Unorthodox

“Damnit, Martha,” he sighed, rubbing a hand against his temple, “I don’t need medical attention, alright? It’s just a scratch.” Dabbing his fingertips at the area over his brow, he frowned a bit at the blood return, “A bloody one, but a scratch.” Despite living in his fixer upper for only a matter of weeks, Lukas was already becoming well acquainted with his neighbors, and mostly against his will– especially when it came to Martha, the elderly woman across the street. She'd been on her way over with a plate of food when a wooden panel above the porch had fallen from above, striking Luke on the head. He insisted he was fine once he scrambled to his feet, but Martha had insisted he'd lost consciousness– Luke didn't remember that part, which only added fuel to her argument for calling EMS. Cringing as the ambulance slowed to a stop on their street, he eyed the older woman once the paramedic approached. “It’s fine, really,” Luke started, descending down the porch steps. “Damn plank came loose and fell down, hit me,” he explained, gesturing to the gash over his left eye, “but I'm good.” Pausing, he squinted down at the medic's name tag. “Morata…” he read aloud, a sense of familiarity quickly rushing over him. “Holy shit– you’re Rafa, aren’t you?” What little he knew had been said in passing; he'd always known the man's cousins far better. “Got pretty tight with your cousins over the last few years,” Lukas explained, his subtle way of letting the medic know he’d been in prison with them, and wouldn’t be taking further questions regarding that at this time.

Turning to the person, he presumed, phoned in the ambulance, he gave the woman a smile. "You did the right thing, thank you. Could I trouble you for a glass of water?" He asked, and waited for her to disappear before going up to the injured man. When the man said his name, Raf stifled a deep sigh and took time to look at the man properly. With the blood wiped from his face, he shared the unmistakable Dimopoulos family resemblance. Tonopah Valley was a small place and everyone knew that Lukas was now back in town.

"Ah yes you must be there elusive other Dimopoulos. Didn't realise it was because you were locked up." He said as he started to examine Lukas. It was a pretty bad cut that would definitely need stitches which he could do right there and avoid an expensive trip to the hospital. "Apologies for my cousins or uncles or both - they're like cartoon characters." Raf often spoke to his incarcerated family and it was safe to say prison was the home of some of his more animated relatives.

Raf smiled a little as he thought of them and gestured for Lukas to stand up before taking a few steps back. "Nice distraction technique though - I'm still checking you over. I'm gonna need you to walk towards me - slowly. After that tell me your first name and spell it backwards."

Grabbing her purse, she wandered towards the door, waiting for him to collect his things. "There's a party next week, too. For Ryan," one of the firefighters. "He's turning 40, it's all hush hush, so don't say anything. His wife has hired out Licence to Grill, next Saturday, we're all invited, and I've already bought a gift and a card, you only need to sign it." Taliah nods, telling him it was from all of them combined. "If you can make it, you should come." Leaving the option open, she didn't want to make him feel like he had to.

"You did?" Raising her brow, she can't help but break into a grin as they set off down the street. "Yeah," Taliah nods. "He really is." Raf's comment warmed her heart, for as simple as it was, it was always nice to hear someone else say what she already knew. "To be honest, I have no idea where I'd be without him. Nowhere good, probably." She chuckled, though it was a completely true statement. "What about you," gesturing to him. "Do you have a partner? Or someone in your sights? ... Is that ok for me to ask? We're off the clock now, you can tell me to fuck off and mind my own."

"I will, she likes to hear the saviour stories." He spoke with a smile. When Raf first qualified as a paramedic, she would beg to hear the stories of him getting to people on time, bringing them back to life from the brink of death. She had told him that it strengthened her faith in God and proved that anyone, despite their past, could be forgiven. Although she had never said it outright, he knew that last part was about him.

Raf wasn't the kind of man to seek out praise, nor did he expect it. "Thanks though, that means a lot." He sat with the positive words and let them sink in, appreciating them for what they were - a declaration of admiration for a job well done. Raf had always like Taliah. He had liked that she had gone out of her way to talk to him, and her attempts to integrate him into their work group. Despite his initial efforts to keep work and life separate, her persistence - mostly - and her charm had worn him down. "Of course. I'll be there." He responded with a smile. Still, it felt nice to belong.

"Likewise." And it was genuine. It was always good to put a face to a name. He had heard so much about Cole secondhand. Some saying positive things, mostly negative and Raf wasn't the type of person to make an opinion on someone based on secondhand information. The Cole he had met (so far at least) was confident, collected and agreeable. Still, he would have been an idiot to disregard his role as a gang leader.

Raf could only laugh when Cole spoke about 'water under the bridge'. He had a suspicion that if Cole wasn't happy about Raf working with Taliah, he wouldn't be working with Taliah. "Hmm... this Morata name of mine isn't doing me any favours, is it?" He asked before dropping his hand. Nevertheless, despite searching for a reason to hate Cole - he didn't have on. "Agreed." He settled on, and nodded. He couldn't leave it at that though. For Cole to mention it, he knew that others perhaps felt the same or maybe thought the same. The Morata family may forever be tied to Los Santos, but Raf would rather be dead than go down with it.

"I have no loyalty or no love for Los Santos. There are no problems here."

