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@drkarlistrauss
neutral good
Neutral Good is known as the “Benefactor” alignment. A Neutral Good character is guided by his conscience and typically acts altruistically, without regard for or against Lawful precepts such as rules or tradition. A Neutral Good character has no problems with co-operating with lawful officials, but does not feel beholden to them. In the event that doing the right thing requires the bending or breaking of rules, they do not suffer the same inner conflict that a Lawful Good character would. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. Neutral good can be a dangerous alignment because it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.
TRAIT STRUCTURE
self-reliant.
helpful.
courteous.
kind.
respectful.
sensitive.
friendly.
merciful.
gracious.
humane.
altruistic.
protective of life.
Perfect! Yoga it is, then. I guess it’s a good thing I have that gym membership, huh? I’ll be putting that good use, that’s for sure. Well I’ll try to rest as much as I can - I know it’s for the best. Maybe now I’ll get through reorganizing all my files. Having to be idle for a while definitely is better than never being able to run. I really do appreciate the reminder. Of course! Do they work the interns to the bones? That’s all I seem to hear these days, and poor interns get the brunt of the work. I don’t mind you asking at all! I’m a psychologist. I work at a private practice in Alexandria. It’s got its own set of stressors, but like you said, it’s all very rewarding.
See! Taking it easy can have some advantages. I'm not sure about you but I know I would much rather go for a run then reorganize. Yeah, the residents definitely work us to the ground. All with good intentions of course for preparation purposes, but there's never a moment on those 72 hour shifts that we interns have nothing to do. Unpopular opinion, but I like being occupied. Oh, wow! Do you have a specific field that you're in? I've always been so intrigued by psychology. I considered it briefly while I was in college but I'm guilty of following my father's footsteps instead. Not that I, um, regret it though. I would imagine - being able to help people, in any way I mean, is a very satisfactory thing.
He’s starting to get on in his years, so fetch isn’t quite as athletic as it used to be for us. I don’t think much running is involved on my end these days. Stretching works? So would you suggest something like yoga, then, as a workout alternative? Oh God, I’m sure it must get embarrassing to be the person who thinks uncooked rice is going to help with an injury at all. Wow, well let me congratulate you in advance. That’s very exciting! Post-secondary education is really just several years of hell, I think. But you’re so so close to the finish, so it’s clearly paid off.
Yoga is the best alternative to a workout when you have runners knee, especially if you are so athletic - in fact I would personally recommend that over sitting around waiting for it to get better. Though all things considered you should still rest it, stretching the muscles will help speed up the healing and recovery process. It could be tedious, but worth it when the pain is gone and you don't have to deal with surgery and never running again. Oh, um, thank you! It is exciting. I think this year of internship was worse than going through medical, though even then I was crammed up to the neck in assignments. It's all very rewarding though. What do you do? - I mean, if you don't mind me asking.
She really is a great friend to have, but I hate that she’s right when I’m grumpy. I know it’s the right thing to do, but I hate being cooped up all the time. Guess I’ll have to be a little less playful during fetch with my dog, as well. He’s going to be bummed about that. Oh, I say enough silly things that people won’t be any more weirded out by saying the word rice. Wow, that’s very exciting! How much more time do you have as an intern?
As long as you don't stress your knee so much playing fetch with your dog you'll be golden, only strenuous activities are frowned on with runner's knee or anything that'll cause you more pain than necessary...Anti-inflammatory' painkillers and stretching works wonders, though. Well most of the time weird is good! Personally I like it. And there's two kinds of people really - the one who understands the acronym and the one who takes it a little too literally and buys heaps of rice to help the healing process. I've heard a couple stories. Only a few more weeks to go, actually! I've been studying now more than ever. Stressful, but I knew the deal when I applied for medical school.
Wow, you sound just like my best friend right now. She’s telling me the same thing. I definitely don’t want surgery, and I wouldn’t want to risk my health, but it’s sort of frustrating not to be able to run when that’s my hobby. RICE is a clever little acronym! Easy to remember, too. Are you a doctor?
