For the last half hour Toby, Walter and Happy had been placing random objects on the desk around where Paige was working: Slyvester's pencils had migrated to the spaces around her Books, several Rubik's cubes, two of Happy's wrenches and various pieces of tech. She'd largely been ignoring it. There was method to whatever they were doing even if she didn't care to figure it out; she was politely wording an email back to Ralph's teacher about his daydreaming in class. A pink rubber duck was placed by her elbow.
She looked up to each of them her brow raised.
"We've been rumbled," Happy grinned
"We were curious to how long it would take you to notice," Toby drawled "Well notice and react. You are remarkably patient with us," He was throwing a plastic cup from hand to hand which would have likely been the next piece to end up within her reach. Her eyes next fell on Walter who looked entirely unapologetic.
"When they pay up I'll buy you me and Ralph lunch," He said stepping forwards to two identical sighs.
"You're betting on me again, great," Happy pulled a couple of notes from her back pocket and handed them over and Toby followed.
"Game's over guys back to work," Walter called round to them all scooping up a folder. Toby circled his desk dropping into his chair.
For happy work was hammering metal right behind where Toby was trying to work.
"Surprisingly, that's very distracting,"
"Deal with it,"
"Are you trying to damage me?
"If I work over there are you going to stare at me again?"
"Probably,"
"Then I'm good here," She raised an eyebrow, "Wait 'til I get the generator out,"
Paige and Walter had since moved their conversation to the other end of the room as the noise increased from the both of them; and no sooner they had then there was a heavy determined knock on the door. Happy and Toby couldn't hear from the increasing volumes of their supposed work.
Paige rolled her eyes as Walter reached for the handle.
"You were teaching Ralph about electromagnetic pulses weren't you. Knocking out power. Think we could use one?" She asked nodding over. Walter smirked as he let the door swing open.
Two women stood there, arms crossed. Paige stepped forwards as Walter ummed in greeting.
"Hi, can I help?" She asked apprehensively. It wasn't often anyone but Cabe came to the door and he certainly wouldn't knock.
"Hi, I'm Stacey," The girl stood closest introduced herself had dark hair and patronising smile. Paige bristled slightly against it, "Toby said we could find him here," The blonde behind her looked shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably and whereas both of them had their arms cross, she was hugging her self rather than her friend who seemed more forceful, controlled, and convinced of herself.
"Toby. You've got visitors," Walter called over, waving a hand to catch his attention. Toby's music shut off at the click of a button though Happy's noisemaking didn't. He tapped her arm with the back of his hand and she nearly took his fingers off. He yelped and yanked his hand away before signalled her to turn it down and then pointed to the door. Reluctantly she complied.
"Why hello there ladies. To what do I owe the pleasure," He asked sweetly as he walked over to them. The dark haired girl reached into her bag and drew out a hat. Toby's hat. From behind them Happy squinted.
"Ah yes thank you," He ran over scooping the hat from the girl's hands and positioning it on his head and sighed, "I feel whole again,"
"Yeah well you owe us for more than the hat," Stacey snapped.
"Ah yes your cut," He circled back to his desk ad opened the top drawer. A chaos of gadgets, papers and other objects erupted.
Happy scoffed from behind them and moved off back to her own bench, dumping her stuff and then headed out to the garage. As toby rifled through the files he pulled out of one of the drawers in his desk.
"Would you like a glass of water or anything," Paige stepped over as Toby dug through the mess.
"Oh yes, please," The blonde said smiling,
"Yeah, cheers," Stacey nodded curtly and then refocused on Toby, her eyes narrowed the longer he stalled.
"You're not a waitress anymore Paige," Walter interjected.
"It's called being polite. I'll add it to the list of things you should bear in mind. Like leaving people in peace when they're trying to work,"
Paige ignored him as she sauntered past over to the kitchen as she passed Walter pushed off the table he was leaning against to follow her.
