Apriltober 2022 11 Uber, end.

a/n: The gang starts to make a plan.

Please add so many swears for Gino, I am not strong enough. Editing? On a Monday? No.

All the good things belong to Monolith Soft, so they are not to blame for this.

"Why you do it, man?" Gino said, going back to rubbing Ricky Bobby's shoulder so hard that he spilled the freshly-opened bottle of sports drink (coldberry flavored this time).

Ricky gave up trying to drink. "I can't do the job," he whispered to the floor.

"Bull. You do great, my man. G-r-e-a-t." Ricky closed his eyes and hoped Gino was spelling out the right word. His friend wouldn't trick him like that, would he? He didn't know anymore. "Tell him he's great, Lila."

The manager was deep into the comm device, flicking the screen. Ricky knew she wouldn't agree.

"Tell him he's great, Lila." Gino was snarling now.

Lila looked up from the comm device. "What? I wasn't ..." She snapped it shut. "Good news: we aren't looking at any kind of dangerous withdrawals, or even any likely long term addiction. This stuff is fast in and out of the system. It was being developed for in-field use to extend overdrive. You know, make it easier to jump in and out of that state."

"That's for battles. Whaling on dinosaurs and fighting crab-men and that kind of stuff. Who'd want it for walking around town?" Gino asked.

Ricky knew the answer, but he didn't want to tell them. So he whispered to the floor again. "I'm too slow. I thought if I could be faster, I could manage. But I can't. I just can't do the job."

Gino and Lila were quiet for a moment, and Ricky-Bobby knew they were coming up with a good lie.

"Bull!" Gino rushed through his answer. "You're the best man and I watch you slinging cable like a champ and you ..."

"I mess up because I'm slow. And I can't keep up. I should get another job," he choked out.

"The job should get another job," Lila said. She sighed, then sat up straight. "You are doing great." She said it so firmly that he almost believed it. "You are doing great, and if there is a problem, it's because the job isn't safe. The job, Ricky, not you."

"I keep telling you we need more hands," Gino snapped.

"I'm trying, and it isn't as easy as all that," she snapped back. "If anything, that's proof of how important you are. We need you."

"But I can't do it."

There was silence. Gino rubbed harder. They all knew how frantic the business could get during the rush periods, how important it was to get the refueling done smooth and fast. Lila spoke slowly. "Early morning, when we're doing the industrial orders. Refueling the construction skells, and so on. It's steady, no surprises, and we set the pace. You'd have to come in early, though. You wouldn't see as much of us, or of Twyleth."

"I don't want her to see me at all."

"Not like this you don't, you big fat dope," Gino said acidly, and for some reason Ricky smiled. He was used to Gino throwing insults all day long. It had been a wrong to have him be nice.

"Buy her breakfast pizza during your break. She'll love it," said Lila.

It wasn't going to be as easy as all that, of course. Even Ricky knew that. But it was a start.

a/n: I could go on and on about these dorks. Why Lila does not wade in and fix things, probably with much quiet violence. Which ex-girlfriend Gino reaches out to, and who she talks to after that. All the worries that Ricky copes with and all the next steps. But I think I'm done.

Next up: Please, I beg of you, send me a prompt. Otherwise: happy.