"You did good today," walking over to Rafaele at the end of the shift, she offers a smile. "It's good to see that scaffolding didn't compromise your skillset." Taliah shrugged on her jacket. "Jokes aside, I'm really glad you're ok. You had me worried for a while." It had to be said, she wanted him to know she valued him as much as the other team members, caring about each of them like she would her own blood. "I'll swing for a couple drinks and plate of nachos if you don't have other plans?" She was going either way and so, thought it would be nice to extend an invitation.

Nodding at her mention of the accident, his hand instinctively reached to the still healing cut on his head buried beneath curls. "My mom went all the way to The Sagrada Familia to pray that it would knock some sense into me." She then went into full detail to Raf over the phone, without pausing for breath, about what 'sense' meant. For her at least, it saw him married with children and back in Spain.

"It means a lot, honestly." Smiling at the invitation, he paused for a moment, tempted to decline out of habit, "Yeah that'd be cool." He gathered his things up ready to leave, "I met Cole the other day, he seems like a decent guy."

Raf's brow raised when Chase mentioned Alejandra,"Damn what did she try and do? I heard people were getting blown up and shit. It can't be more dramatic than that."

"If my brain was bleeding would I be able to do this?" He said before doing the finger movements for incy wincy spider. "Listen if I needed surgery and they suggested shaving my hair off I'd choose death. I'd look great with a buzz cut though." If he had to tattoo 'DNR if you need to shave my hair off' above the dagger he had in the centre of his chest he would.

"I think you underestimate my stubbornness." He said, finally doing what Tori asked and stayed still. "I'm going to get a dog so I think I'll be fine actually."

"Now tell me why I had to find out you were back in town by seein' you got your shit rocked by that sandstorm in the papers?" Chase snorted out a laugh as he spotted Rafaele making his way out of his grandmother's place. He shoved himself off the wall he'd leaned against and made his way over, face breaking into a grin. "Finally managed to get taller than me, too."

"Dear God, look what the cat dragged back into my life." Warmth and happiness radiated through him in waves and he bound down the stairs towards Chase with a grin. "Be careful and make sure my grandmother doesn't see you, she always said you were the devil."

Raf embraced the man, this was real this was Chase. "I can't lie man I was too scared to ask around. I thought you were dead."

'I know who you are.' was on the tip of Raf's tongue but he pulled it back for the sake of this manufactured peace that the pair of them had silently established. "No, we haven't." And for good reason, he could also add. He paused, perhaps for a second too long before he got up, taking Cole's extended hand, offering him a firm, but brief handshake. "Rafaele, or Raf - either is cool."

@rafmorata

"Stop being an idiot, and lean your damn head back." Tori commanded with an exasperated huff. She gently but firmly pressed Rafaele’s shoulder, urging him to recline on the couch where he was awkwardly propped. Despite the fact she recently left her job in the emergency room to help Niko with the restaurant, she was still a registered nurse. "I cannot believe you didn’t even go to the hospital. It's like you have a death wish." she remarked, examining his pupils for signs of a concussion. "Maybe I should just let you sit here and waste away." She added, in a teasing tone. "Are you feeling light-headed? Any nausea?"

Perhaps he was concussed.

"No. I feel fine," He didn't, he felt like he had been hit by a car, "You really don't need to worry."

@toridimopoulos

"hey... so you're kind of really blocking all my good light..." lotus huffed out rolling her eyes a bit at the other person. "and i wanted to get a pic of me in this dress during golden hour because my skin looks kind of flawless after being out in this dry heat all day."

Idling to a stop outside the firehouse, Cole cut the engine and climbed down from his Harley, quickly stashing his helmet on one of the mirrors. He had a few hours in between now and his next appointment at the shop, giving him ample time to stop by and check in with Taliah– something he’d always made a point to do since they’d gotten together but had been slipping in as of late. In recent weeks, he hadn’t been himself, turning more inwards than usual and staying seemingly stuck there, and Cole recognized that– more importantly, he recognized the need to try and snap out of it. Starting towards the door, he came across Rafaele first and nodded in greeting. Cole couldn’t claim to know the man very well, if at all, but he certainly knew the Morata name. For years, it had been synonymous with Los Santos, largely due in part to the man’s relatives and their tightly woven webs within the organization. But as of late, Los Santos had become a rather moot point in Tonopah Valley, but even if it hadn’t, it wouldn’t have stopped Cole from being cordial with a man who worked so closely with Taliah. Much like the MC was to him, her team was like family to her, and so Cole wanted bridge whatever gap might exist between him and Rafaele on account of his ties to LS. “Hey, man,” he started, slowing to a stop in front of him, “Taliah around?”

Raf heard the arrival of a Son of Silence before he saw them. The rumble of the bike engine caused something inside of him to spike. Whether it was anxiety or adrenaline he couldn't tell, but he slowly leaned forward, placing all four chair legs and watched as Cole Monroe approached. Every body knew who Cole Monroe, he'd heard the name before he was unceremoniously dragged out of the country and tales of his ascendant to the top of food chain had been reported to him by his cousins and uncles over the years. Despite all of this and the reputation that proceeded Cole Monroe, Raf, perhaps to his detriment, would rather be dead than intimidated by a Son of Silence.

"Hey." He replied cooly, his eyes flitting from Cole to his bike behind him. "Nah, she went out on a call about half an hour ago and told me to hang back because I look like shit."

@colemonroe