Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The monochrome man-, no. Whatever he is, talked and talked to the other sitting in front of him. He had just been talking about his superior’s plans for the new marketing campaign, and the advanced strategy they decided to use for said plan, it was like Forcas was just there so this guy could say it all out loud for himself. He was just officially hired not that long ago either, he had just been working with the employer on this campaign for some time now. Speaking of time, there was none. Ironic for how much this place ran on routine.

Jeez, did this guy have any hobbies or something??? It was even more mind numbing to listen to nothing but work work work on earth than Heaven. It wasn’t technically earth in whatever dimension this building was, anyway, and he didn’t exactly do those a ton. So, he supposed that it was a bit less boring than he made it out to be. He’d like to get to know this guy a bit better though, he didn’t have much on him. That damned folder he needed couldn’t have been sent to him before he needed to actually be here apparently.

And that weird warm smile grew colder each second he looked at him, like it was false but genuine at the same time. There wasn’t any use to pondering on that folder, what would there even be to write down? He didn’t believe that anyone working in this hellish building had any family left, no friends, and that’s just the employees. Who knows what the ones in higher positions don’t have left.

Sitting in this guys ‘office’, which funny enough was in the sky, reminded him of heaven all over again. But then again, there was a whole radioactive power plant somewhere in the building, he could feel it from here, and the fainter smell of something dead, so this really wasn’t anything like heaven after all. Whether this place reminded him of heaven or not didn’t matter, it just meant he was bored out of his otherworldly mind. 

Which reminded him that he was supposed to actually be listening to what this guy was saying more carefully.

”-and everyone was informed that you had the main idea, and that you would step in if anything didn’t go to plan! Correct?”

He was snapped out of his state of thinking as he straightened his posture and refocused his gaze. “Yes, yes. That is correct.”
He pulled himself together and listened to everything else the man had left to say, preparing to take any mental notes he should’ve probably taken later. He really has needed to pull himself together more recently.

”We’re looking forward to working with you! Mr…?”

”Bah, just call me Forcas. And you are..?” He extended his hand for him to shake. He could at least get something to call the employer for the time being, thanks to the lack of information, but he never heard an actual response. No way he’s never been asked that. He might actually laugh, or just feel bad. 

”Don’t worry about it.” He settled on with a smile as if that was a normal way to answer a question like that.

It’s not everyday he really gets assigned to someone without anything to them but a name, and it definitely wasn’t everyday it was someone without a damned name at all. How could he possibly be assigned to this guy if he barely even qualifies as a guy at all? Forcas is 90% sure the employer is simply an asset to this company. 

Goodness, even how he looked didn’t have much of anything special. He was nicely groomed, had a nicely fitted suit, perfectly symmetrical face, welcoming smile. Even the whole colorless look was uncommon to come across in here, like the life had been leached out of everyone. 

 He could work with it. He had to, anyway. It’s going to all work out, and this man he was assigned to will be saved, and then he could move on to the next person to save. No matter how difficult it would be to even just get the employer out of the building. He swore, no one ever really came out of the building, at least not nearly as much as there were people in here.

“So, any chance you might be free soon? I’d like to get to know my coworker a bit better.” He’d *really like to get to know this guy, instead of waiting around for that folder. Which, by the way, he’s sure will take at the very least a few days. Not surprising, he’s sure any and all information about anyone working here mysteriously vanishes or something the second they’re employed.

“Free? Oh, no, silly! I stay here to interview new applicants. I can’t just leave!” He said cheerfully with a confused grin.

Whatever, whatever. No one could resist his Irresistible Charm™, not for long. Either that, or he just looks desperate.

“Is there a chance you would be able to find time to get coffee sometime soon?” Simple enough. Beings made purely of hidden capitalist greed drank coffee, didn’t they? He’s sure that’s some kind of stereotype, actually.

“I appreciate the offer, truly, but I’m afraid I don't drink.” Shame. Too bad he forgot capitalists were, like, some kind of lizard people that snuck on earth and didn’t know how actual people worked. Except, he’s sure that this guy was an actual person at some point. So what gives? He should at least know what ‘I don’t drink’ could mean.

“Good thing coffee doesn’t have alcohol then, right?” Forcas watched as the other’s expression went from confused to something like realization. Then he glanced to the side, his irises a few shades lighter, like he was almost embarrassed. Almost.

“Yes, I suppose I could find time in my schedule for that,” He felt sort of douchey about that now. But he knew that neither of them really wanted this. He was supposed to get this done as soon as possible.

”I’ll just have to ask my supervisor about it.”

Good enough. Though he might have to pull a string or two with that supervisor. Hopefully not, though, he didn’t exactly enjoy engaging with anyone else outside of his target. He liked things to be as uncomplicated as possible. Though, the weird jobs, and the people, never give him the grace of that.

“I look forward to it already! I can already tell that this will be delightful.” He said with a cheerful smile and was met with a less equally as cheerful one back. Great first impression. He can only hope that his oh so amazing work habits win him back. Except, he supposes it’s not a bad thing if he can get him so uncomfortable that he just breaks and-... well, no, that wouldn’t work at all actually. 

He needed trust and in a situation like this. It’s a lot easier to become someone untrustworthy than get trust back. So he needed to play it cool. At least until he gets that file he needs.

He offered a nod in farewell before standing and walking over to the elevator. Either way, whatever Forcas did worked. And he knows that the man isn’t lying, he can tell. 

He half-jokingly wonders what cafe there was nearby that would suffice for a first date.

Unedited:

The monochrome man talked and talked to the man(?) sitting in front of him. He mentioned his superior’s plans for the new marketing campaign, and the advanced strategy they decided to use for said plan, (Jeez, did this guy have any hobbies or something???) it was like Forcas was just there so this guy could say it all out loud for himself. 

If there was a clock in here, he would glance at it and use some excuse like ‘Oh, look at the time.’ or maybe he had something else important to do. Alas, he had a job. But God this guy wasn’t going to heaven. There was a reasonable difference between a nun and a man practically made of capitalism. He was like a bunch of tiny little capitalists in a dull skin suit.

And that weird warm smile grew colder each second he looked at him, like it was false but genuine at the same time. Who was he trying to talk to? He was fake. No name, no hobbies, no family nor friends, nothing but some semi-sentient puppet of this unholy company.

Either he had just talked like this with others so often, so many times that he just got the hang of it, or he was actually right. He wouldn’t be too surprised if he was. Sitting in this guys ‘office’, which funny enough was in the sky, and a whole radioactive power plant somewhere in the building (he could smell it from here, and the fainter smell of something dead), he wouldn’t be surprised if their employer was their own perfect little put-together doll they had on strings.

”-And we were all told that you were going to observe everything and would step in if anything went wrong! Correct?” 

He was snapped out of his state of thinking as he straightened his posture and refocused his gaze. “Yes, yes correct.” 
He pulled himself together and listened to everything else the man had left to say, preparing to take any mental notes he should’ve probably taken later.

”I’m looking forward to working with you! Mr…?”

”Call me Forcas. And you are?” He extended his hand for him to shake. He could at least get something to call the interviewer for the time being, but he never heard an actual response, and instead watched as light confusion was mixed into the man’s expression before he felt a cold hand firmly return the gesture.

”Don’t worry about it.” He said with a smile. 

No name. How was he supposed to save him? He couldn’t sense any good in his soul (probably because he didn’t have one), but he wasn’t allowed to lose hope. That went pretty much against his whole thing, after all. It’s not impossible, he got assigned to a Roman emperor a few centuries back.

He could work with it. It’s going to all work out, and this man he was assigned to will be saved, and then he could move on to the next person to save.

He got a better look at his features, other than that grin for once. Perfectly symmetrical face, dark eyes, welcoming smile, textbook ‘welcome to the family’.

