Lucas Is Surprised To See Her Still Here, But He Smiles When He Takes It In.

"Wow, ten years?" Adrien doesn't even look up from his work as he continues talking. "I thought not really leaving my hometown for that long was bad. But this place?"

He let's out a stream of air in sympathy. He strips off the covering so he can get to more of the wiring.

"I mean, I've got the important bits: monsters that eat people, can't leave town, stay indoors once the sun sets. It's all very Twilight Zone. I guess I'm curious what all you guys do in the meantime? Gardening, scavenging, cooking, healing, that's all good, but that's survival, not living."

she'd forgotten how newcomers could be; so eager to learn and ask questions. its one of the reasons why she never took up a leadership position with the council; erin didn't think that she could keep herself impartial if she got too close to every newcomer. a lot of people didn't make it, she didn't want to sign up for the pain fest it would be when they inevitably died. she hoped that he wouldn't though, that he would somehow break the cycle. she stalls for time, looking around the shop and tinkering with things in the office here and there. "ten years," she replies easily enough, but if you were to know her then you'd notice strain in her voice as she says it. clearing her throat, she continues. "what do you want to know?" better to figure out what he already knows and then go from there.

Adrien laughs and pats Cherry back.

"Sounds fair. And thanks. So what's your type anyway?"

CHERRY'S EXPRESSION SCRUNCHES THE LONGER ADRIEN GOES ON . she tries to nod as she makes a mental list, but she has to blink as adrien groans . " what ? no !" cherry moves to put a hand on adrien's shoulder then, giving it a squeeze as she says, " you like what you like, okay ? nothin' cringe about that ." cherry nods decisively . " and if you want a nice, patient guy who looks like he gives good hugs i can look around for that for you ." a beat before she pats his shoulder to add a light, " m'not cuddling any of them to test that out though ." her grin is cheeky . " that's gonna be all you, okay ?"

Lucas laughs.

"Fine, fine."

He adjusts to match Muz's positioning. He looks up at the clear sky as he decides what thoughts to share.

"Well, to be honest, I'm trying not to freak the fuck out over the storm and yeah, it's been making it hard to sleep. Not to mention, I keep thinking I hear rain for some reason."

'Scavenger, me. Next penny I find, it's going in your pocket.' Muz stretches out his legs in front of him, giving his boots a little scuff against the gravel, leaning back on the bench. 'Go on, you gotta spill now. Entertain me,' he says, tilting his head as if he’s settling in for a story, eyes brightening a little. 'Need an advance before I go scrounging for pennies.'

Adrien nods in agreement, having not planned his costume until El mentioned people could. Then he blinks in surprise.

"It's your birthday? Happy birthday! Damn that's crazy."

He taps their glasses together in a toast.

"Sorry, since we're all focused on the Halloween stuff today. They should've made a cake for you or something."

" THANKS, ADRIEN ." cherry replies with an amused nod, her lips curling up into a grin . despite herself cherry can admit to being almost mildly endeared . it's hard to put her finger on why, but hey, she'll take it . " i mean, honestly i wasn't gonna bother until i found out other people were doing it ." cherry shrugs . " i love a party as much as the next girl but being the only one dressed up would be kinda sad no matter how hot i looked ." cherry sighs then before shrugging and playfully adding, " but it is my birthday so i had to do somethin', you know ."

Lucas grimaces. He almost wishes Adam hadn't said that. Now he feels the urge to run out and help. Which would be a terrible idea. He knows.

"Why do they want to torture us so much? What did we ever do to them?"

Seven years, and Lucas still didn't know the answer. It pisses him off so much. It pisses James off. Pisses Rae off.

Fuck it! The whole town is pissed off.

"Don't tell me I'm the issue? I just thought he was severely constipated." maybe he misread the look of utter annoyance and discomfort other had for him, for simple digestive issues. Then again, Adam's ego never did allow him to see himself as the issue.

"We drink." he clicks his glass agains the others, savouring the moment that was not likely to come again soon. Drinking on the job. Quite an influence he was. "Oh no the screams are definitely real. Rain ain't as loud as those things torturing people long enough for the rest of us to hear it and feel like fucking powerless pieces of shit for not running out there to help them and die in the process. Diabolical."

Lucas nods.

"We'll probably also put it up to the whole community, but we'll need to discuss things first."

He walks with Elm to the door, holding it open for them.

"I suppose I know what you'd say at that town meeting."

ELM CONSIDERS LUCAS' OFFER FOR A BEAT BEFORE THEY NOD . they straighten as they move towards the door with a low, " so you guys will vote ?"

"El's really cool. They're teaching me shit I didn't even know about out there."

Adrien turns his focus back to his project, though he keeps up with the conversation easily.

"Just something, Muz or Mara found. Figured I'd see if I could make it work before we stripped it for parts."

He looks up. "Anything I can help with? This is just fun stuff I can do any time."

He places the pieces on the bandana he'd found and wraps them up.

"that's good, there are some cool people here, and you picked one of the better jobs. i'm sure el has you working hard," she says with a smile. "you seem to be taking things pretty well." she liked how adrien always seemed so positive about things. it was refreshing in a place like this. they needed more people like that. "i'm okay, got a long list of things i need to work on around here but wanted to check in with you. i know it can be a lot these first few weeks." cam looks down at the walkie talkie he was messing with. "what'cha doing with that? haven't seen one of those in awhile."

Lucas actually pouts and slumps deeper into this seat. He feels like a reprimanded child, and he deserves it, but he doesn't have to like it.

But he doesn't have to make Becca suffer with him.

"I don't suppose you're also a meteorologist and can explain this storm at all?"

finally, he's convinced. becca sighs in relief, knowing that it was difficult for lucas to ignore his sense of duty. it wouldn't have been much longer before she tied him to a table if he had continued the argument. she tries to give a reassuring smile, but remains stern when she speaks. "you'll have to."

she returns to her own seat, watching as he struggles with the gravity of his situation and comes to accept it. "when the storm is done, the first place you're going is to the infirmary. you need a real treatment and whatever they say, is what you're going to do. until then, stay off it." and if he's lucky, they might even have crutches available.

"Nice to meet you," Adrien says with a smile and shaking Noah's hand. "El sent me over to check on things for them."

Adam shrugs and giggles.

"I guess it could be worse. Could definitely be better but could be worse."

Adrien walks in and looks around. There's a car already up on the lift. He walks up and studies what's going on under.

"This your project or El's?"

"Easy there!" Noah smiled, raising his hands in a 'no harm done' gesture. "Didn't mean to give you a heart attack."

He eyed the newcomer for a moment , giving him a friendly smile. "Noah Adler. Mechanic. Well -" He shrugged his shoulders. "I fix things, anyway." He stepped forward, offering a handshake, a big of oil still smudged on his hand from earlier.

"So you're new in town... I don't know whether to say welcome or apologise," he laughed. He hadn't been here long himself, so who was he really to say anyway. "Welcome, I guess." he tipped an imaginary hat.

RAFAEL SILVA on the set of 911: LONE STAR Season 5