formerlysiryn | [For Cole]

Having to care for someone who doesn't think he needs care at all makes Terry realize that the few things she's grateful to have inherited from her father are the same things that make it easy to drive each other insane. One could write a bloody treatise on how stubborn the Cassidys are. While the heart-stopping fear for Sean has slowly faded with each passing day, Terry still visits him every day, bringing food and generally making sure he's resting and not killing himself, which of course he is, because apparently being bedridden for longer than a week after being shot isn't manly enough or is lazy or whatever.

They occasionally snipe at each other and she threatens to kill him herself if she finds him trying to walk again, but Terry always leaves her father with a kiss and her spirits lifted. Whatever she feels, he's still alive and breathing, and the relief almost always burns away any other feelings and leaves her jittery, needing some sort of distraction.

When she leaves the apartment building, she decides against flying, the wind too cold to make it at all pleasant. At least her favorite coffee shop isn't too far from the Cloisters, and Terry starts to walk, cutting across the park. She pulls her phone out, briefly scrolling through her few contacts before settling on Cole, texting a quick Coffee? bean counter @ gerard & high st before her fingers freeze off.

She doesn't hear her phone again until she's already in the shop and decides to wait for him to arrive before ordering anything. She did promise to buy him a coffee, after all.

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Cole is surprised to get the text, but he smiles and sends back a simple 'You bet!' He got to the Bean Counter not long after that. He nods at a few of dArrow's regulars, but his eyes are already scanning for Terry. When he spots her, he gives her an up-nod and heads over.

"Hey! How you doing?"

"I'm doin' good," she says, giving Cole a smile when he comes over. He's a convenient excuse to kill some time, but she does enjoy speaking to him. "I needed to get out of the apartment, and I figured now's a good a time as any to buy that coffee I owe ye."

Cole grins. "It's not like I was keeping tabs on an owed coffee," he assures. "But, hey, it's good to see you, y'know?" She looks like she's doing alright. Cole had been thinking about her on and off lately, too, with the holidays. Wondering how she'd been doing with all the different beverages being promoted, all the parties suggested and going up around town.

"Same to ye." Her month has been so focused on Sean that Terry hasn't really spent much time with other friends. She would never complain about it nor see it as a job or weight to carry around, but sometimes she forgets that she has friends around. "How've you been doing? Workin'?"

"Yeah, Christmas is a busy time for deliveries," he says. "How about you?" He feels like a lot had happened since the last time they'd talked, and he sorta feels bad about that. He'd been in his own head for some of it.

Terry makes a face and shakes her head. "It's been alright. My father got hurt a little while ago, so I've been spending a lot of time with him the last couple of weeks."

"Oh, hey," Cole says, straightening. "Is he okay? Are you?" He wants to offer his help somehow, because that's what he does, sometimes. He watches her, trying to gauge if it's bad or just something that happened that she's dealing with.

"He's fine," Terry responds, grateful for the concern. While she's made a few friends, sometimes it's easy to forget that they exist when she's so wrapped up in her concern for Sean (whether he appreciates her concern is another matter entirely, and Cassidys would not be Cassidys if they didn't clash every now and then). "Thank you. I'm doin' alright. Just needed to get out of the apartment and take a break today. My da seems to think he knows better than the doctors."

She says it wryly, but there is a fondness underneath that Terry can never keep out of her tone when talking about him.

Cole can't help but laugh a little. "I think most people feel that way," he says. "Myself included." He notes her fondness, though, and smiles a little. "I'm glad your dad's okay." He flags down a barista so he can order a coffee. He gets decaf, because he's more interested in flavor right now.

"I'm sure I'm not immune to it either," Terry admits. It's much more frustrating being on this side of it, but she remembers what it's like to be out of commission because of an injury.

Cold as it is outside, Terry orders a cold drink, wanting the sugar and caffeine rush all in one. "You have any plans for the holiday?"

"Nah, not really," he admits. "All my closest friends are back home, and everyone I know here has their own family and friends, y'know?" He doesn't mean to sound bitter, and he's not, not really.

"Aye." Sean is really the only person from home she has around, but she's sure she has it better than most others who've arrived with nobody else around. Not even those she should know are from her own world. "My da's the only person I really know. I'd be alone otherwise."

"It's not easy," Cole says. "So I'm glad you've got him, at least." He smiles and nudges her arm. "Hey, thanks for the coffee, by the way," he adds, trying to lighten the moment.

[For Cole]

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dfkgjhk sorry for the delay!

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