Co-Working [BH- Gabe and Arden]

It was a lazy day at the clinic, not like that surprized Gabriel at all though. Obviously it wasn't ever going to get as busy as in the city here, but he had seen more activity than this usually. He sat in his office playing solitare as usual and then it hit him.

Arden, the woman he had hired awhile ago. The sad thing was that she had been working for him for quite a long time, but he hardly knew a thing about the blonde doctor even though she worked just down the hall from her. He was her boss of all things also. Never had he greeted her in the morning, they were complete strangers in otherwords. Since not much was going on today, Gabriel thought it might be best to try to get to know her a bit. Learn something about her besides her name.

"Dr. Auiban?" he asked knocking on the door to her own office. It was smaller than his, but at least a decent size.

I hope I'm not coming down with anything.

Arden sniffed slightly as she sat at her desk, filling out paperwork. That was, seemingly, all she had been doing lately - paper work. She still saw many patients, but it wasn't a constant flow. Most of her day consisted of paperwork, interrupted by brief checkups every so often. It was, admittedly, quite monotonous. She wondered if she could catch a cold through sheer monotony. She felt a little ill, but not drastically enough to keep her from coming to work. She had a lot to do, and she was the only one who was to do it.

So she was surprised to hear a knocking at her door. "Did you forget something?" she said aloud, thinking it was one of her nurses who had stopped in early to ask about something. She was startled even further to hear and recognize a male voice.

She stood up and walked over to the door, opening it. "Dr. Cunningham," she said. "You don't have to knock. Come in." She stood aside.

At first Gabriel was confused that the blonde asked if he forgot something--his home was in the back so it didn't make sense for him to be able to forget anything. Sometimes he did forget to replace some of the missing medicines, but he never got to the point where his supply was dangerously low. The girl opened her door saying that he didn't need to knock, but it was always Gabriel's policy to do that. Once he walked in the rest room at the hospital to find two co-workers making out. It was awkward talking to them eversince. Since he didn't know the girl that well--he didn't know if she had a boyfriend, then again he never heard of her getting many patients over the age of sixteen.

"So..." he said thinking of what to exactly say. It was weird attempting to get to know someone better intentionally. "How are you?"

Arden stared at Dr. Cunningham. She couldn't exactly figure out his reasons for stopping by. She dropped her gaze a beat later, not wanting to be rude. But she couldn't help but wonder if he had an ulterior motive.

"I'm doing well, Doctor," she replied coolly, sitting back down in her chair and folding her hands on top of her desk. "And yourself?" She hesitated, and then added, sure to be polite, "Can I help you with anything, Doctor?"

The conversation was starting to die, Gabriel could tell it from her awnser. Bringing up conversations like this clearly wasn't the man's forté. Atleast he was attempting to get to know the person down the hall though. Maybe he should just try to say that he wants to get to know her. That would sound like he was interested in her though, which in turn might creep her out.

"I'm okay--I guess," Gabriel said not quite sure how to awnser her question. "I'm just trying to get to know everyone here a bit better, be less of a stranger."

Arden studied the man standing in front of her. For someone usually so composed and self-assured, he seemed somewhat uncomfortable standing before her. Each word was carefully measured, and he kept his body language in check to a point where it was almost rigid.

She smiled; she couldn't help herself.

"I'm glad to hear it," she said softly. "Uh..." She paused. "What would you like to know about me, Doctor? We're hardly strangers. We work together, after all. But I'm more than glad to tell you anything you might want to know." Within reason, of course. But she didn't bother adding that in.

She felt the urge to sneeze and subconsciously pinched the bridge of her nose to quell the urge. No sense in spreading germs around the office, especially in the presence of her boss.

A smile formed at the corners of Arden's lips and Gabriel couldn't help but feel a tad embarrased. It was like she was secretly giggling at him. Maybe he chose the wrong day to try to get to know people--curse the wandering brain of his. If he didn't spend so much time thinking this probably wouldn't have happened and he'd still be in his office.

"I really don't know," Gabriel said thinking about it. From Arden's point of view they weren't strangers, but from his they didn't know anything about eachother besides the fact that they worked down the hall from eachother. She pinched her nose suddenly, which in turn made Gabriel perk up an eyebrow. Probably allergies or something, so he pushed it aside for the moment.

"What's your favorite food?" he asked. Immediatly he regretted such a simply question. Definatly he could have though of something better to ask.

Arden's sudden grin gradually faded into an easy, encouraging smile. It did not, however, seem to do much to ease the doctor's slight anxiety. She wondered if talking to others made him nervous. That is, outside of a medical context. He seemed perfectly capable of handling patients, but socializing seemed difficult for the man.

He asked her a question, a rather simple one. She chuckled, and relaxed a bit. She thought, for a moment, that he would test her on medical protocol or something. "I don't really have a favorite," she mused. "I'm particularly fond of spicy and sweet foods, although not a combination of the two." She looked up at him. "And you?" She wondered if it was appropriate to ask him questions.

Maybe they weren't on quite as good terms as she thought they were, after all. She felt weary just asking him questions.

She sneezed suddenly, tucking her nose into the corner of her elbow. "Excuse me!" she exclaimed, slightly embarrassed. She reached for a bottle of hand sanitizer and put a dollop in her her hands.

His question may have been simple, but at least it was a start since she asked him it right back. Maybe he was wrong about the conversation dying already. This made him fell a little more relaxed, yet he still felt like he was on the spot. For things like medical speeches and work related things he had no problem talking. Something like this though he struggled with.

"Hmm," Gabriel said thinking of an awnser. Nothing stood out too much with him, he pretty much ate whatever was avaliable because he couldn't exactly cook himself. "I'm not much of a sweet person, but there isn't anything I really don't like or like. If coffee counts, then that's my favorite food-slash-beverage."

Suddenly Arden sneezed into her arm and naturally Gabriel said, "Bless you." It seemed to be bugging the girl a little bit, but Gabriel didn't mind that much. They were doctors afterall, and sneezing was a natural body function. "If you think that is embarrasing," he said. "You should see me early in the morning. I always cough like crazy."

Arden smiled. "Coffee is life support to all doctors, I'd assume. I drink it like I need it to survive. I think there's more caffeine than blood in my veins sometimes." She shook her head. "It's like an addiction. But I suppose it's necessary, after all of those long hours."

She sneezed again. "Oh, excuse me," she said, mortified once again. And then she sneezed a third time. "This doesn't usually happen," she said, reaching for a tissue and the hand sanitizer once more. "I...I must be coming down with something. Maybe I should substitute my coffee for orange juice soon."

"I suppose so," Gabriel said giving out a light chuckle. Coffee was the one thing that'd get him through the day, well besides a cigarrette or two. It was the one thing he could stand having every day, especially during the night hours he worked sometimes.

Arden let out a third sneeze and Gabriel couldn't help but perk up an eyebrow. The doctor must have caught a could from one of her patients. "You know," Gabriel stated, "in the japanese culture there's a saying about sneezes. Once someone is talking bad about you. Twice someone is talking well of you. And third is you have a cold."