"Val, I swear if you don't stop biting your nails…" Break time for two of Caduceus USA's most well known surgeons: Markus Vaughn and Valerie Blaylock. However, Markus found Valerie's nail-biting habit to be rather distracting from fully enjoying his mug of black coffee.

Valerie took a break to glare at her boyfriend, "You'll what, Markus? Break up with me? I know you well enough to know that you can't carry through with a threat."

As much as he hated to admit it, Markus really couldn't follow through with any sort of threat. Well, most threats, anyway. "Look, all I'm saying is that nail biting's not that healthy in terms of stress-related habits. It ruins your teeth, and God knows where your hands have been-"

"That's enough, Markus," Valerie hissed. "I can't help it; I always do this when I'm bored."

Markus shrugged, "Well, you could just keep your hands busy so you aren't tempted to bite your nails."

Valerie stared down into her own cup of coffee, "I guess you're right, Markus."

Crack.

Her head snapped up, "Markus, did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

She looked around, "That… popping noise. Don't tell me you didn't hear it, too."

Markus gave a nonchalant shrug, "Nope. I don't know what you're talking about, Val."

Crack.

Valerie set her cup down, growing annoyed, "There it is again!" She glared at Markus, "Markus Vaughn, I know you can hear that cracking sound, too."

A hint of a grin appeared on the older surgeon's face, "I still don't hear anything, Valerie. Saying my full name won't help."

Crack.

The short-haired woman sat down, rubbing her temples in frustration. She knew she wasn't hearing things… Maybe Markus' hearing wasn't as good as hers?

Crack.

She turned her head around to face Markus at just the right moment. He pushed down one his finger, bending it until…

Crack.

Valerie smirked, "Gotcha, Markus."

"Did you say something, Val?"

She stood up and walked over to him, pointing a finger at his chest, "You were cracking your knuckles."

As per usual, Markus was unphased by the accusation, "What makes you say that, Valerie?"

"I only heard the popping sound when I was facing away from you, you denied hearing it, and I caught you in the act."

Markus chuckled, walking away, "So you caught me red-handed, Val. Excellent detective work. Should I start calling you Sherlock?" Also not unusual for Markus, he was being sarcastic with those last two compliments.

"Oh, real mature, Markus. You get on me about biting my nails and then turn around and start popping your knuckles!"

He rolled his eyes, facing her again, "Okay, you got me. I'm a hypocrite and we both need to find something to keep our hands busy. If you've got a suggestion, I'd love to hear it. Otherwise, I'm going back to my office."

Valerie picked her abandoned coffee cup back up, clenching it in her hand. It was true, the both of them needed something to keep them from going to their habits of nail biting or knuckle popping, but what? She would have to think about this…

Valerie burst into Markus' office, "I have an idea!"

Markus looked up from the notebook he was writing in, "I've already found something. come take a look." He held up the notepad, which he had not been writing in at all. Rather, he'd been drawing in it… rather poorly.

Valerie squinted as she took the pad from his hand, "Are those… Are those supposed to be stick figures or were you just trying to draw spaghetti?"

"Shut up," he muttered, yanking the notebook back into his lap. "Also, to answer your question, they are supposed to be stick figures… And why the hell would I be drawing spaghetti?"

She shrugged, "Maybe you're just hungry?"

He tapped his pencil on his chin, "That… makes some sense. Anyway, you should try just sketching when you're bored, Val. I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier. After all, I used to do it in school all the time."

"And how did that go?"

He looked away sheepishly, "Well, there's a reason I almost flunked one of my history classes." He narrowed his eyes, "Keyword: almost." He ripped out a blank page, "Here, you try."

Some time later, Elena poked her head in the door, "Dr. Vaughn, you're needed in- Oh, Dr. Blaylock! I wasn't expecting you to be in here. What are you two doing?"

Markus looked up from his fifth page of illegible sketches, "Drawing."

Elena came into the office, leaning over his shoulder to peek at his paper, "...I'm confused, Dr. Vaughn… Is that supposed to be a car or a volcano?"

Markus sighed, letting his forehead drop down onto the surface of his desk, "Oh come on, there's no way you'd mistake one of those for the other. And my drawing isn't that bad, Elena."

Valerie laid a hand on his shoulder, "Don't feel bad, Markus. Your penmanship is just… slightly better than your artistic ability."

Markus didn't lift his head off the desk, "I thought you said you couldn't read my handwriting."

"You're right, Markus," Valerie said, smirking. "I can't read your handwriting."