Wounds don't need to heal as long as we do (Flower & Prima Fauna)

[Selki Seven]

Heito woke up to the sound of static t.v. as the box auto-shuts off and the wind outside begins to blow against the curtains and into his face. Heito groans, runs his hands over his face, then stands from the chair, turns off the t.v., and climbs into his bed. He laid in the sheets for a good hour before actually falling asleep as he thought about all the empty space in his apartment, just his room alone was too big. He thought about why he needed all this space. For status? To waste the extra cash? He didn't know.


Heito eventually fell asleep with his own thoughts and woke up, as routine, at 5:45 a.m. and shuffled to the kitchen to start the coffee machine then get dressed in a comfortable suit. However, on second though, Heito looked at himself in his bedroom mirror and changed clothes. He was now declaring the office have a casual Friday.


Once the coffee machine beeped, Heito walked into the kitchen, poured a to-go cup of coffee, and grabbed a banana from the counter. When he looked over on the counter of the things from the hardware store, he smirked and picked them up along with his briefcase and went out the door to catch the subway.

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

The day was much busier than a typical day, Neal forgot all about Heito. Well not all about since that was almost impossible. It wasn't long before Martha was hinting at Lunch and he rolled his eyes and said,


"If you want Lunch Martha you can go." She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.


"And that's why your the best boss, you sure about the shelf?" Neal rolled his eyes. "I have it covered the guy who broke it wanted to fix it so I let him." She raised her eyebrows at that. Martha had known Neal for awhile now and she knew that he didn't really date since the accident.


"And....?" she asked wiggling the raised eyebrow.


"And?" She kissed his cheek and headed out.


"See you in two hours."


"One!" He rolled his eyes going back to the billing that had the crude doodles on it.

 

[Selki Seven]

The trip to work was cramped as usual and, by the time he got to work, everyone had gone nuts and thought he'd died. Several office managers left messages, the CEO still wanted to talk, the secretary had messages from his ex-wife, and the meeting was moved to... right now. This was a definite facepalm moment for Heito and when he walked into the meeting all eyes were on him and his relaxed, dressed down getup.


Heito was wearing an untucked white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of dark denim jeans and black canvas shoes. The board directors burrowed their eyebrows and Heito sat in his seat at the head of the table.


"First order of the day, I declare Friday's to be casual. Rules will be posted on what is acceptable. Now, to begin with the meeting at hand, directors, you have the floor." Heito sat back with his elbows on the arms of the chair and his hands together.


As lunch approaches, Heito sighs and looks at his watch. The meeting still wasn't over because nobody could come to a decision, so Heito took a mandatory turn.


"Alright, nobody leaves this room until you come to a conclusion, except for me. I have a few errands to run. If you don't make a decision by the end of the day, you are all fired. Have fun, kids." Heito was so done with that office and the people in it. As he leaves for lunch, Heito tells his secretary to make sure everyone stays, and if they don't, take note of it and he would handle it. Heito went for the elevator and sighed as he carried his briefcase and bag of supplies in each hand.

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

Neal heard the bell ring and looked up.


"Have you come to fix my- Welcome ma'am to Pot-luck books." He said changing direction at the old lady with the walker who had just walked in. She blinked behind the most enormous pair of glasses that ever existed and mumbled something about cookies and grandchildren and 'don't mind me dear I'm only just browsing.' And dispersed into the erotica section. Neal pursed his lips and smiled to himself at that and went back to his ledger which now had a magazine shoved inside. He didn't know why he felt the need to hide that he wasn't doing his work, it's not like he had a boss, it made him feel like a third grader who didn't want to get caught in class. Level of excitement reached. New all time low. Neal let out a breath and didn't look up at the next bell.

 

[Selki Seven]

Heito let out a huge breath and walked to the bookstore on the corner with supplies in hand. In all honesty, Heito was looking forward to doing this. I mean, he had broken the man's shop, but it also got him out of the office with a purpose. He smirks and opens the shop door, walks in, then shakes his head with a chuckle and walks to the broken shelf and begins work to hammering in the new shelf.