You should listen to her. Not only does she have your best interests at heart but she has the right idea. Believe me, I know it's hard but it'll all be worth it in the end. Better to take a much needed hiatus from it than to never be able to do it again, right? It is! The only downside of it being that people might take it the wrong way if it isn't elaborated. Oh, yes - I am. Well, intern, but all the same.
My knee’s been bothering me lately, so I went to the doctor to see what was wrong. Apparently, I’ve got runner’s knee and I’m supposed to “take it easy” for the next few weeks. Has this guy even met me?
Well, look at it this way: the more you rest your knee, the quicker you'll be able to run again. Runner's knee is just a deterioration of cartilage but if you don't 'take it easy' it could require surgery - expensive surgery. The best advice I could give is rest, ice, compression and elevation. Some doctors call it RICE. You should be running again in 2-3 weeks that way.
At the end of the day, the experience of practicing medicine bears little resemblance to the dream. We go into medicine because we want to save lives. We go into medicine because we want to do good. We go into medicine for the rush, for the high, for the ride. But what we remember at the end of most days, are the losses. What we lie awake at night replaying is the pain we caused. The ills we couldn’t cure. The lives we ruined… or failed to save. The end of the day, the reality is nothing like we hope. The reality is, at the end of the day, more often than not, turned inside out and upside down. And some days, the whole world seems upside down. Then somehow, improbably, and when you least expect it, the world rights itself again.
Meredith Grey, Grey’s Anatomy
unexpected welcome | Aidan & Karli
Aidan smiled at himself for a moment at the realization of how fragile the human condition was: he had known her for years and yet never before had he felt the distance between them so prominent or agitating. Those words he threw at her—those simple, honest few words had managed to do more harm to their friendship than their moving, combined, or either of their schedules. It gave them hope for something that was difficult to come by. He thanked her for the water and brought the glass to his lips, taking a generous sip and observing her avoid his eyes. Aidan felt hyperaware of her presence now—anywhere she touched him seemed to light up a small fire. He was nervous and somewhat embarrassed, stupidfied by the fact she had, once, thought about nesting herself against his chest, between his arms. It made his brain slower and his mouth drier, but that never stopped him from speaking his mind.
Her words ringed in his ears. Karli was a busy woman: he had never known a version of her that wasn’t busy, though she used to be wilder when he first met her. Her studies came first; now her work. Between a patient and another, however, she managed to find some time for him, and if she could do it, so could he. “Priorities,” Aidan agreed with a slight nod, “I know what you mean… Well, that’s the upside about owning your own business. You pick your own schedules.” He widened his smile at her, bright, but uncertain, following her sight line to the pile of textbooks. After a small pause, he continued: “It’s worth the trouble though. How much is left? A year? Two? My mother used to say everything you ought to do in life is ten percent inspiration, ninety percent transpiration.”
“No,” she said and his shoulders deflated for a second, washed over with a sense of defeat until she corrected herself. “Good,” Aidan answered, regaining his confidence, though his green eyes gleamed with marvel, still somewhat astounded that she had said yes. “I wouldn’t have taken no for an answer,” he lied with feigned arrogance and a small, casual shrug that was short on deceit.
Her question erased the smirk off his face and brought out tenderness to his features. He didn’t tear his eyes away from hers, wondering why he hadn’t, until them, realized how pretty they were. “Yes,” he answered without putting much thought into it and licking at his lips once he noticed he had thought out loud. Aidan felt his face heat up, but he pretended not to notice the change. “Yes, I am asking you out on a date. Is that alright, doc?” And after a quick pause, with a small, lopsided smile blooming from the corner of his lips, even more nervous as he had been before, he added: “…Please say yes.”
Being nervous around Aidan was a feeling so foreign that Karli thought herself, at first, to be insane. Throughout the years she had known him she had been nothing but comfortable in his company; like she could be herself, weird or not, and be free of judgement and vice versa. When Karli moved away the distance between them estranged their friendship some, but even then the gratification she had felt being in his presence had not lessened. So, needless to say, feeling so flustered around him was a little more confusing. As she settled beside him on the couch and took a small sip of the tea she’d been craving since earlier that morning she had already reminded herself 10 times that she had no reason to be - and every single one of those times she had found 10 more reasons as to why she should. And when Karli was nervous her mind went into overdrive. Doubt after doubt, question after question, insecurity after insecurity. She needed a cigarette, stress and apprehension being the rare occasions that she smoked them. She needed to be doing something. To move around, to occupy herself.
