Garret J. Foss (cant_touchthis) wrote in tiberiusswann, @ 2012-07-15 19:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | garret, rorie |
Tuesday September 3rd 2019
Who: Garret and Rorie
What: An awkward reunion
Where: Garret's office
When: Ten-thirty
Rating: PG
Rorie had finished his paper work, taken a pee test and now had to finalize it all. It had taken a rather long time, but the school had to keep it like that so not just anyone could get a job there. Dressed in his uniform, as it was his first day, he was shown where to go. All it was was just some papers to finish signing and disclosure waivers if something happened, blah blah blah. Going into the office he was told to, Rorie froze for a second when he got a whiff of the place. "Shit," he sighed before sitting down and waiting for the office owner to come back with all the papers that would be agonizingly long.
New school years were always a busy affair, and Garret was rushed as he usually was. He liked greeting new hires, though. It gave him a chance to see who was coming in, inform Lloyd if any of them were eyecandy worthy. Security was always his favorite- men and women with strong arms and severe faces, and usually he could make them smile despite their want to appear hard and tough. That was sometimes the highlight of his day.
Face buried in a folder, Garret was reading as he phased through his office door, walking past the person in the chair and walking through his desk to sit down. The memo he had in front of him could wait, and now that he'd arrived in his office, it would have to. "Okay," he said to the new recruit, not yet looking up but instead rifling through various files on his desk. "What time is it... ten thrity. Okay, so that makes you.... ah!" His fingers closed around his ten-thrity, file number 3213. Flipping it open, his eyes scanned the format he'd read a hundred thousand times before. "You are Mister F-" But he stopped there, because the name staring back at him was his own. But it wasn't his file, and that photograph wasn't his either. Slowly, Garret's eyes rose, taking in the person sitting across from him for the first time. "Rorie Foss," he said softly, letting the file fall closed.
---
It felt like his heart was going to break out of his chest at the rate it was beating. Rorie sat there for a few moments in the silence of Garret's office and prayed that something had come up and he could go. This wasn't something that he really wanted to do. So, he did was he had to do and pretend it didn't bother him, but now here he was. In Garret's office waiting for him to show up and be greeted. When Garret walked in, his nose buried in files and papers, Rorie felt like his throat had closed and he wasn't able to breath. It was a moment of panic before he finally sucked in a breath through his nose as she watched and listened to Garret ramble on. Finally, when it came to the older man getting to Rorie's name, he stopped and Rorie felt like he was going to die. He wanted to die and be carted off so he was out of that room. It wasn't so much that he wanted to be away from Garret, he wanted to be away from the situation. "Yes," he said softly, nearly inaudible as he played with the wedding band he still wore like he was married. "That's me."
---
For a moment, all Garret could do was stare. He couldn't believe this. Of all the people to turn up, to be sitting in his office, it had to be Rorie. Eight years, seven months and sixteen days, and this was how they came to find one another.
Taking in a slow breath, Garret sat up a little straighter, and flipped the folder open. "Security," he said finally, with forced feigned brightness and a smile that would barely fool a blind man. "Okay. That means you need the handbook and an i.d. card." Swallowing back any kind of emotion, Garret spun in his chair and took a handbook from the shelf behind him, then a key card form from the top drawer of his desk, and handed them both over to Rorie. "Fill out the paperwork, and you'll need a photo i.d. A driver's license is fine. Go to the security office and they'll take the photo and print it out and... et cetera..." He was running out of steam, his smile already gone from his face. But he wasn't going to address the bigger issue here. He would be professional if it killed him.
---
Taking what he was given, Rorie stayed quiet as Garret told him everything he needed to know. It was hard, just sitting there and not having him flirt or smile like he used to. Yes, he was smiling, but it wasn't Garret's smile. It was something that he could tell he was forcing and it made Rorie feel even lower than he already did.
Of course Rorie himself wasn't doing much to encourage anything. He was just sitting there quietly with his infamous stoic face that rarely had anything besides a serious expression anymore. The only time he smiled was with Eileen or Mal and even that was beginning to be a bit much lately. "Who do I turn the paperwork back into? The secretary to put in your box or the security office?" It was a question that didn't really need to be asked, but it was better than just sitting there like a dumb idiot.
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Oh, God, that voice. It sounded exactly the same, but competely different too. It pulled on a heartstring that Garret had ignored for a long time now. Resisting a sigh, he folded his hands on the desk, and lightly cleared his throat. "Security will take care of it," he said simply. "I'm just here to set you on your way, and so you know where my office is if... if anything should come up where you need me." How many times had Rorie needed him? Too many. And Garret was certain there were times since he'd left when Rorie needed him too, and he hadn't been there. "Anything public relations related," he clarified. "But that's pretty rare, and chances are... you won't see me again."
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"Okay," Rorie said, his voice remaining soft as it usually was anymore. He didn't speak too loudly, almost going back to his shy and reserved way of being like he was in high school. Chances were very slim that Rorie would need public relations after this unless it had to deal with his job doing something else, which was highly unlikely. Garret confirmed it though. It felt like a knife back in his heart, twisting and trying to make him break all over again. "Alright," he nodded. "Is. . . That it?" It was such a loaded question he didn't know how it would be taken or what would happen. So much had happened since Garret left and now he was back in his work life that Rorie wasn't sure how he was going to handle this. He thought he'd buried all those feelings and had moved on. Obviously he hadn't.
---
A part of Garret wanted Rorie to leave now, quit his job and never come back. But a part of him wanted to stay, too. Garret couldn't decide which part wanted its way more. "Unless you have anything else to add?" he asked tightly, treading carefully with his words. It felt too hot in here, the tension squeezing against Garret's chest and making it hard to breathe.
---
"No," Rorie said, feeling the heat himself. He hadn't been this wound up and tense since seeing his mother in a super market a year after Eileen was born. Things had started to float, so he'd gotten the fuck out of there. It seemed this situation was no different. Garret's coffee mug started to float slightly. Not too high off his desk. Seeing it, he stood up. "I should go." The last thing he needed was Baltimore repeated in Garret's office. "I'll make sure everything gets done."
---
When the mug began to hover, it almost seemed second nature for Garret to reach out and grasp it, pushing it back down onto the desk as Rorie stood. This kind of thing had happened all the time in their house. "Yes," he replied, agreeing to what he didn't know, but it was all he could think to say. It felt like there should have been more, something else said, some kind of... acknowledgement that there had been history between them. But bringing that up would only force them to think about everything that was so clearly between them now. "Have a good day, Rorie," he said softly.
---
"You too," Rorie said, as he gripped his papers and handbook and ID badge before walking out almost too quickly. He didn't pause to close the door, he did with his powers and went straight to the bathroom to calm himself down. He'd be fired for sure if he couldn't control himself like that. The only time it happened was when he was really, REALLY stressed out. It seemed Garret was his trigger. Rorie wanted to scream at Garret, he wanted to cry and throw things. He thought he wouldn't miss him this much, but seeing him again ripped open that wound he thought had healed. Instead, it was like any other time they broke up. Throbbing and aching and the only thing that made it better was to be with Garret. He just had to keep telling himself that it wasn't happening. That Garret and he would never be together again. Maybe it would make things better. Maybe.