RP: What's Up, Boot?

[rar_michael]

Date: June 14, 1999
Characters: Michael Corner, Terry Boot
Location: 44th S. Vinewood, elsewhere TBD
Status: Private
Summary: Mike wonders what's up with Boot
Completion: Complete

Comments

[rar_terry]

It was Friday evening, six days since he and Lisa broke up - since she walked away - and Terry was still miserable. The irony of his situation wasn't lost on him. When he broke up with Katie, Lisa was one of the first people he'd talked to, poured his heart out to, really...and now he'd broken up with Lisa, and he only hoped that some day she'd be willing to talk with him again outside of work. They'd done a good job of avoiding each other most of the time this week, but he was fairly certain that at some point their mentors, Sibley and Hardy, might cotton on and throw them together on a reversal.

Worry about that possibility ran through Terry's mind as he lay on the sofa, staring into the empty fireplace. A voice startled him and he realised Michael was speaking to him from a nearby chair.

"Oi, give a bloke a little warning before you shout at him, yeah?" Sitting upright, he rubbed his eyes and stared at his best mate. He'd managed to mostly avoid Michael all week but that had come to an abrupt end.

"You ever feel like you're too stupid to go on living, Mikey?"

[rar_michael]

"Boot, if you're not used to my volume level after all these years, I can't help you." Michael grinned, although he was fairly sure it wouldn't be returned. It wasn't.

"Too stupid to go on living? Merlin, Boot, what are you on about?"

[rar_terry]

Michael had a point; he usually was loud anyway. Corner was grinning, but Terry could barely meet his eyes.

"Lisa and I ... she broke up with me," he said haltingly. "Last weekend. Saturday night."

[rar_michael]

Michael stared at Terry. What on earth had happened? They'd all had dinner together on Saturday, then Terry and Lisa had gone off by themselves. He'd thought things were going so well between them, too.

"Broke up with you?" Michael echoed lamely. "Merlin, Boot, 'm sorry. What happened?" Michael was pants at comfort, but he'd do his level best to be there for Terry. At least this time he didn't have to slug him.

[rar_terry]

"What happened," Terry said vaguely, sitting up straighter on the sofa and running a hand through his hair. "What happened was, we took a walk over to Phoenix Park. We sat down on the grass and talked for a little bit. Things were going fine. Then Lisa asked me--" He swallowed, struggling to find the right words -- "asked if it would seem strange if she said she wished we could see each other more often, and I..."

He looked at Michael for a moment, then averted his gaze. "I said yeah, it might be a little strange. And the minute it came out of my mouth I thought, bloody fuck, why'd I say that? And then I knew I was an idiot."

[rar_michael]

Michael blinked. "You didn't want to see her more often? I mean, I think I know what you mean but you work together and live next door to each other. I think you see each other every day." He hoped he wouldn't need to take sides. It was easy to be mean to Katie Bell, since he hardly knew her. It would be hard to be mad at either Terry or Lisa.

"Merlin, Terry, I don't know how to even respond to that. Only you know how you're really feeling, but I thought you and Lise had really hit it off, you know?"

[rar_terry]

"Yeah, we see each other almost every day. Monday through Friday anyway," Terry explained. "But she said she wanted to see me more often outside of work and I...I reckon I was happy with how often we'd been seeing each other, y'know?"

He looked up at Michael now. "We did, it was great up until last Saturday. And then suddenly I could sort of see where things might go if we started seeing more of each other." He swallowed, hoping he wasn't blushing. "We'd promised to keep things light, y'know? But I know how it went with Katie. It didn't stay light for long. It got pretty...physical. And I..." He wasn't sure Michael would want to hear this. "I felt myself drawing a line. When push came to shove, I couldn't think of Lisa that way. I need her to be my best mate. You can't be best mates and someone's lover at the same time, can you?"

[rar_michael]

Michael sighed. "Well, I guess if you really feel that way about her, it's better to let her know now, than let it go on." Merlin, Michael was getting sick of being Terry's agony aunt.

"Know you were pretty caught up there with Bell for a while, mate. And if you don't see yourself with Lisa that way, I guess it's for the best. 'm not going to have to pick sides with this, am I? 'cause if I do, I may just kidnap Goldstein and move to the States just to get away from the both of you." He hauled himself out of the chair. "I believe this situation calls for alcohol. Shall we have it here, or go out in search of some?"

[rar_terry]

Terry expected Michael to punch him in the jaw again. Instead, Michael seemed positively reasonable about the whole thing. "I didn't even know I felt that way until she brought up the stuff about seeing more of each other," he admitted warily, not entirely sure that Michael wouldn't pop him.

He shook his head. "No, I wouldn't expect you to take sides, don't want you to do that either. I swear, Mikey, I wasn't trying to make Lisa break up with me. I was happy just the way we were. I could've gone on like that for a long time. I was happy; the relationship was comfortable. But I had to tell the truth when I knew what it was. She was the one who walked out, not me." He looked past Michael, toward the fireplace. "I could have followed her, told her not to go, but I didn't."

Terry nodded. "Definitely need alcohol, mate. Let's get out of here. 've been staring at these walls too much the past week. Want to go to Utopia?" He didn't care that he'd taken Lisa on a date there awhile back; it was a comfortable pub where a lot of younger witches and wizards liked to hang out.

[rar_michael]

Michael shook his head. Maybe Ter should just lay off the birds for a bit. It seemed to be working for him, at least. He barely had time to breathe most days lately, and to add a relationship into the mix would be difficult at best.

"Well, Ter, 'm not sure what advice I can give you. Don't think a sock to the jaw is gonna solve anything, either."

He slipped his trainers back onto his feet. "Utopia it is, then, mate." At least that would keep Terry from mooning about the house. He hoped Lisa hadn't decided to drown her sorrows in public, too.