#Yes it's modern coffee shop AU thing 😔

[tiredofthehumanlife]

New Year, New Career

barbie dolls: boss!Regulus Black x gn! Secretary!reader

word: 7.2k

summary: office au, black brothers run a publishing company, youre regulus’ assisstant, idk they have simmering tewnsion, they are cool and i like them so yeah read it please cuz i had to so now you have to

warnings: modern ish I personally was thinking like 2000s romcom but idk what you feel, this was supposed to be short 😔, food and eating mentioned, slight mention that regulus used to skip meals so he could work more, slight mention of healthy relationship weight gain, mention that you're proud of regulus gaining a little weight, istg it's not a feeder thing I just thought it was cute cuz like his assistant makes such a big impact on his life that he-, one mention of breeding Sirius I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY, Remus likes Sirius, open ended ending, really dumb character moment to further the plot idk take it up w my manager, fun and joy ig

part two

You actually moderately enjoyed your job. Of course, it was real fucking boring, answering calls, reading emails, and setting up meetings weren’t exactly your favorite parts of life but it wasn’t terrible. You could’ve gone somewhere else, maybe do taxes or even become a writer yourself. Though you doubted anyone would pick up your books anyway. But would any other job have a boss as hot as your current one? You doubted it. 

Black Brothers Publishing was your top pick because you’d seen The Black Brothers on your walk to the meeting room where you were being interviewed. You knew you couldn’t find another job as entertaining as this one. Sirius Black was sipping on his mug, yammering to his brother while Regulus flipped through a folder. 

“I told them the tomato thing was weird, they didn’t listen of course, and now look where they are,” Sirius said, taking another sip of his coffee or tea, or whatever was in that mug. Regulus looked up, glaring at Sirius. 

“Bankrupt. I know Sirius…” Regulus glanced over in your direction as you passed by them, following after the interviewer. When your eyes connected you felt something tug you towards him. You could feel something switch in your head, making the lights warmer and colors brighter. Metaphorically of course. You stopped in your tracks, tilting your head at him. Regulus’ head turned in the same direction as yours, eyes squinted like he was studying you. Sirius's hand flew in front of Regulus’ face, snapping. You were pulled from the connection, looking back at the interviewer. She was already three feet ahead of you. You chased after her, trying to put the interaction behind you entirely.   

Were you expecting to get the job after that interaction, Absolutely not. But did you receive a call in two days, saying you got the job and started training Monday, yes you did. You’ve had a feeling Regulus called in a few favors since day one but you’re not complaining. You were hired full-time after a week of training under the previous assistant. According to him, Regulus was a fine boss. He was orderly, everything needed to be perfect and he needed time slots added to his schedule for cooling down time when he stared out the window with a dead look on his face. You didn’t question anything, nodding along. 

You settled in quickly. Once you got the basics you knew how Regulus worked. He pulled you along with him to work parties to keep track of who he was speaking to, how many appointments he promised to people, and most importantly, the time he could fucking leave. You picked up his lunch order oftentimes from a small sandwich shop a short walk away.

 When you slipped into his office with the branded bag, he was usually on his phone. You set out his food and drink, tossing the bag into his small trashcan nearby. Regulus turned around. He held up his hand so you would wait. He leaned his head to the side, pressing the phone to his shoulder. Regulus reached forward, picking up one of the wrapped sandwiches. He stuck it out to you. You raised a brow, wondering to who you were supposed to deliver the sandwich.

Regulus pointed at you, pulling that hand away to cover the bottom of his phone. He whispered that it was for you. You paused, smiling at him with a suspicious look.

Strange.

You took it from his desk, taking a step backward. Regulus gave you a small smile, turning back to his phone with disdain. You held the sandwich close to you as you began walking back to your station outside his office.

It happened every time he ordered food outside the office. He’d pop his head out the door to ask what you wanted. You weren’t embarrassed by it at all. If anything you were joyous. Sometimes you’d feel bad he was paying for all your lunches and he’d always reply that the effort you put into your work was more than enough payback. 

