They'd made a near-full circuit of the floor. While they could avoid the Diagnostics department by turning around and walking back the way they'd just come, circling infinitely, Amber was ready to face the screwballs and work. They'd be going out later anyway; they could do all the talking they'd like then. For now, she'd fill in those papers and let her mind wander, processing their latest conversation and what it all meant. She may not have resisted giving Eric another chance, but what did it mean? Amber felt whammed by a ton-heavy hammer, hit by all her frustrations and distrust and the nascent hope she couldn’t keep back despite all the warning signs.

Amber halted before the corridor turned again, giving them a pause to talk before reaching the department's glass walls. "Mickey's," she started—hardly glamorous, but they didn’t need the shine and glitter of Ma Cabane to discuss their nitty-gritty problems-- then stopped as she took in Eric's expression, pleased like he'd just won an academic award. "What?" she asked, voice peeved and curious but a half-grin tugging at her mouth anyway. What was it about Eric that he could make her make her smile simply by doing the same himself? “You’re ridiculous sometimes, you know that, right?” But it was nice. If he was this glad with the mere prospect of maybe being with her a bit longer—grin now a full-fledged smile, Amber shook her head like she was facing a hopeless, hopeless case. Maybe she should give him the benefit of the doubt more often. For all the times that she’d lost faith in him, he’d come through for her. Could he really like her that much? No one else had bothered putting up with all her demands and conditions.