“I’ll meet back here tomorrow morning, then?” He asked as he stood up, fixing up his tie. His movement caused soft ripples in the bright blue sky, lightly brushing away any small clouds. It was very pretty, he had to admit, even with no sun in sight.

”Here? Oh, no. You won’t be seeing me for a while. This space is for interviews, after all!”

Well that wasn’t ideal, Forcas needed to stick around him to save him, didn’t he?

“Well then, would you like to…” It wasn’t ideal to ask him out either?? He was supposed to be smart and logical, what was this? Better than the original plan, apparently.

“To what?”

“…Would you be interested in getting coffee with me, by chance?” Simple enough. Beings made purely of hidden capitalist greed drank coffee, didn’t they?

”Oh, thank you! I’m afraid I don't drink.” Shame. Too bad he forgot capitalists were fucking lizard people that snuck on earth and didn’t know how actual people worked.

Good god, he almost wanted to redo that. Might just have to ruin his dignity and be a whole Prince Charming just to at least have a chance at finishing the job. How the shit was he supposed to charm him?

“Well, I was just hoping we could get to know each other a bit better. Wanted to warm up a bit, y’know?” Well that sounded more guilt-trippy than charismatic, didn’t it?

Monochrome stared at him for a second, and Forcas could be crazy but he thought he saw his eyes turn a lighter shade for a hot moment before he replied.

”I’ll have to ask my supervisor about that.”

Good enough. Though he might have to pull a string or two with that supervisor. Hopefully not, though, he didn’t feel like messing with anyone else outside of the target.

He offered a kind smile before walking over to the elevator. Guilt-tripping worked fine, then. Even if that wasn’t technically guilt-tripping. At least for now, whatever it was, it worked. He just distantly hoped it would stay that way, and he didn’t have to interact with anyone else, and that this would be easy. And work out. It had to.

Chapter Text

It’s his birthday.

A colleague of his congratulated him via the valediction of the copies she sent him, and he stared at it. The number 32 written next to it. He didn’t know what it meant, and thought it was some strange gibberish at first. He felt almost foolish to forget about it.

A small glass vase holding softly colored orchids, a contrast to the bright office and the dull… everything else.. He stared at them for some time. And more time. More time.

Oh-! He almost forgot again, he needed to finish up the employment contracts he had. Silly him. Those orchids were quite the distraction! No matter, they would wilt soon enough. Surely, they would. If they didn’t, they would cause a disturbance to his schedule.

_____________________________________________________

He held his pen between his fingers so hard he felt his hand aching, as if his hand was turning white, he was surprised that ink hadn’t exploded all over his desk. What was it with those orchids?? He’d just have to return them, but that would be rude, wouldn’t it? He couldn’t just return a gift.

The colors were just so right and friendly, but it was wrong to let it distract him from his own job. It was wrong, wasn’t it?        has never been happy with him, or anyone, not getting needed work done in time. So he needed to get it done in time. And he couldn’t waste any more time thinking about the orchids, or         , or anything other than getting work done.

He had an almost crystal clear record of turning in everything on time, and he hadn’t turned in anything late since… well he could never remember it that well.

———————————————————————

—————————-

Stacking the organized papers neatly in the corner of his desk, he glanced at the orchids for only a second before getting up to stretch for a moment.

As he brought the stack with him to the stair exit, any thoughts of the flowers on his desk faded. He’d forget about them soon enough. And they’ll wilt, and the welcoming color with darken and disappear, and he’ll forget that they were even there. Or why they were there.

He can control himself better than that, couldn’t he?

Yikes! He almost felt his smile slipping for a second there! He couldn’t have that, could he now? And right when he was going to walk into his coworker’s office to hand him his stack of papers! How embarrassing.

                            ▓ ▓ ▓

Searching through the information of millions of people was tiring, but Forcas had time. He had as much time as he needed with this job. As much as he could ever want.

It had itched distantly for a moment after he got that better look at the employer’s features, and he had remembered why just about an hour ago. Or whenever it was. It felt like an hour, but he doesn’t go off of feels anymore, does he?

L… M… N- Oh. There it was.

Norman, and the last name was scratched out. His hair was a lighter brown, eyes a dark green, pale skin, and most importantly; no smile. Completely blank face. Not nearly as bright or calm as the consistent grin on the employer’s face.

But holy shit, it looked almost refreshing in a way. Like a small wave of relief washed over him for some strange reason.

He read further down, his date of birth was scratched out as well. Hell, nearly half of his file (Well, not technically a file) was scratched out and left an ugly rotting black in its wake.

Almost no family, just a widowed mother and an older brother. Damn, he should write that down. Their names, he could find their information somewhere in here. Maybe get some more background on his target.

But, shit, the job would still be difficult. Time was all miffed there, he spent only what should have been an hour and a half in that building, but when he came back a whole week had passed. And his watch was malfunctioning.

Not even mentioning the employees and what different timelines they must’ve come from. The damned building’s been collecting people from all the way back to 1400s, at least. And for some reason it was 1973 in there, but if he read the description he was given correctly, it was supposed to be 2002.

Speaking of time, he was supposed to be organizing this temporary apartment. He wanted to do that a few days ago, but if he had to come in and out of that building constantly, he couldn’t really be reliant upon such schedules.

———————————————————————————————

It wasn’t until after he was almost halfway done with folding towels that he realized that he never gave Norman a time to meet up, or where. And who says anything about that supervisor letting their employees out? Especially their employer?? Maybe it wasn’t that much of a good idea to let anything fall into the upper board’s hands.

But alas, anxiety never did any good, did it? If anything didn’t go the way it should, then he could always go back and fix any mistakes. There was nothing to worry about, and worrying doesn’t do anything good for anyone anyway.

Going back to Norman (he had actually printed his file on paper a couple hours ago), he wondered how old he actually was. How old would he be in the building? After all this time of (allegedly) almost never leaving the building?

He could ask one of his coworkers, they would probably have an idea. Hell, if he was lucky he could disguise the get together as a birthday present or something. Most likely not, but hoping never did anything wrong.

Speaking of that, he could also fill in those blank spots on that file. If he searched around a bit more at the office, he could find a last name with no trouble. Except he didn’t really know if he could do anything like freezing time or any other weird freaky shit with the weird time zone.

Again, the building took people from all kinds of time periods. People all the way back from 1400s (or who knows how early) still working on the lower end of the job.

Talk about getting off topic. He still needed to make his bed. He really needed to stop doing that, actually.

Chapter Text

Forcas hadn’t even noticed it all before, but he almost missed the bright and sunny sky, and the warm feeling of the soft breeze on his skin (he couldn’t really feel it all that much, but it was better than the stuffy plastic-y feeling of the cursed building he just entered).

The noisy yet somehow silent space looked like it went on forever, and it probably did. He would normally be uncomfortably itchy in such a static universe of an office building. But in the need of a job getting finished, he didn’t have any room to think anything like that.

Speaking of the job, he’s spending unnecessary time on lousing around in his own head instead of actually getting things done.

Walking over to the elevator, he almost thought that people were avoiding it. Last time he used it yesterday, or last week, he supposed, it worked just fine without any problems. Minus the terrible smell.

————————————————————————————————

The plain office work goes by quickly. Awfully quick. However, no sign of Norman. He made a bit of small talk with one of the employees, and what luck, it’s his birthday. Just a couple days ago, he turned 32. Mini out-of-the-blue-birthday-present was in full swing.

Forcas wondered what day it was. He really needed to mark down what time it should be, but with the infinite amount of rooms all having their own different times would take up too much time.

And then he wondered if Norman even knew, or saw it coming. And then he started wondering how long he’d been here, or when he got here, and if his mother and brother knew he was gone or where he was.

And then he realized that he was overthinking again, and that he still had a little more work to do before he had even more work to do. And that he also needed to think ahead more, and what he was going to do after meeting with Norman.

