Archive of Our Own ^beta

My day could not get any weirder.
For once, it's not containment-breach weird, or reality-breaking weird. It's stuck-in-a-locker-with-my-really-hot-coworker weird.
Right, yeah. Context. My name is Jack Bright and yada yada yada amulet blah blah blah immortality beep beep Foundation. I have bigger things to worry about. Like the fact that I'm stuck in a tiny item locker with fellow scientist and professional emotional wall Dr Kondraki! Bar the whole proximity issue and wow I really didn't notice those muscles jesus fuck-
Ahem. The main issue here is, as it always it, SCP-96 fucking 3. I couldn't just get seven minutes in heaven'd with the subject of more thoughts than is really advisable given the number of SCPs here that can read minds, oh-o no, I'm also running the risk of accidentally... y'know... wiping his mind and replacing it with mine! Fun! I know the regulations - I have to have it on show at all times (the amulet, not anything else) but I'm seriously about to merge with the wall and he keeps on moving his arms really quickly and if I wasn't immortal this would be taking years off my life. Decades, probably. Ah... hm. Maybe...?
"Alright, you look like you're having a coronary. What's wrong?"
Okay, let's unpack. Gruff but not angry, good, not swearing, good, doesn't seem to have any of his swords on him, good-
"Bright."
Oh shit, yeah, I need to answer him. Man, I was not trained for this.
"I- uhh- I'm, I'm fine! Yeah, fine. Totally okay over here!"
Fucking nailed it. He won't suspect a thing.
"I'm not Glass, but even I can tell you're bullshitting. What's the matter?"
Shit.
"Uhh... amulet... Your arm, and honestly kind of the rest of you, these lockers really weren't built for people were they, haha-"
"Focus."
Oh great, I've managed to annoy him! I'm amazing at this.
"I'm- You're- You're kind of at risk of becoming... y'know... me, in this situation, and it's bad enough when it's not people I know, well, I mean, I don't- I don't exactly know you, but still-"
There's a reason my franken-sentence stopped there and that reason is oxygen starvation! I honest to god can't remember how to breathe oh god oh fuck-
"Bright. I'm not going to tell O5 if you take the amulet off for a minute, okay?"
He's a literal angel. The amulet is carefully wrapped in my labcoat, which I deposit behind me. I still can't breathe and am currently trying to figure out where the honest to god green mood lighting is coming from, but I already feel a bit better than I did. When I turn back around, he's staring at me. The word "inscrutable" suddenly makes a lot more sense, because I can't read his expression at all. It doesn't help that everything's going slightly blurry around the edges, or that the light in here is green and keeps shifting, like we're underwater. He sighs, and scrubs a hand over his eyes.
"God, okay- look, do you need a hug or something?"
Okay, that was out of the left field. Since if I try to talk I'm probably going to make one of the most embarassing noises of my life, I just nod.
I suddenly can't see anything. Or feel the floor. I can feel a whole lot of labcoat and stubble, though, so hey! No complaints from me. Probably tears, though. Touch starvation, as someone who can't really do anything more involved than, like, hand holding, is a real fucking issue and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise. Also, hugs are totally punk rock. I'm not quite sure how long the hug lasts, but it does help. He's solid and warm, and I haven't had a hug since before the last World War so I'm not about to squander the opportunity. When he eventually lets go, I take a deep, shaky breath, and wipe my eyes.
"That's- that's a lot better, thank you." He grunts, not meeting my eyes. Yikes, okay. Was the hug too far, did I say something, what's the deal?
After about forty minutes, and a growing conviction that I should definitely not say anything and just wait fot the tech guy to appear, he speaks.
"So. We're stuck in a locker together."
"Uh... yep."
He stares into space for another few minutes, and my legs are really starting to hurt, so I slide down the wall and sit on my coat. He follows suit.
I then make what is possibly the most embarassing noise I've ever made when several somethings sudddenly hit my face and hair. Now, in this situation, you might just think "oh, it's just dust from the ceiling or something" but in the Foundation that's a) not a safe assumption and b) probably also dangerous, so I do the smart thing. I freeze entirely.
Kondraki's glaring at me. What the absolute- what. He's not staring at me, but at my... hair?
"Get off him."
There's a weird tickling feeling over one of my temples, and suddenly I see the somethings, and relax. It's just 408, which explains the glare, and the green light.
"I've never actually... seen them before. This close, I mean."
Wow, way to make a situation awkward there Jacky boy! He looks at me, then smiles. I think the world might be ending.
"Beautiful, aren't they?"
The "they" in question lands on his arms and hat, throwing soft shadows as they move, and my chest starts to hurt. He's really unfairly good looking, and the lighting is doing nothing to change that. Before I can shove that shit down to the pit where I keep all of my emotions, I just have to speak again. Apparently I have the social cue reading abilities of an agoraphobic mollusc.
"So. Maybe, since we're going to be here for a... while, maybe we should introduce ourselves?"
He looks at me blankly for a few seconds, then tilts his head to look at the ceiling.
"Sure, what the hell. I'm Benjamin, I like photography, swords, my butterflies, and reading. Oh, and I'm a libra, if that counts for anything."
Benjamin is... not the name I would have guessed, but it suits him.
"I'm, uh, I'm Jack. I like drawing, tinkering with things, visiting my brother, and trying to get out of my necklace. I'm... also a pisces."
Well, I basically have a degree in oversharing now. He looks at me contemplatively for a second, before asking a far less emotionally-charged question.
"What's the dumbest thing you've ever done? In the foundation, I mean."
"It's a toss-up between getting stuck in that thing, and the time i tried to, uhh, possess-"
"Brighten."
The pun takes a minute, but when it hits, holy fuck. I end up with my head pressed into my knees, wheezing like a steam engine. He's laughing, too, and he has a really nice laugh and I'm very grateful that I pressed my face into my knees and also that the light in here is green because I'm definitely blushing.
"Okay, okay, sure. When I tried to 'brighten' 682 with basically a fancy cattle-prod and a handful of D-class."
He deadpans.
"How well did that go for you?"
"Well... about as well as you'd expect, really! Turns out there's a... castle? There's, like, a bunch of fields and a castle in there. And I swear down if you start singing that Ed Sheeran song-"
"Wasn't going to."
"You so were."
He laughs again, and the butterflies seem to respond to his mood because they light up more brightly than before, some taking off to dip and swirl just above us. They're really, really beautiful, like little green stars. That moment, right there, is where I realise two things. One is that Ko- Ben isn't an absolute brick wall, and is actually a really nice guy, and the other is that I'm absolutely exhausted. He seems to pick up on the last one, and tells me to sleep.
"What if something happens?"
"I'll wake you if it does. Sleep."
So I do.
I know that the next few hours are going to involve meetings and talks and jokes and everyday work stuff, but for now, for once, I feel safe.