Work Text:
At 7:50 am, Laurent arrives at the office. There is a man occupying the cubicle next to him that has been empty for two weeks now. He didn’t think the company was hiring another person. He’s enjoying finally feeling like getting an office to himself. But alas, here is a man, his back to Laurent, curls on his head, a button down that looks too tight on a body that seems too big for his swivel chair. May his ego not be bigger than.
Laurent sits at his desk nonchalantly. In his periphery, he sees the man turn to him, take a pause, which could only mean one thing , and then tap his shoulder.
Laurent puts his resting bitch face on. He isn’t at work for chit-chat. He is… just not for newbies. But he stops briefly when he sees this man’s face, this hunk, this beautiful man with big brown eyes and kissable lips and…
“Hi,” He presents his hand. Laurent doesn’t look at it nor raise his own. “I’m Damianos. I’m new. Call me Damen, your cubicle buddy.”
Shit.
Laurent composes himself slower than he usually does, trying his hardest not to give Damianos—Damen, a once over from head to… toe. Instead, he nods and shakes the man’s hand. “Laurent.” He faces his computer. He checks his emails and doesn’t look at Damen again.
At 8:10, he gets up to make his second cup of coffee in the breakroom. Ancel is already there by the machine, sipping his coffee and wiggling his eyebrows.
“I will never date a coworker, Ancel. Never.” Laurent turns on the coffee machine.
Ancel snickers in his cup. “Never?”
“Ever.” Laurent is adamant. “But that man is the most gorgeous person I have ever seen.”
“You’re fucked.”
“The. Most. Gorgeous.” Laurent opens three packets of creamer. “So I will never talk to him unless necessary.”
“Yeah, you’re so fucked.” Ancel nudges his head to the door.
Damen is there when Laurent looks. He ignores him and opens three packets of sugar.
“Oh. I didn't–“ He stammers. “I was looking for the supervisor’s office.”
Ancel looks at Laurent who simply opens two more packets of sugar and stirs his coffee.
“It’s on the other side of this floor.” Ancel throws away his coffee. “You know, it’s usually your cubicle mate who tours you. You should ask them.”
“I… um, he… left.”
Laurent can feel his eyes at the back of his head. He adds three more packets of sugar.
Ancel shrugs. “I’ll show you.”
“Thank you… uh…”
“Ancel.”
“Ancel, I’m Damianos. Damen.”
“ The man, indeed.” Ancel whispers beside Laurent before he walks off.
“What?”
“Nothing, let’s go.”
His phone buzzes when his coffee is done.
from: Ancel
you are so very fucked
He is.
Damen is late. Again. For two weeks now. He has been working here for two months, and apparently that is enough time for him to start slacking off.
Laurent glares at the coffee cup Damen puts on top of his desk. Coffee he never asked for, but Damen keeps buying for him since that new coffee shop opened down the street.
“You don’t have to buy coffee every morning.” Laurent says, still taking the coffee Damen offers and still taking a sip. He doesn’t like wasting food.
“Too lazy to use my coffee machine.” Damen always answers.
“I didn’t ask you to buy me coffee.”
“I’m supporting small businesses.”
“You buy from Marlas Beans. It’s the biggest coffee chain in all of Akielos and Vere.”
“You like Marlas Beans.” Damen shrugs. “And you like your coffee white as milk and criminally sweet. And you always drink a second cup at 8:15, which is now.”
He should have never answered Damen where or how or when he liked his coffee. Him and his stupid small talk questions.
“I can make my own cup.”
“But now you don’t have to.”
“If you were here at eight, you would be more productive.”
“If I was here at eight, the coffee would be cold.” Damen sits down. Laurent looks at him to glare. “And you would be less productive having to make your own coffee.” He winks and boots up his stupid computer. “And I need coffee too. Might as well get you one.”
Laurent shakes his head and does what he knows best: work and ignore Damen until he has to talk to him.
“It’s just coffee, Laurent.”
Damen is the bane of Laurent's existence. Coming in with a stupid charming smile and a stupid dimple on his cheek and the stupid buttons of his shirt ready to pop off because he’s just so damn muscular. When does he even find the time to go to the stupid gym?
