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Description
Quinn's voice wavered under her breath as all her papers were strewn across her desk, floor, and anywhere else they could imagine being. Muttering what seemed like a distasteful curse in some sort of language, presumably Klingon from the harsh sounds and her not-so-subtle geeky ways, she looked up and stared at the light from her desk lamp, hoping some sort of god-like savior would speak to her from this blinding light.

Think, Quinn. Where did that key go? She told herself in mind, going through the events of the day in hopes that it would all just fall together to lead to the finding of that one simple key. As she continued to still mutter things to herself in various languages, Avery glided by with some folders in hand. Glancing over Quinn's usually neat and homey work area, he stopped mid-step to turn and face the now torn apart workspace. He cocked a brow towards her and gave a slight frown towards the ground where Quinn sat, disheveled in her wreckage. Avery sat the folders on top of her desk and took a seat next to her in the only area of ground not cluttered with paperwork. Quinn's head turned towards him and she gave a weak smile, then let her head sink down in pitiful defeat of the papers. She stared for a while at the palms of her hands as they sat in the nook between her crossed legs, not saying anything or acknowledging Avery. Simply sitting in discontentment with herself in wreckage and mayhem.

"Lose something, Quinlynn?" he inquired, although that was the only logical explanation for the erratic display of papers in her space. He sighed and gave a friendly half smile, touching her shoulder lightly for comfort, but retreating his fingers quickly after.

"A-Ah.. Yes. I think I've misplaced my apartment key..." Quinn mumbled softly, embarrassment flushing her face as it stayed low. She took in a deep breath through her nose and exhaled slowly, her fingers slowly curled in as she regained her thought process. "I.. I think I've been looking here for nearly an hour and a half now. It's got to be a bit late, I assume. Why haven't you gone home, Avery?"

Avery smiled again and leaned his shoulder onto Quinn's to sway her slightly. She looked up finally, greeted by a cheesy, but sincere, smile on a familiar face. She let out a small nervous laugh and pushed her glasses up, breathing a gentle sigh of relief for Avery's company for the moment being.

"I've been working a bit late the past week, and I keep losing track of time. I was making a copy of some pieces that I wanted to toy with," he looked up at the folders and gave a slight nod in their direction. "Anyhow," he started again, his face turned back to Quinn, "I suppose my Quinn senses were tingling." And with that, he gave another small nudge at her and stood up. "It's nearing 10, and you could spend forever swimming in these papers trying to find a key. Why don't you call the management for your building to see if they can get anyone to come in and replace the key?" Avery extended his hand down to Quinn's level in an offering of helping her up off her feet. She sat there for a moment, repositioned to sit like a proper lady would at a picnic, examining her surroundings, then his hand. Finally, she took his hand and grasped it firmly, standing next to him with a slight wobble. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders to steady her balance, hoping that his body would not show flushing in the dim lighting the office currently held. He gave off an awkward laugh and cleared his throat for a second, grabbed his folders, and wiggled out of her area.

"I will be back in a few minutes. Make your call and if it doesn't work out, I will help you with looking." With that, he quickly scampered off to his own area, cooing at Lawrence slightly and fumbling with papers on his desk. Even from where he was, he could make out the quiet murmurs of Quinn on the phone. He beamed for a moment, Quinn's nervous and nearly inaudible voice was all he could hear in the office, and the pleasantly soft echo it had. After a second of listening to her, Avery resumed packing up. He grabbed his own jingling keys out of the dish in a drawer, stacked the last of his papers, and walked to Quinn, who was just hanging up the phone as he turned into her area.

"How'd that go? Any luck?"

"The guy they usually send out is on vacation and they can't send another person until tomorrow morning because of the time right now," Quinn breathed, her talking a little frantic as she bit gently on her lower lip to think. "Seems a bit like a cliché movie, when you think about it," she chimed in after a moment of looking down at her twiddling hands and fingers.

