Chapter Text
Cover Art by UnknownPaws
Ronald cursed under his breath as he walked into the dispatch building with the sheet from his bed wrapped around his waste, Quickly clocking in and walking as quickly as he could up to the floor that held the offices of his department. He had arrived quite early, which was rare for him, especially when he supported a hangover like he did that day. But he didn't want to chance too many of his coworkers to see him before he could confront his senior; Grell Sutcliff.
Ronald cursed again as he thought of the redhead, picking up his pace on his way to his office.
It had been a long night, but it was going to be an even longer day. William sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose to help ease away the headache between his eyes that had been annoyingly persistent. Quarterly performance reports just happened to coincide with monthly sundry expense approvals and part of the accounting staff had been temporarily transferred to another branch to assist with a surprise audit. Needless to say, the entire department was a mess and William, of course, stepped in when and where he was needed. Accounting was not typically part of his job, but he was capable of handling simple expense approvals...however, the workload was downright atrocious. Still, it had to be done and there was no reason not to. He'd spent the night in his office once again, though he didn't sleep. He'd waded through a good chunk of the expense reports assigned to him before he noticed it was dawn and he was tired. He'd already worked through the night, so he might as well continue on, and so he did. He worked past his tiredness for a few more hours.
William dearly wanted to run home quickly for a shower to wake him and try to ease his headache away, but he opted instead for a small walk and perhaps some coffee. No, definitely some coffee. He left his office and headed for the break room. As banal a task as brewing his coffee was, it was a welcome change to the constant clack of his typewriter or the scrawl of his pen. As soon as it was done, he poured himself a cup, black, and he sipped with an extremely indulgent small sigh of satisfaction.
But that sigh was cut sort at the sight of a blur of blonde, black, and white as it rushed past the door to the break room. He blinked, pursed his lips, and took another sip of coffee as he walked to the door to look out into the hall in time to catch Ronald Knox hurrying towards his own office...wearing what appeared to be a sheet.
"Knox," he said firmly and loudly enough to catch the younger reaper's attention. "What are you wearing?"
Ronald skidded to a stop, stumbling slightly as he half-tripped over the corner of his sheet, "Nothing! Well…Something, but…Don't talk so loud, Senpai." The blond said, turning to look at his boss. It had to be William to catch him before he reached the safety of his office, and perhaps a change of clothes if the conniving redhead hadn't thought to look there, "The bright lights hurt bad enough." He groaned, rubbing his temple as he slumped to the side to lean against the wall. He had been so close, two more steps and he would have been safe in his office. His grip on the sheet tightened at the thought.
One didn't have to be a genius to realize Ronald was coming in from a night of partying again, and from the comment about the lights, he was undoubtedly suffering the after effects of indulging too much. William was tempted to chastise him, as he well should for coming into work in such a state of dress and physical being...but his slumped posture and tone of his voice made it apparent he felt as miserable as William did, though quite likely more. And he'd no doubt done it to himself voluntarily. It made William feel the slightest bit better about his current state.
The supervisor quirked an eyebrow and leaned against the door frame, calmly taking another sip of his coffee.
"Do I want to know why you are wearing a sheet or why you are rushing about the offices long before your scheduled shift?" he asked, keeping his voice in the same firm, slightly loud tone if only to irk the younger man.
The young reaper flinched, groaning at the volume of his superior's voice that was so obviously intentionally raised to a higher volume to make a point. Of course, to anyone who hadn't been out drinking all night, William's tone would be written off as normal, but to a man with a hangover, it seemed louder than it really was.
"I'm not wearing a sheet, sir; I'm hiding in a sheet. And I'm not all that early…am I?"
"It's a little more than an hour before your shift begins, Knox. You do not report late, but neither do you report early. And why are you hiding in a sheet?" William asked, but then shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn't have time to waste on this, not when he was indulging in a rare break. "No, never mind. I honestly do not want to know. I am going to go back into the break room to finish my coffee, you are going to go into your office to do whatever it was you were hurrying to do, and so long as you are wearing something adhering to dress code next I see you, I'll overlook the hangover."
