{"sf1_id":614094,"sf2_id":null,"title":"All Things In Order","author":"DarkSoulsSauron","words":2238,"posted_at":"2013-11-15T15:20:00.000Z","tags":["Gay Relationships","ninetales","pokemon"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/614094-all-things-in-order","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/614094","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=614094\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Soren\nwas late. He had a hard time getting moving this morning, and there\nwas an accident on the way to work. He attempted to walk\nsurreptitiously past Harold's office, but being surreptitious was\ndifficult for a fox who was 6'7'' and covered in reflective silver\nfur. Just as Soren thought he had passed Harold's office door safely,\nhe heard it open. Soren stood still, bracing himself.\nA\nlow and gravely voice called down the hall, \"Soren, can I speak\nwith you for a minute?\"Soren\nturned around with apprehension. He was at least a foot and a half\ntaller than Harold, but he was still intimidated by his superior some\ndays. He looked down upon the Sableye and nodded. \"Yes sir.\"\nSoren gloomily followed his boss into his office. As Harold closed\nthe door, Soren began to stammer an apology. \"I'm sorry sir, there\nwas a pile-\"\nHarold\ncut him off. \"I don't care about that.\" But then he smiled,\nrevealing his shiny, pointed teeth. \"Sit down. You're not in\ntrouble. I can't remember the last time you were late.\"\nSoren\nsighed and sat down, holding his body pencil straight and his gangly\nlimbs tucked in. \"How can I help you, sir.\"\nHarold\nrolled his sapphire eyes as he stuck his head under his desk. \"For\nChrist's sake, relax. You want some water?\" He extracted himself\nfrom the minifridge and produced two bottles of water. \"I wanted to\ntalk to you about your future here at Luscus Labs.\"Soren's\nfrown only deepened. \"You mean about the promotion?\"\nHarold\nsmiled again. \"Not exactly. I had a talk with Sylvia. Care to hear\nwhat we chatted about?\"\n\"What\ndid you talk to her about,\" asked Soren, nodding his head but\nhaving a fairly good idea about what Harold was alluding to.\"Sylvia\nsaid you wanted to transfer. To San Francisco,\" said Harold as he\ntapped a pointed finger on his desk, absently. \"Has your time at\nthe Kansas location been bad? What's prompting you to want to leave\nus?\"\nSoren\nshook his head. \"No. I've really loved working here. Especially now\nthat I've gotten a chance to work directly with the experiments. My\njob here has been really rewarding for me.\"Harold\ngave him a perplexed look. \"Then why did you turn down the\npromotion? And why transfer?\"\nSoren\nhesitated for a moment, but then forged ahead. \"I want to get out\nof Kansas. If I accept the promotion, then that will tie me to the\nlab here, and I really want to move. I shouldn't accept an\nadvancement if I'm going to leave soon.\"\nHarold\nnodded and smiled warmly. \"May I ask why you want to move?\"\nSoren\nhesitated again. \"Well, the truth is... well... I want to get\nmarried. And well... I can't do that here, in Kansas. You\nunderstand that, right?\n\"Completely,\"\nsaid Harold. His wry little smile broke into a beaming grin. \"I\ncompletely understand. I'm glad for you. But if I were you, I'd take\nthe promotion anyway.\"\nSoren\nwas visibly confused. \"What do you mean, sir?\"\nHarold\npulled up a window on his tablet. \"Sylvia and I did some snooping\naround. The problem is, the San Francisco lab doesn't need anymore\ntechies.\" Soren's face began to fall, but Harold continued to talk.\n\"What they do need are data processors. You know how to\nproperly run tests and process data. They have plenty of people who\ncan run the machines and watch the mice. They need someone who knows\nhow to run the whole experiment properly, not just push buttons.\"Soren\nnodded. \"So what does that mean for me?\"\nHarold\ntapped a needlelike finger at his tablet. \"I had a little chat with\nthe manager there. I sent her your resume as well as all information\nfor all of the work you've done for us. They'd be glad to have you as\na lab manager. So what she wants me to do is to have you take the\npromotion here. If you can hold your own for a month or so, show you\ncan keep up with your new responsibilities, she'd be glad to welcome\nyou to California.