But she supposed that was more the adderall talking then anything, so instead of bouncing her leg or speaking a thousand words a second she settled instead on him as he spoke, the way his lips moved to form the words, then briefly again to his eyes. “Well your mother has always been a wise woman,” Karli mused thoughtfully when he’d finished, lowering her tea upon the coffee table gently and offering him a small grin. “The intern exam is just a few months away now, actually. Then I can start getting a real pay,” she chuckled briefly before continuing, “and picking my specialty. It ranges somewhere between picking salmon colored scrubs or sticking with the typical blue.” She pursed her lips in a mock thought, “it must be nice to be your own boss, do things on your own time…Would you hold it against me if I said that I envied you?”
Unconsciously, Karli bit tactfully at the bottom of her lip as he continued, looking relieved she had agreed to have dinner with him - if not to avoid grinding her teeth but to fully concentrate and appreciate the gravity of the situation unfolding before her. It was funny how one mistaken comment and a follow up conversation at a party weeks before had her seeing Aidan in a completely new light, one she mentally scolded herself for not consciously regarding before. Her grin widened at his arrogant mockery, and she couldn’t suppress her chuckle. “I don’t doubt it. I also don’t doubt that you would have taken me hostage again if I’d said no.” She teased, lightly nudging his knee with her own without really thinking about it. Karli took another generous swig of her tea, willing, yet again, for the blush on her cheeks to go away.
It was all very clear in the way that he spoke, by the silly grin sported upon his face, and at the heat that had risen upon his cheeks that his normal air of confidence had, in some respect, completely left him in that moment. It was endearing if anything at all, and the fact that he was even nervous to begin with eased, even if only slightly, that apprehensiveness currently doing somersaults in her stomach. Karli was not very good in these situations - awkward, shy; the very opposite of self-assured. And this? This was Aidan. Aidan, who she’d known for a little over six years now. Aidan, who knew things about her that she hadn’t even told Sam. And Aidan, who was being set up for disappointment - disappointment because, simply, Karli was a mess. An addict. And he didn’t even have a clue. Her heart, thundering against her sternum, skipped a beat at the very thought of dragging him into it, but nevertheless her smile remained persistent. She reached out for one of his hands, briefly playing with his fingers as her eyes fleeted upward, gaze steady upon his this time. “Yes,” she nodded, her voice soft yet encouraging all the same, “that is more than alright.”
A Stitch in Time Saves Nine | Karli + Alex
Going to work for the normal person, involved driving to a desk, maybe shuffling around some papers pretending to work while they played a game on the computer every time the supervisor left. It was going to a school, and enriching the minds of the next generation, it was going anywhere, doing any kind of service. This was no different for Alex Blake. He was in the service industry, of which, he provided the service of being God.
In any other situation, being God would be completely inappropriate. However, for the surgeon, it is exactly what he did. He put off death, he made it wait in line for it’s turn and he loved it. He loved the concentration it took to do the smallest tasks, the way it was easy for him to lose his mind in helping someone else. He didn’t become a surgeon because he wanted to play God; he did so because he loved people.
When the man walked through the front doors, people surrounded him. Sick, healthy, in need, visiting—all of them equally interesting, equally important. Professionally dressed in black slacks and a button up—the top two buttons purposefully left unattached—he was ready for his day, 72 hours, to come at him full force. Even though, they only got a day for a break, he preferred it that way. It left him without any urge to get into trouble, and it kept the man honest. Twenty-four hours of rest after seventy-two never felt like enough. As he walked through the main room, nurses greeted him, techs nodded at him as he passed. There were various hellos, nods, and some people passed without saying a word or doing anything.
