Business Matters

[Existentially Odd]

(Follows on from 'Touching {Data} Base')

Samuel arrived on the Oligarchs\' floor in no time thanks to the lift, his hands in the pockets of his black slacks and his feet flashing white as he moved towards the office he wanted to visit.  He gestured questioningly from himself to Vomas\' door as he approached Tansy - to which she shrugged - so he walked over and knocked.

It was a formality, for he knew Vomas well enough by now to realise that he would scan to see who was knocking on his door, and so he pushed his mind forward first, not wanting to seem intimidated by being here on official business.  Even though he was, a tiny bit, and his insides were a wee bit flighty at the thought of seeing Vomas again.  But he had to ignore that.

Have you got a minute?  I need to share my thoughts about some work issues with you.

[Saccharin]

He was quick to invite Samuel in, his mental voice warm and welcoming despite the acute level of stress he\'d felt since he\'d started playing catch-up to all the work he\'d been disregarding for the past few weeks. He\'d slipped from maintaining a schedule that had him in his office for all but a few waking hours nearly every night to one where he was lucky to finish reading through all the paperwork that\'d found its way to his desk during the day.

At some point, the stack of papers had grown to the point that Tansy had asked if she needed to purchase another desk to pile them on. He\'d declined the offer laughingly, much to the apparent surprise of those within earshot. All he\'d needed to do to wrangle everything back into order, he explained, was to lock himself in his office for few nights. But only until he\'d emptied his desk of all but a couple folders had he stopped worrying he\'d never get caught up.

His relief that the completion of his task was so close to hand, combined with the genuine pleasure of seeing Samuel again (regardless of the purpose of their meeting) made him smile as the other vampire sat himself in the chair on the opposite side of his desk.

"As long as these issues don\'t put me behind by another week, I\'m more than happy to hear them." He had one dark eyebrow raised, but his shapely mouth was still lifted into a smile, sapping the harshness from his words where it might\'ve otherwise appeared. The Oligarch had reclined in his chair, with both forearms on the chair\'s armrests he sat on, his long fingers resting lightly upon the ends. His legs were stretched out underneath his desk and crossed at the ankles. He was relaxed, and for once, hadn\'t thought to right his light blue dress shirt sleeves from their rolled up position or tighten the striped navy and silver tie that hung loosely from his neck.

Tidying up before someone who\'d seen you in the buff seemed a bit unnecessary.

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel deliberately made a pretty face, his lips skewing, a fingertip pressed to his chin and his blue eyes cast upward as if he needed to think long and hard about his answer to that warning. He knew it made him look angelic, though he wasn\'t generally one for posing. Vomas just had that effect on him; he had all sorts of urges to monopolise this man\'s attention, even though he\'d had it so often lately, and affecting cute looks was just one manifestation.
 
"Welllll," he drawled playfully, then gave a little laugh as he dropped his act and settled back in his chair, his right leg lifting so that he could rest the ankle on his left knee and loosely grasp his calf with both hands. His posture was entirely comfortable, his smile probably a little broader than coming in to discuss business warranted, but he couldn\'t help himself as he gazed at his handsome lover. \'Fuck buddy\' may have been a more appropriate term, but simply wasn\'t Samuel\'s style and he didn\'t even think that way.
 
"I make no promises," he began with a demure dip of his head that caused hair to fall into his eyes. He brushed fingers through it negligently to get it back to where it ought to be while he straightened up and looked seriously at his boss. "What I\'m after is something that likely will take time - but give us an advantage in the long run," he began, finding the work conversation more natural than he\'d anticipated it would be, being so close (and clothed) to Vomas, without touching him.
 
"I was talking with Sable just now and he mentioned how he\'d really like to understand all the stuff he\'s scanning. I\'ve thought about that before, about how we\'d go about such problems and the answer is translating - of course - but... some of these languages are pretty obscure. Most of them probably don\'t have anyone left alive that speaks them and those that do... well," he shrugged, giving Vomas a meaningful look.
 
