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Soren

was late. He had a hard time getting moving this morning, and there

was an accident on the way to work. He attempted to walk

surreptitiously past Harold's office, but being surreptitious was

difficult for a fox who was 6'7'' and covered in reflective silver

fur. Just as Soren thought he had passed Harold's office door safely,

he heard it open. Soren stood still, bracing himself.

A

low and gravely voice called down the hall, "Soren, can I speak

with you for a minute?"Soren

turned around with apprehension. He was at least a foot and a half

taller than Harold, but he was still intimidated by his superior some

days. He looked down upon the Sableye and nodded. "Yes sir."

Soren gloomily followed his boss into his office. As Harold closed

the door, Soren began to stammer an apology. "I'm sorry sir, there

was a pile-"

Harold

cut him off. "I don't care about that." But then he smiled,

revealing his shiny, pointed teeth. "Sit down. You're not in

trouble. I can't remember the last time you were late."

Soren

sighed and sat down, holding his body pencil straight and his gangly

limbs tucked in. "How can I help you, sir."

Harold

rolled his sapphire eyes as he stuck his head under his desk. "For

Christ's sake, relax. You want some water?" He extracted himself

from the minifridge and produced two bottles of water. "I wanted to

talk to you about your future here at Luscus Labs."Soren's

frown only deepened. "You mean about the promotion?"

Harold

smiled again. "Not exactly. I had a talk with Sylvia. Care to hear

what we chatted about?"

"What

did you talk to her about," asked Soren, nodding his head but

having a fairly good idea about what Harold was alluding to."Sylvia

said you wanted to transfer. To San Francisco," said Harold as he

tapped a pointed finger on his desk, absently. "Has your time at

the Kansas location been bad? What's prompting you to want to leave

us?"

Soren

shook his head. "No. I've really loved working here. Especially now

that I've gotten a chance to work directly with the experiments. My

job here has been really rewarding for me."Harold

gave him a perplexed look. "Then why did you turn down the

promotion? And why transfer?"

Soren

hesitated for a moment, but then forged ahead. "I want to get out

of Kansas. If I accept the promotion, then that will tie me to the

lab here, and I really want to move. I shouldn't accept an

advancement if I'm going to leave soon."

Harold

nodded and smiled warmly. "May I ask why you want to move?"

Soren

hesitated again. "Well, the truth is... well... I want to get

married. And well... I can't do that here, in Kansas. You

understand that, right?

"Completely,"

said Harold. His wry little smile broke into a beaming grin. "I

completely understand. I'm glad for you. But if I were you, I'd take

the promotion anyway."

Soren

was visibly confused. "What do you mean, sir?"

Harold

pulled up a window on his tablet. "Sylvia and I did some snooping

around. The problem is, the San Francisco lab doesn't need anymore

techies." Soren's face began to fall, but Harold continued to talk.

"What they do need are data processors. You know how to

properly run tests and process data. They have plenty of people who

can run the machines and watch the mice. They need someone who knows

how to run the whole experiment properly, not just push buttons."Soren

nodded. "So what does that mean for me?"

Harold

tapped a needlelike finger at his tablet. "I had a little chat with

the manager there. I sent her your resume as well as all information

for all of the work you've done for us. They'd be glad to have you as

a lab manager. So what she wants me to do is to have you take the

promotion here. If you can hold your own for a month or so, show you

can keep up with your new responsibilities, she'd be glad to welcome

you to California." Harold stood up and offered a hand to Soren.

"Sound like a deal?"

Soren

beamed visibly. He shook Harold's sharp hand with both of his. "Thank

you, Harold. I... you have no idea how big of a deal this is."

Harold

nodded his head. "I hope you two are happy. I've been grateful to

have had you here working with me. But you aren't out of here yet. I

have some stuff you need to read by Monday." Reaching back into

his desk, he pulled our an enormous stack of folders.

"Jeeze,"

said Soren, scratching his neck as he took the pile of files. "What's

all this for?"Harold

smiled. "It's part of your new job. It's required reading for your

training classes. You're going to be dealing with people more. Also,

there's a project I need you to work soon on that involves some more

hard science than you're used to dealing with, so I have a pile of

journals that you need to read. This will probably be a regular

thing, by the way. We'd need you to to be more in tune with the

science theory of whatever experiment you're working on, rather than

the parts only relevant to you."

"Wait,"

said Soren, "You're paying me to read scientific journals? I do

that for fun."

"For

Christ's sake, do you ever stop working," frowned Harold. "If I

didn't know better I'd wonder if you slept in the office."Soren

looked sheepish. "I just love working here. I feel like I make a

difference here... if that makes any sense."

Harold

nodded. "Just... don't work yourself into the ground. I wish you'd

take a break from work every once in a while."

Soren

frowned, "I took a vacation recently."

"Only

because I was threatening to fire you," laughed Harold. "Spend

some time on yourself, or at least with your boyfriend. I mean it.

Work isn't everything. Now, this is all I really need you to be doing

until Monday, so you can do this at home if you like. There's no

point in you sitting in the office alone, reading."

"Thanks,

Harold. I'll get started when I get home." Soren turned to leave,

the stack of papers in his arms.

As

Soren reached the door, Harold called out to him. "Soren, I'd start

making moving plans if I were you. I have no doubt that you can

handle your new job."

Soren

walked to his car, elation filling his heart. Finally, his plans, his

ambitions, his machinations might come to fruition. If things panned

out the way he hoped, He and Eli could be in California in a month or

two. Soren was home in less than half an hour, letting himself in.

sneaking up behind Eli, he gave him a hug as he reached for more

paint. "Heya, sweetie."

