only beginning so don't take a rest

► basics;

Full Name: Madalena de Silva Campos Fox  Age: Forty  Birthday:  July 27, 1981  Sexual Orientation: Pansexual Relationship Status: Single Religion: Science Occupation: Trauma surgeon Nationality: Brazilian, came to the United States at sixteen

Daniel was writing a few more notes in the peds corner where he tended to hover. He didn’t like to stray far unless he needed to be in an OR, especially with Mia here. He wanted to make sure she was always safe, that was his girl. He didn’t need to have a baby with some random girl tod decide that. 

“A good rule of thumb  is any person in this hospital under 18, just know im either taking care of them or directing their care.” He chuckled before handing the chart off to the nurse. “Well to be fair I rarely leave peds.”

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Madalena’s smile widened.  “That sounds like the Daniel Sloan I remember,” she agreed.  “I’m signing off on this little one, but I’m sure we’ll have reasons to work together again soon enough.” 

Peds wasn’t especially her cup of tea, but she didn’t hate it the way some people did.  She’d definitely been one of the few people who fell in the middle, neither loving nor hating the smaller population.  They had their own risks, too be sure, but they also came with their own rewards and resilience.   And not everywhere split adult and pediatrics quite as cleanly as SGH, so she’d had some experience. 

“What would you leave peds for?  I ask that knowing it would never be even a little permanent.  I’m just trying to imagine.” 

x

When the other mentioned that a lot of her co-workers had gone, Alyria felt a small connection with that. She had moved to the city knowing only two other people, and was still trying to make friends. She may have been a little too focused on her job the first few months, which hadn’t helped. 

Alyria couldn’t deny she was impressed. “A surgeon and a teacher of all things? Aren’t you quite the lady?” She grinned. The brunette was used to being around impressive people, so she wasn’t too taken aback by it. “I don’t envy you on teaching though. I was never great in front of crowds, public speaking. That’s more my brother’s thing: being on stage.” 

“Oh… different. Not nearly as highly strung.” Which was a good and bad thing. It gave her more time to spend with her brother, and friends — she just had to make some proper friends first. Which is probably why she’d been reading so many books, though Aly had always been a big reader, so that wasn’t entirely new. 

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Madalena shook her head.  “I’m just passionate about what I do, so I’ve committed myself to it.  Really no different than anyone else who loves their job.”  She smiled.  “It’s definitely not for everyone and, I have to say, I can’t do it for just any subject.  What does your brother do, though, that he’s on stage all the time?”  She found herself nodding her agreement.  “That’s true.  One of the draws for me is I have more time for recreation.  I’m thinking about trying paddleboarding once the weather is warm enough.  But that might be a little too slow for me as sports go.” 

“Oh it’s definitely not time wasted. Especially if you like my face looking this way.” He winked. “It’s my morning crew at Kingfish. They threw this all together for me and kept it a secret. I was a little suspicious when they insisted I go to Rooftop 27.” The room wasn’t exactly fully but it was filling up. It seemed everyone that needed to be there had already arrived. They had done their best to throw in something gnome themed. A Happy Birthday banner with the tiny creatures on either end hung on the wall and some balloons had gnomes on them too. The napkins and plates came from the restaurant itself. “Do you want anything to drink or eat? There’s plenty of food." 

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“I do like your face,” she admitted with a small laugh.  It wasn’t particularly witty or A-game, but she didn’t care.  She had no idea how long she’d already been talking to him, but it hadn’t exactly been a chore.  “That’s very sweet.  Are you particularly close with them?”  She only asked, in part, because she wondered if it was more normal to form those attachments than whatever it was she was doing.  (Not getting attached, not staying anywhere for too long, chasing professional and recreational opportunities ahead of anything else.)  

“I would love another drink.   As for food, I’m pretty adventurous.  I’ll try anything once.  What do you recommend?” 

x

“You’re not wrong - nowhere is quite like New York.” Though, Alyria actually didn’t mind that Seattle was a little smaller, a little slower. It was a nice change of pace after living in New York for so many years. She was still settling in, but when she finally did, Aly looked forward to having more time for her social life here than she had before. 

“Oh teaching. What do you teach?” Aly got her question in first, before the other asked what she herself did. “I’m a make-up artist and wardrobe coordinator for a theatre company.” Which certainly fit in with the New York scene, but she’d moved there from London before that. She was lucky that with her background, she could pretty much get a job in most places. 