"I figure what we need to do is start that process happening sooner, rather than later, so that I\'ll be able to upload translations when the database goes live and there won\'t be too long a delay. But for that to happen, we\'d need a negotiator. Someone who can deal with all sorts of species - persuasively - and get us what we want. It\'d also take money, I suppose, to pay everyone involved and... I dunno\', is that all too huge an ask? Do we just ignore it and load untranslated texts, hoping we get help afterwards or do you think it\'s worthwhile working towards it happening now?"
 
His thoughts finally voiced, Sam fell quiet at last, his head tilted and his eyebrows raised enquiringly as he surveyed Vomas for his reaction.

[Saccharin]

His lips twisted into something more akin to a smirk while Samuel preformed for him. Thinking of all the things that\'d occurred between them made it difficult to believe his coyness was anything but an act. Knowing, however, that if his thoughts continued down their chosen path he\'d not be able to focus on the business Samuel had to discuss, he shook his head minutely and blinked several times in rapid succession. The movement - though not entirely successful in clearing his mind - made it a little easier to gain a firmer hold of what he should be doing: listening attentively to Samuel as he spoke.

The heels of his shoes dragged across the carpet as he pulled his legs back from under the desk until both feet were resting flatly on the floor. Then by pressing his palms against the armrests of his chair, he levered himself into a sitting position. By this point, his smirk had been replaced by a very thoughtful expression. His mouth had tightened in the corners and his eyebrows had dipped low, causing the space just above the bridge of his nose to crinkle. The only variation came toward the end of Samuel\'s proposal, and that was when he started chewing lightly on the inside of his mouth as he thought, causing his lips to purse together.

It wasn\'t imperative that the werewolf (or really, anyone) on Sam\'s team be able to read what they were scanning, but what about those who did need to? He himself knew nearly a dozen languages (as did most well-traveled vampires with a few centuries under their belts), but for every text he could read, there were dozens more written in obscure dialects and languages that had disappeared along with the people who spoke them.

"I\'d never considered translations for every text in the library," he admitted, his eyes flickering briefly to Samuel before he lowered his gaze to stare unseeingly at his desk, his thoughts overtaking him briefly. "Any time I\'ve encountered a text I haven\'t been able to decipher, I\'ve personally hired someone who can. I expected the same of anyone who accessed our database, really. What you suggest, though, I believe it could be done. We would have to assemble another team to handle it, but yes... it could be done."

When his gaze returned to Samuel\'s face again, they remained locked there, his eyes intense. "Most of it could be done online, I think, but we could equip the team with an individual - a negotiator as you said - that would mobilize to make contact with those who might not have access to computers or the ah... aptitude to use them. We could even have translators stay here if they\'re interested or have the texts taken to them, I suppose."

He fell quiet, his mind still going what felt like a hundred miles an hour, but he wanted to see if Samuel could build on what he\'d already said.

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel\'s eyes lit up at the thought of the Chambers building playing host to a varied array of specialised translators; it would be like an intellectual festival, with all those dignitaries (for his mind elevated them to such a status) staying in-house.  The notion of it hadn\'t occurred to him until Vomas had stated it, but it made him virtually drool with enthusiasm.
 
"Oh, yes," he exclaimed softly, in a manner that Vomas would certainly recognise, smiling beatifically at his boss.  "That would be wonderful," he enthused.  "I hadn\'t thought of that!  We might yet be the hub that draws together all sorts of intellectuals - it would be nice for the Oligarchy to get a reputation for something other than merely keeping the peace and being a ruling council.  It\'d be wonderful to be known as a place where great minds meet," Samuel murmured, his own thoughts exploding like fireworks as he (mentally) turned the Chambers into one giant library filled with scholars and great theoretical minds all exchanging views and debating teh veracity of their latest findings.
 
