We Meet Again

<Good… morning.> Stumbling into the office, the stocky doctor felt his beard brush up against an anime figure as he greeted his old friend.

“Joey!” Miyano went in to hug Dr. Arrow tightly, squeezing him trickery and all. “Ohayo. I’ve waited forever to see you back here in my cubicle.”

“Looks… even messier than before.” He shyly eyed the documents littering her desk. “New project?”

“Too many to name. Sometimes, I forget their names. Got to try everything… you know?”

“Mm. …I know.” He grunted.

“I wanted to ask you so many more things after our phone call…” Both their eyelids shifted downward. “I’m happy you’re staying here… but I need to know. Why give up a gig for Kidney?”

Joseph distracted those welling eyes of his by playing with a toy sitting atop her desk.

“I… didn’t like the guy. He gave up at the last moment.”

“Joseph. Don’t be so vague with me.” She hugged him again, from behind. “You don’t have to.”

“…I know.”

“Are you really retired now?”

“…Yep. Don’t much feel like working right now.”

“That’s a surprise. Here I thought you were just like me…” They finally let him go. “Work’s what made you happy, wasn’t it?”

The old man looked at nothing in particular. The feeling in his heart was something akin to embarrassment… almost shame.

“…Not really, I don’t think.”

“Did some soul-searching, did you? It’s nice to see you can still change.”

“Sometimes, things make a man realize something about himself.” He took a break from holding eye contact with her, just focusing on his aging right palm that rested on her desk.

“Well, do you have anything you’d like to do today? Maybe I’ll take a page out of your book and try a break, just for once.” She giggled. “Who knows? I might like it.”

“Actually, there’s some place I’d like to check. Just once… to see how it’s doing now.”

“Your pet project, huh? Alright.” She smiled. “Would you walk with me there?”

“I can try.”

Happily, Miyano left the building with Arrow’s hand in hers.