His walk became silent once he left the main hospital and diverted down a hallway to the Attending’s lounge. As soon as he entered the room, he made his way too his cubby. The rectangular cubbies didn’t have doors, and everything that was stored in them was clearly visible. His locker wasn’t anything special. He didn’t have anything that was personal to make it seem like his. The ones around him were filled with personal effects and a few pictures; his simply had his lab coat, a few pairs of scrubs, pocket-sized notebook, and various other items.
Taking his time, he changed from his black slacks to a pair of dark blue scrub bottoms. Slowly tying the strings tight around his waste. Next, still slow, he started to unbutton each of the buttons on his shirt.
“Alex. When you are changing, can you put up a sign? Warn us?”
The blonde looked up at the voice and smiled, his fingers still working the buttons, “I don’t think I need to put up a sign.” He shook his head as his shirt rolled from his shoulders and turned his back to the woman, hanging the garment neatly from the hook. Replacing it, with a matching blue scrub top. As soon as his torso was covered, he turned back around, and motioned to his chest, “this better?” The woman nodded at him, “And, now that you are dressed appropriately, we have a meeting.” The long sigh that fell from Alex’s mouth was involuntary, “Again?” He promptly turned around, grabbing his pen, ID, stethoscope, and various other things—stuffing it all in his pockets. On his way from the room, he grabbed his white lab coat slinging it on his body as he moved to the conference room.
“How long is this going to take?” He was the last in the room. He didn’t become a doctor to talk about his budget, nor did he become a doctor to sit in a room around a table like some kind of office worker, “Alex take a seat.” He did as he was told. “We all need to take a look at the budget for next quarter—“ Just as the tall man had suspected. At the sound of budget, he pulled his phone from his pocket. They always told him when he was close to going over, so he was never sure why they made him go to these meetings. Every four minutes, he found himself looking at his watch, waiting for the chief to call the end of it.
Just when he was starting to think it was never going to end, he vaguely recognized the sound of people shuffling around him. Following suit, he quickly got up and left the room making a beeline for door and straight to his ER. With both his arms, he pushed open the large double doors, which he would of liked everyone to look at him, and clap—smile and hoot and holler instead, they did their jobs. People busily bustling about, moving from bed to bed, fixing minor injuries, none of the trauma bays filled, in relative terms, it was a light day. Instead of getting his hands dirty, he went to the circulation desk, “What all do we have?” He looked down at the nurse sitting at the desk, “Nothing much.” she accompanied with a shrug, “A lot of people looking for stitches, a few people with a stomach bug, then in the back we have the lights off and there is a guy with a migraine.” Alex nodded at her, “Thanks Emily.” She nodded back at him, and then went back to typing furiously at her computer.
Instead of talking to the woman who was clearly busier than he was, the sandy-haired man made his way around the desk, and grabbed four charts from the stack designated for stitches. Alex looked at his watch, and as if on cue, three of his interns appeared. “Welcome Doctors.” He smiled at them as they all flushed up a light shade of red in their ears, “Well today,” He motioned to the empty room rather than say anything. It was bad luck to talk about how slow it was. The second someone did well—it got horrifically busy. “So I decided, that we would have a little contest.” His smile still plastered on his face, “for surgeries of course. Or one, good one.” There was no lack of good surgeries in the pit, something always came up, “So what we are doing is, sutures. Good sutures.”
There was a system that Karli had followed religiously every morning - whether it be just waking up at her apartment or in one of the various hospital On Call rooms: Twist, press and pull. By now, Karli didn't even have to think about it anymore. She could pluck the orange, child-proof container from the pocket of her white coat and uncap it within a second - where when she had first started she couldn't help but look down and fumble it between her fingers. Today was no different, despite the tiny detail that the last time she had slept was at her flat early yesterday morning. Faint purple bags circled underneath her eyes, not entirely noticeable but there all the same, and it was looking in the mirror on the inside of her locker door in the interns changing room where she untwisted the cap of that infamous little bottle and threw two golden pills down her throat without a sip of water. It wasn't as difficult as some people made it out to be, really, but Karli had just assumed she'd only thought this because she'd been doing this for quite some time now and was just as used to it as she was breathing.