His eyes were shining with excitement as he gazed at Vomas.  "But who could get all this to happen it... it\'s huge!  Do you know anyone good enough?  It\'d have to be a vampire because," he broke off with a wry chuckle, "this sort of thing isn\'t going to happen quickly - we\'ll need someone with longevity, who can establish a good rapport with lots of cultures and species, that will hopefully build and extend our reputation as an institute.  No small challenge," Sam announced wryly, dropping Vomas a wink that announced he thought it would be his job to get it done.

[Saccharin]

Vomas sat back in his chair smiling, pleased by Samuel\'s response to his suggestion. With Samuel, he didn\'t have to wonder if some ulterior motive prompted his delight - it was genuine, and he felt he could show his own happiness without fear of any repercussions down the line. Samuel wouldn\'t use it against him.

What had been a mere fragment of an idea grew into something more as he joined Samuel in imagining what the Oligarchy might be like if they became the center for intellectual gain in the supernatural world. If they properly established themselves, they wouldn\'t have to travel for anything... everything they could possibly want to know would come to them.

But before he was carried away by what-ifs, washed away as only an optimist could be, he grounded himself and thought of who might fit the role which Samuel had described. They\'d have to be savvy, sure of their abilities to negotiate and deal directly with species that were prone to shooting first and neglecting ever asking questions. In short, someone with giant balls, but also intelligent enough to realize when it would be unwise to brag about possessing them in the first place.

"I have someone in mind," he said, his smile briefly becoming a rare grin as he thought of just how perfectly the individual he was considering fit the position they needed filled. "No thanks to you," he teased, making a show of wrinkling his lips up into a brief scowl and shaking his head in his obvious disappointment. It wasn\'t a long-lived show, because he found himself smiling again. True, Samuel hadn\'t been able to volunteer any suggestions for who might be an ideal for the job they\'d just dreamed up, but Vomas couldn\'t even pretend to hold it against him. Not for long, anyway.

[Existentially Odd]

"No thanks to me?" Samuel repeated innocently, sitting up a little straighter in his chair and pressing his fingertips to his chest as he dropped his foot back onto the plush carpet.  "What?  Because I haven\'t been around a couple of nights, it\'s my fault you have another man in mind?" he asked, his drawl replaced by mock indignation as he chose to deliberately misinterpret his lover.

Samuel lifted his right eyebrow suggestively and did his best to hide his smirk as he mildly offered, "Want me to crawl under that desk and remind you what you\'ve been missing?"

His shining blue eyes no doubt gave away his devious thoughts but he managed to stay looking calm and collected.  He doubted very much that his boss would agree to a bit of office fellatio to start his evening off but with all those lovely smiles coming his way, Sam wasn\'t able to think virtuous thoughts.  He was rather hoping he wasn\'t alone in that (again, thanks to those smiles).

[Saccharin]

In a moment of what he considered a very unbecoming display of his inherent weaknesses, Vomas felt himself responding to the picture Samuel had planted in his head. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I need no reminder," he said, his voice strained despite his best efforts to keep his words free of anything that might hint at his internal struggles, "but thank you all the same."

The muscles in his jaw flared and receded as he reached for a pen on his desk. After he twisted off the cap and replaced it at the pen\'s opposite end, he pointed it at Samuel. "You. I don\'t know what to do with you." His mouth twitched when he realized where the younger vampire might run with that statement, so he waggled the writing implement at him warningly. "No, don\'t say anything."  He lowered his hand only when he was satisfied that Samuel wouldn\'t remark on his less than ideal phrasing.

"I enjoy our time together, truly, but our work relationship must remain free of anything that might be deemed unprofessional. Though I despise the politics of this place, I believe it would be unwise to put our... arrangement on display for the entire building. Don\'t you?"

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel\'s mouth shut with a little pop as he was told to say nothing about what could be done with him and he slumped a little in his seat, looking pouty at being lectured.  Although the gesture was for show initially, he felt a frown forming as Vomas continued to talk and he slowly straightened once more, concentrating first on his feelings and then on a response.

