This is a conversation between tipsy! Angela Ziegler and yourself, Blackwatch!Gabriel Reyes.
tipsy! Angela Ziegler: The doctor rests her head atop her desk, a small mountain of paperwork spread about her -- completed; because even when the newest member of Blackwatch somehow eggs her into a rare and irresponsible drinking game, she makes sure to complete her work first -- as she hums. Her white-blonde hair is free of its usual pony tail, and her steely blue eyes flicker up to the door of her office as she catches Commander Reyes walk by. Though she has been off the clock for some time, she sits up immediately, wanting to make a good impression -- and nearly falls out of her chair, still quite tipsy.
Blackwatch!Gabriel Reyes: Reyes completely passed by the office at first, having no intention of stopping until he heard a small ruckus from inside. He paused and then slowly backtracked to peer through the door, raising one eyebrow at the doctor inside. Before now, he'd never talked to her much aside from discussing the details regarding his new recruit, but he figured there was nothing wrong with a short conversation. "Everything alright in here? The hell was that sound?"
tipsy! Angela Ziegler: Of course it's /tonight/ that the head of Blackwatch decides to take an interest in the quiet office. Commander Morrison had given a handful of them a half day, announcing -- albeit, in a frustrated tone -- that there wasn't much more to be done that day. The doctor was well within her rights to have succumbed to Jesse's challenge, and yet she reaches to quickly tuck a few errant strands behind her ear, feeling the warmth rise to her cheeks. "I, ah -- I'm just clumsy," Angela half slurs, noting absently how her words are more heavily accented in her intoxicated state. "All's well, though, Ga -- Herr R -- .... Commander."
Blackwatch!Gabriel Reyes: "Right." He eyed her skeptically, taking another step back to lean against the doorframe and look her over carefully. Even though they had only had a brief conversation or two in the past, he could tell something was off, and by the way she was slurring her words, he had an idea of what it was. "Does your clumsiness usually affect how you speak? 'Cause I've never heard of anything like that before." A knowing smirk found its way onto his face. "Didn't take you for the type to drink on the job, Dr. Ziegler."
tipsy! Angela Ziegler: She blinks owlishly at him, her steely blue eyes widening as she realizes she's been caught -- before both of her elbows find the desk before her, her features buried quickly in the palms of her hands. "I've been off the clock since two this afternoon about," the doctor explains, clearly embarrassed now. "Jesse said something about me being a buck thirty -- which I /still/ don't understand; I have more than that in my /pocket/ even -- and challenged me to a drinking challenge, and I .." Realizing she is rambling, Angela peeks through her fingers to steal a glance at her superior, a sheepish giggle tumbling from her lips.

"I haven't been drunk in a very, very long time, mein gott. Don't look at me like that?"
Blackwatch!Gabriel Reyes: Angela's sudden rambling caught him off guard, his eyebrows shooting up as she desperately tried to explain herself. By the end of it all... He couldn't help but laugh. It was short and quiet, but he couldn't hold back the snort that left him as he pictured Jesse trying to be suave with Dr. Ziegler. "Calm down, doc, I'm not gonna rat you out. Hope Jesse didn't cause too much trouble. The kid doesn't know when to quit sometimes." This was all too amusing for him, and he couldn't help but laugh again.

"Don't know how you think I'm looking at you since that's just my face. Are you planning on staying in here the rest of the night, partying with your paperwork? I'll have to talk to Jesse about leaving you all alone here after his challenge. He should've kept you company if he didn't have anything else important to do, and..." He paused, thinking. "He wasn't scheduled for anything from me today, so I don't know where the hell he could've gone."
tipsy! Angela Ziegler: Her shoulders ease a little under the man's reassurance, her hands falling away from her face to instead play absently at the tie that holds her hair back from her soft features -- nimble fingers tugging at it and then fixing it again as she shakes her head quickly. "It's quite alright! I'm an adult, and I hardly need anyone to babysit me if I manage to get myself intoxicated." Even inebriated, her vocabulary is immaculate. The syllables suffer from being heavily accented, yes, but with a giggle at the memory of how accented /Jesse's/ words had become before he stumbled off, she decides she is still somewhat proud of her poorly feigned sober state. "And he spotted Genji, and was trying to get him to open up.