\" Harold stood up and offered a hand to Soren.\n\"Sound like a deal?\"\nSoren\nbeamed visibly. He shook Harold's sharp hand with both of his. \"Thank\nyou, Harold. I... you have no idea how big of a deal this is.\"\nHarold\nnodded his head. \"I hope you two are happy. I've been grateful to\nhave had you here working with me. But you aren't out of here yet. I\nhave some stuff you need to read by Monday.\" Reaching back into\nhis desk, he pulled our an enormous stack of folders.\n\"Jeeze,\"\nsaid Soren, scratching his neck as he took the pile of files. \"What's\nall this for?\"Harold\nsmiled. \"It's part of your new job. It's required reading for your\ntraining classes. You're going to be dealing with people more. Also,\nthere's a project I need you to work soon on that involves some more\nhard science than you're used to dealing with, so I have a pile of\njournals that you need to read. This will probably be a regular\nthing, by the way. We'd need you to to be more in tune with the\nscience theory of whatever experiment you're working on, rather than\nthe parts only relevant to you.\"\n\"Wait,\"\nsaid Soren, \"You're paying me to read scientific journals? I do\nthat for fun.\"\n\"For\nChrist's sake, do you ever stop working,\" frowned Harold. \"If I\ndidn't know better I'd wonder if you slept in the office.\"Soren\nlooked sheepish. \"I just love working here. I feel like I make a\ndifference here... if that makes any sense.\"\nHarold\nnodded. \"Just... don't work yourself into the ground. I wish you'd\ntake a break from work every once in a while.\"\nSoren\nfrowned, \"I took a vacation recently.\"\n\"Only\nbecause I was threatening to fire you,\" laughed Harold. \"Spend\nsome time on yourself, or at least with your boyfriend. I mean it.\nWork isn't everything. Now, this is all I really need you to be doing\nuntil Monday, so you can do this at home if you like. There's no\npoint in you sitting in the office alone, reading.\"\n\"Thanks,\nHarold. I'll get started when I get home.\" Soren turned to leave,\nthe stack of papers in his arms.\nAs\nSoren reached the door, Harold called out to him. \"Soren, I'd start\nmaking moving plans if I were you. I have no doubt that you can\nhandle your new job.\"\nSoren\nwalked to his car, elation filling his heart. Finally, his plans, his\nambitions, his machinations might come to fruition. If things panned\nout the way he hoped, He and Eli could be in California in a month or\ntwo. Soren was home in less than half an hour, letting himself in.\nsneaking up behind Eli, he gave him a hug as he reached for more\npaint. \"Heya, sweetie.\"\nEli\ngave a little yip of surprise. \"You're home early. What's up.\"\n\"Eli,\nhave you given more thought about moving,\" asked Soren, his arms\nstill around Eli.\nEli\nnodded. \"Did they decide on transferring you?\"Soren\nmade a noise of assent. \"They wanted a new lab manager at the San\nFrancisco office. They thought I'd be a good choice.\"\n\"I\nthink they thought right,\" said Eli, stroking on of Soren's arms.\n\"and I told you, there's nothing that's really tying us here.\nVincent knows a few California galleries that would take me, and all\nof my family is on the west coast anyway, except my parents.\"\n\"Are\nyou OK with being so far away,\" asked Soren. \"California and Iowa\nare pretty far apart.\"\"I\ncan read a map sweetheart,\" said Eli, playfully. \"But it's an\neight hour drive from here. Flying isn't much worse next to that.\nBesides, I can take you to see my other family when we move there.\"\"So\nyou're OK with moving?\"\nEli\nnodded. \"Yes. If you think it's going to happen, we should start\npacking more than we have been. When do you think we'll actually\nmove?\"\n\"In\na month or two,\" said Soren, rubbing Eli's slender shoulders. \"They\nwanna see if I can handle the new work before moving me. They may\neven pay for us.\"\n\"So\nwhy are you home early then,\" asked Eli. \"Not that I mind, but\nwouldn't you be starting your new job now?\"\n\"My\nnew job has some reading to do. Harold gave me a bunch of stuff to\nread by Monday. He said I could read at home if I felt like it.\"\"Well,\nyou know where I'll be,\" said Eli, picking up his palate again.