41 Punching products

She made a show of leaning back in her seat and sighing gustily up at the ceiling. It drew their attention.

"Ah, I'll miss you guys. Honestly, I don't know what I'll do when my internship ends." Naomi smiled fondly and slightly bitterly, the university student within her dreading the coming job search.

"Don't say that." Marvin awkwardly patted the hand she had on the table. "You could always be hired afterwards. It won't be too hard, considering what I've heard of you."

"Thanks." She casually retreated her hand and sighed deeply. Marvin's eyes trailed the motion. "I'm not fishing for compliments though. It's just... Hunt and Bourque." Complicated, to say the least. The full extent of their relationship or lack of it had yet to fully hit the grapevine, but there were lingering impressions there. The caustic remark that she was unfit to be by Hunt's side and her rather ungracious sprint from meeting them both that time had been shared with all and sunder. It wasn't a surprise that Ryan and Marvin had heard of those rumors.

Ryan was suddenly looking at her with much more intent than he had been the whole day combined. The moment she saw it though, Ryan affected a hum of understanding and gentled his expression. It was a fleeting thing, that look, but she knew she had seen it. Naomi acted like she hadn't and simply took a sip of her drink.

"I... see." Marvin seemed to be searching for words to convey his meaning as delicately as possible. "Don't suppose you... um, that is, can imagine spending a year or two in our company? They're not that bad," he assured her awkwardly.

She responded with the smile that the statement deserved. He grimaced in turn. "Maybe," she said vaguely.

Marvin heaved a heartfelt sigh. "I would hate to see you go. Somehow, you just fit. I had been worried that you would feel like an outcast, there's some pretty strong personalities around, and I wanted you to at least feel comfortable with somebody. You seamlessly slipped into our group, actually hadn't expected that, much like Ryan –"

"He babbles when he's nervous," Ryan inserted.

"I do not!" He paused, waiting for anyone to add anything and quickly deflated when he received silence. "I don't. Maybe. Not at all recently."

Marvin was pouting. How adorable. Naomi hid her smile behind the rim of her glass, sharing an amused look with Ryan. The quick flicker of calculation was once again there and back again behind his eyes.

"So that's what you had been doing?" She raised an eyebrow at Marvin's chagrined expression. "Making me feel comfortable? And here I thought you were recommending I punch the copy machine."

As if inverse to the earlier situation, Marvin spluttered, and Ryan began laughing. "He did what?"

"He –"

"Yes!" Marvin raised his voice and inserted his arms between the space of Ryan and her, hoping to block the incoming conversation with his body. She graciously leaned back to watch the show. "I know! Thank you! Let's forget that, shall we? Great, thank you. Anyone need a refill? Because I could –"

"You can calm down now."

Marvin raised his voice another notch. "What about a party? Yes. A party! Everyone likes parties. You won't leave too soon, will you? Let's have a welcoming party! To welcome you! To our company. Belatedly. With plenty of party things! And, and, please stop laughing."

She couldn't stop. Ryan had mimed his hand flapping like a mouth, his eyes all the while heavily rolling in exasperation. The younger man had somehow managed to perfectly mimic the stroppy look Marvin had, mixed with plenty of bemusement and mortification. Her laughter spilled freely from her lips, her cheeks hurting from the smile she was sporting.

Marvin crossed his arms, mulish. "I can't see what's so funny." He shook his head and threw up his hands theatrically at her continued choked off giggles. "Should we make a deal? I know how much you young students love deals. I'll throw a party at the office, and you forget all about any punching of the sort."

There was a brief silence while she thought it over. "That works," Naomi finally replied. A ghost of a smile creased her lips. "Mostly."

"There's a catch," Ryan declared with certainty. She was pleasantly surprised when Ryan showed some genuine skill in something other than monitoring his smartphone.

Her smile turned into a full blown smirk as she leaned forward. "Don't you hate it when that happens?"

They descended back into a mix of groans and laughter. The drinks had taken its toll on them, and Naomi had to call it a night for them just so that they wouldn't disturb the bar with their antics. It was a bit too late for that, but better late than never was her sage advice when they asked.

She wasn't sure how much of their conversation that the two men would remember the next day. It turned out that while the details escaped him, Marvin remembered enough to know he had promised a party. He was entirely sheepish the next day when he slunk into her office the moment after she had left Blake, rubbing the back of his neck in apology. He even gave her a cup of coffee to soften the blow that the party couldn't be done. A tech company was, surprise surprise, on a schedule entirely unique to them and had a load of work that differed only in how urgent it was.

"I can still offer some drinks and coax everyone to take an hour or two of a break," he hurriedly assured her. He paused then, hesitant. "You'll forget everything about punching, won't you?"

"What punching?" She blinked up at him.

His smile was radiant. "That's the spirit. Now, if there's nothing else, keep your schedule cleared tomorrow and call me if there's anything."

"Sure." Naomi agreed readily enough. Her continued stare made him falter, so she asked again, "But, what punching? I remember us laughing, but..."

"Um. That is." He peered at her, smile wobbly and feet shifting. She watched him squirm for a moment longer before the smirk spread sharply, her eyes squinting from the force it put on her cheeks. He gaped. "You! What, no," his hands fluttered in lieu of another word.

Marvin took a deep breath, frowning down at her.

"You. Not funny."

"Yeah, yeah." She waved her hand, dismissive. The smirk felt firmly attached to her face at this point. "You said something about a party?"

"Evil," he intoned. Marvin backed out of the office with his eyes narrowed, promising coming retribution when snagging back her coffee cup failed. She laughed lowly after she was alone again.

She could spend all her time with these people, if allowed.

The smile dimmed and her fingers hovered above the keyboard, sightlessly staring at the screen. She had spent the better part of ten years dedicated to the Agency. The last five years had been with Ky. The world was much bigger than a single man and despite telling herself this every day since, she hadn't expected how much smaller the world had become after his death. She wanted to believe in his immortality. Her own dedication. She had learned how to give from Ky, everything and more. She had learned how to receive from her teacher, the woman showing the other side of the coin. Love was something that could be given and given and given, the dedication to a cause greater than yourself left behind in every footprint. Love of every different kind. Friendship, family, romance… But when the well emptied as they all eventually do, there will only be stone at the bottom. Water couldn't be drawn from stone.

She took a deep breath and then released it in slow increments, the effort making her light-headed. Milton's warning rang in her head like an evacuation alarm.

It pitched higher when Blake walked into her office again, eyes hiding something soft that sent a sharp pang directly to her stomach. It churned unpleasantly, and yet, it was familiar in the way it sparkled and flared, setting roots in her system. The alarm continued to blare in the background, warning her away before it's too late.

She feared it already was.

Naomi shut off the alarm and welcomed him with a small smile.