Who: Priyaranjan Patil & Naija Dassi
What: She keeps him company before the big Christmas morning rush
When: Early morning, December 24th 1977
Where: St. Mungo's
"Done... Mr. Roberts, check--need to send someone to him in the morning... done and check... outpatient, check... "
Naija Dassi must have sounded very odd mumbling things to herself as she walked through the corridors of St. Mungo's, taking her trusty quill to a clipboard. But that's how she always got after almost twenty straight hours at work; when time came around to get ready to go home, she wasn't completely coherent and thus didn't care what she looked like to her colleagues. The hospital was lucky she loved her work so much or she wouldn't bother with this whole not getting any sleep deal.
She deposited the clipboard on a hanger on the wall and made a short detour into the locker rooms to take off her robes and gather her belongings. Within five minutes, she was headed out the door into the lobby, looking forward to a good, long rest. That was, until she noticed something that she just could not help but stop at.
Right in front of her, head laid on the ward's front desk, was her fellow healer, Priyaranjan Patil--dead asleep. She sighed deeply, mentally telling him that he was lucky she was in such a position to be sympathetic or he would have gotten much worse, and brought her hand down hard on the top of the desk, rattling the whole structure.
"Wake up, for Merlin's sake before someone catches you," she said tiredly.
Could you really blame him? Having to do his whole 'family dinner' before Christmas Eve, and then coming in for work besides? He hadn't been able to go home all night, and he'd been asleep for perhaps ten minutes when Naija came by. It wasn't the whole 'being woken by Naija' thing that bothered him so much, but the way that she did it.
He felt rather ridiculous when he realized he was on the floor next to the desk, after all. The moment her hand slammed down on the desk he'd toppled out of the chair in a jumble of muttered half-phrases that may or may not have been English. Priyaranjan felt his ears burning already and rubbed a hand over his face in hopes of covering the flush that was probably there as well.
"Oi, you're going to kill me one of these days," he muttered, pushing himself up from the floor and then ... giving her as much of a smile as he could muster. And for her, it was quite a smile indeed. "Just resting my eyes, you know."
"Well, at least it would be a good place to have someone try to kill you," Naija commented, motioning around. It was then that she noticed how truly quiet and empty the lobby was. Merlin, no wonder he'd fallen asleep like that. She crossed her arms over her chest and returned the smile he gave, especially upon noticing the blush his cheeks were displaying. She hadn't meant to make him fall all over himself.
"You might want to try and stay awake. I doubt the Head Healer's going to take very well to finding you like I did."
"Just resting my eyes." He insisted, shaking his head and then rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. She did tend to make him fall all over himself when he was awake, so it wasn't any surprise that half-asleep he'd had almost the same reaction.
But he nodded, glancing to the half-empty cup of coffee on the table where she'd slammed her hand down. "I've only got six more hours, anyway." Extra-long shift, but many of the healers worked them during this time of season. Soon the little children with the toys that backfired were going to come pouring in and he'd have to deal with them - his hands would be busy, so he wouldn't have time to think about how tired he was ... hopefully.
Naija pulled a face at that. "Ergh, yeah... glad I'm done with my shift, I'm about dead on my feet. I think I might have killed someone back there if I hadn't gotten off when I did," she admitted. Well, that wasn't the full truth, but she definitely wasn't in shape to work. All of them were so tired and overworked lately, and it seemed like every day got worse and worse. So many people coming in with so many mysterious, horrible wounds and ailments... and none of them wanted to admit it, but as long as this war kept getting worse, their jobs would keep getting harder.
Naija ran a hand through her long hair and shook her head a bit, taking half a seat on the edge of the desk. "I can keep you company for a while, though, if you want. Make sure you at least last a little while longer?"
It didn't surprise him that she was tired - hell, he was too. Thirty hour shifts were becoming more and more routine, it was true. And nobody wanted to admit that it was that growing force, the Dark Lord ... so they didn't. He chewed his lip for a moment or two and then nodded to the seat next to him. "It would be nice if you could, but you should go home and get some rest. Leading cause of illness, you know."
