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The women at the desk immediately stopped whatever they were chattering about to gawk openly up at the spiky haired woman who’d suddenly come striding in. Their jaws had literally dropped.

To be fair, they gossiped about the doctor a lot - and no one had ever come striding in for lunch in the entire length of time they’d worked there. Also she was big. HUGE. AMAZON.

Admittedly, Dimitri had never been especially good at friends. Technically speaking he had them, or the facade of them - he went out drinking with a people who shared some common element with him, for example. But they were boring. Dull. Sometimes they outright disgusted him with their utter mediocrity.

Before he’d learned his limits, when he’d been very young, he’d shoved one of his friends into a pool. Bitten another. What he wouldn’t give to live in a world where he could do that again with no consequence. Bless the clown.

In all reality, yes - this was probably the first time in Dimitri’s life he had legitimately had a friend. More than one, even. It had been somewhat forced upon him, but the intial shock aside, while he didn’t entirely know how to act at times - as the knifethrower or as the clown - at least it was Mason and Lia.

Also admittedly, this was especially true for Lia.

Which was why when he happened to stride up front to pass a file along to one of his office ladies and saw her standing there, he was surprised - but behind his surgical mask, still in place from a filling he’d just wrapped up, the typical flat stare of Dimitri’s eyes gave way to a hint of surprise. “Lia.” There was a crinkle at the edges of his eyes that betrayed a smile. It was not forced. “What’s going on?”

The ladies were ******** shaken, nudging each other and exchanging almost frantic gestures and glances - and frankly it was ******** hilarious. It took everything Dimitri had to maintain his composure.

"Oh, right; I did tell you my schedule, didn't I?" he remarked casually, tugging down his mask and tapping thoughtfully at his chin, deliberately playing this in the most neutral way he could. "Thanks. Girls, let her back - come on, Lia, follow me, " and he turned his back deliberately, walking back towards small break room they had.

The ladies kind of tried to smile, but really you could tell they were dying to ask a million questions and maybe shout a little - one of them was definitely very red in the face - and just pushed a button to unlock the door and permit Lia entry. Neither of them had been there the last time she'd come in.

Alone, somewhat, with Lia’s laughter booming around him, infectious, Dimitri bought a hand to his mouth to try and stifle it - but his shoulders were shaking, and even if he was trying hard to keep it quiet, an undeniable flash of the clown slipped out as he cackled lowly, trailing a little so Lia could catch up. “Their faces, “ was about as far as he could get out, straining to reign himself back in before he lost it completely. That would be bad. “You practically murdered them! Hah!”

“Ah, “ he finally cooled down enough to start, pushing the door open and holding it for her. “So you got me lunch today - how much?” because of course he was going to try and pay her back; money was more important to her than it had ever been to him.

Dimitri shot her a sideways glance. “I’m professional. I don’t have many visitors here, and basically that’s the closest thing to a glance into my personal affairs than they’ve had for years.” He gave a roll of his eyes and sighed like he’d been asked to deal with something arduous as he admitted, “The blond one, Judy, she’s been trying to get friendly for the past several months. - that annoying, giggly friendly, you know. Unprofessional.” He allowed the door to shut and shrugged it off. If the clown had five minutes with her...

It was easy and comfortable to sit across from her. “So essentially I am reaping the benefits of your missed craving - I can’t say I’m complaining.” He hadn’t really realized how hungry he was until now, honestly. It was very like him, though. He took good care of himself, but he tended to lose track of time when he was working. Dimitri grabbed for a burger the first chance he got, thanking her again before he started in on it.

“Three root canals. One implant. Too many cavities. One kid bit me.” After pausing for another bite, he added, “I feel like in those cases it should be socially acceptable to bite back. Don’t you agree?”

quote="Lucyal"]

There was a ghost of a smile on Dimitri's face. "Different work environment, " he clarified with a low, resounding chuckle, tapping her lightly on the arm with his knuckles before he took his seat. "You say that like it's funny, but indeed, poor me. You don't know how tedious it gets." Then again, his mind didn't quite work like most people's, a fact he was well aware of. "Maybe I should have been a coroner, " he remarked idly, sighing and wrinkling his nose. "No, then you've got to deal with families and a lower wage."

Dimitri paused, then gave a low laugh, reaching out and deliberately plucking a fry from Lia's hand. "Right - friends, " he repeated, tilting it at her before popping it into his mouth.

After listening to her whole talk about the 'golden rule', it kind of occurred to him that Lia asked him a lot, as a friend - and as a friend, he honestly - hadn't asked as many things, had he? He knew where she worked, what she did, and he knew all about her family life in the circus, but here - "You have siblings?" It seemed like as good a place as any to start. "How many?"

The look on Dimitri's face literally said in ways words couldn't how right she was. Even worse because speaking in basic societal standards, there was no way to easily tell them to go ******** off and die rather than drag him into their mundane mockery of a life. "I never watched Grey's Anatomy, " he quipped back shortly, unsure if that was supposed to be praise or not. "That's a TV show, right? - I'm not much for TV."

He might have snorted a little of his milkshake when she threw 'accountant' out there though.

"You should know by now how I feel about the line, " was his simple retort as he made a grab for another one, chuckling to himself. Two brothers. It didn't line up with the circus, clearly, but in real world terms, it seemed fitting. "What are they like?" He could imagine two male Lias, sounding about the same but a few octaves lower. Must be an interesting family. He half-wondered if it was possible that Lia saw her brother in him, if that's why she'd taken to him like she had. They'd been close enough to be siblings in the circus - something like that, anyway.

“Oh, so you’re saying I’m hot, “ Dimitri responded shortly in a complete deadpan, although there was a dark humor in his eyes when he said it - if he’d been the clown, he would’ve been howling.

His composure didn’t totally cover him, though, when she shouted SHORT, and he tucked his index finger against his lips as he leaned against the table, clearing his throat to subdue what really wanted to be much louder laughter. “Got it, so if I ever did encounter them, promptly tell them they’re short and their sister thinks the world of them.” He took a long sip of his drink. “I have, actually - you make sense.”

He bit his straw and grinned before leaning back. “I suppose I do too - only child, “ he clarified, gesturing to himself.