Busy Morning (Open)

Atlacia giggled, "No.. I'm pretty sure it's a muffin." She grinned, but frowned, "I don't get sick as easily as I used too.. since the doctor prescribed me some pills I've been feeling a lot better." It wasn't a lie. She could feel a bit better.. when she ate.. and when she remembered to take her pills. It was a surprise her body didn't go into shock. She sighed and smiled softly. "True." Monk did get sick way too easy and when he wasn't.. he was grounded.... She looked at Spencer and laughed "I'm a strong, independent woman! I can handle a little liquid sunshine my dear Shan." She said proudly. "Besides you're much more important to the people. If something happened they would be in mass chaos and let me tell you.. mass chaos is NOT my thing, Shan. You know that right? I can't handle disorder!" She was of course exagerrating... slightly.

"Damn, stupid muffins," Spencer sighed. He hated muffins. With a passion. Unless it was someone else's muffin. Other people's food always tasted better to him than his own food did, for some reason. He nodded at Air's response. She had been doing better lately but.... "I don't want to risk you getting sick. I don't care how many pills the damn doctor has you taking! You're not allowed to get sick, you hear? I simply won't have it!" He smiled. "The world goes on just as easily when I'm sick, Air. No one cares if I'm at home puking my guts out. But if you get sick, well then it ruins my performance worrying about you! Better to have one of us down than both of us, eh?" He chuckled. "Mass chaos might just happen then, and we don't want that." Glancing up, he saw that they had reached the Chinese place. Smiling, he opened up the door for his friend. "After you."

Atlacia sighed and shook her head. Stubborn as always. With a grin, she slipped into the chinese place and waited for Shan. She looked around curiously, then hugged him super tight. "Oh my god Spencer! You took me to my favourite!" She had tears of joy. "Oh how you love me!" Okay maybe she was overreacting.. but she loved chinese.. especially from this resteraunt She glanced around as if she was in heavan, wiping her glasses off on her shirt and she smiled contently. Her third most favourite place she loved to be. She grabbed a booth and motioned Shan to sit, smiling like a kid at christmas. It would be an odd sght to most people, but when Atlacia was with Shan she let down her barrier quicker than a fat cake swallowed a piece of cake.

Spencer grinned. He loved her reaction when he took her to her favorite restaurants. She acted as if she'd just won the lottery. Honestly, he'd think she'd know what was coming by now, but he didn't mind. It wouldn't be a day out for Chinese food if Air didn't freak out and have a party. "Of course I took you to your favorite," He said with a chuckle, "Anything for you, Air!" He climbed into the booth next to her. "So, what are you going to eat?" It always sort of sparked his interest what other people were going to order because, again, their food always managed to be better than his! It was insanity, but it was true! So, most of the time when he went out to eat with Air, he would steal food off her plate when he thought she wasn't looking. Afterwords, his plate would still be nearly full while hers would be empty, so he'd give her his food, too, automatically making it tastier, and therefore the process of food stealing was repeated. Although, he'd been feeling a bit off the last few days. Not that he'd let Atlacia know, of course, because she'd blame it on him being in the rain without a jacket. Or not doing his paperwork. It always seemed to go back to the paperwork...

Atlacia smiled and skimmed the menu seeing her absolute favourite. "Sweet and sour chicken of course!" She said in a matter-of-factedly tone. She knew she wouldn't get to eat much of it. Shan tended to 'indiscreetly' steal food from her plate. Of course she knew! But did she say anything about it? Of course not. She didn't eat much anyways, so it was only natural and besides he was so goofy when he tried to pull a fast one on her. She looked at him curiously and grinned. "And what else will I be having?" A sort of inside joke about how their luncheons always ended up. For some reason Spence seemed to always prefer food that wasn't his. It was strange yes, but she didn't question it, after all he did usually pay the tab anyways.

Spencer grinned. "Mein!" He said excitedly. He did love noodles. Of course, only when they weren't his. But he knew the noodles would only be his for part of the time, so he was fine with it. He was pretty sure that Air knew about his food-stealing, since he wasn't very sneaky, but that didn't stop him from trying! He had almost mastered the art of being sneaky, he knew it! A waitress came over to take their order and Spence flinched away from her when she talked. He still had to work on his people skills, as well as not verbalizing all of his thoughts. He had made people in restaurants cry before by telling them they smelled bad or that they were a bit on the chubby side. He didn't mean to, he really didn't, he just got so nervous around people that he couldn't contain his thoughts. So, most of the time, he kept quiet and let Atlacia do all the talking.