Priyaranjan laughed dryly - of course it was the leading cause of illness in healers, but they'd simply take a potion and be done with it. Normally his job was a little more exciting, and he knew the morning would help liven things up. "Besides, if I were you, I wouldn't wait around for me." He gave her a mildly lopsided grin and took a sip of the now-cooled coffee.
Naija smirked and gave a small laugh as she took the seat, maybe a bit pointedly. "Since when has a healer ever gone home when they should? Especially when it's been suggested?" She asked it in a joking manner, but it held far more truth than it sounded and they both knew it.
She set her purse down next to her and stared out at all the vacant space and chairs. It was definitely a rare sight to see St. Mungo's like this, especially these days. Then, confused by something Priyaranjan said, she turned back to him with a tilted head. "Why shouldn't I wait around for you?" she asked with a small smile.
"I might fall asleep on you," he joked easily, rubbing his neck. In reality, he didn't think that she'd really want to wait around for him - she probably had some handsome man to meet for Christmas dinner and she'd need plenty of sleep for the night's ... activities. Not that he thought awful things about Naija, it was just that she was so pretty.
Priyaranjan returned the smirk. "Healers never go home when they should, it's true. But now - it's the nice little hour-gap before all the kids get up and injure themselves."
"Well, I'd offer that you could use me as a pillow if you wanted, but I doubt I'd be very comfortable," she answered back, her smile a little brighter. For some reason, she felt quite a bit more awake now than she had when she first entered the room.. But then, she always felt a lot less stressed and a lot more relaxed when she was around Priyaranjan--she supposed it must work on sleepiness too.
And the truth was, the only thing she really had to go home to was a bed. Then she'd get up in the morning, wrap last-minute presents for her niece and nephew... do nothing for a long period of time, and then go over to her parents' house... Then come home again, go back to bed, and be done with it. It kind of depressed her that Christmas was never very special anymore--she would have really liked for once to just have someone besides her family to spend it with.
"Ah yes, and yet these gaps seem like the most difficult to get through."
"Sleeping seemed like a good way to pass the time," he teased, shaking his head. Priyaranjan decided to not touch that first statement -- use her as a pillow? He thought she'd be absolutely comfortable, but he wouldn't be able to get a wink of sleep being so close to her. He laughed, tugging a curl of his hair while he half-tilted his head.
Should he make some sort of small-talk about Christmas? No, because then he'd have to tell her that he was just coming into work again after a few hours of sleep at home. But that reminded him...
"Oh! I've. Ah, just a moment." He suddenly felt much less tired - maybe the power nap really had helped. He half-rushed to the little storage lockers for the small wrapped box he'd gotten for Naija and set it on the desk next to her.
"For you." It wasn't anything fancy - a new personalized name tag, since he'd noticed hers was getting a bit ratty around the edges - and really, the nametags were the only things they were allowed to touch on the outfit. It had taken him ages to find the tiny little lotus-flower print, but ... "..uh, because yours was -- a little --" His handwaving wasn't frantic, but it certainly wasn't calm.
"Oh--I--ah--" Naija took the box from his hands, opening it as he explained what it was. She pulled out the nametag and felt her heart warm, if just a little bit because, gosh, it was really cute and completely her and he was just so sweet! "Thank you, I love it," she said, cutting off his speech by getting up and giving him an appreciative hug.
As she sat back down, however, she felt a little guilt creep up on her and her smile turned to a frown. "You shouldn't have. I mean--well, if I had known you were getting me something, I would have bought you something too."
He could have said something cheesy like 'your gratitude is the best present of all', but really -- he hadn't been expecting anything in return. He'd wanted to get her something because she didn't seem the type to get it for herself, and hey -- it proved he was paying attention. That was good, right? Priyaranjan returned the hug with a slightly doofy grin and then shook his head at her words.
"It was a little thing anyway, and if I had told you ... it wouldn't have been a surprise?" A lame excuse, but still an excuse.
