Work Text:
The smell is the first thing in quite a while to break through the shut-off senses.
“Coffee,” Dufresne's exhausted brain almost sobs, and he already feels a little more energised.
But what is the coffee – a whole mug, the generic company merch one – doing here right in front of his nose? Good question. Dufresne raises his eyes from the monitor, which is covered with spreadsheets like a quilt.
“Hi,” Billy says.
There's no way of saying how long the assistant of the deputy CEO has been standing there. Dufresne smiles an awkward and apologetic smile, just in case.
“Gates asked for the documents again, didn't he?” he asks.
Billy shakes his head and holds the mug out for Dufresne to take.
“It's for me?” the accountant blinks, surprised, and takes the coffee. It's not scolding his hands through the ceramic, but hot enough to have the maximum effect.
“Yep,” Billy replies, “Haven't seen you at the cooler for two days already. Started to worry.”
“The quarterly account time,” Dufresne sighs. “I go to sleep and see numbers running all around like that Matrix effect.”
Billy sucks air in through his teeth, expressing his condolences.
“At least, Flint isn't here this week. I'm lucky he’s my boss’s boss and I don't have to report to him directly.”
“Oh yeah,” Dufresne shivers. He takes his glasses off to let his eyes relax for a couple of moments. This way, he can't see Billy clearly now, but somehow it makes the conversation seem a bit more intimate. There's an element of trust – an irrational thing, the office isn't a jungle, where you have to be aware of the enemies’ presence at all times – and without the glasses, his face is more exposed, in the good sense of the word. Plus, the steam from the coffee would fog them and obscure his vision anyway.
He takes a sip and sighs again, now with bliss.
“Thanks, Billy,” he says. “That new guy Silver knows his way with beans after all.”
“I was surprised too,” Billy nods. “Can I help you with anything?”
“Don't think so, unfortunately,” Dufresne hums. “I think I will be done with the report by the end of the day, so I just need to get back to work. And, erm, I don't mean to sound like I'm telling you to go away.”
“It's fine, don't worry, I'm already on my way out. Don't forget the coffee!”
“I won't,” Dufresne promises.
Billy turns to walk away, takes a couple of steps and turns back.
“If you do finish the report today, can we… go out somewhere, maybe?”
Dufresne blushes, but it's okay, because Billy is pink too.
“Y-yes, of course!” he says quickly, and Billy chuckles.
“So, you keep working on the report, and I will come up with the place to go.”
“Sounds like a great additional motivation,” Dufresne grins.
It's going to be very difficult to concentrate on bookkeeping now, though.