Atlacia laughed and nodded, "Mein it is then." She grinned oddly at the waitress. It seemed when it came to outside of the office Spencer and Atlacia switched roles. He became a bit fidgety and sometimes blunt. Atlacia could flatter her way into a free meal if she truly wanted to, but usually she preferred paying.. like everyone else. Well noone ever WANTS to pay, but she prefferred it to being some sort of renegade. She made the order and the waitress left to get it. Atlacia shook her head "Well Mr soon-to-be-fuhrer someday.. you need to work on your people skills. I might not be able to be your secretary." She grinned devilishly "Then who's gonna write your speeches for you?" She was playing with him of course and she casually took a sip of the water before her after the waitress had returned with their beverages.

Spencer shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. Oh, he was a coffee fanatic. "Someone will do it for me," He said with a grin, "Although I'd rather it be you." It was true, she knew him better than almost anyone else in the world. She knew everything about him and he knew everything about her. Each could always tell when the other was feeling down or depressed. It was almost as if they were connected. Spencer had said on multiple occasions that it was scary, but he was only kidding, of course. As the waitress came back with their food--the restaurant had excellent service, which was one reason why Spence liked it so much -- Spencer became fidgety again. After she left, though, he was fine. He immediately started sneaking--or trying to-- bites of Air's food. He tried not to laugh as he took another pinch of chicken off her plate. This is too easy! He thought gleefully.

Atlacia sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Whatever did you do without me?" She laughed and allowed him a bite of her chicken, but decided to do something surprising for once. She picked up her shopsticks and stole a couple noodles! "Let go of my chicken and I shall free your noodles." It was a fake negotiation of course, but Atlacia loved her sweet and sour chicken, she was grinning devilishly, ear to ear. Of course she didn't care about the chicken THAT much, but Spence had seemed a bit out of it and she wanted to know why. Even if he wouldn't tell her the reason at least she could try and cheer him up, right? Her other hand fiddled indiscreetly at her sleeve. It was a habit she had since they met it had never died down no matter how hard Spencer tried to help. Some scars wouldn't heal evenn over time. But that wasn't what was bothering Atlacia, right now she was more focused on what was bothering Spencer.

Spence grinned and ate the chicken anyways. "You can have the noodles!" He laughed, still chewing up her chicken, "They'll be better when they're yours, anyways!" He glanced at her sleeve and wrinkled his forehead, but knew not to say anything in public. He closed his eyes as a sudden wave of nausea passed over him. This was nothing new, he'd been getting nauseated after and during eating for a few months now, but he hadn't told Atlacia yet. He didn't want her to worry. There was nothing to worry about, after all. It was just a little virus or something, nothing big enough to knock him off his feet. He didn't want her worrying about nothing, and he knew that was what she'd do if she found out. He glanced around nervously and cleared his throat. "Air," He said, blinking, "I, uh, have to go to the bathroom. I'll be back. Hands off my noodles!" The last bit was an attempt at a joke so she wouldn't guess he'd been feeling off.

Atlacia wrinkled her forehead at him, but nodded as he asked to be excused. Her eyes followed him worriedly. Something was definitely wrong.. she could almost smell it on him. When had he started hiding things? She felt a stab of pain and knew it as physical, nothing new. She wiped her eyes and rubbed her nose bridge and let out a soft hiss of frustration. Where had she been? What kind of friend doesn't recognize these things. She almost felt tears for the first time in a while. Damn herself... For caring so much about a human being. Her eyes stuck almost glued on the knife at the table, but she froze. Tempting. She thought to herself. Nervously she fiddled with her sleeve again. What point do Ii have? She reached her hand, but pulled it back quickly and thruisted her hand into her lap. NO she wouldn't do this to him.. her luck would be being caught. She shifted and looked away. Not now anyways.. she was clean.. two months clean...

Hoping his friend wouldn't over react, Spencer went into the bathroom and proceeded to throw up. He sighed and leaned against the wall. "Dammit," He muttered, putting his head in his hands. In a fit of rage, he kicked the sink and screamed, "Goddammit!" Poor Atlacia, he thought. She's probably out there thinking I'm hiding something from her. God, I'm such an idiot! By trying not to worry her, I've probably got her worried sick. He sighed and sat against the wall, putting his heads in his hands, and waited for the wave of nausea to end. When it was over, he stood up, wobbling a bit, and started to walk towards the door. He was still leaning against the wall for support, not quite ready to support his own weight yet. When he got back to the table, he smiled and sat down next to Air. He put his hands under the table to hide the fact that they were shaking uncontrollably. He looked at his friend and grinned. "Everything okay, Air?" He asked, sensing that something was wrong.

Atlacia seemed to be in a bit of a trance as the light glinted off the metal temptingly, but as Spencer came back, she seemed to snap back like an elastic band. Her eyes were wide a momemnt, before she blinked away the strange wave and shook her head. She gave a goofy, warm smile and laughed. "Everything's fine, Shan." She said, half-lying. You aren't.. I know you aren't... Sometimes I wish you could read my mind. She hadn't touched her food since he left and proceeded to sip calmly from her glass as if everything was peachy. For her.. it was almost too easy to pull on that mask. The mask that hid all from the world. The one thing about herself, she was almost robotic when it came to her emotions, however over the years Spencer had somehow learned to read the mechanical movements almost as easy as reading a children's book.

