When River first encountered Dr. Cola in pediatrics, similarly to other staff members, he was caught off guard by how young and pretty this new doctor was and almost instantly that awe developed into a crush that refused to go away. River wasn’t exactly shy in the traditional sense, he just tended to stumble over his words just as much as his feet, so having a conversation with him was a lot of waiting for him to formulate coherent sentences and a lot of listening to whatever he had to say. That considered, he expected Dr. Cola to hate him- he was always so cynical and kind of brusque when talking to people, so he doubted this young doctor would have the patience to wait ten minutes per sentence River wanted to say. River was wrong- in fact, in the beginning, Ari didn’t have a clue who he was. Sure, he’d seen him around the wards and he had to come in and out of Ari’s office every once in a while to drop off documents and information, but he never mentioned River by name, they had never even had a full conversation and yet River remained with that stupid crush on a ridiculously pretty doctor.

He wasn’t the only, not by a long shot. River didn’t engage in small talk or spreading rumours, but he heard people when they gossiped and he committed what he thought was important to memory; for example, the fact that about a dozen other staff members so far had made comments about ‘how cute the new doctor is in pediatrics’ and how ‘they were going to ask him out when they got the chance’. Jealousy was beyond River- he didn’t experience it- but this didn’t mean that he didn’t want to beat them all to it. But that would never happen. Dr. Cola didn’t even know his name- until one fateful morning River didn’t oversleep and he had time to actual tame his warm golden hair from looking like the mane of an adolescent lion. You could see more of his face- he had gotten it chopped a little shorter recently, too- and River wasn’t entirely oblivious; he noticed the double take that Dr. A Cola sent his way when he quickly went in and out of his office. He’d be lying if he said it didn’t make his crush not only more prevalent, but more hopeful.

It didn’t take long after that for them to grow more comfortable around eachother, in the kind of way where they both felt the same way about eachother in that they had some kind of mutual attraction, and River found it easier to talk to him, more quickly. He was invited to his office more and more until one day he leaned over the desk to hand him some requested patient information files and Ari had pulled him in with a grip on his arm and kissed him. Funny- he’d always thought it would be him making a first move, but since apparently he wasn’t as aware as he thought he was, Ari had been dropping hints for weeks. It didn’t matter, though- River went home ecstatic, elated from having made out with the hot doctor he’d crushed on since he first started. He replayed it in his head- what he thought would start and end a chaste, brief peck became more slow and intense and River even moved round to get closer, tilting his head into it and relishing the moment just in case the doctor actually saw sense and realised what he was risking.

From that moment, Ari had just mysteriously needed to see much more of River, and frequently on the intercom was [i]Nurse Kendrick in pediatrics to Dr. Cola’s office[/i], followed by murmuring from the staff who suspected something, and then as River set off towards the office in question, people asking him why it was so secretive. River was good at keeping secrets, and he just shrugged and offered a reassuring, trustworthy smile that layed them off his back until maybe the next time it happened, which was usually the next day. Ari was getting more careless and also more affectionate. River wasn’t sure if he even really minded the risk anymore. He knew for a fact he couldn’t say the same for Ari, but he pretended anyway to indulge himself. This time, the excuse was so lame that River almost considered just ignoring the announcement- it was a request for files he’d asked for the day previous. He’d ignored the intercom, but five minutes later, it came again. He swore he’d ignore it yet again- but what could he say, it was nice to feel appreciated.

So he made his way as quickly as possible and shut the door gently when he finally made it to his office. He brought the sheets over with purpose, and immediately noted that Ari clearly didn’t care very much about them at all. Feeling playfully confrontational, he decided to take a few digs at him before he inevitably ended over there putting way too much weight than was reccomended on Ari’s office chair, even if Ari was pretty slight. [i]You’re funny. And a broken record.[/i] [b]”Look who’s talking. You asked for me on the intercom twice in five minutes. Must really need this documents- you know, the ones I sent you yesterday?”[/b] He tilted his head and pushed a hand back through his hair, standing with his arms loosely crossed over his chest. [i]I'd say c'mere and kiss me, the usual, but you pushed it coming in here and being rude right away.[/i] River smiled, and shrugged one shoulder. He had a pretty innocent face.

River wandered around his desk as Ari rolled backwards and held out his hand. He took it, swiping a thumb over his wrist. [i]Also, real bold of you to laugh at my name when you're River. Plenty of rivers could sue you if they wanted."[/i]River shrugged, used to this by now. [b]”Let them come at me.”[/b] As much as he enjoyed this banter of theirs, he was bored of talking. [i]Anyway, come here. I haven’t seen you[/i] all day. River smiled again, just slightly, then shifted as usual onto Ari’s lap, steadying himself with a hand curled into his shoulder. He held their loosely intertwined hands to his chest and then leaned in, other hand at his shoulder moving up to sift through Ari’s hair. Not wasting another moment, he kissed him, letting his eyes fall shut as he relaxed due to the familiarity and simultaneously his heart began to skip slightly.