"...Oookay.. Um. Suit yourself. I guess. Just... Let me know if you need anything, alright? Like supplies or whatever."
They took one last glance at Secretary before slowly walking away to the other rooms to help out their co-workers.
They noticed the sudden pause in his movements.
"..Did I say something wrong? You look like you saw a ghost."
"I mean.. It's okay if you don't wanna talk 'bout it." They said, looking away awkwardly.
As they were about to take a sip of their coffee, they froze.
'Walking... corpse...' They repeated in their mind, heaving a sigh. They eventually took a sip of their coffee, accidentally burning their tongue but... somehow not having much of a reaction.
"It's fine. I'm.. fine."
".. You sure.. ? I always see you dozing off, hanging on by a thread. You're like a walking corpse dude."
They paused for a moment, trying to pick out the right words to say.
"I could cover your shift if you really need it man."
He groaned, following the secretary.
"Do you ever like.. Rest? At all? You can do your paperwork later, just take a 15 minute break or something."
He suggested, his tone both concern yet still playful in a way.
"No, I'm busy. I need to prepare for said rush hour." He states again, turning his heel to walk away from the agent.
"Find another coworker to bother while you're... idle."
They roll their eyes at his words.
"Oh come on, I'm just making sure!"
They said with a small grin on their face.
"Plus, rush hour doesn't come until what? 2 or 3 more shifts? It'll be fine, lighten up a little."
They leaned against the wall, fidgeting with their equipment.
"Why are you using the scanner on me?"
His voice cuts through the silence. Unusually tense and a bit taken aback. Secretary tilts their head, brows raised in curiosity.
"Use it on the patients. An anomaly might slip past if you keep joking around like this."
[ @SECRETFELlNE ]