Spencer looked her over, watching her eyes. "Everything's not okay, is it?" He asked softly. And it's my fault. I'm such an idiot. He sighed and looked down, watching his hands shake as if it were some sort of interesting television show. His eyes quickly darted across the room as to not draw attention to them. He swallowed and looked up at Atlacia again. His eyes darted from her to the knives. "Air..." He said softly, sighing again. He looked at her plate, untouched apart from him stealing his food and immediately felt even more guilty. "Please eat," He said softly. Carefully, he pulled one of his shaky hands from under the table and nudged his food over to her, smiling. "Take mine, too. I'm not hungry." He flashed her a grin. "And I know you like noodles!" He chuckled, trying to act happy and strong, for her, because he knew she needed it. And he needed her to be strong, so he could too.

Atlacia could barely hold back her tears. She sat there and almost broke down, but she turned her head and got up. "I-I need to.. little girl's.." She wasn't going to force him to see that. She could tell in his eyes he knew. It hurt worse than all the pain in the world. She scarmbled to the bathroom and sunk in a stall, locking it and curling in a ball, sobbing for a good ten minutes. Noone entered after her, noone knew her. She was thankful, to be seen this weak and broken.. would be more than humiliating. She stared at her hands and they shook, she almost illused blood on them and she let out a shout and buried her face as she clenched her fists with great fierce tightness. She sighed and her breath shuddered and finally she wiped her eyes and pulled herself to her feet. Strength came from the inside, right? Then she would force it forward. Stumbling out of the stall a wave of dizziness hit her, but she splashed it away with some water from the sink. After a good cleansing, she staggered out and smiled. "Sorry I was holding it a long time." A lie, they both knew she had been crying, but she'd never admit it.. not to Specer.. not in public.

He nodded in understanding, knowing what she meant, but choosing not to call her out on it. He looked into her eyes and gave her another, more slight nod and mouthed, "We'll talk later." After a pause, he smirked and said "For real." Then, looking at the two plates in front of her, he chuckled. "You'd better be hungry, Air!" He said with a grin, "Because I expect you to eat all of that. Yep, we're not leaving here until you do! And then I won't be able to get my paperwork done, and that would just be disastrous, now wouldn't it?" He was obviously trying to lighten up the heavy mood that had surrounded the table with a joke, something he'd learned helped his friend get through hard times. Hell, it helped him, too, to be truthful. Without Atlacia, who knew where he would be? Actually, he thought grimly, I'm pretty sure I can guess. Shaking off the dark thought, he smiled at his friend.

Atlacia smiled nervously at the 'for real part and she pretended not to hear his 'we aren't leaving until all this food is gone' comment. She was running her hand nervously through her mess of wavy hair and sighed "Spencer on a scale from 1 to 10 how awful is my hair today?" She usually asking him these questions even if he didn't like them, she was still a woman! She still needed to concern herself with her looks. Her eye twitched slightly at the vanity but she knew she usually looked like a twister on a neck connected to a body and she prefferred looking nice when she went out with Spencer. What would people think if the senior of East was walking around with a homeless-looking chick?! She vainly continued running her hand through her hair and twitched her nose "Ugh I need a make over.. no wonder I repel humans... "

Spence chuckled. "Air, that's an unfair question, considering you are asking the person with the most beautiful hair in the entire world." He grinned at her. "I'm kidding, of course. You shouldn't worry about it, you look wonderful, as always." He wasn't sure why his friend was so damn hard on herself. It wasn't like she wasn't pretty; she was. But, then again, he knew the feeling. It had taken him years, and lots of encouragement from Atlacia, to even talk nice about himself in a joking way. He still wasn't able to make a serious comment about himself looking good without feeling like a liar, no matter how arrogant he made himself appear. But for Air, he thought, there is no excuse! She is beautiful. I should tell her that! That makes girls happy, right? And it is true. So I can make her happy, and tell the truth! He grinned at the wonderous idea! "Air," He said proudly, "You're beautiful!"

Atlacia looked up and blushed. Yes.. she blushed all too easily. Scartching her arm as she tended when she was nervous, she looked up with soft eyes "Y-You're just saying that." She huffed and crossed her arms. She knew he meant it, but it was odd.. and the way he said it.. was like a battlecry.. Man sometimes Spencer could be... so... strange! She sighed and poked her food with her chopsticks. Sometimes she wondered about that boy.. but then she realized it was a lost cause. "I'm getting my hair cut." She said bluntly. Her waist-length hair had to go.. especially since a few of her coworkers decided it would be funny to shut the door while her hair was still in its wake.. She mumbled somthing about 'assholes' under her breath and popped a piece of chicken in her mouth.