He didn’t even have a set place to go. He was thinking of-

“Sir? Oh! There you are. Your assistance is needed in the recourse room.”

“I’ll be there in just a moment.”

————————————————————————————————

Scary (not terrifying, there was a difference) enough as it was already, although slightly thrilling, walking around a couple floors already allowed him to see the inhuman things that actually didn’t look human for once, in contrast to almost everyone else (including Norman, probably. Who the shit is just able to walk around on the sky.).

There was one, a slightly older woman, whose facial features were given an uncanny blurry appearance. And another who didn’t have eyes. It was a little unobservant of him to bother notice before.

No matter, he wasn’t required to pay any attention to them. There was really only one in particular, and he had been walking upstairs to said man’s office for the past few minutes. Shit, he better see that damn door in the next thirty seconds or he was going to have another fault in his own file. (Although, that didn’t seem like it was too much trouble if he dropped out of the job.)

When did this building even get here? Who made this labyrinth? And why was he doing the foolish overthinking thing instead of opening the door he was at?

Feeling the cold, cold metal on his skin as he turned the knob, a breeze of even colder air hit him. And finally, after as much time it took, he couldn’t tell, he could see Norman in person again.

It was a good thing to get back on track, which is probably why he felt that foreign warmth in all the freezing cold. There was a loud echo that spread throughout the area when he stepped through the threshold, causing familiar ripples in the office.

Coincidentally enough, no one else was there besides Norman. At least that made things easier and less complicated. And that made the job quicker and untroubled.

                              ▓ ▓ ▓

He didn’t really appreciate the sudden intrusion of his office. Whoever it was, he could see the ripples and hear the footsteps. He opened the middle drawer of his desk and reached for his written schedule.

His whole life working here has been written down, is being written down, and will be written down as consistent timing. And right about now would be the time the man he talked to earlier would be off. And he just remembered that said man had asked him to accompany him to coffee yesterday.

He asked his supervisor, like he said he would (lying never did anything good), and got his schedule cleared for the rest of today, and he hadn’t even picked up a pen in the past ten minutes. He didn’t really know what he was supposed to do with free time, he hasn’t had free time.

Was this some kind of birthday present? It was past his that already. How did Forcas even know about that?

————————————————————————————————

Stepping onto the concrete sidewalk in front of the office building and feeling the uncomfortably warm air hit him and the blinding sun instantly shining directly in his eyes made him want to go back inside immediately. He should never have left, he shouldn’t have even accepted the offer, but it was rude to turn down such favors.

It wasn’t until he was sitting in the passenger seat of Forcas’ car that he realized that he definitely couldn’t turn it down now, and that he was stuck. The man said that he was taking him to a more isolated coffee shop a bit further downtown.

He could probably do coffee. He hasn’t had it in a while, but a coworker told him it was good for kidneys, so he should be able to have it.

“Happy birthday, by the way.”

“Hm? Oh, thank you.” He expressed, pulling himself out of his unnecessary overthinking. Just a lighthearted expression of positivity, which was always a good thing to do.

“You doing anything this week to celebrate?”

“Well, why would I do that?” There wasn’t a need to leave the workplace just for something as trivial as that, anyway.

“Why not?”

Because he had work to do, and he didn’t wish to do anything different. Wasted necessary time. “Never saw the use of it.”

“Hm.”

                                 ▓ ▓ ▓

The conversation was nearly nonexistent. And for the first he could just barely stay patient until their arrival at the coffee shop happened. Shit, he was considering just spilling the whole saving thing and just getting it out of the way. Norman would figure out at some point anyway, even if he wasn’t exactly supposed to.

Surely, he didn’t look regular among everyone else, even if some people else had the color palette of a chromophobe. And while the thousands upon thousands of employees he passed by didn’t notice, surely Norman would after looking at him face to face more than once for the amounts of extended time they’ve spent together.

Point is, he would notice that Forcas didn’t look like anyone normal outside of the building. Well, he didn’t look like anyone else either, with his constant greyscale looking like some sort of filter.

Pulling into a small parking lot right next to the coffee shop, the walk to said shop was equally as awkward. He opened the door, causing a small bell to ring. He allowed Norman to go in first before walking inside himself.

It was a fairly small, cozy place. They picked a small two-person table farther away from any windows to sit at, a waitress walking over towards them almost instantly. They both ordered small coffees, black, and once the waitress walked away towards the counter the awkward silence welcomed itself back in.

Tough decisions, tough decisions. Blow his whole cover just to get rid of the awkward quietness (or make it more awkward) or just sit there staring at the man until something for them to talk about magically comes up.

Now that he’s thinking about it more, theres no way that Forcas would be believed. At all. ‘Yeah I’m an angel and God sent me to come and save you’ please, not even a psych patient would believe him.

But he needed something to make Norman stick around, he didn’t want to make anymore migraine-inducing time traveling. That Godforsaken building had already wasted more of his time than he wanted.

“Anything interesting happening in the office recently?” Simple enough.

“Oh, nothing much. Just the regular.”

“And what would the regular be?” Working the one day at the office was a good thing, to both not only come in contact with Norman, but also get to know the people the man worked with a bit better. And asking questions about said workplace gave him a chance to know what Norman thinks of his coworkers.

“Looking over documents, signing employment contracts, signing more contracts, same old same old.”

“Mm. Don’t mean to interview you or anything, but how long have you been working there?”

He prepared to make some kind of mental note for any information he could fill out in Norman’s file, even though he probably should have done it earlier. But Forcas literally needed to actually start a conversation for him to begin talking. For someone whose job was mainly asking people questions and appearing social, he was surprisingly introverted.

“Oh, I can’t remember. Must be around… 8? 9 years?”

Well, then he could only imagine how far back of a period he was from.

Chapter Text

Sitting in his office, looking over more résumés for future interviews. Well, more scanning over them than anything. There were many of them, and many other things he needed to do. A few things had piled up since that outing.

He was a fast-enough reader, wasn’t he? Nothing he could possibly miss.

Plus, that was how he always did it. And it was too much work to adjust to any unnecessary changes made, simply taking just about 20-30 seconds to read through everything was the most efficient way to do it.

Examining the last couple of papers, he set them all aside to the corner of his desk and carried on with something else.

It was quick, but he noticed that the gifted orchids hadn’t wilted. Not even a little. Bright and brilliant yet beautiful and gentle as they still were.

                          ▓ ▓ ▓

He stared at the printed file, no more than a couple spots filled in, leaving so many remaining empty. He filled in his age with pen so far, but anything like the year or date he was born or anything else actually important was left untouched.

However, he had gone through Norman’s older brother, Oliver’s, file and discovered that he was born in Wielkopolska. He wrote that down in pencil. Additionally, Oliver grew up Lutheran, he wrote that down in a notepad containing separate notes.

He slouched in his chair, perplexed. He didn’t really do puzzles, he was used to having all the information needed right in front of him. If he was lucky, he would have a face-to-face encounter with him next Wednesday.

Turning to his last option, the blocky computer in the bedroom, seemed like his last option. Though incredibly slow, he could at least see if there was any public information on Norman, or if he was deemed missing like he had originally thought.

————————————————————————————————

Two whole hours and almost nothing. Two whole other articles for other men named Norman, one who was arrested for some Florida Man kind of shit, and another one who was some actor.

For now, he would have to call it a night. Not really a certain someone’s favorite thing when angels don’t blend in well enough, and staying up all night just to search for someone who may or may not have gone missing years upon years ago is considered blending in-able for a grown ass man.

Stretching his arms above his head as he stood up, shutting the computer down before he walked down the hallway to the small bedroom on the far right. On his bed, he spotted the suit he wore for the interview a few weeks ago displayed across the sheets. Shit, he should probably wash that before he forgets to.

Grabbing the three piece suit and just simply throwing them in the laundry room for now, he felt some sort of all too familiar exhaustion slowly fill in. ‘Alright, one cigarette then bed.’ He told himself.

