Office #26, Tuesday

[chosehumanity]

The worst of Mitchell's twitches about last week were starting to wear off, but that didn't mean that he didn't still have a touch of the foul mood about him. In fact, he was on the phone with George right now.

Doing helpful things.

Like going off on him for his anal-retentive attention to dietary choices. "...We don't need pomegranates," he snapped, "They're not even really food! Oh, like you need an excuse, you're practically chained to the stove."

...Yes.

[[ the office, however, was open. like the post. ]]

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[chosehumanity]

Mitchell glanced up and noticed her. He held up a finger. Hold on a minute--

"No, George, I'm not saying you should come over and show me how to clean my kitchen here. I like my kitchen the way it is." Beat. "It's got an oven, what else do I need--?"

There was a prolonged silence as George ranted on the other end of the line. Mitchell brought it down to his chest, and motioned again. "Kate, come in."

[vanillajello]

Kate sauntered in, and – surprise! – took a seat without being told to. She didn't say anything, but she raised an eyebrow, glancing at the phone.

Still oh so amused.

[chosehumanity]

Mitchell opened his mouth to respond and--

--heard something through the phone.

"For the last time, George, I am not doing IKEA. I've got a student. Bye."

He shut it with a click.

[vanillajello]

Kate was snickering. A little. "What's wrong with IKEA?"

[chosehumanity]

"It's a nest of evil and Swedish furniture," Mitchell said, pulling a face. "It's not important."

He quickly stuffed the phone back into his pocket. "I thought you'd be fleeing from Valentine's Day by now."

[vanillajello]

"Not until Thursday," Kate said, shaking her head and shifting in her chair to get comfier. "I still have class tomorrow."

... She realized something. Love and Romance. The class was Love and Romance. "Oh, fuuuck," she groaned. "I hope Drake doesn't love Valentine's Day."

[chosehumanity]

There was a slight pause as Mitchell tried and somewhat failed not to chuckle aloud. "You could try releasing a cat into the classroom and claiming it's you," he said. "What's your problem with love and romance?"

[vanillajello]

"That's a question that nearly made me cry at Turtle and Canary once." Not that she had any intention of doing that here. "I'm just not really a fan."

Except for those times when she was.

[chosehumanity]

Mitchell's eyebrows shifted up almost-- almost imperceptibly. "Uh huh."

[vanillajello]

"I have my reasons."

[chosehumanity]

"Suffering a bit of the Valentine's blues," Mitchell said, wisely. "George gets that. About once every two weeks."

[vanillajello]

"I'm not suffering anything," Kate shrugged. "But sounds like George needs to hook up with someone."

[chosehumanity]

"That's what I keep telling him," Mitchell said, shrugging one shoulder effortlessly.

...Well. When he wasn't loudly telling George not to stress out about his cleaning equipment, fret about the furniture, or flail about the food.

[vanillajello]

"People never listen to good advice," Kate said a little more easily, now. Like that didn't apply to her at all.

[chosehumanity]

Mitchell shot her an appraising look. "When's the last time you did?" Beat. "Followed advice."

[vanillajello]

Kate showed him her dark green nails. "The girl who did my manicure recommended this color to me."

Yeah.

[chosehumanity]

"Yeah, that's really substantial advice."

[vanillajello]

"You didn't specify how substantial it had to be," Kate retorted. "It was good advice, and I followed it."

[chosehumanity]

"Uh huh," Mitchell said again, "So who told you to flee from Valentine's with your tail between your legs? Someone might be waiting for you."

Sometimes, he was too much of an Irish romantic in his own way.

[vanillajello]

"I can actually make decisions without anyone prompting me to do something," Kate said, eyes narrowing. "And there's no one waiting for me anywhere."

[chosehumanity]

"There's always someone if you look long enough." Mitchell, just stop. "But I forget how old and jaded you are."

[vanillajello]

There were several someones, even.

But all of it was far too messy to consider right now, let alone talk to Mitchell about.

"Don't mock me. It's not my choice to be cynical."

[chosehumanity]

Mitchell made an amused noise. "Yeah, I bet you fell from the womb like that."

[vanillajello]

"No, but I grew up like this."

[chosehumanity]

"And you're what?" Mitchell asked, skeptically, "Sixteen? You're still figuring out who you are."