shirt looks pretty tight...”
“Shut up.  It’s either that or a tropic-print shirt.”
“Hmm...  I like this.”
“Good!  Liking stuff is fun!”

I feel guilty about it sometimes.  I know he’s interested, but I don’t want to have to explain all of this.  Maybe I should, but, still.  I’ve been hurt in the past.  I don’t know if I could take that happening again.

     Click
“Alright, I’m done.  Now, you need to get your stuff together!”
“Drew.  Patience is a virtue.”
“A virtue which I am sadly lacking, and will likely continue to lack for quite some time.”
“Fair enough.  Have you seen my knife?”
“Nope.  I forgot my machete, think they’ll have a replacement?”

     I don’t know, I’d imagine he has his reasons.  I figure he’ll tell me when he’s ready.  I guess it’s none of my business.

     Click.
“Drew, why are you wearing a floral shirt?”
“YOU’RE NOT MY REAL MOM!”
“Fine.  Take the bloody picture so we can be done with this.”

No, really?  I never would have guessed that I worry about him.  He’s my friend.  And, in some messed up way, I feel that... that he’s my responsibility.  Yeah, it’s stupid, but still.  I think he’s been affected a lot more by what he found out than he lets on.  He buries his problems.  Someday, he’s going to have to face it.  And, well, that’s how life goes, isn’t it?

     Click.

Of course I care about him!  He’s my partner!  And my friend, but still.  What?  No!  I... I don’t have any interest in him!  I mean, yeah, sure, I lean that way, but still.  He’s... not exactly my type.  So, no, I don’t care about him like that.
What?  No.
No.
We’re not going to talk about Tom.
This is over now.  Good day.

     “Well, glad that’s done with."
“I’m hungry.”
“So am I, mate.  Let’s head back.”

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