The blond reaper blinked, slightly surprised that he was being let off easy. The seemingly emotionless shinigami was never one to put up with anything that strayed from company policy. And though there were no written rules about showing up to work with a hangover, hangovers did cause problems in production levels, and therefore a reaper showing up to work with one often got overtime to make up for the morning's decreased production.
"Yes, sir…Thank you, sir." He said, turning to his office door and unlocking it, he paused, the door half open, and looked at William, "Could you….not tell anyone you saw me like this? I'd rather not have to deal with questions from the secretaries…or Grell-senpai's big mouth on the matter."
"Don't push it, Knox," William said crisply as he narrowed his eyes and turned to go back into the break room. Ronald had some nerve asking anything when William had already conceded to overlook such a serious breach in conduct. But before completely disappearing, he took another sip of coffee. "Gossip has no place in my department. As far as I can recall, all that has occurred is my coffee break. Am I understood?"
"Yes sir…" he paused, "Wait, coffee break? Senpai, don't tell me you worked all night again. You really do need to learn to take a real break, relax and have fun for a while." He stepped forward, his leg slipping out of the sheet for a split second, showing his bare leg; shaved smooth.
Why was the blonde making this harder than it needed to be? He was giving Ronald every opportunity to pretend the situation never occurred simply because he had felt the tiniest bit of camaraderie from both of them having had a rough night. But there Ron went with his infuriatingly bright, polite concern. William didn't need it or want it. He was questioning his decision to let him off now as his eye almost twitched in annoyance and he resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose again and instead closed his eyes and clenched his jaw.
"Yes, Knox, a coffee-" he paused when he opened his eyes again and caught a quick glance of Ron's bare leg when he stepped forward. "-break."
William couldn't help but fix his gaze to the spot wondering if that was what he'd seen. Why did it matter? It didn't. Ron continued on;
"I know it's not my place to say but…the stress can't be good for you….Uh, sorry, I'll let you finish your coffee now…" he said, quickly turning to walk into the safety of his office, the sheet tangling around his ankles as he turned, and tightening around his legs as he went to take a step into the room. He lost his balance and gasped out as he fell, letting go of the sheet to fling his arms out to catch himself, allowing the tangled sheet to fall from his waist.
The young reaper groaned, twisting his body so he could sit up on the floor, cradling his head. The secret he was trying to hide, fully reveled; His long slender legs were bare, void of even the blond hair that usually grew on them. Yet he wasn't half naked. A tight black skirt that barely covered his posterior rode up his smooth thighs as he adjusted himself into his sitting position.
The sight of incredibly bare, incredibly long legs drew William's eye towards the tiny black skirt (if a scrap of fabric that size could be called a skirt) that hugged the curves of Ron's- William ripped his eyes away but the empty mug in his hand slipped and he had to catch it before it fell from his fingers. As he scrambled to catch it, his mind was racing between outrage, surprise, amusement, and indifference. He could naturally project indifference, and so he did.
"At least you're wearing something," William said calmly, but that something was a skirt. How ironic that the resident skirt chaser wound up wearing one himself! Blaming it on his tiredness, the corner of William's mouth twitched in a tiny grin as he walked towards the fallen reaper and offered a hand out to help him up. It wouldn't do to have him cluttering up the hallway, especially if other employees were to begin filing in.
"Did you lose a bet, Knox?"
The younger reaper scrambled to grab his sheet and cover his bare legs, and he avoided eye contact as he took William's offered hand. Once standing again, he tugged the short skirt down, sure that it was way too short and that his rear was exposed.
"I…I don't know…" he said, "I woke up and all my pants were gone, even my pajama bottoms. This….thing was left at the foot of my bed. I was hoping that the pants to my extra suit I keep in my office in case of a rough collection job are still here…" He said as he hurried into his office and opened the closet, "Shit, gone here as well…" he cursed, flopping down onto the small leather sofa he had against the wall next to his bookshelf, his legs spread wide like he normally would sit, until he realized that William could see up the inconvenient skirt and he sat up straight snapping his legs together again.
