writers_muses 58.1.E
ooc: Backdated to Friday afternoon, after this conversation with JP.
Prompt: E. "You wouldn't even have to pay me."
John sat at the little desk in the office, the pink eraser of his pencil tapping against the table top as he scowled down at the schedule chart in front of him.
Fuck. Just when he thought he had everything worked out, he had to go and screw it up.
He erased Eric from Wednesday nights and penciled himself in.
Speaking of…
“Hey, Boss,” Eric said, coming into the office without knocking. John pretty much had an open-door policy-unless it was closed, and then everyone was just supposed to stay the hell out.
“I don’t need you to cover Wednesday nights,” John said to him as the other man dropped into the chair across from John.
Eric was, with out a doubt, very hot. Only about John’s height, but very muscular, with a shaved head, and looked kinda like Vin Diesel. Not usually John’s type, but if he wasn’t struggling to make two committed relationships work and if Eric wasn’t so very very straight, he’d so be trying to get into his pants.
But, of course, he wasn’t. So they kept their employer/employee relationship, although they were sorta becoming friends too.
“How come?” Eric stretched out his hand, towards one of the shelves in the room, and bent a beckoning finger. The little stress ball (with embroidered flames on it - a gift from Gillian for his new office) went flying through the room and straight into Eric’s waiting hand.
John kept scowling at his paper. “Hit me with anything, and I’m firing you.”
Eric just laughed, tossing the little black ball in his hands. He was a pretty easy going guy, in a way that reminded John of Ste. It both comforted and threw John off at the same time. “Why don’t you need me? I thought you and Jean-Paul needed the night off?”
“Jean-Paul does, but I don’t,” John said dryly.
“Isn’t it your date night or something?”
John looked up sharply. “Excuse me?” He’d never mentioned that part.
Eric shrugged sheepishly. “I read it on Beaubier’s blog.”
John stared blankly now, then raised an eyebrow. “You read JP’s blog?”
“Yours too,” Eric admitted, laughing. “Dude, so much better then the stupid reality shows my roommate watches. You guys have serious soap-opera drama going on.”
John didn’t know what to think of that. He just scowled, and stared back down at the schedule. “Well, whatever. You don’t have to work, you work, like, three other nights a week.”
“I don’t care, I like it,” Eric said, shrugging. “But, whatever you say, Boss.”
“I say,” John replied. Mostly? He just didn’t want to be sitting around at home alone feeling sorry for himself because he wasn’t seeing his boyfriend like he was supposed to, and his other boyfriend would probably be holed up in some library somewhere doing homework or marking papers.
“Okay, sure,” Eric said. He threw the ball up into the air lazily, but then held it up above, and started loop-de-looping it around.
“Fucking watch out for the ceiling fan,” John snapped a little bit. He was suddenly even crankier then he had been moments before. Stupid Eric; that was his gift.
“Chill, man,” Eric said, then he laughed. “Not that you know how to do that. Anyway, keep me in mind for Wednesday, okay? I mean, I can be on call or let me know if you don’t want to-”
SNAP.
The pencil in John’s hand was suddenly in two pieces. “I. Said,” John said through clenched teeth, “I. Will. Do. It.”
Eric just looked at John for a moment. “Dude,” he said casually, “you have serious pent up anger, huh? Ever think of boxing?”
John stared at him. “… What?”
Eric sat up excitedly. “It’s awesome, man. Like, you get beat on someone else and totally get the anger out, but with the proper training and equipment, you don’t get hurt. Well,” Eric laughed, pulling up his shirt and showing John his (awesome abs) bruise on his ribs. “It has its down side, but you know, you just deal, right? The pain kinda helps with other stuff, actually. As messed up as that sounds, maybe you need it-”
“Pull your fucking shirt down,” John chided. Then he shrugged. “I don’t know, man. I know how to fight, I don’t need more training.”
“You know how, but you don’t. Like, this is a controlled environment and it’s okay to hit back in the ring. It’s not like you’re letting yourself get beat up by some thugs.”
John stared at him.
Eric grinned. “Dude, who doesn’t know about that? Anyway, I hold classes Monday nights-”
“-I have stupid French class-“
“Both in the morning,” Eric continued, “the afternoon, and even a later evening one. You may be able to fit them in. And, you’re my boss! You wouldn’t even have to pay me.” Eric paused. “For boxing. But yes for here, got that?”