Laurent hates him. He really does. He’s competent and efficient. He gets the job done fast so he has a lot of down time. Down time he spends trying to get Laurent to talk to him and Laurent hates it. Hates that he can’t stop answering back either. He must have the last word.
“Do you like milk tea?” Damen asks because he just likes to ask stupid non-work related questions.
“Where’s the invoice from the Arles purchase last week?” Laurent says instead.
He’s also as competent and efficient as Damen, except when he’s done working, he opts to do more work so he’s always ahead. Work is not a place for mindless chit-chat… with Damen.
“Sent it to you thirty minutes ago.” Damen swivels his chair to fully look at Laurent. “So… milk tea?”
“As a treat.”
“Regular ones or too sweet and too much boba? Definitely too sweet and too much boba, considering how you drink your coffee.”
“And you care because?”
“I like to get to know my work buddy.”
“I am not your work buddy.” Laurent keeps typing, pointedly trying to ignore the stupid cute pout he knows Damen sports whenever he’s a little mean to him. “And I like to keep my life private.”
“It’s just boba, Laurent.”
He shrugs. “Exactly. It’s not that important. You don’t need to know. It’s just boba.”
Damen pauses. Laurent is taken aback at shutting him up that fast so he looks.
He has a grin on his face. “You're right.” He’s chuckling to himself so Laurent looks away. Nevermind the stupid skip his stupid heart did at this stupid man with his stupid questions. “Well, I like brown sugar milk tea with cream cheese and boba.”
Laurent nods once. “Didn’t ask.”
“Just thought you should know. It’s just boba.”
Laurent rolls his eyes. And despite himself, he answers. “Monster boba latte from Ding Tea. 100% sugar.”
Damen stops and looks at him with a big smile on his face. “That is the sweetest milk tea they have on their menu.”
“It’s just boba.”
The next day, when Damen gives Laurent his 8:15 coffee, there’s a box on his desk. He looks at Laurent who is deliberately not looking back at him. He opens the box and pulls out an insulated travel mug. Laurent doesn’t have to look at it to know that it’s a bright red cup with a quote in bold.
“ Sometimes, my greatest accomplishment is keeping my mouth shut. ” Damen reads.
“That is so big of you to admit.” Laurent says while continuing to type.
Damen laughs. “You got me a travel mug?”
“Use your coffee machine.” Laurent simply says. “Be here on time.” He gets up and looks Damen in the eye. “Stop buying me coffee.” He leaves the cubicle to make copies of a contract and leaves Damen to his stupid questions and stupid cute way he’s looking at Laurent like he knows something is up.
Nothing is up. He just thinks Damen should get here earlier.
“It’s just coffee.” Damen’s voice rings through the office.
The next day, Damen arrives at 8 am sharp. He puts down his travel mug on his desk, and puts another one on Laurent's table. It’s blue with yellow star stickers and a quote.
“Now that’s just idiotic.” Laurent picks up the travel mug.
Damen raises his eyebrows, offended. “It’s just coffee.”
“It says ‘I’m a ray of fucking sunshine’– ”
“That you are.” Damen has a smile in his voice.
“with a bunch of star stickers. Sunshine is the sun. It’s in the name, Damianos.” He looks up at Damen who’s looking at him like that again. “What?”
“You're cute.”
“That’s professional misconduct.”
“That’s just a compliment.” Damen is laughing.
Laurent rolls his eyes. “Also what is this?”
“Your 8:15 coffee. It stays hot ‘til then.” He winks.
“And you're giving me one because?”
“It’s just coffee.”
Laurent nods and sips. “Thank you.”
“Did I make it right?”
“Three vanilla or caramel creamers and eight sugar packets.” Laurent says.
Damen nods. “You have to give me back the mug, by the way.”
Laurent rolls his eyes but gives it back to Damen when he’s done.
At 8 am the next day, Damen gives him the coffee in the travel mug again. Laurent sips and it tastes exactly the way he makes it. “Thank you.”
Damen nods and sits on his chair. He sees a brown paper bag on his desk. He opens it. “A plain bagel?”