William had to admit it was mildly amusing to see Ronald so wound up over his predicament. He wasn't lying either. He might have been a very fun-loving sort of person, but William had a hard time believing that he'd do this sort of thing on purpose. He could imagine Ronald's look of bewilderment waking up naked-
Why was he thinking about that? No, he wasn't. Pants were the issue at hand.
He coughed and looked away when Ron sat so improperly and went back to thinking on how to fix this issue.
"I'd offer my spare suit pants, but they're currently out for cleaning. I, as a supervisor, cannot allow you to go out on assignment in this attire as the skirt is too short to meet dress code requirements. Were it 3 inches longer, I would not have an issue. If you do not wish to ask fellow co-workers for spare clothing, I can run home on my lunch break and bring you back a pair of mine to borrow until you find out what happened to your wardrobe."
There. That seemed reasonable.
"This thing would be too short if it was ten inches longer." Ronald grumbled, "How do girls stand these things?" Standing up again, he grabbed the skirt, tugging it down as if trying to make it longer, "I would greatly appreciate it, sir."
"No!" a flamboyant voice cut into the middle of their discussion and Grell skipped in, immediately hanging off William, "He lost the bet! I took his pants so he wouldn't chicken out on his punishment! He has to be Ronda Knox for the whole day!"
William was about to make a statement regarding how women dealt with skirts with practice, but forgot what he was going to say when Ron stood up again, showing off his incredibly long legs again. Instead he nodded and his headache, which had disappeared somewhere between getting his coffee and the present, came back full force at the sound of Grell's voice. He looked down at the redhead hanging on his arm with his typical unamused expression.
"Ronda?" he said cooly. "I do not want to know the reason behind this 'bet' as it is irrelevant. Sutcliff, when you made his only option such a short skirt you had taken into consideration that Ronald would not be permitted to go out on assignment, did you not? Therefore, in essence, you volunteered to cover his assignments for the day. Am I correct?"
"I knew you were behind this, Senpai…" Ronald grumbled, "Please return my clothes."
"Grell ignored Ronald and pouted at William, pawing at his shoulder, "But Will! It's not my fault he lost the bet! Why do I have to be punished?" he wiggled his hips and slinked around the stern shinigami, "It's just this one day! And besides, it looks cute on him! Just look at those legs! They need to be shown off! I'm almost jealous of them."
Ronald folded his arms, a pang of annoyance hitting him as he watched the redhead hang off William.
"Yes, and the whole department will be aware of his legs, which is a distraction I cannot afford. Not right now," William said sternly.
"And it's not so much punishment as it is necessary. Unless the bet was placed forth with him entirely aware that that specific skirt would be the one he was to wear, then yes, it is your responsibility to cover his assignments, Sutcliff. Of course, if you do not want to, then give him a pair of pants or a skirt that meets dress code."
"Does that mean I can start wearing skirts to work, William-darling?" Grell giggled flirtatiously.
"Don't ignore the real issue, here!" Ronald grumbled, "Do I get my pants back?"
Grell looked at Ronald, "That's my only skirt that would fit you. You are stuck with it. I'll take your field work today." He looked back at William, "Maybe it'll give me overtime to spend with you, darling~"
William sighed and gave in to pinching the bridge of his nose and had to resist rolling his eyes at the redhead.
"Does no one read the memos? Ever since Angus Robertson won his appeal, employee dress code has made allowances for male employees to wear kilts and/or skirts so long as they follow the existing parameters set forth for female employees' skirts. So, yes, Sutcliff, wear skirts if you like.
"As for you, Knox, since I cannot have you walking about in that scrap of cloth, you are going to remain within the office and assist me with expense report calculations and paperwork."
"Gods! I never thought I would be so happy to get stuck with paperwork…" Ronald breathed, walking over to his desk and leaning against it, crossing his ankles to try and help prevent the skirt from riding up.
Grell gave an excited squee, "Ah~! I must go change!" he skipped out of the office happily, knowing full well that he was giving up his chance to be at work on time for once just to change out of his tight black dress pants and into a tight skirt.