Karli grimaced and pushed her locker door shut carelessly, shrugging her white coat back over her shoulders and pivoting to exit the changing room - and only once pausing to chat briefly with another intern of her class, a young mouse looking woman who she'd never really spoken to before. Her senior resident, Dr. Wu, had paged in the duration of her break to assist in a surgery for pediatric adenoid removal, to which she had happily complied; yet all the same itched for something more. And it was then when she had her intern group were assigned to one of the On Call surgical attendings in the emergency room, where she would specifically report after finishing grand rounds on the pediatrics floor.
Now that Christmas was long over, the unit was beginning to look more like the typical hospital setting, though of course with a few exceptions. In patients, ones that had been around for months on end, decorated their specific rooms with flowers, posters and the like - a young boys parents had actually bought him a giant giraffe stuffed animal that stood "guarding" the entrance of his room with a nifty pair of shades placed awkwardly over it's beady eyes. It was something that she had passed whenever she worked on this floor; something that never failed to pull the corners of her lips into a small, albeit genuine, grin each and every time. While he wasn't a patient of hers, or her residents, a nurse had once briefly mentioned that the adoration he held for that giraffe could not be properly put in words. Things like that made her smile. Kids made her smile, most of the time anyway: and that is exactly why she wished to work in PEDs.
She couldn't think of a better way to spend her day than to help save the life of a child, to know that that smile upon their faces - and their parents - were in some respect, or all, because of you. To know that you'd helped them, that because of you they were walking out of this hospital, a mere bump in the road of the long life they had ahead of them. It was stressful, incredibly so, especially because she knew very well that the reality of it all did not resemble the dream one would have. Patients died, doctors failed. Parents and family members screamed until they were hoarse in the throat. Working in PEDs was both rewarding and stress inducing, but Karli was certain that, when the time came, she would work on getting her fellowship here.
Yet then again, she thought as she stopped at the information desk to retrieve one of the few patient charts, working in the emergency room and mitigating that consistent need to be on her toes, to keep moving, was something she wouldn't have minded spending the entirety of her career doing either. She had a long ways to decide specifically and many options to weigh for either specialty - she just wished she was more decisive. Karli reached for the chart, yet the moment her fingers closed around it her pager blared from it's clip on her scrub pants. Reflex had her reaching for it immediately.
Code blue, rm 268.
Adderall igniting the adrenaline within her like a fire, she took off in a hurried jog in the direction of the patients room. Even at the other end of the hallway she could hear the unwelcome inconsistency of the EKG monitor, the blurred voices of frantic parents and nurses. If Karli's heart hadn't already been hammering in affect of the speed it surely would have been now. When she had reached the room, nothing else had seemed to matter but the young girl, aged 11, flat-lining in her bed. Everything after that was a haze, indistinct. She'd ordered the standby nurse to administer a dose of vasopressin before starting the chest compressions, all the way keeping this young girl in high hopes. With no electrical activity defibrillation was a path she knew very well to avoid. After an unsuccessful three minutes a sudden spike upon the heart monitor sounded and Karli halted her compressions, a relieved smile falling upon her lips. Drastic measures were taken with consent of her parents, and young Susie was on her way to ICU on life support.
So focused on what had happened, it'd foolishly slipped her mind that she was due in the emergency room to be on Dr. Blake's watch - and she had never finished the rest of her rounds so quick.
By the time she had reached the trauma center Karli had already thought every possible curse word under the sun - the synonyms of those and then some. Naturally first impressions were undeniably important, most especially when it had come to Dr. Alexander Blake: one of the most respected surgeons at Inova, the type of surgeon that she aspired to be like. Yet here she was arriving several minutes later than she should have, cheeks painted a delicate crimson from purely authentic embarrassment. Where she knew she had a valid excuse for being tardy and could easily point him in the direction of her senior resident if he had asked, if Karli was anything it was punctual, always, and this perchance bothered her more than it should have. So she stopped to the far left of the other three interns having briefly caught what he had been saying, all ones she had worked with on a daily basis and people she could call good friends, if even that, and prompted by the pills she spoke before she could stop herself. "I'm so sorry for being late, Dr. Blake - there was an emergency in the pediatrics wing and I got held back. And - I'm sorry, sorry. Please, um, continue. Sorry."
