Sydney felt like her time in Atlantis had been a whirlwind so far. How had a month go by so quickly? She felt very lucky that she had people she knew from home here, and a few who apparently she knew in her own future. Jill, Rose, Dimitri, and Abe all giving their approval for the place - especially for how long Rose and Lissa had been here - did give her some peace of mind. Sydney never thought she would of had thoughts like that. Trusting Moroi and Dhampirs to give her peace of mind. But, regardless of any hesitations she still retained and fought against (sort of). Atlantis was like being thrown into the deep end of a pool she’d already waded halfway into. Sydney wasn’t the woman she was when she first dealt with Rose or Dimitri and now she was living with witches and she had somehow become head of science and was overseeing people who had been to space. Sydney’s life continued to move in a pattern that was so wildly unpredictable that it kept her on even more edge than normal.
That, of course, only meant that she required more coffee.
There was a moment where the thought that her Father might have been proud that she’d managed to be Lead Scientist so quickly crossed her mind - but Sydney pushed the thought away quickly as she looked at the three notebooks and singular day planner spread out in front of her. She’d ended up at Snoozles because she really couldn’t turn down the opportunity that it might have been the best french press coffee she’d ever had. Emilia hadn’t been wrong, it was quite good - and the booths were more comfortable than trying to spread herself out in a small table in Coffee Me Better. It was delicious and it made tactical sense.
Unfortunately, Sydney reached over - bringing her mug to her lips, only to find it empty. A sigh escaping as she pursed her lips, looking down at the immense amount of notes she’d taken since showing up on Atlantis.
For someone who didn't like having to get up and walk the short (very long) distance to the kitchen to refill his own drink, he was always amazed how he'd been able to hang onto a job in customer service of all industries for nearly two years. All while also taking a few classes at the university here and there to keep his artistic muse flowing. Emilia was easy to work for and made life at Snoozle a place he didn't mind showing up to every day, so he figured he had it pretty good all things considered.
For most of the morning, Adrian had been in the back working on some stocking. This was the part of his job he despised, but he had a few incentives in the form of fresh pastries to keep him energized. He'd finished the last box and the last bite of pastry about the same time and headed back to the front of the shop to see if he was needed or more likely see about taking a break. He might've held down a job for two years, but he was still Adrian. He wouldn't likely be earning employee of the month.
He was about to head back to the kitchen to talk to the boss lady, but he spotted a familiar face sitting in one of the booths. Well then, look who it was branching out with her coffee habits. Signaling to one of his co-workers that it was indeed break time, he also picked up a couple of the strawberry tarts Emilia had made that morning, a mug, and a pot of coffee.
"What? You didn't go ahead and ask for the whole pot?" Adrian teased as he approached Sydney's table. He refilled her empty mug that had caused such a forlorn expression on her face and sat down across from her on the other side of the booth. The plate of tarts was placed between them, and he filled his own coffee mug with the liquid caffeine she loved so much.
Of course, after a month Sydney knew that there was nothing she could do to reliably predict what was going on. Okay, well that wasn’t entirely true - she knew that there were often correlations with well known holidays or those odd like ones like ‘National Donut Day’. The island liked to get into the spirit of creativity by using creativity already out there it seemed, at least that was the biggest correlation Sydney had been able to come up with yet. Sydney knew she was smart and yet she did also know that there was very likely nothing she’d get out of her note taking and analysis beyond that. That the island liked holidays - oh, how helpful.
Almost as helpful as the sound of a familiar voice sliding into the table across from her. Of course. The thought was a little petty. Maybe it shouldn’t have been - she’d just been on her way to see him before she’d shown up here after all, right? Or maybe it was just easier or simpler or more rational to attach that to being silly or an ‘aha’ moment rather than anything else and with that she pursed her lips - golden brown eyes flicking up from her notebooks to look at him as she gladly accepted the pour of coffee.