William gave the redhead a severe glare as he left but knew it would be ignored. He'd actually hoped Grell would never find out about the change in policy and he'd 'forgotten' to give him a copy of the memo, but bringing it up now would get him to leave. The flamboyant reaper's behavior had irritated him more than usual, and William told himself he was just more aware of it due to his tiredness, not because he was bothered by the way Ronald looked when he pleaded for his clothes back, and certainly not because he did not like the way Grell looked Ron up and down. Not at all.
"Knox, gather your things, you are to work in my office until I can provide you with appropriate attire," William said as he started to walk out of his office. "I'd suggest you hurry before more people start clocking in."
With that, William left. His reason for making Ron work in his office along side him had everything to do with convenience and propriety. If Ron stayed in his own office, Grell could formulate ways to get him to leave or send others in to ridicule him. If that happened, then the breach in dress code would be discovered and William's authority as a supervisor would be compromised. If Ron worked in William's office, Grell wouldn't dare such tactics. Not to mention, William had a private washroom, so the young reaper would not need to venture out into the halls if such a need arose. William was protecting himself by doing so, that was all.
He stopped by the break room to refill his coffee before returning to his office and diving back into the paperwork again full force.
"Yes, sir." Ronald said, turning to his desk and starting to gather folders and stacks of paper that he would need. He paused, looking at the sheet still on the floor of his office. His arms were too full for him to be able to hold it up around himself, and he knew from earlier that tying it around himself did not work as well as he liked.
He sighed and kicked it into the corner of his office before peeking out into the halls. Seeing no one, he stepped out and used his foot to swing his office door closed before streaking down the hall to William's office before anyone had a chance to show up and see him in such embarrassing attire. Again, he used his foot to close the office door once he was inside, "Where should I work, sir?" he asked, looking at the man who was already hard at work at his desk.
William looked up at Ron with a raised eyebrow and was about to gesture to the empty seat he'd placed across the desk, but paused for a moment. He must be more tired than he thought. If Ron took that seat, then anyone coming in would easily see his bare legs. If William took the other seat, then at least his body would block the view under the desk. He wasn't looking forward to knocking knees with the blonde, but they would have to make do.
With a small sigh, he unceremoniously shoved his pile of paperwork opposite himself.
"Here," he said crisply as he stood and offered his chair. Without waiting for a response, he moved around the desk, sat in the empty chair, pulled himself up to the desk, gave a short explanation of what was required, and went straight back to work.
Ronald nodded and moved around to William's chair, sitting down in it and setting down the stack of papers on the desk. As he adjusted the chair to a comfortable distance from the desk, his leg brushed up against William's, "Sorry." He said, turning the chair at a slight angle so that his legs went out to the side of his superior's rather than having them constantly knocking their knees together. He grabbed a pen and started to get to work, an awkward silence falling between them, broken only by the sound of a ticking clock. Ronald didn't know why the air in the room seemed so thick, he had worked in the same room with people before as a student, then when he was fresh out of the Shinigami academy, and this situation was no different…other than the fact that he felt practically half naked.
William barely acknowledged Ronald's knees accidentally running into his own. With the situation handled for the time being, he became so focused on his work that he might as well have forgotten Ron was even there. He worked quickly and efficiently, filling out forms with ease and carried on for a while.
In an attempt to balance a stack of flies, he accidentally knocked a spare pen to the ground and watched it roll under the desk, gently coming to a stop as it hit Ronald's white shoe. Thinking nothing of it, he immediately ducked under the desk to retrieve it and startled himself when his vision was suddenly filled with a generous length of pale thigh. In his surprise, he tried to move away quickly and wound up smacking his head on the desk, which jarred his glasses off his face. Cursing under his breath, he tried to back out and knocked into the chair which in turn caused him to fall forward, his hands flailing out to grasp for balance. His hands landed on Ron's thighs and William only had a moment to realize how smooth and soft they were before he blushed furiously and scrambled out from under the desk.