Well, maybe just a few more than one. None of it would hurt him, anyway. But he wouldn’t be able to make it to the balcony just standing in the middle of the hallway.

————————————————————————————————

Scratch that, just a few cigarettes. First time he opened the pack he bought, actually. What progress he’s making. Progress of what? He’s hasn’t even set a goal to make progress of that includes smoking at all.

The actual goal in mind was Norman, no, saving Norman. And he had all the time in the world to make as much progress as it takes. And so far, he silently hoped that it wasn’t too much giving the recent dead ends. But he also knew that it would always require progress, more or less.

Thinking about that more, Norman wasn’t human, at least not anymore. His skin, ignoring the grey tone, was impossibly cold and his expressions just weren’t right. But he looked perfectly fine in the picture his file had provided, so the blasphemous building had obviously done something (great analysis, genius. Really outdone yourself). And the infeasible amount of employees also taking a part in the greyscale, he would bet money on the assertion that he could find any of them perfectly colored in their files as well.

Putting out the cigarette on the balcony railing, he walked back inside and stored the pack inside his nightstand. And it would be the greatest thing to ever happen to him if he could just stop his mind from wandering whenever, but alas.

Maybe all the employees didn’t get a moment when the sun disappeared, or if they even saw the moon, or the sun in general. Or maybe they do and just don’t sleep. That would be horrifying, actually. If you just joined something normal like a job or a club and you didn’t even know that it would be the last time you slept.

Good thing this wouldn’t be the last time he slept.

                          ▓ ▓ ▓

Stacking any papers he had already finished into separate piles, the thin sheet of one glided across his skin, creating a dark mark on his ring finger. He had hardly even noticed, really. But once it became evident, he paid no mind. A small paper cut never hurt anyone. (But the distant headaches he’s been having for a while did)

No liquid leaked out, it never did. But that didn’t matter, it was a good thing. Didn’t make as many messes as it would have.

And then he felt his smile drooping and that’s when he remembered why he didn’t think about that anymore. He loved this job, and he was grateful that he had it and had gotten so far. Besides, it wasn’t worth getting upset over something so trivial, anyway.

Going back to the much needed paperwork in front of him, clearing any thoughts of the cut, he thought about the man that had come in recently. Insignificant as it was, he also remembered that the schedule had been written down for him to come back to the office soon.

Maybe he wouldn’t bother him next time, or at least knock on the door before coming in. Very unappreciated. Speaking of him, he never asked what the bandages wrapped around the side of his face were for. It was probably rude to ask about it, either way.

And he didn’t even want to touch on the topic of that outing. He never wanted to leave the building again if that was what would happen if he did. Forcas had made a joke about how he didn’t ask a lot of questions despite him being an interviewer, and he didn’t really care if he was being too quiet. He didn’t exactly want to be there in the first place. And he wanted to finish the paperwork instead of wasting time thinking. He should talk to his supervisor about that if it was such a problem.

That reminded him, he needed to talk to his supervisor about enforcing stricter rules on smoking. The ashy smell had even become apparent to him, even, so it was clearly obvious to the employees.

                         ▓ ▓ ▓

Taking a sip of the hot beverage he made as he stood at his balcony, lighting yet another cigarette while looking out at the sunrise was a rarer experience that was one of his favorites. He could forget everything he had to do in just a matter of time. Sure, not something that was really wanted of him, but that was forgotten about as well.

But anyway, he was going back to the office on Tuesday, which was in two days. And he also needed to do a few chores, which he thought of abandoning for a moment before he remembered a few decades ago when he had a job during 1994 and an imperiled unexpectedly came over. It only takes a couple hours, it would be worth it.

Oh, and the suit he threw in the washer last night. Honestly, he forgot if six-hours-ago-him even washed it properly. Maybe present him was lucky.

————————————————————————————————

Spoiler alert, he wasn’t.

Walking down the street at seven in the morning wearing a white t-shirt and sweatpants was not one of his favorite experiences. He would have to go to a tailor shop and get a completely new suit because his dumbass forgot to put it in a mesh bag beforehand.

Maybe it wasn’t as bad as he was making it out to be, he didn’t really want to wear the same suit he did the last times he went to the office. It was more convenient, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to leave an impression that he had more than one suit at home. Shit, all this constant thinking about useless things was tiring. He needed a cigarette when he got back.

Chapter Text

Knocking firmly on the door in front of him, he heard nothing but silence before a faint invitation to come in. He stepped inside, causing familiar ripples once again before he closed the door behind him. Damn, third time that Norman has seen him so far and he already looks tired of him.

“I’m busy at the moment, Forcas.” Well, that didn’t exactly matter to him. He wouldn’t need to worry about any of that once he could charm his way through that exterior.

“I can help you with it later.” He offered, stopping to stand a couple yards behind the other’s chair. He was hoping he could get a little less awkward with Norman this time, and the goal for the next couple of weeks was to get enough trust that he could bring the man back to his apartment. Best not to say that part out loud, though.

“Why do you want me to go out with you?” He asked straightforwardly, setting down the pen he was previously using. He thought about it for a moment, quickly building up an excuse. Honestly, though, he should’ve thought of one before.

“Well- I just would like to get to know you is all.” Fabulous. Who knows, though. Might work on him. There was a fair couple moments of silence before Forcas heard a faint sigh and shortly afterwards, a response.

“I don’t see why not, then.” The angel took a step forward, just enough to see the remaining papers on Norman’s desk. Then, he noticed the dozens of other papers stacked in different sections of the desk. ’What, does he just do nothing but do paperwork when theres no interviews to do?’ he thought to himself.

“I’ll meet you out the door.” He walked towards the door he came in, hearing scribbling of a pen before he stepped out and closed the door behind him. And then, his favorite part, he walked down the flights of stairs to the lobby and waited by the entrance. He originally thought of waiting outside, but then he remembered that a few minutes could result in hours of waiting, and he decided otherwise.

A few minutes went by, or what it probably was, at least, and then a couple more. And then he noticed a familiar face walking out of the elevator door. He smiled sweetly, going as far as to take the interviewer’s hand and place a soft kiss on his knuckle.‘Too much charm, maybe?’ He questioned himself before he saw the man’s smile soften up slightly.

“Such a gentleman, hm?” Oohh, good sign. Probably. Preferably. “Whenever it counts.”

He opened the large bronze door, letting Norman walk through the door first. The ride to a small bar was quiet, but less awkward than last time nonetheless. He asked a couple of questions, each of them getting a similar response every time.

“Where were you born?” Knowing the answer already, he half expected the other to say the same thing. ”I don’t know” or “I never thought of it”

“Fairly sure it was somewhere in… Europe? Central Europe, somewhere around there.” Well, at least he remembered that. Honestly, his grown ass almost wanted to get onto pointless first-grade level questions like ‘What’s your favorite color???’ or something. At least that would make it seem like he was closer to Norman than he actually was to others, like that ominous boss he’s heard of a bit ago.

“Really? When did you move here?”

“Well, I can’t really remember all that well. I must’ve been at least twenty or so.” So he probably moved here for college or something, or maybe because of something at home that happened. Though, he knew which one was more likely.

He simply hummed in acknowledgement, turning his gaze back to the road. It was silent once again for another moment or so.

“What about you?” Surprising, honestly. First time he’s asked him a question since the interview. Except he didn’t have an answer to that, because he couldn’t really say that he was from here either. He didn’t know much about this particular space, he’d been to thousands of locations dozens of times.

“Oh, I was born in New Hampshire. I moved here when I was around sixteen, though.” So he was supposed to have lived here for around eighteen years, as he was supposedly almost 35. Matched up well enough, minus the part that he still didn’t know enough about the city quite yet.

