Chapter 4: Advanced Flirting Techniques

Tom strolled in the next morning with two cups of coffee. Both cups had been purchased at the coffee shop that Creevy said Harry preferred, and the drink was the one Harry ordered most often. Overall, Tom was assured it would be well-received.

Girl-Weasley was peering at him as he breezed right by their workstations. "He's not in right now," she said.

"Not in?" Tom said, freezing in place on his way to Harry's office door. "Where is he?"

"He went to go use the photocopier," she said. "Like, twenty minutes ago. Haven't seen him since."

Then her eyes fixed upon the cups of coffee in his hands. Tom had avoided a tray, because he wanted to hand deliver the cups, but he had unfortunately lacked the foresight to utilize paper sleeves. Therefore he was in a bit of a hurry to go.

"Is that for Harry?" she asked. "Did he ask you to bring him a cuppa?"

"No," Tom said brusquely.

"Hmm." Girl-Weasley scooted her chair back around the wall, and only then did it occur to Tom that 'no' had maybe not been the best answer to give her.

Whatever. He would go see if Harry was at the photocopier and deliver his offering there.

Harry was seated cross-legged on the floor, the photocopier's guts on proud display. His tie had been pulled loose, and there was a distressed expression on his face.

"Hello," Tom said, looking down.

"Ah," Harry said, jumping. "Tom! Good morning." He was already blushing. Had he been expecting Tom to come by?

Tom held out one of the coffees. The heat from them was starting to scald his hand. "This is for you, by the way."

"Oh? You didn't have to. I don't really need it," Harry said. He pushed a hand up underneath his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. "I'm trying to fix the photocopier right now."

"Really," Tom said. "I insist. You work so hard, this was the least I could do." Then he eyed the copier. Why hadn't Harry just gotten someone else to come fix this? It hardly made sense for Harry to labour away with this outdated piece of garbage disguised as a photocopier.

"You bought it for me?" Harry said, eyes focusing on the paper cup's logo. "Oh, I like their coffee." He smiled. "Thank you! Maybe you should set it aside for now, though. I'll probably end up spilling it all over this stupid machine."

Tom set both cups aside, glad for the excuse to put them down. "What's wrong with it?" he asked, squatting down next to Harry.

"Not sure, actually." Harry turned to gaze forlornly at the photocopier. "It just… sort of happened? I don't know what I did. I just wanted to make a copy of this one form, and then it tried to murder me."

How adorable. Tom wanted to scoop Harry onto his lap and tell him that everything was going to be just fine. "I can help you fix it," Tom said. "Don't worry, Harry. I've been told I have a gift for irritable technology."

Harry laughed. "That's great. Thanks, Tom. I could use the help, if you've got the time for it."

Tom beamed. Yes, he could make Harry laugh. It wasn't a difficult task by any means, and if he tried, he could absolutely replicate it again. "I'd love to help."

"Good thing I like to do this first thing in the morning, huh?" Harry asked rhetorically. "I mean, if we're going with the hypothesis that this isn't because the copier secretly hates me, then at least we're fixing this before some other poor soul comes along with a stack of papers and thinks this machine is being possessed by a demon."

Tom ducked his head down to see what Harry had been doing. Which did not look like much, thankfully. Too many people thought that they could poke around without seriously messing up the innards, and that was how the company ended up expensing yet another new used photocopier to replace their current used photocopier.

"You do your copies first thing in the morning?" Tom asked as he went to shut the copier down.

"Yeah. It's a nice stretch of the legs before the work day really starts, you know? Especially after commuting in my car."

Tom hummed, feigning casual interest. "How long is your commute?"

"Oh, it's about an hour, which isn't too bad. I live near head office."

An hour was pretty bad for a small town like this. But this news was not bad news in regards to Tom's future plans. "A nice place to live," Tom agreed, squinting at the copier tray. Then he lifted his head up. "I think there's a jam here."

"Whoops," Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck. "That's probably my bad, then. Strike out that demonic copier hypothesis and replace it with the 'your boss is an accident-prone disaster' hypothesis."

"You're hardly such a thing," Tom chastised. "This machine simply is demonic, as you said. Perhaps it possessed you, and that's how it ended up jamming itself to begin with."

"Very kind of you to say so," Harry said. "But I am sticking to my guns. This always happened at my old branch, too. I think I must have been cursed in a past life."

Tom yanked out the crinkled piece of paper that was causing the problem, then shoved the tray back in. "There. Let's see if your luck has turned around, Harry. Give it a go."

Tom switched the machine back on and straightened up.

Harry followed suit, scooping his form up from where it had rested on the floor and cradling it to his chest. "I think you should do it," Harry said doubtfully. "What if it jams again?"

"Why don't we do it together, then," Tom said kindly. "And I'll be your good luck charm."

"Ah, okay. Why not?"

Tom reached for the other half of Harry's paper, and they placed the form down on the scanner together. Then Harry reached for the top section to close it, and Tom moved his hand to intercept the motion, so that their hands bumped together.

"Oops," Harry mumbled. "Sorry."

Tom only smiled, shut the top of the copier, and hit the 'copy' button. After a mild wheeze of protest, the ancient machine spat out a replica of Harry's form.

"Perfect," Tom said, picking it up and presenting it. "And here you are."

"You're a lifesaver," Harry said, smiling. Then his eyes drifted to the two cups of coffee resting on the side table. "A lifesaver who has great taste in coffee," he added.

Tom smiled back. "My pleasure," he said. "If it happens again, please don't hesitate to ask for my help."

"I sure will," Harry promised eagerly. "Thanks again for the coffee!"

Tom gave his name to the hostess at the front and was led to a table at the far right side of the restaurant. Lucius was already there, half-empty glass of ice water in hand while he flipped idly through a menu.

"New plan," Tom said, shedding his coat and placing it over the back of a chair. "I've sabotaged the photocopier."

Lucius did not look very happy to see him. "Damn it, Tom. Is that why you're late?" he asked.

Tom sniffed and settled into his seat. "You haven't been here that long. I'm hardly late."

"Twenty minutes," Lucius said, holding his arm up, displaying his wristwatch. "That's late!"

"It's fine. Anyways," Tom continued, "I've sabotaged the photocopier, and next morning Harry will have to ask me to help fix it."

Lucius mulled this over, drumming his fingers against the side of his drink. "And then you plan to ask him out?"

"Don't be stupid," Tom said. "He's my superior."

Lucius' response to this was stalled when the waitress came over to take their order. Tom sat patiently through the process as Lucius described the changes he wanted to his food. Once they were alone again, Tom cleared his throat expectantly.

"So you've decided not to pursue him?" Lucius clarified. "And the sabotage is an actual attempt at sabotage."

Tom scowled. "Are you even listening to me, Lucius? I want him to ask me out."

If Harry was going to be such a stickler for policy, then Tom would abide by that and wait for Harry to decide to pursue him. Tom would exercise his usual charm in winning Harry over, and eventually it would be impossible for Harry to not want to ask him out. Today had already been a good start in terms of making progress on that front.

"That's very bold of you," Lucius said, deadpan. "I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours, because you'll surely need it."

A/N:

next up: deliberate encounters

reviews are appreciated :)