The tarts were ignored as she brought the coffee to her lips and seemed at least a little more relaxed almost instantly. “That’s a good way to get yourself a stale cup of coffee, Ivashkov.” There was a tone to the way his last name was said as her eyes darted momentarily to the tarts - the back of her mind almost amused at the idea that one of those would likely put her in a sugar coma. But she ‘passed’, for now. “No amount of data is going to give me any answers.” Sydney idly added. Not really thinking about the fact that it’d likely just get snark from him or some other form of mockery - clearly she’d gotten too used to his presence.
"Nah, you'd drink it all up way too fast for it to ever get stale, Sage," he said with just about the same emphasis. He should have known she wouldn't touch the tarts, but he picked up one for himself anyway and plucked one in his mouth. He'd already had a couple after they were fresh out of the oven earlier this morning. Tasty.
Adrian raised a brow as he both watched and listened to her. He thought briefly about taking a peek at her aura but refrained for the time being. Hers was one that he'd never forgotten even after being in Atlantis two years. A lot had changed in those two years for him, but he doubted that her aura had. Then again, Sydney had only been here for a couple months.
"Not having all the answers is kinda fun," he said with a tilt of his head as he watched her. "I mean, what's the point in reading the story if you already know how it ends? The anticipation and twists and turns are the best part."
He knew that wasn't the way Sydney Sage operated most of the time, though. She liked having her answers, her data, and her orderly way of going about things. "Besides, the second you think you've got it figured out, the powers that be in Atlantis are bound to turn those facts and data upside down just for kicks and giggles."
Sydney held back a little sigh in Adrian’s direction - shooting him a little look instead as she took another sip of her cup of coffee. There was really no understating that Sydney used coffee like some people used alcohol, snark, or cigarettes. It was a shield. It was her biggest coping mechanism. And she was actually fairly sure she might completely crumble to pieces if ever forced to give it up. Because it would definitely have to be forced - there was no way that was ever going to happen willingly. Maybe if she developed tachycardia. Maybe. But even then, it would really take some work.
Blinking slowly at Adrian she put her cup down, “I don’t drink it that quickly.” She responded, fully knowing that if the pot had been left on the table it probably would have been gone well before he’d sat down. But that would have only encouraged her to drink well beyond what was even an amount she could handle.
“I’m lead scientist now.” She added sort of idly as she reached past her cup and straightened out her journals - closing each and stacking them in a small pile between herself and Adrian, right next to the tarts. “I have to be able to answer questions if people ask them, you know.” It was as true as much as it was habit. She knew, Sydney really did know that it wasn’t like she was ever going to have a lot of concrete answers. But if she had a bunch of the little ones or could recognize some repeated patterns - maybe then she could find some sort of answers, and that would be better than nothing of course.
Finally letting out that sigh, she leaned back - her posture still straight as she looked across at him, clearly reluctant to admit he was right. “I know.” Sydney admitted after a moment. “But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t attempt.” She added, her tone much less frustrated than the look on her face.
"Most people, I think, have probably been here long enough to know that when it comes to finding answers in this place - they come very few and far between. At least any answers that could explain the crazy shit that happens here every day." Whether harmless, dangerous, or just plain weird, Adrian had long stopped questioning why it all happened. He'd stopped questioning why it felt like he was being slipped drugs every time he had a drink at one of the Atlantis-thrown parties. And not always in a good way.
"But, hey, congrats on the job upgrade. That's really cool. As far as science promotions go anyway." He shrugged and took another of the tarts for himself. "You'll drive yourself crazy trying to figure it all out," he said and pushed the plate towards her but didn't bother verbally acknowledging that he was doing so. Instead, he tapped the side of his head. "And I know a little something about going crazy."
Speaking of crazy, Adrian was actually in a better place mentally that he had been a few months ago after Mia's restoration. He'd gone down a little spirit spiral for a while. He wasn't going to attribute his better mental health to the therapy Lissa had convinced him to start, but maybe the sessions with his Claire hadn't been a horrible idea. Oh sure, he still talked to his dead aunt inside of his mind on occasion when he was sober, but he'd been having those conversations long before the restoration had ever happened. He just didn't talk about it with anyone. Even his shrink.