“New Hampshire? I don’t think I’ve been there before. What’s it like?” He asked with a hint of curiosity in his tone. “Cold. One night, it went down to negative twelve degrees.” That part wasn’t a lie, at least. He remembered just a couple decades ago when that shit actually happened, and the roads were completely frozen over.

“What? No it did not, that sounds miserable.” He said with a lightheartedly joking tone, first time he’s ever heard him talk like that before.

“It was miserable.”

“Alright, silly question, most likely, but do you have a daughter? I believe I heard a coworker say something about it when I was dropping something off to him.” Damn, he forgot he said that to one of the employees.

Using some magical girl looking ass manifestation, he reached for his wallet and opened it up to show a picture of the nun he visited just a few months ago. She was almost 20 at this point, but she looked young enough to pass as his teenage daughter.

“Oh, she looks just like you. How old is she?” He glanced at the picture himself for just a second before looking back towards the road, and could just barely notice the similarities pointed out. Maybe that was also a pro to using her picture.

“She’s almost sixteen, her birthday is in two months.” Damn, he is finally getting good at this lying game about now. Except now Norman might think that he has a wife now, which honestly wouldn’t work for his original plan.

He pulled into the small parking lot in front of an only slightly larger building, once again opening the front door to the bar for the other before going inside himself. The place was almost entirely empty, only two people, not including the bartender. There was a light aroma of firewood and fig. Original, he had only smelt that about 20 times.

Still, not a bad candle to use. And he noticed that it practically hit Norman in the face with how he reacted to it, his face scrunched up slightly and his expression mixed into bitterness and confusion. Had he not had any candles in the office of something? God, maybe it was more miserable there than he thought.

“Does it smell nice in here?” He questioned only a fraction sarcastically, walking beside the other to the counter. There was a nice pattern etched into the wood that matched the walls.

“What is that..-?” No candles??? How dull.

“Probably fig and something else, maybe firewood. Do you not like it?”

He didn’t answer for a few seconds, seemingly taking everything around in. Come to think of it more, it might be more unfamiliar territory that he was bringing the other man into than he had originally thought. Clearly, last week had been the first time in who knows how much time that he’s even left the building, and everything was nearly 30 years in the future of the majority of the buildings.

But another thing he noticed was the strange substance on his hands. Definitely something he should have paid attention to earlier. It wasn’t a liquid, it felt more powdery and crumbly than it did wet. Faintly gray, like-

“I don’t think I’ve seen that kind of candle before.” Did he mean a firewood & fig candle or a candle in general? God, how long was he actually in that building?

“Can I buy you a drink, perhaps?” He offered. (Quite humbly, may he add.)

                           ▓ ▓ ▓

One drink wouldn’t hurt.

“Of course.” The bartender eventually came back around while they were chatting, and while Forcas greeted the man and joked for a moment, his gaze wandered off to the items on the counter. There were some napkins, several metal cups, and a couple bottles here and there. There was also another particular thing that drew his attention, a small plastic figure, a little farther from the other two, with an almost comically large head that seemed like it was slightly detached from the lower half.

He looked away at something else after just a few seconds, it was rude to stare at people’s things like that. He watched the bartender grab a few bottles off the large wooden built-in shelf behind the counter as Forcas stood next to him, gesturing for the employer to join him.

“Ever been here before?” The other asked, leaning against the counter. “No.” That was too blunt of an answer. “Have you?” That was a question he found himself asking constantly, as the other man had so much to ask yet he had nearly nothing in return. So turning questions back at him was his best option.

“A few times, it’s not far from my apartment.” He glanced back at the little figure for just a split second without a single thought, but the other man looked behind him towards the small doll himself, before turning his attention back to him.

“You interested in the bobble head?” He asked jokingly, and yet another period of silence followed close behind. He wasn’t that interested in it, truly. It just looked funny was all.

“That’s a silly name.”

“Do you want one?” He couldn’t exactly tell if that one was another joke or not, but it could cause the conversation to go stale again if he didn’t respond the right way. It didn’t sound like a joke.

“You don’t have to.”

Any response that would come from Forcas was interrupted by two drinks placed right in front of them. A plain glass of whiskey with a few ice cubes next to a narrow necked, wide bowled glass holding a colorful margarita with a yellow umbrella in it.

He took the glass of whiskey, swirling it lightly as he watched the ice slide around while the other took the margarita. It looked almost like a bunch of colored wax was melted and then frozen together. Come to think of it, it’s been a while since he had a drink. He could barely even remember what whiskey had tasted like, how silly.

Taking a sip, he noted that it tasted slightly sweet, with a hint of bitterness every now and then. It was a rush of familiarity that he didn’t get often, but it felt nice. Really nice.

The first time in some time, he felt quite relaxed. More relaxed than usual. Not that it threw him off at all. It was warm and after just a moment, he found himself asking Forcas if he could get another drink.

Two drink turned to three, which became four, and somehow, fifth glass (or was it the sixth?) and it was getting darker outside the bar. The other man was on a third drink, a different one from the first. A blue colored liquid with a lemon sat on the rim, salt and sugar coated the rim as well.

He felt tired. Watching his coworker look up at the clock on the wall, stretch his arms above his head for a second and stand up straight. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a wallet he swore he remembered, and placed $50 on the counter.

“Ready to head out?” He didn’t even know of he was, he felt exhausted, too much so to go back to the office right now.

“Mhm.” He replied in a fairly dull manner, holding his head in his hand.

“I can drive you back, if you’d like. Or, I can drive you to my place and you can sober up before I drop you off.” What? He wasn’t drunk. Why would he need to get sober?

“I’m not drunk.”

                          ▓ ▓ ▓

He honestly couldn’t tell if Norman was sleeping or just resting with his eyes closed as he drove back to his apartment. Forcas hoped that he would stay awake, because carrying him inside would be awkward if he woke up.

He pulled into the parking lot of the apartment as the other sat up and rubbed his face gently, looking out the window as confusion washed over his face. His eyes half-lidded and his movements slowed.

“Come on, I’m freezing out here.” At least he thought so. Colder than inside the car, obviously. He shut his door before he walked over to the other side of the car to open Norman’s, standing there for a few seconds as the other got out drowsily.

Instead of asking any questions Forcas thought he would get asked, he followed the angel up the building’s stairs to the apartment. He waited by the door for a short moment, as the other had fallen slightly behind, then he closed and locked the door behind both of them on the way in.

Yet another expression of confusion shone through once the man looked at the unfamiliar surroundings. Walking over to the employer and gently guiding him to the couch, he set him on one side while he sat on the other end. It was only a matter of seconds until he heard evened breathing and still movement.

God, he’d have to do so much paperwork, actually.

————————————————————————————————

He doesn’t really have anything out of the ordinary when he wakes up in the morning. He thought about what the plan was when Norman woke up, if he wanted to eat something before Forcas brought him back to the office. He went through the next half hour almost completely on autopilot.

He switched out any laundry he had, he folded the dry clothes and put them away, and he made coffee for him and Norman before he woke up. He was yet again confused when he opened his eyes to see the apartment he was in, instead of the familiar office. Forcas remembered when he had thought about the sleep schedules of the workers in the building, and he wondered if this was the first time, in God knows how long, that he’s fallen asleep.

And then there was the thought of all the other thousands upon thousands of employees at the company. Why was he sent to save this particular one? Why only one? Would he come back after Norman and save the others as well? What if he didn’t? Why would he only save one?

Well, if he kept going he would probably end up questioning God in just a matter of time. And that wasn’t acceptable.

He asked Norman how he was doing, got a vague answer, and handed him a cup of coffee. He caught himself staring for just a few seconds, and he noticed the hand that he was holding his cup with, the gray color was noticeably fainter than before. He looked back at his own hand, the one he found the gray substance on, and it was still there. Just barely, but there. Interesting.

