Words In The Wind (Koe-chan and Zombie_In_A_Box) [possibly 18+]

[BlaqueCatt]

The brunette's pale face became dusted with pink, and his brown eyes widened. Quickly he looked away, unsure of whether to feel flattered and smile or be absolutely mortified. He's so...outgoing. His sister had always been reserved, and while his mother had been 'out there', it really wasn't the same thing. I suppose I'd have to meet people like him someday. He swallowed to make sure his voice wouldn't crack. "Um, if you want." Personally, the idea was distasteful; he hated gossip, especially when it had to do with celebrities, and he felt that the news should be more focused on meaningful information. However, he decided that he should learn both sides of the job.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Brian frowned, furrowing his eyebrows slightly. "It's not gonna work if one of us isn't enjoying. C'mon, offer something you like." He said, giving Beckett a reassuring smile. "We have to attract some attention, so it can't be just dry information. No matter what you're talking about, if you just give the facts, no one's gonna want to read it. Even if they do, they'll know everything from you will be boring and no one wants that!"

[BlaqueCatt]

Beckett's blush darkened slightly in embarrassment. "I'm...I'm sorry, I'm just not used to that kind of...research." His hands, which had been folded in front of him, had started to worry at the hem of his sweater. "Everything I worked on his college was more serious. I want to try, but I'm..." I'm afraid that people won't like me? That I won't do well? I can't say that. "...just not used to it," he repeated lamely. There was a moment's hesitation, and then, wanting to escape, he suggested, "Um, why don't we just go?" He felt guilty, as if he was burdening Brian by talking.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Brian watched Beckett with confusion, one eyebrow raising slightly. "Hey, calm down~" He smiled warmly, lightly taking the other's hand, squeezing them gently. "You can't be perfect in everything, right? So you're not used to it, that doesn't mean you can't!" The man grinned, letting go. "Let's think of what we want to make people talk about before we go." He smiled, pushing his hands back into the pockets of his loose pants.

[BlaqueCatt]

The young man felt his heart clench slightly at Brian's words. He was a very sensitive person, and he found the others' words comforting. It was something his sister would have said to them when they were children--or, when he was a child and she was a teenager. "O-okay." He felt a small smile tug at the corners of his lips. A stranger had said something so nice to him, which was unexpected, at least to him. I hope we can get along. He followed behind the taller man as they exited the building after gathering their materials.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Brian found it easier to decide on the theme of the survey when Beckett had calmed down. Afterwards, it didn't take much longer for them to be able to leave and go out into town to actually find the people they could talk with. Obviously, he let the younger guy do most of the talking, encouraging him from time to time, giving him various advice and so on. He was a good teacher, actually. Maybe a little bit too soft, but it didn't seem like harsh worked on Beck.

[BlaqueCatt]

The experience had been horribly embarrassing at first. When Beckett approached the people on the streets, he was intimidated by their expressions--even if they weren't malicious--and he stuttered when he spoke. However, after some encouragement from Brian--who was obviously being very gentle, which Beckett appreciated--the brunette was able to calm down. The outing improved at that point, and Beckett found himself smiling and even laughing with a few of the more friendly people they questioned. When the surveying was over, Beckett turned to Brian and thanked him as they made their way back to the office.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Brian felt proud, actually. At first, it was worrisome watching Beckett try and talk to people, but he seemed to get himself together after some time. When the brunet thanked him, the man just grinned and shook his head, gently ruffling up the younger's hair. "Now I'll leave you to put everything to place... I suggest making charts. After you're done, send it to me so I can edit it." Brian said and smiled warmly. "Oh, and do whatever you had to do for Alex, too."

[BlaqueCatt]

The brunette nodded, his hands resting at the satchel hanging from his right shoulder. Inside of it were all of the notes he had taken. "Okay. I'll send you the charts and give a report to Mr. Black." Once again, he couldn't help but wonder why everyone else called Alexander by his first name. Maybe he's the kind of boss who befriends his employees? If that was the case, then Beckett was even more grateful to be working for him than he had been before.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Brian smiled and nodded before moving back to his table. Just minutes after he sat down, quiet curses came from his side. After leaving the office, he had a ton of things to edit and reply to. Work was hard as hell! Especially when you were the main editor of the newspaper... He still wasn't sure exactly how the whole thing managed to stay this good. They may not have been too popular, but their quality was good.