"Am not," He said honestly, sticking out his tongue, "It's the truth!" He sighed. Why does she insist on denying it? He thought, almost annoyed. Though, it passed soon. He found it hard to be mad at his best friend for even a second. He glanced at her long hair and chuckled. "Air, I can't even imagine you without your long hair. You'd be a different person! But, hey, it would suit you." He got a zoned out look in his eyes and muttered, "I should grow a beard. Yeah, a long one. I could braid it." Sometimes Spence went off on these random, senseless mumblings. Him and Atlacia both knew he wouldn't grow a long beard and braid it. He was just being...well...Spencer. He supposed he was rather odd, but hey, no one can grow up in a crazy environment like he had and turn out normal. He was just glad he hadn't been sent to prison like his brothers. Yet.

Atlacia knew he wouldn't grow a beard, but she still couldn't help but imagine it. Unfortunately for her she was drinking her water while he said that. She was nonchalantly sipping.. and then the braided beard.. she imagined the actor Johnny Depp's character Jack Sparrow's beard on Spencer's chin and busted up laughing, spraying water accidentally and then half choking herself. She pounded her fist on the table, half choking, hlaf laughing her ass off. After the laughter died down she went into a coughing fit. She blushed, embarressed, as if she wasn't very lady-like to begin with! But she supposed they had a strange affect on each other. Spence tended to zone.. and so did she.. she just had a more.... active? Imagination?

Spence wiped the water off his face, having been forcefully pulled out of his daydream. "What, you don't think I'd be sexy with a beard?" He asked innocently, "C'mon! Imagine me with a beard. But not as a pirate!" He knew her well enough to know that she probably had imagined him with an eye patch. He would never wear an eye patch! He'd look ridiculous! He wrinkled his forehead at his friend. "Well. Now my feelings are hurt, Air! Yeah, I don't know if I'll be able to go on. I was seriously considering that beard and you just laughed at me? That's not a nice thing to do!" He was joking, of course. He wanted to make her laugh again. It made him happy to hear her laugh. It brought up his own mood to know that she was happy. Plus, it was fun to watch her spew water all over the place. Oh, how he loved spit takes.

Atlacia half snorted, still choking on the water with a mix of laughter and coughing. Covering her mouth, she eyed Spencer with an amused look. "Oh ye-yes drop-dead gorgeous Shan.." She managed between fits of giggle-coughs. She couldn't help it! The thought of bearded Spencer.. just no.. no... It didn't fit.. Finally she managed to calm herself and wiped off her glasses. How the hell did she get water on her glasses? Figuring it was from her spit-take, she sighed contently, still coughing abit. Well time to tell him about this weeks endeavor.. She sighed distraught. She hated ruining the mood, but she knew someone would find out and Spencer would hear it, then he would be even more pissed and hurt! So she decided constantly that if there was any news.. she'd tell him herself. "So.. I was mugged and nearly raped in an alleyway, yesterday." She said calmly as if it were as common as going to the store to buy milk. Atlacia had the worse luck sometimes.

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((Don't mind this I'm posting this as one of my activity posts))

Spence choked on his coffee. "What?" He yelled, standing up and knocking his seat to the ground with a loud thud. He blinked, surprised as a wave of dizziness and nausea came over him. Woah, bad idea. Steadying himself on the table, he sighed and looked at his friend. "Please tell me you said you were hugged and almost given a cake in the alley," He said hopefully, looking Atlacia over. He shook his head as he realized she was, of course, not kidding. "Alright," He growled furiously, "who do I have to kill today?" He wasn't kidding, either. If she knew who had done this to her, he would go after them, and maim, or even possibly kill them. He was very protective over his friend, and she, in his mind, had been through enough. She didn't need to have anything else happen to her, unless it was a good thing. He didn't understand why she had such terrible luck, but it pissed him off.

(167 words)

Atlacia jumped, half expecting an overturned table. Her water went flying and crashed to the ground and she looked calm, though her slightly shaking arms, showed she was unnerved. "Look Shan, you just threw my water." She sighed and insecurely pushed a bang behind her ear. "As for who they are I haven't the slightest.. a vague idea in my head of their description.. but no names... They were probably just street ruffians.. homeless people." For some reason she sounded like she was taking their side! Did she honestly feel sympathy for the people who attacked her? She twitched her hand and bent over, nonchalantly picking up the shattered remains of glass. "Besides some strange Auregoan man stepped in and stopped them." She replied with a calm tone. She left out the fact that it was also a man who slaughtered families.. after all THAT man had long been supressed, right?