Chapter 1

Basically just some SuFin fluff in an office environment.

This one-shot is written for Silent Black Kitten, so I hope they like it!

xoxox

Tino Väinämöinen was having some very bad luck today.

His alarm clock hadn't gone off in the morning, he had burnt his toast, he'd been stuck in a traffic jam of major proportions, his boss had scolded him for being late, he had drunk coffee that'd gone cold due to the coffee machine being broken, and he had spilled the contents of his briefcase all over the floor when he bumped into a very grumpy Arthur Kirkland from accounting.

But that wasn't the end of it. Oh no, his day had only gotten worse. Because right now, he was stuck in the elevator along with the infamous Berwald Oxenstierna.

Berwald wasn't infamous because he was a bad employee. On the contrary, he'd always been a diligent worker. He never showed up late at work, he was well-organized and neat, and he had quickly worked his way up the ladder and made it to the position of CEO. He certainly wasn't infamous for his ethics at work.

Then why did he deserve the title of 'stern and scary'?

Well, first of all, he was quite a tall and intimidating man. The only employee who could match him on the subject of height was Ivan Braginski over at sales (another well-known name at the company). But on top of that, he always had this expression on his face that could make even the bravest man or woman cower in fear behind their desk. He probably (or so Tino wanted to believe, trying to see the good in every single person) didn't do it on purpose, but his face did make him look rather unapproachable. He also was a man of few words, and when he did talk he only said the things that really needed to be said, while looking like he'd rather be somewhere else.

Yet, since he was so good at doing his actual job, people respected him. So did Tino, hoping he could one day be as good as his senior co-worker.

Right now however, he was only thinking about how he wanted to escape this rectangular box as fast as possible.

Tino secretly glanced up at Berwald from the corner of his eyes. He immediately looked down again when he noticed the Swede openly glaring at him.

'Why is he staring at me?' he anxiously thought. Cold sweat started running down his neck. He had to say something. "So, uh… N-nice weather today, huh?"

'Why on earth am I talking about the weather?! This sucks!'

"Hm," was the only response he got. Why did Berwald keep staring at him? Did he have something on his face? Stupid elevator, why did it have to break down today of all times! If only he hadn't been stuck in traffic, or if he hadn't decided to take a quick coffee break, if anything at all had gone differently, he wouldn't have to go through this right now.

"'Re y' h't?" Berwald suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Tino turned his head towards the other. He hadn't expected Berwald to start talking to him.

"Am I- Am I hot? Oh no, not at all!" Tino replied. His mind had somehow immediately made the link between Berwald's (lack of a) sentence, and the meaning of those sounds. Normally, people found it quite hard to figure out exactly what the Swede was saying, but to Tino it made sense for some weird reason.

Berwald nodded and grew quiet again. Now it was Tino's turn to come up with something new to say.

"So… Sucks that the elevator stopped huh? I was actually in quite a hurry to get these papers to the boss, but I guess he'll just have to wait for them now!" he sheepishly laughed.

Berwald put out his right hand – the one that wasn't holding his briefcase. Tino looked at it in confusion, and then back at Berwald. He wasn't sure what exactly was expected of him.

"Um…"

"G've m' the p'p'rs."

"Oh!" Tino handed him the papers. There was a light brush of fingers, which made Tino jerk back his hand as if he'd been electrocuted. Berwald's frown increased ever so slightly.

'Shit, he isn't mad, is he?' Tino started blushing when he realized how rude he was behaving.

"Sorry!" he blurted out. "I just have sweaty hands and I didn't want you to have to touch them!"

Well, this was just perfect. He had made a complete fool out of himself. Now what was Berwald supposed to think of him? Tino felt like sinking through the bottom of the elevator and vanishing in thin air at the same time.

What he didn't expect was for Berwald to pull out a clean handkerchief and gesture for him to give his hand. Tino hesitantly did as he was told.

Berwald started gently cleaning his hand (even though it hadn't been all that sweaty in the first place, that was just some lame excuse). He dried each finger with the greatest care, handling it as he would a fragile object. Tino felt his face heat up as Berwald's fingers lingered over the surface of his smaller hand a little longer than absolutely necessary.

"Y-you didn't have to do that…" he croaked, throat now dryer than a dessert.

Berwald's face relaxed into something that could be considered the faintest of smiles. "No pr'bl'm."

Blue eyes locked for the shortest of moments before Tino looked away, feeling both nervously terrified and strangely warm and jittery.

"I'll t'ke th' p'p'rs to th' boss," Berwald said.

Tino was about to tell him he didn't have to, but the look on Berwald's face left no opening for discussion, so Tino simply nodded and looked down at the floor again.

They both stood there in silence, Tino trying to ignore the incessant staring and the loud beating of his own heart.

Once the elevator finally started moving upwards again, Tino felt both relieved and a tiny bit disappointed. Berwald remained silent until they reached the top floor, were both of their offices as well as the boss' one were located.