Karli || Aidan - Simple Together
Aidan rested a hand on her back when she leaned forwards to greet him with a kiss to the cheek. He smiled at her when she pulled away. “Times can’t change that much,” the man answered with a light, cheeky shake of his head. The first time he listened to her voice after he landed in the country, he was surprised to notice her accent had softened, but other than that, she didn’t seem much different from who he remembered. Tame, perhaps, or at least in comparison to who she used to be at university parties. Aidan liked to refer to their first meeting as a hiccup of fate—proof that a simple choice made today could be of the utmost importance several years later. His green eyes flickered between her and Sam, the roommate who, ironically, looked just as bad as he supposed she had after the night he first landed his eyes on her, years ago, and for a moment he asked himself whether or not things could’ve been different, hadn’t their paths parted in opposite directions so soon. It was a thought that slipped out of his mind as fast as it had slipped inside and, at the whine her roommate let out, his expression broke into a grin and he turned around to face his companion for the night.
The man smiled and watched her run around, gathering her belongings, but it was a matter of time until his sight strayed and he scanned her apartment instead, curiously. Through the years they hadn’t met face to face, he had pictures of her surrounds to form a view from her life; with time, she looked more two dimensional and otherworldly than real. To be around her now, to be as close as they were once—he licked at his lips, wondering whether or not it’d have happened if he hadn’t moved to America. Probably not, he thought to himself, a little disappointed that some things, important as they were, relied on details such as space. At the same time, he smiled and neared her while she shrugged on her coat, satisfied with how things turned out to be. In the end, it didn’t matter whether or not it was fate: he was just glad it had happened at all.
He followed her inside the elevator and, at her words, the chef nodded almost in defeat. His smile became shier, almost embarrassed—a guilty man’s expression, caught on the move. “A bit different, yes,” Aidan said, wrinkling his nose and letting out a sigh. “I miss those parties,” he confessed. “No, tonight… tonight you are basically my hostage.” He lifted his eyebrows at her and it was his turn to side glance the brunette. “Are you very afraid?” His voice was lower and humorous, but he didn’t have the slightest bit of a poker face and what was supposed to be a mysterious expression ended up breaking into a grin. He threw his head back against the wall he leaned against and sighed. “It’s a rubbish business-related dinner… nothing to do with my business, ‘course, those dinners would be fantastic.” He looked at her with a proud smirk on his face. “It had to do with my dad’s. I’m supposed to attend it… and I thought, if I absolutely must attend it, I might as well have fun with it.” Aidan bumped his shoulder lightly against the woman’s. “That’s where you come in.” He parted his lips into an apologetic smile. “What are friends for, right? If you get hammered and embarrass yourself, don’t worry… I will tell everyone I don’t know you.” He snickered.
Once the doors opened to the ground floor, he led her towards his vehicle. When she hugged her arms for warmth, he let out an “aw” and rounded her shoulders with an arm, bringing her closer to him. “I’m sorry for making you go out in this weather with that dress,” he apologized, though sorry wasn’t exactly what he felt at the sight of her in those clothes. Reaching the car, he opened the door for her with a chuckle. “Come on, we both know I’d still be a loser in a Bentley if I showed up alone.”
Aidan walked around the car and slipped into the driver’s seat, breathing into his cold palms before turning on the heat. “Buckle up, Karli,” he said, his voice humorous as well as assertive, taking a look into the rearview mirror and turning the engine on as he drove off into the darkening streets of Alexandria. “How was your day?” he asked, glancing at her for a moment. “Full of accidents, I assume.”