Regulus even dragged you along to meetings you were sure he didn’t need you for. You knew this because Sirius never brought his assistant. Sometimes even the people they were meeting with asked about it.

You were walking through the lobby, following after Regulus and Sirius. A few steps behind because unfortunately you did get very briefly distracted by a very nice flower plant in one of the large pots. 

“Mr. Black, I do fear I’m not properly prepared for this. I’ve only been with the company, much less working for you, for a few months. I still can't figure out where people are finding the extra copy paper. If there isn’t any paper in the printer, I go upstairs to the part of the office I have no business being in so I can copy paperwork. I don’t even understand why you need me he-“ You stepped over the elevator gap, silently hoping you didn’t drop anything. Regulus and Sirius turned around in sync, making your eyebrows furrow. You stepped around Regulus, standing behind him. Regulus hummed and shoved his hands in his pockets. 

“Which is why I brought you. You go out of your way to make sure my company-“ 

“Our company.” Sirius jutted in, tilting his head back to give you a grin. 

“-Runs smoothly. You would rather go to an entirely different floor than waste time trying to find the extra copy paper. Which by the way is in the cabinets in the printer room. You’re quite smart. I’d like you to just sit in, and take notes if you want to. I don’t particularly care. I just want you to see this part. I think it’s important. We’re a team. You support me, I support you. I support our company, our company supports us.” Regulus said, allowing Sirius to press the button on the elevator wall.  

Sirius and Regulus were usually in suits though today it made you extra weary. At around 10 a.m. every day, Regulus slipped his suit jacket off, and around noon, Regulus rolled his sleeves up. Around three he loosened his tie. Currently, it was 1 p.m. and he was still wearing his jacket. It was unusual to find him this dressed at this time of day. Much less that he made you stand outside the restroom with Sirius as he fixed his hair. Now his curls were perfectly placed instead of finger combed and messy. You completely understood why assistants slept with their bosses. 

Furthermore, you understood why the Black family lineage was as strong as it was because holy shit you didn’t realize your other boss could look like that. Sirius was rarely dressed professionally. He often came to work looking more like a lost, though stylish, delivery driver than the head of a very wealthy company. Now in a suit and his hair precisely braided down his back, you’d casually breed him. You almost missed the beat-up leather jacket and messy curls piled up at the top of his head. At least then you had self-control. You completely understood why his assistant stared at him with those big wide brown eyes now.

”And my name is Regulus, not Mr. Black.” Regulus tilted his head back, glancing down at your lips chin for a moment before pulling his eyes back to yours. When he turned back around, you quickly wiped at your chin, hoping you rubbed away whatever he was looking at. Sirius looked over Regulus’ shoulder at you. He gave you a soft smile, pulling his shoulders back and lifting his chin. You followed his silent directions, squaring your shoulders and lifting your chin. 

You held it high as you followed the two of them to the meeting room, and when you sat down next to Regulus. You tried to keep it high as all the important company people glanced at you uncomfortably. Regulus and Sirius all shook hands as they were greeted with their names. Mr. Black this, Mr. Black that. Eventually one of them finally mentioned it, asking who you were. Regulus of course said you were his assistant. They, of course, asked why you were there. It was a meeting on their work together as two companies not much of a learning opportunity. You felt yourself shirk. No matter how much you wanted to act like you belonged you knew you didn't. Regulus furrowed his eyebrows, leaning forward on the table. 

“Personally I would watch my mouth when a contract that could only help your company is in the air and undecided. That might just be a personal habit.” Regulus said, staring blankly at them. Sirius glanced over at you, and then Regulus. He hummed, looking back to the other company head. 

“I suggest you start picking up after him,” Sirius said, sitting back to pull his braid over his shoulder. Regulus waited for them to respond. A muttered sorry before they moved on, clearing their throats. Regulus looked at you. You stared at him, silently questioning if you could leave yet. You didn’t want to be taken to one of these meetings ever again. Regulus’ hand moved from the table, pressing two fingers under your chin. He tilted your head up, before looking back to the actual meeting. 

