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"....?" He'd ask a bit more, pry perhaps, but maybe he should not. It did sound like a sensitive point to be treading all over. Could leave that till later, save that point for bringing up in a future conversation. Pressing too hard now might fish up something upsetting. Never mind, go back to getting her cream. Cream to soothe those rattled nerves? Sounds good!

"Actually, yes. I'd try to catch you if you'd leave. But...." He'd trip over his own feet while chasing her if she so much as made that quick dash out the door. Curse that stamina. Better not give her any ideas, even if she was not going to be acting on them! "Lots of cream or just a little bit?" Got to make sure that amount is just right too, pretty sure not everyone wanted their coffee to taste completely of cream or cat hair - sit down! No! If she was going to be relentless in the teasing, then he was going to anchor himself down even more. And still oblivious to whatever devious plans she was cooking up, of course. Not like he would expect that!

Frowning slightly, he absentmindedly turned her coffee the same color as the cream. Ah, whoops. Well, she wanted a lot anyway, hopefully he got within her definition of 'a lot'. Quietly, he hands her cup over with both hands, careful not to spill a drop onto the sheets. "There you go. Drink up."

With that done, he takes his own cup and sits back down beside her. "If I end up tiring you out, I think she'll be even angrier at me for letting you do so." Well, Miyabi did seem like a strict person, he assumed that extended to enablers as well.

"Once, I think it was a yukata. A coworker wanted to bring us all out to a festival." Could not say that ended well, what with wearing it wrong the entire time thanks to a sabotaged instruction. "Oh, I thought you wanted to go to one." Strange though, dressing up and nowhere to go.

Ah. Um. He wanted to point out that clink time nearly gave everyone dark eye-circles, and he had been chided before for trying to hide it with liner. That was certainly not attractive at all, at least by his standards. Oh wait... Then again, he could say the same for a couple of other birds. He had better hold his tongue then. The idea of wearing ears (again!) did not rub as well as a suit, so... "Formal wear sounds nice." Hah, of course he'd choose formal! Easy to pull off, more than enough people he could ask for help from, and easily overdone to the point of foppishness! Oh wait, that was a bad thing. Um.

"And work wear is not going to look nice beside someone else in costume." Certainly not if it entailed going around in a prison jumpsuit, for sure. "People might get the wrong idea." Maybe not so much, since it was not the blue-white striped kind most normally wear, but not appropriate all the same.

Which meant that he would get the brunt of any impending lectures. No thank you! "Stay in bed, alright?" he asked with a sigh. "I doubt either of us would want to endure a tongue-lashing from her, no matter how much it is supposed to do us good." Same went for the patients the nurses had to chase around, so he knew that frustration well.

"... I take it that summer nights are not as bad as summer days?" There was the nice lights to see, too, and the night had its own selection of events. And of course, for the doctor who was so averse to heat, the cool air was a definite plus. "Perhaps not." Not a stranger to his coworkers' efforts to make him more sociable too, apparently. "It's nearly... Expected. Though I would not be able to operate as efficiently with someone tagging along on my arm all the time." Clinical and job-focused as always, and not a single drop of courage to ask anyone out or accept an invitation without force. At least, no one without an age gap that could be considered as a generation. "I'll keep that in mind, then." Did it also apply if it was a drag-out from his coworkers or someone that Amarante did not have to worry about for competition? "Though, since I hardly go anywhere, that should not be a problem."

That is, unless she decided to visit him at work. Then maybe it would be a problem. Not just the teasing this time, but... Well, he had to get permission. There would be more than one person not very happy if Amarante decided to run around the place willy-nilly.

Oh, but that... Well, she enjoyed it. No need to tell her how impromptu that outfit was. Perhaps he could just get used to wearing frills with his formal? No wait, someone else already was working with that style. Never mind that.

"Really." Sarcasm, but he was pretty sure his reputation as an alleged 'vampire' was reinforced by that little outing. White skin, red eyes and Victorian-style frills, complete with hoots of laughter from both the house occupants and the internal audience. "Perhaps I should wear that less often, then." Better look presentable than admitting he was trying too hard.