If anything, Genji needs a friend more than I need a babysitter." A beat, and then quickly: "Sir. But the thought is appreciated."

Giving up on taming her strands, she tugs out her ponytail and allows her hair to fall free at her shoulders, instead wrapping the band about her wrists. "And although my paperwork has been wonderful company, I think it might be time to -- .." Oh. Angela moves to push herself from her desk again, mid-sentence, but this time her chair takes it upon itself to roll /just/ out of reach, and her hold upon the desk wavers as the world shifts beneath her feet. Though she stumbles, Angela manages to half gracefully tumble into a sitting position on the floor, looking extremely sheepish now.

"On second thought, I've slept in my office before. It's quite comfortable."
Blackwatch!Gabriel Reyes: He regards her words quietly, keeping an eye on every movement. Despite knowing that he probably should not, he begins to feel a bit responsible for her well-being, and he decides that he can't let anything happen to her, even if the damage would be caused by herself. "Even if you're an adult, you're allowed to need help. Even aside from that, it's pretty damn rude to get drunk with someone and then just leave them alone. If he had enough sense to stumble off somewhere else, the least he could've done was escort you back to your room." He sighs and glances down the hall as if he may spot his two newest recruits there despite knowing that they are long gone from Angela's office.

"I'm glad he's keeping the Shimada kid company, but still. He needs to learn some manners."

As soon as he saw her push herself away from her desk, Gabriel knew she wasn't about to have a clean liftoff from her chair. He takes one step forward, arm halfway outstretched, but then she's already on the ground without giving him any time to react. He steps around her desk to peer down and ensure she is not injured, and then he lets out another quiet laugh before holding a hand out.

"You're not sleeping in here. Come on, I'll help you."
tipsy! Angela Ziegler: The doctor hesitates for a long moment as she studies the commander's hand, before finally reaching out to take it hesitantly -- using Gabriel's strength and steady stance to help herself to her feet, even if she sways briefly in the aftermath. "Thank you," she hums appreciatively, her brows knitting. "Like I said, it's been a /considerably/ long time, and this is /hardly/ how I foresaw our fourth conversation going." As soon as the words leave her lips, her fingers press against them, her eyes widening. "Not that I've been counting. Not that there's reason to? It's just that you don't come by the office much, so I remember and .."

Angela draws a breath and tries again, shaking her head as she laughs softly to herself, the sound carrying gently through the otherwise quiet space. "Please, don't say anything to him? They need each other right now. If anything, it's my fault for encouraging him and overestimating my own faculties, ja?"
Blackwatch!Gabriel Reyes: "Don't worry about it. I'm more than happy to lend a hand, even if Jesse should be the one taking responsibility." He mostly means that last part as a joke and snorts, but then pauses, raising an eyebrow. "Should I be coming by more often...? Never saw any reason to unless it was a checkup or for the recruits." Her awkwardness has a certain charm to it, but Gabriel avoids making any sort of comment like that. It isn't every day that one of your commanders catches you tipsy in your office, so he figures that all this rambling is probably a product of that.

For a moment after he pulls his hand away from hers after helping her up, it hovers in the air just above her shoulder. He's uncertain where he should hold on to help her stay upright, and his hesitation clearly gives him away even as he speaks. "Alright, alright, my lips are sealed. Just don't let him get away with anything else like this later. I can't have him forgetting what little manners he already has."
tipsy! Angela Ziegler: There's something intriguing about the confident commander and in her inebriated state, it's even more difficult than usual to deny that thought, no matter how much the doctor attempts to bury it. She clears her throat and shifts her weight from one foot to the other, testing her balance before taking a step towards the entrance of the office, only swaying slightly. "There's no reason to, no -- it's just that I like to know everything I can about those that I'm treating. Having the trust of a patient is paramount, as it eases some of their panic when I have to see to some of their worse injuries.