John cracked a half-smile. “I’ll think about it, okay?”
“Okay, cool, because I think you’d be good-“
Eric was cut off as they heard the light chime of the door to the shelter opening, and then the sound of little feet running toward the office with the yelling of, “John, John, John, John!”
John’s face broke into a full smile as he saw Audrey run into the room. He held out his arms as the five-year-old threw herself into his lap. “Hey, kiddo,” John said warmly. It was, quite possibly, the best he’d been feeling all day.
“John! Hi, John!” Audrey said, throwing her arms around his neck.
“Hi, John,” Gillian, Audrey’s mother, said as she entered the office. She glanced over at Eric and totally, and not very subtly at all, checked him out. John rolled his eyes. “Hi,” she said to Eric, holding out her hand. “I’m Gillian.”
“Hi, Gillian,” Eric said, suddenly turning into a charmer in a way John had never seen before. John rolled his eyes again. “I’m Eric.”
“Hi, Mr. Man!” Audrey said enthusiastically, interrupting her mother and John’s employee’s eye-sex session. “My name is Audrey and this place is named after my daddy. He’s dead now. Monsters killed him-” John and Gillian’s eyes met over Audrey’s head. The girl continued, “- and John won’t talk about it because it makes him sad but he should try to be happy, he has TWO-” she held up as many fingers, “-boyfriends now and that is a lot of boyfriends and boys have cooties!” She made a face, but then her eyes light up. “Can you fly? Someday, I’m going to fly!”
Eric zoomed the ball around John and Audrey a little bit, and the little girl burst into laughter. “No,” he said, grinning, “but I can make things fly.”
“Cool! My daddy could glow, and John has fire. My mommy can’t do anything but someday I’m going to fly.”
“Flying would be cool,” Eric agreed, nodding.
Just then, the little chime went off again as someone else came into the shelter. Both John and Eric looked up at the clock. “Him?” John asked.
“Maybe,” Eric said.
Just then, they heard a timid voice call out. “Eric? You here?”
Eric nodded. “Yep, it’s him.” He called out louder, “Hey, Billy. Be right out!”
Billy was teenaged runaway that had dropped by the center once or twice when it first opened, but his visits had become near daily in the past week. John knew it was because he liked and trusted Eric, and John suspected he might be beginning to hope Eric would take him home someday. They had strict rules about that, and Eric had promised to bring it up (gently and non-confrontationally) so hopefully that would be done soon. And hopefully the kid would still trust them enough to come around and let them try to help him.
Eric landed the stress ball on the desk in front of him and grinned at Audrey. “Wanna come meet someone? You should see what he can do.”
Audrey glanced from Eric, to John, to her mother. Gillian nodded, and Audrey hopped off John’s lap and ran right out into the common area. She could be heard yelling out, “Hi, I’m Audrey!”
Gillian chucked as she replaced Eric in the chair across from John.
“So,” John started, raising an eyebrow. “What can I do for you?”
“Hey!” the woman scolded. “We wanted to see you, and visit the place named after Audrey’s father!”
“And?” John prompted.
Gillian gave a sheepish grin, and then excitedly waved her hands around. “I want to come and work for you!” she said happily. “And you wouldn’t even have to pay me.”
“I’ve been hearing a lot of that today… what is with people? Is money growing on trees or something?” John asked sarcastically.
“Don’t be an ass,” Gillian said, though she glanced at the door to see if her daughter may have heard her. Satisfied she didn’t, Gillian continued, “I need some volunteer hours for that class I was telling you about. This would be perfect! And, you know,” she add sheepishly, “you understand I’m a single mom and you won’t give me a hard time with scheduling?” She batted her eyelashes.
John sighed. He would just have to find some time to mope later. He swept the broken pencil off the end of his desk into the trash bin, and plucked another one from the holder. “Okay, when do you think you could be available? I don’t have to budget you in if it’s not paid so that does give me some flexibility…”
Gillian squealed and clapped her hands in front of her like a seal. “John, you’re the best! I can even get you to babysit!”
“That I can do,” John said, but poked the pencil in the air at her. “But you so have to pay me for it.”
