[Note: Just re-iterating the userinfo here: raw, unbetaed, potentially crappy fic ahead. Bring a hanky.]

Justin thought he that he should know all of Rube's moods by now, especially the ones that involved him being upset since Justin was the most frequent target of those, but this was a new one. He looked... grim was the only word for it, and Justin quashed the urge to indulge in silly 'grim reaper' puns because there seemed to be a fair amount of pissed off involved, there, too. But it wasn't directed at any of the reapers and Justin was relieved at that because even though he -had- been good lately, sometimes with Rube you just didn't know. He expected to get -some- clue, though, mention of another mix-up or the reaper version of overtime, anything. But Rube said nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, he said very little at all, simply passed out the assignments and slammed his planner shut.
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[4219/49115]

Justin stood at the back of Morgan's memorial service, far behind the family and friends and the other restaurant staff. He would rather have gone to Curt's, to be honest, but his family had had him flown home to Iowa for burial and that was a little out of the way for Justin, so he'd come here instead. So had Knox and Eric, and even Gray, and that was part of the reason Justin was here, too.
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[1128/2151/43271]

Justin and Rube didn't reap souls together very often, but Justin kind of liked it when they did. It reminded him of his early days, when the whole reaper thing was so new and so weird to him and every little thing he did right made him want to swell up with pride. He knew he had looked to Rube much like a father, needing to be taught and told and occasionally yelled at, and he guessed in a way he still did. Only now that he knew what he was doing, Rube was a little less like a father and more like... an uncle, maybe. One who could still yell at him plenty, though.
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[1048/2317/41120]

Brian and the others settled into a furious sort of detente around the same time that Justin struck a balance with his sleep deprivation. Brian made an effort to be civil -- or in Deb's words, "Not so fucking touchy" -- and agreed to start coming back to the family dinners, and in return everyone else dropped any and all mention of him seeking professional help. He also vanished on Saturday afternoons, only to reappear at Babylon as usual later that night. No one in the usual queer grapevine could tell Justin what was up with that, because if the family knew anything they were keeping it to themselves for once. One fine, chilly Sunday Brian was spotted having a quiet brunch with Vic. Justin literally itched to draw the scene as soon as he heard, and as he shaded the lines around Vic's eyes he had to wonder, how much of Brian's insistence that Debbie take time off had been for her sake, and how much had been for Vic's? There was no way for him to know.
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[599/599/39402]

Justin didn't call in sick. He maybe should have, but he figured that at that point, anything would be better than sitting in his apartment staring at the walls. He knew Knox had the day off, which was a good thing because frankly, Justin could stand to have one less thing to think about for the next six hours. It even seemed as if whoever was in charge of this sort of crap had said, 'Hey, let's give Justin a break today.' Lunch rush wasn't nearly the bitch it could have been, he pulled some okay tips despite his sluggishness, and overall he was ready to call it a decent day, all things considered.
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[826/826/37613]

He couldn't go home, he absolutely could -not- go home and face his empty apartment and his empty bed and he couldn't bear to go back to Liberty Avenue either, not tonight. Justin was so torn between all the things he couldn't do that he didn't know what he -was- doing until the door opened under his knuckles and Knox was on the other side of it.
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[966/1848/35532]

In hindsight, Justin maybe could have done something other than this. He talked Brian into taking a cab instead of trying to drive, and that wasn't too difficult, and maybe he -could- have walked Brian up to the door of the loft, made some stupid excuse and left him there to pass out in perfect safety, but Brian was all -over- him in the back seat of the cab and all they were missing was Michael's disapproving gaze in the rear view mirror. It was too much, and Justin was still a little high and way fucking horny, and whatever he -could- have done didn't matter when what he did do was ride up in the elevator with Brian's mouth attached to his neck, humping Brian's thigh and whimpering quietly into his hair.
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[1019/1701/33684]

It wasn't exactly goodbye-sex because neither of them were going anywhere, and anyway Knox made it perfectly clear that hey, they were still friends, Justin could call him any time if he wanted to hang out or something. They just weren't going to have sex anymore. It did still sort of feel like a goodbye to Justin, though he didn't say it, and if Knox felt the same... well, he didn't say, either. He just spooned up behind Justin, in the small hours of the morning after they had fucked and talked and fucked some more, and Justin stayed.
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[612/1283/31983]

Rube sighed, and resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Like I said before, nobody really knows why this person or that person becomes a... what?"
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[1136/1811/30700]

By the time Rube arrived, Justin had gone quiet. Justin was still on his knees, but Brandon had shifted around a bit so he was sitting on the ground behind him. He still had hold of Justin by the arms, but by then it might have been more of a formality than anything. Or maybe it was something else, who could be sure? Brandon looked up at Rube like he expected him to have sprouted wings, or a jet pack or something. Rube lifted his shoulders and said quietly, "I was in the area. How is he?"
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[896/1733/28889]