Besides," she flashes him a warm smile, "Somehow, I imagine you could have held your whiskey better than Jesse /or/ myself."

The next step ears a more marked stumble, but Angela's hand finds the frame of the door, the scent of alcohol mixed with lavender still upon her person. "And I promise, I'll do my best to keep him in line. For as rough around the edges he is, he really is kind, you know?"
Blackwatch!Gabriel Reyes: "Guess that makes sense. I try to keep myself out of the infirmary if I can, though." Even when he's hurt, he tends to patch himself up. That too-sterile smell takes him back to his days in the SEP, and while there were plenty of good times, there was an equal amount of suffering. "Here's hoping you'll never have to see me on your operating table, yeah?" Gabriel offers a confident smile and finally places his hand lightly on her shoulder to steady her as she leans against the doorframe.

"I'd imagine that you imagine right. It's pretty hard to out-drink a super soldier." Once she's steady, he keeps his arm around her shoulders to help her stay that way even as they move out of her office. "Yeah, he's a good kid. Don't tell him I said this, but," Gabriel lowers his voice, taking a glance around to make sure there aren't any flies on the wall, "He's a great addition to the team. Brightens things up when everyone needs it most. I'm glad we have him around."
tipsy! Angela Ziegler: "You are officially outlawed from my operating table," the doctor announces, attempting to keep as straight a face as she can manage. Her features soften almost immediately as she allows herself to lean upon him just a little, trusting some of her weight to his steady hand and the rest of it to her half-steady feet as she leads them from the doorway and down the hall, steely blue eyes sweeping to steal glimpses of the enigmatic Blackwatch commander. "But that doesn't excuse you from check ups, of course -- and I'd feel better if you'd at /least/ let me look at some of those injuries that a little bird has told me that you see to yourself."

Angela's bright; by all accounts, she was a child prodigy in the medical sciences long before she was old enough to truly begin studying. Even before Jesse had the chance to brag about his boss's bandaging of 'the grossest shit you ever saw,' she has taken note of Gabriel's absence.

"But your secret is safe with me." There's a sing song lilt to her words now: soft, playful, even as she strikes to keep herself from rambling to the mysterious near-stranger once more. "He really looks up to you, though, so you might want to tell him /yourself/ someday, Commander."
Blackwatch!Gabriel Reyes: As soon as she leans against him, he tightens his grip just slightly to make sure he doesn't accidentally let her fall. If she got hurt under his watch, he doesn't know what he'd do. He follows her lead, though, trusting that she knows where she's going even while inebriated. Her declaration draws more laughter out of him, and he nods. "Sounds like a plan to me. I'd like to stay off /any/ operating table in the future if I can help it." He glances down at her just in time to meet her eyes while she's looking up at him. "Check-ups are better than laying there like some sort of science experiment. I can deal with that." His expression turns more serious now, and he scowls. "Let me guess. That little bird wears a cowboy hat?" He sighs and shakes his head. "Anything that I bandaged up myself is long scarred over. Don't worry about it. But," Gabriel pauses and purses his lips. "If I get grazed on a mission again, I'll be sure to pay a visit.

For a moment, he can see Jesse's grinning face in his mind's eye, and he can't help but compare the cowboy to a puppy. If he says anything like what he just told Angela right to Jesse's face, he's sure that that would get his young recruit's tail wagging. "Maybe someday. Not yet, though. I can't have him getting a big head."
tipsy! Angela Ziegler: Angela has become so accustomed to being the one to steady others, both literally and metaphorically, that Gabriel's hold upon her comes at first as a surprise, and then as a comfort as she leads him down the hallway. The back of her white lab coat flutters like a pair of wings as she periodically leans a little heavier into him in attempt to avoid tripping, both of her arms wrapping loosely about her middle as she laughs. "Birds don't wear hats, as far as I know." It's a playful jab and an attempt to keep Jesse's anonymity, even if they both know there is only /one/ person who would brag about such. "But so long as you promise to let me bandage you up from now on, I will promise to try and not worry over you.