If someone had told Karli that Aidan would become such a significant part of her life years after she had drunkenly met him at a college party, she wouldn't have believed them. Friendships were something she held onto very dearly, and she would do her best to keep him as close as she possibly could - lest something happen, for the better or for the worse - but she wouldn't have thought so when she was 20 and holding her seventh glass of whatever alcoholic beverage she was downing. The attraction was there of course, how could it not be, and the first few times they had hung out together afterwards was a bit awkward, but then everything after that, what it had become and what it had amounted to be, was something else entirely. Something she was totally unprepared for yet something she welcomed with open arms. Karli had, once upon a time, believed that the longer she stayed in America and the longer he remained in England, that eventually what they had would become nothing but a distant memory; one eventually only recalled with all the negatives that had happened there. And just the thought of that made her sick to her stomach.
"Me getting hammered and embarrassing myself might just be the highlight of the night then," Karli joked, returning the nudge with her elbow, however lighter than his with a grin tugging at the corners of her lips, "but just keep in mind that your hostage may spill some equally embarrassing stories about you and I know everyone would absolutely love to hear those." Though she teased him, and did so in good nature, a part of her already knew that that was all very unlikely. Karli would drink - of course she would if it was as dull as her companion was saying - and she would enjoy being in his company as she always did, but she would have to watch her alcohol intake considerably.
When Aidan’s arm rounded her and pulled her close, tucked beneath the crook of his shoulder, Karli subconsciously leaned into him; if not for his warmth radiating from him, but for the touch alone. Embraces such as this were not a very uncommon thing between the pair of them, considering how long they had known each other for. In their younger years, when she was still living in England, sleeping in the same bed and random physical albeit similarly platonic acts of affection was not an uncustomary thing either - though that had ended, became less frequent, by the time Karli had gotten herself a long term boyfriend. It was nice to be able to act like this around him again, as she’d found herself missing it, forgetting what it was like, although it had felt different. Different in a way that was not easily dismissible yet unfamiliar all the same. But she deferred it with a smile, a smile of contentment. She had missed this, just being close to him, and she could admit that along with her brother, her extended family and a few good friends, he was amongst those that she regretted leaving behind in England only a few years ago. "You’re lucky I like you," she joked as she got into passengers seat, thanking him before continuing, "loser in a Bentley or not."
Karli cleared her throat softly, glancing over to him with a curved grin as he drove. "Filled to the brim with them. There was a fairly bad car accident earlier this morning just outside of Alexandria, and, well, I’ll spare you the gory details but my resident allowed me to scrub in on one of the surgeries. It took about five hours - five successful hours I mean. I spent the rest of my shift in Pediatrics. One of the kids that's been staying with us for the past couple of months wanted to hear all about my rounds." She paused. PEDs was her main focus. When she became a second year resident, which was rapidly approached, her specialty would pinpoint entirely on the trauma center and working with the pediatric unit. At the time she had enrolled into medical school, Karli had full intentions to get into the radiology wing, yet over the years that had done a complete 180 - starting with the time she'd spent hours just holding an infant who'd been born many months before he should have, that responded well to human contact. She was good with children, good with handling and working with them; well experienced from mothering her brothers when she was young. It was just a bonus that she liked it.
But she doubted Aidan wanted to hear all that, so she didn't continue.
Her gaze averted from his face, eyes focusing on the road ahead of them, the slightest blush tainting the skin of her cheeks - hopefully unnoticeable in such dim light. Karli had a tendency to ramble, on and on (and on), about something she was passionate about; books, medicine, anything regarding animals and sometimes television shows. It was something she had done since she was just a child, though she was fairly quiet, and something she supposed had amplified since she'd begun taking adderall. It made her one of two things: an overly energetic person who constantly needed to be doing something, or a complete zombie. Someone who hadn't slept for days on end, with rings around her eyes and who couldn't focus, and then eventually woke up in places she couldn't even remember going. Luckily for her, today was not one of those days. "What about you? How's the restaurant holding up?"