As soon as they were out of ear shot Stacey leant in.
"You might have made it out of that club but we had bigger problems," She hissed at him as she snatched the envelope of money out of his hands.
"You ladies gave informed consent,"
"We need to call in a favour," The blonde stepped forwards, keeping her voice low
"Walter! I may need a witness for this!" Toby backed up sharply surveying them both.
"You're on your own," Came the reply but Paige was glancing over mildly concerned even if Walter wasn't. Luckily Sylvester made his reappearance.
"I don't know what you guys have done to Happy but I'd avoid the garage for a while," Sylvester came in carrying a rucksack of his things clasped in his arms as if they'd been shoved into his grip without warning. He could only see where he was going via one side of the stack of notebooks heaped on top of the bag. Toby moved to take the tallest of the stack from him. He didn't receive a thanks before Sylvester's eyes fell on their recent little game.
"Why is all my stuff on Paige's desk? I have an order. You can't just-,"
"Sylvester?" The blonde haired girl said slowed, stepping towards him though he didn't turn around.
"Uh, just a minute I'm-," The girl pulled him round by his shoulder and threw her arms around his shoulders. Paige held back a laugh as she put the drinks down on the table and Walter tensed beside her as if waiting for his friend's imminent panic attack.
"Oh my god it's been so long," She pulled away when he didn't return the hug.
"Whoa hey, you know Sylvester," Toby asked ducking around to place a hand on Sylvester's shoulder.
"We had a class together," She explained and her eyes darted to Sylvester who still hadn't said a word. "Jessica Everett," She prompted but Sylvester, who was red in the face and probably close to having an anxiety attack of some sort, looked as if his brain had short circuited from the shock of the contact. "But it's been a while I suppose," She looked sheepish as she spoke glancing back at Sylvester.
"Three thousand Four hundred and twenty seven days since we last spoke,"
"You remember that?"
"No I-,"
"It's what you do," she smiled, "I looked forward to that class Syl,"
"And, and what are you doing here?" Sylvester asked turning back to Paige's desk and gathering up each item and reorganising it to its proper place on either desk. Jessica frowned and glanced up to the others.
"He is paying attention, it's just his OCD." Paige added
"Right. I can't believe I forgot that," She turned back to him, "Never anyone like you was there," Her voice was soft as if reminiscing. "Toby here was in the club where I work. He got me and Stacey fired,"
"Previously an entirely mutually beneficial arrangement," Paige and Walter both turned unimpressed stares on him until he explained "me hiding in their dressing room when I had certain people pursuing me meanwhile teaching them a bit about picking out marks and their tells,"
"Until he got caught in there and we caught the rat's end of it," Stacey snapped, clearly irritated by her friend's catch up and delay.
"I will admit there were a few gamblers in there who didn't like the idea I could rob them blind despite their apparent poker faces,"
"I wonder," Paige rolled her eyes and looked to Walter who looked exasperated though she knew he wasn't going to interfere. He was probably calculating something entirely different about the situation than anything she would assume.
"So you're going to get us new jobs," Stacey emphasised and Paige saw Toby's brow begin to raise slightly.
"Walter are we in need of a couple of charming young ladies,"
"No,"
"Ah, pity,"
"We need real jobs. Good wage for rent, food, and more than basic necessities,"
"Well let's see. We can use that tracking system you designed last week can't we Walter?"
"You designed another piece of software? What for?" Paige asked turning to him.
"It predicts the likelihood of a certain person going for a certain job, various companies across the city, employment rates, where the employments located,"
"And you wanted to use it to harass people for underrepresentation. Shame on you," He said as he typed. Stacey had moved around behind him.
"I wasn't actually," He corrected when Paige stared him down.
"We're not PAs."
"Working for this lots that's really not what they're looking for,"
"I can't speak German and Spanish,"
"You won't need to. Look trust me I'll get you the job and you can phone me when they promote you,"
"Wait, how do you know what tests I took?"