Deal~?"

As they pass a door, indistinguishable from all the others, the doctor presses a finger against her lips, gently attempting to quiet the Gabriel mid-sentence. For a moment she offers no explanation, holding her own silence, before finally opening her mouth -- only for the cowboy's voice to cut all the way through to the hallway, his hearty laughter soon following. Genji's own tone is much softer, but still decipherable, and it causes her to smile warmly up at the commander. "He might already have one. But it suits him, ja?

I owe you for this, by the way. Tea, at the very least."
Blackwatch!Gabriel Reyes: "Sounds like this bird does. It sounds like a bird that doesn't know how to keep its beak shut." Despite his harsh words, he keeps his tone light and teasing. Right now it's nearly impossible to get truly angry, even if Jesse revealed Gabriel's tendency to play field medic on himself. Her arms around him make him tense up for a second or two before he relaxes once more and gives her shoulder a light, reassuring squeeze. "I guess that's a deal I can agree to. Just don't make a big deal out of anything I walk in there with and we're golden."

Gabriel pauses when Angela does, and he raises an eyebrow, listening intently. Just when he was about to ask what this was all about, he hears Jesse's familiar drawl leak through the door, and he smiles, shaking his head. "Yeah, it does. Don't want it to get too big, though. His hat might not fit then." At the very least he knew his recruits were getting along. Maybe some social time could do them both some good.

"Owe me? You don't have to owe me anything." His eyes flick down to her face once more. "It's the least I could do in exchange for you keeping everyone on base alive and kicking."
tipsy! Angela Ziegler: "I can't make any promises, because if you are under treating some of your wounds like a certain bird with a ridiculous hat is telling me, then I /will/ be doing my best to see that they get cleaned and treated properly, but otherwise I won't fuss." A beat, and then a little sheepishly: "Much." Even now, her instincts as a combat medic are kicking in; her steely blue gaze flickers over his frame, assessing everything about Gabriel that she can, and preparing to dress or see to anything that stands out, regardless of the hour or her state. After all, dressing wounds is like breathing to her now.

When they're far enough down the hallway to escape Jesse or -- more likely -- Genji overhearing them, she giggles again, the stray white-blonde strands that she tucked behind her ear working their way free as she finds his face again. "I'm just hoping he rubs off some on Genji, but I think he's already working his magic. But I insist -- tea, or coffee, or /something/. Keeping everyone alive is the oath that I took," she hums, her shoulders rising and falling in a small, playful shrug. "And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Besides, I think you underestimate how often I sleep in my office. You're saving me from that, which definitely deserves a thank you."
Blackwatch!Gabriel Reyes: "Trust me, it isn't as big a deal for me as it is for anyone else. Don't forget the whole super soldier deal. We're made out of tougher stuff than the rest of the agents, so don't you worry." Gabriel's usual hoodie hides his scarred skin, not allowing Angela to get even a glimpse of the kind of damage he's taken in the past. Though he trusted her as his doctor, he would much rather look to the future than dwell on his past scars. Even if his wounds weren't dressed by a professional, they were dressed well enough to heal, and that's good enough for him.

Though, that giggle of hers could cure any ailment. If sounds could save lives, Gabriel is sure a recording of Angela's laugh would be the most valuable medicine in the world. He finds himself smiling along with her as they walk. "If anyone's gonna get Genji to open up, it'll be Jesse or you. I don't know if he could take both of you trying to crack his shell at the same time, though. Might make the poor kid's circuits burn out." Gabriel scratches his nose and sighs, deciding to give in without much of a fight. "How about coffee in the morning while you're nursing your hangover? That sounds like a good time." He starts to smirk, but it falls almost immediately. "You really sleep in there that often? Maybe I really do have to start stopping by more just to make sure you make it back to your room."
tipsy! Angela Ziegler: "Commander Morrison has spoken a little about that to me, and I've read the declassified documents, but most of it is still completely out of my realm of possibility," the doctor admits, remembering the complicated documentation she had spent her free time reading at length for weeks. "It's a huge success, though -- and I'm going to do what I can to use it as a jumping point for my own researches. Someday, I want to be able to save the people that I care about, even if I can't lift a pistol to aid them like you, or Commander Morrison, or Jesse, or any of the others. I don't want 'too late' to be a thing anymore."