Maybe the behavior between you two wasn’t regular boss-employee behavior, but it was Regulus boss-employee behavior. It worked for you two and the publishing company hadn’t fallen yet. 

You kept your eyes on your computer as you typed out another paragraph. You had flown through all the tasks Regulus asked of you. Then you finished 10 levels of solitaire. Not necessarily won, just finished. You got so bored you decided to entertain your new side project. You were writing a book. If you could even classify it as a book. It wasn’t much and you didn’t plan to take it anywhere you just wanted to get the story out onto paper. Or a digital document in this case. 

Your mind and fingers flew together as you pumped out words. You were pulled away from the world when a hand flashed in front of you. You looked up, pausing your typing to stare at Siruis’ assistant, Remus Lupin. He gave you a small smile, a stack of files in his arms. You’d talked a few times, at work parties and lunch breaks. You worked similar jobs for similar people so of course it was easy to become causal friends. What’s worse is you both had similar feelings for your respective bosses. You smiled brightly at him, turning your chair slightly away from your computer. 

“Hey, Remus.” He smiled back, lifting two of his fingers from the bottom of his file stack as a wave. 

“Sirius wants me to give these to Regulus. I think you can do that?” He stuck the files out towards you. You smiled and nodded. You stood from your chair, taking the stack from Remus. Remus sighed. 

“He’s working me to the bone today, I’ve had to go to the coffee shop twice today so I think he’s stressed out. Maybe even pulled an all-nighter.” Remus said, pressing his hands to his hips. You hummed sympathetically. 

“Sometimes when Regulus gets like that I go out and get him a chocolate croissant and a mint tea. Then I take all his calls for an hour or so, he gets some quiet time.” You offered. Remus glanced up at the ceiling, plotting. He let out a breath through his nose, nodding. He reached over onto your desk, scribbling down on a Black Brother’s Publishing branded memo pad. He ripped the page off, folding it and shoving it into his pocket. 

“Thank you, I’ll let you know if it works,” Remus said before quickly walking off towards Sirius’ office. You moved away from your desk knocking on Regulus’ door. He called you in. You pushed the door open, heading straight to his desk. He looked up from his computer, giving you a small smile. Regulus pulled his hands away from his keyboard, giving you all his attention. You dropped the stack of files onto his desk. 

“These are from Sirius.” Regulus frowned and stared at the stack. He thumbed through a few of the pages before looking over to the clock. Regulus smiled up at you. 

“Luckily it’s our lunch break. This, I can worry about in 50 minutes.” Regulus said, standing up. You hummed, feeling your lips tip up. It didn’t take much from him to make you smile. He snatched his phone off his desk, unlocking it. 

“Sandwiches?” He asked, looking away from the screen to you. You held your hands behind your back, humming thankfully at Regulus. 

“I’d love that.” Regulus started dialing before pressing his phone to his ear. You spun around. ”I’ll go make you some tea.” You muttered before heading off to the break room. 

You didn’t mind getting Regulus snacks and drinks during the day. He always let you go home an hour early, though you mostly ended up staying anyway. He was hot too so getting to make him smile and well-fed made you quite happy. When you first started Remus told you Regulus’ last assistant told him that Regulus rarely ever ate because he’d so wrapped in his work. It was easy for you to fix that. You set a simple snack routine, coming in his office every few hours to drop off a snack and linger your hand on his shoulder, while you stared at what he was working on. He always seemed convinced by your touch and presence, dropping his pen to scoop up his snack. You’d hate to gloat but he’s already complained about how his clothes are a little snug now. Healthy weight gain, you’re really making good progress with this assiant thing. 

You carried Regulus’ tea and your drink that you took from the vending machine back towards his office. You paused when you saw him on the phone, standing behind your desk, and staring at your computer. You picked up your pace, keeping an eye on Regulus’ tea so it didn’t spill. You joined him at his side, setting down your drink and his tea. You stared over his shoulder as he slowly scrolled down the pages of your side project. You held onto his arm, trying to pull him away from the computer. Regulus looked up, glancing at you before looking back at the screen. 

