Work Text:
“Uh, Soren?”
Soren spins around in his swivel chair to find Daniel standing there, his hand nervously rubbing the back of his neck.
It’s weird to see Dan from this angle. He looks so tall. Soren is slightly unnerved by the lack of power his stance lets off, so he stands to answer.
“Yeah? What’s up, Daniel?” He clears his throat twice and tries to sound less like he’s trying.
“I, uh… I need a small favor, but it’s okay if you don’t want to, of course if you don’t I might have to ask Michael, and if I have to ask Michael I’d be putting myself in considerable danger because he’s- have you seen him drive?” Dan says, talking faster and faster as his eyes dart around the room.
Soren almost smiles. It’s kind of cute, how anxious Dan gets. Kind of.
“Just- what is it? Take a breath.”
Daniel draws in a breath and adjusts his glasses. “Okay. This is going to sound weird and crazy because it is weird and crazy but can I ride with you to the diner and then also to my house?” He finally makes eye contact with Soren and makes a face like he’s just become aware of how much he’s sweating.
Of course Soren will give him a ride, what a silly thing to freak out about.
Wait… Why does he need a ride? It finally occurs to Soren that this is actually very weird. Daniel always drives himself to work because he’s not comfortable letting anyone else drive him. Soren also notices a little stain on Dan’s Cracked University t-shirt, then looks down to see sweatpants. Dan? In sweats? His left shoe is also untied, and he’s not wearing one of the hoodies he wears to work every day. Soren even remembers the conversation in the parking lot of the diner the day he made the mistake of asking why he always brings a hoodie, even when it’s 90 degrees out.
“The thermostat at work is always too low. They overcompensate for the heat outside and make it 65 degrees. That’s insane. I can’t work when I’m cold so I always bring a zip-up hoodie. I can’t deal with a pullover because if I get sweaty I can’t unzip it to air out,” Daniel had rambled.
“I… guess that actually makes a lot of sense,” Soren said, wondering why he’d bothered to ask in the first place.
“Sure, I can give you a ride. Did, uh… Did something happen? Are you okay?” He tries not to be condescending, he really does, but it still comes off wrong.
“Why? Do I look like something’s wrong? Do I look sick? Am I sweating too much? Damn it, everything is going wrong today!” Dan curses. He lifts his glasses and rubs his eyes, dropping his glasses crooked on his nose.
“No, I mean you don’t look sick. You look like you’re having a… weird day.” Soren puts a hand gently on Dan’s shoulder, and Dan doesn’t shake it off. It’s always a hit-and-miss with that, but this time it just worries Soren more rather than boosting his ego.
Daniel sighs. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I woke up this morning thirty minutes late. I had to rush and I stepped on a bottle of shampoo in the shower and fell, and now I have a huge bruise on my back and I hit my head on the wall and it took me so long to get myself together that I grabbed the wrong pants and everything is just wrong, I left my hoodie in the house and I guess I was so freaked out I started running to work and I didn’t notice until I was too far to turn back and drive and-”
Soren puts the other hand on Dan’s other shoulder. “Hey,” he says softly. “Calm down. Take another deep breath. It’s okay.”
Daniel pauses and notices the hands on his shoulders. His frown doesn’t leave his face, but he appears slightly calmer.
“Wait a second. You… ran to work today?” Soren tries really, really hard not to laugh.
It doesn’t totally work, and Dan has to force the frown on his face to stay and not become a smile.
“Yeah. I ran to work.”
“I’ve never seen you run, like, ever.” Soren drops the hands from Dan’s shoulders and covers his mouth to stifle another chuckle.
“Very funny. I know. I don’t know what happened. I had to change into this shirt which was in my desk for emergencies, except something must’ve spilled on it without my knowledge.” He collects himself a bit and takes in a deep breath. “So, uh, about that ride…?”
Soren smiles. “Sure, I’ll drive you. And, here,” he says as he turns and picks something off of his chair, “you can borrow my hoodie. They keep the diner almost as cold as they do the office.”
Daniel blushes and takes the hoodie, frown becoming a small smile. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. Actually, seriously, don’t mention this to Katie and Michael. They’ll tear you apart if they find out about your morning.” He pats Dan on the shoulder once he’s pulled on the hoodie. “Looks good on you.”
Dan breaks out in a grin. “Yeah? You think so? Grey is usually a good color for me, it’s neutral so it goes with everything but it’s not as stark as black or white.” He stops. “I mean, thanks.”
The drive to the diner is actually pretty nice. Soren makes sure to drive a bit more safely than usual, sticking to the speed limit and not taking any hard turns, and Daniel relaxes after a minute or two. He releases his white knuckle grip on the seat once he notices how careful Soren is being, and before long he’s talking about the topic of the night and how excited he is about it.
“Did you bring cards this time?” Soren asks as they pull into a parking spot.
“Yeah, I stayed up all night making-” He checks his pockets and frowns. “Oh. I guess I left them at home.”
Soren unbuckles his seatbelt and pulls his phone out of his pocket. “I have the email you sent me, and I think maybe I have some paper in here somewhere… Check the glove compartment, there’s probably something in there, and I think I have a pen…”
Daniel doesn’t move, just looking at Soren warmly. “It’s okay. I’ve got most of it in my head anyway. But thanks for trying,” he says quietly.
“I figure you’ve been through enough hell for the day.” He leans in a little closer to Dan, who surprisingly enough is actually inching closer too. “I’m on your side tonight.”
They’re having a moment, Soren thinks, this might actually be something, Daniel’s eyes are lidded and the parking lot is dim and time is slowing down and then-
“Hey you guys!” Michael shouts, knocking on the windshield. “You coming in or what?”
They both pull back, Daniel rushing to adjust his glasses and hoodie and Soren clearing his throat and running a hand through his hair.
“Yeah, just a sec,” Soren groans.
“Okay cool! I’ll go see if Katie’s here yet!” Michael calls out as he starts off towards the diner.
“We, uh, we should probably get in there before he tries to break into my car…” Soren mumbles. He looks up to see Daniel still leaning a bit closer to the driver’s seat than usual. “What?”
“You were uh, saying something, right? Something important?” Dan’s voice is low and wavering, anxious in a way somehow different than usual.
Soren moves closer to Daniel’s face and looks down at the console separating the seats. “I was? Oh, I was,” he murmurs.
Their noses are nearly touching, and Soren realizes if he doesn’t take the opportunity now, it might take months to get another. He closes the gap between them and kisses Dan’s lips gently, pleasantly surprised when he feels a hand cautiously reach up to grip his bicep.
It’s no more than a minute, but when they pull apart, Daniel’s face is absolutely flushed and he’s giggling.
“What?” Soren asks, ready to be offended.
“Nothing, I mean, not nothing, but that was- I wasn’t totally expecting- I mean, I expected a little- not that I expect anything from you! I just- I really wanted to do that,” he says, voice getting softer and softer as he finishes the sentence.
“Oh,” Soren says. “I did too.” He pauses for a moment to look at Daniel, noticing how happy he looks. He’s got the same expression as when he’s just won a conversation in the diner, except… pinker. “Come on, let’s go before Michael comes back to bother us again.”
So Daniel and Soren walk into the diner like nothing’s going on, and Soren is proud to find his friends are none the wiser. Well, Katie looks like she noticed the hoodie, but that’s not a big deal. At least they’re not making fun of Daniel.
Soren. At least they’re not making fun of Soren.