"They take anyone wearing a hat with a cross on it as a nurse. That's what people tend to think." She would stand out wearing that in the hospital, obviously, but of course people had their impressions of nurses all the same. "... Um." He clamped down hard on his words then. Not that he was scared that she was laying a trap for him (well, she probably is, given her teasing so far) but it would just be odd. He had not really gave that much thought, since most of the time he was either solitary or did not take notice.

"Twenty-six, last I remember." Trying to remember his birthday on the other hand, that was a pain. When was the last time he celebrated it? "..... I don't recall that. It's probably written down somewhere on one of the records, I'll need to go check." If it even is there. Birthday-wise he had taken to ignoring it completely for the past few years. If he told Amarante that, she might just launch one of those house-sized cakes she talked about earlier on him, and that would probably take ages to finish, if not days to climb instead. December 10th.... Noted and remembered. Now to plan.

No poison cakes, nope. She would do worse than turn him into bird feed.

"... It's not for me I'm complaining for. Most people aren't allowed near that area, so it might be a problem if they stop you at the door." Depending on the time, she might run into someone who'd apprehend her for simply being near, allow her free roam of the place, or end up blocking the door with idle chatter about ancient lore. It was a one-in-three chance with a rare case of nobody at all, if she made it that far. "If you want to pop by, however, I can inform the warden about it. No guarantees he will let you pass immediately, however." At least he could count on at least two people not to immediately broadcast to the whole staff that he had a visitor. "But um, treat him nice. He can be stiff, but he's a good person." The pitiful warden had to put up with a whole lot of nasty things, after all. Adding one more potentially rowdy character to the regulars would be something he might not be prepared for.

And of course her assumption was right on the dot again. Yeah, sure, let the crowd of people who ransacked his closet attest to the sheer amount of frills and lace he had in there, and the number never seemed to diminish no matter how many emergency bandages were required. "Jealous of a trap. Right. The only good thing about it is that people are shocked enough to drop their weapons or leave me an opening." All he had to do was speak, thank goodness his voice did not follow his appearance. Still not funny. Quick, redirect the topic away from the dresses! She was already gaining ground with her teasing the longer the topic was in play! No more talking about those, he was going to implode with embarrassment!

"I thought eye patches were some kind of indication of power?" Ah, naive little doctor, still not well-read enough. "That is... We have patients requesting for eye bandages for things like bruises or shallow cuts around the affected area, and some people wear it that way for some reason?" The roommate did that too, complete with the missing limbs, like some warrior of the old war or something. Bad for depth perception though, could do no baseball batting with one eye covered.

"If I get access to them again, then it's a yes." Of course he was not going to miss out on nearly a decade's worth of cakes if he could help it! And of course it also meant baking for himself....

"J-Just assuming! And it's not rude, it's just..." Like he could tell her just where exactly that 'ward' is! And the amount of people that were let into that area was nearly next to none. "... And they would not know who you were referring to if you did go in and ask like that." Not the warden though. He was nice enough to know. Everyone else had their own nickname or identification for him, it seemed. Part and parcel of that job's circumstances.

"... They do it anyway. Amusement." It did lead to a couple of funnies in the workplace, of course, as well as double-timing as a mute nurse on one occasion (by design of a particular bored diagnostician). "It's better than eating strange food from the pantry or getting lost in one of the more secluded mazes that's in there. Oh, and speaking of which, do keep to the main corridors! Things happen in the aisles that branch off." More unexplained things, but it's a blessing that it had not lead to any fatalities, and reintegration was not as difficult as it had looked like a lot earlier on.

"Not at all." Well, he could not say that he had seen worse, since he was neither the paramedic nor the dermatologist, and it might have been too harsh a slap to her.

"..." Well, not going to enlighten her either. But really, he would not have expected her to get anything anyway. Or maybe she'd roll it together with the food question. It was okay either way, something practical or edible. Not like he would mind. Much. Or snuggly.

Hmm, good question. How did his coworkers look for him? Probably the most obvious way, but then again they knew. A visitor outside of the staff roster was not new, but not one that was willing to drop by every so often. "Ask the nurse at the counter for 'CR-S01'. She'll take you to that room." Please let her assume it was the room number! An identification number tacked on someone's head was a lot harder to explain than when it was tacked to a door.