Could end up being a problem though, he didn’t exactly want the empty gray to rub off on him. Why was that, actually? His right hand was faint enough it was almost white, and theres no way he could’ve gotten that much color off of him with just a couple touches here and there. He honestly just hopped that it washed off.

He’d have to write that down in those notes later, that the gray could come off, and that it rubbed off on others (or at least him).

Speaking of Norman, he needed to take him back to the office building in the next hour or so.

                         ▓ ▓ ▓

He didn’t want to open his eyes, to be honest. The lights were too bright, and they were shining in his eyes, and it was too stuffy in here. His head ached, much worst than it ever had in a while. He smelled coffee, a staple in the workplace, but when he opened his eyes finally, he wasn’t at the office anymore. He didn’t remember being here before, and then he remembered where he was and why he was here.

Well, he couldn’t exactly let anyone know about this. It wasn’t ideal to drink before work, and it definitely wasn’t to be in someone’s house when he barely even knew said person. Well, he knew he could trust him, though, because he was a part of the company.

And he could trust him because he was driving him back to the office. And because he once again opened the door for him before going inside himself. And because while they were standing in the elevator, Forcas brought an arm around his waste and pulled him close before placing a light kiss to the corner of his mouth. And then he went in for a proper one, and the employer didn’t stop him.

He gripped the man’s light hair tighter as the kiss deepened, before quickly letting go to slap him across the face. A wave of awareness hit him as he stared at him for just a few seconds, taking in the sight of his lustrous eyes and the way Forcas still firmly held his hands on his hips even after all that. How could he just do something so vulgar, and in a public space? Disgusting. And vile. He thought he was going to step away from his grasp, demand that he let go, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He went in again, biting at Forcas’ bottom lip as he wrapped his arms around the back of his neck once again. This broke so many rules, rules that he stood by for so long he couldn’t even remember but God, he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t help himself right now. He couldn’t help himself when he almost couldn’t breathe for the first time in forever, or when he felt like he wanted to hit him again even harder and stay in the man’s hold for an eternity and then some.

He wasn’t supposed in here, actually. And he wasn’t supposed to even go out at all. And he had things to do, and there were things that were piling up because he’s not doing them instead of making out with a coworker. Or using his hands on him at all, especially inside of the workplace. But he felt the best he ever has in a long time, when the man before him put his hands all over him like some greedy savage.

It felt so much longer than it probably was, when he was ravished with kiss after kiss while being backed up against the wall. He gripped his hair tighter with one hand while the other dug into the man’s shoulder. He tasted the apparent smokiness on his mouth, along with the bitter sickly sweetness, which instantly reminded him of the annoying smell from the office and the recklessness of last night. A reminder of more than one gross habit.

And then he opened his eyes to see the soft glow of the sunlight shining through the balcony windows, sat up, and instantly laid back down after his aching headache hit him almost instantly. The smell of coffee waking him up almost instantly.

Chapter Text

The car ride was nearly as silent as the first one they shared weeks ago, both looking different directions entirely. He thought that, maybe, Norman was just on edge from last night. And that was fine, he was willing to be patient.

He was just a few miles or so away from the office, and it was mostly clear sky this morning. But seven in the morning could only get so warm.

“Should we just keep this between us, then?” He asked, cutting through the tension like a hot knife to butter. It looked like it almost startled the other before he turned his attention from the window to Forcas. It took only a mere six seconds for him to reply this time, faster than any of the times he’s answered a question that’s been asked so far.

“That would be the best decision.” He can’t help but remember the line of thoughts he had last night, and he couldn’t really understand fully. This theme of thinking back to the same thoughts he’s already went back on more than once got old fast. But it was either Norman wasn’t as talkative in the morning, or it was the theory that he actually hasn’t slept since last night.

He could keep himself stuck on Norman for as long as he wanted once he dropped off said man, but he had something to do at the moment and he couldn’t have any distractions until he got it done. Then he can think of nearly anything he wanted.

Except for the notes and the file, he needed to write down the few things he learned yesterday. And the gray residue had hardened instead of washed off earlier, and that wouldn’t be much of a big deal if it didn’t itch so much. He ignored it for now, but he couldn’t really think about his hand at all unless he wanted it to come back.

Once they arrived at the office building, he continued the newly formed habit of opening the door for Norman, said his goodbyes, and drove back to his apartment. His hand began to itch again, and it was as irritating as any itch could be. And he remembered that he hadn’t even made anything to eat yet. He didn’t need to, obviously, but it was something he always did.

It was only about 7:30 or so about now, he could still make something. He hadn’t thought about what he would do for lunch, though. He skipped that one often.

Going on autopilot once again, he unlocked the front door and closed it behind him upon entering, sat at the kitchen island and wrote down a few things. Shit, everything down to the gray splotches to the candle was written down in ink, even if it wasn’t deemed important he wanted to write down everything about him. Oh, and the subtle interest in the bobblehead back at the bar. He should get one for Norman.

He’s gotten several things for hundreds of people he met for the purpose of getting close enough to them, this was no different. Probably something more expensive as they went along, or maybe not. Who knows. Shit, without Norman around he didn’t really have a lot to do except for waiting around until he went back to the office.

He wouldn’t even exactly know if anything went wrong after he dropped the other man off until Thursday this week. It was ideal to know what was going on the whole time on any jobs he did, but he didn’t exactly have a way of doing such right now. But it would be fine, and it was fine, because he was willing to be patient.

                          ▓ ▓ ▓

“That would be the best decision.” He didn’t even know if it was, it wasn’t right to lie. And it wasn’t right to that much time off work without informing his superior firsthand, or to drink before work, or to drink as much as he did. And he didn’t want to leave the office again, because what he did was way out of line and he wouldn’t have done any of it if he hadn’t left.

But even with the painfully apparent headache and the unfamiliarity of all of it, it felt nice in the moment. It felt really nice while it lasted. And when they arrived at the office building and got out of the car, Forcas opened the door for him once again. 

He didn’t need to do that, it was already more than enough for him to take him places and drive him back afterwards, but he kept doing these small things that were just that considerate for no reason. It was silly to think so much of such small gestures, but it was appreciated.

He wanted to thank Forcas, for getting him one of his first drinks in a while and letting him sleep at his apartment after and driving him back and opening the door for him, but he just simply said his goodbyes and walked back inside. That was rude of him. He could’ve said a small thank you, but he didn’t. He can thank him next time, though, because he doubts this is the last time he sees him.

————————————————————————————————

Stepping out of the elevator, he glanced around his everlasting office and the blue sky, the never ending amounts of clouds, and then the orchids on his desk. The blueish purple flowers had stayed there and hadn’t moved since they got there. Why were they still there? They should’ve welted by now, flowers always welt after sometime.

But he didn’t stay on the plant for long, and his attention shifted to the pile of paperwork on his desk. Well, he supposed he’d simply send a few to Forcas’ apartment. He offered first, after all. He should write a small letter to go with it as well, and thank him.

But for now, he should work on everything he left behind. Who knows how many people are waiting for these to be turned in for them. Goodness, that headache would not leave, would it?

                          ▓ ▓ ▓

He set down the pen and took a few seconds to stare at the many notes he had filled out with the tons of extra information and the little, much more useful information. That was fine, though. He had as much time as he wanted. He could take Norman out a hundred times if he needed, hell, a thousand if he wanted to.

But maybe he was getting ahead of himself there, if he spent that much time around Norman he would get too attached. Any upcoming relationship was almost entirely professional. Wasn’t like he didn’t enjoy going out, he always liked getting out of the house once in a while.

But he didn’t want to waste time justifying this maybe-by-chance-purely-professional-romantic relationship. And he didn’t want to think out loud that he wanted to dwell on the building’s sheer irrationality, but it just cane to him.