She was smiling easily again in no time. "Well, thank you. I do really love it," Naija reiterated, tucking the nametag back into the box and putting the box soundly in her purse. He was so sweet, it was so nice compared to most of the guys she met--she wasn't oblivious, and sometimes she really did feel like she was treated like a piece of meat more than person. She had never felt that way around Priyaranjan, and that was probably what made her like him the most.
"You'll have to let me do something for you, though. Let me buy you lunch sometime this week, maybe?" she suggested.
Did that count as a date? Merlin no, it didn't, but he couldn't help but think about it like that for a moment. He just grinned back at her and rubbed his neck, "Well, I suppose I can't say no to free food." Considering how often the Healers ate, it was probably a better gift to actually get him to stop and eat instead of grabbing some sort of nutrition potion in the middle of the day.
"How -- did your shift go?"
Naija was happy that he had accepted her proposal without a question. She absolutely hated it when people would sit there and argue you not doing something for them in return for something they'd done.
"All things considered, it wasn't too bad," she said. "There were a few mishaps people had, but all in all it's like you said; no one's going to see anything big for another couple hours when every toddler and their mother in England comes rushing in with a toy broomstick stuck up their asses." She smirked a bit, because actually, the situation was quite a bit more possible than one would expect. "I'm just glad I don't have to be here for it."
Priyaranjan snorted and tried rather hard not to laugh - he was sure that the Shift Manager wouldn't think it was very funny. But it had happened, he was sure. He rolled his eyes and gave a faked, half-groan. "Don't remind me." He leant back in his chair and cast a wary glance up at the empty waiting room, "You know, it's going to be sooner than that. Less than an hour, I think."
He made a point of avoiding arguing with people unless he really had to and he was actually angry about something.
She smirked. "Well, you can be realistic about it if you want. I was just trying to make you feel a bit better," she commented. Idly, she began to flip a lock of hair around between her fingers, a habit she had for when she was talking. Usually she did it when she was around her girlfriends, huddling around a bunch of girly mags, gossiping about the cutest of the famous wizards and each other's love lives, but... it could happen any time, she supposed.
Naija wondered if she'd get in trouble for putting her feet up on the desk, but did it anyway.
Priyaranjan couldn't help watching the way that she twirled the hair around her fingers. She had such slender fingers - yes, he did notice that. But really, her hands were one of the few things not covered by the healer's robes and he knew that. He tried not to watch too intently for fear of looking ... well, creepy.
"I do feel better."
Naija giggled--a sort of laugh that she would not under normal circumstances allow anyone but her closest friends to hear--and nodded. "Well good, then," she said. "I would hate to have to leave you all depressed and that. You look much better when you smile."
Really, she said it as a general comment with no underlying romantic meaning.. although the more she thought about what she had said, the more she realized that it was true. He did look handsome when he smiled--looked handsome when he frowned too, but that was besides the point.
Far besides the point, really. But he couldn't help the slight colouration in his cheeks when she complimented him. Even if he was sure that it was a generic sort of comment ... it only made him grin a little bit wider. "I do, do I? Maybe it will help keep the patients cheerful."
Because Merlin knew that when they had to wait in line - especially the purebloods - things got awfully hairy.
"Yes, I'm sure. Although I'm sure that's not going to placate some of the more... forceful... mothers you're likely to see," she answered, the right side of her lips quirking up above the other. "Actually, I think it might be seen as an insul--"
Just then she was cut off by the lift doors opening. Immediately a mother carrying a child who had purple warts popping up all over their body--looked like three by the second--rushed towards the counter. Naija started and took her feet off the desk, standing up. "Oi, I think it's started. I hate to leave you like this, but I think this is a good time to run," she told him with a sympathetic smile.
He snorted. No, he didn't believe she was that sorry about it, but it would be good for her to leave before she got roped into overtime. He nodded while he ushered the mother into one of the rooms with the child, giving her a last grin before he hurried after the mother and child.
"Enjoy your holidays!"
After all, he had to do his job.
