"The last thing Adam needed today was to run straight into somebody. So, naturally, that is what he did."
Adam, a new teacher at the Garrison, has too much paperwork and a tendency to not watch where he's walking. So, that's how he ended up spilling...
A/N: This is not just my story. Shoutout to WaywardDork for giving me inspiration, helping me write, and for generally being a good human.
The black iced coffee was clutched close to his chest as he hurried down the hallway, desperate not to be late. Two-inch binders filled to the brim of paperwork and lesson plans was balanced in his other hand. The sound of his footsteps was obnoxiously loud in the quiet corridor, looked like everyone was off to work, the thought only served to make him more anxious.
Adam glanced nervously from hallway to hallway, and occasionally back at the watch on his hand, it was an old model his father had given him long ago and he remembered promising himself that no matter his low the price of those fancy holographic watches dropped in the market, he wouldn't trade the battered old thing.
He was supposed to have been setting up his class, but his flight from New York had gotten delayed, meaning that he only had enough time to get his paperwork and his coffee before having to race across the Garrison to teach a class full of students(if a bunch of teenagers could be called that pure term) about the physics and laws of space travel.
He checked his watch again, 08:53. If he had any luck, he'd make it in two minutes, leaving him five minutes to get his classroom organized—or at least put a sticky note with each student's names on them at the desks. It's okay there's still time
The last thing Adam needed today was to run straight into somebody. So, naturally, that is what he did.
"Oh, shit, I am so sorry," Adam apologized quickly, his hands hovering in the air awkwardly as he tried to find a use of them, his settled for using both of them to hold his binders.
The man had to have at least been six foot four or taller, how did Adam not see him? He looked down and gasped slightly when he noticed the black stain spread across both of their chests. "Crap," he muttered, trying to smile at the stranger, it came out more like a wince.
"Hey, it's okay," the man said in a reassuring voice, his face set into a relaxed expression as if he bumping into crazy professors and getting his shirt soaked in coffee was a daily occurrence.
Adam reached into the back pocket of his pants, thanking whatever deity had made sure he had a napkin in his pockets. "Here," Adam said, trying to soak up the stain, but only making it worse, causing even more humiliation to himself, he started to panic even more And it was only the first day
"Hey, hey don't worry about it, it's just a shirt," The man calmed, the tuft of hair bouncing slightly as he spoke, he kept smiling that reassuring smile which was unknowingly calming Adam down to some extent.
"I'm so sorry, I was just kind of in a hurry and-" Adam made some motions with his napkin hand, promptly smacking the other man in the face, the napkin fell to the ground, having filled its purpose to embarrass the poor man. Evil Thing.
Adam smiled nervously. 'Sorry?, I'll make it up to you, I promise' he said hurriedly, getting more embarrassed by the second.
The guy held Adam's shoulders, looking into Adam's eyes, his eyes were dark grey and intense in a way and Adam was hit with a sense of familiarity, he shook it off and focused on the stranger's face who gave him a soft smile. "It's not a big deal, at least it wasn't hot," He started, "I can wash it out, and plus, I have more shirts,"
"You sure?"
"That I can wash of a coffee stain?" He frowned, releasing Adam's shoulders.
'No that-' Adam started but stopped as realized that the guy was messing with him. 'Nevermind' he smiled slightly, relieved at the lightness in the air.
They stood there awkwardly for a moment, both of them thinking of moving but not willing to let go of the airy moment just yet.
'You looked like you were in a bit of a hurry, I'll let you go ahead' the said with a comforting smile
"Right, Sorry," Adam apologized once more as he left, to which the man chuckled quietly. He checked his watch again and decided that he'd be fortunate if he wasn't late.
~~~
Class was chaotic, to say the least. The entire day was, really. Adam caught a glimpse of his reflection in the window, his eyes were lined with dark circles from all that had happened. He sighed, getting out of his desk and cleaning up from that day.
For him, first period wasn't that bad, he just had to keep everyone awake, which was easier said than done and by the end of the period Adam was pretty sure almost everyone in the class had snoozed off several times. Second period was a mess, enough said, and fourth had one of those assholeish kids who must've thought he ran the school, (Adam was horrified to realize that might be the case, considering how long he'd been gone). Fifth and sixth period were just rowdy, and seventh wasn't too bad if you don't count the end-of-school buzz. Adam knew he was going to have to come in early tomorrow and hopefully not run into any strangers.
He wearily picked up the binders, which were much heavier than this morning, and started heading back across the Garrison, watching as people walked past and the light's reflection on the tiles.
Room 13C, Adam repeated to himself, determined not to get lost. He passed by doors and doors of rooms until he got to the elevator and eventually the room he belonged in. Grabbing the key out of his pant pocket, he opened the door.
Inside sat a familiar face, one with the same pale skin and black undercut. It took Adam some time to recognize that it was the same person he had bumped into this morning and once he did, he inwardly cursed the entire universe. "Uhh," He started, trying to think of something un-embarrassing to say, "Are you Takashi Shirogane?" He asked. He winced, in case it was true. Just my luck. The world is against me today, he decided.
"The one and only. I'm assuming you're my new roommate," He responded, standing up. "Adam Woodford, right?" he held out his hand for him to shake.
"Yeah," He responded, shaking Takashi's hand. "Uhh, sorry about your shirt, by the way." he really wished the English vocabulary had alternative words for 'sorry', using it so many times was feeling very awkward.
He laughed, a happy light chuckle. "I told you before, it's fine man," he responded. Adam breathed a sigh of relief but still felt guilty about it. Of course, the person he spilled his coffee all over had to be his roommate.
