"Come on, King." Jessica's arm looped through Mel's as they all filed out into the oppressive heat of the night. Idly Jessica considered whether it was worth it to pull a double rather than fight with her apartment's shitty HVAC system to cool down, but that was for later her to deal with. Right now, she was starving and from what she'd overheard from her very stern conversation with her sister earlier, the other King girl had decided to spend time with her boyfriend again without Mel being made aware.

It was a bittersweet moment that she knew all too well. While she wasn't entirely familiar with the blonde's backstory, as an overprotective sister herself, she knew the way it stung when the younger sibling pushed you to the sidelines. "There's this new place I wanna try out near my apartment that I think you'll like." Before she could object or try to reason her way out of going with her, Jessica added on, "Besides, nothin'll keep you from obsessin' over what your sister's doin' like some good food and some company."

‘Why aren’t we interacting?’

😿 - I’m too shy to reach out

😥 - I’m a little intimidated by your writing length / style / formatting

😵 - I don’t know how to approach you

⌛️ -  You seem really busy

👥 - I don’t know which of my muses you’re interested in

📝 - It would help if you could fill my interest checker!

❓ - I’m not familiar with any of your current muses

📩 - I’ve sent you asks / written you starters, but you never replied to them

📤 - We have threads, and I’ve been waiting on your replies

💬 - I have a plot in mind for us, but I haven’t found the right way/time to reach out

💞 - I ship our muses, but I don’t know if you’re interested

✒️ - I usually interact through memes / open starters and you don’t post a lot of them

🥇 - You followed me first and I’m waiting for you to make the first move

🥰 - I’m following you because I love your writing and content and I just want to read your stuff

Jessica's careful as she begins numbing the area, easing Trinity's palm away, and tossing the stained gauze in the bio bag. Her fingers are gentle as she works the needle along either side of the cut, though her smile doesn't falter. "Oh well, if it's that bad, I'm gonna have to seal it with a kiss. Good luck and all that." She glanced up from where she worked just briefly, gauging the other's reaction.

Honestly? Jessica wasn't usually this forward. Especially not at work. It wasn't like it was unheard of for residents to get into trouble with one another, but more often than not, Jessica opted to keep her head down and herself out of the line of fire. Still, it wasn't like Jessica was blind. Trinity was beautiful, and all that smart mouthing and hot-headed sarcasm made for a dangerous combination.

biting her lower lip roughly, as she tried not to let out a hiss of pain. tried not to groan as jessica got to work on numbing her. her hand that was previously on the wound was now moving to rest on her own thigh. fingers tapping as she tried to distract herself. trinity might have pretended that it wasn't bad, but it was worse than she let on. "don't make promises you can't keep." her words came out a little more strained than she intended, but she still meant every one.

clearly santos flirted at work. she almost desperately followed garcia around like a lost puppy. jessica seemed different though, until today they were casual-- professional. she liked this side of her, but she wouldn't get too carried away... maybe she just felt bad? maybe she was just trying to distract her? -- either way, having a beautiful redhead patch her up... she might get herself hurt more often.

Well. . . Stable and continuing with this banter. Jessica's eyebrow arched, the corners of her mouth following suit. "Lucky number 13's open. Come on--" She's as gentle as she can be, tucking her shoulder under Trinity's arm, her own coming to wrap around the woman's ribs to give her someone to brace on to make it to her suite.

Once she's settled on the bed, Jess moves to snap some gloves from the wall. Nimble fingers, steadfast and careful as she eased the pieces of fabric back from the weeping wound. "Fuck, Trin, you better press charges on this guy." Clean gauze is pressed to the wound to slow the bleeding. "It's not deep, but he was really gunnin' for you. Here, hold pressure." She helped guide Trinity's hand to the right spot before she pulled away to prep for sutures. Jessica's jaw ticked, irritation clawing up her spine. First Dana, then Emma, now Trinity? Fucking assholes.

"thirteen, got it." she nodded, clenching her jaw as pain shot through her side. she liked the other position better, moving made her want to scream out in frustration and pain. -- but she needed to play it cool. the redhead was probably already freaked, besides, they didn't want any unnecessary eyes looking their way. she was trying to fly under the radar. "this is what happens when you tell a patient he can't eat?" she tried teasing, tried lightening the mood.

as her hand is moved, she nods, putting as much pressure on the wound as she can stand. her other hand moving to grab the others elbow. just until she got her attention. "charges are the least of my worries... besides you think robby will allow him to walk without me pressing charges." she asked, before letting her body relax. seeing the irritation, she moved to sit up, but stopped when she realized how painful it was. "hey, i'm alright... besides i have one of the best nurses taking care of me."