Eli

gave a little yip of surprise. "You're home early. What's up."

"Eli,

have you given more thought about moving," asked Soren, his arms

still around Eli.

Eli

nodded. "Did they decide on transferring you?"Soren

made a noise of assent. "They wanted a new lab manager at the San

Francisco office. They thought I'd be a good choice."

"I

think they thought right," said Eli, stroking on of Soren's arms.

"and I told you, there's nothing that's really tying us here.

Vincent knows a few California galleries that would take me, and all

of my family is on the west coast anyway, except my parents."

"Are

you OK with being so far away," asked Soren. "California and Iowa

are pretty far apart.""I

can read a map sweetheart," said Eli, playfully. "But it's an

eight hour drive from here. Flying isn't much worse next to that.

Besides, I can take you to see my other family when we move there.""So

you're OK with moving?"

Eli

nodded. "Yes. If you think it's going to happen, we should start

packing more than we have been. When do you think we'll actually

move?"

"In

a month or two," said Soren, rubbing Eli's slender shoulders. "They

wanna see if I can handle the new work before moving me. They may

even pay for us."

"So

why are you home early then," asked Eli. "Not that I mind, but

wouldn't you be starting your new job now?"

"My

new job has some reading to do. Harold gave me a bunch of stuff to

read by Monday. He said I could read at home if I felt like it.""Well,

you know where I'll be," said Eli, picking up his palate again.

Soren

went and got his stack of papers, returning to the loft with a

cushion under his arm. Sitting down by Eli's stool, he leaned his

head on Eli's leg and began to read. Eli growled in pleasure and

continued to paint as Soren stroked a tail with an unoccupied hand.

Soren was moving through the stack of papers quite quickly. None of

this looked too bad. Soren closed his eyes for a minute, anticipating

the end of the month. It felt like, for once, things were going

completely right.

Eli

and Soren were walking through the park close to their place. It was

dusk, and the two were holding hands. They had been walking in

silence for a minute, absorbing the nice night. They were dressed

nicer than normal for a Friday night. Soren had taken them out for a

nice dinner, and polos and cargo shorts felt too casual.

The

two passed by the spot where Eli first taught Soren to dance. It was

getting close to two years now. Soren tugged Eli gently and brought

them to the bench they had used as a music stand. He kissed Eli on

the cheek before talking. "Harold told me that I was officially

cleared for the transfer. It looks like we'll be headed to California

now. Two weeks or so.""That's

wonderful," smiled Eli. "I'm glad that they're treating you right

for all the work you put in.""And

you're still OK with the move? You're OK with just packing up and

leaving Kansas?""Soren,

darling," said Eli, still smiling but concern in his voice, "If I

wasn't OK with it our house wouldn't be full of boxes. What's

bothering you, love? I can tell something's nagging at you."Soren

smiled back, looking genuinely happy. "No... it's just I wanted to

be sure. It's a big decision, and it's because of me that we're

moving."

Eli

leaned in for a kiss. They held each other there for what felt like

ages, breaking apart with a sigh. "Soren, I'd follow you anywhere.

San Francisco included."

Soren's

heart jumped a little bit, his hand fingering the box in his pocket.

Now wasn't a time for hesitation. Why was he even hesitating? He had

been planning for this. He rationally wanted to do this. But this

wasn't a thing you could learn or practice. "Eli... Can I ask you

something?"

"Go

for it, dear.""We've

been together for a bit more than two years now. Have you been

happy?"

Eli

looked a bit bemused as he smiled. "What, is today the ask obvious

questions day," teased Eli. "You've made me incredibly happy. I

love you. I love you so much, and I have loved living together. Can't

you tell?"

Soren

kissed Eli. "I can tell. You make me feel exactly the same. I...

I'm just having a hard time getting to the point today, I guess."

"Then

get to the point, dear. Just ask me. I promise I won't be angry, or

laugh, or anything like that. You can always talk to me, sweetheart."Soren

took a deep breath. Just get on your knee. It's a simple motion.

The more you hesitate the more it looks like you aren't really sure.

And Soren was sure. He had been

planning a moment like this for months. Soren took another deep

breath. Just keep it simple. He

got up off the bench and turned around, looking Eli in the eye, his

hands in his pockets. Slowly, he got down on his left knee, producing

the tiny box from his pocket, opening it with one hand. "Eli, will

you marry me?"

Eli

moved in a blur. Standing up, he reached down and pulled Soren up to

him, kissing him on the muzzle, his eyes closed in passion, his arms

gripping them tightly together. "Yes, Soren, yes. A thousand times,

yes. I was hoping you'd ask me for weeks now.""Weeks?"

asked Soren, surprised at what his fiance had said (his

FIANCE!).

"Of

course sweetie." said Eli. "I thought that maybe you had asked

for a transfer, to get us into a state that would let us get married.

But I knew you'd ask me when you felt ready."

Soren

kissed Eli, holding him tighter. "I'm sorry for the secrecy, Eli. I

didn't want to make a promise I couldn't keep." He sat them down on

the bench again, holding the ring out and slipping Eli's finger

through it. The

white gold band gleamed in the dusk; the uncut fire opal catching the

final ghosts of sunlight.Eli

ran a thumb over the ring. "It's beautiful, Soren... I understand

completely. Can we go home? I want to tell Mom and Dad."Soren

cupped his love's face in his hands, kissing him tenderly. "Let's

go, sweetheart. I can't wait to meet my in-laws."