She doesn't want anyone to have to feel how she did: a small child, helpless and lost after the loss of both parents and raised in the midst of a war that decimated all that surrounded it.

Gabriel's voice is enough to drag her from her thoughts and so she rewards him with a bright smile, leaning a little against him again as they traverse the end of the hallway. "He's already grown so much," Angela confides, excitement causing her tone to speed up a little, the words half tumbling into one another. "Opened up a lot more than any of us had imagined. He's in a lot of pain and has many things he has to do before he feels comfortable with himself but -- he'll get there, I /know/ he will." Even if he isn't quite at peace with the two sides of himself quite yet.

Steely blue eyes blink twice, the concern registering and causing her to lift both hands eagerly in a placating gesture -- which nearly causes her to tumble again, both hands reaching out immediately after to catch Gabriel by the arm as she blushes in embarrassment. "So long as you promise not to laugh too much at my hangover, or judge me for making my office half my home as well, it's a da -- err, /plan/."
Blackwatch!Gabriel Reyes: "It was a hell of a success, but..." His smile finally drops, and he looks a little more troubled. "I'll save my own stories for another day. Don't wanna trouble you with something like that right now." That determination of hers quickly has his smile returning, though, and he squeezes her shoulder again. "Knowing what you've already accomplished, there's no doubt that you'll achieve whatever you want, doc. Me and the rest of the soldiers might have guns, but guns are useless if
Blackwatch!Gabriel Reyes: ((pressed enter too early, sorry!!
tipsy! Angela Ziegler: (Haha, no worries!! <3 I've done that so much before!!)
Blackwatch!Gabriel Reyes: "It was a hell of a success, but..." His smile finally drops, and he looks a little more troubled. "I'll save my own stories for another day. Don't wanna trouble you with something like that right now." That determination of hers quickly has his smile returning, though, and he squeezes her shoulder again. "Knowing what you've already accomplished, there's no doubt that you'll achieve whatever you want, doc. Me and the rest of the soldiers might have guns, but guns are useless if the guys shooting them are dead. You're the one keeping us up out there in the field, so you're the most important part of the team, if you ask me."

Just the way that Angela grins paired with her excitements has Gabriel's chest swelling. Even after a few drinks, she's still so genuinely passionate and excited about her patients and friends, and Gabriel finds that incredibly endearing. "I'm honestly impressed that he's come so far after going through hell and back. I'm sure he'll be fine with everything one day, but... It'll probably be long after he leaves here. Overwatch may have saved him and all, but he's caged in here. Too restricted. I can tell he wants out of here by the way he performs in the training room."

This time he's prepared, and he makes sure to keep her steady on her feet even as she stumbles. "Oh I'll definitely be making fun of your hangover, but I'm not judging you for thinking your office is your room. I'm more wondering how the hell you manage to get any rest in there. I'm gonna have to make sure to come by and check in just to keep you from doing that anymore." Though he catches her little slip, he says nothing about it, instead smiling brightly down at her. "Sounds good. I'm looking forward to it."
tipsy! Angela Ziegler: (( holy cow, your Gabriel is amazing and makes me stay up way too later in happiness. ;w; I need to go, as I have to be awake again in a few hours, but!! lovehanachu @ gmail . com <-- that is my email!! I would love to throw these two around more soon because flaskdfj you made my entire night and are absolutely lovely. Thank you!! ))
tipsy! Angela Ziegler has left the conversation.