Whale yawned as he shuffled into the kitchen, sliding the knot up his tie. The intoxicatingly bold aroma of morning coffee wafted through the air; he breathed it in appreciatively.

"Thanks," he said as Graham handed him a cup. He took a sip as he pulled the chair across him out, and sat down. Graham frowned at a newspaper, absently dunking his toast in his coffee.

"So," Whale said, reaching over to steal a piece of toast, "how's your morning going?"

"Going," he shrugged, tossing the newspaper to the side. "Nothing interesting there, in case you're wondering. Just some more Christmas sales, and an article on some huge snowman the kids built—"

"Oh, how nice—"

"—that nearly caused a major car accident when it rolled down the hill into the middle of traffic."

"…Oh."

"Meh."

Fair point, Whale thought. "Meh" was a perfectly suitable response: Graham had probably seen things far worse than a disruptive snowman, as sheriff and ex-Huntsman; Whale certainly had in his emergency room.

"Mmm—" Graham set down his coffee, swallowing the sip he had just taken. "Weirdest thing happened to me today."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah—Jefferson Hatter called me." Graham gave a bemused little shake of his head. "I don't even know him. I think I met him…maybe three times at Granny's? And he's asking me if I want to hang out this weekend."

Whale raised his eyebrows. "Like a date?"

"What?"

"You said he asked you out."

"No, I said he asked me if I wanted to hang out."

"Oh. Well, that's different, then."

"Yeah."

"Totally heterosexual."

Graham raised an eyebrow, giving him a strange look. "Victor…you know I'm not gay, right?"

Whale choked on his coffee. "Sorry?" he coughed.

"You know I'm not gay?" Graham repeated.

"No, I know."

"I mean, it's not like I have a problem with it, but I'm just…not."

"Yeah, okay. I'm sure, he meant it totally platonically."

"He did."

"I know."

"I'm not gay."

Whale nodded. Graham frowned at his fingernails, as if he suddenly found them extremely fascinating. Oh, God….Had there ever been a more awkward silence in this house?

Whale cleared his throat, taking another sip of coffee. "So, uh…you gonna go?"

Graham looked up. "Sorry?"

"Are you gonna go this weekend? Hang out with Jefferson?"

"Oh. Well, yeah, I mean…" Graham blew out a breath. "I could use a night off. You know, I never even see Hook at the station anymore, and Neal and Emma just sit in her office all day and pretend to go through files. Meanwhile, I'm sitting there, trying to correct all this old paperwork, by myself…Not that there's much else to do here," he sighed, and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Christ, this town is boring."

"You should come down to the hospital," Whale snorted, thinking about the last guy who'd come in with half his toes off because of a poorly handled shovel. "It's not boring there."

"Is it weird that I kinda miss the cursed days?" Graham mused. "I had a nice little thing going there, you know? Coffee in the morning, go to the station, do an even mix of patrol and paperwork, have a drink at Granny's, and go home. I had friends, I had—"

"An extremely creepy relationship with Regina."

"Yeah, I'll give you that," he grimaced. "But other than that…"

Whale lifted an eyebrow. "This isn't still about Emma, right?"

"Oh, well, Emma…" Graham shrugged his shoulders, tilting his hand back and forth. "Meh. I've been thinking about it…I didn't really know her all that well, it's not like we ever really had a thing. And she and Neal seem very…suited to each other."

"That's the general consensus," Whale agreed, taking another sip. "At least, among my nurses."

"Your nurses?"

"The break room is their unofficial meeting place for discussing everyone else's lives," he explained, getting up to refill his cup. "Gossip is like oxygen to them." He poured another stream of coffee into his cup, and wandered back to the table. "So what's brought on this nostalgia for the curse days, if it's not Emma?"

"Boredom," Graham sighed. "I don't have a social life. All the friends I had were cursed friends. It's weird, now, because they're all different and I'm the same…"

"Then you gotta make new friends," Whale shrugged. "Or live a doctor's life—make friends with your patients. Until they die, or get released. And then you get depressed and drink, and go back and make friends with the new ones."

"But the only 'patient' I ever really have anymore is Leroy," Graham complained. "And it's only for a night, for 'drunken misconduct' or something."

"You should make friends with your coworkers then," Whale said. "Maybe you should ask them if they want to go for drinks or something."

"I don't know," Graham said uncomfortably. "Things are still…awkward, you know? Like, Emma 's always reminding me that she has a boyfriend. Neal's always giving me these suspicious looks. Hook, God only knows. He does this thing where he stares at me, like—" he waved his hand—"like he thinks he can set me on fire with his mind or something. And that's if he bothers showing up. 'Cause, see, when he doesn't, I call him up and ask him where he is, and he starts accusing me of stalking him, and it turns into this whole thing…" He shook his head, making a face. "Nah, I really don't want to have drinks with them."

"But that's why you should," Whale insisted. "Get past the awkwardness, spend some time with them. At least with guys, anyway—Emma's going to assume you're asking her out. See, then, they might be more cooperative at work, and you won't come home all stressed and bitchy. I-I mean, all stressed," he amended hastily as Graham's eyes widened.

"You think I'm bitchy?" he said, pointing to himself.

"I didn't say that," Whale said, avoiding his gaze.

"Yes, you did. You think I'm bitchy."

"No, I think stress makes you bitchy." Whale frowned as he reviewed his words. "I didn't make that any better, did I?"

"Nope," Graham smiled through clenched teeth. "Thanks, Vic. Just what I needed to hear."

Whale blew out a breath as Graham got up, snatching his coat off the back of his chair. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize," he said tightly, jerking his collar. "I'm glad you told me."