“No. No mustard…Yes, thank you. The name will be Regulus. Yes, I know it is a little unique. Right, thank you.” Regulus muttered into the speaker of his phone. You tugged on his arm again, silently begging for him to look anywhere else. Regulus hung up his phone, shoving it into his pocket. He turned to you, pointing at the screen. 

“When did this manuscript come in? Why haven’t I seen this yet?” Regulus asked, glancing back at the screen. You shook your head, reaching around him to click a key on your keyboard, turning your screen off. You mentally kick yourself for not doing that before you left your desk. Regulus frowned at you. 

“It’s not a manuscript, Regulus.” You said. You pulled up Regulus’ tea, handing it to him. Regulus gently took the cup from your hands, humming and glancing back at the screen like he could see it again. 

“Well where’d you get it, it’s really good?” Regulus said, taking a sip from his tea. You looked away from him, deciding to reorganize a stack of papers. You weren’t sure what to say to him. It was okay at best, much less you didn’t get it from anywhere other than your own brain. You decided to stay silent and completely ignore your boss. Regulus leaned forward into your view, raising an eyebrow. You huffed and glared at Regulus. Regulus dropped his shoulders, staring at you with a knowing look. 

“Well?” Regulus urged, taking another sip from his tea. 

“I didn’t get it from anywhere. I wrote it.” You muttered. You hoped he didn’t hear you and wouldn’t bother asking again. Regulus sucked in a soft breath, setting his tea back down on your desk. 

“You wrote it? Wow, why didn’t you tell me you wrote so well? Much less that you were writing a book. Can I see more of it?” Regulus said, clacking at your keyboard to wake your screen. You glared at him more as he leaned down to try to decipher your password. 

“What’s your password?” Regulus asked. You shook your head, swatting his hands away. You lightly pushed him away and stood between Regulus and your computer. 

“I didn’t tell you because it’s just a side project, it’s nothing astronomical or anything. Furthermore, If I will even will finish it. Even if I did give it to you, you’d probably publish it just because you know me and then I’m a product of nepotism or something.” You said, caging your computer behind your back with your arms.

Regulus frowned at you. His shoulders sank. He moved forward gently settling his hand on your side. You stared into his eyes, getting swept away in his curls resting on his forehead. You waited for him to move forward and even brush his lips against yours. He slowly moved you to the side, tugging you just a smidge closer. You felt your chest squeeze, itching to feel his lips on you already. You wouldn’t mind if he pulled you into his office now. You know how to close the fancy curtains on the window wall. Regulus pulled away, leaning down towards your now-open computer. 

“Is your password ‘password’?” Regulus asked, typing out his attempt on your password. You paused, letting the moment wash over you. You tried to let the very inappropriate experience and thoughts slip away, but he was still so close to you. 

“Maybe it’s your birthday,” Regulus muttered, typing on your keyboard again. You finally felt your mind and body rejoin, pulling yourself away from your thoughts. You pushed Regulus away from your computer, typing in your password. He smiled at you, gently rubbing your shoulder in thanks. You stepped away, giving Regulus free rein on your book. He reached back, stealing your chair. He scooted up to the computer, settling in with his tea to read through it. You rolled your eyes and gathered your things to go get the order from the sand shop. 

Maybe Regulus was a bit strange. Maybe you kind of enjoyed that strange part of him. Maybe he really did like your writing, or maybe he just really liked you. As his assistant or otherwise, you weren’t fully sure yet. Either way, he complimented your work all throughout your shared lunch. You let him talk your ear off, busing yourself with your rather good sandwich. Regulus continued to smother you in compliments as he followed you back to your desk with his half-eaten sandwich. 

“I’ll have to send it to Sirius. Email it to me, would you?” Regulus said before chomping into his sandwich. You ignored him, continuing your game of solitaire. 