[BlaqueCatt]

Beckett took a seat at his desk, shrugging off his coat and placing his bag onto the desk in front of him. He took out his laptop and flipped it open, clicking on Microsoft Excel as soon as the machine had booted up. There was no need for him to look back at his notes, as he had them memorized, so he immediately began typing, filling in the boxes before organizing the data into a few different graphs, unsure of which one Brian would prefer. He heard the curses coming from a few feet away, and he paused, wondering if he could be of assistance. No, he'll probably be offended. The brunette quickly finished with the charts and, after they were sent to Brian, he moved on to the detailed report that would be handed in to Alexander.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Brian was seriously getting fed up with everyone wanting help from him sometimes. Today was just one of those days, it seemed. He brushed off everyone who came to him for help, saying that they should either figure it out by themselves or go to somebody else. No one liked days when he was like this, actually. When he received the charts, the man just barely looked through them before beginning to edit the following day's newspaper. He added the charts in the last few pages, as the information was more to relax...

[BlaqueCatt]

Beckett, being the type of person who was very empathetic, could feel the waves of irritation flowing off of the man sitting a few desks away from him. He paused in his typing, taking a moment to go over his options. He liked Brian, and he wanted to help him, but he was afraid of being rejected. He was also nervous about not finishing the report before the day was over. He could either stick to his job of being a newbie and worry only about himself, or he could try to become someone whom Brian could trust. After going through the options, it was clear which had won out. Upon completing the sentence he was on, he stood up and quietly approached Brian's desk. He hesitated, then opened his mouth and whispered, "Um...I-I'm sorry, but...d-do you want some help?"

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Brian glanced over his shoulder when Beckett came, barely giving him a small smile. "You have what to do, go do that." He said and turned back to his computer, clearly hoping that the other would just go away. He didn't have the time to babysit! The time spent outside used up a lot of his time, which he usually managed very well. He always had time for breaks, he didn't leave the work until the deadlines, he always managed to do what tasks he needed. Today would not be any different, of course. He just had to push himself a little bit.

[BlaqueCatt]

Beckett inwardly winced, and he tried to refrain from frowning or showing any hurt on his face. He could tell that Brian was upset, but it seemed that the other man had misunderstood him. The brunette wanted to help the other, not add to his work load. "Um, n-no, I finished," he said softly. Because he was new, he had a smaller amount of things to do. The charts had been incredibly easy, and the report only needed to be a few pages long, so it had only taken him an hour or so. "I-I want to know if you need anything."

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Brian frowned at what he heard, looking at Beckett with a dissatisfied expression. "If it only took you this long, it's not good enough." He said sternly and turned back to the screen. "I don't need anything, believe me." There he managed a smile and tossed a glance at the new guy with a slightly softer expression. "Go and read through your report again, see if there's anything to add." The man muttered, already distracted by something in his computer. He disliked getting help in his own job. In groups, he was glad to work with others, but there was some work he just had to do by himself, and that wouldn't change.

[BlaqueCatt]

Beckett's face flushed with embarrassment and guilt. He hadn't meant to upset the other man. "O-okay. S-sorry." He returned the smile despite the heavy weight that had settled in his chest and the swirling if his stomach, hoping that it was convincing enough. He already felt like a horrible person for hurting the other--his school experience had left him unable to be harmful to others--and didn't want Brian to know he was upset, lest the other man feel even worse. "I'll g-go do that." He cursed himself inwardly for stuttering and made his way back to his desk. The uneasiness he felt made it almost impossible to focus--he just wanted to hide--but he forced himself to reread the report he had written. I can't believe I'm not over this yet. My high-school counselor said the anxiety would get better with age, but nothing seems to have changed. It's a miracle I made it through college.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Brian got back to work, but the way Beckett acted soon proved to have him restless. With a dissatisfied groan, the man glanced back, lightly nibbling on his lower lip before turning back to his computer. He didn't take long to crumble, though. The raven stood up and walked over to Beck's table, lightly tapping his shoulder. "Are you okay?" He asked quietly, looking at him with a slightly worried expression. He didn't seem fine, that was for sure. "I, err... I'm sorry if I did something wrong." He added, glancing down with a somewhat ashamed expression.

