Title: Friendly Presence

Rating: G

Summary: Written for the prompt 'Owen/Tosh, 5 times Tosh gave Owen flowers/candy/edible arrangements/etc and the 1 time Owen accepted the gift' on comment-fic.

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The first time Tosh made the mistake was Owen's second day on the job.

He was hung over, which would have surprised her if she hadn't hacked his file the day before. She went out through the invisible lift to spare him the siren on the main door and brought back a tray of coffees, his with extra espresso.

When she offered it, he scowled at her through blood-shot eyes. "Wot's that for?"

"You look like you could use it," she said, smiling gently. Then she gasped when the tray was knocked out of her hands.

"I don't need your pity," he growled, and stormed off.

The second time was a basket of fruit carved up to look like flowers on Valentine's Day, which even Tosh acknowledged wasn't a good idea.

"I'm going to leave, and come back again," Owen declared to the Hub when he laid eyes on the arrangement, "and when I get back that thing had better be out of my area."

Tosh removed the basket, blushing horribly, while Suzie sniggered and Jack tried his absolute best not to.

A few months later Owen began complaining incessantly that he'd run out of snacks, mostly trying to annoy the new office boy. Partially out of a desire for peace, but mostly just to make Owen happy, Tosh went out and brought back a bag of his favorites from Tesco.

"Way to ruin my fun, Tosh," he'd said, giving her the acidic, patronizing smile that was his specialty. He slid the bag on the floor across the medical bay until it slammed into the waste paper basket.

When Diane disappeared, Tosh left a bouquet of flowers on his desk the next day, thinking he could make a memorial. She came back from a tech retrieval to find the bouquet stomped into the floor of the empty medical bay.

During the months that Jack was gone, Owen took on so many responsibilities. Sure, they shared the extra work, but the burden of leadership seemed to rest heavier on Owen's shoulders than any amount of paperwork. She bought some chocolate one night and brought it down to his desk in the medical bay.

He held out his hand, expecting more paperwork, and looked up in surprise when she placed the large candy bar in it instead.

"To help you stay awake," she said earnestly.

Owen gave her a searching look, accentuated by the dark circles under his eyes. "Thanks, Tosh," he said crisply. "But this isn't really my type."

She scurried away, pretending she hadn't seen the long-suffering look.

As soon as she places the candy cane down on the table, Tosh realized that this time is so much worse than those other mistakes. This is a huge faux pas, but she already given it to him and she can't take it back now, can she?

Owen stares at the candy cane. She would have brought something better, but she's been stuck in the Hub for hours trying to track down the latest alien to come through the Rift. The one Owen's not allowed to work on because Martha still hasn't cleared him for field duty. Because he's dead.

"I'm sorry, I…" she can't think of anything to say.

He rubs the thin plastic wrapper with his unfeeling fingers and doesn't reply.

"I can take that back, I'm sure Gwen would-"

"No, it's fine," he looks up suddenly, fingers wrapping around the hard candy. He clears his throat. "Um, thank you, Tosh."

She looks too surprised, it's just making the moment more awkward, so she tries to smile. "Any time," she nods.

Owen smiles wryly. "I know."