It had been a while since Heito had done any real work with his hands and he felt good, like he had been doing this all his life. Really, he had spent some time in the meeting looking up the best way to rig up a new shelf in a preexisting shelf that held up the best. It didn't look difficult and it wasn't proving to be, but they would see once the books were set on top.

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

When Neal heard the hammering he looked up and found his crutches and headed towards the back of his shop, he smiled crookedly leaning up against another shelf he looked over at the man.


"If I come any closer are you going to trip me?" He asked from behind the man. Raising and wiggling his eyebrows, at the man. "Did you bring Lunch for yourself?" He asked playfully. "Or do I have to bully you into the deli down the street?'" He asked. "They have this soup that is supposed to be good. Mind you if you break anything else I won't even consider it." He gave another eyebrow raise with this comment.

 

[Selki Seven]

Heito looks up, seeing the crutches first, then continues up with a smirk.


"No worries, Neal. You are safe for travel." Heito looks back down at his work and begins hammering in a few more nails and he puts the hammer down to apply pressure with his hands on the middle of the shelf.


"Seems sturdy. And I don't think you will need to bully anyone. If it is the same Deli that I think it is, then I used to go down there everyday when I was still a paper pusher." He chuckles and looks down at some books on the shelf above, getting a few extra and setting them on the shelf to see if it would hold. Once it held, Heito nodded and put the books back on their shelf.


"Alright, fixed." Heito packed up the materials and crossed his arms and looked towards Neal with a steady breath.


"Well, I am buying. How does the shelf look?"

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

(I thought I replied! Sooo sorry!)


Neal smiled, "it's small I've been meaning to try it out..." He frowned slightly, heito was always so eager to help. "...I can buy my own lunch..." Neal hated it when people assumed that thy had To baby him, he didn't need that... "Anyways it is supposed to be good! Just around ye other corner, the one that the hardware store isn't on." Neal came a little closer and leaned over looking at the shelf, "looks good. All better"


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Selki Seven]

(LUL. It is perfectly fine. o w o I've done the same thing before.)


"Alright, alright. I apologize. I just figured I'd buy since I cause so much trouble yesterday." He smirks and nods as he puts his hands on his hips.


"It is pretty nice. They had a change in management a while back. The owners son took over, but it is nice. You might like it." As Neal inspected the shelf, Heito walks behind him and to the end of the isle with his hands both full of the materials and his briefcase.


"Would you mind if I left the tools here while we went to lunch? I'd rather not bring too much into the deli." Heito smiles at Neal and rolls his shoulders back and then his neck.

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

"Of course you can just set them behind the desk" Neal turned and headed to the desk himself to get his coat. He shrugged on the pea coat and wound a scarf around his neck. "Not that I mean to be rude it was very kind of you it's just that... " Neal's voice faded off and he grabbed the crutch that he had been forced to set down to get his coat and scarf on. "Well the deli sounds lovely." Neal came out from behind the desk so that he could turn the 'will return' sign around.

 

[Selki Seven]

"Thank you, Neal." Heito walks to the desk and sets down the bag of supplies behind the desk, keeping his briefcase on hand. He walks to the front door and waits for Neal to get ready. He wondered how things are the office were going, and just then, he got a phone call and answered it.


"Yes, Luna? Right, thank you. Who else is still there?..... Mhmmm." Heito thinks for a moment. "Go ahead and draw up the papers. I will deal with him when I get back. Would you like anything from the Deli?" Heito takes out a pen and writes on the palm of his hand. "Alright, thank you. Put coffee in the room and some of the donuts from this morning. None of them will leave until they play nice and come to a conclusion." Heito ended the call and put his phone back in his pant pocket.


"No worries, Neal. I understand. Ready to go?" Heito chuckles and holds the door open for Neal and smiles as they walk out.


(Gah! >_< Internet went out and then I got distracted. D

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

Neal let Heito lead the way heading along behind him. He kept pace with the man as best he could, not wanting to ask him to slow down. Neal hated the idea that people had to bend their ways and routines for him and he was very proud to be independent. "So trouble at the office? It sounds to me like you've left several hundred cats alone in a room and won't let them out unless they die, kill each other or learn to get along. Very lord of the flies Mr. Schrodinger." Neal glanced over at Heito and smirked just a little.

