Maya's eyes were closed. She was awake, but at the moment, she saw no real reason to bother with keeping her eyelids up.

Her feet were crossed atop the table just in front of the couch that she was resting on. Eleven years, and Phoenix still hadn't been able to convince her not to prop her feet up whenever she sat down here. She at least kept her feet on the floor when they were both at the table to eat, as a favour to him, but that was all the say she gave him.

Three sounds were registered in her ears at the moment. The first was the distant rattle of the brand-new air conditioning unit she'd insisted upon buying for the Wright Anything Agency when she at last came home to L.A. only to find the occupants of the office suffering through the summer heat with only the aid of a half-dozen oscillating fans, on account of the older unit breaking down at some point.

She wasn't certain whether Nick's initial claim that they didn't need a replacement came more from his ever-present worries about his makeshift family's financial situation, or rather his plain shock at Maya herself being the one to put forth the cash to buy one. She also didn't really care; the office needed to be at least a little cooler than the outdoors, as far as she was concerned.

Being in charge of Kurain had a few benefits, for sure. Being able to financially support her longtime best friend - and considerably more recently, fiancé - was definitely in the top five. Trucy had always claimed she could support herself and her foster father with the income of her excellent magic shows, and she had a fair point, but Maya wasn't about to let them remain in constant borderline poverty while she had access to the considerable fortune of Kurain.

The second sound reaching Maya's ears was the continuous scratching of a single pencil against a seemingly endless stack of papers at the other end of the room. Nick had enlisted Apollo and Athena to the Agency's latest case, leaving him as the sole attorney left at home. Apollo was always studious with paperwork, but Nick wanted to ensure that his employee had plenty of more active work to himself at the same time.

For that matter, Maya herself was quite adept at handling the less interesting sides to the work the law office took on. For all the time she spent messing around and enjoying herself in this very office all those years ago, she'd spent at least somewhere close to the same length of time taking care of the bulk of Nick's paperwork. "Assistant" wasn't just an empty title, even if it might often have appeared that way.

The third sound audible in the empty office was that of Maya's own fingertips drumming over the armrest of the couch. She was bored, and carrying on with her current course didn't seem like the way to fix that.

She opened her eyes. The first thing she spotted was a loose lock of her black hair dangling into her field of view. Puffing her cheeks, she released a sharp breath upward to knock it aside. After casting a glance at Phoenix across the room and finding him still focused on his paperwork, she turned her gaze to her own feet on the table. She rocked her ankles back and forth for a few seconds.

This was the time to take action.

Maya slid her legs to the floor and hopped to her feet. She crossed the room to where Phoenix was seated in a few steps and bent down toward the table.

Phoenix halted his writing and looked up as Maya's elbows settled on the edge of his desk. She had a rather plain look on her face.

"Nick, I'm boooored." she exclaimed, hanging her head. Her hair beads clattered against the tabletop.

Phoenix set down his pencil. When Maya looked at him again, he had his own face lowered, so as to look at her from an angle.

"OK." he said. "What d'you want me to do about it?"

Maya met his gaze. They lingered for a moment, and as Phoenix caught the brief sight of his own reflection in Maya's brown eyes, he felt a familiar warm feeling start to well up inside him.

He'd missed this. Taking care of his office and employees kept him satisfied with his day-to-day activities, but things never really felt like home without Maya. Exactly what he'd done to deserve this beautiful young woman in his life was something he still hadn't quite figured out.

That said, he didn't immediately feel like welcoming an interruption to his considerable stack of paperwork.

"… I'm hungry." Maya said to close the lengthy pause. It was hard to tell if she really meant it, but Phoenix knew he could expect Maya to enjoy having food whether or not she really needed it at the time. "You wanna go grab a burger?"

"Ms. Fey," Phoenix replied, reclining in his seat. "Are you asking me out? In the middle of a work day?"

Maya tilted her head to and fro for a moment. "Maaaybe." she said.

"It wouldn't be sensible to just leave the office unchecked, Maya." Phoenix remarked. "What if a client shows up?"

"Niiiick," Maya pouted, "No one's gonna show up now. C'mon, the kids are all out investigating - we can afford an hour for lunch."

This was true. Even Trucy had tagged along with Apollo and Athena, excited to finally be free of school and able to take up an active role in the office again.

Phoenix spun his chair slightly to look over at the nearest clock. It was right about lunchtime. He took in a heavy breath and let it go slowly.

"… You're buying?"

Maya pouted again. "… OK." she agreed. "I guess that's fair. You've definitely got me beat in the 'burgers bought' department. Now get up, c'mon!"

Phoenix was just locking up the office door when Maya pounced on him from behind. Over the immediate surprise, he smiled and set a hand on her wrist as Maya wrapped both over his shoulders. He felt her chin touch down on the base of his neck.

"We'll tell the kids we stayed here all day, right?" she asked softly.

Phoenix tucked his keys into his pocket and turned himself around in Maya's embrace. "You really think we'd get away with that? All three of them are living lie detectors."

"Mmm, I guess you're right…" Maya's soft voice replied, its owner nuzzling her cheek into the side of his neck.

Once Maya released him, the two set off toward the small building's exit. Phoenix held the door open and Maya stepped outside. On the pavement, she glanced back.

"Well, if they're gonna find out anyway, what d'you say we hit a movie, too? Lunar Samurai 3 is gonna be leaving theatres soon…"

Phoenix crossed his arms, shaking his head a little at the coy look Maya was giving him. He subconsciously rubbed his pinky finger over the surface of the ornate Kurain engagement ring on his finger as he did so.

"Maya, you're the only girl I've ever known who could be pushing thirty and still want to rush over to the theatre to catch a Steel Samurai spinoff." he said, unable to avoid smiling to match her.

"Hey," Maya replied with a little shrug, "I'm the only Maya Fey you know."

"True." Phoenix said, nodding once. He stepped over, locking eyes with her again. "Good thing, too. You don't want competition, right?"

"Never." Maya said. She stood up on her toes to steal a kiss. "Now hurry up, old man."

Phoenix, only just easing back from their kiss, staggered a little when Maya grabbed a hold of his tie and began to lead him away from the office.

I'm late, gotta keep it moving