2019-06-22 - Flames Aren't The Worst Thing

Its mid-afternoon and for once, things are relatively quiet. The fire house has its trucks outside getting washed and Lucian is just at that moment stepping out of the Captain's office, shaking the man's hand and offering the faintest of smiles, "I appreciate the information, sir. I know the official start is next week, but if you don't mind, I've got plenty of time go kill, I'd love to come by before then and get used to how things roll around here?" They exchange a few more words and it looks like Lucian's about to head back out to his little SUV and head off.

Penny was just wandering into work and she...looked like death warmed over. There were dark circles under her eyes and there was a wound on her head that had been patched up by someone. She almost trips over the man leaving and she grips her coffee in her hands so she doesn't drop it. "I'm so sorry..." she mutters as she looks up to the face. There's a long moment where she doesn't know what to say and then suddenly she's throwing her arms around his shoulders and hugging him close. "Please...please be real." she whispers.

He's certainly a lot more scarred and roughed up than she remembers, and his first reaction is to put out a hand to catch her when she almost trips over him, offering in a low voice, "Sorry, careful there..." A warm smile creases his face, recognition taking a few extra seconds to dawn on him. But then his brows furrow a little and he stops and looooks at her, then asks, "Penny? Penny from school?"

He's certainly a lot more scarred and roughed up than she remembers, and his first reaction is to put out a hand to catch her when she almost trips over him, offering in a low voice, "Sorry, careful there..." A warm smile creases his face, recognition taking a few extra seconds to dawn on him. But then his brows furrow a little and he stops and looooks at her, then asks, "Penny? Penny from school?" Then he gets hugged and 'oof's softly, taking a moment to hug her back and add, "I guess so. Hey there. Its been...a while."

Penny seems to sense that something...isn't right. Penny from school? What? She steps back and looks to him, "Lucian?" she asks him. Making sure she'd not just hugged some stranger that looked like him. She rubs a hand down her face, the one that has the diamond engagement ring on it. Someone must have worked hard for that. "You...stopped writing three years ago. I thought you were dead. None of your friends from school would tell me anything." she frowns. "I...where have you been?" she asks him softly.

When she pulls back and gives him that look, he looks a little confused, but he nods, "Yeah. Lucian Faust? I mean, at least I hope there isn't another Lucian around here or this is going to get confusing. But..." He trails off, that furrow creeping into his brow. He opens his mouth for a moment, then stops and closes it, considering, then eyes her coffee and starts again, "Is there a place we can sit down and talk for a moment? Because...there might be a lot to explain."

"Hi." Penny states with a bit of an odd smile. Like...how did someone forget their fiancee?! "Oh...oh dear..." she whispers as she realizes something. "My...office is downstairs. I'm the Coroner." she chuckles a bit half heartedly. "Come on." she whispers. She takes the stairs down and once down them there's a hallway that leads to a lab. 'Penelope Faust' is the name on the doors nameplate.

Lucian murmurs an agreeable, "Sure..." and turns to follow, unwisely commenting, "Well, if you're the Coroner, I imagine that means we're going to be running into each other considering I just signed on as...." and then he sees the name on the door and frowns again, confusion written big across his face. He pauses and turns his gaze back to her, and points at the door, "THAT'S...your office. You're Penelope Faust. I haven't...forgotten a wedding, have I? Christ..."

Penny looks to him and there's absolutely no smile on her face, in fact, she looks MISERABLE! "Wait, you got a job here?" she asks him. "Lucian..." she shakes her head as she cuts herself off. Then she gauges his reaction to the door and then there's a moment her heart just...breaks. She can feel it in her soul. "You don't remember proposing, do you?" she asks him. "Yes, this is my office. My last name is the same as yours. Because we were supposed to BE GETTING MARRIED WHEN YOU CAME BACK!" she blurts out as tears start to run down her cheeks. She turns abruptly and unlocks the door to the lab and then stalks inside.

Lucian gets as far as a nod to confirm that yes, he JUST got hired on, but doesn't say anything, instead listening. She says the P- word and he blinks. Proposed? And then she blurts all of that out at him and he stands there like she hit him with a 10 pound trout, watching her stalk into the office. Just a complete mental bluescreen for a few extra seconds. When the reboot happens, he shakes his head as if to clear it and finally steps forward to follow her in, the furrow re-creasing his face, "Wait. Penny..."

