[for man_without_fear]

[aheroliveshere]

 "Here are the last of the files on the Palmer case, Mrs. Vargas called and rescheduled, and Joe Nguyen dropped off another case of mangos in lieu of an actual check."

Karen shifted his empty coffee cup to carefully set down the tower of folders at his right elbow.

"And.. that's it.  I'm done for the day."

Comments

[man_without_fear]

He can feel her studying him and cants his head, waiting for whatever question is coming and chuckling when he hears it.

"Let's go simple; deep dish pepperoni and bell peppers?"

[aheroliveshere]

"Bell peppers, huh? Right. Done."

She slips back out to her desk and makes the call. A minute later she sticks her head back in.

"It'll be here in half an hour. Do you mind company? The special was for a large so, I figured I'd help you eat it."

[man_without_fear]

He takes the top file off of the pile and opens it, skimming the first page with his fingertips, but not really reading it as he listens to Karen on the phone.

When she returns he lifts his head and smiles. "Not at all. Though I do feel guilty for keeping you here late."

[aheroliveshere]

"Oh, don't. Seriously. Save that guilt for when we're burning the midnight oil."

She leans one shoulder against the door frame.

"And anyway, we haven't had dinner in awhile. Just you and I."

[man_without_fear]

"It has been a little while," he concedes. "Wanna pull up a chair?"

He can certainly make room on his desk... somewhere. He tries to rearrange the files so there's at least a small piece of real estate for her on the corner of the desk.

[aheroliveshere]

She rests her knuckles across her lips, watching him for a moment as he struggles to make room for her.

"Here, let me. I don't want to explain to Foggy how you were crushed in an avalanche of paper." She shifts the 'To Be Filed' stack back to her desk, and returns, wheeling her own chair, broken caster and all.

"I think there's paper plates and napkins in the box by the coffee machine. And I have enough change for the coke machine."

[man_without_fear]

He's all too happy to accept her help, closer to spilling everything onto the floor than he is to clearing a spot for her.

"Thank you." He scoops other miscellany into a desk drawer while she takes care of the files.

"I'll take a Coke and will get the plates and napkins," he says, standing up.

[aheroliveshere]

"Don't forget the candles and the good silver!" He can hear the laughter running under her words as she disappears down the hall to the vending machines.

The machine itself is loud, so it's very easy to track her progress by the rattle-clang-THUNK! of their sodas being dispensed.

[man_without_fear]

"I think Foggy took those to be polished," he replieas wry and amused.

By the time the machine is belching out the second drink Matt is making his way back to the desk, plates and napkins in tow.

[aheroliveshere]

She falls in step behind him, following him back into the office.

"Feels like I'm back in college. Only with less beer. Dang it, I should have run down to the bodega and got us some beers. Next time."

[man_without_fear]

"This is a working dinner, Karen," he reminded her with a chuckle. "I'm not sure how you and Foggy do it when you two pull long hours, but I'd like to keep my wits about me."

[aheroliveshere]

"I have sneaking suspicion it would take more than one beer to make you lose your wits."

That said, she takes the hint and her demeanor shifts back to something a little less playful.

"You're allowed to take a break to eat, you know."

[man_without_fear]

"Foggy hasn't told you what a light weight I am?" he jokes lamely.

Sensing the shift he retakes his seat; adjusting his glasses.

"Just trying to keep the backlog to something manageable."

[aheroliveshere]

"No, no he hasn't. But I'll certainly keep it in mind for the future."

She has no idea where that came from, and for the briefest moment, she feels like a terrible person, because she's really glad he can't see her blushing right now.

"Of course. Yeah, of course."

[man_without_fear]

He can't see it, but the raise in temperature of her features, the slight quickening of her heartbeat and the small stutter in her breath tells him enough.

It's all he can do not to react or duck his head from it.

Playing the oblivious he gives her a quick reassuring smile and relents, "Small break for dinner. Greasy pizza and legal documents don't really go well together, anyways."

[aheroliveshere]

"No, no they really don't." She's laughing again, and standing up. The pizza guy's footsteps are coming up the stairs. She grabs her purse and the fist full of coupons from her desk.

"Be right back."

[man_without_fear]

He tilts his head, her laugh something he always enjoys hearing, then nods to her as she goes to get the food.

"I'll be here."

[aheroliveshere]

She leaves the pizza box outside on her desk, and collects the plates from his desk. A moment later, she's putting a plate in front of him. "Two slices, pepperoni and bell pepper, extra cheese because I like to live dangerously."

She settles into her chair with her slice balanced on the corner of his desk, and pops the top on her Coke. There's a moment of awkward silence as she tries to shift from working mode into social mode. During the day, it's busy enough, she never has to deal with the fact that he -- lights her up like a damned Christmas tree.

Just the scent of him in the room is enough to make her trip over her own tongue, let alone the deep resonance of his voice and the warmth of his smile. Having him alone is such a rarity these days, she hasn't had to think about it. And she thinks she's done a pretty good job of keeping it under wraps. She's a professional. But this is different.

"So..."

Smooth, Karen. Really smooth.

[man_without_fear]

For his part Matt makes the attempt to shift modes as well. While she's getting the food he shifts all work related things away from himself, including any files he might feel tempted to crack open and 'scan over'.

He's been running fully focused on the work at hand for awhile now, shifting gears back out of it isn't easy. To say he works with blinders on might be a terrible idiom to use, but the truth is Matt is guilty of sometimes putting his head down and being oblivious to everything else.

Moving his hands aside to make room for his plate she sets down he smiles at her. "Thank you."

He's taking a bite as the awkward 'so' comes out and he chuckles while catching stretching cheese with his hand before it can stick to his chin.

"Don't tell me I still make you nervous, Karen," he teases. They have been working together for awhile now.

[aheroliveshere]

She sputters a laugh, trying to cover it with a sip of soda.

"No? No. I mean, why would you? It's not like you're my boss or anything."

She rests the back of her hand against her lips, still grinning as she steals a glance at him. She thinks he can probably feel the heat from her cheeks across the room.

[man_without_fear]

"Foggy's your boss and you hardly seem nervous around him," he points out, amused by her grin and the embarrassment she's trying to hide.

[aheroliveshere]

"True," she says, finally picking up her slice. She can do this. Just imagine him in his underwear.

"But when you've heard a guy singing Abba at the top of his lungs when he thinks no one else is around, it's a little difficult to be intimidated by him."




Yeah, that's not gonna help either.

[man_without_fear]

"Oh no, not Abba," Matt groans even as he grins.

Reaching out, he pats her shoulder consolingly. "I'm truly sorry you had to witness that."

[aheroliveshere]

She rests her hand atop his for a moment, just for a moment.

"It was fine. He was mortified when I made it clear he wasn't alone. But we got passed it."

[man_without_fear]

His hand lingers for a moment longer than maybe it should and when he catches himself he gives her shoulder a light squeeze before pulling away.

"Trust me, that embarrassment won't stop him from doing it again." If anything it'll only encourage the man later on, initial humiliation already done with now.