”Please?” Regulus said. You looked away from your screen, finding Regulus widening his eyes and sticking out his bottom lip. You sat for a moment, pretending you knew how to hold yourself together when he looked like that. You sighed through your nose, turning back to your computer. Regulus didn’t need to see you open your email, he already knew he won. 

“Thank you.” He muttered. You sent Regulus the email before pulling up Remus’ email. You silently typed up a small rant to Remus as Regulus continued his speech to you, taking a few breaks to chew. 

Dear Remus, 

I hope this email finds you well, I fear I may have made a large mistake. Regulus has found my side project. He will not let me rest. He has been talking to me about it for the past hour. I find it frustrating. Regulus won’t even allow me to work, he is leaning against my desk as I type this. He has forced me to send him my writing so he can send it to Sirius. I apologize that I have now passed on this issue to you as well. This is spreading like a bad flu. Remus, I do hope you find me a lovely coffin. I would prefer that I am buried in my best rather than my work attire. I fear Regulus might follow me home to continue to tell me about how much he loves the book I haven’t finished. He has begun-

“What are you typing?” Regulus asked through his mouthful. You paused, looking over to Regulus. 

“Small email to Remus about the work I finished, he needed me to type something out to him.” You said, giving Regulus a small grin. Regulus nodded. 

“Right, as I was saying, I really like when-” 

He has begun explaining the plot points I have written to me. Remus, please find me help, I’m not sure I can continue to live like this. Remus, I find that I prefer being trapped in small talk than this. 

Warm regards, your coworker

You sent the email, pulling back open your solitaire. You continued to pull the cards around as Regulus continued to not shut up. You threw in a few hums every now and then to pretend you were listening. Your computer let out a quiet ring as you received a new email. You pulled it open quickly. 

Favorite coworker, 

sounds like a skill issue

Warmest regards, Remus Lupin 

You let out a sigh, closing out your email to look back at Regulus. He gave you a small smile, continuing to talk about your story. He seemed to have gotten through another three bites. Progress is progress you suppose.  

part two

[wifiwuxians]

Zhuliyao, you know it

+ chocolate

The neatly wrapped package sat between them on the coffee table, standing out against the white (Meng Yao's apartment was staggeringly white!), simply waiting to be unfolded, its bright orange exterior discarded to reveal the gift inside.

Meng Yao carefully tugged on the top of the package to open it as Zhao Zhuliu watched him eagerly, and as the wrapping fell, the smaller man gave a little gasp.

Three perfectly round chocolates rested on a gold leaf, powdered lightly with shimmering golden glitter to match.

"Are these from Petit Amour?" Meng Yao asked in surprise.

Zhao Zhuliu nodded, a smile starting to tug at the corner of his lips.

"But they're so expensive! Each one of these is..."

"I'm sorry I couldn't get you more."

Three was already a lot. The place was known for its excellent chocolates- and its ridiculous prices. Meng Yao knew Zhao Zhuliu was barely scraping enough to get by with how much he had to pay his 'employers' off in debt. He didn't have leftover money to be spending on stuff like this.

"It's already so much," Meng Yao reached across the table to hold Zhao Zhuliu's bandaged hand. "Thank you."

"I wanted to make up for not being around lately," Zhao Zhuliu nodded slowly, "and leaving you at the mercy of these dangerous streets."

Meng Yao laughed softly, like he always did at those words. "I work just around the corner. And besides, just having you here is enough."

Zhao Zhuliu's cheeks darkened, and he suddenly found himself at a loss for words. The whiteness of the living room threatened to engulf him, but the yellow accents throughout the apartment filled him with warmth.

"Want to share them with me?" Meng Yao smiled sweetly and brought Zhao Zhuliu's hand towards the chocolates. "We can split the middle one."

His fingers were so light on Zhao Zhuliu's hand that he had to double take that they were actually there. Clearly Meng Yao didn't want to accidentally reopen the wound beneath the bandages. Subtleties like these were what made Zhao Zhuliu's heart grow in size each time they were together.

"I'd love to."