"Oh, well," Avery paused, looking at the keys hanging from one of his fingers. His free hand snaked up his neck to his nape and rubbed at it uneasily. "Well. If you need a place to stay until your key guy comes along, I definitely have a spare room," he finally spurted, all his blood rushing out of his head to what felt like a pool under his feet.

"Oh. I was actually planning on calling into a motel for a night," she said quietly, feeling a little bad for turning down his offer of room and board in her time of need.

"Ah, right.. Right," Avery stammered, shooting another quirky smile out of nervousness. He took in a deep breath and looked up for a moment, then to Quinn's level, the feeling of an awkward silence loomed around them. "Well, best of lu-"

"Actually," she added. Quinn fidgeted for a moment as he gave her a puzzled look, but managed to crack a smile. "Motels smell funny."

Avery laughed to himself, still slightly perplexed about Quinn. "Well, yeah.. I suppose they do."

"I-I mean I don't like motels. Would.. Would I be able to take up your offer still?" Quinn mumbled, embarrassed and fumbling with all her words, which seemed to have caught in her throat in the process of speaking them.

"Of course, Quinn," he said, laughing a little once again and running his hand through some of his hair, satisfied. "If you're hungry, I think you will be pleasantly surprised with my cooking abilities tonight. I make one hell of a Cup-of-Noodles, if I may say so myself."

_____

Avery's apartment was beyond what Quinn had expected. Although, when you expected to be sleeping in a motel for the night, it wasn't very hard to do that. In simplest terms, his style was best described to be like Ikea. Everything was fresh, modern, and well placed. Surprisingly, for a man, it was neat and the idea that he had hired someone to do this for him wasn't that far fetched.

"My house is your house, as they say," he said, gesturing Quinn into the living room. Hidden away, she could make out a few gaming systems and their corresponding controllers and games. She breathed a sigh of relief; so he was just a normal guy after all. She mentally applauded his skills for keeping it well hidden.

"Molto bella - very pretty," she said finally after peaking around a corner into the kitchen. She nervously rubbed her fingers along the corner, tracing over the crisp edge and angle. She tried to smile; things still felt a little awkward, tense even. Avery and Quinn hadn't held an extravagant number of conversations, and the ones they did have were more work than leisurely discussion. Even so, they knew the other well enough to where they considered each other to be a friend in terms. Pleasantly awkward friends.

"Thank you," Avery noted, already in the kitchen and pulling out various things from the small cupboard next to the fridge. "I really hope you don't mind the Cup-of-Noodles, I haven't had time to shop with the Mirror piling up so much work on us in the past week."

"It's fine, no need to apologize. I think I would have been eating junk food from the gas station anyhow, so I think you're doing me a favor. But," she paused for a moment, looking at the nutritional value printed on the cup that Avery had set down, "not by much, it seems." She looked up to meet Avery's eyes and they both gave a small chuckle as a few cans tumbled out of the cupboard and clashed to the ground. Avery hurried to pick the cans up and started resorting the cupboard before starting to cook the noodles. Quinn set her cup back down and leaned into the wall, watching Avery make the noodles with an oddly charming precision.

"Give that about four minutes," Avery said once the microwave was going. He peered inside as they turned and nodded as a chef would after making a delectable meal, genuinely pleased with his button pushing and door closing skills.

"Any other plans?"

"Pardon?"

"Plans. Do you have any other plans for tonight?"

"Oh." Avery paused and looked back to the living room at the TV and couch, then to his watch. "Well, if you're not totally exhausted right now, we could make it dinner and a movie."

Quinn readjusted her body on the wall and looked up, thinking on how tired her body was. She grinned and ran one hand through part of her hair with a light giggle escaping her. "Only if I can choose the movie."

In the four minutes that it took for the noodles to cook, Quinn had chosen one of Avery's movies, and had changed into a pair of borrowed pajama bottoms for the night. She felt relieved that she continued to keep an extra shirt in her car after persistent spills of coffee plagued her in the previous year.

"Thank you again, Avery," she expressed with sincere gratitude. The two of them adjusted themselves on the couch, noodles in hand and ready for a late night movie with their dinners.