 

[Selki Seven]

Heito looked too his side then over his shoulder a little and slowed a bit so that he could walk beside Neal and chuckles at his comment.


"Mhm. It is day 4 of this meeting. They were supposed to be prepared, ready, and come to a conclusion by day 2. Unfortunately, it was none of the above. So, today, I left for lunch and had my secretary leave food and beverage in the room. Informed them that if they aren't finished by tonight, they would be working overtime without the extra pay." Heito sighs and continues. "Unfortunately, 2 men left the room and went home early without any consideration for their job. Tomorrow morning their offices will be cleared and they will not have a job. It is a tough decision, but I'm not there to babysit them and their paychecks while they sit around and complain." He chuckles and nods as they walk and they reach the deli. Heito opens the door for Neal and smiles.


"Gentlemen, first." 
(I JUST got that notification. D: And I was up till 4 AM last night. >_<)

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

Neal laughed and headed in. "Do you take me for a gentleman? I may have to knock that out of you since I am most certainly not. " Neal looked up at the menu, unsure. "I don't think I could fire people. Then again I have only one person who works for me, so it would be more personal." Neal glanced over at Heito. "What is it you do exactly? besides wear a suit and fire people, because that job sounds like death served it to the bad little boys of the world." He placed his order for a salad, and paid.

 

[Selki Seven]

"Everyone has a little bit of a gentleman in them." Heito walks in and up to the counter, already sure of what to order, and gets a Philly steak with all the fixings. He pays and follows Neal.


"Well, I look over the budget for the entire company. I am in charge of getting the budget cuts and all the quarter semester portfolios from the leads of all the offices. I am good with number, bad with greedy people." Heito smirks and shakes his head.


"Unfortunately, the corporate business is filled with, as you phrase it, bad little boys instead of actually using the wealth and power to help the world for the better." He sighs.

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

"hmmm. I bet you do more than doodle in your ledgers." He speared a piece of lettuce and shoved it into his mouth. "You ." He gestured with his fork. "Are an American dreamie who wants to save the world. Yet you have no picket fence." Neal always wondered about people who believed in the American dream. He never could get it, less so since the accident. And he had always been gay growing up and that didn't fit the American dream. And then he had been a gay firefighter, and oh the pole jokes. His last boyfriend wasn't very nice... He wondered if Heito knew some knew just by looking at him, a 6th sense so to speak. Gaydar. He should tell. Not yet but he should.


"What I men is you don't have a wife and 2.5 kids and a blonde dog that's dumb as it's Sh!t and a country club."

 

[Selki Seven]

Heito chuckles at the comment and nods slowly before licking the extra sauce drippings from his thumb. Heito nodded for a moment as Neal spoke and took a bite of the sandwich, with a napkin in hand to wipe the corners of his mouth. He clears his throat and swallows.


"I had a wife, at one point. I have two kids and we were all members of a country club. Parents told me that is what I was supposed to do, so that is what I did." Heito wipes his mouth again and takes a drink of water. "However, none of it felt right. I wasn't happy. I got divorced, I see my kids when she lets me." He takes another bite and looks at Neal and wondered what his deal was. What he was working for in life, if anything at all. What made him happy, because he sure seemed like he had something good going, unless that was just Heito trying to look for the happiness in others lives.

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

"hmm, that sounds perfectly awful I can see why you were unhappy." Neal never liked the idea of being a perfect family, it didn't appeal because perfect didn't exist. If it did, well lots of things wouldn't happen. Like oh, planes crashing in to buildings. Firefighters wouldn't be necessary. Nothing would. No adventure. Life would be boring and useless. He took another bite of his salad and smiled. "No golden Retriever then?"

 

[Selki Seven]

Heito chuckled and shook his head at Neal. He was hilariously realistic about everything, and running a bookstore, you'd imagine someone to be more of a dreamer than anything else. Heito looked at Neal for a moment with a smirk on his face then shook his head and sighed.


"Bichon Frise. This fluffy, three thousand dollar dog that the ex-wife never took care of. Poor dog. She ended up giving it to another family when we split. I'm too busy at the office to have any pets." He sighs and takes another bite out of his sandwich and wipes the edges of his mouth.

