Chapter Text
“Fuck.”
Soap was not one to actually listen to the whole “don’t be late” advice- or more so command -and yet here he was actually trying for once. Was it working? No. But was he trying? Well actually only sort of.
But here he sat, on his couch, gulping down his iced tea that he somehow got around to making. Countless times he’d gone as far as to pick up his phone and glance over his notifications.
All old ones.
“ Fuck. ”
Soap had been asked by one of his closest buddies, Gaz Garrick, to attend an after-conference party for the guy’s newest job. Gaz had been so excited to finally get a callback for his most wanted, boring as hell office job. Or at least that’s what Soap thought of it. And so when he’d been told to bring a plus one to the afterparty, he couldn’t turn it down.
“Please go, I’m begging you. I’ll- I’ll wash your laundry for a month!” Gaz had literally begged him.
Soap reluctantly agreed, but now, sitting in a tight, navy blue long sleeve and jeans, on his own very comfortable couch… he was slightly regretting it. Especially considering the fact that he had texted Gaz, asking him when he was supposed to leave, and the man had never responded.
Soap sat back a bit more on the couch, almost like he was trying to be consumed by it. His anxiety was through the roof, his leg bouncing uncontrollably. Right before he went to wack himself in the face with the tv remote to possibly knock himself out, his phone buzzed.
He grabbed his phone probably too quickly, the decently sized electronic almost flying out of his hands. His eyes widened as he read the text, his heart beating ever the more quickly.
Gaz: Hey man, sorry for the long wait, I had to stay a bit later for the conference. And uh… that means that you probably should’ve left already. The entrance to the party is on the right side of the building. Thanks again!! (Please don’t kill me ✌️)
He immediately flew off the couch, almost spilling his iced tea off the coffee table as he grabbed at his thin black jacket on the coat rack. Running a swift hand down his mohawk, he took in a deep breath and pocketed his keys from off the counter. He grabbed for his apartment door handle, twisted and locked it quickly, and within a few moments he’d already run down the stairwell and gotten to his car.
The drive to the enormous office building was full of anxiety and loud Christmas music. The snow outside had coated the dark streets, the moon glowing brightly in the distance. Soap probably should’ve paid more attention as he drove… but who's to say he would have been able to.
He was so nervous and for no reason really.
It was just a little party, nothing to get worked up over. Except for the fact that Soap had crippling anxiety. So a small party to one person looked like jumping off a cliff to him.
Once he pulled into the crowded parking lot and all but jumped out of his car, he took multiple slow steps toward the right side of the building.
In many situations, this would’ve freaked him out. The whole finding-the-building thing… but when he saw quite literal strobe lights descending from the fifty million windows of the second office building connected to the first, it wasn’t too hard to spot.
Soap took in a small breath, shaking his head a bit and trying his best not to look as freaked as he felt. He could’ve texted Gaz anything beforehand to have possibly calmed his nerves.
“Sounds good please dear god wait for me outside”
“Oh I can’t wait but don’t let me look like a fucking fool I beg of you”
“If you don’t stand outside the doors I will throttle you”
But instead he decided to act like the responsible young adult he was, and walk inside the building with confidence. Well, if you could even call it that.
Ascending the stairs was easy, but once he got to the actual party room, not too far up the stairwell, he felt like fainting. The whole area, even outside of the entrance, was filled to the brim with people.
People dancing quite inappropriately against other people and for some reason a few walls. Strobe lights all but blinding him and most likely everyone else. Drinks and cups lying everywhere. Makeout sessions, plates full of food, laughing. It looked like a mess.
But a fun mess if anything.
The music was so loud and besides the blinding neon lights, the rest of the room was quite dark. It was almost too much for him to handle.
Soap swallowed thickly, shaking off his concern, before making his way through the huge crowd on the dance floor and toward the bar. After taking a seat at some random stool, he’d almost laid his head down in his arms. This was ridiculous and he hadn’t even found Gaz yet.
The room was the size of a school gym, meaning that the man could be anywhere. Soap reluctantly sat up and pulled out his phone, hovering his thumb over the message app, when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Aye, Soap! My man, what is up?”
Soap spun around in his chair, startled, eyes wide, until he almost immediately recognized who it was. He stood a bit too quickly, pocketing his phone once more before going in for a quick side hug. Gaz looked hesitant to reciprocate but Soap pretended not to notice.
The neon lit room cascaded the man in gorgeous lighting, making him look all the more presentable. Soap gave him a gorgeous smile, adjusting his watch after he pulled back.
“Not much really.” Was Soap’s slightly nervous response, “But damn am I excited for you. How was the conference?”
Gaz smoothed his hands down his black suit, his tie a bit out of place. He smirked.
“Oh, it went amazing. Dude, I’ve made so many friends and my boss is actually a really cool guy. I don’t know, I feel welcomed already.” Gaz clapped Soap on the back before shifting back a bit more.
Soap grinned at that, crossing his arms, “Well that’s awesome to hear. Who knew you’d be hitting a home run so soon. I thought you had applied to like fifty other office jobs. You think this is… the one?”
Gaz just nodded, now seemingly distracted as his glance fell to his right at the crowd of people dancing almost concerningly aggressively, with a small laugh. He shook his head, sighing, “Yeah, yeah so um, you make yourself at home. Or I guess, have fun. And I’ll see you around, yeah?”