"So, what's on the lead scientist's agenda today?" He asked her curiously.
And Adrian was right yet again, and Sydney had to suppress the want to sigh again. She, logically, knew she shouldn’t be mad that he continued to be right - especially since it involved data and observations and things that she viewed as her’s and entirely out of his realm - but here she was, a bit perturbed about it. Sydney was a bit territorial about a few things. First was definitely her car and her car wasn’t here so a lot of that had transferred over to what she viewed as her expertise - something she viewed as definitely not sharing with Adrian. Adrian wasn’t supposed to make worthwhile remarks about patterns or figuring something out. That was her’s and not his and there was absolutely no reason for that of course. And it was certainly not something that would be worth acknowledging even privately to herself. Ever.
“Its not about figuring it out.” She added, watching as he pushed the tarts towards her. Less than subtle. But at least he wasn’t mocking her about her caloric intake right now. Not that he wouldn’t do it, it wasn’t like he hadn’t done it in-front of people before. But Adrian did seem better here. She didn’t know what it was, maybe it was just Atlantis itself. But he did seem better and even through any amount of denial or anything else even Sydney could see and internally admit that. “There doesn’t have to be an answer for a pattern to be important.” She lifted her hand to her coffee mug again - though she didn’t take a sip right now, she spun it around once on the table.
Her eyes darted from the tarts to Adrian again. Sydney would have preferred them to just simply not be on the table. “Just trying to get my notes together.” She admitted, not exactly the most glamourous answer. But if Sydney was anything - it definitely wasn’t flashy. “I should talk to Sylvia too.” She was the only other person who worked in science who wasn’t a native Atlantean at the moment, “But it can wait until tomorrow.” Sydney at least wanted to get her head on straight before she spoke with the other woman. And getting her head on straight meant a few things right now - including going through her notes.
"If you say so," Adrian said and sat back in the seat. Facts and absorbing information for the sake of higher knowledge was definitely Sydney's brand of learning, but he knew her well enough to know that not figuring out what made something tick would worry her slam to death. He didn't mention it again, though. He did notice her increasing wariness of the tiny, little sweet in front of her, but he didn't mention that either. He also wasn't taking them away and was leaving the rest for her.
"Notes," he repeated dryly. "Fun." Adrian drummed his fingers several times against the table. "You're not responsible for everyone here, you know. You've got the big job now, but the buck doesn't stop there so to speak. You can take a day off every now and then. Won't kill you."
He paused for a second and gave her a knowing look. "And don't say that this is your version of taking a day off. Of all people, I know what taking a day off looks like." Between his woes, Angeline's antics, looking after Jill, and death and danger that came at them from different sides, Adrian knew she often struggled finding time for herself in Palm Springs, but this was definitely not Palm Springs.
"This place may be weird on its best day, but there are a ton of things to do that even you'd find fun. I hope you've at least been to The Louvre by now."
Sydney’s eyes narrowed just slightly at his little ‘if you say so’ - she knew more than well enough that Adrian didn’t sound like he believed her. He wouldn’t believe her because, well, admittedly she was attempting to sell being okay with just seeing if there’s a little bit of a pattern a little too hard and… also because Adrian had a habit of arguing just to frustrate someone. Sydney, however, was entirely okay with dropping that at the moment at least. In truth, she was still trying to convince herself that she would be okay with no real answers. She may have become used to being around Dhampirs and Moroi but… letting going of answers, analytical ones at that, that was definitely not a stage Sydney was at yet. Being put in any sort of position of authority and responsibility within the Science department definitely and with a fairly high level of certainty absolutely wasn’t going to help that. People were something that Sydney had found surprisingly easier to get used to than the other bits. Maybe it was because getting used to people meant you attached yourself to the good parts of them. It was hard to not to start adjusting your feels on certain sorts of people when they kept saving your life or… well, were sort of a living embodiment of something like a marshmallow - like Jill.