"my office. now." he didn't care if she wanted to take a step back. he didn't care if she almost instantly back tracked everything she'd just said. the issue was that she'd just laid into him. and even if he had to give the illusion that he was going to punish her for doing so.

backing himself into the door behind him, he doesn't take his eyes off her. she was going to follow him whether she wanted to or not.

walking behind her, he waits until they're safely in the office before over taking her and dropping himself into the chair. he motions to the other chair in the room but had no real intention of forcing her to sit if she didn't want to.

"close the door." he's entirely too tired for this shit. yet somehow he'd always known that this day would come. if anyone was going to snap and lose it on him, he would have been a fool not to put money on Trinity Santos. he'd really just hoped that it wouldn't happen today. dragging a hand over his face, he rubs at his eyes until he can see stars.

"anything else you'd like to say to me?"

her teeth were practically grinding against each other as she nodded. head held high, shoulders back. she wouldn't let the rest of them see her cower, or worry. instead she played it cool, her eyes almost glaring into his as they walked. trinity was sure this wouldn't make things better, but she already dug her grave this deep, what's another foot?

once they were safely in his office, she allowed her shoulders to slump finally. inhaling deeply, before she let her body relax as she exhaled. everything seemed to leave her body at once. for a moment -- until she realized why she was here again.

pushing the door closed with a click. her attention turning back to him once it was securely in place. watching... examining. he looked exhausted. did she really have to add to that.

finally she moves and perches herself on the edge of the chair. trying not to freak too much, but also trying to shake off whatever lingering anger still clung to her.

"uh.. -- no?" she questioned, unsure if this was a trap or not.

"i'm just really tired of everyone questioning me. of no one trusting me enough to know what i'm doing. i get it, i'm new, but i'm good. -- really good, and i don't care how that makes me sound." okay, maybe she had a little more to say. "... i can't handle another person treating me the way i was treated a few months ago."

fingers moving to tighten her ponytail, before frowning. maybe she would regret these next words. "if i'm not wanted here robby... i can apply to other hospitals, i'm sure one of them are hiring. --i ... i'm sure, i mean.. they'd be lucky to have me."

Honestly he was kind of surprised that she didn’t just call him out before he could cop to it. Granted, that didn’t really seem like something she’d do. Especially when he was saying he was going to admit to it all anyway. Mel had told him that she didn’t listen to rumours - that she knew better than to believe them. Which was great.

… unfortunately, in this particular instance, the rumours were right. And he thought Mel had the right to know, after having his back since he returned. "I stole drugs from the hospital." Langdon admitted, not quite making eye contact. "I knew it was wrong, but I convinced myself that I could treat myself better than someone else could. And it was just… a domino effect."

mel had been beyond excited when she had learned about his return. he abruptly left one day, and then the rumor mills swirled around her. she wasn't sure what to believe, and what not to -- so she decided, one day, if she ever go the chance, she'd hear him out... if he wanted to tell her that was. it was also why she didn't ask, it wasn't truly her business. mel had her own issues, some that no one knew about, why shouldn't he get the same grace?

"don't." fingers grip at Trinity's wrist and pull her hand away from her pants. internally cringing at all the bacteria that she'd just introduced into the wound. "jesus Trin, how did you pass the exam?"

eyes roll at her at the suggestion of buying her a beer later. Regan couldn't believe that this was the route that Trinity was going to go down. "don't make me go get Robby. because I will. or make you sit there until my dad shows up." it's almost hissed at her, voice just low enough for her to hear. it wasn't a well kept secret. there were rumors flying but ones that she didn't need to feed into right now.

her eyes darting towards her wrist. watching as regan swooped in just a second too late. trying to save her from herself. "it's different when it's for other people?" she shrugged, because she knew how stupid that way. she just also knew she'd probably be fine, but -- would anyone care if she wasn't? would she even care?

"regan..." she said softly, her good hand moving to push a stray strand of hair behind the other girls ear. before she tried to get her attention. waiting for their eyes to meet, as she used hers to try to silently apologize. "i'll behave. i don't need either of them lecturing me too." trinity sighed, using the grip she had on her wrist to tug regan closer. ".... just -- go easy on me, will ya? and don't forget to breathe, i'm alright, promise." maybe she was scared? would that help stop her worries?