"I have mentioned I'm a genius,"
"How often do geniuses screw up?" She said dryly.
"You'd be surprised," Paige muttered to herself but she could feel Walter's eye son her.
"A month and a half ago you were offended when one of your marks didn't know who Jeanette Rankin or Corazon Aquino were. You definitely took women's' studies and politics. You liked history but you couldn't use it but you could at least get a basic level in it. I'll overstep the various reasons behind why you chose working in a club but ultimately it was because you need to stay close in the area but can't get anything valuable from it," Stacey stared down at him seemingly unimpressed.
"Your point?"
"No point," Toby's blasé attitude was visibly annoying her now. Paige's gaze drifted back over to Jessica and Sylvester. To her surprise the two of them were sat next to each other quietly talking and yet half the mess was still scattered across Paige's desk. She nudged Walter in his side and nodded to them. He half turned to her.
"We all have our distractions," He muttered "I'll be upstairs if you need me," She nodded and watched him leave before grabbing her own laptop and making room on the kitchen table to work on a report from their last assignment. They couldn't seem to work with law enforcement without breaking something expensive.
An hour later Stacey and Jess were walking out with improved CVs, and interviews set up. Sylvester had sat for some time with Jess before making some excuse and ducking out. They waved to Paige as they left.
Toby had his feet kicked up on the desk and looked reasonably pleased with himself. Paige was grabbing her bag on her way out to make it to the shops before she picked Ralph up from school.
"Careers office closed for the day?" She called over to him.
"Looking to improve your prospects? I'm not sure if we'd let you go," He said tilting his head to one side and looking sincere. She grinned back picking up the plates of food she'd made and dropping one on the desk in front of him and one on the side of Sylvester's table. Before doubling back to the kitchen. He stood and followed her.
"Hey where's Happy?"
"Garage?" She suggested absently.
"Nope," She raised an eyebrow at his certainty. "We've got a camera down there. Security purposes… primarily,"
"I don't know then, she disappeared a while ago,"
"Never mind, it can wait,"
"Are you and her alright?" She asked cautiously. Toby and Happy's relationship, whatever it was between them, was something that was unanimously not talked about in general.
"Would you like a systematic review? How far back would you like me to go?" He asked dryly, "It was the summer of twenty-oh-,"
"No stop just-, you just seem to be a lot more antagonistic to each other recently. I wondered if everything was okay with you guys,"
"If you psychoanalyse me shrink I'll burn a hole in your laptop," They both jumped as Happy stormed past them.
Paige gives him a look implying something he'd really rather not consider.
"Y'know when she says to check in with her in like three days' time when she's really pissed off,"
"You should talk to her,"
"She has a blowtorch. They burn at thirty seven hundred degrees centigrade,"
"Toby. Go,"
"If I don't have any eyebrows for a month I'm introducing Ralph to a project you won't like," He hissed at her as she shoved him out of the kitchen.
He didn't go straight over to Happy's workstation. Paige soon tires from mouthing encouragement to him and headed out, bumping his shoulder as she went since he was determinedly not taking any step closer. At least until she was at three feet away from any object that could cause him harm. This was a waiting game.
Eventually she was sat at her computer with the closed harmful object being a sharpened pencil. He took his chances where he could get them but by the time he's taken the dozen steps over to her his words escaped him.
"Paige told me to talk to you," At one glance of her unimpressed expression and he knew he'd started off with the wrong wording.
"What are you five?"
"I get the feeling maybe you don't really want to talk about anything with me right now,"
"No go ahead Doctor Curtis. Make a few observations let's see if you're on form,"
"I-,"
"And if they include the words jealous or caring on my part I'll shave your head when I next catch you napping near my workstation,"
"Yeah, no I'm definitely not bothering you right now," He turned tail, hooked his headphones from his desk and headed up and out to the roof.
