Continued Conversations [Harley]

He'd been a little out of sorts when he was first moved to this new base, of course he'd expected to inevitably move locations, but it had still been a minor inconvenience. But only minor, and he'd done a good job of establishing his office once again, just as nice as he'd managed to make it back at Gibraltar, he'd had the fortune of being among the first people moved to the new location, which gave him time to pack and prepare. He felt a bit sorry for those who had been uprooted suddenly with the attack.

He'd settled in fairly nicely among the Overwatch agents, and he found himself making notable progress with some of them, at the very least no one seemed to dread speaking to him as much anymore. Small blessings, he mused.

But Ian was the one he'd formed an especially close bond with, the doctor with a bigger heart than he knew what to do with. It was never just business with him, he enjoyed the man's company more than he could admit out loud, and some might have called the relationship unprofessional, but he didn't care. He was very fond of Ian, and he was beginning to think it might run beyond just two men who were good friends.

The smell is what had lured him out of his office, he'd come to know it well, Ian was cooking again, and he would be criminal if he missed that. He chuckled softly as he stepped into the room, clearing his throat, "I hope I am not interrupting? Would you like some company, Ian?" He quirked his head to the side with a bemused smile, it was cute that he cooked for everyone, what a sweet man he was.

Ian looked up at the sound of the familiar voice, quick to flash him a bright smile.

"No, not at all! Come in, it's almost done." He gestured for the other to join him in the kitchen. "Nothing too fancy tonight." Although the ingredients and such spread around suggested otherwise...not as fancy as some nights, but certainly not 'open box, pour into pot' either.

"So far you're the first person to wander in...I think it might be a quiet night." he was actually pretty alright with that though, he thought with a bit of a smile. "How did your day go?" He asked, turning back to pots on the stove.

Harley gladly took the invitation and was eager to join him in the kitchen, looking over the gathered ingredients with an amused grin, "nothing fancy, hm?" Then again, he'd seen a fancy meal from this man, so he supposed he could see the obvious difference, "nice to be able to have these not-fancy dinners, isn't it?" He'd found the whole atmosphere much less stressed since their move, though everyone was still hurting, it felt less urgent.

"I'm okay with that, I enjoy when it's just us." He chuckled softly, then when Ian asked how his day went, he let out a soft sigh, "I suppose since I am not on duty...I can tell you." His tone was less chipper as he spoke, and he sat back in one of the kitchen's chairs, "I feel...A bit lost. I can't help anyone if they don't let me...And so far you and Ansell are the only two who have spoken to me." He rubbed a hand over his face and shook his head, "I am growing weary, Ian..." He gave a soft sigh, "I want more than anything to help...And being unable to is...It's taking its toll on me." It wasn't often that Harley got a chance to share his own feelings, and he still felt guilty for doing so, but Ian had asked and he needed to vent to someone.

He stirred one of the pots, then setting aside the spoon leaned back against the counter to face the other.

"Well...have you thought about going out, talking to people and getting to know them a bit more...where they're comfortable?" He suggested. "Not as sessions maybe, but they get to know you and realize you're not this...great, intimidating thing they have to face down."

He turned half back to his food. "There's something frightening, even, or maybe I should say especially among the more hardened of us...about going to a person and telling them all about the chinks in the armor. The things that keep them awake at night. The things they worry about. You're not something they should be intimidated of...but maybe they just don't realize that yet. It's a process."

He laughed quietly to himself. "Not that that hasn't occurred to you already...but that would be my thought. Try to figure out how to take away that whole intimidating aspect of it, and I'm sure more people will talk to you." He wanted to help, he really did. It bothered him to see the other down on himself, unable to feel like he was offering much to the team at the moment. And being around the other, he found he tended to just...ramble on much more than usual...and this was from a man who did like to talk already as it was.

Harley looked thoughtful as he listened to Ian speak, tilting his head to the side, "if I may be honest...I hadn't thought of that." He sighed and ran a hand over his face, looking beleaguered, "I am doing a poor job here if I don't even consider such a simple solution, eh?" He rested his cheek in his hand and looked thoughtful, scratching at his cheek, he realized he hadn't shaved, "I wished when I was going through this that my therapist would have taken the time to know me." He gave a sure not and smiled at Ian, "Thank you, my friend. Once again you offer a practical solution that I hadn't thought of!" He chuckled at this.

He got to his feet after a moment and looked over the pots with curious eyes, grinning over at him, "so what's on your menu tonight, Ian? Sure smells good!" He looked thoughtful, then chuckled softly, "one night we should cook up a meal together, I must say I make a mean curry...If spicy is your thing." He winked playfully, giving him a friendly smile.

There were those butterflies. He'd gotten good at hiding them, he had no idea whether Ian even swung in such a way, but it had been getting harder and harder not to make some sort of move, at least to hint that he was interested. He looked thoughtful a moment, then piped up, "you know, if they'll allow us, we should check out the towns a bit." He shrugged and laughed softly, "I hear Jack speak of this place as if it is hell itself but, well it can't be all bad, right?" He tapped his chin thoughtfully, "we can, ah, make the most of it, eh Jaanu?"

"Don't do that." He shook his head at the other. "Don't be hard on yourself for that. This is different than having a practice. There people are sent to you...they go to you...they go home. Here...it's a completely different situation. They aren't the only ones that should be given a bit of an adjustment period." He smiled encouragingly.

He glanced over the food in the pots. "It's just pasta...some sauce...had to improvise a little because everything I wanted wasn't here, but it should still turn out just fine."

He was quick to smile at the offer of cooking together. "I would like that...I like the company. I've never done curry before, you can show me...just tell me what you need and I can pick things up." He offered, smiling back.

It was just...so...easy to be around him. To smile, to talk and laugh, to talk about the future, even tiny seemingly small things like cooking dinner. He was someone he was always happy to see, and tired to think of reasons to see when he wasn't around. He had not had these sort of feelings often in his life, he wasn't sure what to do with them either...ignore them? Just keep on like they were and see what happened? He tried not to follow down that train of thought too far, maybe things would stay as they were. Two people could just be close friends and have it stay at that...right? And everyone needed to have good friends, it was good for a person, he justified.

The other's idea brought him back to the moment, and he brightened as he thought of something. "You know what. we're only about an hour out of Chicago. Have you ever been? We should go up there...you want to talk about a place with a lot of things to see and do..."

Harley laughed softly at that, running a hand through his hair and over his face, "you are right...I am often hard on myself." He sighed softly and shook his head, "I knew what I was getting into, but working in this kind of environment means retooling how I handle things." He nodded, "it is a learning process for me as much as it is for them, I know the methods, but putting them into use here takes a much more delicate touch. I want them to trust me." He rubbed his eyes and chuckled softly, "it is much more intimate, I need to take this opportunity to know everyone better. Thank you for the advice, Ian." He gave him a kind smile, the man seemed to always know exactly what to say.

He chuckled and tapped his chin, "I will have to write up a list of ingredients, perhaps we can visit the store together? This kitchen could use some stocking up anyway!" How very domestic, going shopping together, but the idea was very appealing to him. He gave an amused chuckle, "I hope you do not mind spicy, because my curry is spicy." He gave a good humored laugh, then looked interested at Ian's suggestion.

"Chicago? I've never been, but I always intended to make my way out there one day!" He smiled and gave an enthusiastic nod, "I would love to head up that way with you, it would be nice to get out and just breath for a day."