One.
A simple life.
A boring name, a plain face, and a lukewarm personality that left him as the forgettable man who worked in accounting.
Fingers gently tapped against his keyboard as he stared at the screen, quietly filling out a sheet as a coworker walked past.
“Oh, Mister Lawson was wondering if you could finish this by tonight, uh…” A slight squint. She’d forgotten his name.
“Sounds good.” A dull response. He glanced back down at his screen, gaze flicking down to the clock in the bottom corner to check the time. A quiet sigh slipped through his lips as he reached up to grab his glasses, tugging them off to wipe the lenses. Overtime. This was the fourth time this month. He could hear his coworker walking away, and slipped his glasses back on. Scooting closer to his screen to continue to work on his current assignment.
Shockingly, he enjoyed his life this way. The monotony of everyday helped him feel grounded. To know everything that was going to come with the next dawn. Though he wasn’t sure if this was a coping mechanism or if it was really true. He wouldn’t allow himself to slip up, though. That’d probably break him somehow.
He was getting too old for change.
Change was likely to make his stomach act up. Sudden work outings? Toilet. Being invited to a party no one really wanted him at? Antacids. The singular time he was confessed to almost two decades ago he nearly passed out.
So a monotonous daily life it was.
He could feel his stomach swirling at the thought of having to stay late tonight. He had to feed his cat, and his favorite program was on at eight. His gaze dropped to the time, before glancing up at the mostly empty office. Only a few left, wrapping up their own projects. He pushed his chair back slowly, grabbing his phone, antacid pills, and water before quietly walking toward the bathroom. Fingers idly tugging at his tie as he pushed the door open.
He quietly swallowed the pills before glancing up slowly, a soft sigh slipping through his lips, his fingers reaching up to rub at the dark circles under his eyes. He hadn’t been getting enough sleep lately, maybe he’d drink some tea before bed tonight…
He blinked, it was weirdly bright in the bathroom. He blinked, once. Twice.
Was it always this bright? Maybe he did need more sleep. He rubbed his eyes, before opening them once more, still as bright as before. Head slowly shifting to look around for the source of the light.
“Oh it’s just underneath me. That’s funny.” He muttered before blinking. “It’s underneath me.” A circle of some kind?
He knelt down, rubbing at the ground. Why was it sparkling? Was this some new installation to boost work morale? No, that didn’t make sense.
His hand was sparkling now. No. It wasn’t just sparkling, it was glowing.
“Did it get on me?” He was refusing to accept the reality in front of him. He looked around for onlookers. Surely this was some weird joke, right? Or a dream?
That had to be it. He fell asleep at his desk!
He closed his eyes, letting out a soft sigh, “I really need to sleep more, I can’t believe I fell asleep at my desk during the work day.”
Was the bathroom always this cold? He kept his eyes closed. Suddenly afraid to open them. He rubbed around at the ground, was it always stone? Oh he was absolutely dreaming.
“Is this the right one?” A deep unfamiliar voice resonated through the room.
Did someone walk into the bathroom? Oh, it’d be embarrassing if they caught him on the floor, wouldn’t it? Even in a dream he couldn’t handle the humiliation of being caught on the corporate bathroom tile… stone?
He opened his eyes, “I promise there’s a perfectly good explanation for… t..”
…
This wasn’t the bathroom. His eyes widened, hands shaking a little, a… church? A castle? He slowly looked around, why were there cosplayers here?! Why did they all have swords and full armor? They were really dedicated.
“Do you have an explanation? I thought the person who summoned you was the one who was meant to explain.” The deep voice once more, but closer, “You’re dreadfully plain, though. I was expecting something more.”
He slowly turned his head, watching as a dreadfully handsome man stepped toward him. Dressed head to toe in grand clothing. Another period cosplayer?! His dreams were becoming horribly obscure these days.
“As wonderful as this strange dream is, if you’ll excuse me I am going to wake myself up now.” A hand reached up to pinch his own cheek. Once. Twice, “That’s strange. Apologies-” He slapped his own leg. Why wasn’t he waking up?
The man was even closer now, only a foot or two away from him, slowly crouching down in front of him, staring blankly at the office man who sat in a heap on the ground in front of him, repeatedly slapping his own leg.
“You’re not dreaming.” A monotone response. The handsome younger man resting his chin in his palm, watching with vague interest in his eyes. Almost endlessly long strands of red hair brushed against the ground as the stranger squatted. A pair of eyes the beautiful color of Jade locked onto him curiously. His gaze was akin to a child looking at an animal in the zoo, not with the excitement of a child seeing a tiger or an elephant, rather with the dull glimmer of one who is seeing an anteater for the first time.
“Oh. That’s so strange.” He laughed dryly. Hand reaching up to rub at his neck, “I.. this is very unexpected. Haha.” He looked around slowly, as reality seeped in, he felt more panicked. He took his handkerchief out from his pocket and gently dabbed at the sweat that beaded on his forehead, “My goodness. I.. I can’t seem to wake up.” His throat felt dry, and yet his mouth watered horribly. His vision was beginning to blur and his head felt light.
Then, in the quiet of the castle’s hall, the sound of a forty two year old man throwing up filled the stone walls. Mere centimeters from the handsome stranger’s feet, and along with it the quiet thud of his body hitting the stone ground shortly after.
