Riding the Waves (Original)
Title: Riding the Waves
Author: Sasha L. Miller (sashalmiller)
Fandom: N/A (original, one-shot)
Spoilers/Rating: G, M/M
Picture is here.
"You did what?" Sam demanded, wondering if he'd gotten rainwater in his ears or if he'd really just heard Jesse say that he'd quit.
"I… quit my job?" Jesse repeated, his face falling. "There didn't seem to be any point in staying…" Jesse trailed off as Sam pushed past him, through the tiny foyer of their apartment. Sam dropped his briefcase with a thud, wondering if Jesse had hit his head and gone crazy. Between student loans, rent, utilities, and all of their other expenses, both Sam's and Jesse's paychecks were all but spoken for every time they were paid. They had barely anything saved, either-certainly not enough to allow Jesse to quit his job before he had another one.
"Why wouldn't you ask me first?" Sam demanded, stripping off his jacket with quick, jerky motions. He knew Jesse hated his job, and he was one hundred percent behind Jesse finding another one. While he was still employed. Throwing his jacket on top of his briefcase, Sam turned and waited for an explanation that hopefully wouldn't end in him killing his boyfriend.
"It was such a good opportunity, I didn't think quitting would hurt," Jesse said, much subdued from his initial exclamation of I quit my job!
"Opportunity?" Sam repeated. He frowned in confusion, anger dissipating. Had he missed a text or voice mail? He'd been in meetings all day, but he'd checked his phone on the way home. Sam shoved his hand into his pocket, pulling out his phone and sliding it open. The blank screen appeared-no missed calls, no missed texts.
"Yeah, they called this morning about it. I sent you a text?" Jesse said, pulling out his own phone and thumbing it on. He hit buttons for a moment, then groaned. "It never went through. I can't believe I didn't notice. I thought you were too busy to reply."
"Which one did you get?" Sam asked, starting to be excited. He should have known Jesse wouldn't quit without good reason. "When do you start?"
"It's the hydrologist job, out in Waterford," Jesse said, his face brightening. "They want me to start on Monday, which didn't give me enough time to give proper notice, so I quit. You should have seen Mulligan's face. He was pissed, but-"
"Waterford's too far away to commute," Sam interrupted, more interested in the practicalities of how Jesse was going to make it to his new job than in Mulligan's reaction. He could get that later-and gladly would. Mulligan was an ass, and well deserved Jesse quitting without notice. "And four days is nowhere near enough time to find a place, never mind that we don't have any money for a deposit or rent on another apartment." At least their lease here would be up in two months, but how would they make it work until then?
"That's the great part," Jesse said, his grin splitting his face. He surged into motion, crossing the foyer in two steps. He grabbed Sam's hand, pulling him into their tiny living room. The laptop was set on the coffee table, hooked up to the printer, and a slew of papers covered the rest of the tabletop. The blazer Jesse had worn to work that morning was draped over one arm of the couch, pop bottles littered the table and the floor, and Jesse had tossed the throw pillows-a gift from Jesse's mother-off the couch again.
"Let me find you the contract," Jesse said, pushing Sam down on the sofa. It creaked ominously, but it had survived worse than being sat on. Jesse rustled through the sea of papers for a moment, before finally coming up with a handful of pages, stapled in the top-right corner. "You can read it over and see if I'm being stupid."
"You're not stupid," Sam said. Jesse's master degree in oceanography more than proved that. It was stupid that Jesse had been wasting his days in a dead-end office job like Sam. At least Sam's half-finished bachelor's degree was commensurate with his dead-end office job. Scanning over the pages, Sam paused, reading it again when he reached the salary portion. "Is that really?" Sam tilted the papers towards Jesse, jabbing his finger at the five figures on the page.
"Yep," Jesse said, beaming. "They're going to put me up, too, for a month or until I can find my own place. There's a hotel close to the office they get a discount at, since they usually recruit from out of state. It'll be tight for a few weeks, but once I get my first paycheck, we should start doing much better."
"So I should ask for a transfer to Waterford. That shouldn't be a problem. The office there is always understaffed. Might even get a raise out of it," Sam said, tossing the contract back on the table without bothering to read the rest. He could do that later. Jesse's eyes followed the motion automatically, then he turned to stare at Sam quizzically. "I'll read it more thoroughly later. First, we celebrate."
"Oh?" Jesse said, smiling slow and pleased. "What do you have in mind?"
"Well, you're currently unemployed, and I'm broke," Sam said thoughtfully, loosening his tie slowly, "So I can't take you out to dinner. What are your thoughts on cleaning the bathroom?"
Jesse rolled his eyes, grabbing Sam's tie before he could fully unknot it. He yanked, pulling Sam towards him. Sam toppled, managing to knock over two pop bottles on his way. "No cleaning."
"Second option, then," Sam murmured, wrapping an arm around Jesse's neck and pulling him down for a kiss. Jesse returned it, applying all of his energy and focus, as much a tornado here as he was in every other area of their lives. Sam lost himself in it, letting go of all his worries and concentrating fully on Jesse. For once, things were looking up, and Sam was going to enjoy that and not go borrowing trouble.