It was funny, he\'d been perfectly fine with sneaking out of Vomas\' suite just before dawn and keeping their arrangement a secret, but the second he was told that that was the way it should be, he resented it.  He had no delusions of love or any of that, but the way it was stated just now... it almost felt like he was an embarrassment.  Not good enough to be paraded in front of gossiping colleagues that had nothing better to do with their time than pry into everyone else\'s business.

Truth be told, he was a little hurt by it.  It could well be that Vomas simply didn\'t want to expose his \'unprofessionalism\' to anyone he worked with - and was protecting Sam\'s reputation as much as his own - but it could also be that Vomas didn\'t want anyone to know he had a taste for his employees.  Coming from a time when slavery was rampant, Samuel was well aware of what sort of treatment a second-class citizen got and this wasn\'t too far off it.

Telling himself that he was overreacting, Sam cleared his throat and tried to shake it off with a joke.  "Well, I did mean to lock the door, but sure," he grinned, but the humour didn\'t reach his eyes and the smile faded quickly as he gave a shrug.  He frowned, suddenly unable to look into Vomas\' eyes, finding it easier to look at his boss\' desk as he stood up abruptly.  "Well... speaking of work, that was all I had to say.  I\'ll leave you to it, then," he said as lightly as possible, summoning an airy smile and a little wave as he turned and headed for the door.

His discomfort was possibly obvious to a man that knew his body and his movements intimately, but he was hoping Vomas would let him go without forcing him to explain himself.  He was suddenly very uncomfortable in this room and wanted rather badly to extricate himself from the situation in order to think about it elsewhere.  Somewhere he didn\'t run the risk of being unprofessional.

[Saccharin]

He frowned at Samuel\'s back, knowing without it having to be said that he\'d upset him. Normally, he would\'ve shrugged it off as he did with anyone else who couldn\'t handle a truth left blunt by someone unwilling to sugarcoat their words, but he was left feeling decidedly disconcerted when he thought of Samuel leaving while thinking poorly of him.

"Sam-" He stood from his chair just as Samuel neared the door, and was relieved to see him stop short of opening it when he heard his name. After he turned, Vomas moved around his desk to stand in front of it, giving himself a moment to sort through what he wanted to say to the Southerner.

"Samuel, if they found out we were sleeping together," he said, licking his lips before continuing, "they wouldn\'t see how brilliant and well suited you are for the position you hold. Unfair or not, they\'d wonder if you\'d secured your job because you slept with me."

He took a few steps toward the blonde, just shy of being able to reach out and touch him. Theirs wasn\'t a relationship in which he could take Samuel into his arms and hold him until he felt the other vampire\'s body relax against his. Briefly, he considered how much easier things would be if they\'d been able to embrace while he spoke, but the comfort they might find in that would\'ve been temporary. It was only ever temporary.

"If they found out, they\'d inspect everything I do for you for signs of favoritism. We know we can keep it separate from work, but they don\'t. In fact, they\'ll assume we can\'t." He paused and slid a hand into the pocket at his hip. His fingers extended and then wrapped around the keys that resided there, lingering on the ring they were attached to. Like rosary beads, his thumb and forefinger continuously worked the metal circle between them, causing the keys to jangle their protest at being moved.

"People would question us, and I don\'t know what that would mean for our project. Maybe nothing, but what if did? What if I had to remove you from my employment because no one would heed the requests of a man they didn\'t believe deserved his job? I don\'t want to work with anyone other than you for the next couple decades. I can\'t imagine it."

Vomas only saw two ways to continue from there: Either they could keep their sexual encounters under wraps, or they could end the agreement and continue working together. He was selfish enough to want both, but practical enough that he\'d give up sex if it meant keeping Samuel on the library project.

