Work Text:
“Ric!” Serena exclaimed, grinning widely. Bernie jumped; they had been having a nice, work-free, evening, and now she was faced with the one person she’d rather didn’t know too much about her and Serena.
Serena had spotted Ric Griffin getting out of a restaurant two doors down from the one they had just eaten in, and waved at him. Bernie could see how begrudgingly he walked up to them, most likely because he was in company of no other than Françoise Yeats, who by now had probably gone back to using her maiden name.
“Serena, Bernie, this is a surprise!” He said with a tight smile that was meant to express that the surprise was not entirely welcome. “I’m sure you remember Françoise.” He introduced the woman on his arm with a smile a little too proud in Serena’s opinion. She would tease him endlessly after this, and he knew it.
“Of course, pleasure to see you again! Glad to see you’re resting.” Serena replied. “Just what the doctor ordered.” She shot a look at Ric who was rolling his eyes.
“Likewise. Nothing like a good meal to make you feel better.” Françoise replied, nodding towards the restaurant they just stepped out of. “La Bonne Cuisine”. French, of course, Serena thought. Before she could say anything, Ric intervened.
“There is more to French cuisine than frog legs and snails, you know.” Bernie bit her lip to suppress a laugh. Serena looked at Ric.
“I’m aware, I have been to France, remember?” She shot an amused look at Françoise who smiled.
“Vous parlez Français ?” She asked. Serena nodded, speaking French was practically a family condition.
“Je ne le parle pas souvent.” Serena replied. Not speaking it often was an understatement, it must have been a few years since she last actually talked, as opposed to throwing a sentence here and there.
“Vous le parlez bien, pourquoi ne l’avez-vous pas mentionné l’autre fois ?” Françoise asked. Serena smiled at the compliment and wondered how she could explain why she had let Ric fare for himself. Well, he couldn’t understand them, or barely, so she could confide in her.
“On s’amusait un peu trop à voir Ric paniquer comme ça.” She admitted. The opportunities of making Ric squirm were few and far between, so they had enjoyed it as much as possible.
“Un peu cruel, non ?” Françoise replied with a smirk.
“C’est de bonne guerre, on se connait depuis longtemps.” Serena smirked too. They’d known each other so long, it was only fair to get some payback.
Bernie and Ric were looking at one another. Ric looked frustrated but found the way Françoise talked with Serena endearing. Bernie was trying very hard not to step in the conversation but knew better. The poker player in her knew that having that kind of ace up her sleeve could get interesting.
“Il m’a parlé de vous, et de votre collègue aussi.” Françoise said, making Serena do a double take. Clearly Ric hadn’t just told Françoise about the two of them, he had told her about, well, the two of them.
“Il est très bavard parfois.” She replied. Ric could be dangerously talkative.
“Et pourtant il ne parle pas beaucoup de lui. C’est quelque chose qu’ils ont en commun, non ?” Françoise replied. Ric sure didn’t open up much, and Bernie was almost worse. The fact that they were having this conversation unbeknown to the other two made share a small laugh. They were enjoying this!
“Vous n’avez pas idée !” Serena replied, eying Bernie whose poker face was coming handy.
“En tout cas il est définitivement plus… expressif au lit.” She added looking at Ric who could tell she was talking about him but had no clue what she had just said. It gave Serena a moment to compose herself. Knowing how expressive her colleague was in bed was more information than she had been ready for. Or rather it would have been if it had come from him, but the situation made it an interesting turn of events. She played along.
“C’est son cas aussi.” She said, Bernie was definitely the same, not that she’d ever say it to her face. Well, she had said it to her face, but not in the middle of a civilised conversation. “L’expérience de la chirurgie peut aussi se révéler assez intéressante.” Serena added. Hands of a surgeon were definitely a plus. She knew Bernie would have her head if she so much as guessed what was being said, and she knew Françoise was also trying to avoid any transparent words. She nodded, seemingly in recollection.
“C’est le timing qui est problématique.” Françoise replied. Timing sure was a problem. Serena could remember a number of times when her phone had rung at exactly the wrong moment, tearing her from her lover’s arms and sending them running toward AAU.
“C’est l’avantage d’une relation comme la notre.” Serena said, gesturing towards Bernie. “Quand on est interrompues, on a toutes les deux de quoi s’occuper l’esprit.” She grinned. The good side of their relationship was that, if interrupted, they could both keep their brain busy, although it wasn’t necessarily with patients. Françoise smiled knowingly.
“Je me plaindrai bien du fait qu’il soit accro à son travail, mais d’après ce qu’il m’a dit c’est aussi votre cas.” She said. Ric generally made up for his workaholism, but Françoise wondered how the two women coped, short of jumping each other at work.
“Être aussi accro à sa collègue n’arrange pas les choses.” Serena replied. Being obsessed with both work and Bernie didn’t make things easier, although she generally enjoyed it a lot more than she was ready to admit.
“Ca doit être compliqué parfois ?” Françoise asked. It sure was complicated sometimes, Serena sighed, and Ric happened to be someone who kept making this worse.
“Disons que les interventions de collègues comme lui n’aident pas les choses.” Serena explained. Françoise looked up at Ric who frowned.
Bernie crossed her arms. “Vous nous direz quand vous aurez fini vos messes basses !” Let us know once you’re done with your private chat.
Ric’s mouth hang open. Serena blushed, and Françoise looked at her appreciatively.
“You didn’t know she spoke French?” Françoise switched back to English for Ric’s benefit. Ric shrugged, Serena shook her head, looking everywhere but at Bernie, who looked a bit smug.
“Is that a breach of the entente cordiale?” Françoise asked Bernie who smiled.
“I don’t think cordiale can even start to describe the aftermath of this conversation.” She replied, looking pointedly at Serena who finally met her eyes and was blushing under her stare.
“We better get going.” Ric said softly. “Those two share an office, so telling them to get a room doesn’t work, trust me, we tried.” He grinned, making Françoise smile.
“It was nice seeing you again!” She said before following Ric’s movement, his hand on the small of her back gently pushing her forward. The two women nodded in agreement.
“I’m going to pay for this, aren’t I?” Serena muttered once they were gone.
“Depends, how good is your French under pressure?” Bernie asked with a side grin, the way she said pressure making it very clear exactly what kind of pressure she meant.
Serena sighed. She hadn’t seen that coming. But if it meant Bernie speaking French in bed, she wasn’t complaining. She already knew how good she could be with her tongue.