She hadn’t exactly expected him to find her work exciting, people could change - Adrian Ivashkov was never going to change that much. But of course, even for Sydney, reading this many notes could become a little tedious, but she still enjoyed it. It was her job, part of her job, maybe a little bit far and above outside of her job that she was just simply assigning to herself as a job so she felt like she was really doing something.
Admittedly, Sydney had been very tempted to go exploring - especially to the museums and all of that sort of stuff - but… she hadn’t. She’d mostly just been trying to adjust to such a significant change in her life and of course getting far too caught up in… taking notes. She had taken a lot of notes. Maybe too many. Probably too many. But she definitely wasn’t going to admit that to him. “I haven’t been.” She answered - immediately bringing her coffee up to her lips and taking a sip. The idea of taking a day off itself was, well, entirely ignored.
"Really?" Adrian was genuinely surprised that Sydney hadn't taken the time to visit the most famous art museum in the entire world. He'd been several times, but he didn't go all the time. The place was absolutely huge, and it would have been impossible to see everything no matter how many times he went.
"You do know that you don't have to work 24/7, right? I'm pretty sure they don't want you working that much no matter what your title or position is." He didn't know Becker well, but he'd had a few interactions with him especially during the mission that was entirely too close to home. He seemed alright even if they'd butted heads a little at the time. Some had been legitimate but the increased level of Spirit hadn't helped matters at all.
"Lissa goes a lot, I think. Her and her fiancé. I'm pretty sure the guy camps out there some nights and would be able to give guided tours."
Aside from The Louvre, though, there was still plenty to see and do in Atlantis that didn't revolve around work. He knew Sydney was dedicated to anything she set her mind to, but even back in Palm Springs she did take time for herself. Sure, he and the others often encroached on that time, but it was for a good reason. Usually.
Clearing her throat Sydney tried to hide that a little bit of red had crept up into her cheeks. She had been meaning to go. She’d then made an excuse. Then she’d gotten busy. Then she’d needed more notes. Then things felt weird living with witches and wizards. Plus there was working with Tilly who really seemed lovely but had been to space like in a television show or in a movie. And well, Sydney could have handled showing up if it was just Moroi and Dhampirs she didn’t know - but she’d kinda gotten blocked off in her own head again when she’d shown up in Atlantis. Gotten busy on purpose. Made excuses about being busy on purpose. Jill seemed… very very intent on dragging her out of that and she had gone along when Jill invited her places. She at least had been sociable and she was becoming good friends with Mia - if there were two Moroi who Sydney believed could have given almost anyone pause, it would probably have been Jill and Mia. They were both such marshmallows. It was really endearing - even when their weird attempts to constantly drag her out seemed less so.
“Lissa told me about Neal.” She mentioned. Sydney had been a little surprised at first - but with how long Rose and Lissa had been gone from ‘home’ it certainly made sense. Of course, Rose had found Dimitri anyway and that was, well, not a surprise. “He seems nice.” She hadn’t really interacted with him that she could place, but she did seem nice. Also… Rose definitely wouldn’t have stood for Lissa being with someone who didn’t deserve her. You didn’t even have to know Rose Hathaway very well to know that much about her and Lissa’s relationship. Sydney did know them that well though, even if that was still odd sounding coming out as a full thought.
Putting her cup down, she gave Adrian this little look - not quiet of defeat, but not too far off from it. “If I agree I’ll take tomorrow off and go will you stop bugging me about working too hard?” She said, arching an eyebrow at him.
"He seems like an alright guy. An ex-con turned FBI consultant who has an affinity for art forgery, but you know," Adrian said far too casually with a half shrug. "Nice guy." He hadn't spoken to Neal too much but they had spoken about art a few times. Adrian's brand of art was much different than the classics Neal appreciated. He also had an affinity for being possessed by multiple versions of Cupid, but Adrian wasn't bringing that little factoid up since possession would probably raise a lot more questions.