It turned out the stress ball did end up hitting him in the head after all.
Prompt: E. "You wouldn't even have to pay me."
John sat at the little desk in the office, the pink eraser of his pencil tapping against the table top as he scowled down at the schedule chart in front of him.
Fuck. Just when he thought he had everything worked out, he had to go and screw it up.
He erased Eric from Wednesday nights and penciled himself in.
Speaking of…
“Hey, Boss,” Eric said, coming into the office without knocking. John pretty much had an open-door policy-unless it was closed, and then everyone was just supposed to stay the hell out.
“I don’t need you to cover Wednesday nights,” John said to him as the other man dropped into the chair across from John.
Eric was, with out a doubt, very hot. Only about John’s height, but very muscular, with a shaved head, and looked kinda like Vin Diesel. Not usually John’s type, but if he wasn’t struggling to make two committed relationships work and if Eric wasn’t so very very straight, he’d so be trying to get into his pants.
But, of course, he wasn’t. So they kept their employer/employee relationship, although they were sorta becoming friends too.
“How come?” Eric stretched out his hand, towards one of the shelves in the room, and bent a beckoning finger. The little stress ball (with embroidered flames on it - a gift from Gillian for his new office) went flying through the room and straight into Eric’s waiting hand.
John kept scowling at his paper. “Hit me with anything, and I’m firing you.”
Eric just laughed, tossing the little black ball in his hands. He was a pretty easy going guy, in a way that reminded John of Ste. It both comforted and threw John off at the same time. “Why don’t you need me? I thought you and Jean-Paul needed the night off?”
“Jean-Paul does, but I don’t,” John said dryly.
“Isn’t it your date night or something?”
John looked up sharply. “Excuse me?” He’d never mentioned that part.
Eric shrugged sheepishly. “I read it on Beaubier’s blog.”
John stared blankly now, then raised an eyebrow. “You read JP’s blog?”
“Yours too,” Eric admitted, laughing. “Dude, so much better then the stupid reality shows my roommate watches. You guys have serious soap-opera drama going on.”
John didn’t know what to think of that. He just scowled, and stared back down at the schedule. “Well, whatever. You don’t have to work, you work, like, three other nights a week.”
“I don’t care, I like it,” Eric said, shrugging. “But, whatever you say, Boss.”
“I say,” John replied. Mostly? He just didn’t want to be sitting around at home alone feeling sorry for himself because he wasn’t seeing his boyfriend like he was supposed to, and his other boyfriend would probably be holed up in some library somewhere doing homework or marking papers.
“Okay, sure,” Eric said. He threw the ball up into the air lazily, but then held it up above, and started loop-de-looping it around.
“Fucking watch out for the ceiling fan,” John snapped a little bit. He was suddenly even crankier then he had been moments before. Stupid Eric; that was his gift.
“Chill, man,” Eric said, then he laughed. “Not that you know how to do that. Anyway, keep me in mind for Wednesday, okay? I mean, I can be on call or let me know if you don’t want to-”
SNAP.
The pencil in John’s hand was suddenly in two pieces. “I. Said,” John said through clenched teeth, “I. Will. Do. It.”
Eric just looked at John for a moment. “Dude,” he said casually, “you have serious pent up anger, huh? Ever think of boxing?”
John stared at him. “… What?”
Eric sat up excitedly. “It’s awesome, man. Like, you get beat on someone else and totally get the anger out, but with the proper training and equipment, you don’t get hurt. Well,” Eric laughed, pulling up his shirt and showing John his (awesome abs) bruise on his ribs. “It has its down side, but you know, you just deal, right? The pain kinda helps with other stuff, actually. As messed up as that sounds, maybe you need it-”
“Pull your fucking shirt down,” John chided. Then he shrugged. “I don’t know, man. I know how to fight, I don’t need more training.”
“You know how, but you don’t. Like, this is a controlled environment and it’s okay to hit back in the ring. It’s not like you’re letting yourself get beat up by some thugs.”
John stared at him.
Eric grinned. “Dude, who doesn’t know about that? Anyway, I hold classes Monday nights-”
“-I have stupid French class-“
“Both in the morning,” Eric continued, “the afternoon, and even a later evening one. You may be able to fit them in. And, you’re my boss! You wouldn’t even have to pay me.” Eric paused. “For boxing. But yes for here, got that?”