Soap’s smile fell a bit at his uncaring reaction but he nodded nonetheless, holding out his hand to shake Gaz’ for their small departure. Gaz gave his hand a glance and in a weird hesitant movement, shook it.
“Yeah of course, I’ll see you around, Ga-“
But then Gaz was already letting go and joining the dance party.
Soap stood there, quite literally shocked, before trying his best to awkwardly laugh it off. He took a step back, leaning against the bar top. He re-crossed his arms, eyes glittering sadly as the strobe lights bounced off of them.
He enjoyed watching the people dance, the small conversations in the corners, and the newfound love in the air. But man did it hurt for his one closest friend to be changing so much.
Deep down he knew that Gaz hadn’t actually stayed late for the conference.
He just knew.
“You good, mate?” Came a low voice from behind him, startling him out of his trance.
Soap spun around, wacking his hand on a lone barstool next to him as he did so. He winced slightly before looking up. Like actually looking up, with a whole head tilt and everything, at what was quite literally the most gorgeous man Soap had ever seen.
Or at least the top half of his face and body was gorgeous.
He had on a skull mask, a thick black one that tucked behind his ears. But his hair was blond and a bit wavy, his black t-shirt unreasonably tight around his toned upper half. His black jeans to go along with it were also tight, hugging just the right places.
Soap stood there almost in shock, probably looking worse than he had a minute ago.
After an odd silence, the man in front of him leaned a bit on the counter, his arms flexing as he palmed the glass. He raised an eyebrow, and somehow Soap could just tell the guy was smirking or something.
“Hello?” The man said a bit lower this time with a slight hint of amusement in his tone, his hand quickly moving up to snap in front of Soap’s face.
And now Soap was blushing, a bit embarrassed at his staring problem.
“Ah- shit, hey, sorry. I was uh-“ He shook his head quickly, taking a seat back down on the stool, “I’m just a bit out of it.”
“Drunk or something?” The man asked, seeming to tease him.
“Something, sure.” Soap tried to tease back, leaning his forearms on the glass.
The bartender’s glance seemed to fall onto his arms for a mere second, Soap’s muscles shifting through his shirt. He gained some confidence from it, sending the man a grin.
“Though I’d like to be a little more than something, and drunk may just be that thing.” Soap mumbled, his Scottish accent shining through.
The people around them seemed to fade as the man cocked his head down at Soap. His gaze was piercing and it was almost like he could see right through him.
“Mmm. Well, I bet I could help with that.” The man remarked, turning and grabbing for a bottle of whiskey on the shelf behind him. The glass itself was an odd red color but as he poured the drink into a thick, smaller glass, the brownish-orange liquid flowed beautifully in the light.
Or maybe Soap just thought it was beautiful because of the man who was pouring it.
Either way, it made his mouth water a bit.
“Don’t care if it’s not your type of drink, just take it-“ The man gave Soap a wink before placing the glass down in front of him, “-since it’s on the house.”
Soap laughed, taking a swig of the alcohol that seemed to burn his throat a bit as he swallowed. But it went down quickly and was almost forgotten in a mere second.
“Oh, is it now? Offering from the office?” Soap teased, leaning his head in his palm as he shifted forward.
All the bartender did was slowly shake his head in response, his eyebrows raising up in the center only slightly. The look he gave Soap was downright erotic.
Soap swallowed thickly, downing another large sip.
“I see, hah- well, thank you.”
The bartender crossed his arms, flexing slightly as he rested his own forearms on the counter. He gazed right into Soap’s eyes, seemingly trying to read him.
“Yes or no?” He said quite randomly, the register of his voice making it quite obvious he only wanted Soap to hear.
Soap slowly placed the glass down, furrowing his brows in confusion. He went to ask him what the hell he meant when the man quickly clarified, “Whiskey… yes or no?”
Still a bit dazed and confused, Soap just nodded softly, face flushing for no reason. The bartender’s closeness was doing something to him.
“Yes. I- I like whiskey. Good choice.” Soap said quietly, clearing his throat a bit.
“I know.” The man grinned, tilting his head again.
Soap couldn’t do this. The whole flirting thing? No.
“Well I uh- I should probably head out actually…” Soap murmured, taking one last sip before placing the now empty glass back down on the counter top, “I’ve got to get up early.”
The man looked a little disappointed, his eyes somehow giving it away, Soap noticed. The man sighed anyways, nodding a little.
He took his arms off the glass, fixing his shirt.
“Aye- well…” The man looked hesitant before grabbing something in his pants pocket. It was a small, white card.
“My business card, in case you’d like another drink… also on the house.”
Soap laughed, shaking his head as he reached for the card, his fingers lightly brushing the man’s- oh, no, Simon’s.
Soap smirked as his thumb traced the name on the card.
Simon Riley.
“It’s nice of you to offer, Simon , but I don’t actually work here. I don’t suppose I’d see you again considering.” Soap said, almost a bit glad.
The man was handsome, no doubt. Clearly he had a bit of charm too. But to see him constantly if he worked here? Oh, that would become a problem.
“That’s not what I meant.” Simon said, voice raspy and accent heavy. He clearly was grinning brighter now, his eyes crinkling a bit at the edges.
“Oh… w- well what did you-“
“I hope you call, I’ve gotta take some more orders.” Simon pointed to the slightly annoyed line of people to Soap’s left. He hadn’t even noticed them.
Soap just swallowed and turned to head to the exit, not even stopping to say goodbye to Gaz.
“Fuck.” He whispered aggressively to himself as he ran down the stairwell.