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“Which can be both good and bad, at least to me,” Madalena opined.  “I think I like it here maybe the best out of the places I’ve lived.  Even if a lot of the people I worked with are gone now, there’s something to be said for the city itself.”  Mads smiled.  She hated how pretentious this answer was going to sound before it was out of her mouth, so she tried really hard through tone to offset that.  “I don’t teach any one thing.  I’m a part-time lecturer in one of the medical schools, so really I’m at the university’s beck and call.  That’s the reason for all the textbooks -- I haven’t approached a lot of these topics this way since I was in medical school.  I’m also a surgeon, so it’s been a while.” 

She nodded.  “Okay, so it makes sense why you were in New York, then,” she said.  The only reason she really knew anything about clothing or makeup was because, at one point, she had hired a stylist to give her tips and tricks so she looked as polished as she sounded during a TED talk.  “How is the theater world here in Seattle?” 

It had been a typical day for Ben at Seattle Grace. Ben had spoken to the nocturnist, reviewed labs, saw patients and families, and soon enough he began his lunch. He usually ate on his own either in one of the offices or in the lounge. Ben chose the lounge this time around, and in typical Benjamin Kingsley fashion, he kept to himself and read a in the furthest corner of the room. No one really called for his attention when they joined, but on the rare occasion that they did, it was either a quick conversation or a greeting. It was safe to say that that was what he had expected when he heard his name. 

Ben gazed up at the mystery company; his lips parted and his brows rose. Madalena. He hadn’t seen her in so long, and they did not leave in the best of terms– not in terrible terms, but not the best. Admittedly, she looked as beautiful as ever,  but he kept that to himself. It was for the best, just as it was for the best that they had stopped their elicit affair in the first place. “Madalina…” Ben set down his book and coffee, and sat up straight as he addressed her. “What a surprise.”

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Mads watched his posture adjust and his reaction, probably one of at least vague shock, evolve.  She couldn’t say she watched with satisfaction, but maybe it was possible she got a small thrill from being a surprise.  She wasn’t sure she’d ever really have it in her to be quiet or tame anyway.  “Is it?” She mused.  “Hmm.”  Whether that meant he was close to his dad, or not, she didn’t know.  Then again, maybe Chief Kingsley kept personnel decisions close to the vest.  “A good surprise or a bad surprise?  That’s the real question.”

His sweet tooth would also be satisfied by the mystery birthday cake, arriving later. “You’re welcome to stay and enjoy yourself here. There’s plenty of room, and food, and drinks. And there will be cake later. So double the fun.” Seeing as everyone had finally arrived he’d overheard something about moving to the event room. So they wouldn’t be in the main bar area. Which was a relief. “We’re all relocating anyways so it will be a little quieter I’m guessing. Seems to be the thing with most event rooms anyways." 

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Mads definitely pulled a face as she pretended to consider it all.  In reality, she was already sold.  The more spontaneous side of her nature could absolutely rule when she wasn’t on-call or due at work the next day.  This was also probably the first time since she’d moved she could really afford to let it have its moment anyway.

“Okay.  You probably had me before cake, on account of your face looking like that and the fact that you’ve already wasted some time with me.”  She gave him a genuine smile.  “Who are the fun people to hang out with, present company already included?” 

x

“Yeah, it was always easy enough to trade them in back in New York. I guess I’ll just have to find somewhere and give them all the books.” Though green eyes lit up slightly when the other woman mentioned a book exchange. “Oh, thank you. I will have to look them up. Hopefully they’re ready for an influx of Russian books.” A laugh bubbled up in her chest. Though Alyria’s nose turned up at the mention of textbooks. “Ew, no thank you. —No offense.” She added. “I was never great with that type of schooling.” The brunette had always been better with her hands, with practical learning. 

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“I think New York is like that with a lot of things.  Even when you’re in a big city, nothing is like New York.  You can find anything you need within in a ten block radius there.”  Except a snowy mountaintop, but that was probably just her damage and also the reason she hadn’t stayed long when she’d lived there.

Mads waved a hand as she laughed.  “No, I don’t blame you.  I think the main reason that’s my reading now is because I just started teaching again.  I have to get a little into that college campus mentality.  It’s been a while since I’d done more than just give one lecture.  I like a challenge, though.  What do you do, if you don’t mind the intrusive question?” 