"It's my pleasure, I assure," he said and beamed. He dipped his fork into the steaming cup and finally pushed play.

_____

It didn't take very long after Quinn had finished her cup of noodles to drift asleep, her head perched on her hand with a dreamy grin on her face. After noticing, Avery turned the TV volume down to a low mumble and prodded Quinn gently.

"Quinn.. Quinn, do you want to move into the guest room, or do you want to sleep out here?"

Quinn's eyes lazily opened and she raised a brow for a moment, glancing around the room. She took in a deep breath and readjusted herself, but her slight grin still stayed. "Hnn?" she murmured. She rubbed her eyes and yawned softly, trying to think the question over, yet failing at comprehending any part of it.

Avery chuckled and walked off into the back of the apartment, returning with a large fluffy pillow and a multitude of blankets. "I think you'll be comfortable out here. This couch is just as good as the bed."

"Mmm, thanks," Quinn managed to say, her voice groggy but sweet. Avery held out his hand for her to grab again and made the couch into a comfortable bed once she was standing. She fumbled for a moment and tumbled onto the couch as soon as it was made. She mumbled with her face in the pillow for a moment, then rolled over a bit and smiled up at Avery. "You're a very good host," she noted with another light yawn. "That, and a very good friend." He smiled at the compliment and handed her the last blanket. She quickly whipped it over herself and cuddled into the couch and sighed happily, quietly uttering another thank you as she closed her eyes, already halfway back to sleep.

Avery went back to the TV and turned it off, letting the quiet static of the power draining out of it settle. His fingers fumbled for the light switch, but once the lights were off, he stared out into the inky black abyss of his apartment, taking in the silence of it all. He smiled to himself and listened, knowing that, although he couldn't see, he was looking at her rest peacefully.

"Vestri decorus," he whispered low and soft, making sure that it was nearly impossible to hear, even though he was certain she was fast asleep again. With that, he turned on his heel and stepped quietly away from the silence.

Description
Quinn's voice wavered under her breath as all her papers were strewn across her desk, floor, and anywhere else they could imagine being. Muttering what seemed like a distasteful curse in some sort of language, presumably Klingon from the harsh sounds and her not-so-subtle geeky ways, she looked up and stared at the light from her desk lamp, hoping some sort of god-like savior would speak to her from this blinding light.

Think, Quinn. Where did that key go? She told herself in mind, going through the events of the day in hopes that it would all just fall together to lead to the finding of that one simple key. As she continued to still mutter things to herself in various languages, Avery glided by with some folders in hand. Glancing over Quinn's usually neat and homey work area, he stopped mid-step to turn and face the now torn apart workspace. He cocked a brow towards her and gave a slight frown towards the ground where Quinn sat, disheveled in her wreckage. Avery sat the folders on top of her desk and took a seat next to her in the only area of ground not cluttered with paperwork. Quinn's head turned towards him and she gave a weak smile, then let her head sink down in pitiful defeat of the papers. She stared for a while at the palms of her hands as they sat in the nook between her crossed legs, not saying anything or acknowledging Avery. Simply sitting in discontentment with herself in wreckage and mayhem.

"Lose something, Quinlynn?" he inquired, although that was the only logical explanation for the erratic display of papers in her space. He sighed and gave a friendly half smile, touching her shoulder lightly for comfort, but retreating his fingers quickly after.

"A-Ah.. Yes. I think I've misplaced my apartment key..." Quinn mumbled softly, embarrassment flushing her face as it stayed low. She took in a deep breath through her nose and exhaled slowly, her fingers slowly curled in as she regained her thought process. "I.. I think I've been looking here for nearly an hour and a half now. It's got to be a bit late, I assume. Why haven't you gone home, Avery?"

Avery smiled again and leaned his shoulder onto Quinn's to sway her slightly. She looked up finally, greeted by a cheesy, but sincere, smile on a familiar face. She let out a small nervous laugh and pushed her glasses up, breathing a gentle sigh of relief for Avery's company for the moment being.

