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Caleb would get a text - from Yu, the last known civilian name of the man who had been Parisite, his one time almost victim, now, at least presumably, someone who had left the Negaverse.

If that was even possible.

//Late night Hang out? No Hospitals this time? (I hope))//

A simple enough message.

A fine time to see where things stood after all.
So they could agree on a time and a place where they would meet.

As far as Yu was concerned, he remembered a ‘friend’ who had helped get him to the Hospital, remembered standing in an alley and giving over his personal information, so clearly he had trusted Caleb. Trouble was, most of ‘knowing him’ must have been in Uniform…
But it wasn’t as though he’d give his information to just anyone right? Let alone trust someone dangerous near the rooms where Sterling and Priam had found themselves.

He shuddered still at the thought of it.

It might be good to reacquaint himself with people he’d met before, they had to have been part of getting him to think about leaving the Negaverse after all, He Knew Sterling and Priam were the root cause that he had to, ultimately… but…

It was nearly time anyhow, he let the others know what he was about, going out to meet Caleb and talk, fill him in, get filled in. He promised to keep things low-key.

He made it there a little late if only because his poor rescued car was in desperate need of another tune-up. They had gotten it mostly operational, the damage that had been done by Roger was, creative and diverse. He brought dinner because he couldn’t bring himself to show up empty-handed. He was already plotting the vast number of meals he was going to be delivering to Ilya after all. He was pretty sure if Caleb had gone with him to the hospital, sparse though his notes near the end; he owed him at least one good meal.

So it was in uniform, with a ‘casserole bag to keep the food warm that he found himself parked on a bench waiting for someone to show up looking like they were waiting for someone too.

He plucked at the coat that he now had, it felt strange and good. Like he couldn’t remember having earned what he was, but at the same time, it felt...right. The staff was going to be a learning curve though.

“You must be… yeah, yeah kinda a show off.” He admitted. He grabbed a handful of coat and swept it out before letting it fall back.

Same scars on his face, or close enough- but not Parasite.

“I Uh, wanted to say thanks, and um… apologize too… I made notes in case I forgot but, I mostly focused on my life out of uniform I guess.I um… you probably already know this, I guess swapping sides has a cost, so… I forgot a lot. I’m, sorry because I assume I was a d**k, and you’re probably part of the reason I got given a chance anyhow.”

He rubbed the back of his neck feeling his face and ears warm with embarrassment.

“I’ll probably never get used to people giving me a chance, I’m kinda garbage like that… but uh… yeah, thanks man.”

“Oh! Uh… right! New name! Uhh- I guess I’m Laojun now, I… I don’t remember what to…. call you like this.”

Attractive… he thought he’d never quite get used to people saying that and not … trying to abuse that in some way. But then…
Then there were lips against his own, lips that weren’t Sterling’s or Priam’s…
He felt so lost for a moment, unsure what to do with his hands, his face, even his mouth. Had he…
Had they…
Proud of him, the words were such a … they made him so happy he felt guilty about it.

“Oh...Ah th-thank you.” He stammered.

“I hope I ...I hope I live up to it.” He stammered.
“Did we… are we… I-I mean… I have a …” He stammered over the words “I have boyfriends, I mean…” He admitted. “If….if you and I… and I forgot.” He stammered.

If he had forgotten, he should still tell Sterling and Priam…

They were ...poly-amorous, but that only worked if they were honest with each other. He owed Gelria that honesty too, to let him know that he had boyfriends when he wasn’t in uniform.

Hell.

Caleb… Gelria probably deserved to know more of his background if they were kissing.

“It…. it’s different. I haven’t don’t a lot because everyone is recovering. They got hurt and scared really bad.”

It was surprising to know that Caleb knew Sterling and Priam, maybe it was good and… normal.

“I’m… happy I don’t have to hurt the people closest to me.” He said carefully. “I’m afraid that I’ll hurt people that I liked still, but I almost killed Sterling and I had no idea. I could have done that to….Priam or even you.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“It was important enough I wrote out… how it happened and it’s just scary.”

He scuffed his boot against the ground and then added with a wry grin. “I don’t think whomever is in charge of your side has any idea that I have no idea what to do with a pole arm though, and uh…. waiting to loose this earring but…. yeah.”

“Oh! Right...I uh...So I cook, and I figured I probably at least owed you one….uh...yeah!” He offered the food up a little nervously, wondering what he’d forgotten, what he hadn’t thought to write down. There had been a lot, after all, to try and cover.

“Errr… you don’t have allergies I’ve forgotten, do you?” He added. “I mean, it’s chicken, most people are safe with chicken unless you’re a Vegetarian or a Vegan or… on one of those funky diets, in which case I request a do-over.”

He wasn’t nervous, nope… not at all.

He did sort of have an impulse to flick the edge of that top hat though. He blamed the fact he was ultimately a delinquent at heart.

“Also...fair about the earring, I was more thinking like, if someone grabbed it and uh…” He winced at the thought of someone ripping the chain and its gauge free. It was nice at least that his uniform took into account the piercings he’d so carefully tended.

“I am really glad this all worked through, I uh...for a laugh I was like, the only one there not dressed in white and rainbows and stars and stuff…” He rambled the thought out, remembering that moment when he’d struggled to find his bearings for a moment, and then got reassured that he was in the presence of those he cared about a lot. It was… strange that he and Karone had lost different ‘halves’ almost of their respective memories, but perhaps for the best as well. She seemed so happy regardless.

“I mean, fair, I’d probably have wrecked a white coat in under… five minutes tops.” He admitted thoughtfully.
“But it suits the others. But, don’t worry about it, trust me I’m not worth breaking necks over. It wouldn’t even be the first time someone left a mark.” He waved his hand.
It was probably a turn of phrase, but really … you could sitch the kind of injury that yanking the earring free would cause.

“Right uh...Let’s have a seat.” He said and waved towards a bench.

“I uh...can’t cook dessert for s**t...which sucks, but Sterling can… some time we’ll just all have to do like a ‘yay team’ meeting or something, you know, being that we’re all on the same side now.”

He swept a hand over the bench, almost absently because the other man had a white … top? Shirt?....ruffle sleeved thing that looked like he personally would destroy it by accident in record time.

“I’ve been practicing curry, I figure if I can’t get a job where I worked before I can at least show off my skills somewhere new. Even if I have to be like, a dishwasher again, I still want to work with food.”

Ah… he really did mean it to feed him then, that was new as far as he could remember. He gave a small nervous laugh and then forked up a good bite, a balance of what he had made from the container, and offered the fork to Gelira.

“I … think I can arrange that. He’s new at this, but he’s a …. He’s a cool guy. I didn’t like him at first but, he’s really a good person.”

“I’ll talk to them about inviting you over, we could probably do a backyard cookout.” He mused. Wouldn’t be too bad to make more than one pizza in that old oven…”

“Don’t think I’ve ever mixed tacos and pizza before though, I’ll see if I can’t figure that out on your behalf, just because you have an Ex doesn't mean you should be cut off from something you enjoyed eh?”

He paused thoughtfully and looked around.

“Should we just power down? It seems quiet enough. I only remember talking to you once out of uniform… I guess I look a little different now though.”

“No problem! I had a note that you guys used to feel pretty awful too…” he mused.

He worried at his lip thinking.

“Mmm… Melody might know, maybe if you know the name he had when he got brought to the Negaverse- or she might be able to match him to someone she’s seen?

He let go of his new uniform, relaxing a little to be at least as close as he could be to the way he remembered talking to Caleb… Gelria.

His favorite shirt at the moment - an old Led Zeppelin shirt so faded you could nearly not make out the faded insignia.