The recent sabotage of the Intake technology had devastated Security. While Anthony and Teddy were away on the mission, they had lost not only Commander Morrison, but Regulus, Faye, and Calamity. Janine Hathaway's arrival brought their numbers back up slightly, but they still had a lot of work to do both in reorganizing responsibilities and in preparing against future security breaches. It made sense to pick up some food to fuel the work ahead, so Anthony stopped into Snoozle on his way to work. He'd cleaned up since returning, but a week and a half infiltrating a vampire prison hadn't done much for his color or his weight, and he doubted his coworkers would object to donuts.
“Morning,” he said to the person ahead of him in line, as he stepped up to the display case to see what was available.
Tommy turned his head after hearing a voice, right one of the security people, he didn’t speak though he just nodded in greeting and looked back to the front of the line as he walked up and ordered a pastry and a coffee. Pausing he looked between the youngest Spinnet and the bloke behind him.
“Huh,” he tilted his head and smirked. “If you want endless baked goods and to gain some weight, go ask Emilia Spinnet out, now.” Nodding he took a bite of the pastry that was handed to him and looked between them again. “Don’t fuck it up.” He added to Anthony turning to leave.
Emilia could hear the whole exchange, of course. She wasn’t standing that far away from them and it was hard not to pay attention, especially when she heard her own name. A deep blush crept across her face as she realized Tommy had very bluntly suggested that Anthony ask her out. She glanced briefly at Anthony, maybe trying to gauge if he was as embarrassed as she was by the unexpected and unprovoked matchmaking, offering him an awkward smile.
It took a fair amount of effort to startle Anthony Goldstein - especially in Atlantis where people were regularly transformed into bears or birds or woke up inside submarines. He looked after Tommy with eyebrows raised, then looked at Emilia. Anthony didn't always have the greatest success with dating - Terry had a running chronicle of mishaps which he and Michael referred to as ‘Anthony’s Adventures in Dating’ - but he didn't think he needed help from someone he barely knew. Even he wasn't that awkward. He hoped not, at least.
“That was unexpected,” he murmured. Anthony smiled slightly at Emilia, who he imagined must be equally uncomfortable, and tried to diffuse the awkwardness. “I think I'm going to add that to my list of strange things that happen in Atlantis.”
“That has to be a long list,” Emilia said, trying to push aside her own awkwardness. It wasn’t that Anthony wasn’t perfectly cute or nice - he was both of those things, really - but Tommy’s suggestion had been incredibly random and truthfully she had never given any thought to him in that way. She suspected the same was true of him, if only because most blokes didn’t seem to see her in that way. Most of them seemed to see her as the little sister type, if anything at all, with few exceptions.
“It grows by the day,” he replied, smiling widening just a bit. Anthony hadn't thought of Emilia in that way. The last person he'd entertained any romantic thoughts of had been Katherine - or Cosima - and the fact that Breckentale had essentially forced them together was telling. Katherine was gone, and anyway, he was just busy. He wasn't certain what the protocol was for unsolicited dating advice. Michael and Terry he usually ignored. “What do you recommend?” Anthony finally asked, gesturing at the display of pastries. “For getting to know new coworkers.”
“An assortment is usually your best bet if you don’t know the tastes of the people you’re buying for.” She felt bad, but she couldn’t remember which department Anthony worked in or who his coworkers would be. With so many of them in Atlantis, it was hard to remember everyone’s individual tastes, anyway, although she liked to think she did a good job with her regulars. Emilia felt a great deal less self-conscious now, at least, since she could focus on her work and less on the spontaneous match making.
Apparently, it had been the right question. “That makes sense,” said Anthony. He looked at the options again. “There aren't many of us left in Security, but I remember something about big appetites-” That had actually been from reading up on Janine's world during the recent string of vampire attacks prior to her arrival. “-so half a dozen each: chocolate eclairs, cheese danishes, apple turnovers, and those strudel muffins.”
Emilia smiled approvingly at his order. “Good choice,” she said as she moved quickly to get the pastries he’d asked for. It just took her a moment to gather the assortment and package them in a colorful box. “This is really nice of you, Anthony,” she said. “I’m sure your coworkers will really appreciate it.”
Anthony shrugged at that. "It's makes better sense than working on an empty stomach," he said. He was slightly impressed by the speed with which she put the order together. "And it makes a good first impression." He wasn't actually that concerned about the impression he made on his colleagues. They both seemed sensible, but it was a logical enough reason. "Everyone likes pastries, and these are the best." Tommy hadn't been wrong about that.
Emilia flushed slightly at the compliment. She was confident enough in her culinary skills, but it was still nice to hear that someone else thought well of the things she baked here. It was a part of why she’d been so happy to take on the management of Snoozle - it had felt good to be active in some missions, but running a place like this was something that brought her genuine joy.
“I’m glad I could contribute to your favorable first impression, then,” she said, offering him another warm smile.