[BlaqueCatt]

Beckett jumped slightly when Brian approached, turning around with a surprised expression. He had become absorbed in editing his report, suddenly afraid that he hadn't done well enough. It had taken a large amount of restraint to keep from rewriting the entire thing. "What?" He saw the shame in Brian's eyes, and he felt some of the weight lift from his chest. The other man wasn't angry at him anymore. "I'm fine," he reassured him, smiling slightly. "You didn't do anything. I shouldn't have said anything." The smile faded and he looked down. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I should have known that some people don't like being helped--" He had started rambling. He still felt guilty, but he was relieved that he was being forgiven. He hated making people upset.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Brian stared at the other with a slightly confused expression. "Offend me? You didn't." He muttered with a small smile spreading across his face. "I like to do my work myself, yeah, but you definitely didn't offend me... But now, if you'll excuse me, I'll get back to work." The man grinned lightly, straightening out as he pushed his hands into the pockets of his pants. The dark-skinned male didn't quite have time for chit-chat with all that work that pilled up during the day. With that thought in mind, he stepped towards his table, already putting up a mini schedule.

[BlaqueCatt]

The brunette tilted his head slightly, not quite understanding why Brian was confused. He says I didn't offend him, but I must have done something wrong. He likes to work by himself and I interrupted him. The other man's words were confusing to Beckett, but he was nonetheless glad that all had turned out all right. "Okay," he replied to Brian's parting words, completely understanding that there was more work to do. By the time the other was gone, Beckett's smile faded and he sighed, resting his chin in his hand. It's only my second day and I already screwed up twice, with Brian and Mr. Black at the restaurant... He took a moment to calm himself, covering his face with his hands as he took deep breaths. Then, he focused on the report again.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

In a while, Alexander showed himself as well. He decided it was about time he checked on his workers. Starting with Annabeth, he walked from one person to another, asking if everything was alright and if they would manage the work. He ended with Beckett, stopping behind him. "You're taking rather long with the report, is everything fine? Perhaps you should've taken a day off after all?" He asked quietly, looking at the brunet with a slight, worried frown. "We didn't get to finish our dinner, either... Perhaps you'd like to eat with me at home sometime?"

[BlaqueCatt]

Beckett nearly jumped out of his skin when Alexander seemingly appeared behind him. He tore his eyes away from the screen and turned to gaze up at his boss, his fingers stilling above the keys. His brown eyes were confused for a moment, and then he looked away with a quiet sigh. "I was finished about an hour and a half ago, but..." He was subconsciously wringing his hands together now that they weren't occupied with typing. "But, um, I-I saw that other people were still working hard and I was worried that I hadn't done as well as I could because I finished early, so I, um...went over it a few more times." That was an understatement; he had come close to rewriting the entire thing.

[Zombie_In_A_Box]

Alexander frowned the slightest bit, letting out a quiet sigh. "You do know that no one else has the same job as you, right? Now, while you were editing the report, you could've done something else, you could've learned something... When you write your report, you can read through it once, edit something if necessary and then send it to me. No need to stress over it so much!" A small smile graced his features as he placed a hand on the other's shoulder. "If you take an hour and a half to edit one report, how do you expect to meet the deadlines when you have them?"

[BlaqueCatt]

The brunette's heart had nearly plummeted when Alexander first spoke--he had disappointed yet another person--and immediately regretted his actions. He's right. I'm not cut out for this kind of job... He bit the inside of his lip, the pain helping him to keep his expression steady. However, he was drawn out of his hole of self-hatred due to the shock he felt upon hearing his boss' next statement. 'No need to stress over it so much?' All of his teachers had said the same thing, and it was a relief to see that Alexander was willing to support him, but he still couldn't help but disagree. How can I not stress over it? I'll let everyone down if I don't do it right. And...and I'd just keep working to reach the deadline. He said none of this out loud, however, and just nodded, not really feeling up to putting on yet another fake smile. ...I think I need to call my sister tonight.