#beneathoaktrees

[silverskies]

who: cyrus cruz & silas cooperman | @beneathoaktrees when & where: september 24th, the er

anyone who has been around cyrus in the last two weeks knows one thing: he can't stand silas cooperman. the man drives him fucking crazy, annoyed by his can-do attitude and desire to help. there's a rational part of his brain that knows the man will probably be good for them all in the long run; cole likes him, so that has to count for something right? however, now being stuck in weekly 'training' sessions with him always leaves cyrus in a sour mood. this morning is no exception to that new rule, grumbling to himself as he moves about the er and does his charting. the arrival of coop doesn't go unnoticed -- cyrus had managed to avoid speaking to him for the first twenty minutes, but they find themselves next to one another as he's trying to finish his work. "fuck do you want, cooperman?" he opens with, giving the older man a look. "you gonna start grading my charts now, too?"

[pinkauras]

@beneathoaktrees / dinah alvarez & violet mason.

a glass of champagne in each hand, dinah quickly shoves the extra one into violet's grasp. "you haven't had a drink in twenty minutes," she explains with a quirk of her eyebrow and a tilt of her head. "that's just unacceptable. everything's on the hospitals dime, indulge while we can." a part of her wants to make a quip about how funny it is that they can afford to throw this gala to rake in donations but can't afford proper security in the emergency room or nurse staffing on the intensive care unit, but what's the point in wasting her breath? "you look hot, by the way."

[pinkauras]

@beneathoaktrees / sienna zhang & ryan larson.

well, her parents sudden departure from all things pine valley medical center makes a whole lot of sense now. her mother had never really wanted to come here and she must have gotten wind of dr. sullivan's refusal to retire any time soon and taken the next best offer she could find while her father, ever the dutiful husband, followed closely behind. she isn't surprised — it makes sense. she just isn't sure where that leaves her. she's chewing her thumb nail anxiously, ruining a rare manicure and trying to remind herself that they won't fire her just because her parents fucked the hospital over and left them high and dry, right? okay, yeah, she's spiralling just a little bit. as if she's subconsciously seeking him out, sienna finds herself standing beside ryan. "that speech was..." she trails off, blinking and shaking her head. "are you freaking out? it seems like a lot of people are. i am."

[pinkauras]

@beneathoaktrees / hollis westbrook & violet mason. ❝ magic is all around us. it always has been. ❞

what is it with peds surgeons that they all always seem to be shitting rainbows constantly? hollis quirks an eyebrow, unsure of how to respond in a way that doesn't begin and end with asking her if she's ingested magic mushrooms today. instead, she pauses and lets violet's words really wash over her. which is maybe a mistake because 'magic is all around us' is starting to sound like 'christ is all around us' and she's reminded of her family. of her grandfather's church passing around a collection plate with he lays hands on some old woman, claiming that god will touch her through his hands and give her a miracle, curing her of the bowel cancer that has been eating away at her for years, only for her to pass away a few days later. magic and miracles — two things hollis does not believe in. "we're in a hospital, dr mason." she begins, tucking blonde hair behind her ears. "science is all around us. not magic."

[gcnetics]

who: priya & ryan | @beneathoaktrees where: a random hospital starwell

priya lingers longer than she should in the stairwell, hands curled tight around the railing as if the metal might anchor her. the hospital air carries that ever-present mix of sanitizer and exhaustion, and she swears it's starting to seep into her skin. restructuring. downsizing. words that have been floating through every whispered conversation in the cafeteria. words that kept finding her no matter how she tried to dodge them.

of all the people she could run into here, it had to be ryan, someone who seems entirely too steady for the chaos priya feels gnawing under her ribs. she straightens automatically, bracing herself the way she always does in front of authority, rehearsing excuses in her head even before he says anything. she isn't supposed to be here while on the clock, she knows that, but she also knows she needs a breath before she falls apart in front of the wrong person.

“i’m fine,” she blurts, too quickly, before he even asks. the echo of her voice off the concrete walls makes it sound ridiculous. her grip on the railing tightens. “i just needed a second. everything feels like it’s… closing in. like the walls are moving.” she gives a half-laugh, brittle and sharp, then glances at him sidelong.

[silverskies]

who: adrienne & violet | @beneathoaktrees where + when: white coat gala, sept 5th.

her relationship with violet — both platonic and romantic — has seen plenty of ups and downs, but in a moment like this, she’s the kind of person adrienne gravitates towards. she'd long since ditched her date, opting to make a beeline to her friend instead. dance with the one that brought you didn't mean much now -- not when her thoughts felt like there was a tornado breezing through it, and she was resisting the urge to down a few shots. "i need to dance." she delares, looping her arm through violet's as she steers the woman towards the dance floor. she has a feeling violet will pick up on the inevitable crash out about to come from her -- but hopefully she won't ask about it. "you get hammered for me. i'm dd."

[silverskies]

who: cyrus & rome | @beneathoaktrees where + when: white coat gala, sept 5th.

admittedly, it's surprising that rome showed up -- as surprising as it is that cyrus is there, as well. the two aren't built for these kinds of things; schmoozing and dressing up, doing the social bullshit that makes both of them itch. part of him wonders if the other man's plan to get through the night was getting hammered -- especially after sullivan's speech, and the 'restructuring' he's promised. he sits at their dinner table, arms crossed as he watches people mingle and dance. unless dinah asked, he wasn't planning on getting on the dance floor. "if they fire you," cyrus starts, giving rome a look. "just let the rats out in the cafeteria. send a message on the way out."

[pinkauras]

@beneathoaktrees / sienna zhang & ryan larson.

having a secret boyfriend (if that's what she is supposed to call him) is supposed to be fun and sexy according to every movie or book sienna's ever seen on the subject. in reality, it's actually a little bit anxiety inducing and paranoia striking. sienna loves spending time with ryan — enjoys being in his company and the way he makes her feel, likes the way he dots on her and gives her the kind of attention she used to shy away from. but there is also always a little voice in the back of her mind reminding her that this is probably fifteen hr violations and someone is going to find out about it and blow the whole thing up. that voice is especially loud at the hospital where her mother and father both seem to always be lurking around a corner.

which is why she finds herself in this position now. her cheeks hot and bright red, flush spreading up the apples and down her neck to her chest while she frantically apologizes to ryan. she is three quarters of the way through a double shift, feeling half dead on her feet and like her stomach is going to cave in on itself if she doesn't eat something. ryan, doting as previously mentioned, had approached her with a bagel in one hand and a bottle of water in the other and sienna was pretty sure the sight was nothing short of the second coming of christ. they'd been standing just a little too close to each other for professional, one of his hands hovering around her temple while tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear when sienna heard the elevator ping and had, reflexively, pushed him away from her while simultaneously jumping back.

and it hadn't really mattered because it hadn't been anything other than a turned around visitor, who had promptly shuffled back into the elevator and gone back to wherever they had come from. "i'm so sorry," sienna apologizes, eyes wide at her own actions. "that was like..." she shakes her head. "my nerves are obviously shot after this long day. are you okay?"