Heartache and Bad Decisions (Manifesto)

[Rachel Shale]

Luk spoke of the one thing that had troubled her. She didn’t know him, and once again she felt her subconscious warn her against doing this. Its voice was quieter than the sadness of rejection in her. She needed to feel wanted and comforted, and that desire won over. In fact he brought it up. That was reassuring in itself. Dhe found ways to rationalize her decisions.

She took her seat and waited for Luke to get in next to her before telling the driver where to go. As the driver pulled away Rachel fiddled with the wallet in her hands, feeling uncertain due to the close proximity to the stranger. She was also in an enclosed space. Her instincts were beginning to win over. She shouldn’t be doing this. Luk could be a psycho murderer for all she knew. ”Are you from Moscow or did you come from somewhere else?” she asked, trying to keep the nerves from her voice.

[Legione Sumus]

Lucio Pirozzi

Lucio made sure when he slide in the back seat he didn't move in too close he could feel her discomfort. And after they got started she asked him about himself. That was encouraging.

"I was born in Italy. I went to college in the US at MIT and recently the company I worked for folded, so I decided to come visit my sister here in Moscow. I haven't seen her since she came back home after grad school." He smiled. "And you are clearly from the US from your accent."

[Rachel Shale]

MIT was pretty prestigious. Especially if Luk did something like engineering. It was a good time to leave the US though. Things were pretty crazy there - especially with the assassinations. Rachel was glad she lived here now, even if she felt alone at times. And Luk was here to visit his sister. Family was important. Rachel knew she should talk to Emily and Jared about how she was feeling. She knew Emily didn’t like Cruz and she thought Cruz hadn’t made a good impression with Jared. That was just a feeling. Maybe Jared had caught on to Cruz’s drug problem. She didn’t know, but she just couldn’t bear the thought of them thinking they had been right about him - even if she knew they wouldn’t care about that so much.

”Yep! Moved over here when my sister did. I attend the university here now. Kind of glad to be out of the US now. Things seem to be falling apart over there,” she said. Her uncertainty faded to wariness. She had noted he hadn’t sat down right next to her, once again giving her space. He seemed to make her want to feel comfortable. Truthfully, he didn’t feel like a creeper at all and talking helped her grow more comfortable in his presence.

[Legione Sumus]

Lucio Pirozzi

Luk smiled and nodded. "Yes the US is quite the mess. It's why I'm here now." He glanced at the streets outside. "Let me guess you are studying philosophy?"

The shop wasn't far. But the cab had been worth it, it was cold outside. He didn't much like the Moscow weather. Luk paid for the cab and opened the door to slide out. "Ice-cream for the drowning of sorrows."

[Rachel Shale]

Rachel shook her head and responded ”No,” to his question about philosophy. She was studying psychology, and it wasn’t lost on her that she was finding it difficult to manage her own emotions right now. In truth it had been a rough year, with few bright spots. It made sense for her to be upset, but she had always been better at helping others than she was at helping herself. It took her a minute to respond further because she was embarrassed by her lack of control. ”Pyschology.”

They arrived at the store and Rachel hurried inside wanting to get out of the cold. It was odd that they were going for ice cream in the middle of winter, but it was a comfort food. She went to the counter and placed her order for a hot fudge sundae with whipped cream and nuts. She let Luk order what he wanted and brought out her wallet to pay. ”I got this - you paid for the drink and the ride.” if Luk insisted on paying she would let him.

She led them to a table and took a moment before taking a bite. ”What did you do in the States before your company folded Luk,” she wasn’t quite ready to talk about what was going on. She wasn’t sure Luk even wanted to talk about that. He had seemed quite receptive, but why would he care about her troubles.

[Legione Sumus]

Lucio Pirozzi

"Ah. My sister is in psychology." He almost said it was a useless field of study as if he were his sister. But he kept his mouth in a tight smile. And answered her question "I am a Mechanical Engineer. Worked mostly with medical equipment, the last few years. Nothing very innovating."

Luk shrugged and sipped at his chocolate shake (I forgot to have him order sorry). "I think the company folded before the assassination because they might have known something was going to happen. I think the annexation and other political flags are scaring a lot of the companies left in the US. It might be good to be back in the CCD."

[Rachel Shale]

Rachel nodded, staring at her sundae. Her moods were seeming to shift back and forth, and she had trouble focusing. Luk was there, talking to her, but he never pushed anything. She didn’t know why he had approached her. She couldn’t have been very fun to be with. But he had chosen her for some reason. Decided to talk to her and take her here.

”Yeah, I’m glad I’m here now and not in the States. Mechanical engineer on medical equipment. That sounds important though,” her thoughts went to Cruz. Jivana was a medical technology company. ”Im sorry - I’m not much fun to be around. I’m a wreck,” she said, not looking up at him. It didn’t take much to remind her of Cruz and that just made the pain feel more real. She was surprised she didn’t cry, but didn’t find herself feel sad. She felt almost empty, like she was just drained of all her energy.

[Legione Sumus]

Lucio Pirozzi

Luk smiled she was no bother. "You are fine."

Luk shifted in his char and gathered his things. "I can leave if you want." He pulled a card from his pocket and pushed it towards her. "If you want company or have time to show me around town. I'd rather not be only shown around by my sister."

[Rachel Shale]

Luc looked like he was going to leave again. She didn’t really want him to. It seemed like he was okay with her current idiosyncrasies. She took his card. ”Lucio Pirrozi,” she said, reading his name. She liked the way it flowed. ”I don’t mind the company and could show you around for sure. It’s just,” she sighed. ”I just went through a break up. Been a hard couple of days you know.”

Just saying that she had gone through a break up actually helped. She felt like a weight had been lifted. ”it actually feels good to say that,” she chuckled a little bit.m, and gave him a real smile. ”So when do you want to do this tour of the city?”

[Legione Sumus]

Lucio Pirozzi

She took the card and rolled his name through her mouth. People always seemed to like the way it sounded. It was part of his charm he supposed. That and the accent. Something he used to his advantage a great deal in the United States. He could speak perfect English, but opted to give it the Italian accent everyone expected of someone born of Italy. While it made him stand out, it made him stand out! Which was usually what Lucio wanted.

Luk smiled at her lost relationship. "Breakups are hard." He sympathized with her. "Our voices give a lot of weight to many things and owning the hardships is one of them."

She took him up on his excuse to see her again and grinned madly. "Whenever, Ms. Rachel has time and can spare an hour or two to show me around would be wonderful. I am not sure how long I'm in town. I'm between jobs at the moment and Moscow might have something I'm looking for." He offered his hand and when she took it he pressed a feeling of comfort and welcome along with a little curiousity and wanton desire into Rachel's palm. He wanted her to call him.