It obviously didn’t follow any rules of time, because even with the somewhat consistent time of the lobby and the office floors, every room had their own time and date, if any. Like Norman’s office was just simply the sky, the sky didn’t have any set date. And aside from that, the people they hired were never from orderly dates. For example, there could be an intern from the 1930s and the next could be from, say, the 1860s or something.

For an office so strict on their employees, they acted like it would kill them to follow the proper rules of time. He should go out more, this was depressing.

To get out of a just beginning never ending cycle of ‘oh my goodness theres just so many things wrong with a barely hidden capitalist system that is sugarcoated into an office building’ he remembered that there was, conveniently, a florist who owned a shop a block or two down. Last time he got close enough to Norman’s desk, he spotted purple orchids that faded into a sort of periwinkle. Orchids were very pretty, after all, no big surprise that the employer had them on his desk.

It made him realize that his apartment was blandly plant-less, in contrast to any past house he had stayed in. Even for just a couple months, there was always some form of plant around. He enjoyed ferns or cacti, because they were fairly low maintenance and he could leave them by themselves for long enough.

But he enjoyed a few flowers here and there, like Nigellas or marigolds, and he was willing to bring in a few kinds if Norman liked them. He should write ‘maybe likes orchids/flowers’ down. Or maybe he should make a whole separate list for gift ideas.

————————————————————————————————

He doesn’t think that coming up with gifts to give the man should be difficult whatsoever, but he stared at the two things he had written down. Shit, they were both assumptions too. He wasn’t even 100% on them. It’s not something he needs to worry about for long, though, he could just ask next time he saw Norman. Which would be quite soon, actually, and he should probably do something with the place if he comes over again.

Oh, and he needed to decide what he would do for dinner tonight. Maybe he should take Norman out to dinner next time.

                         ▓ ▓ ▓

He decided against sending anything to Forcas, he could just make him do any paperwork he had next time the man came in. Which would be soon enough. He could just do it before they leave the building again, because the chances are that he’s going outside after Forcas gets off.

Which wasn’t something he thought about much. Because there wasn’t anything to think about it, though, was there? It was just simply a friendly outing, something that’s only even happened twice. And Forcas was a friend, a friend he could trust, because he trusted him enough to sleep at his apartment overnight and get taken back to the office afterwards.

And because friends buy drinks for each other and notice when they’re staring at something excessively. And one of them can open the door for another person every time a door came up. Or they can stare at the other for a minute or two, and they can stand next to each other in an elevator. They can wonder about how their hair actually feels.

Anyhow, a friendship doesn’t take too much time away from important work.

He reached over to take hold of the coffee mug on his desk, taking a sip without hesitation. It was just straight black coffee, like everyone else had their coffee (he assumed.) And it tasted terrible, absolutely disgusting. But he’d drank over half of it by now anyway, because he decided, ever since he and Forcas went to the coffee shop, that he suddenly liked coffee. It was the first time he’d even had coffee in, goodness, he didn’t even know.

The menu itself had overwhelmed him with all the colors and words and ingredients and little drawings all over it, he just asked for regular coffee. And it was horrible, but he drank all of it. It was just a small one, and he didn’t want to make it seem like he was ungrateful after Forcas drove him all the way there and paid for him to get something.

But he would drink all that nasty coffee, he would do it dozens of times just to make it seem like he actually liked coffee. He’d make himself like it if it meant Forcas wouldn’t feel bad for getting him a drink he hated. Scratch that, he didn’t hate coffee at all. It was his favorite, actually, and he would drink it every time he had work to do.

And he had a lot of work to do.

                          ▓ ▓ ▓

He wanted to stop by a couple places before he went in tomorrow, but he should probably hit one today and the other on his way to work. There was this one smaller shop he had seen on the street a few blocks away from the apartment that he was about 90% sure had some kind of bobblehead in there. And then, of course, an even smaller flower shop that was closer to the office.

It was safe to believe that he didn’t have to ask for a bouquet that would take to long, because he had seen a few displays in the window of multicolored orchids and roses and such. But he would need to head over early, like early, early. The shop opened about an hour or two earlier than most, around 7:30AM, but he would still be a few minutes late more likely than not.

Thinking of the time, he remembered that he had time to do anything. He also had time to do anything several days aside from this one. But this particular day, he felt the warm rush of motivation this morning when he was making french toast for breakfast. Maybe it was because he liked giving gifts to people, even if it was just something he used to get closer to people he was assigned to.

He learned that about himself quite recently, actually, when he noticed the pattern. Being a completely sentient, mostly freethinking (unlike some people) immortal being gave him a good amount of time to notice such things. And it was honestly terrifying sometimes, it was terrifying to think about his flaws every time he wasn’t doing something with his mind. And it was terrifying to think more about how it would never end and he was stuck with this constant train of thought.

God, he needed a cigarette right about now.

————————————————————————————————

Make that four, because he deserved it anyway. He hadn’t smoked a cigarette for the past three days, just a few wouldn’t do anything. Any amount of smoking wouldn’t do anything to him, no less than a sore throat for a day or two at most. He didn’t know why everyone back home disliked it so much.

But there wasn’t anyone from home that was here, watching him, was there now? It would be a problem if he was wrong, but he wouldn’t really get in any trouble if he was caught smoking on his free time while on a job. He’s done it so many times he couldn’t help, he’s smoked with the very people who said job was dedicated to in the first place, it wasn’t a big deal.

And he was definitely proving it wasn’t a big deal by having to justify it to himself. He rarely gets anything good from overthinking in any way about such foolish things. Plus, he had a shop he needed to hit. And said shop closed early on Thursdays and Fridays.

Tomorrow, he would simply walk into his office (after knocking, Norman wasn’t happy the last time he walked into without knocking) and give him the things he got for him. Which was going to be a small bobblehead and a bouquet of orchids and roses (he had decided to add his own favorite flower, roses, because he wanted to and because they actually looked quite nice together). Maybe something like some candy if he could. But he didn’t know if Norman was allergic to anything, so that idea was in the air.

He snuffed out the cigarette on the balcony railing and walked back inside, calmed at the newly formed plan. Everything would work out just fine.

Chapter Text

Happy new year guyssss so it’s rlly funny actually because the ao3 author curse caught up to me and I’ve written close to nothing but I’m gonna pull a CoryxKenshin and put this on hiatus but dwwwww I’ll be back soon enough if I don’t get the next chapter out by Valentines Day send out a search team for me xoxox 🎀🎀

YA’LL give me a bit more time I have a couple thousand words rn but it’s not done OKAY Promise it’ll be out before March

Chapter Text

“See you later today ♡ ”

Was written in fine ink on a small piece of paper next to a slim black bobblehead and a small bouquet of orchids and a few small roses. He set the letter back down on his desk and stared at the flowers for a moment. He didn’t want to crowd his desk with vases for all these flowers he was suddenly receiving.

And now, all he had at the moment was to wait for more things to do, he had done everything he had on his desk. One of the very few downsides to focusing on all these work he had instead of anything else; he didn’t know exactly what to do with the rare occasion he had free time. Even weirder, —that feeling since the last time they went out, when Forcas took him to his apartment and it was dark out, and he closed his eyes and seeing light out the next time he opened them — it hasn’t left since then. In fact, it gets worse the longer he goes on ignoring it.

He finds himself closing his eyes for a few seconds longer than he would, and a light sting replaced the temporary comfort when he opened them. Squinting from his bright office, which was strange because it has been his office for who knows how long, he leaned back in his chair just a bit further as he continued to stare at the flowers that practically littered his desk. At least it wasn’t distracting him of anything this time.

                             ▓ ▓ ▓

Knocking for the third time on the now familiar door, Forcas became more and more confused. Surely, Norman would have at least said something by now? He hasn’t seen him around the building at all, but who knows how far it goes. Looking down at the brass doorknob, thinking about how upset the employer would be knowing he’d come in without permission once again, he wrapped his hand around the cold metal and turned it.