\nSoren\nwent and got his stack of papers, returning to the loft with a\ncushion under his arm. Sitting down by Eli's stool, he leaned his\nhead on Eli's leg and began to read. Eli growled in pleasure and\ncontinued to paint as Soren stroked a tail with an unoccupied hand.\nSoren was moving through the stack of papers quite quickly. None of\nthis looked too bad. Soren closed his eyes for a minute, anticipating\nthe end of the month. It felt like, for once, things were going\ncompletely right.\nEli\nand Soren were walking through the park close to their place. It was\ndusk, and the two were holding hands. They had been walking in\nsilence for a minute, absorbing the nice night. They were dressed\nnicer than normal for a Friday night. Soren had taken them out for a\nnice dinner, and polos and cargo shorts felt too casual.\nThe\ntwo passed by the spot where Eli first taught Soren to dance. It was\ngetting close to two years now. Soren tugged Eli gently and brought\nthem to the bench they had used as a music stand. He kissed Eli on\nthe cheek before talking. \"Harold told me that I was officially\ncleared for the transfer. It looks like we'll be headed to California\nnow. Two weeks or so.\"\"That's\nwonderful,\" smiled Eli. \"I'm glad that they're treating you right\nfor all the work you put in.\"\"And\nyou're still OK with the move? You're OK with just packing up and\nleaving Kansas?\"\"Soren,\ndarling,\" said Eli, still smiling but concern in his voice, \"If I\nwasn't OK with it our house wouldn't be full of boxes. What's\nbothering you, love? I can tell something's nagging at you.\"Soren\nsmiled back, looking genuinely happy. \"No... it's just I wanted to\nbe sure. It's a big decision, and it's because of me that we're\nmoving.\"\nEli\nleaned in for a kiss. They held each other there for what felt like\nages, breaking apart with a sigh. \"Soren, I'd follow you anywhere.\nSan Francisco included.\"\nSoren's\nheart jumped a little bit, his hand fingering the box in his pocket.\nNow wasn't a time for hesitation. Why was he even hesitating? He had\nbeen planning for this. He rationally wanted to do this. But this\nwasn't a thing you could learn or practice. \"Eli... Can I ask you\nsomething?\"\n\"Go\nfor it, dear.\"\"We've\nbeen together for a bit more than two years now. Have you been\nhappy?\"\nEli\nlooked a bit bemused as he smiled. \"What, is today the ask obvious\nquestions day,\" teased Eli. \"You've made me incredibly happy. I\nlove you. I love you so much, and I have loved living together. Can't\nyou tell?\"\nSoren\nkissed Eli. \"I can tell. You make me feel exactly the same. I...\nI'm just having a hard time getting to the point today, I guess.\"\n\"Then\nget to the point, dear. Just ask me. I promise I won't be angry, or\nlaugh, or anything like that. You can always talk to me, sweetheart.\"Soren\ntook a deep breath. Just get on your knee. It's a simple motion.\nThe more you hesitate the more it looks like you aren't really sure.\nAnd Soren was sure. He had been\nplanning a moment like this for months. Soren took another deep\nbreath. Just keep it simple. He\ngot up off the bench and turned around, looking Eli in the eye, his\nhands in his pockets. Slowly, he got down on his left knee, producing\nthe tiny box from his pocket, opening it with one hand. \"Eli, will\nyou marry me?\"\nEli\nmoved in a blur. Standing up, he reached down and pulled Soren up to\nhim, kissing him on the muzzle, his eyes closed in passion, his arms\ngripping them tightly together. \"Yes, Soren, yes. A thousand times,\nyes. I was hoping you'd ask me for weeks now.\"\"Weeks?\"\nasked Soren, surprised at what his fiance had said (his\nFIANCE!). \n\"Of\ncourse sweetie.\" said Eli. \"I thought that maybe you had asked\nfor a transfer, to get us into a state that would let us get married.\nBut I knew you'd ask me when you felt ready.\"\nSoren\nkissed Eli, holding him tighter. \"I'm sorry for the secrecy, Eli. I\ndidn't want to make a promise I couldn't keep.\" He sat them down on\nthe bench again, holding the ring out and slipping Eli's finger\nthrough it. The\nwhite gold band gleamed in the dusk; the uncut fire opal catching the\nfinal ghosts of sunlight.Eli\nran a thumb over the ring. \"It's beautiful, Soren... I understand\ncompletely. Can we go home? I want to tell Mom and Dad.\"Soren\ncupped his love's face in his hands, kissing him tenderly. \"Let's\ngo, sweetheart. I can't wait to meet my in-laws.\"\n"}