"I've been working a bit late the past week, and I keep losing track of time. I was making a copy of some pieces that I wanted to toy with," he looked up at the folders and gave a slight nod in their direction. "Anyhow," he started again, his face turned back to Quinn, "I suppose my Quinn senses were tingling." And with that, he gave another small nudge at her and stood up. "It's nearing 10, and you could spend forever swimming in these papers trying to find a key. Why don't you call the management for your building to see if they can get anyone to come in and replace the key?" Avery extended his hand down to Quinn's level in an offering of helping her up off her feet. She sat there for a moment, repositioned to sit like a proper lady would at a picnic, examining her surroundings, then his hand. Finally, she took his hand and grasped it firmly, standing next to him with a slight wobble. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders to steady her balance, hoping that his body would not show flushing in the dim lighting the office currently held. He gave off an awkward laugh and cleared his throat for a second, grabbed his folders, and wiggled out of her area.

"I will be back in a few minutes. Make your call and if it doesn't work out, I will help you with looking." With that, he quickly scampered off to his own area, cooing at Lawrence slightly and fumbling with papers on his desk. Even from where he was, he could make out the quiet murmurs of Quinn on the phone. He beamed for a moment, Quinn's nervous and nearly inaudible voice was all he could hear in the office, and the pleasantly soft echo it had. After a second of listening to her, Avery resumed packing up. He grabbed his own jingling keys out of the dish in a drawer, stacked the last of his papers, and walked to Quinn, who was just hanging up the phone as he turned into her area.

"How'd that go? Any luck?"

"The guy they usually send out is on vacation and they can't send another person until tomorrow morning because of the time right now," Quinn breathed, her talking a little frantic as she bit gently on her lower lip to think. "Seems a bit like a cliché movie, when you think about it," she chimed in after a moment of looking down at her twiddling hands and fingers.

"Oh, well," Avery paused, looking at the keys hanging from one of his fingers. His free hand snaked up his neck to his nape and rubbed at it uneasily. "Well. If you need a place to stay until your key guy comes along, I definitely have a spare room," he finally spurted, all his blood rushing out of his head to what felt like a pool under his feet.

"Oh. I was actually planning on calling into a motel for a night," she said quietly, feeling a little bad for turning down his offer of room and board in her time of need.

"Ah, right.. Right," Avery stammered, shooting another quirky smile out of nervousness. He took in a deep breath and looked up for a moment, then to Quinn's level, the feeling of an awkward silence loomed around them. "Well, best of lu-"

"Actually," she added. Quinn fidgeted for a moment as he gave her a puzzled look, but managed to crack a smile. "Motels smell funny."

Avery laughed to himself, still slightly perplexed about Quinn. "Well, yeah.. I suppose they do."

"I-I mean I don't like motels. Would.. Would I be able to take up your offer still?" Quinn mumbled, embarrassed and fumbling with all her words, which seemed to have caught in her throat in the process of speaking them.

"Of course, Quinn," he said, laughing a little once again and running his hand through some of his hair, satisfied. "If you're hungry, I think you will be pleasantly surprised with my cooking abilities tonight. I make one hell of a Cup-of-Noodles, if I may say so myself."

_____

Avery's apartment was beyond what Quinn had expected. Although, when you expected to be sleeping in a motel for the night, it wasn't very hard to do that. In simplest terms, his style was best described to be like Ikea. Everything was fresh, modern, and well placed. Surprisingly, for a man, it was neat and the idea that he had hired someone to do this for him wasn't that far fetched.

"My house is your house, as they say," he said, gesturing Quinn into the living room. Hidden away, she could make out a few gaming systems and their corresponding controllers and games. She breathed a sigh of relief; so he was just a normal guy after all. She mentally applauded his skills for keeping it well hidden.