Watching her, Adrian took note of her expressions and how he could tell even without looking at her aura that she didn't seem quite comfortable. Not uncomfortable necessarily but maybe out of her comfort zone was the better way to describe it.
"Well," he started and took the time to take a drink from his own coffee. "If I said yes then you'd know I was lying, so I'll go with a 'for now' instead." For all he knew, she'd take off one afternoon and then work solid for the next month. "And good. I'm impressed you agreed to the full day off. Here I would have thought you'd try to bargain with a half day."
He gave her a look. "And no take backs." Looking over at the counter, he sighed and figured he would probably need to get back up there in the near future. Unlike some, taking breaks or time off wasn't a weakness of his. Or maybe it was but just the other way around.
Adrian gave sudden pause to Sydney’s thoughts. That old habit of wondering if she was giving people too much leeway because they’d been humanized to her creeped into the back of her mind. Should she really be calling a Moroi Queen’s art thief fiancé a nice guy? Her Father probably would have sent her off to reeducation for that. Her Father probably would have done that for most of her behaviour in Palm Springs - even for some of the publicly known things - if only to show dedication to the cause and to prove that involving herself with overseeing their world, the world of ‘people’ who lived at night wouldn’t stay with his daughter. She would have gone too if it meant keeping Zoe farther and farther away from things. She cleared her throats quickly and her eyes darted down to the table and away from Adrian.
Sydney didn’t comment on why she’d gotten quiet for a moment - she just downed the last of the coffee that was in her cup instead.
“Well,” She responded, “since you’ve actually managed to keep a job here you can’t exactly enforce that I take the day off so technically I could just… google some other people’s photos of exhibits and text them to you and very easily fake proof that I took the day off with almost no effort put into it.” Sydney’s golden eyes flicked back up to Adrian with an arched brow. “So maybe I’m just saying myself the time so I can use it to Google later.”
"Yeah, right," Adrian said with a laugh. "Because I'd totally believe that Sydney Katherine Sage would ever half ass or cheat her way out of anything. No effort put into it?" He raised a brow and gave her a look. "I think we both know I know you a whole lot better than that." No, once she'd committed to going he knew that she'd follow through, but it was cute to see her try to suggest that she wouldn't.
"Besides, don't you want to see it in person for yourself? It's not exactly Grecian or Roman architecture, but still. Museums are kinda your thing. Plus, I'll know if you're lying," he said and tapped the side of his head. "One - I'm basically like a Moroi lie detector, and two - you just told me your plan. Not the smartest move if you were really wanting to skip out."
Speaking of the job he'd managed to hold down, Adrian glanced up at the clock to check the time. It was the time of day that had a lull in activity for the most part, so he was alright for now but probably should be getting back to his post not too much longer. Though, it wasn't as if he'd never extended his breaks longer than normal. He was lucky Emilia put up with him on some days.
It was infuriating that he could call out her bluff like that. It was unfair. It had been decently tactical, even if not the best plan. Sydney had no reason to believe that it wouldn’t work. It also was a half decent joke. Sort of. She knew she needed to lighten up and in the weirdest way Atlantis really had been helping with that. Sydney was getting more and more comfortable with things even if she had a hard time admitting it - maybe it was part of why she’d thrown herself so hard into her work in the Science Department. Science Department. That felt nice, she was even running it now. But it felt nice to be associated with something that was purely helping and didn’t look at people she thought as friends as others. That didn’t threaten to send her off to reeducation. But no, no - Sydney wasn’t going to think about that today.
“I want to see the Egyptian exhibits.” She noted, assuming she didn’t need to explain that she wanted to see the paintings and other sort of art as well - but Sydney was really looking forward to the sort of thing she couldn’t see easily in the states. “And perhaps the Mesopotamian wing.” She knew more about the Louvre than she’d admit - she envied people who could surround themselves with knowledge and work at a museum without any of the pressures that her life entailed.