After a while, Ronald was able to ignore how awkward he felt, concentrating on the repetitive job at hand. He rested his cheek on his knuckles as he scratched out the appropriate words onto each line of the papers he was currently working on, his mind half-wandering off and thinking about whether or not he should go to the pub after his shift that day. He hadn't noticed when a pen rolled off the table and onto the floor, nor did he realize that William had ducked under the desk to get an unexpected eye-full of Ronald's legs. However, when the desk suddenly shifted upwards, sending the stacks of papers toppling over and the sound of a wooden chair falling over coincided with the feel of a warm hand grabbing a hold of his bare leg, he jerked out of his thoughts. With a startled squeak, the younger reaper jumped in his seat, standing up quickly, his chair rolling back towards the window behind him.
Once he was on his feet, he was able to calm down and look around., spotting his boss on the floor without his glasses. He didn't know what had happened, but he could assume that perhaps the workaholic had dropped something and when he had bent down to pick it up, he smacked his head on the underside of the desk, which probably explained the missing glasses. Ronald had seen the man loose his glasses before, so it made sense that the man had probably freaked out again about his glasses.
Ronald sighed and walked around the desk and bent over to pick up the pair of rectangular frames, "Here." He handed the glasses over to him and held his hand out to help him up.
"I sincerely apologize, Ronald, I did not-" he paused and squinted up at Ronald's form and recognized the vague shape of his glasses being offered to him. He took them, quickly slipped them on, and took the offered hand as well. His face was still bright red as he attempted to fix his mussed hair and moved to right the chair again. Then, he took a deep breath to calm himself and turned to Ronald.
"I apologize for-" he paused, unsure how to phrase it. "...touching...you. It was not my intent," he said quickly and a little awkwardly. "And thank you for finding my glasses."
He was mortified with his behavior, uncomfortable with his own embarrassing reaction, and simply couldn't wait for a response from Ronald. He stepped around the blonde, carefully keeping his line of sight away from Ron's lower half, and busied himself with picking up the fallen papers.
"I figured it wasn't intentional…" Ronald said, unaware of the slight blush staining his own cheeks. He approached the desk and also began to separate the papers and restack them in their proper piles, "Though, you are lucky you didn't break your glasses in all that…" he trailed off, the man was obviously embarrassed enough; his face was red after all. He probably didn't want more attention being drawn to his strange reaction to hitting his head and loosing his glasses. Even if it was just the two of them in the room.
"I wasn't worried about the glasses-" he paused with a frown. That wasn't what he had meant to say, so he tried again. "They were not my main-" No, that wasn't it either. "Did you shave your legs?" Ok, that really was not what he'd meant to say. He could feel his ears going red. Why the hell was he so flustered over getting a closer glimpse Ron's legs and accidentally touching them?
"Never mind! No! Just- Just get back to work," William snapped as he tried his best to keep his composure as he sat heavily back into his chair and concentrated hard on the paperwork before him. He was not going to say anything...his lunch break was only an hour away. He could manage to refrain from making a complete ass of himself again.
"I-" Ronald froze, not knowing what to do or say. Did his boss really just ask him that question? "Senpai-" no, it was probably best to drop the matter, "Excuse me." He turned and tried not to run into the washroom, closing the door behind him and leaning against it. He sighed and caught a glimpse of himself in the small mirror above the sink, "Bloody Hell, Knox, pull yourself together, will you?" he said to himself when he saw how red his face was. He splashed cold water onto his face to shock it back to a closer-to-normal color and dried his face before taking a deep breath and walking back out to continue to work on paperwork.
The ticking of the clock was driving William mad. Less than 10 minutes had passed and he was getting antsy to leave. He felt completely off-kilter, and all because of that damn skirt. Once the blasted thing was gone, he wouldn't be so nearly as preoccupied with thoughts of Knox... Who was probably more horrified than William was with what he'd done and said.
No one would ever want to be touched (even if it was accidentally) and then asked such a thing (even if it was a lapse of sanity) by their boss. Especially if one did not have inclinations towards men. It wasn't any of William's business, but with the way Ronald flirted with the office ladies, it seemed rather obvious he did not have such inclinations.
Embarrassment still driving him, William stood and grabbed his gloves, preparing to leave early in order to get Ronald proper attire quicker. He was about to go knock on the washroom door to let Ronald know what was going on, but he came out at that exact moment. William looked at him with his typical neutral expression, pointedly keeping his eyes shoulder level and higher.
