Veritas #1: Nightmares can affect your waking life too

Chapter 1: Looking For A Fight

The next day, Mai started off snarky. She stalked into the office two minutes after eight, threw her bag at her desk, and glared at Naru as he called for tea. She bowed mockingly, throwing a "yes, your highness" in his direction as she stomped into the kitchen. Naru blinked, the only sign he'd give that her mood surprised him. He hadn't done anything yet; what had her so angry already? He shuffled in his seat so that she couldn't reach him over the desk, just in case. Mai had been known to need holding back in the past, and the monk wasn't there to oblige this time. If she wanted to throw a punch at him, she'd have to walk around the desk to get at him, and he wasn't planning on winding her up that far.

She stamped her way into his office and stopped just short of slamming the tea down on his desk. She saluted him sarcastically, smiling with a decidedly unpleasant twist to her lips. "Anything else, oh narcissistic one?"

Naru decided against pushing her; that glint in a woman's eye never led good places. He shook his head, turning his attention to his computer screen. "You can go."

"Oh can I, huh? Well, thanks, 'cus I needed permission to do that."

At that, Naru looked up. This went beyond annoyance – Mai was looking for a fight. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"I don't know what has managed to make you so mad this early in the morning, but as I highly doubt that my usual penchant for tea has driven your blood pressure to such dangerous levels, I would appreciate it if you would find a different outlet for your ire. Either that, or you may begin looking for another job."

He wasn't actually going to fire Mai – the office would be deathly dull without her around – but the warning achieved its desired purpose. She closed her eyes and forcibly calmed herself down, though her hands were still fisted at her sides. He counted to three, allowing her to cool off to the point where he doubted that she'd snap at him again, then cleared his throat so that she'd look at him. That dangerous glint was still there, but muted. She would be more rational now.

"What happened?" he asked. There was a flare of surprise in her face – she hadn't expected him to ask, evidently – then she sighed and shook her head, turning on her heel and stalking out of the office. There was a soft thumping noise as she collapsed onto the sofa out there. Naru blinked, then abandoned his desk and joined her in the common area. She was lying half-on-half-off the sofa, her eyes closed, head tipped back and the bridge of her nose pinched between the fingers of her right hand. He cleared his throat, but she didn't do more than groan.

"What do you want? You can't have drunk all that damned tea already," she said, not moving from her sprawled position. Naru shook his head and sat beside her gingerly. Being this close was probably not safe, but he didn't think Mai would actually hit him. Well, she probably wouldn't. Maybe.

He was going to phrase this very carefully.

"Can I help?"

Mai looked up at him, wide-eyed. "What?" she asked, sounding utterly confused. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. His interest in her life wasn't that unusual.

"Can I help?" he repeated patiently. Mai blinked at him, then shook her head and muttered something under her breath. Even at this distance, Naru didn't quite manage to catch it, but he doubted that it was anything coherent. Mai had a habit of talking to herself in disjointed sentences when she was upset, and that was the glint that was rising in her eye now. He hesitated for a moment then reached out and laid a careful hand on her limp left arm. She stopped murmuring and looked at him like he'd lost his marbles.

"You're touching me," she pointed out, sounding very confused. At that, he did roll his eyes, removing his hand and replacing it in his own lap.

"I had thought it might comfort you somewhat, as you are obviously upset. Apparently, I was mistaken."

Mai relaxed at his words – apparently, the tone had reassured her that he was actually her boss and not some kind of shape-shifter just pretending. She shrugged and shuffled backward so she was sitting, rather than lying on the sofa.

"My landlord's a bastard," she said wearily, closing her eyes again and letting her head fall onto the back of the sofa. Naru watched her in silence, waiting for her to continue. She sighed and shook her head, then sat up and smiled at Naru. There was no sincerity in it. She attempted a bounce to her feet, almost tripped, and rubbed the back of her neck, a little embarrassed. Naru knew what she was trying to do, and while he didn't like her shutting herself off from him, he had no right to pry and he didn't fancy a shouting match over it. He let it drop, standing much more elegantly than Mai had managed and walking to his office. He paused in the doorway and looked back at her over his shoulder.

"Mai?"

She looked up at him, blushed, then spoke to the carpet.

"Sorry Naru. I didn't mean to snap at you. I've just had a bad morning."

He treated her to a rare smile. "Tea, Mai. This one's gone cold."

She smiled back and nodded at him. "Ok."

He went back to his desk and sat behind it, listening to Mai moving about in the kitchen. He hadn't exactly solved the problem, but he had managed to calm her down. And Lin accused him of not knowing how to relate to people.

Yasu's case notes

Four years on, and Mai is still temperamental.

Hey!

You know it's true. Apologies again, dear readers, for the shortness of this episode, but the following one shall be longer. Also, rather more childish. At least Mai won't be shouting any more though.

Don't bet on it. I'll show you temperamental...

You're proving my point, there.

Next time: Monk, Ayako and Mai are being very secretive. Naru doesn't trust them at all.