[Middy]

Avery slumped over the break room table, utterly exhausted from his rounds all over the surgical ward. His last one had been an appendectomy, which had been a quick and simple procedure, and his patient was in recovery before being sent home. As far as he knew, he didn't have any surgeries for the rest of the day to tend to, in which he was thankful. As much as he loved his job, his body just wasn't up to code and towards the end of the day-- just wanted to collapse.

He knew that he still had a long day of work ahead of him, and even though there were no more surgeries scheduled, he still could have something come up-- or if someone was brought into the trauma ward. When he was available, he worked in trauma. The rush was what really got him going, and there were so many stories he could tell from people that came in. That wasn't to say that being in trauma didn't come with heartache. There were always those who didn't survive their injuries. Avery sighed, debating if he wanted to walk around or not.

[Rainbowfox Ari]

It was probably a welcome sight to see another doctor in the break room. The acting-cardiologist, Luminare, meandered over to the half-collapsed Avery. The Lucain was rather dashing in human form, with jet-black hair in a 'just got out of bed' style, cyan-blue eyes, and pale skin. He also had on his quintessential labcoat, nametag, and black stethoscope around his neck. Soon after his presence, an even more welcome item joined them at the table. A large mug of coffee.

"Avery, you look like six miles of bad road, and all of them exhausted. How long have you been on-shift?" he asked, canting his head to one side. "You probably should have clocked out hours ago."

He pulled a chair up to the table, sat in it, and crossed his arms, leaning back in the chair, and putting his feet on the table. Nobody was in here to stop him anyway.

"Coffee's on the house, but only if you promise to come see me after you get off. I have a cot you can borrow. I'm not letting you drive home like that."

[Middy]

The surgeon only replied with a long, drawn-out sigh. He was happy to see Luminare come into the break room as a means to kill time until he was called off to do god knows what. Avery brushed aside some loose strands of platinum blonde hair and lazily looked up at the cardiologist, eyes already drooping from lack of sleep. "On shift? Oh... about 12 hours at least. I loose track of time, especially when so many trauma cases come in on top of doing an appendectomy. Can't say this day has been great... I lost a couple patients," he sighed, recalling a young woman who had come in from being hit by a drunk driver. Her head trauma was too severe, not to mention her rib-cage had broken and punctured her lung. Poor thing, now she was  in the morgue, being tended by the folks there.

"A young woman didn't make it, and later today, a construction worker lost his life from a fall, then... business as usual with scheduled patients," he yawned, trying to keep his already weakened body going. Today seemed a lot more intensive than usual, but when you are a general surgeon, then anything could come your way and make you spend a whole day on your feet non stop.

Avery eyed the coffee, wanting so desperately to taste the bitter black liquid on his tongue, knowing that it was the one thing that kept him going in his job. "But you are right, I will take some time off and take you up on your offer. I could really use some coffee right now."

[Rainbowfox Ari]

"Only twelve hours?" Luminare asked, leaning forward, and giving Avery a long look. "You've been on-shift for longer than you're signed up for." he pointed out. "I have some pull here. I'll try and get you off the books within an hour. Tops. But I mean it - you come to my office, and crash on my cot. I'll leave you be so you can get some rest, but you need sleep, Avery."

He rose from the chair, and closed the door of the breakroom that had swung open. It had a tendency to open itself when it wasn't locked. A fact that most of the people who worked here tried to ignore. Luminare just fixed it without question.

"Look, if you're signed on for a double-shift, which it sounds like you are, I can take your second shift in the ER. In return, I want a nice dinner at that Mexican place off Second Street when you can afford it." He eyed him. "I'm fond of the tortilla soup." he chuckled a bit to show he was joking, and patted Avery's shoulder on his way back to the table, then past it toward the counter. Once there, he picked up a doughnut, a bagel, and two of the scones that had been left there, setting them on a plate from the cupboard above it, and nuking all but the bagel in the microwave, putting that in the toaster instead.

[Middy]

"Twelve hours seems like a short day for at times. Today hasn't been too bad in terms of work..." he gave another yawn, giving a shy smile towards Luminare, "Your offer is great, but I still feel like I need to finish my day here. I don't want to leave anyone hanging you know?" he eyed the food that Luminare had brought back over, wrinkling his nose at it. After the things he had seen that day, food was the last thing on his mind. Usually, his work didn't bother him, but the combination of sleep and death had just killed his appetite altogether.

Avery rubbed the sleep from his eyes again, considering Luminare's offer again. Suppose he could let him take his second shift in the ER, if the hospital allowed it. "About you taking second shift... I suppose I could let you take it while I rest. Then... dinner will be on me, since it doesn't sound like a bad idea after a long day," apparently he didn't see that he was joking, but instead took it as being genuine.