Penny settles her bag and her coffee down, the dark liquid going sloshing on the desk as she drops it a little too hard. She was going to have a breakdown, she knew it. There's an anxiety that had been building up and she tries to breathe for a moment, but she just lets out a sob. "Why did you come here?" she asks in a ragged tone. She was trying to calm herself and she was having a hard time not breaking into hysterics.

Lucian gets maybe a step or two into the office when he feels THAT and sucks in a sharp breath, pausing mid-step. His tone changes to that of someone attempting to defuse a bomb blindfolded, "Penny. Listen. I went to Iraq. There was an incident. I was..." He trails off and attempts to re-think that, then starts again, "I've been medically discharged, and cut loose. I remembered you talking about this little town findly and thought maybe this would be a good place to start looking. I don't...I remember taking you out to movies and dinner. But I..." and then trails off.

Penny looks like she might scream, but she doesn't. She listens to him and tries to keep her emotions in check, but it's all for naught, "What happened in Iraq?" she asks him. "I..this town. Why would you come here..." she whispers as she reaches up to rub her face. When he trails off she looks straight at him, her fists balling up and then WOOSH! Flame on. Her hands are wreathed in flames. That is definitely not normal. "You forgot. Yes. I get that." she states.

Lucian glances around the office for a moment, still a little on edge, but when her hands lightly up, he fixates and backs up a step. He lifts a hand up halfway, his attention squarely on her hands, then up to her face, "If that's you doing that, stop that shit. I get it. Apparently I've made a major mistake." And now he's down in the basement with someone who's pissed off at him and crying and her hands are on fire. Who precisely saw him come down here with her? He backs up another step.

Penny doesn't know why he backs up, so there's a confused look to him. Then down to her hands, "Oh fuck." she whispers. Then she's closing her eyes and breathing deep. The flames flicker and as he backs up, they go out completely. "I'm sorry." she tells him. "No, you didn't make a mistake. I did." she states softly. "A mistake in ever thinking my life was going to be normal." she shrugs helplessly.

Lucian takes another step back to the doorframe and stops there, placing his hand on it like he feels better with potential cover close by. He takes in a deep breath and keeps his voice down, "The irony here was that part of me was hoping you hadn't found anyone yet and might still be interested in a movie or dinner sometime. So...that's not awkward or anything. Right?" There's a faint smile on his face, but it carries that tone of 'ha ha, isn't that funny, really, its funny right? Please dont throw those knives'.

Penny moves to her chair and sits down, folding her hands in her lap so she doesn't go about balling them up again with anger. "I'm sorry." she whispers again. Though his words make her give a surprised look, "I've not found anyone, no." she admits. "Was waiting." she chuckles. "I...I'm just really tired." she whispers as she slumps forward, her eyes closing as she hits the desk.

Yep, that was definitely her fainting.

Lucian stands there like a lump for another moment after her head hits the desk, "...Penny?" She's not moving. There's a great bit of hesitation before he finally steps back closer, the furrow reappearing across his brow, "Penny." Slowly he approaches her desk and reaches out, one big, warm hand closing around her shoulder to squeeze gently and attempt to sit her up, the other lifting to cradle her head as he murmurs, "Shit..."

Lucian knew what the signs of fatigue were. He also could tell when someone had been in repeated battles and didn't rest. It would wear on them. Penny...well, she looked like she had been in a fight recently. Why would a coroner be fighting?

Penny can hear that voice, but her eyes don't want to open, "Five more minutes." she murmurs groggily.

Lucian frowns a little more as he tries to process this, but at the very least, its put Miss Angry Flaming Hands into the back of his mind. He pulls another chair over with his foot and sinks into it beside her seat, and takes her face in both hands, "Penny. Wake up. I don't know what you've been doing here, but I get the impression the County Coroner is not precisely the boring job I thought it was here."

Penny comes to when she feels hands on her face and she stares into Lucians eyes for a moment, her hand reaches up to trace the scars on his face lightly, "What happened?" she asks quietly. Then there's a bit of a breath taken, "It's...complicated." she admits. "Like what I can do to my hands. That is also complicated." she sighs. "But no, this place is not dull or boring. You'll learn that." she admits.