There was that reason that she could not, which was the most obvious. High security and all that. But then, it was not often that anyone dared to visit that was not the staff. Ah, restrictions, sweet limitations! How would he juggle? "It's fine. Food's provided, mostly. And the pantry always has sugar." Only because everyone else on staff who needed it were fed up with his excess usage. And if she brought things like water in there, it was going to freeze within a matter of minutes thanks to the temperature. Best not to, then. Even if he was wanting some hot tomato soup after a tired day... "Maybe you can guess, then. It probably should not take long, since you're just as quick with your mind as your ears." To keep track of what he said, then, in case any extra clues hid themselves in his words.

"Would you want to correct her assumptions, then? If they are detrimental, perhaps it would be better to bring them up." Yet he could not do so himself, being not bold enough. Ah, Amarante knew her better, maybe she would not get that bad a scolding... Or maybe she would get worse. Which had a higher probability of happening? Oh well...

"And a huge mess to clean up, no less." Here he was worried about the mess when people were worried about cake. Of course he would think that way. "What, bake you into one? Wouldn't that require a large enough oven as well as heatproof clothing?" Ever the practical mind, hardly a thought left for imagination. Could he not see it was a joke? .... Oh wait, he was taking her seriously? That flat questioning tone certainly did sound like it!

"... A very cold one." Worse still if she happened to come in when he was in the OT or on a round. "If it bothers you, then please do bring a jacket. It would not do well at all if you come to visit only to end up in the wards too." Spoken as if it was a joke, but the noodle incidents behind that warning were stranger, if not more humorous, than what he implied.

Well, he had been a burden to others long enough. Even if she trailed his true reason out loud, probably without realizing, he was not going to make that known any time soon. What use was telling that to anyone, anyway? It would only burden them more, therefore. "Really? Hmm... I wonder," he mused, taking another mouthful of coffee to fill the silence that followed.

"No, but it's more fun that me just outright giving you the answers." He wagged a finger at her childishly like a petulant teacher. Not a single hint or a clue still? But already she did manage to pick up that sweets and caffeine were definitely on the list, so the rest should be easy game for her, right?

"N-Not at all.... " That came more of a shock and a scare than a lighthearted warning! Oh goodness, if Miyabi was that fearsome, then he had better step on his own feet twice around her! Since Amarante's words gave off the sinking feeling that she could press for answers a lot harder than the redhead did... Why, he was trembling slightly already! Ah, calm down, maybe it is just exaggeration, maybe he would be saved both an impromptu interrogation and a tongue-whipping... If he kept quiet. Right. "But only at your own leisure, and only if you were comfortable enough at that time. Or maybe there was another reason it was done that way, who knows." Oh, that was a nostalgic, disillusioned thought. He knew better than to say that, but it was strange to him to say otherwise. "Not that I believe in that anymore. Or to put it in the tin can's words, 'someone's hands are at work'?" Itchy hands and snickering smiles, no doubt!

"... How did this turn into planning a birthday party so quickly?" Confused, but following those jumps of logic, and she was still hung up on the ears. He was exasperated at her constant stream of ridiculous ideas, but also resigned to the incoming pokes and prods at the ears. Oh well, just another thing to put up with, he supposed.

Ah, how to answer that question without mistakenly implying that she should wear less? Say it one way, she might think it was okay to wear anything in there, but say it the other way and someone would really start thinking he was harboring pathogens in that room! Oh wait...

"Try not to, it's easy to get frostbite in there especially if you stay long." True to most of the visitors to that room, yet untrue to the room's occupant. Best answer he could put forth, then.

He'd remember that, but not make anything of it. He was perfectly fine with handling his own problems. And also perfectly fine with deluding himself into believing so. Oh well, it takes time to learn, and perhaps all those mistakes were not enough. "Duly noted, for future reference." Like he'll ever dare to take that offer.

Okay, maybe just a little push? "You already know I cook, don't you? Think about that a little bit." And as an added measure, he looked at the lid with the cookies on it. That might help with her guessing... Or she might eat the clue instead?

"Can't help that, let's just work with that." Just like nearly about everything that was flung at him that was so much out of the ordinary. "It could have happened worse, after all."