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

"Someone suggested that I get a therapy dog and I almost did. But I like my shop better as Therapy. It feel safer than a pet, and there's more than enough diverse company in the books." Neal finished off his salad and set it aside. "So the American dream wasn't for you." Neal shrugged. "Not really for me either. It's too... hmm. boring? Yes that. People don't become fire fighters to be boring." He leaned his elbow on the table and put his face in his palm. Now was the time, what would Heito say? Nothing? He had questions, everyone had questions.

 

[Selki Seven]

"My cousin had a therapy dog once. She had seizures and it saved her life a few times." Heito finished off the last bite of his sandwich and wiped his fingers and mouth. He took a drink of water to swish and swallowed then looked at Neal.


"However, I can see why you stick with the books. They create a passage way, or portal, to another place and time so you can escape what troubles you have in the world. You... Get engrossed in the story and words and a new world is painted out for you. I understand that." Heito leans back in his chair and puts his hands behind his head for a moment and smiles at Neal.


"I agree. Too boring. I bet as a firefighter you never had a dull moment. What was it like? Doing what you wanted to do, assuming being a firefighter was your dream?" Heito leaned foreward with his fingers laced together as she looked into Neal's eyes. Curiouser and curiouser.

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

Neal smiled to himself. He seemed to fully understand about the books. "Not really, I didn't have one. Dream that is.. I found firefighting by chance and it became my life, I would have made chief before I turned 30, that's what the fire captain said at least. I was good at it. Maybe too good?" He laughed turning up the corners of his mouth. Heito had asked questions just not the ones that Neal thought he would. "Now my store is my life, I still could get a dog though..." He mused. "German Shepard, call it Darwin, good name for a German Shepard." Neal had been thinking about getting a dog, just because some days the books weren't enough company.

 

[Selki Seven]

Heito chuckled at Neal's idea for a dog and nodded, but just as he as about to talk, he got a call and sighed.


"One moment. Yes? They've decided? And you've already found replacements? Good. I'm just finishing up.... Y-...." He sighs, puts his hand over his face for a moment and runs his fingers through her hair.


"Ok, tell her this. If she wants more money, she will let me see my kids. I'm not playing ATM for her anymore. Alright, I will be in the office soon, Lyla. Thank you." Heito puts his phone back in his coat pocket and shakes his head for a moment then looks back up at Neal with a smirk.


"Be glad you never married a woman. Especially one like my ex-wife. Gets a taste of money and then it is like her life source. So, seems how I will be sleeping at the office tonight, if you want to go out and do something again sometime, call me. I had a nice time today." Heito smiles and stands to put on his coat then dispose of his garbage. He did have a nice time and he was starting to like Neal for the person he was with his way of thinking and idea of life. It was refreshing. Heito turns to look at Neal and sighs.


"Want me to walk you back to the shop? It is on the way."

 

[ChampionOfTheMorningStar]

"Well I'm headed back and if it is on your way then we will be walking next to each other anyways and it will be awkward if we didn't plan it." Neal got up to give Heito a look that clearly showed him that if he wasn't going to use logic then why bother talking. He used one hand to get his crutch in order and the other to throw the -thankfully close- garbage into the can. getting his coat and other crutch he smiled. "Wouldn't have married a women any ways. they are. heh, lacking in places I value." He wiggled and eyebrow at Heito and headed to the door. Opening it and slipping out to wait at the curb, and take a few deep breaths that came with the anxiety of doing that every time he had to.

 

[Selki Seven]

"Right." Heito chuckled and looked the other way for a moment as he started walking towards the exit. Lacking in places he valued? He was gay. Ok. Heito didn't mind. His best friend in high school was gay, but his parents didn't approve, so ultimately his parents made him give up that friendship or they weren't paying for college. Sadly, college education was more important than a best friend at the time. A few months after their friendship ended, the boy committed suicide and Heito always felt that it was his fault. He shook the feeling from himself and sighed and gripped the suitcase handle firmly.


Once outside, Heito looked at the string of traffic and was glad he was walking back to the office. He stood by Neal for a moment until he was ready to head back. He looked over at Neal and watched him for a moment before asking.


"When did you know you were gay?"