"Well, don't get upset—"

"Who's upset?"

"You are. Very clearly, I might add."

"No, I'm not."

"You're leaving in the middle of breakfast," Whale protested. "You're upset."

"No, I just have to get to work." Graham zipped up his jacket, his jaw clenched. "You know what? You're right. I need to expand my social scene. So maybe I will ask Neal and Hook out for drinks. Heterosexually!" he added as Whale raised an eyebrow. He stalked across the room and wrenched the door open.

"Have a nice day," Whale called out; and muttered after he slammed the door shut, "Try not to come home too bitchy."

It was a morning like any other: whiny kids in the clinic and crotchety old people in the wards; juggling patient files and double-checking the nurses; drinking coffee and wistfully thinking about the bottle of vodka stashed in his kitchen cupboard at home. And then, of course, Regina called him her customary fifty times, asking questions about pregnancy details that he didn't have the time or energy to really answer. When his lunch break finally came around, Whale practically ran out the door, eager to leave the world of gossipy nurses and bitter patients behind.

Against his better judgment, he decided to go to Granny's for lunch. Normally, he ate in the hospital cafeteria, but he just needed out of that hospital. Even the risk of food poisoning wasn't enough to keep him in there a second longer than necessary.

He swung open the door to Granny's, impatiently batting away the holly garland that came loose from the frame, and started making his way to the counter.

"Hey, Granny," he said wearily, nodding to the old woman.

"How's it going, Doc?"

"Fine, whatever…" He trailed off, frowning as he noticed Henry sitting there, casually typing on his phone. Wasn't it a school day? He pulled out the stool next to him. "Hey, Henry."

"Hey, Dr. Whale," Henry said absently, not looking up from his phone. "What's up?"

"Just…grabbing lunch." Whale coughed into his fist uncertainly. "Uh,shouldn't you be in school?"

"We had finals today," Henry said, his fingers a blur as they danced over the keyboard. "Only had to go in the morning."

"Oh, nice."

"Mmm-hmm." Henry finally closed his phone, setting it down on the counter as he turned in his seat to face Whale. "So, how's Graham?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "Haven't had a chance to talk to him in a while."

Whale grimaced. "Stressed, which means—"

"Bitchy," Henry nodded knowingly, remembering when they'd still been teaching an overwhelmed Graham about the updated Storybrooke.

"Yup." Whale lifted a finger as Ashley came around with the coffee pot, signaling for a cup. "Thanks, Ash."

"No problem," she chirped. "You want anything, Henry?"

''I'll order in a bit," Henry assured her. "I'm waiting for someone."

Whale turned, looking at him in surprise. "Henry…I didn't know you had friends."

Henry stared at him with half-lidded eyes, and slowly opened his mouth in sarcastic laughter: "…Ha."

Whale snorted into his cup.

"Especially since you've got such a thriving social life, yourself," Henry added coolly.

"I'm a doctor," Whale shrugged, taking another sip. "I don't have time for a social life."

"Which is why you really should make more of an effort to get along with your boyfriend. No matter how bitchy he is." Henry smiled sweetly as Whale glowered at him.

"You know something, Henry—"

He was cut off by the sound of the entrance bell jingling as the door opened and someone swept inside.

"Hey, Henry," a girl's voice said behind him, and a dark-haired girl suddenly came into view, dropping her backpack on the counter between Whale and Henry.

"Hey," Henry said, glancing over. "How was it?"

"Not too bad," she shrugged, tugging off her coat. "But I think I messed up the oxidation-reduction crap. Again."

"Sucks."

"Yeah," she sighed. "Okay, so I'm just gonna go wash my hands real quick, I'll be back." She glanced over shoulder at Whale. "Oh, hi."

Whale raised his eyebrows. "Hi."

The girl looked him up and down, and apparently lost interest because she gave a little shrug of her shoulder and went off to the bathroom without another word. Whale slowly slid his eyes back to Henry, who seemed determinedly casual about the whole exchange.

"Is that…?"

"Violet, she's just a friend," he said, with the air of someone who's been asked the same question a million times.

"Uh-huh."

"Don't start," Henry said, narrowing his eyes.

"She meet your parents yet?"

"Did you ask Graham out yet?"

"Ooh-hoo-hoo," Whale grinned. "Getting defensive. You know what that means."

Henry slit his eyes, daring him to continue.

"Henry's got a girlfriend, Henry's got a girlfriend.." he sang softly. His smile grew as Henry's glare darkened. "Sorry, am I embarrassing you?"

"You know what?" Henry leaned forward, pointing a finger at him. "At least I have a girlfriend. What do you have? Lean Cuisine and Star Wars?"

Whale's smile faded. What a little shit. "Okay, that's it," he decided, digging his phone out of his jacket pocket. "Next time your mom calls, asking me about the difference between different brands of prenatal vitamins, I'm going to mention that I met your girlfriend—your words—and we both know how much she'll love that."

Henry's eyes widened briefly, a flicker of fear in his face before he quickly schooled his features into a stony expression. "No, you won't."

"Won't I?" Whale raised his eyebrows challengingly. "Try me." He raised his eyes, catching a flurry of movement in the background: Violet, on her way back from the bathroom. "Speak of the she-devil…"

Henry twisted in his seat, looking over his shoulder; and whipped his head back to Whale, raising a threatening finger. "Don't you dare embarrass me," he hissed. "Or I swear to God, I'm going to—"

Whale put a finger to his lips, and silently held up his phone. "Can't threaten me, Henry," he whispered back. "I already won."