Chapter Text
Gordon sighed a guttural sigh, practically falling into the door as it swung open under his weight.
"I'm here, I'm here, don't start without me!" he yelled to nobody in particular, stumbling around Black Mesa's locker room and holding back a yawn. For some goddamn reason, his alarm had completely failed to go off in the morning despite having triple-checked it the night before, and now he's running late to his dream job! What an awful first day.
"Ah, hello Gordon! Another day, another dollar, am I right?" A man in a lab coat stood at an open locker, beaming at Gordon.
"Oh, uh, hi there. You're one of my co-workers, right? Sorry I'm late, my ala—"
"Ah ah ah!" The man wagged his finger, cutting Gordon off. "Excuses have no place in a realm of science!"
"I... guess you have a point." Gordon chuckled, then held out his hand, which the man shook vigorously. "What's your name?"
"Dr. Coomer, at your service!"
"Awesome. I guess you already know my name. Did they tell you I was coming?"
"Something like that. They were pretty angry yesterday when you didn't show up."
"When I... what? Ah fuck, did I miss some sort of orientation?"
"You missed much more than just an orientation, Gordon!"
"What? What did I miss?"
"Right this way, Gordon!" Dr. Coomer didn't acknowledge Gordon's question, setting off into the twisting halls of Black Mesa without a second thought. "Your new life awaits you!"
"Oh, right, I'm late! Fuck, sorry to waste your time, man! I guess I'll ask somebody else what happened later..."
"Just follow me!"
The room that (according to Dr. Coomer) stored all of the HEV suits was overflowing with people, three lines trailing all the way out into the hallway.
"What a tragedy!" Dr. Coomer exclaimed. He didn't look too broken up about it, though.
"Yeah, this kinda sucks. But if we tell our boss that we have a legitimate reason to be late, she won't be too mad at us, right? At least, she won't be too mad at you, since you were actually here yesterday."
"I wouldn't deny the possibility, Gordon!"
"Sweet." A moment of silence. The line was barely moving, and Gordon was feeling too antsy to stand still in it for who knows how long.
"So uh. Should we get in line, or do you wanna—"
"I have my own duties to attend to. Goodbye!" He walked off without waiting for a response, suddenly leaving Gordon feeling very isolated in the hallway.
"Alllright then." After taking a minute to weigh his options, Gordon decided he'd rather play it safe and get in line to avoid getting in any more trouble, much as he would rather move around a bit and explore the halls of his new workplace. So he walked over to the end of one of the lines, and—
"dude." A security guard was standing by the line, staring him down.
"Oh, um, hello sir. Do you need anything from me?" Gordon felt a little bit flustered being apprehended by a guard. Had he done something wrong?
"i was saving that spot." He sounded... annoyed.
"Excuse me?"
"you can't stand there." No, not annoyed. Petulant was a better word.
"I thought this was the line for the HEV suits. Am I not supposed to be here, or..."
"yeah duh you're supposed to be here. where else would you even go. dumbass."
"I—hey! There's no need to be—"
"i told you to move."
Gordon shot a quizzical look at the guard. "What's your deal??"
"what?"
"I don't think security guards should be acting like this, man."
"who're you to say. you're not a guard."
"I guess not? But I was under the impression—a fairly reasonable impression I think!—that security should be more reasonable to the people they've been hired to protect?"
"wha."
"What the fuck do you mean, 'wha??'"
"that sounds stupid. what's wrong with you. why would you say that."
"Well... fuck you!"
Gordon's yelling starts to attract the attention of the other scientists in line. They all turn their heads to look at him, confused looks on their faces.
"Shit!" Gordon hisses. "Sorry about that guys, everything's fine over here, I'll keep it down." Slowly, they all turn back around, seemingly satisfied by his reassurances.
"good. you calmed down."
"Wh—you're the one who riled me up in the first place!"
"huh? i don't know what you're talking about."
"Of course you don't."
Gordon rolls his eyes, huffing in frustration.
"What do you mean I 'stole your spot?' You shouldn't even be in line right now."
"i was waiting for my friend. he was gonna stand there."
"Can't he just stand behind me? Or in any of the other lines? No offense, but if your friend wanted to reserve a spot or whatever, he should have gotten here early."
"don't be rude."
"I'm not being—"
"you stole his spot. rude little shit."
"Hey!"
He expected to leave the irritating security guard behind as he slowly inched closer to the HEV suit room, but the guard just started following him.
"Dude. Aren't you supposed to be working right now?"
"i am working."