“Complaints?” Laurent doesn’t spare him a glance.
“Nope.” He can practically hear the grin on Damen’s face.
“It’s just a bagel.” Laurent sips his coffee.
For the next month Damen brings Laurent coffee and Laurent brings Damen breakfast. At first it was a plain bagel, then he’s nice enough to add cream cheese. Then Laurent made himself a sandwich, so he made Damen a sandwich too. Whatever Laurent ate for breakfast that day, Damen was getting the same thing.
At 8 am today, Damen laughs so loud after he puts Laurent’s mug on his desk and looks at his own desk. Everyone in the office looks at him, and does not discreetly try to look at what he’s laughing at.
There’s a paper bowl and plastic spoon, coco puffs in a ziplock bag, and a milk carton on his desk. “Cereal?” Damen asks, wiping fake tears off his eyes.
“You said you liked coco puffs.” Laurent hates that he knows that.
Damen is laughing so hard he almost falls off his chair. “I’m so happy, I could kiss you.”
They both pause. It feels like the whole office also pauses. Laurent looks at Damen slowly. He’s looking at his cereal. “That’s harassment.”
“That was just an expression.”
Oh. “Okay.”
“I mean—”
“No, it’s… Okay.” Laurent stands up. “I won’t report you to HR, don’t worry.”
“That’s not…”
“It’s just an expression.”
“You guys are idiots.” Ancel tells Laurent. They’re having lunch at the cafeteria at work. He has successfully avoided Damen all day. He’s ahead of work anyway, so he doesn’t have to actually sit on his computer and do things.
“He’s an idiot.” Laurent says.
“You are too, dummy.” Ancel flicks crumbs at him. “You obviously like him. And since he wants to kiss you, he obviously likes you too.”
“ It was just an expression. ” Laurent says mockingly.
“You called it harassment.”
“It was an inside joke.” Laurent defends.
“Dumbass.”
“He is.”
“You are.”
“Shut up.”
“You should ask him out.”
“No, thank you. Not dating coworkers, remember?”
“That was before you met the most gorgeous man ever.” Ancel reminds him.
He simply shakes his head. “It was just an expression.”
“Stupid.”
Laurent can’t avoid his desk forever. He can’t avoid Damen forever even though he really wants to. So he goes back to his desk where Damen is sitting all stupid and innocent and hot and stupid . It’s just an expression. Stupid.
He takes joy in the way he feels Damen stiffen when he sits down on his own chair. Then he stiffens when he sees a bunch of paper clips scattered on his desk spelling out one word.
“ Date? ” Laurent reads it out loud.
“Laurent–”
He looks at Damen with an eyebrow raised. “You have time to do arts and crafts?”
“Your ears weren’t here to talk off.” Damen shrugs.
Laurent rolls his eyes. “Date of what?”
Damen’s eyebrows furrow, mouth agape, and just pauses. Good. He broke him.
Then, a big smile forms on his stupid face and Laurent hates the way he tracks the dimples showing, hates the way his heart skips a beat, hates the way Damen makes him feel because he’s so damn gorgeous.
“Laurent, I like you. I’m asking you out on a date.”
“With paper clips?”
“I was trying to be romantic.”
“With paper clips.”
“It shows creativity.”
“With one word?”
“Didn’t have enough paper clips.”
“You’re an idiot.”
Damen smiles and nods. “Yes, I know. Do you want to go out with me?”
“Idiot.”
“It’s just a date.”
Laurent gets a text from Ancel thirty minutes before they have to clock out.
from Ancel:
you guys are so fcking stupid
just talk to him!!!
Laurent looks up and sees Ancel from afar frantically pointing at Damen. Laurent shrugs, face fully flushed.
His phone buzzes again.
from Ancel:
ask him out!!!!
Laurent feels his face grow hotter. He shakes his head and turns off his computer.
Damen looks at him. He looks back. His stupid head is tilted. His stupid chin is resting on his stupid palm. There’s a stupid grin on his stupidly handsome face.
“You want to get boba after our date tonight?” Damen asks.