Author: Sasha L. Miller (sashalmiller)
Fandom: N/A (original, one-shot)
Spoilers/Rating: G, M/M
Picture is here.
"You did what?" Sam demanded, wondering if he'd gotten rainwater in his ears or if he'd really just heard Jesse say that he'd quit.
"I… quit my job?" Jesse repeated, his face falling. "There didn't seem to be any point in staying…" Jesse trailed off as Sam pushed past him, through the tiny foyer of their apartment. Sam dropped his briefcase with a thud, wondering if Jesse had hit his head and gone crazy. Between student loans, rent, utilities, and all of their other expenses, both Sam's and Jesse's paychecks were all but spoken for every time they were paid. They had barely anything saved, either-certainly not enough to allow Jesse to quit his job before he had another one.
"Why wouldn't you ask me first?" Sam demanded, stripping off his jacket with quick, jerky motions. He knew Jesse hated his job, and he was one hundred percent behind Jesse finding another one. While he was still employed. Throwing his jacket on top of his briefcase, Sam turned and waited for an explanation that hopefully wouldn't end in him killing his boyfriend.
"It was such a good opportunity, I didn't think quitting would hurt," Jesse said, much subdued from his initial exclamation of I quit my job!
"Opportunity?" Sam repeated. He frowned in confusion, anger dissipating. Had he missed a text or voice mail? He'd been in meetings all day, but he'd checked his phone on the way home. Sam shoved his hand into his pocket, pulling out his phone and sliding it open. The blank screen appeared-no missed calls, no missed texts.
"Yeah, they called this morning about it. I sent you a text?" Jesse said, pulling out his own phone and thumbing it on. He hit buttons for a moment, then groaned. "It never went through. I can't believe I didn't notice. I thought you were too busy to reply."
"Which one did you get?" Sam asked, starting to be excited. He should have known Jesse wouldn't quit without good reason. "When do you start?"
"It's the hydrologist job, out in Waterford," Jesse said, his face brightening. "They want me to start on Monday, which didn't give me enough time to give proper notice, so I quit. You should have seen Mulligan's face. He was pissed, but-"
"Waterford's too far away to commute," Sam interrupted, more interested in the practicalities of how Jesse was going to make it to his new job than in Mulligan's reaction. He could get that later-and gladly would. Mulligan was an ass, and well deserved Jesse quitting without notice. "And four days is nowhere near enough time to find a place, never mind that we don't have any money for a deposit or rent on another apartment." At least their lease here would be up in two months, but how would they make it work until then?
"That's the great part," Jesse said, his grin splitting his face. He surged into motion, crossing the foyer in two steps. He grabbed Sam's hand, pulling him into their tiny living room. The laptop was set on the coffee table, hooked up to the printer, and a slew of papers covered the rest of the tabletop. The blazer Jesse had worn to work that morning was draped over one arm of the couch, pop bottles littered the table and the floor, and Jesse had tossed the throw pillows-a gift from Jesse's mother-off the couch again.
"Let me find you the contract," Jesse said, pushing Sam down on the sofa. It creaked ominously, but it had survived worse than being sat on. Jesse rustled through the sea of papers for a moment, before finally coming up with a handful of pages, stapled in the top-right corner. "You can read it over and see if I'm being stupid."
"You're not stupid," Sam said. Jesse's master degree in oceanography more than proved that. It was stupid that Jesse had been wasting his days in a dead-end office job like Sam. At least Sam's half-finished bachelor's degree was commensurate with his dead-end office job. Scanning over the pages, Sam paused, reading it again when he reached the salary portion. "Is that really?" Sam tilted the papers towards Jesse, jabbing his finger at the five figures on the page.
"Yep," Jesse said, beaming. "They're going to put me up, too, for a month or until I can find my own place. There's a hotel close to the office they get a discount at, since they usually recruit from out of state. It'll be tight for a few weeks, but once I get my first paycheck, we should start doing much better."
"So I should ask for a transfer to Waterford. That shouldn't be a problem. The office there is always understaffed. Might even get a raise out of it," Sam said, tossing the contract back on the table without bothering to read the rest. He could do that later. Jesse's eyes followed the motion automatically, then he turned to stare at Sam quizzically. "I'll read it more thoroughly later. First, we celebrate."
"Oh?" Jesse said, smiling slow and pleased. "What do you have in mind?"
"Well, you're currently unemployed, and I'm broke," Sam said thoughtfully, loosening his tie slowly, "So I can't take you out to dinner. What are your thoughts on cleaning the bathroom?"
Jesse rolled his eyes, grabbing Sam's tie before he could fully unknot it. He yanked, pulling Sam towards him. Sam toppled, managing to knock over two pop bottles on his way. "No cleaning."
"Second option, then," Sam murmured, wrapping an arm around Jesse's neck and pulling him down for a kiss. Jesse returned it, applying all of his energy and focus, as much a tornado here as he was in every other area of their lives. Sam lost himself in it, letting go of all his worries and concentrating fully on Jesse. For once, things were looking up, and Sam was going to enjoy that and not go borrowing trouble.