Sydney gave Adrian a hard stare, “Going around reading auras when uninvited still?” It was a gentle tease. She knew he couldn’t control that aspect of things, but it was easier than responding to his ‘accusation’.
"See, I knew you had a plan mapped out on what you'd want to see first." He was just surprised that she hadn't already taken the opportunity to absorb all of the information during off hours even to the detriment of her sleep habits. "I want a full report back." He paused and then gave her a look. "In pictures, not words." You could never tell with Sydney how literal she might take him, and Adrian wasn't reading an actual report even if it was the Louvre.
He shrugged. "Not regularly but here and there. Sometimes it's hard not to see them." There was so much magic in the air here, and people's emotions ran pretty high in one way or another given the crazy shit that happened every single day. Giant waffles, people turning into animals, cookbook sidewalks. Seeing people's reactions to that? Well, of course he caught glimpses of auras every now and then for the fun of it. It didn't take too much effort on his part, and it was a way to use his magic without too much negative consequences to his mind.
"Want a refill?" He asked her after a moment. The pot he'd brought over hadn't been full, and being off the burner it probably was starting to cool. "And I should probably get back up there. You know, responsible Adrian with a job and all." He smirked. "It's still hard to get used to, I know."
Apparently Adrian being right was going to be something that Sydney just had to get used to in Atlantis. Okay, maybe Sydney knew that Adrian played dumb a lot more than he actually was. Maybe Sydney even might have said something about the fact that Adrian undervalued himself in some other situation - but she just… wasn’t there yet. This…. Now-officially-ex-alchemist wasn’t ready to fight with Adrian. Sure, they’d fought before but… she knew, some part of Sydney knew there was some sort of something brewing beneath them. Maybe it was his assumption he could sit down. Maybe it was why she gave in on coming to Snoozle. Maybe it was his subtle offer of the tarts. Maybe it was how good he seemed to be doing. Whatever it was, Sydney just completely ignored it for now and would, certainly, rationalize it away later.
“I’ll see if I can get you a flip book printed.” She offered, playfully - well, playfully on accident. Sydney didn’t do playful very well do of course it was always on accident when it happened and never on purpose and certainly never bordering on any other sort of behaviour. She did want to see the Louvre, and it was taking effort to hold that back to not simply let him be right. Sydney was realizing that was petty, but why did part of her even want to be petty. Adrian had never hurt her, at least, not like some others had and definitely not to a point where she should care. It was increasingly annoying. Thankfully he provided a good out.
She pulled her mug back in - clutching it towards her chest and she shook her head, “It’ll probably take me a few decades to get used to Adrian Ivashkov having a steady job.” The was a tease - out of character, unexpected by Sydney as much as she suspected it would be by him. “But I should probably get back to the lab before I make myself catatonic.” Not that Sydney actually thought she had a ceiling on her caffeine consumption, but that wasn’t the point.
"See, now we're talking." He was teasing mostly, but he did sort of want to see how she liked her visit. Sydney was someone who could actually appreciate art and the culture of what the museum offered. Maybe not in the same way that he did as someone who dabbled in art but more so the complexity and history of a piece or work.
Reaching out for the coffee pot, he scooted over a bit and made the move to stand. "Oh, you know me," he said with a wink. "I'm full of all sorts of surprises." Being a responsible and functioning member of society was one that surprised even him still sometimes, but here he was. Being functional. He wasn't so sure that he was doing a lot to advance the effort of the war, aside from the tracking the Strigoi and restoring Mia, but he was here and he at least wasn't being a burden on anyone by not pulling his weight in some capacity. That was more than what could be said for him back in Palm Springs.
He didn't bother taking the plate of tarts with him, nor did he mention them as he stood. He'd come back to collect the plate later after she was gone. "See you around, Sage, and don't forget that flip book." He gave a little smirk and headed back to the counter to drop off the pot then would check in the back to see if Emilia needed him for anything, preferably taste testing whatever was fresh out of the oven.