But when the doors opened and Tino moved to exit his prison, he felt a light tug at his sleeve. He glanced over his shoulder, heart still pounding like crazy.

"W'ld you c're f'r d'nner th's Fr'd'? F'r t'kin' c're 'f th' p'p'rs." Was he blushing?

Tino mentally translated the sentence to "Would you care for dinner this Friday? For taking care of the papers."

"Oh, um… Sure?" was his hesitant answer.

Berwald nodded and left for the boss' office. Tino stared at his retreating back, face warm and heart fluttering in his chest.

Maybe today wasn't such a bad day after all.

xoxox

During that week, Tino found Berwald dropping by his office from time to time. They'd had contact before that fated day of the elevator ride, but that had only been business. Now, it was more than that. Sometimes he would come to drop of some paperwork or the occasional cup of coffee, other times to make small talk about work (Tino doing most of the talking). But every time as he was about to leave, he had this strange look in his eyes, as if he wanted to say something but didn't have the guts to.

And Tino? He just couldn't get Berwald's gentle touch out of his head. He found himself looking forward to the visits, a small part of him wanting to be touched again. It became harder by the day to keep the blush out of his face.

By the time it was Friday evening, Tino had almost gone completely mad with the desire to just launch himself into the guy's arms. But since the other was Berwald, he couldn't exactly allow himself to do that.

Needless to say, by the time they were seated in the rather expensive looking restaurant, Tino was a nervous wreck.

Tino had wanted to object to going to such a classy establishment, but Berwald had waved it away by saying "My treat" (for once he took the time to articulate properly).

As Tino tried to decide what to eat, he stole glances at the Swede. What did Berwald think of him? Surely it had to be something, he had been the one doing all the visiting and taking him out for dinner. Wait, did that mean this was a date? Tino started heating up again. He'd done that a lot this week.

As Berwald started fanning him with his menu card, Tino looked up, confused. "W-what are you doing?" he asked.

"D'n't w'nt y' to c'tch a f'v'r," Berwald said, which Tino translated in Berwald not wanting him to catch a fever. So he'd noticed Tino blushing, but had interpreted it the wrong way.

"Oh, no! That's quite all right, I'll cool down by myself." Tino laughed sheepishly. Berwald stopped the fanning after a calculating look at Tino's face. Did he suspect something?

Luckily, they were interrupted when the waiter came. With the interruption, it became easier for Tino to calm down and start talking about this and that. Tino loved to talk and Berwald was a good listener, so it was a match made in heaven.

Tino started to trail of as he felt knees bumping into his own. He tried to shyly move away, but there was nowhere to go. Was Berwald doing this on purpose? Then, Tino saw Berwald's hand lying on the table. That soft, big, warm hand of his. Did he dare touch it?

Just as the Finn had gathered the courage to do it, their food arrived. He quickly jerked his arm up and awkwardly scratched his head. Berwald gave him a questioning look, but said nothing of it.

They silently ate their dinner, and Berwald paid for all of it. Tino was disappointed the evening had ended so soon, but maybe it was for the better. All this stress couldn't be good for his heart, and he was afraid he would embarrass himself if they were to spend more time together.

"Well… Thank you for the food, Berwald," Tino said with a smile as he pulled up a cab.

However, Berwald laid a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"I'll t'ke you h'me," Berwald said.

Tino swallowed hard and got into the cab, directly followed by the Swede. Once seated, Berwald made no attempt to remove his arm.

Tino's head was spinning. Shit, Berwald was coming to his apartment! Did he even want to come inside? Yes, of course he did, he wouldn't be coming with him if that wasn't his intention! And why couldn't he remove his arm, that would make it a lot less difficult to concentrate.

Tino's breath caught when he felt a thumb softly stroking his collarbone.

Oh yes. There was no questioning Berwald's intentions now. But was Tino ready for it? He knew the answer when his skin started tingling, wanting to feel more of the Swede's hands.

xoxox

They had arrived at his apartment. And Tino was very nervous.

"So, uhm… S-see you at work?" he asked in a tiny voice. Shit, why was this so difficult! He just wanted to leap at Berwald, kiss him passionately and wrap his body around the other's, but instead he was telling him off!

His thoughts came to an abrupt halt when he felt a hand gingerly being placed on top of his cheek. He looked up, and saw Berwald's face had moved tantalizingly closed. He could taste his breath.

The look on his face asked him for permission. Tino granted it by slowly closing his eyes. It was a light kiss, only a distant floating that almost didn't exist. Even so, it set Tino's entire being on fire. And it ended all too soon to his tastes.

Berwald was looking at him expectantly, not wanting to push the Finn into doing things he didn't want to. If anything were to happen tonight, it was up to Tino to initiate it. And so he did.

"D-do you, um… Would you like to come in for coffee?" Tino asked, heart pounding rapidly in his chest.

Berwald gave him a smile, and Tino thought it quite suited him.

"L've to."