The sight he saw the second he opened the door was ironically peaceful. The perfectly soft sky pared with the dark wooden desk arranged with delicate flowers. But what tied it all together was the colorless man sitting in the chair behind said desk, head in his crossed arms. It was quiet in here, much more quiet than the faint sound of papers being moved around and pens scribbling.

He stepped through the door, creating a ripple in the space as if he threw a stone into a pond of still water, and one stone after another as he walked closer to the desk.

It was as nice as it was confusing to look at, this was probably the second time Forcas had seen him sleep. But last time he hadn’t gotten the chance to really look right at him while he was asleep. He sounded like a weirdo for thinking that, but he truly was curious about Norman’s newfound sleep habits. Unhealthy, for how human he was, for sure, but it was also a good thing that he was sleeping at all.

They were suppose to be driving to a dinner reservation right now, but he supposed they could wait a bit longer. He could always make another reservation, anyway.

Walking closer to the point he was standing right beside the desk, and his gaze shifts to the surface of said desk. The orchids he’s had since, presumably, his birthday, a couple pens organized neatly towards the top right corner of the desk, the flowers and note he had just gotten him previously. And, of course, the slim black cat bobblehead as a little extra, because Norman deserves extra.

Well, maybe he doesn’t, because he’s the employer of this twisted company, the one who makes more and more people into nothing but workers that make up statistics.

But hey, maybe he doesn’t know how bad the company actually is. Who knows how long he’s been yet another worker here? If what he’s heard through the grapevine is true, he could’ve been here for centuries. Besides, the top-of-the-food-chain ringleader of this circus, board of directors, are more to blame than anyone.

But, he guesses at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how much he points fingers or defends anyone’s actions, Norman has still hurt hundreds to thousands of people whether he knew it or not. Thats one of the main reasons he’s here, to assist him to be better and free him of this labyrinth building.

“Norman…?” He spoke softly, leaning over the desk a bit more. Nothing but a subtle stir was what he got in reply. “Normaaann? Wake uuup..” Forcas placed a hand on his back, patting him, gently, twice. Shame that all of the people Forcas got even slightly attached to at some point couldn’t keep up with him. No matter how far from human they were.

Still a good thing that he was sleeping, which meant that he would most likely get closer and closer to being an actual human like he used to. Like he would start eating more and such. But he wondered if Norman would have to live with him in his apartment at some point, or if Board Members would become more of a problem than they used to. Because God forbid any employees have things to do outside of work. Who knows, maybe they’ll just replace Norman with another employer once he’s gone. Everyone’s replaceable.

Forcas was brought out of his train of thoughts when he heard a small groan from the other man as he lifted his head up from his arms.

“…What are you doing in my office.”

“Morning. Wanna get going?”

“Mhm. Where?”

“Just a restaurant. It’s not far from here.”

———

The restaurant in question was quite nice for Forcas’ standards, rather expensive but not to the point it wasn’t worth it. It was dark out, and the restaurant was light via candles and a couple dim lights. And, of course, floral scents that were blanketed by the overwhelming smell of butter and seasonings and such.

Chatter from the dozens of people mixed with the common piano solo playing through speakers. Classic early 21st century, really.

He takes Norman’s hand in his own, walking them both to the receptionist. Said man only paid the interaction a couple seconds to look at before he turned his attention to the mini aquarium lit up with blue lighting and filled with coral and small fish. He hadn’t really cared enough to pay much of any attention on it himself. It wasn’t even in the center of the restaurant.

He guessed there could be a bigger on in the center that he just couldn’t see yet, but he still didn’t see the reason to pay much thought to it.

Now that he thought about it, holding Norman’s hand might give him another gray spot once he let go. It wasn’t much of a nuisance, really, he honestly forgot about it until now. Not to the point that he didn’t want any physical contact with him. He didn’t admit it out loud, but he enjoyed getting out with his targets. And he enjoyed spending time with Norman, and he enjoyed giving him things. Maybe a bit more than others, in a way, like Lady. Might be because both of their situations were unique to others.

He might be spending too much time in his own head, too. They were already walking to their table. Must’ve been talking to the receptionist in autopilot or something. When they actually arrived to their table for two, he scoots Norman’s chair back just a bit and places a small kiss to his knuckle before he sat down himself. If his lips are gray right now he’s going to be pissed (not that he’d stop doing it).

“You look nice tonight.” He complimented after the waitress left. He hadn’t even looked at the menu yet.

“Thank you. I always look like this?” Nice, stupid. He almost laughed out loud at himself after hearing himself. He was just too funny, he supposed.

“Well, I suppose you always look nice then.”

Nice save, huh. Smooth. Real smooth. Honestly, he might need to smoke a pack on his balcony after this.

                               ▓ ▓ ▓

He doesn’t know how he got here. “Here” being leaned against his desk in Forcas’ arms, to be more precise. One of his arms wrapped around his neck, holding onto the man’s shoulder and around his upper back. While his other relaxed on top of his opposite shoulder. Forcas, on the other hand, placed his hold on his waist and the small of his back.

He wasn’t used to anyone really putting their hands on him like this, and vice versa, or not smiling anymore, but doing so brought a memory. Well, the presence of a memory. It wasn’t exactly the same as this, though. But he laid his head on Forcas’ chest while he thought about it a bit longer. It wasn’t a feeling he wanted to let go just yet.

He liked spending time with Forcas. He was friendly, and he bought him things even though nothing special was happening. And not to mention that he’s been going outside much more than he used to when Forcas started working here. In fact, he noticed that he might just be one of the only people that actually leave the building, now that he’s thinking about it.

Ever since Forcas started working here, he’s been doing more activities outside of his office. He supposed he should’ve gone out the first couple times, given it was his birthday (even if he forgot he had them at all until he got those orchids from his coworker).

He saw the other man’s head move to bury into his neck, he didn’t feel it. But he felt warm. He hadn’t felt this way in a while. It reminded him of that memory again. Being with him had made him feel comfortable, in a way. Maybe it was foolish to let his guard down so quickly, but he hadn’t felt like this around anyone in such a short amount of tǐme before.

It wasn’t normal. And it wasn’t normal that he had been sleeping again, he didn’t know he could anymore. That feeling he had been experiencing must have been him being tired, now that he’s slept again. He hasn’t slept in a while, hell, he doesn’t know how long it’s been. But it felt nice when he slept. It felt nice being around Forcas.

He woke up to the bright sky of his office. And to Forcas. He could get used to that, even if he still didn’t appreciate him barging in.

———

The restaurant is fine. The different scents and aromas are only slightly overwhelming, but it’s faint enough that it’s not unbearable. The lights aren’t too bright, and theres a large glass container with colorful fish in it. Actual fish, just swimming around in there. Why are there just fish in there? They aren’t for eating, are they?

He feels a warm, slightly roughed hand grab his own and pull him forward. But he only has to look at said hand for about a second or two to know that it’s just Forcas before he shifts his gaze back to the fish.

The table they were led to was a bit smaller, two chairs, and two menus parallel to one another. The man who led them here leaves them after informing them that their waiter would be there to greet them soon. Forcas, ever the gentleman he was, pulls his own chair back for him, kissing the back of his hand once he sat down.

He’s never done that before. He feels warm. And he feels an unfamiliar sense in his chest. It’s louder than he’d like it to be in here, and theres more than one thing he could just stare at for a while and he can’t decide which he wants to look at. But he thinks he could just look at Forcas for hours.

“You look nice tonight.”

Chapter Text

Chat what if I literally made a oneshot work of these two sillies like that would literally be crazy wink wink

Chapter Text

CHAT I’m aware that I haven’t posted a chapter in over two months but don’t throw bricks at me yet because I have a reason

It’s almost summer, and I have abt four weeks of school left before break, so I have quite a bit on my plate with tests and finals and such

I’ll have the new chapter by then maybe 

xxx <3