Page 37 of A Hard Fit

His cheeks flared realizing he had sent the word ‘bottom’ to Rory, but it was too late now.

There was a pause that nearly killed him, then Rory’s reply came.

Phrasing.

Finn cackled.

My bad. Still, I’ve gotta give it a try.

Okay, fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you!

* * * *

The premiere of season two was still worse than Finn had been expecting. He couldn’t wait a whole day to watch it, so he turned it on for his morning treadmill run. The wigs were somehow worse this season, and the dialogue even clunkier. Characters changed alliances without so much as a whisper of logic or motivation, and another one was nonsensically written out of the show—death by stampede. The actor must have been unhappy with the creative direction, and Finn couldn’t blame them. Finn didn’t text Rory on his way into the office though—he decided to wait and talk about it in person, plus he wanted to go over his notes for the Sartini presentation on the train.

His heart gave a little skip when he saw Rory sitting in the staff kitchen. Rory looked up and smiled. Finn realized the first smile of the day from Rory was what he looked forward to the most.

“Hey,” he said, joining Rory at the table with a full cup of coffee.

“Morning, Finn.” Rory looked a little tired, face pale and eyes puffy.

“You okay?” Finn asked, noticing their blazer was a little crumpled too.

“Oh, I’m fine.” Rory rubbed their eyes. “Just tired. Was up late working on the website coding. How are you?”

“Tired, too. I didn’t sleep great either.”

“Are you nervous about today?”

Yes.“Nah.”

“Well, we should go to bed early tonight.”

Finn’s stomach dropped.We should what now?

“I mean—” Rory’s eyes widened. “We should both—each—at home—at our houses—”

A snicker escaped from Finn. “It’s fine. I know what you meant.”

Rory palmed their forehead. “Fuck. I amreallytired.”

“I watched the first episode of season two on the treadmill this morning,” Finn said, thankful for the easy topic change. “And can I just say, what the fuck? Why would Ophy go anywhere near those wildebeests?”

“I told you!” Rory laughed. “It goes right off the rails in the second season.”

Finn grinned. “You’re right. I should have listened to you. But it started off so good!”

Rory nodded with a deep sigh. “Think of the time we’ve both wasted now. Maybe if we turned it into a drinking game…”

“Every time someone’s wig changes mid-scene.”

“Every time Colios pets his snake…”

“Every time Colios pets hisothersnake…”

They were both doing what could only be described as giggling when Luka wandered into the kitchen in search of coffee.

“Moreno!” Finn called. “Ready for the big day?”

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