Requested by @CkF4__ Hope it is to your liking!
Lacie was worried. See, she hadn't seen Susie all week. The voice actress was just nowhere to be found. She had asked Allison, Sammy, and even Henry. Finally, as a last resort, she went to Joey. She stood outside his office door, debating whether or not to ask about her friend. On one hand, she really wanted to know if Susie was alright. On the other hand, this was Joey she wanted to ask. However, her mental argument was interrupted by Thomas. "Hey, I need some help with a couple of burst pipes down in Norman's booth. Poor guy got absolutely covered in ink." He explained, jabbing a thumb behind him. Sighing, Lacie followed him.
Now, Thomas was a good guy. He was a good friend, and he was loyal. But he was absolutely awful at comforting people. He could tell something was wrong, but wasn't sure how to help. "Uh...are you okay?" He asked gingerly. Lacie glanced at him for a moment before signing again.
"No, I'm worried about Susie. I haven't seen her all week and nobody knows where she went. That's why I was about to go into Joey's office by the way. To ask if he knew. I really hope she's alright..." Lacie trailed off, eyebrows arched together in worry. Thomas thought hard for a moment, wondering what to say to someone when their friend goes missing. Great, now he was kinda worried.
"Um...well she's probably still alive, so..." Thomas regretted saying it the second it came out of his mouth. Lacie looked twice as more panicked than before.
"Oh no! What if something really bad did happen to her and she...no, no she's gotta be alright." Lacie muttered more to herself than Thomas. They pushed the door open to the projectionist booth and climbed upstairs where they heard voices.
"Yes. She's most likely fine." Thomas agreed. He wished he was better at comforting people.
"Who is? What happened?"
The two looked over to see Sammy looking at them with an eyebrow raised, and an ink covered Norman who just looked thoroughly unsettled. "Oh, Susie. Y'know, she hasn't been to work for the whole week and just...what if something bad happened?" Lacie said, fiddling anxiously with her hands. Sammy looked from her, to Tom.
"She was not this worried when she asked me about Susie earlier. Thomas, did you do something?" The musician narrowed his eyes at the engineer.
"I was trying to comfort her." Tom explained with a shrug.
"Well, maybe don't." Norman suggested. Thomas nodded. He fully agreed with this, knowing well he had only made it worse. "If she hasn't been to work all week then Joey would know, otherwise he'd be screaming at us for answers. So chances are Joey is fully aware of her whereabouts, which means she's fine." Norman said. He almost went to put a hand on Lacie's shoulder but stopped when he remembered he was covered in ink. Lacie seemed to calm dow a bit at this.
"I guess you're right." She half murmured. "Thanks Norman." Her and Thomas went right to fixing the pipes, while Sammy went to get Wally and wouldn't let Norman come because he's get ink everywhere.
"How am I supposed to get home, then?" Norman called after the musician.
"Fly." Sammy responded as he walked away. Norman rolled his eyes and sat down in his already inky chair. As soon as the two engineers were finished their job, Lacie had dashed back to Joey's office. She reluctantly knocked on his door, and there were hurried rustles of paper before he allowed her entrance. Lacie stepped inside her boss' office, remaining near the door in case a quick escape was necessary.
"What brings you here so close to the ending of a Friday?" Joey asked while locking a drawer in his desk. Lacie shoved down the question of what he was hiding, and focused on why she came here.
"Well sir, I was just worried about Susie since she hasn't been to work all week. Would you mind if I asked what happened to her?" Lacie questioned, nervously tapping one of her boots against the floor.
"Ah. Miss Campbell has got the flu, so she's off of work. Should be back next week." Joey answered, looking a bit annoyed at the fact some work wasn't getting done.
"Oh, alright. Uh-thanks Mr. Drew." Lacie nodded to him, then stepped out and shut the door. She would be lying if she said almost every coworker feared going into that man's office to talk to him. Truth was, most questions asked by employees ended up with yelling and threats from their boss. By the time she had packed up her toolbox it was the end of the workday. However, instead of heading home as she usually would, she left to Susie's house to check on her. She rung the doorbell and waited. A few minutes passed so she rung it again. About a minute later, the door slowly creaked open, revealing a very disheveled looking Susie.
"Oh, hi Lacie." Susie greeted. Her voice was hoarse and her hair was a complete mess. Which was saying something because Susie never let her hair get this bad. In other words, she looked awful.
"Hey Susie...are you alright? You look terrible." Lacie said, taking in the sight of her sick friend.
"Gee thanks." Susie rolled her eyes. "Anyways, do you wanna come in?" She asked, opening the door wider. Lacie stepped inside and Susie shut the door behind her. She leaned against it. Obviously the effort of standing up and opening the door had taken all the energy out of her weak body. Lacie looked at her for a moment before scooping her up and carrying her bridal style. "Hey! What are you doing?" Susie yelped, giving a confused look to the other.
"I'm going to take care of you until you get better, and you will deal with it." Lacie responded. She was not letting herself worry over Susie's wellbeing anymore, when she could just help her. She gently placed Susie on the couch and wrapped her up in a blanket.
"But-"
"No buts."
"Lacie-"
"Nothing is changing my mind, I'm taking care of you until your better."
"You don't have to."
"But I want to."
"Fine, you're lucky it's you then."
Lacie raised an eyebrow as she looked over at Susie. "What do you mean by that?" She asked.
"Well, if anyone else was here instead of you I'd just kick them out. You're the only person I trust to not accidentally kill me while trying to help." Susie explained, smiling up at the engineer. Lacie smiled back, warmed by the kind comment.
"Aww, thanks Suz." She said, leaning down and kissing her on the cheek. Susie's face flushed at the sudden forward action, but who was she to complain? In fact, she rather enjoyed being taken care of, especially by Lacie.
