Alright? I'm well. Well enough. Erm. [And there, there was a flag for Ben. Even when uncomfortable or distraught, she always took the time to choose her words carefully. Never an erm, um, or hmm.]

Just. [She waves a hand.]

Trying very hard not to think about what floor I'm on. As far as I'm concerned this is the second floor.

Nothing that would be considered harmful and nothing I prescribed myself. Well. Here I must, because my therapist is, after all, not here but it is something I take for this infrequently and I am accustomed to the side effects and the proper dosage, if anything I take less than the recommended dosage because I cannot afford to be as drowsy as it would normally make me...

...this bothers you.

It does make me...off? Odd. Erratic. Well, not entirely, it depends on a variable that I am ignoring at the moment, though I am not doing a very good job of it. So. I do understand. And. I'm sorry. About yesterday. I can't- explain. Why. Not really- well not that I can't explain at all, I just can't explain yet, but once I can? I will. Er. Explain. I promise.

[She has to bite the inside of her cheek to stop long enough to breathe.] It's common enough, and I tried every alternative before hand. And I don't. Often, go places. That would induce stress. [She snorts.] You don't judge me at all Ben. Why else do you think I'm so fond of you?

[Aaand time to power right on by that particular thought. Oh, there's space over there for the basket. She whisks over to the counter, sets them down, and whisks back.] So. Um. Where...did the extra chairs come from? I didn't think that the apartments came with this many.

As long as it was just the two of you and not Lupin. He is supposed to be resting, which I know is impossible, and I need to get him something to apologize with but I don't know what yet. [She scrubs a hand through her hair and sighs, looking back up to Ben.]

Fantastic. That will not be awkward at all. And- Merde. Ben? While I do wish to apologize, I do not need to talk to him while I'm like this. [She massages the bridge of her nose, thinking. Or. Well. Trying to.]

I knew I should have taken a smaller dose. [She sighs and rubs her temples.] I'd rather have tiny, mild panic attacks all day than be like this.

Food typically helps. Something about the hormones released amidst digestion makes this mild. Though. If we flushed them out entirely I would have to watch the films from the next floor down.

[Muzzy as she is, Adele can't quite register everything that she's feeling, let alone an empathic connection. Still, beyond that drug induced veil there is anxiety. Fear. That same undercurrent of loneliness, though less than it used to be. And knotted up in all of that, over even frustration and guilt, was affection.]

...You, Helios, and Ginia. Always feeding me, or telling me to eat. [She huffs a laugh, rubbing at her eyes.] M'Dieu, it is like visiting my sisters. They once tied me to a chair and forced me to eat until they were satisfied that I'd had enough.

[Still, she does wander over to where she'd set down the beingets and pulls one out, nibbling on it with a soft sigh. Not terrible. Not as good as the ones from the New Orleans chef, but not terrible. And. She didn't feel quite so tense anymore, for whatever reason.] And if you think that is a story fondly retold from my childhood? It is not. That happened two christmases ago.

My family, they always work best in extremes, yes? [She shrugs and finishes the last bite of her pastry.]

I would most certainly hope not. There are only a handful of ways tying someone down could be pleasant and I sincerely doubt you would know of any of the- I am going to stop talking now. [She buries her face in her hands.]

...

Forget I said that.

Tea? Coffee. Beignets go best with coffee, but. Wait. Erm. [One hand peels away from her face to hover mid air, fingers twitching, no tapping midair, a mental calculation with a physical gesture. A habit she thought she'd grown out of, but. Well. Like this? It came back.]

Yes coffee should be fine. The extra caffeine should lengthen the duration of the medication.

...He asked how we met! It is not my fault you were so enthused by canned, caffeinated beverages!

...

I may have also mentioned it to Rems. I'm sorry. [She wasn't not really, but at the same time she was, but. It had just been so funny and now she's giggling to herself just a little, something short and bright and it smooths the years off her better than any cosmetic ever could.]

I told him that first, of course, but the soda anecdote followed. I still- [She covers her mouth and laughs into it, shaking her head as she tries to calm at least a little.] Your face. When I explained caffeine. You were so distraught over something so trivial.

...[No. No. Do not cross reference your science fiction. Do not. Don't do it, don't do it and she's leaning against the nearest stable surface, biting down on her hand to calm herself. She'd completely forgotten about Spice. She holds up a hand to Obi-wan, as though to ward him off for the moment, before she's able to calm herself enough to speak.]

It was not my intent, and I apologize if I frightened you at the time. I suppose there are some situations where the Spice must not flow.

[He will have no idea what she's talking about. And for some reason that makes her giggle all the more.]