[Rainbowfox Ari]

"I was kidding about dinner, but alright. I'll take you at your word for that." He smirked, and leaned on the table a bit. "Now I'm looking forward to that tortilla soup. You should head up to my office once you get off first shift."

He rummaged in his white coat for a moment, and drew out a small silver key, slipping it into Avery's palm. "That's the key to the back. The cot, some food, and a couple of blankets and pillows are in there. Take a nice long nap. I'll come get you for dinner. Although it'll only be dinner for us... more like breakfast to the rest of the world." he chuckled, and patted his shoulder, before strolling over, and picking up a stack of charts.

"Ah HA. I knew I left these in here. I swear I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached to my body. Avery?" he paused, hand on the side of the door. "Thank you. For what you're doing for this place. I realize it's not a glamorous job, and at times it's torture, but... from all of your patients, as well as from myself... thank you." He smiled. "And from myself? Thank you for not biting my head off."

And with that, he left the room to go attend to his patients, Avery still on his mind. Really, he did look tired... as well as looked something else... but Luminare quickly shook his head to dispel those types of thoughts. Best save those for when he wasn't focused on work.... Like, perhaps tomorrow morning at 'dinner'. Then, it might be a good idea to... well, to ask, first. If Avery was taken...

[Middy]

Avery gave a slow, lazy nod, his eyes drooping closed for a minute. It was so nice of Luminare to offer him a place to nap, no one else really told him to take time off his shift, let alone offer him a place to stay to catch up on some rest. Luminare really was a caring guy, not only did he care for his patients, but for his coworkers as well. A shame he couldn't do the same, by the time he was done with his rounds, he was too exhausted to care much for the well being of the people who worked alongside him. Part of him wanted to think himself as selfish for that way of thinking, but he knew that he put others first before himself-- which is why he was falling asleep in the break room.

The surgeon turned the key around in his hands a couple of times before smiling back up at the cardiologist, "Thank you. For... everything, including the kind sentiments. I will retreat for a nap now, then we can have dinner to maybe discuss some non-work related things. Just a way to escape it while we can," Avery stood up, wobbling a little as he got to his feet.

As soon as the fellow doctor left, Avery made his way to retreat for some much needed rest. Luminare's office was easy to find, so the surgeon took the opportunity to grab some pillows and a blanket, throwing them on the cot before flopping down on it himself. Within minutes, the doctor had fallen asleep.

[Rainbowfox Ari]

Luminare actually left him to sleep for about an hour longer than he had strictly said. The other needed the sleep, and he was still wide-awake, even though hunger was started to pop up. When he finally did wake him, it was nearly nine in the morning, and he was on his second mug of coffee.

Walking quietly into the office, and unlocking the back room with his other key, he knelt beside Avery, and shook his shoulder very gently and softly.

"Avery... wake up. It's nine o'clock. Time for dinner." he called.

While the other was taking his time waking up, he went around the room, and cleaned things up a bit. Clicking his tongue a bit, he noticed that the other couple of interns he'd left the room to so they could study... brought food, drinks, and some other things... which he systematically went about picking up.

"You'd think they could learn to clean up after themselves." he muttered, tossing the trash.

[Middy]

Avery grumbled when he felt someone rocking him by his shoulder. His eyes fluttered open for a moment, hearing Luminare's voice beside him. "It's... time to get up already?" her mumbled, slowly rising into a sitting position on the cot, "Oh right, dinnertime," he added shortly after, taking a quick glance at his watch.

"I see you woke me up a bit later, but... just give me a minute to wake up before heading out for dinner. I really could use a good meal," he said, stretching out and giving a final yawn. The nap had been a good idea, much of his exhaustion had all but vanished, leaving him with more energy and wide open eyes.

This restaurant they were going to was one that Avery had never been to, so he was curious to see what sort of menu they had. He slid off the cot and stood up, smoothing out his surgical scrubs -- still thankful that he was wearing clean ones after the last surgery he had to do.

[Rainbowfox Ari]

"Well, we do have time to get out of our scrubs." Luminare said, laughing just a bit. "If you hadn't noticed, I already got dressed?" He stood up, and held out his arms. Indeed, he was wearing a white button-up shirt, brown slacks, and a tie. The only thing that was still the same were his white 'work shoes' - which were uncovered, and as good as business shoes, since that's essentially what they were.

"Go ahead and go to your closet, and get dressed again. No sense in showing up to a nice place like Mixikana looking like you just stepped out of the emergency ward." he mentioned, chuckling again. "Don't worry too much about time. It's relatively early in the morning, and the rest of the world is just waking up. Go ahead and get re-dressed."

He picked up another bit of trash, tossing it into the trash bin with his shake of his head. "I swear, though. That's the last time I let interns study in here. They don't know how to pick up after themselves. I found three soda cans the last time, and this time, they were 'kind' enough to leave a paper plate." he sighed. "Kids will be kids, I suppose, but you'd think... being in medical school would have taught them the importance of cleanliness in a hospital, really."

