youre tucked into one of the side offices of the smosh studio with the hum of computers and the faint sound of voices that was drifting down the hallway where most of everyone else was working

youre currently sitting on the edge of the desk beside angela who was sitting in a office chair, leaning down just enough to see the monitor. the screen was filled with a messy google doc that was full of highlighted text and bullet points. you were pretty sure it was one of the scripts for an upcoming sketch

she had asked you to help clean up the formatting and reorganize the jokes, saying something like "youre like the brain that can actually make sense of chaos"

now you have been rambling, explaining to her what youre fixing while also rambling into a tangent. your voice was calm but quick and steady in the way it gets when youre focused "so like if we out this gag here, the one with the awkward pause, then itll land better because you dont want it right after the slapstick bit. you want some contrast right? but also like this bullet point formatting is a nightmare. who even indents like this my god. look at this. whoever wrote this thinks tabs are optional and honestly i cant even function unless i have everything lined up. youd think after years of doing this people would at least.. okay wait hang on. do you like it better if the joke about the fake sponser goes right before the reveal or do you think it drags? because i asked that like.. twice already. maybe three times and you havent-"

finally you glance sideways and angela isnt even looking at the screen at all.

her eyes are locked on you, almost unreadable in the way that makes your stomach drop when you realize how close you actually are. her chin is tilted up slightly since youre leaning over her and her face is right there, barely five inches away

you blink, a little caught off guard but then you smile "were you even listening?"

she blinks once like shes been pulled out of some kind of daze and lets out a small laugh "i was. kind of. i mean you were talking really fast. you always do when you get into it."

you raise an eyebrow "mhm. sure. you were definitely following my thrilling ted talk on bullet point alignment."

she grins wider, shaking her head but she doesnt look away from you "no i swear i was listening just not to what you were saying"

"wow" you say dryly but youre smiling "thats reassuring. super helpful. glad im spilling my heart out for your entertainment."

she leans back in her chair a little, crossing her arms while still looking at you "hey you asked me to listen. you didnt say to what."

you roll your eyes but this old warmth is rising in your chest, the same that used to happen when you were still together