Rose saw Sera coming in, and set her work aside. She couldn't focus on it anyways.

"Hey," she said quietly.

Taylor knew when Damien was coming in. He could feel Damien's nervous energy.

"Bad day for you too, I take it," he said.

"Hey. Let's go get lunch. I was thinking of going to this little cafe across the street. It's quiet, reasonable prices, good food." Sera shrugged. "What say you?"

"I haven't seen her, but I'm fairly sure she's avoiding me," Damien said with a sigh.

"What about you? How has today been so far?"

"Fantastic plan, says I," Rose replied.

"I'm at a loss," Taylor replied. "If I had told her flat out, she'd have called me insane. As it stands, I'm still a liar."

"Awesome." Sera looped her arm through Rose's, leading the way over to the cafe and then sitting down. "So how're you?"

"I know." Damien sighed. "I think what we need to do is back off for a bit, let them think and calm down. Once they're clamer they can be reasoned with."

"Do you want the truth, or the little white lie?" Rose asked. She knew her eyes were probably a bit red, and she was definitely a little pale, but she really didn't want to 'talk about it' like her coworkers kept insisting.

"It's really hard to give her space when she works in the same office," Taylor pointed out. "At least you can avoid Rose."

"That's answer enough." Sera's expression grew stormy. "I should kick both their asses for this."

"Well... Maybe you should go around and do visual check-ups on all the animals," Damien suggesed. "That'll take you at least a week."

"Sera... I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself," Rose replied. "I'm not as delicate as people seem to think."

"That's probably a good idea," Taylor replied. Damien was right, it would get him out of the office, at least for a few days.

"Oh I know you can," Sera said. "That doesn't mean I'm not allowed to look out for you."

Damien nodded. "You can start with the cats, if you want," he said. "I'll make sure they behave."

"Still, maybe you should cool it for a little while," Rose suggested. "Back off of the homocidal thoughts for a bit."

"Sounds like a plan," Taylor replied. "Thanks."

Sera muttered something but nodded. "Alright. I'm thinking of getting a hamburger. Or something with meat."

"No problem. You wanna grab a bite to eat? I'm starving." Damien started to walk out of the office.

Rose nodded.

"You do that," she said. "I'm not all that hungry... I might just get something sweet. Sticky bun or something." She needed comfort food.

"Lunch sounds good," Taylor said. "Let's hope we don't run into the girls while Sera has access to marginally sharp objects."

Sera nodded. "Whatever you like. My treat today."

Damien snorted. "Probably a good idea. We better stay in the park today."

"Alright," Rose replied. "Sounds good."

"Good plan," Taylor said. "Hopefully, they won't have the same idea."

Sera smiled and relaxed a little as she ordered her burger and iced tea, leaning back in her seat to wait for her food.

Damien nodded and went to the nearest food place, ordering french fries and a burrito.

It took Rose a good couple of days to really get back into her groove. It had given her time to think, and she was kind of glad that she didn't have to run across Damien in that time. Now, though... she was starting to miss him.

Taylor spent a few days going around to the different areas of the zoo, doing what he could to stay as far away from Sera as possible. Really, that was all he could do, short of actually confronting her. However... he was running out of other places to be very quickly.

Damien had cleaned every inch of all the cages twice by the end of the week. He was running out of things to do that didn't require paperwork, and so he finally had to go into his office to get some things done.

Sera, on the other hand, had cleaned the whole vet lab. It was all sparkly and shiny and clean, and she had calmed down someone, having taken out the brunt of her feelings on the building. The building was sufficiently cowed into submission, and she started doing paperwork.

It was Rose's turn again to collect the week's paperwork, so she took her time going around to the different departments. She got to Damien's department last, not sure what she would say if she saw him.

Taylor noticed how clean the office was. Sera must have taken a layer of material off of everything to get it so clean. He hoped she was a little calmer by now, because he'd run out of places to hide.

Damien sat in his office, filling out paperwork and the weekly reports, a slight furrow in his brow. He wasn't paying attention to anything else around him, focused more on reporting the state of the lioness's pregnancy.

Sera glanced over at him when he finally reentered before she went back to mixing up a shampoo to give to a zebra keeper. She didn't greet him, but she didn't try to chase him out of the building with a scalpel, either. And not for lack of scalpels.

Rose opened the door quietly and slipped into the room. She didn't want to disturb him, although logically she knew he probably heard her come in.

At least she had acknowledged him, that was good. Moving over to the desk, he checked over the paperwork and filled out some of the ones that were set aside for him.

"So, how much fudge do I need to bribe you with to get you to talk to me again?" he asked casually. He was only half-joking.

Damien glanced at her and just looked for a moment before he looked back at his paperwork. If she wanted to talk she'd talk. Otherwise he should probably leave her alone.

"There's some things on the edge of the desk that need to be taken, I think," he said quietly. "If you want, I mean."

Sera glanced at him again. "No. Think ice cream. Think cold and melty and gooey. And think tons of it."

"Thanks," Rose said softly, taking the paperwork from the desk. She wasn't sure what else to say, and the silence was awkward.

"Well, if you want, I could take you out to get ice cream, after work," Taylor offerend. "My treat. Up to you, though. I could always just leave a bar of fudge on the table for you tomorrow."

"How are you feeling?" Damien looked at her with a little frown. She didn't look so good, and he was getting worried about her.

Sera looked at him for a moment. "I like Irish cream or butter pecan," she said finally.

"I must still be a little pale," Rose replied softly. "I haven't been sleeping well... Too many thoughts, you know?" She was rambling a little, but it was better than awkward silence.

"So, was that a yes to getting ice cream, or a suggestion for the fudge?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah," Damien said quietly. "I know exactly how that is. There's been a lot to think about recently."

"A little of both." Sera smirked at him suddenly. "I was asked to run over to the front, so I'll see you at five." She turned and left, leaving him no opportunities to speak to her again yet.

"It could be worse, I suppose," Rose said. She moved over to the desk and picked up the paperwork. "I should probably go and file this..."

Taylor noticed she didn't give him time to reply, but he didn't mind. At least she was talking to him and not threatening his life anymore.