Coffee
"Coffee, Katherine?"
He hadn't thought it was such a complicated question. Apparently, judging by his superior's sharp glance over at him, it had unseen consequences that he had failed to consider in his sleep-deprived, caffeine-desiring state. "Are you saying I look tired?" Katherine accuses straight away.
Nick doesn't really know how to answer that. Obviously, the wisest thing to do would be to assure her that no, of course she doesn't look tired, she looks as alert and focused as usual; but the faint grey bags under her slightly red-rimmed eyes juxtapose this argument.
Because it's true. They are both tired, whether they'll admit it or not. Early mornings and late nights working on Project Eternity .2 - as well as trying to focus on blocking both Mary, PRICE and the usual rival companies' attempts to hack them - have taken their toll, as time tends to do. There had reached a point last night when they had suddenly realised it was actually early morning, and Nick sent a rueful text to his son to apologize for losing track of time, since there was actually no time to go home and sleep. Now they've both been up and awake for just under twenty-six hours, and both have moods to match.
Luckily, Katherine sees his exhausted expression, so similar to her own, and relents a little. "Sorry," she even finds herself saying uncharacteristically, before Nick can hazard a reply to her earlier query. "Guess I'm just –" she yawns as if to prove her point – "Tired. Makes me a little short-tempered."
"S'all right," assures Nick in a mumble, trying to hide his own yawn with a hand and casting a slightly accusing look at Katherine as she notices. "Yawns are catching, you know."
The woman rests her chin absent-mindedly on her fist, shuffling her free hand through a pile of unfinished blueprints and official-looking documents and pulling a face. "Are we anywhere near done?" she asks, trying to stifle yet another exhausted yawn and sleepily wishing there was some kind of feasible way to prop up your own eyelids, which are annoyingly heavy at this point.
Her employee looks defeated. "Depends on your definition of 'done'. I'm not even sure I know what done looks like any more."
"Not this," Katherine concludes.
"No." Nick sighs. "Not this. Still a pretty long way from this."
The woman squares her shoulders in an attempt at renewed determination, although it's difficult when all you feel like is curling up somewhere and falling into a long, deep, restful sleep. "Fine. I guess I'll stay here over –" she checks the clock briefly – "Lunch, then. It's my responsibility, after all. You can go home and get some rest if you like. I'll cover for you."
Nick sighs, indecision dancing in his hazel eyes for a moment before he makes a conscious choice. "Fine. No. I'll stay and help, I guess. It's equally my responsibility as it is yours. Though first – I definitely need that coffee." He pauses halfway on his way out of the swinging lab doors, seeming to remember his previous objective and glancing inquiringly back at Katherine. "So, do you want coffee or not?"
Katherine gives this due consideration, before nodding slowly, figuring that it's a bit late to worry about maintaining her alert countenance, and she'll probably need some kind of stimulant to get her through what promised to be an equally long day. "Yeah. Go on then."
Her exhausted-looking co-worker somehow finds the energy to roll his eyes. "There. That wasn't so hard, was it?"