"I am taking my lunch early," William said crisply, his blush gone and his voice completely level. "I'll be back shortly with a change of clothing for you, at which time, you may take your lunch. Please continue with the expense reports and you are allowed to lock the door after I leave should you so wish."
Ronald froze in the doorway, his blush returning slightly. The last thing he expected was to see William at the door when he opened it. It took him a moment to register what he had been told, and he nodded, "Yes…Thank you, Senpai." He said, still a little stunned before walking over to the desk, eagerly busying himself to avoid saying something awkward.
It was strange, He had always looked up to the older shinigami. True, the man needed to loosen up and enjoy himself a little more often, but he knew how to get his work done. And he was always so calm and collected, even when someone—Usually Grell—was causing trouble or breaking rules. Ronald couldn't help but admire how William was able to handle any situation thrown at him. And they had worked together before. On those instances, though the blond did make mistakes and was careless at times, they had worked together well, nothing out of the ordinary, no strange thoughts, awkward moments, or flustered reactions desperately trying to be hidden…so why now did it seem the opposite? He had even hidden in the washroom for what? Ten minutes? Fifteen? And now William was taking an early lunch? That was so unlike him. It had to be the skirt. It was the only thing different about this situation. Maybe William was disturbed by it. Or found it offensive.
Ronald frowned, the situation was out of his control, but he did not like the idea of his being the reason that things were suddenly so off balance between them. He would have to make it up to him somehow… but how? He doubted the man would accept an invitation to the pub.
The young reaper froze, his pen in hand, half-way through scratching an 'S', his pen leaking a bead of ink, Why did the idea of William T. Spears turning down such a innocent invite hurt? One; they were not exactly friends to begin with, and two; he's had plenty of Ladies turn him down for more than that; actual dates. It didn't make any sense. He shook his head and tried to fix the now messy 'S' as best he could before finishing the paper and grabbing another to start. He decided he would ask anyway when William returned. If for nothing else, to prove to himself that he was just over-thinking things and that when he was turned down he could just go out and ask that new secretary in the accounting department if she would like to go out that night with him.
William quickly clocked out and hurried home. He was almost instantly composed again once he was out of Ronald's presence and he was extremely grateful for that. It troubled him that he was so bothered by everything...He knew he was a little more irritable than normal due to having not slept yet, but that didn't explain the awkward behavior.
Ronald was a co-worker, a junior nonetheless, and William normally took no issue with him whatsoever. Every once in a while he would betray his competence by making a rookie mistake, like charging headlong into a situation before assessing it properly, but that was because he was still gaining experience. It was understandable and excusable. William did not even mind his fun-loving lifestyle as it rarely interfered with work. Today was the first time it had even been a problem, and even then it was not really Ron's fault.
Things were awkward because, ironically, the skirt had made William aware of Ronald as a man rather than just a co-worker. Even he could admit that the young reaper had a pleasant face and a nice smile, but that was a purely aesthetic appreciation. Somehow, seeing him in such a scanty skirt drove William's mind past aesthetic to somewhere his mind should never wander when thinking about a subordinate. And it made him feel terrible. Well, he certainly couldn't have that. He would apologize to Ron, let him change, and everything would be back to normal.
Deciding that he would not let it affect him any longer, William gathered a fresh suit from his closet and headed back to the office feeling much better about the situation. It would be resolved entirely once he returned and he wouldn't let himself get flustered again.
Upon arriving back, he went straight into his office and offered the suit to Ron.
"I wish to offer apologies for my earlier behavior," he said crisply as he held out the suit. "I honestly do not know what came over me and I apologize if I have made you uncomfortable."
Ronald took the suit eagerly, "Yes! Pants! Glorious comfortable coverage! Thanks Senpai!" Ronald ducked into the washroom quickly, eagerly changing his clothes, rolling up the pant legs and pulling his belt tight to keep the slightly too big pants up. Before walking back out into William's office, putting the skirt down on the edge of William's desk.
William had blinked at the speed with which Ron took the suit. His eagerness almost made him crack a smile. Almost. Instead, he simply shook his head before going back to the desk to continue his work.
