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Wally leaned against the wall next to his closet as he watched Reeve kneel in front of the door handle and pull out two bobby pins. Reeve rolled his eyes when he glanced up him. “This isn’t very subtle. What if he looks out and sees you just standing there?”
Wally just laughed as he waved backwards towards the window that allowed the music director to see out of his office. “He just ignores me, most of the time.”
Reeve didn’t take his eyes off the pins as he straightened one out, but he continued talking in a hushed tone. “But he notices you enough that it’s a problem when you lock yourself out?”
That caused the bright smile to dim when Wally all but flinched at the heavy-handed question. “He, uh, doesn’t like it when I lose my keys.”
“… You know you need to keep up with them better,” Reeve tried to gently but firmly lecture as well as he could while on his knees and holding two bent pins. “I don’t think it would be a fireable offense, but it’s a hassle.”
“It's not like it's a problem with you here. You can unlock any door you want!” The smile came back in full force, and it took all of Reeve’s self-control to keep himself from banging his forehead against the door. Instead, he inserted the pins into the keyhole and started the delicate task of unlocking the door.
“That’s not the point, Wally… I should have never shown you I could pick locks. Maybe then you wouldn't lose your keys so much.”
Instantly, Wally countered, “Awww come on! It doesn't happen that often.” When Reeve stopped dead and stared at him with a look that reminded most people of a very tired mother with a child who was bad at lying. After a second of squirming under that look, Wally still insisted, “Really!”
Deciding not to press the point and finish his mission, Reeve resumed fiddling with the lock with a shake of his head. “Just... Quiet down and let me focus. You don't want Sammy to find out, right?” Before they had even approached the closet, they had made sure they weren’t being watched by the grumpy music director.
Full of nonchalance, Wally just waved his hand again as he said, “Right! He's too busy playing around with one of his-” Whatever Wally was going to say next was interrupted by a voice that made both men stiffen as they recognized it.
“His what?” Sammy asked as he stood with his arms crossed and disapproval clear in his glare. He raised an eyebrow as he pointed the question to Wally.
With grace, all Wally could say after being startled was, “Uhh.”
“What are you doing just standing around?” Sammy first asked before his eyes finally went down and noticed the kneeling engineer who was getting red in the face and refused to look him in the eye. “… You know what, I don’t want to know.” He turned on his heel, went back into his office, and slammed the door. They could hear the music player in his room turn on and muffled music echoed in the mostly empty hallway.
“What in the world did he think we were doing?” Wally asked with a naivety that made Reeve revisit the idea of hitting his head against the wall again.
“If you don’t know, that’ll be proof against any rumors that might spread,” Reeve mumbled as he finished unlocking the door. The sweet relief of the lock turning was almost enough to wash away the embarrassment from earlier.
“Rumors? You could just tell the truth,” Wally said with a shrug. When Reeve stood up and got out of the way, Wally went in to find his cleaning supplies.
This time, it was Reeve leaning against the wall next to the closet. “And let everyone know that I could break into their locked doors? No one would ever trust me after that. There’s too much unease as is.”
“You wouldn’t do that just because. You’re the biggest goody two-shoes I think I’ve met here,” Wally assured him.
It took a lot of effort on Reeve’s part to not say, “That’s what you think.” He generally was that nice and refusing to barge into other people’s business, but even as an adult, he could still be a troublemaker. He was just a lot subtler about it than other people. Instead, he said, “That doesn’t stop gossip. The moment something went missing, it would be on my head. Even if I was with Joey himself at the time the thing went missing.”
“… I guess you’re right.” Wally pulled out his dustpan when the jingle of keys falling on the floor distracted him. “Oh! There they are! I guess I locked them in here,” Wally said as he laughed. He put his arm out the doorway so that Reeve could see them hanging in his hand, and Reeve sighed.