"Then why are you following me in here? I thought you were like, guarding the hall. You know, so people can't just take an HEV suit and run, or something like that"
"i do what i want."
"That's... not how it works? What?"
There was a long silence.
"dude."
"What???"
"you stole my spot."
"WHY DOES THAT—you're just trying to rile me up now, huh?"
"trying and succeeding. you big dumb baby. look at you, yelling over a spot in line. pretty immature of you huh? huh?"
Gordon can't help himself. He actually starts laughing.
"you little blubbering baby. grow up, man. grow up."
"I don't even—hhhhahaha!"
"what's so funny."
"I don't know?? Hahahahahaha!"
The guard looked on as Gordon slowly recovered, taking a few deep breaths before speaking.
"Maybe I'm just tired. Yeah, that's probably it. My sense of humor gets real fucked up when I haven't gotten any sleep."
"you haven't slept?"
"Yeah, man. I was nervous about today! This is my dream job, you know. I don't wanna mess anything up. Well, okay, I think I've already messed up big time. Fuck, how did I miss a whole day of work? I swear today was supposed to be the first day..." Gordon trailed off and stared into space for a moment, then shook his head to clear it. "Ah, whatever. I can't do anything about it now."
The guard stared unblinkingly at Gordon, not reacting to what he had said.
"Oh sorry, what was I talking about? Right, my nerves. Anyway, when I get nervous like that, I can never fall asleep."
"really?" Surprisingly, his question sounded genuinely curious rather than accusatory or mocking.
"Yeah. I mean, was pacing around for hours because I couldn't sit still! And what did that worrying get me? Fucking late." Gordon shrugged.
"yeah i get that. i was nervous on my first day too."
"Really?"
"what?"
"Don't try to pretend you didn't say that just now. I heard."
"you're so tired you're hallucinating now. dude i'm kinda worried about you."
"Hey, I'm not hallucinating just because I'm tired! Stop weaponizing my honesty against me!"
"no."
"NO? What, are you just gonna keep accusing me of made up crimes?"
"yeah, tough luck. chump."
Gordon laughed again, harder this time.
"God, I can't even stay mad at you. You're too funny! Fuck!"
"pay attention. it's your turn."
"I—huh?"
As Gordon looked up, quickly wiping a tear from his eye (how did that get there?), he realized that he was standing right in front of the HEV suit machine (how did that get there?).
"Shit. That was fast."
"no it wasn't. you were just distracted."
"I guess I was."
Gordon stepped into the machine, and got suited up. A funky song played as he put it on, and he nodded his head to the beat. He could see the guard tapping his foot, too.
"Good song, huh?"
"no. this song sucks. i hate it."
"Nice try. I see you dancing along to it."
The guard abruptly stopped, hunching in on himself slightly. "what are you talking about?"
"Aw, no, don't feel bad about it or anything. I'm dancing too. See?" He jammed out for a few seconds, then stopped when he saw the other scientists in line giving him annoyed looks. "It's fine, dude."
"eh."
"Alright, whatever you say."
Gordon finished putting on the suit and left the room, heading for the elevator. The guard followed him, but slowed to a stop a few feet from the elevator.
"You have to stay up here, right?"
"..."
"I mean, you probably shouldn't come down. You know, radiation poisoning."
"uh. yeah."
"Also, you've been slacking off with me long enough. I don't want you to get in any more trouble than you're probably already in."
"okay."
The blinking numbers above the elevator displayed its slow ascent to the ground floor. As Gordon waited, he took a moment to consider the strange guard he'd just met. The man seemed hellbent on annoying the shit out of him, but his prodding and insults had actually cheered Gordon up considerably. After laughing and joking around with him, he felt truly relaxed for the first time in several days. And although he tried to hide it behind his prickly attitude, he seemed to care about Gordon's wellbeing, at least a little bit.
"Hey, dude?"
"what?"
"Thanks."
"you're welcome."
"...Do you even know what I'm thanking you for?"
"that's for me to know and you to find out."
"Haha, fair enough, uh... oh shit, I never even asked for your name!"
"that's confidential."
"No it's not. It's right there on your shirt."
"hey don't look at th—"
"Benrey, huh?"
"..."
The elevator opened, and Gordon got in. He turned around to wave goodbye to Benrey.
"Hey, I'll see you tomorrow?"
"dude."
"What?"
"yo dick out."
Gordon stuttered for a few moments, taken completely off guard. He actually glanced down surreptitiously before managing a high-pitched "No?????"
"i know."
And as the elevator doors slid shut, for the first time since Gordon had met him, Benrey smiled.