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The day was so, SO unbelievably shitty.
His godforsaken alarm had rung late, and on his way out, he hadn’t found his car keys and had to call an Uber. The driver was fighting with his girlfriend, which Harley had tried to tune out. When he finally arrived at Playtime Co, he was missing his umbrella and had to run in, avoiding the looks from his co-workers.
Harley shoved on his labcoat, clipping his I.D. card to his chest, the little card askew. He swept his soggy hair out of his face, groaning to himself quietly, as he walked quickly past some gossiping interns, who shut their traps the moment he went past them. He rolled his eyes. Eddie was getting sloppy with hiring, in his opinion. All of these idiots couldn’t do crap. Hence, why he worked alone. Why would he not, when all these bumbling fools would only hinder his progress? He stepped into an elevator, pressing the button to go down to the labs. Distracted by his own sulking thoughts, he barely noticed when someone stepped into the same elevator, clicking the Lab button again, the little ring of yellow light blinking out.
He glanced at the panel, narrowing his eyes as the hand, weathered with age, pressed the big ‘Innovation’ button. He knew who it was before he even looked up.
Leith Pierre.
The smug bastard grinned at him, suddenly wrapping an arm around his shoulder, pulling him right up against him. Harley reached up to push him off, but that only made Leith tighten his grip, as he let out a booming laugh.
“Harley!” He boomed, laughing too hard to be genuine. “Why, you look like a little wet cat!” He pinched Harley’s cheek, tugging it, his nails stinging Harley’s skin. Harley scowled, trying to push Leith off a little harder.
“It’s Dr. Sawyer to you, Mr. Pierre,” He snarled, glaring through half-lidded eyes. “What do you need now, Pierre?” Leith was completely unfazed, pretending as if he hadn’t heard Harley at all.
“Don’t be such a worrywart,” Leith snorted, finally letting go of Harley, crossing his arms. “That’s no way to treat your boss.” He gave a lopsided smile, tilting his head. “And yes, I do need something. You haven’t forgotten about the little meeting in an hour, yeah?”
Right. The meeting. Leith had been yapping about Play Park this entire week, mourning the loss of visitors. The park had begun to lose its original wonder with the death of Ludwig, resulting in less children coming to visit. No one was interested in Poppy anymore- it was Huggy Wuggy, Mommy Long Legs, the Smiling Critters that really brought the brats’ attention. Budget cuts had also negatively impacted the theme park, with parents complaining about broken rides and shitty customer service. Leith, as he always did, was not one to let this perceived profit loss dirty the carefully curated reputation of Playtime Co.
“Of course. I’ll be there.” Harley answered curtly, avoiding eye contact. He hated the way Leith smiled, the way it never quite reached his eyes. His voice grated on him like a block of cheddar and a cheese grater. He pushed up his glasses, trying to ignore the way Leith’s eyes bore into his back.
“Good! I wouldn’t want you to miss it, yeah?” Leith chuckled, clapping Harley on the back a little too harshly. Harley knew what he meant. ‘Try to skip and I’ll get rid of your lab access for a week and have you do paperwork’. Harley rolled his eyes.
“Of course, Pierre,” He drawled. He blinked angrily when Leith suddenly shushed him.
“Uh uh uh,” Leith tutted. “That’s sir to you, mister!” He laughed at his own joke. Harley forced out a chuckle as well.
“...sir.” He gritted out. Leith looked back, smiled, and stepped out as the doors opened. Harley let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, and pressed the button to the labs. To his dismay, a horde of people entered, squishing him up against the wall as a multitude of hands reached out to press various different buttons, all of which were above the Labs. Shit.
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Harley arrived quietly into the meeting room, pulling back a chair and settling into the cheap plastic. He took a sip of his coffee and grimaced- the assistant had put in creamer again, despite him very passionately telling him not to. No matter. He would get a new one by the end of the week. He saw Ritterman on the other side of the table, a few chairs away from directly in front of him, giving a disdainful look. He returned the hostility with a scoff, before turning away. Eddie grunted in annoyance, looking away. Stella, sitting right next to Eddie, as usual, smiled and waved to Harley, who ignored her completely. She looked slightly disappointed, before turning away.
Stella was too.. Bright for a dull man such as Eddie, Harley mused. What she found in that sagging sack of flesh, was beyond himself.
After a long, agonizing, awkward moment of silence, he finally spoke up irritably. “Where is Leith?” He drawled, rolling his eyes. “It was his idea to force us here, so where is he?” Eddie scoffed, but didn’t respond.
On cue, Leith swung upon the door, swaggering in with a confident smile that felt acidic. “Hope I didn’t keep you all waiting!” He laughed joyfully, flicking on the projector. “Alright, let’s get onto business!” He crowed, clasping his hands.
Harley leaned back in his seat, staring at Leith, unimpressed, as he waited for Leith to begin his lengthy ramblings.
“As you know,” Leith announced, “PlayPark has been doing as well as a lower class family during the Great Depression.” He paused, and when no one laughed, he chuckled. “Our profits have been dropping because PlayPark has just been so.. drab. Our advertisement hasn’t been going as well either.”
“What do you want us to do about it?” The words left Harley’s mouth before he could think. Stella glanced curiously at Harley. He knew spoke much during these moments. Leith’s smile faltered, cold irritation flashing in his eyes, before he straightened his grin.
“Why, I’m glad you asked!” He said cheerfully. He clicked the projector remote, flipping through a few slides with pie charts and line graphs of the falling profits. He finally stopped on a slide with photos of sketches, with new and improved rides and a drawing of a parade float, akin to the ones in Disney. The idea was so strange, that even Eddie raised a brow.