If you must die, sweetheart Die knowing your life was my life's best part
unexpected welcome | Aidan & Karli
The sight of the smile that surfaced to her features as soon as her eyes fell upon him washed him over with relief and Aidan felt like a part of the nervousness faded off. Despite his intentions, she was the same woman he had met all those years ago, and who he had kept in contact with for so long: first and foremost, they were friends and there was not a reason for him to feel as nervous as he was—was there? Alas, he breathed out a chuckle, “Good thoughts, always,” and stepped inside her apartment. It occurred to him that, in his panic, he didn’t consider the possibility of Karli being at work instead. He wondered, for a moment, whether or not that would’ve made him lose his courage. It was on a whim that he decided to take a trip towards her place instead of his; maybe, if she hadn’t been at home, he would’ve taken it as a sign. Aidan smiled at her and asked himself whether or not the fact she was there meant anything, but in the end he pushed the thoughts aside. He didn’t believe in fate or that things happened for a reason—not anymore, anyway.
“I’m sure there are one or two people who are less busy than you right now,” he smiled at her when he reached the living room. The fact that Sam wasn’t sprawled on the couch this time pleased him, though he still rubbed his cold hands together, without quite knowing what to do with them for a change. “Anytime, milady Strauss,” he said with a little bow and added: “Oh, I’d love some water” since he’d be driving soon.
He took a seat on the couch and waited for her return, tapping at his thighs with his fingertips. Aidan played out this conversation inside his head at least a dozen times in the past few weeks, but he still didn’t know how to approach the subject. His sight landed on the book she had abandoned and he smiled up at her when she took a seat beside him. “How’s your reading?” he asked, taking a generous gulp of water. “Having a good time?”
Aidan licked at his lips, allowing some nervousness to grow inside of him again. He rested the half full glass of water above the coffee table and started: “I wanted to ask you about something else actually… Are you busy this Friday?” He didn’t mention it would be February 14th. He guessed she was aware at this point. “And… do you like New York strip steak?”
In Aidan's presence, everything felt different - not in a bad way, but in a way that Karli couldn't put her finger on. It was a familiar feeling, one she never felt around any other friend, not even Sam, and one she remembered vaguely having just before her last long term relationship. Associating that feeling with that scenario deepened the blush that tinged the pale complexion of her cheeks, but by this time she had already shut the door behind him and made way to the kitchen to fetch him the glass of water that he'd asked for. Her attempt to will it away, and all the thoughts that came afterward, with disturbing topics of medical study were thwarted when she turned around to find him already on one of the couches. She sat beside him with her tea in her unoccupied hand, close but at a comfortable distance, and handed him his glass of water; all the while avoiding his eyes.
Karli's line of vision found the book she'd been meaning to read laying idle on the coffee table, shoulders heaving the tiniest of shrugs. "I haven't read much actually. I've been meaning to, but I guess I haven't had the time." She answered earnestly, a close-lipped smile to match the one he was giving her as she glanced up at him. "It's not a top priority. I have my hands full enough as it is," eyes fleeted from his again, to the pile of pediatric specialty medical textbooks abandoned on the floor beside one of the bookshelves - all of which bookmarked, with a few sticky-notes sticking out of some of the pages based on importance. Just of the sight of them made her dread the next couple of weeks. Such extensive studying wouldn't go away until she was a certified second year resident.
When he spoke again, more hesitant than he usually was, Karli met his gaze again, her smile faltering just slightly as her brows raised in curiosity. The nervousness came back, but she found that it was something that had always happened when someone started off their question by stating that they had actually had a question to ask. One of her fingers tapped noiselessly at the side of her cup, not a nervous tick, but a twitch she couldn't control from taking the pills; like how sometimes she'd bounce her leg or shake her foot without even noticing.
His question shouldn't have surprised her, but it did. It was subtle and straight to the point, and he hadn't mentioned that it was Valentine's day but it was obviously implied that he was very much aware of this fact - just as aware as she was. The corners of her lips kinked into a shy smile as she waited for him to finish, her heart beating a little faster than it's usual pace. After their conversation at the party he had dragged her to, something like this was bound to come up again, and Karli inwardly scolded herself for being so ill prepared for such a possibility. "No," she answered when he'd finished, and then quickly continued to spare confusion. "I mean, no, no I'm not busy - and I love strip steak." Karli chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, the smile still evident on her face. She spoke hesitantly next, words leaving her with caution. "Are you asking me on a date, chef?"