He didn\'t breathe another word of those thoughts, however, choosing instead to give Samuel a chance to react to what had unintentionally turned into (what he felt to be) a lengthy speech.

[Existentially Odd]

Sam\'s back was stiff as he paused at the door and turned, his shoulders held rigidly despite the calm expression he\'d purposely schooled his face into.  He was naturally defensive as he listened to Vomas initially, mentally scoffing at the excuses... but reason began to seep in quickly enough and, as he\'d known it was his own past skewing his interpretation of Vomas\' words in teh first place, he knew that it was his past relationships that were making him cynical now, too.
 
As the words continued to roll over him, his shoulders loosened and he felt his embarrassment fading, allowing him to listen properly and understand his employer\'s viewpoint.  His lover, yes, but primarily his boss and someone he, also, couldn\'t imagine working without.  Those words were the final destruction of any barriers his hurt had thrown up and he was dangerously flattered by them at the same time.  It had to be the most touching thing Vomas had ever said to him, and although he knew he shouldn\'t let it go to his head, it made his heart sing with happiness to be so well regarded anyway.
 
He gave a sheepish smile and nodded.  "Alright.  It would be plain foolish, considering I was working here long before you were and hired by Halen himself, but sure, I get where you\'re coming from.  Not everyone\'s been here seven years, so they won\'t understand that I have absolutely no aspirations for power - much to my daddy\'s chagrin," he chuckled wryly, unsure if Vomas would get the reference but unfazed.  Shuffling on the spot, he considered for a moment how best to finish the conversation, for he still did need to leave the room and get back to Sable, to continue with his work.
 
"I won\'t make any more jokes about my fantasies," he promised solemnly, the twinkle in his eye approaching what it usually was as he deliberately poked fun at his own humiliation.  Nothing like a lance to clean a festering boil, right?  He inclined his head gracefully at Vomas.  "You have yourself a good evening, now."  With a smile, he waited for his boss\' response, intending to walk out of the office afterwards.

[Saccharin]

Vomas released the air he\'d been holding in his lungs when it became clear Samuel had not only heard him out, but had been appeased by his explanation. He briefly wondered what he would\'ve said if Samuel wasn\'t as soundly logical as he was. Nothing, probably, because he didn\'t know how to appeal to individuals that took their gut feelings into consideration. He could count on one hand the number of times in his life that he\'d been successful in bringing about irrational, illogical individuals to his way of thinking. Something about trusting their instincts made them incapable of reason, it seemed.

"Thank you," he said, gratitude practically gathering and dripping from the two words. "If you don\'t have plans after work," he added before Samuel left his office, "you are welcome to stop by my room afterward," he offered, his fingers flicking the keys in his pocket one last time before they became still. "Despite my earlier claim, I do find myself struggling to recall what you look like beneath all that." His eyes raked over Samuel, and he found himself wishing that he possessed laser vision that could peel the clothing from his body. "Perhaps you could assist me later?"

His smile returned.

[Existentially Odd]

For the first time, Sam thought about refusing.  He recognised that it was borne of leftover tendrils of resentment predominantly, but also it was a survival instinct.  If he was wanting to play such petty mind games, then he was investing too much into this arrangement and that couldn\'t happen.

If he wanted more - if he wanted a relationship - then he had no right to look for it here.  He needed to look elsewhere and, perhaps, it would be best for him to refuse Vomas and go out to do just that; find a proper relationship that he could publicly acknowledge, that didn\'t carry the burden of politics and appearance upon it.

The problem with that very rational understanding of himself, his needs and the situation he\'d got himself into, was Vomas\' smile.  And the rather sexy/aloof way he asked him over; like it didn\'t matter at all, yet his dark eyes told Sam that it did.  He wanted it very much.  He wanted him.  And that was not something he could actively walk away from, despite knowing he wanted more, not yet.  Soon, probably, but certainly not tonight.

He smiled back.  "I\'ll do my best," he promised and walked out of the office.