Toby was lying down along a bench him and Walter had brought up here when they'd been teaching Ralph some astronomy a couple of weeks ago; since his dad had left Paige hadn't objected to him spending as much time with them but there was an unspoken assumption that it wouldn't last. Ralph was incredibly smart and they all wanted better for him than an isolated childhood. Paige had been trying to get him involved in some of the clubs at school but if anything it was forcing him to disconnect. Happy had been one of the people Toby had voiced his concerns to about who it was hurting more, Paige or Ralph. Happy liked Paige, things had been good since she'd been around. They hadn't bonded as much as her and some of the others but she was definitely a good influence on them as a group.
Toby's music blared from headphones and yet it looked like he was dozing despite it. Happy crossed the roof to him and kicked his side His arms flew out to balance himself. He pulled the headphones down around his neck but didn't sit up.
"Have we got a job? Has Cabe called?" He asked shielding his eyes from the sun to look up at her.
"No," Her curt answer made him sit up and pay attention his brain working faster than it had all day guessing at how this conversation was going to go. There was at least a fifty percent chance she'd walk away in the next thirty seconds.
"O-kay," He scooped up his hat from the ground, rolling it up his arm and on with a smirk as he threw his leg over the bench so he could face her. It didn't illicit the smile he'd wanted. She wasn't closing up but she also wasn't giving him many tells. After a moment she stepped over the low bench and sat down herself so they were shoulder to shoulder. He made to move so they could sit facing the same way.
"No! I'm not having you read me while I say this shit,"
"Okay. Not moving. Just going to sit here facing the opposite direction," she shot him a glare and he was silent immediately. She looked away from him but from her profile he could see she was chewing the inside of her cheek.
"Maybe I am jealous," she was far quieter than Happy Quinn had probably ever sounded before. She was uncertain of herself. Or him.
"Maybe?" He probed.
"I'll hit you," The harsh threat silenced Toby immediately but he felt her shoulder press against his a little more. "You're a real idiot for someone so smart."
"I try," he shrugged. Happy paused a moment and then turned to face him.
"And you need to stop staring at me when I work,"
"I can't enjoy what I see,"
"Not when you just stare,"
"What is this?"
"Me saying that I like you. And I really don't know what to do with that," She huffed and stared down to where her hands were gripping the edge of the bench so hard her knuckles were turning white. Toby reached down and covered the closest with his own
"We need rules," She said looking up at him straight in the eye.
"I can work with that," He said shrugging but his eagerness was obvious and she shook her head a little. She looked down at their hands a moment before looking up at him again.
"No staring," She said surely.
"No burning the hair," He countered which earned him a smirk.
"Stop losing your hat,"
"You like the hat?" He cocked his head to one side, his eyebrows coming together in confusion
"No," she pouted. He hooked a finger under the rim of his hat and spun it neatly onto her head.
"You're lying," he said pointing a finger which she whacked away.
"Kiss me dumbass,"
"Is that a pet name now or-," She slipped her hands from his and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt before he could finish his sentence and pulled him down to kiss her.
Vaguely they heard the door behind them opened and even though they pulled away it wasn't fast enough for Sylvester not to notice the change in their relationship.
"Hey guys, Cabe just called and," He cut himself off as the scene in front of him registered, "I'm gonna, go…" They heard him muttering to himself as he made his way back downstairs but Toby couldn't stop smiling wide, and Happy had a smaller satisfied smiled across her own features.
"Sylvester really doesn't like change," Happy said, looking back to the door swinging open.
"What's changing besides you showing that you care a little more often," He ran a finger up the top of her jeans and under her t-shirt. She twisted sharply when they ran across the skin at her waist.
"Ticklish?" he asked running his nails lightly back over the spot that had her squirming.
Her fist hit him hard in the chest,
"Ow!" He rubbed the spot when he knew it'd bruise.
"Don't do it again," But then she was leaning back in with a gentle hand on his jaw. Toby groaned into the kiss.