“I had a whiskey shot, there was other things in it but mainly whiskey. I’ll stay clear of the birthday cake shot. Or anything with whipped cream on top of it.” He could feel his stomach doing a flip at the description. He knew there was a drink menu around somewhere but instead of fretting over options. He decided to keep it simple. “Gin and tonic, you can’t go wrong. Or the gin fizz. Perfection. Thank you for the inspiration Mads.”  

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“If it was mainly whiskey, you might be okay.  The alternative, I guess, is hydration.”  She grimaced when he mentioned whipped cream.  “That has plenty of places to show up, but I prefer it not on my shot.  Maybe on my hot cocoa if I’m splurging there.”   That also wasn’t that common for her, but she’d led with the word ‘maybe.’ 

And then he was listing off a couple of her favorites and all she could do was stop sucking and then smile.  He was clearly happy and enjoying himself and, really, she wasn’t trying to ruin it at all.  “You’re welcome.  It’s nice to see someone enjoying a night off.” 

x

“I try to donate them…” The ones she didn’t love enough to keep just in case she wanted to read them a second time. “But not a lot of places take Russian books.” Alyria gestured to the ones in her arms. Which was understandable. Not a giant demand for them in Seattle, she supposed. Occasionally she found a charity that would send them overseas, which she appreciated, but they didn’t always accept great volumes of books and — well Aly was quite the reader, and went through a fair amount of books. 

“If you know of a second hand store that is accepting Russian books, then please, let me know.” Aly mused, flashing the other woman an amused smile. 

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Mads offered a small, uncertain laugh.  “I guess I hadn’t considered the market here for books in Russian.  I grew up in Los Angeles, and have spent some time in New York, though, and I think you might have some luck in those cities.  Otherwise, I usually check Pegasus Book Exchange first.  They’ve always taken anything I was hoping to trade, no matter what language it was in.  My options are fairly limited, though. And most of what I read these days are digital textbooks.” 

“There’s definitely a small line forming.” He smiled. He would not be leaving Rooftop sober but he didn’t actually mind. As he wasn’t the one driving. “But it’s my birthday so I can and will be ignoring lines. Name’s Robbie.” He introduced himself. He’d just finished a shot that tasted heavily of whiskey. He couldn’t do shots all night. “There’s some birthday cake concoction they have, I’m a little intimidated by it." 

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Madalena didn’t celebrate birthdays to this kind of extent.  She’d spent her 40th in Zermatt, Switzerland, alpine climbing and skiing even though it was July.  Still, she smiled.  “Well, Robbie, I’m Mads, and I think you’re right to be intimidated by the birthday cake concoction.  That will make you both drunk and sick.  I don’t really like sweet drinks, though, so I have my own biases.  Like gin.”  She held her own glass up for emphasis. 

Madalena reminded herself for the third time in no more than thirty seconds that this wasn’t a surprise.  Ben was as attached to this hospital in reality as he was attached to it in her mind.  Though she’d finished most of her residency without knowing him at all, he’d been part of Seattle Grace for her by the time she left.  Though they’d agreed it was for the best, each for their own reasons, that didn’t necessarily make it pleasant or easy, did it?  

She could now answer that unequivocally -- no.  That may have also had something to do with the fact that the last time she’d really seen him, she was seeing all of him because he was still mostly naked.

The only way she could hope to have any control over any part of the situation (really, just herself in the situation) was to issue a greeting.  And to try to make it as painless as possible.

“Hello, Ben.  Long time no see.  Looks like you’ve upgraded to kicking ass and taking names.”

Madalena was just finishing up a few notes on her last case of the day, a little one with a liver issue she honestly thought would do just fine now that the surgery was behind her.  It was both surprising and familiar, in a distant way, to see Dr. Sloan nearby.  She had known he was working at the hospital, of course, because it was hard information to miss with the way he’d risen in ranks while she was gone.  But she hadn’t seen him and wasn’t sure when, or if, they would end up working together until the moment he was there.

“I should’ve known you’d be the one taking care of her.  She’s definitely going to do well, then” she said with a smile.  “I can’t believe we haven’t crossed paths yet, though.  How have you been?”