He glanced at the two doors. "Which one's mine?" He asked.
"One on the left," Shiro stated. Adam looked to his right, and past the kitchen sat two doors. He went inside the one closest to the kitchen. It had a window, overviewing the desert, he recalled having a similar view from his window at the Garrison when he was a student, the slight familiarity made him smile. He set his bag down on the queen bed sticking out of the left wall and placed his binders full of paperwork on the dresser opposite the bed.
He collapsed against the bed and felt all his worries and tiredness falling away for a moment. Unfortunately, he had adult stuff to do, like making lesson plans for students and things along those lines. "Why," he thought aloud to himself when thinking about his responsibilities.
He stood up eventually and opened the door back to his and Takashi's shared living room. "You have any coffee?" He asked, because he didn't have any manners when it came to coffee.
Takashi didn't look up from the small orange-tinted screen he appeared to be reading something on, the light tinting his jawline orange, "Yeah, there's a coffee machine on the counter."
"Thanks," Adam responded. He walked over to the coffee machine. Apparently, Garrison coffee machines were a lot more complex than normal ones. He adjusted the glasses on his nose as he looked through the options, his chin propped on his fist so he was eye-level with the machine.
Was there not an option for normal coffee? He didn't want a latte or a macchiato or any of these other fancy types of coffee, just a plain coffee. Plus, it didn't help that his glasses weren't strong enough to see the tiny text. "I'm just going to press a button at random," he muttered to himself, grabbed a mug, and pushed a button on the screen. He'll figure it out later.
While the coffee brewed, he decided that he may as well have a chat with his new roommate, "So, what do you teach?" Adam asked, trying to spark a conversation. He was going to be sharing a room with this guy for who knows how long, so he may as know more about him than the fact that he knew how to wash a shirt.
Takashi looked up from his tablet. Adam watched as his small black tuft of hair bounced as he turned his head, amused. "I teach the younger cadets piloting," He explained.
"So you're stuck with the thirteen-year-olds?" Adam asked, recalling the loud and obnoxious crowd he had seen in the hallway. "I pity you," he joked.
He chuckled a little, a soft genuine laugh, "They're a handful, especially the dramatic ones, but I've grown to love it." He turned his body on the couch, a little more towards Adam, "It's nice watching them grow, you know?"
"Yeah, I guess Adam shrugged, "I teach Astrophysics II, so I have a lot of the older kids."
Takashi winced "The hormonal teenagers," He said warily and Adam grinned. "They're something, alright."
"You bet," Adam sighed.
"I was always terrible at Astrophysics, to be honest, I don't know how I passed my exams." Takashi set the tablet down on their coffee table, turning his full attention to Adam.
"It's not that hard," Adam said, then mentally scolded himself for sounding rude, "I didn't really understand it that well until I actually went on a mission," he stated. "I'm honestly not that good of a pilot, though," he said so he didn't sound too arrogant, it was true to some extent. How he had managed to pass that class was still a mystery.
"I'm sure you're not that bad, I mean, you're teaching here at the Garrison," Takashi reminded him.
Adam shrugged, Mister Shirogane hadn't yet seen the wonders that were Adam Woodford's piloting. "Fair point."
"If it makes you feel better, I haven't been on a mission that recently, to be honest," Takashi admitted, "I used to go on them all the time."
"Why not?" Adam asked.
He rubbed the bracelet that sat on his wrist, and after his hesitation, said, "I have been busy with teaching all the cadets. Plus, they've been sending me to local public schools lately to try and recruit kids."
"You seem to really like working with kids," Adam pointed out. He only just registered the smell of coffee, he had just been leaning on the kitchen island, talking with Takashi the entire time. He took the mug of coffee, "Are you a neat freak or am I allowed—" He put finger quotes around the word "Allowed"— "to have coffee on the couch?"
"Go ahead, I don't particularly care," He responded, "Plus, this is your room too,"
"Right," Adam answered. He picked up the coffee and walked over towards the living room and sat on the other couch. He took out the paperwork and got to work, reading through all the teaching strategies that the Garrison required him to use. He sighed. If I had done this on the plane I wouldn't have to deal with this now.
Takashi yawned, tired. "I'm kind of tired, I'm heading to bed," he stated, getting off the couch, setting the empty coffee cup on the coaster.
He had a good idea, Adam's eyelids started to grow heavy as well, despite all the caffeine he had. "Yeah, me too."
"Sorting through those is tedious work, huh?" Takashi shook his head. "Man, hate those papers"
"Me too, hey do you mind a tad bit of smoke?"
"Uh depends, why?" Takashi asked.
Adam picked up the papers from the coffee table, adjusting them in his hands. "I was planning on lighting a fire to burn these after I am done, I could do it outside if you mind"
Takashi laughed and Adam felt a swell of pride in his chest. "You do realize that they would want them back, right?"
"I'll make copies and burn the ones that have given me pain," Adam said, having no idea where all this salt was coming from.
He got off the couch and started heading towards his bedroom. Adam glanced back at Takashi as they were both about to go to their respective rooms for the night. "I admire your determination, Mister Woodford," he said, completely serious.
Adam held back a laugh at that. "Nice meeting you, roommate." He gave Takashi a friendly smile.
Takashi glanced back. "You too," he answered. The two sets of doors closed with a soft thud.
Woohoo! Yay! New Adashi fic cause Season 7 can die in hell! (It's been 2 months and I'm still salty.)
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I'm hilarious. No I'm not. This photo is why you don't leave me unsupervised.
