A/N: I was punched one too many times in the feels by various things people were posting, so I decided I should write fic. And figured the sandwich incident from an RP would be a good place to start. Now, if only I could actually write any of the fics I've already started…
Disclaimer: I do not own Richter nor Kate, they're property of Namco-Bandai. I do, however, own Avery Rask. *cough* Ah, some of you may have, uh, seen him make appearances in fics posted to another account…
"Oi, Abend! Kate was looking for you!"
The redhead turned, glancing at his co-worker and asked, "Can it wait until I eat?"
The brunette shook his head, a strange smile playing about his lips and said, "Nope, she wants you now. She's over in one of the back labs."
Richter sighed, but set down his sandwich and headed off to find the female researcher.
After he'd left, another had turned to the brunette and said, "Avery, she's delivering a report to the Director. What's going on?"
Avery just grinned, and scooped up the redhead's lunch.
"Hey, don't eat that!"
"I'm not, I'm just fixing it for him."
Not one person in the room was under the delusion that "fixing" Richter's food would end well. They did, however, also know better than to interfere lest they be on the receiving end of one of Avery's "pranks", if you could call the sometimes cruel jokes such.
The brown-haired half-elf simply pulled the two pieces of bread apart then removed the contents of the sandwich and placed it in a back. Reaching into his pocket, he removed a small, limp lab mouse and placed it on one slice of bread, carefully covering it with the other. He quickly jumped back as he heard footsteps approaching.
Richter narrowed his eyes when he returned, having not found Kate at all, and noticed Avery within several feet of his food—too close for comfort. He bluntly asked, "What did you do, Rask?"
The brunette held up his hands and faked a wounded look. "Hey, that hurts, Abend! I didn't do anything!"
After another few minutes of glaring at the other, Richter carefully approached his food and sat down. It unnerved him a bit how nobody else would look at him, but the sandwich didn't look like it had been moved… He picked it up and took a bite.
The previously somewhat dazed mouse did not take kindly to this, and squeaked, bolting right into Richter's mouth.
Richter, naturally, was not pleased by the squeaking, wriggling mass that had just squirmed into his mouth. He did, however, manage to keep enough of his wits about him to carefully extract it without it clawing up the inside of his mouth. He glared at the wet, squirming rodent for a moment before turning to find Avery nearly collapsing with laughter. He stood quickly, and strode over.
"Heh… S-sorry, Abend… B-but… Hahah, that-that was… pricele—wh-wait, c'mon, l-lets talk…"
He wasn't able to finish his sentence, however, as Richter chose that moment to tackle him and pin him to the wall. He used his free hand to quickly pull back the waistband on the other's pants, and dropped the mouse inside. Pulling back, he smirked as he watched Avery drop to the ground, desperately trying to remove the rodent before it damaged something. As he walked away, he called back over his shoulder, "You owe me a sandwich, Rask."