[Middy]

Avery nodded, thinking that getting into some normal clothes would be the first step of relaxing away from the hospital. Usually, he would just go out in his scrubs and not have a care in the world, but that was due to his paranoia of being called back at any point and time. Really, he didn't get much time to enjoy himself, and he really needed to take a vacation. His mental health would thank him for it. "I will do so. No sense in staying in these scrubs, it just makes me feel like I have to work," he replied with a low grumble. If eating a good meal wasn't on his mind, he would have just fallen back asleep and stayed like that all day if he could. No, too much sleep was bad for the body too.

"You know how interns can be. They just focus on the task at hand, and laze about when they take a break," he added with a bit of a laugh behind his voice, "I will be right back, just need to get a change of clothes then I will come meet you again."

With that, he left the room, heading up to his own office in haste. His stomach was growling and his mouth felt a bit parched from staying in such a dry building most of the day. Once he arrived at his office, he made no time going in and closing the door behind him. He could get a sip of water here after putting on some decent clothes...

After some time, Avery returned wearing a white dress shirt and grey slacks, complete with a teal tie. Avery would have put on the suit jacket, were it not for the heat outside. He also made sure to brush his hair so it wasn't sticking out all over the place. "Well, shall we get going now Luminare?"

[Rainbowfox Ari]

Luminare took a moment to appraise Avery's looks, and gave a low whistle. "You clean up very nice, Avery." he said, with a nod of his head. "Yes, let's get going. I think you're going to like this place." He canted his head to the side, indicating that Avery should go first, then falling into step behind him.

"They have a killer lunch menu, and a lunch-for-breakfast deal going on right now. I think it's... any lunch combination for 9.99? Something like that? I'm looking forward to it. Especially their tortilla soup." he licked his lips, thinking about it, as they pushed out of the hospital, and into the mid-morning sunshine.

"Heh... at least it's not raining yet. The forecast wasn't too optimistic about today." he said, starting toward the restaurant, only a scant few blocks away. "So... there is something I really did want to talk to you about, Avery. As you know, I'm on the promotion's board..."

He paused, waiting for the traffic light so they could cross safely onto the next sidewalk. "I wanted to see if you would put in for your promotion when the next evaluations come around. We need someone to manage the ER, since our last ER-floor manager quit a couple of weeks ago. It would mean a raise, but... also cut-back hours. And you'd be on-shift with me more often than not."

[Middy]

"It sure does sound good, and the price is surprisingly affordable. Not that I'm saying I don't make much-- quite the opposite," as most people in their field, they did make enough money to live more than comfortably, but with his rough their jobs were, he did feel as though it was a well deserved pay. If anything, Avery didn't even spend much at his own house. The only times he really got any time to himself was when he was off call, or on vacation.

He followed Luminare, nodding every now and then as he spoke, only becoming surprised when he mentioned the promise of a promotion. "Lu--Luminare... I would be glad to! I think this is just the thing I need in my life right now. I can surely use less hours, less I run my health into the ground more than it already is."

Plus, being on shift with Luminare would be great. He got along with him well enough to begin with, actually he was closer to being a friend rather then a coworker.

[Rainbowfox Ari]

"Good, good. I was hoping you'd be okay with it." Luminare said, smiling. "I've had you pegged for new ER shift manager since last Fall. You're good with responsibility, and I think you could do a great deal to keep the interns in line, and everything in the ER running smoothly." He crossed the street with a bit more spring in his step, glad that he had been right about Avery.

"After dinner, we should sign the papers, and get your files in so that the receptionists can handle the particulars that don't need us." he said, nodding his head a bit. "That way, when promotions are up next week, you won't have to scramble. Then you can go home and sleep. I know I'm going to."

He stopped again at another crosswalk, pointing across at the restaurant. "Looks like they're still running breakfast specials. I think that'll be what I have. Something with Tortilla Soup. I meant to ask you, though, Avery. What's your favorite place to eat? You know I like Mixikana, but what's yours?"

[Middy]

The mention of getting a good night's rest really piqued his interest, and was about to ask Luminare something before biting his tongue. He couldn't ask him something that bold, yet, only when he was sure he was more comfortable around the cardiologist. Sure the man had offered him a place to nap, and now with the thought of a promotion, really made him feel like he had a good friend-- someone who would look out for him-- but that was it. "Sounds like a good plan to me. The faster I get out of my current work schedule, the better. For both my mental and physical health."

Avery didn't have many places that he fancied, food wise. Suppose there were a few, but it's not like he had much time to actually go anywhere to eat. "Hmm... suppose Lemon Grass. It's a Thai food restaurant that I used to frequent quite often before my hours changed," he remembered some of his favorite dishes there. Drunken noodles, curry, the fine green teas they served with each meal... it only got him hungrier. Thank goodness they were getting a bite to eat soon.