A/N: I'm thinking the focus will shift more on Lest and Vishnal's interactions after this.

Days passed since Arthur's arrival. Vishnal arrived as usual, only to feel a different atmosphere from his coworkers. The energy levels were dismal, Vishnal thought little of it as he handed out the coffees as he usual did, greeting everyone only to be met with some tired nods or complete indifference. He didn't let it get to him though, and just assumed it was simple fatigue. The influx of clients had upped the workload for everyone.

When he arrived in Lest's office, he was surprised to see his boss hadn't arrived yet. 'It's not like the boss to be late, I hope he's not stuck in traffic or something.' Undaunted, he began his morning routine.

Lest did arrive, eventually, half an hour late. Before he took a seat at his desk, he gave a cordial nod to his secretary followed by a noncommittal "morning."

"Good morning sir. Coffee?"

"Not today, I don't use it to artificially boost my energy level in the morning. Gotta wait until I get something done." His tone fluctuated between dazed confusion and mild irritation.

Vishnal didn't bother to question this. "Very good sir. Call on me for anything."

"Thanks." His response was blunt and unenthusiastic. Seconds later, the general banter ceased and Lest became distracted by nothing in particular. Silence, and Lest's eyes wandered to everything besides his work. Sometimes he'd glance at the clock and stare vacantly at it, or his eyes would dart down to the pen in his hand. Vishnal had never seen such a low level of productivity from his boss and it worried him greatly.

"Are you feeling okay sir? You look a little pale."

"Just tired. Got a whole lot of new clients lately, and some of them are demanding things from me that I didn't expect. I suspect you're tired of all the paperwork too?"

"Not at all sir, this is what I've been trained for. Anything else I can help with?"

"I might have you tend my fields with me again, and if you're willing to stay late, you can compile some of my new data too."

"That's fine sir. I'll be happy to help. Not to pry sir, but have you read through Arthur's report? I met with him earlier, he seems rather fond of you and your company."

"Oh, is that what this is?" Lest asked, gesturing to a small stack of papers on his desk. Up until now he had hardly noticed the stack. "I see, I'll look through it. Thank you Vishnal." Lest attempted to look through the docs, yet his eyes would wander and he seemed unable to focus. After a few attempts, he gestured for his secretary to come forward.

"Vishnal, if you wouldn't mind, would you read Arthur's report for me?"

"Certainly sir." He retrieved the documents then and began reading. As Vishnal spoke, Lest appeared to be unfocussed, disoriented even. Vishnal stopped once he noticed this, falling silent to see if he'd be prompted to continue. Lest said nothing, and his eyes were completely lost.

"Sir?"

There was no response.

"Sir?"

Lest put his head down on his desk and groaned. He still didn't respond, and soon all of his motions ceased and his arms fell to his sides.

"Sir?!" Vishnal approached, and put a hand on Lest's shoulder. "Sir, can you hear me?"

Nothing.

"Sir! Say something! Please respond! Please!"

Silence.

Vishnal panicked. For a few seconds he looked around the room for something, though he wasn't even sure what, until his eyes fixed on the phone. Without hesitation he reached for it, calling EMS and trying to keep calm with little success.

"I need help, my boss is unresponsive…"

"Where are you located?"

"The top floor of Earthmate Co.. Do you need directions?"

"We've sent an ambulance there. How long has he been unresponsive?"

"It just started actually. It might be from not sleeping, or fatigue, or stress."

"Right. Is there any other information I should know about?"

"He might be eating less, I've seen him skipping meals." Vishnal felt a pang of guilt then, wondering if he could have prevented this by being a better cook.

"Very good. They'll arrive as soon as possible."

He paced the floor while he waited for the ambulance to arrive. It wasn't too long, and when they came Vishnal insisted on following them to the hospital. He wasn't under the impression that he could do anything to help, he was just far too worried to let his boss out of his sight for too long. They didn't let him in while the examination was going on and he didn't object to that too much.

Vishnal waited outside in the waiting room, fretting and panicking and generally drawing attention to himself. While he was completely oblivious to the stares and snickers of those around him, he did respond cordially and respectfully if anyone asked him for the time, of if anyone questioned why he was in such a state. He'd immediately go back to fretting once he was done addressing the questions though, providing some entertainment for the patients in the waiting room.

People came and went, eventually Vishnal was called in. Immediately he threw a barrage of incoherent questions at the nurse who called him in as they made their way to where Lest was resting. Lest was fine, he'd live. Knowing that was enough to ease his mind. He was allowed to visit Lest, which he did. It was another weight lifted off his shoulders, seeing his boss sleeping.

He was given some basic information straight from the doctor then. It was recommended that Lest take a few days off. No medicines were required. He took notes all the while but his panic was easing.

Only then did he realize that he was skipping work, and yet he didn't regret it. Though, being the ever dutiful employee he was, he took out his cell phone and called the company. The least he could do was keep everyone informed. The phone rang, and it occurred to him that he was essentially calling himself. So he hung up and dialled Leon specifically.

The ringing felt like it went on for ages. Eventually Leon picked up, just saying a casual, "hello Vishnal."

He didn't even bother asking how the other knew it was him and just proceeded, "Leon, I'm at the hospital. Lest passed out and I'm here with him."

"You should have just left him, he's usually only out for a few hours and then he's fine."

"I- But, wait, what?" So this wasn't the first time this happened, Vishnal wasn't sure if he was relieved or even more concerned.

"When you work with him for any length of time, you come to learn that this is just a thing that he does every so often. No need to worry. Weren't you out of commission the other day?"

Vishnal felt a little silly then for overreacting, but he didn't regret his decision. "Ah, sorry. Anyway, we're here and the doctor says the boss will have to take the next few days off to recover. Even if he's feeling better tomorrow, I think he really should listen to the doctor!"

"Listen to you, taking charge." Leon said with amusement. "Sure, whatever. I don't know how he's going to react to that when he wakes up, but good luck with that. I'll look after the business while you guys hang out." He hung up then without a second thought. Vishnal was left confused, and a little despondent. Hopefully Lest wouldn't be angry with him when he woke.