Ari was fairly used to questionable professional relationships, although they tended to be one-sided as he was more dedicated to his craft than he was to cute nurses or interested patients. He apparently had some kind of allure as an incredibly young doctor - not that he would tell anyone that he wasn't, like, some kind of exceptionally smart kid that got ahead far more quickly than his peers. The truth of the matter was that he skipped ahead by chance, did average enough in dual enrollment to shave off university time, completed residency beyond quickly, and, as a plus, had a cutoff birthday. So Ari let everyone believe he was some sort of adolescent genius with celebrity good looks when in reality he was maybe a 6/10 on all levels. See, it was pretty nice to have people idolizing you all the time for nothing.

Anyway, the point was that he never really indulged them; instead he caught on to how people acted around him, how quickly some developed a puppy crush compared to others, etc. He used the aforementioned words 'dedicated to his craft' but it really wasn't just that he was too involved with his work to consider anything; moreover he didn't have the patience to maintain something with anyone both in the workplace and outside. Sounded like a whole lot of work to care about someone 24 hours a day, no? So he dodged any advances that might come, and if he did find himself equally interested in someone, he'd developed a talent for ignoring it. Thus far in his short career, he'd successfully never given in to anything like that, and also he was a total schmooze, so [i]basically[/i] Ari could do no wrong. Maybe some day he'd be able to avoid all on-call shifts entirely for being so basically decent - or he could dream.

But his streak wasn't doing so well these days. Ari didn't even know River existed at first. He had so many medical students or PAs or nurses swarming through his office for oversight that he couldn't give attention to one individual; that is, unless they were undeniably cute and so clumsy that they commanded attention anyway. River was like that, with golden hair that distinguished him from his peers and the sweetest face ever and he moved like Bambi learning how to walk. Really, with the way nurses had to move constantly and stay upright he should be more coordinated by now, but Ari was endeared to how stumbly River became around him nonetheless. The change happened sometime around when River simply changed his hair, moved it from his face a little more so he was no longer hiding behind a curtain as much. Ari really wasn't prepared for it at the time, and he was still caught off-guard by River sometimes so long after the fact.

It made no sense that they worked. Ari was sort of cynical, rough-spoken, with no real consideration for others unless they were talking to him out of passing. His life had to move too quickly for any of that. River, on the other hand, was so gentle and soft-spoken that Ari was fairly certain he was invisible to anyone else on the job (though maybe that was a good thing, considering he really wasn't looking to be caught in the act). Despite their differences they couldn't just cut each other off, Ari always seeming to stop him on his way out from dropping off vitals and kissing him breathless or River innocuously shutting the office door behind him when he came in during lunch hours. Ari honestly had no idea how it'd gotten this big and out of their control - then again, he did know. River was just that gorgeous. Was the risk really all that worth it? Maybe not, but. That was a concern for future him.

Maybe it would be better if either of them was just transferred to another floor. As it went now, though, Ari's office location was already well-established and he was smack-dab in pediatrics anyway, and there was no other place for River to practice that exact specialty, so. Moving was unlikely. No matter what, though, Ari was always happy to see him, so when River came in while he was sitting out his on-call yet uncalled free time, he of course turned immediately to his computer to pretend he wasn't as happy as he really was. After all, admitting to the fact that River was the most utterly charming presence he'd ever been around was pretty damn embarrassing. He scrolled absently through immunization records that'd been up in the back of his screen for a week as if it was the most interesting thing he'd ever read until he heard the familiar second door click and met River's gaze finally.

[i]Here you go, Dr. Cola.[/i] He eyed the sheets in River's hands disinterestedly, knowing they didn't have any active patients today or else the front desk would've alerted him to it, and therefore they totally had a moment to themselves. But he could already feel the 'Cola' related tangent coming on, so he suspended any excitement, leaning back in his rolling chair to watch River. [i]You know, one of these days, Dr. Pepper are gonna sue your whole ass name.[/i] There it was. Ari sighed, pronounced, at the same time the paperwork fell, leaning forward and taking it tiredly. [b]"You're funny. And a broken record."[/b] [i]Anything else, Doctor? It’s been a slow shift so far.[/i] Ari sifted through the documents, disengaged, and then set them over his keyboard before leaning back again, elbows on his chair's rests. [b]"I'd say c'mere and kiss me, the usual, but you pushed it coming in here and being rude right away."[/b] His grin detracted from any of that sentiment, though.

Ari rolled further away from his desk, holding a hand out towards River to welcome him over. [b]"Also, real bold of you to laugh at my name when you're [i]River.[/i] Plenty of rivers could sue you if they wanted."[/b] Kind of weak. But this was all he could really do to semi-uphold River's interest whenever he came around. [b]"Anyway, come here, I haven't seen you [i]all day.[/i]"[/b]