Lucian takes in a deep breath and offers the faintest sort of genuine smile at the questions and the statements, sitting up a little and letting his hands fall away when she seems like she's not quite so shaky, "Well. Normally I just tell people I was in a bad firefight and the base doctor said I had had enough, but since you just threw a wrench in that plan, maybe you have a better feeling than most. It was bad. Pretty sure we should have died, and I think I stopped it, but...I don't remember. And ever since then, I dont remember a lot of things people accuse me of. They couldnt have a fire team commander that kept forgetting the rules of engagement for a mission, so they...politely...let me take a medical discharge."

Penny listens to him and she doesn't say anything until he's done. "I shouldn't have spent so much time with you. Maybe it rubbed off." she frowns. Maybe he'd be better if he got out of town now. "I'm like the pinnacle of weird unexplainable shit, so yes, I throw a wrench in things." she chuckles. "You're forgetting things? I wonder how." she frowns. "I'm sorry for how I acted. It just hurts." she admits. "So you came to get a job here and see about me?" she checks to make sure that's the reason he's here.

Lucian scrunches his nose a little and keeps his voice down, "Well...I probably could have gotten a job lots of places. People like veterans, especially 'disabled' ones, but I remembered you talking about this little town and so yeah, I kinda started here first, and then I saw on the city hall page that they were hiring for provisional firefighters and..." He trails off and takes a deep breath, folding his hands in his lap, "Not precisely how I thought my first day in town was going to go."

Penny actually smiles, "Yes, you could have gone anywhere, but, you came here. So I guess today is not all bad." she whispers. "Can we start over? I feel like a reacted so very harshly due to the last few weeks." she admits with a sheepish look. "It wasn't fair of me to do that to you and especially if you have no idea what is going on." she tells him gently.

Lucian shakes his head slightly at the comment and keeps his voice down, "You said something about proposing. And..you have my last name. And..." He trails off, letting his breath go in a soft sigh, looking tired for a moment before he starts again, "And you said I was writing? I don't...remember any of that. When the medics recovered us, they said I damned near had my body armor and gear blown off. I was lucky just to have my looks...augmented so.." He stops to guesture up at his face and wave down his body, implying that's not the only scar he's carrying, "I remember you being really busy trying to finish your Masters, so I was able to ask you out maybe a couple times a month at most. I finished my Bachelor's and they shipped me off..."

Penny watches him and there's a bit of a nod, "Yeah, you had this whole elaborate proposal planned out before you got shipped off. I had no idea because I was busy with classes. But it was wonderful. We were planning on getting married after your first deployment, to make sure that this was going to work. Your friends said you were an idiot." she chuckles. "I thought the worst when you stopped writing. I have all of your letters still." she admits. "I'm getting my doctorate this month." she smiles to him. Then her hand lifts, running her fingers over one of the scars on his face, "There's absolutely nothing wrong with your face." she tells him.

Lucian keeps his voice down, with a wry smile to it, "Every horrified look I get says otherwise, but most folks are at least civil about it. At least as a fire fighter, it'll blend, in, right? I just wont be one of the ones they pick for one of those 'shirtless firefighter' calendars." The smile there IS a bit more genuine, and seems to calm him down a little. Slightly, he shakes his head, "I don't...I wish I remembered that. I lost a lot. I remember being terrified, and I still have these dreams that I wake up from in the middle of the night. Sometimes it's my unit burning to death. Othertimes its something horrible happening to you or my mother..."

Penny gives him a bit of a look, "You're certainly /not/ doing any shirtless firefighter calendar." the redhead huffs. Then she reaches up and scratches the back of her head, "That was...a bit possessive of me. Apologies." she admits.

"But!" she continues, "How about we go somewhere that's not filled with dead bodies and talk? Get something to eat or something?" she asks him.

Lucian blinks at the reaction in surprise, caught off guard for a moment, but a smirk touches the corner of his mouth when she apologizes, "I guess I have a lot of catching up to do, and maybe a do-over, if I can." He pauses, then nods slowly and rises to his feet, and offers her a hand, "As long as you promise not to pass out on me again. Because I have no idea where you live and me walking around town where I dont know anyone, carrying a passed out Coroner, I imagine is going to land me in hot water. But yes. Maybe some replacement coffee and a doughnut?" His hand is big and warm and easily taken, though he happily lets her lead the way and will take directions as to where to go with his SUV...