[BNRT]

[assured_of_this]

What there is to be done about Sean Cassidy and his apparent loathing for their situation, Nate doesn't know. In all likelihood, there's nothing at all any of them can do, if he's so thoroughly emphatic in his beliefs that he'd punch Brad (More than once) even after talking to his daughter about their impending nuptials and what it all means.

Comments

[nothingtomiss]

"Like we stand a chance of doing anything behind their backs," says Brad, leaning back in his chair, food, for the moment, untouched. He does lift his drink though, and take a long swallow. He shoots a look at Terry over his glass and grins; it's the first time all week that he's actually felt relaxed.

"I've been on fucking recon missions where I could get away with more."

[number_unlucky]

"Oh, come on, I'm not excessively observant," I pointed out, cheekily. Case in point: I wasn't exactly oblivious to the situation that had led to this meeting, but I wasn't entirely aware of just how bad it actually was until the shit...well, had hit the fan.

Sipping my drink, I shook my head and twirled the sprig of mint garnish between two fingers. "It's not sneaking off if it's all under Safe, Sane and Consensual, isn't it?"

[faithanbegorrah]

Terry rolls her eyes at Brad, a smile curving her lips. "Are you finally admitting the almighty recon marine has a weakness?"

It's easy to be okay here, and though she isn't going to pretend she isn't angry and hurt by everything, she can at least put it aside for a little while.

[assured_of_this]

"The back of his knees," Nate quietly interjects with a faint but thoroughly wry smile, and takes a bite. After swallowing, he adds, "He's like Achilles that way, just higher on the leg."

[nothingtomiss]

He gives Nate the flatest look that he can muster and then sets his glass down. There's a comment about being ganged up on, but his warrior spirit drowns it completely. In the end, he smiles again.

"In what world do you think she didn't know about that already?"

[number_unlucky]

"I didn't," I said. "And I'm adding it to my files." Noting Brad's expression, I decided to slightly defuse things--the last thing we needed right now, even in jest, was too much dissent. "As well as whatever recipe Nate used for this shrimp."

[faithanbegorrah]

Reaching over, Terry gives Brad's arm a squeeze - for effect, rather than reassurance. "It's okay, love. Your secret doesn't leave this room."

She turns to Remy with the subject change, still smiling. "I'd say the same, but I'm still figuring out how not to burn soup."

[assured_of_this]

"My wife, so diplomatic," Nate remarks, and leans in to press a quick kiss to Remy's cheek.

"In all seriousness, though, as much as I love sitting around just shooting the shit with the three of you, we probably ought to address the elephant in the room." He looks to Brad and then Terry. "All I really know right now is what Brad told me, which honestly wasn't much. I guess the first thing I need to know is if there's anything at all to be done-If we can't resolve this, then to better support you. I hate that you're having to go through this, Terry."

[nothingtomiss]

"Not as much as I do," says Brad, quietly, catching Terry's hand in his before it drops. He looks at her for a long moment before glancing between Nate and Remy. "And...I'm pretty sure the only thing I can do in this situation is make it fucking worse. Sean has made it pretty clear what he thinks of me." A muscle in his jaw tightens slightly. "And the less said about Jamie the better."

He squeezes Terry's hand.

"All I know is that I am not prepared to lose anything over this. Not a chance in Hell."

[number_unlucky]

I smiled briefly at Terry and at the kiss, then nodded at Brad. "Not to rub it in, but what exactly is their...well, their damage, if I have to be all 80s about it? They explicitly dislike our arrangements?"

[faithanbegorrah]

"They disapprove," Terry replies, because in the end, it's as simple as that. She's done a lot in her past to earn everyone's disapproval twice over, but this is the first time she's felt as though she hasnt deserved it.

She shrugs, feeling her her cheeks warm with the anger she's been holding at bay for days. "They're nae so keen on any of this, and think treating me like I can't make my own decisions is the way to go about it."

[assured_of_this]

"To be fair, I could see how it could be alarming for someone more traditional-minded to find out that their daughter is engaging in this sort of situation, especially if the only information he's given is from someone as completely biased as Jamie is," Nate allows. "I think it's completely fair to be angry about how poorly we've all been treated, and especially how poorly you've been treated by your own father, Terry. But I do think that it behooves us to try and see both sides of this if we can. It's certainly not a luxury that was afforded to us, and you see how well that worked out." He tilts his head in consideration. "Not that it wouldn't be well within any of our rights to tell them all to go fuck themselves and have that be that. But I doubt that's what you'd prefer," he adds with a motion to Terry. They are talking principally about her father, after all.

[nothingtomiss]

"Basically, me and Nate are perverts and you and Terry haven't got a brain between you," says Brad, glancing at Remy, but his eyes soon slide back to Terry. "And no amout of attempting to explain the set up on our parts seems to be making any difference at all."

He pushes his free hand back through his hair, the gesture both unnecessary and irritable. "Far as Sean's concerned, I'm cheating on Terry and that's all there is to it."

[number_unlucky]

I hadn't met Jamie, though Sean had, once, been very unimpressed with my interest in cannabis cultivation. Given that, this wasn't really that much of a surprise, really.

Not that that did fuck all to fix the situation.

"I agree with you, Nate, that we can't just rush in and say fuck you, our business. I've seen how well that works for people in personal situations...as in, not very." Nibbling on the shrimp, I swallowed before I added, "But it's not something that should be taken off the table as a last resort. I'm not sure that anything we could do would change their minds, even if we were all living in the same house and had a rotational bed schedule and contracts, or some shit."

[faithanbegorrah]

Nate's had the right idea in bringing them all together to discuss this, Terry realizes as she listens to them. They're all very much in this together, and the fact that they're all here means more to her than she'd expected.

"I'd like to keep the cursing to a minimum, aye," she says, giving them all a grateful smile. "There's no changing how they feel about it, and as much as I'd like my da to feel otherwise, that's just how it's going to be."

[assured_of_this]

"Well, you would know better than any of us," Nate concedes, despite how much he hates that Terry's father would be so unreasonable. He can't fathom how any man could be so horrible to his own child, questionable morals or otherwise. "I suppose the only thing there really is for us to do is continue to set the better example in the way we behave."