FREE⇡RIDE⇣HOME [Elevator Hitch || COTAG]

Should we go for a walk?

I get to work, and my coworker is nowhere to be found. I try to look for him a little, as I walk towards my cubicle. Is he on sick day?

He really scared me last night. I didn't know he could be so gentle... besides, I'm a man, aren't I? Then, why did he do that?

I was drunk, so I don't exactly remember what he did, but I know without a doubt that I didn't hate it, at the very least.

I don't want to overthink, but I can't help it. Was he frustrated? Or maybe he was just taking advantage of me, because of my vulnerability?

No, it can't possibly be the latter.

I felt affection back then.

...Whatever.

A bunch of hours later, it's break time. Maybe I'll find him in the breakroom.

And there he is.

He's talking with some guy, but stops once he sees me. "Oh, that's the newbie I was talking about!"

He was talking about me? That's extremely weird. "Nice to meet you."

I reach my hand out to him, but my coworker pulls him away with his arm wrapped around the guy's shoulder.

He smiles at me. How bold. "Did you miss me?"

"Well, I was looking for you, actually." He's hiding behind the guy he was talking to a while ago. "Are you avoiding me?"

I noticed he's not looking at me when he talks to me. It's weird; he usually glares at me with a hint of disdain...

My coworker's sudden change of attitude scares the other guy away. "I'm not. ...Why do you ask?" He scratches the back of his head.

I whisper. "Seriously, you've been so suspicious lately."

I choose a mug by the counter, and my coworker is already adjusting the settings on the coffee machine for me.

"Heh, you like me just the way I am, don't you. You were distant at first, but you've got used to me by now!" He hums, and pours me some coffee.

"Shut up for once," I snap.

"But... I'm giving you plently of talking time."

"Yeah, you are." I drown myself in the delightful coffee he makes. That's one benefit of listening to his stupid ramblings...

I ignore him for a little more, and leave the breakroom soon after.

For another few hours, I repeat the same process over and over again, also known as work.

My job isn't stressful. It's just tiring, and the atmosphere in the building is just so depressing...

It pays well, though.

When I'm finally allowed to leave, I find my coworker waiting for me by the elevator. We enter it together. It makes me feel slightly uncomfortable.

The space is cramped, likely due to his large build.

I rub my eyes. "You smell like ash. How many cigarettes did you smoke today?"

He shakes his jacket off. "Really? Sorry."

He should quit smoking.

Perhaps he's stressed?

The elevator stops. We walk out in unison.

"Should we go for a walk?" He asks. "The weather's nice."

"Eh, sure," I accept.

We go in a different direction than my his car. There's a grassy path nearby, and he leads me to there.

It's chilly, and my coworker is trembling. His nose is running and his teeth are chattering. It's a funny sight.

He buries his hands in his pockets. "It's really cold, isn't it?"

He stares at me, surprised that I'm not bothered.

"Yeah, it's chilly." I answer, immediately covering my mouth, trying to hold my laughter.

"Hey! Are you making fun of me?!"

"Oh, please. Look at yourself! It's barely under fifteen degrees, and you're freezing." I laugh.

"Well, guess what? I'm cool," he boasts.

I swear, I'm going to strangle him at some point for his stupid, cliché puns.

"And you're acting like it's the hottest day in the year! How do you even handle this so easily?!"

"I'm used to it," I answer.

"I actually wanted to take you out in this weather, so you would feel cold, and I could give you my jacket. You know, like they do in anime." He rubs his hands together and exhales some warm air onto them. "But, it turns out, I'm the one who's freezing..."

"Pffft, if you weren't so bulky, maybe I'd give you my jacket instead." I smirk. My clothes would never fit this bear of a man.

We walk through a muddy thicket. My coworker lifts his turn-ups to not dirty them, and limbos under every single branch we come across. My suit is of a darker colour, therefore I'm not as worried.

Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to go on a walk on a muddy path right after work, though...

We get to a tiny, shallow river. "Ooh! There are fish!" I pull my sleeves up.

"Ugh, fish," he gags. "Well, have fun, I guess."

I pull him to the river, nearly dropping him in the water by accident. "Help me catch one!"

"I appreciate the offer, but no, thank you."

I jump on a nearby rock in the river, and squat down, stabilising myself with my hands in the water. "This is a bad idea..." I think to myself.

There's a carp swimming past the rock I'm standing on, and I don't hesitate another second before catching it. I feel it wiggle in my hands, throwing me off balance, and... I tumble into the water. Not all the way, just my knees and my arms. "Oops..."

"I told you not to do it!" My coworker yells. He makes a few steps in the water, to pull me out of it. "You dummy."

I push the carp in his hands. "Fish!"

He screams like a little girl and runs backwards into the thicket, waiting for me to get out by myself.

I release the fish in the water again, and get up, shaking in laughter.

I try to get as little sand as possible on the sides of my shoes, as I run up to him. "Are we going back?"

"Y-Y-Y-Yeah." He's still disgusted by the fish he touched a moment ago.

"Jee, don't complain. I bet you've got some expensive laundry stuff at home, and even if you'd dirty your clothes a little bit, it'd all get off."

He stares at my soaking and covered in sand silhouette in disappointment. "It's easy for you to say that! My suit is handmade of baby cashmere and my shoes are of full grain leather! I can't allow myself to infect it with nature, ugh."

"I haven't been in the outdoors in a while." I start partially venting to him. 

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