“I was thinking we have performances, since that’s what all the kiddos are into these days,” Leith explained. “And instead of those cheap costumes that the other companies use-” He snorted derisively. “We could use some of the Bigger Bodies, right?” Leith’s imagination was unfortunately, boundless. Leading to his rather extravagant ideas.
“That would be very expensive if it fails, Leith,” Eddie mused, raising a brow. “Already, some of the current Bigger Bodies we have aren’t as.. Cooperative. Plus, having them in public could pose a risk.” Stella nodded.
“I agree,” She murmured, holding onto Eddie’s arm. They were so lovey-dovey it made Harley sick. “This could be risky, Leith.”
Leith sighed impatiently. “But think of the money- we’ve spent so much for PlayPark, it’d be a shame to let it die so easily.” He huffed. “Plus, if we rebrand, and get rid of Poppy as our mascot for the park, I’m sure it’ll bring in more people. Plus, we need to broaden our audiences worldwide, rather than just staying here in the States.”
“And why am I here? I figure this would be something that Roth would be better suited for,” Harley cut in, already starting to stand up, done with this. Leith quickly stepped in, grinning.
“Well, I need someone to help with an example, Harley. We all have our importance here at Playtime!” He laughed, grabbing Harley by the hips. Harley’s face flushed, as Leith dragged him into the center of the meeting room. He flicked to another slide, showing Huggy and Kissy dancing on a messily drawn stage. Harley realized with horror what was about to happen.
“Music brings people together, so what better idea than to host performances regarding our toys?” Leith said, slowly beginning to position Harley into position, who was too bewildered to struggle. “Like this-” He began to twirl around Harley, who blinked in confusion. He raised their hands, making them sway. Stella smiled softly, while Eddie, the stuck up prick he was, began to snort and hide a mocking laugh behind his gloved hand. Harley glared at them all.
“Think of it!” Leith said, delighted, and not just because of the ideas. “We could have Huggy, and Kissy, mind you- dancing on stage, while we played some stupid jingle for the kids to listen to. Everyone’s a sucker for musicals, right?” He laughed, shredding up Harley’s nerves.
“What are you doing?” Harley snapped, outraged. He tried to push off Leith, who responded by dipping Harley down, so that one of his legs tilted up. Harley, enraged by this, tried to push himself back down, but Leith refused to budge. “Get off, you oaf!” He shouted.
“Don’t be so dramatic, Sawyer!” Leith responded, pulling Harley up, only to swing him around. “I’m just giving examples!” He was definitely enjoying this far more than he was saying he was.
“You half-baked bastard,” Harley snarled, glaring so hard that he could burn a hole through Leith’s head. “You absolute prick!” He spluttered as Leith spun him around once, twice, thrice, and a fourth time.
“We could have some of the other less known characters doing whatever around them- that’s up to the performers to decide,” Leith said, his tone analytical as if he weren’t dancing with the Head of the Bigger Bodies Initiative, “While we have some of the more known characters dancing. It’ll for sure make sure to make some people want to come. If not the kids, then those critics, or whatever. With some additional budget, we can also repaint the fences, the walls, and make sure that we look better. After all, the parents keep complaining about shitty buildings, right?”
“Harley’s looking a little dizzy, Leith,” Stella commented worriedly, her brow furrowing in concern as Harley’s face visibly turned green. Eddie snorted, enjoying himself as well. “Don’t worry about him, dear,” He said wryly.
“It’s Sawyer!” He shouted, still embarrassed by the whole ordeal. No matter what he did, Leith managed to turn it into something humiliatingly elegant. He’d clearly planned this, Harley thought to himself. He was enjoying this- enjoying humiliating him. “See? Perfectly fine.” Eddie grumbled, leaning back and enjoying the show.
“And for a grand finale, we could have a BIIIG flourishing dip, like this.” Leith demonstrated(unfortunately), he dipped Harley even lower than the first time, to the point his hair touched the floor. Harley resisted the urge to throw up, his head spinning. When Leith finally brought him back up, he groaned in relief, but froze as Leith suddenly crashed his lips against his.
With a stupidly high-pitched yelp, Harley stumbled back, landing on his ass. His glasses were askew, sweat forming on his brow. Leith looked down on him, smiling as if nothing had happened. “And see,” Leith drawled, “We can have it end like that. A little romance never hurt anyone.”
“You- you!” He choked out, too angry to properly form words. “What is WRONG with you!?” He yelled, stumbling to his feet. “You- you little- you-” He stammered, face reddening.
Stella and Eddie looked on, startled. Stella found her voice before Eddie did. “Harley, dear, are you alright?” She asked softly.
“No- No! I’m not!” He snapped angrily, glaring at Leith, who looked so innocent that little cherubs with trumpets would’ve started playing there and then. “I’ll- I’ll-”
“You’ll what?” Leith stepped forward, patting Harley’s head.
“Ugh! Forget it!” Harley strode briskly past him, pushing him aside in an attempt to regain his dignity. He heard Leith’s infuriating laughs behind him as he stormed into the elevator, practically smashing his finger into the Labs button. His face, flushed a furious shade of red, felt like it was on fire. How dare that little.. little..
He groaned, dragging his hands over his face. It was so embarrassing. And worst of all, even now, alone in this elevator, he couldn’t find the words to comfort himself. Even worse? He couldn’t get that moment out of his head. He sighed. He would go down to the labs, dissect whatever subject there was available. He’d had enough ‘Leith time’ for a month.