"Molto bella - very pretty," she said finally after peaking around a corner into the kitchen. She nervously rubbed her fingers along the corner, tracing over the crisp edge and angle. She tried to smile; things still felt a little awkward, tense even. Avery and Quinn hadn't held an extravagant number of conversations, and the ones they did have were more work than leisurely discussion. Even so, they knew the other well enough to where they considered each other to be a friend in terms. Pleasantly awkward friends.

"Thank you," Avery noted, already in the kitchen and pulling out various things from the small cupboard next to the fridge. "I really hope you don't mind the Cup-of-Noodles, I haven't had time to shop with the Mirror piling up so much work on us in the past week."

"It's fine, no need to apologize. I think I would have been eating junk food from the gas station anyhow, so I think you're doing me a favor. But," she paused for a moment, looking at the nutritional value printed on the cup that Avery had set down, "not by much, it seems." She looked up to meet Avery's eyes and they both gave a small chuckle as a few cans tumbled out of the cupboard and clashed to the ground. Avery hurried to pick the cans up and started resorting the cupboard before starting to cook the noodles. Quinn set her cup back down and leaned into the wall, watching Avery make the noodles with an oddly charming precision.

"Give that about four minutes," Avery said once the microwave was going. He peered inside as they turned and nodded as a chef would after making a delectable meal, genuinely pleased with his button pushing and door closing skills.

"Any other plans?"

"Pardon?"

"Plans. Do you have any other plans for tonight?"

"Oh." Avery paused and looked back to the living room at the TV and couch, then to his watch. "Well, if you're not totally exhausted right now, we could make it dinner and a movie."

Quinn readjusted her body on the wall and looked up, thinking on how tired her body was. She grinned and ran one hand through part of her hair with a light giggle escaping her. "Only if I can choose the movie."

In the four minutes that it took for the noodles to cook, Quinn had chosen one of Avery's movies, and had changed into a pair of borrowed pajama bottoms for the night. She felt relieved that she continued to keep an extra shirt in her car after persistent spills of coffee plagued her in the previous year.

"Thank you again, Avery," she expressed with sincere gratitude. The two of them adjusted themselves on the couch, noodles in hand and ready for a late night movie with their dinners.

"It's my pleasure, I assure," he said and beamed. He dipped his fork into the steaming cup and finally pushed play.

_____

It didn't take very long after Quinn had finished her cup of noodles to drift asleep, her head perched on her hand with a dreamy grin on her face. After noticing, Avery turned the TV volume down to a low mumble and prodded Quinn gently.

"Quinn.. Quinn, do you want to move into the guest room, or do you want to sleep out here?"

Quinn's eyes lazily opened and she raised a brow for a moment, glancing around the room. She took in a deep breath and readjusted herself, but her slight grin still stayed. "Hnn?" she murmured. She rubbed her eyes and yawned softly, trying to think the question over, yet failing at comprehending any part of it.

Avery chuckled and walked off into the back of the apartment, returning with a large fluffy pillow and a multitude of blankets. "I think you'll be comfortable out here. This couch is just as good as the bed."

"Mmm, thanks," Quinn managed to say, her voice groggy but sweet. Avery held out his hand for her to grab again and made the couch into a comfortable bed once she was standing. She fumbled for a moment and tumbled onto the couch as soon as it was made. She mumbled with her face in the pillow for a moment, then rolled over a bit and smiled up at Avery. "You're a very good host," she noted with another light yawn. "That, and a very good friend." He smiled at the compliment and handed her the last blanket. She quickly whipped it over herself and cuddled into the couch and sighed happily, quietly uttering another thank you as she closed her eyes, already halfway back to sleep.

Avery went back to the TV and turned it off, letting the quiet static of the power draining out of it settle. His fingers fumbled for the light switch, but once the lights were off, he stared out into the inky black abyss of his apartment, taking in the silence of it all. He smiled to himself and listened, knowing that, although he couldn't see, he was looking at her rest peacefully.

"Vestri decorus," he whispered low and soft, making sure that it was nearly impossible to hear, even though he was certain she was fast asleep again. With that, he turned on his heel and stepped quietly away from the silence.