John cracked a half-smile. “I’ll think about it, okay?”
“Okay, cool, because I think you’d be good-“
Eric was cut off as they heard the light chime of the door to the shelter opening, and then the sound of little feet running toward the office with the yelling of, “John, John, John, John!”
John’s face broke into a full smile as he saw Audrey run into the room. He held out his arms as the five-year-old threw herself into his lap. “Hey, kiddo,” John said warmly. It was, quite possibly, the best he’d been feeling all day.
“John! Hi, John!” Audrey said, throwing her arms around his neck.
“Hi, John,” Gillian, Audrey’s mother, said as she entered the office. She glanced over at Eric and totally, and not very subtly at all, checked him out. John rolled his eyes. “Hi,” she said to Eric, holding out her hand. “I’m Gillian.”
“Hi, Gillian,” Eric said, suddenly turning into a charmer in a way John had never seen before. John rolled his eyes again. “I’m Eric.”
“Hi, Mr. Man!” Audrey said enthusiastically, interrupting her mother and John’s employee’s eye-sex session. “My name is Audrey and this place is named after my daddy. He’s dead now. Monsters killed him-” John and Gillian’s eyes met over Audrey’s head. The girl continued, “- and John won’t talk about it because it makes him sad but he should try to be happy, he has TWO-” she held up as many fingers, “-boyfriends now and that is a lot of boyfriends and boys have cooties!” She made a face, but then her eyes light up. “Can you fly? Someday, I’m going to fly!”
Eric zoomed the ball around John and Audrey a little bit, and the little girl burst into laughter. “No,” he said, grinning, “but I can make things fly.”
“Cool! My daddy could glow, and John has fire. My mommy can’t do anything but someday I’m going to fly.”
“Flying would be cool,” Eric agreed, nodding.
Just then, the little chime went off again as someone else came into the shelter. Both John and Eric looked up at the clock. “Him?” John asked.
“Maybe,” Eric said.
Just then, they heard a timid voice call out. “Eric? You here?”
Eric nodded. “Yep, it’s him.” He called out louder, “Hey, Billy. Be right out!”
Billy was teenaged runaway that had dropped by the center once or twice when it first opened, but his visits had become near daily in the past week. John knew it was because he liked and trusted Eric, and John suspected he might be beginning to hope Eric would take him home someday. They had strict rules about that, and Eric had promised to bring it up (gently and non-confrontationally) so hopefully that would be done soon. And hopefully the kid would still trust them enough to come around and let them try to help him.
Eric landed the stress ball on the desk in front of him and grinned at Audrey. “Wanna come meet someone? You should see what he can do.”
Audrey glanced from Eric, to John, to her mother. Gillian nodded, and Audrey hopped off John’s lap and ran right out into the common area. She could be heard yelling out, “Hi, I’m Audrey!”
Gillian chucked as she replaced Eric in the chair across from John.
“So,” John started, raising an eyebrow. “What can I do for you?”
“Hey!” the woman scolded. “We wanted to see you, and visit the place named after Audrey’s father!”
“And?” John prompted.
Gillian gave a sheepish grin, and then excitedly waved her hands around. “I want to come and work for you!” she said happily. “And you wouldn’t even have to pay me.”
“I’ve been hearing a lot of that today… what is with people? Is money growing on trees or something?” John asked sarcastically.
“Don’t be an ass,” Gillian said, though she glanced at the door to see if her daughter may have heard her. Satisfied she didn’t, Gillian continued, “I need some volunteer hours for that class I was telling you about. This would be perfect! And, you know,” she add sheepishly, “you understand I’m a single mom and you won’t give me a hard time with scheduling?” She batted her eyelashes.
John sighed. He would just have to find some time to mope later. He swept the broken pencil off the end of his desk into the trash bin, and plucked another one from the holder. “Okay, when do you think you could be available? I don’t have to budget you in if it’s not paid so that does give me some flexibility…”
Gillian squealed and clapped her hands in front of her like a seal. “John, you’re the best! I can even get you to babysit!”
“That I can do,” John said, but poked the pencil in the air at her. “But you so have to pay me for it.”
It turned out the stress ball did end up hitting him in the head after all.