"Don't worry about earlier. It's not like I'm a girl. It was awkward, but no big deal." He flashed a smile, moving the papers he had been filling out into a neat pile, "But thanks for lending me some pants. Uh…" he rubbed the back of his neck, wondering why he was suddenly so nervous, "How about I buy you a drink—you know, if you want to." He pretended to be interested in an expense report.
William didn't even look up when the blonde walked out, but raised an eyebrow at Ron's dismissal of the situation.
'I am very aware you are not a girl.' He thought to himself.
And to William, gender didn't factor into it. One did not accidentally grope another person and blurt out an inappropriate question without apologizing...he turned to say as much, but Ron smiled for the first time that day and he sort of lost his train of thought. He pulled his gaze away before it would be considered staring and started writing again, but there was the slightest hitch in the scratch of his pen when he heard Ron's offer.
It was a kind thing, probably out of politeness, but William didn't require thanks...He opened his mouth to give a polite refusal, but what came out was; "When?"
He blinked as he caught himself. And now he had to try to rectify the situation. He'd meant to say 'no', but now it would just be rude to take it back.
"What I mean is, unless I get these reports finished, I can't today," he covered smoothly.
Ronald blinked in surprise, looking at his superior, he hadn't turned down the invitation? His heart sped up, "Well, you know, if you can…" he said, trying to sound indifferent about it. He placed his hand on his stack of papers, "I have quite a bit of paperwork to finish today too."
"I will do my best to finish these before the end of the work day," William said calmly. "To save on overtime, you see," he quickly added as he returned to the task at hand.
He really shouldn't go out for a drink on a work night...especially after having not gotten any sleep yet. But, he simply couldn't turn Ronald down...he had the strangest desire to see if he could make the blonde smile again. No. No, this was not something to think about. There was work that really needed to get done.
"As you are in proper attire, you no longer need to remain in my office. You may return to your own if you wish," William said, working industriously. "And you may take your lunch break."
Ronald nodded and gathered his papers, "I'll see you after work…maybe." He said with a small smile before walking out to drop his things off in his own office before taking his lunch break. The skirt forgotten on William's desk.
William merely gave Ron a nod as he left and went back to focusing on the reports. He was about 4/5ths of the way through...he might finish in time. He worked through the afternoon, pausing only to buy something from the lunch trolley as it passed his office. He hated doing so, but considering he'd only gone home once since 8AM the previous day, and that was just to grab the suit for Ron, he hadn't had time to make his own meal...and he hadn't eaten since lunch the day before. It wasn't that the food was bad, it was just fact that he could make the same thing better and not pay a ridiculous amount for it.
With a sigh he bit into his sandwich and was about to pull over another stack of papers when he noticed the skirt sitting on the corner of his desk. Why was it there? He stood up and grabbed it wondering what the hell he was supposed to do with it. It would be very strange to give it back to Ron, but if he gave it back to Sutcliff he'd have to endure a near endless stream of implications. And why had that maniac chosen this skirt? He was sure the redhead owned a plethora of the damn things. Why did he have to pick one that would be so tight and short on Ronald? It practically left nothing to the imaginat-
He glared at the skirt for a moment as if scolding it for sullying his thoughts and unceremoniously shoved it in a drawer of his desk. He'd just throw it in Sutcliff's office before he came in to work the next day.
Again, he went back to the reports and lost track of time. By the time he placed the final report in the outgoing tray, he looked up at the clock and saw it was nearly 7 o' clock...nearly two hours past the end of the workday. Well, that was unfortunate and would explain why everything was so quiet. He doubted Ronald had stuck around and probably just ducked out as soon as he could. It didn't trouble William any. He couldn't blame the young man if he had. But William was starting to feel exhaustion creeping up on him. It was best that he go straight home anyway and catch up on lost sleep, but the journey home was feeling more and more tiring the more he thought about it. He could afford a little catnap, couldn't he? With a small yawn he set an alarm for 10 minutes on his pocket watch, removed his glasses, laid his head in his arms on his desk, and fell into a light doze.
To be continued...