Chapter Text
Lore Ambrose was tired, maybe even exhausted.
It was a good tired, though, he decided, letting himself stretch out in one of two twin sized mattresses. When the two brothers arrived, Robin was kind enough to give them new mattresses. A soft one for Lore, and a firm one for Oliver. She also replaced the bed frames, wanting to make sure they slept well enough. His tired was good. Not the mental exhaustion he felt everyday at Joja. He was tired. He wanted to sleep and sleep and sleep.
He replayed what had happened two days before as he waited for his brother to return, not being able to help the small grin that played on his lips.
He quit.
He… quit !
This was pure… bliss.
Finally, he wasn't associated with that… job ! Two days ago, on Tuesday, he and his brother Oliver, decided to open the letter their grandfather had given them before he died. It was something apart of the will, but they were told to open it when they needed a change. Tuesday was that day. The letter was simple. As the two read that letter, though, they were hesitant about making such a change. As Lore had said that day, “the barista down the street knows my exact order, the gardeners up the hill gives me flowers and all of that will change if we decide to go for this.”
And yet here he was, laying down on one of two twin mattresses, staring up at the ceiling, round-framed glasses beside him. He could feel and hear his dog, a husky named Dakota, resting next to him, staring at him as if she wanted something.
He recalled that day of his job at Joja. How the young lady sitting behind him was called to the office by Morris.
Only two things happened when someone was called there. They were either getting promoted or fired.
No one ever got promoted.
Later that day, about seven hours into his twelve-hour shift, he took his ten-minute break and walked outside, he pulled out that letter. Oliver had read it to him before he left.
He and Oliver were receiving the old man’s farm, which confused the two. Since when did their grandfather own a farm? How did he take care of it, before he, you know… died? He didn't remember a farm. But then again he doesn't remember a lot of things from when he was younger. But the thing that confused him the most was that they were receiving the farm. Why them? They weren't even his own blood- they were adopted. Why pick them instead of his cousins? Oliver wanted to go, he knew that. He told him to make a decision within the day, and Lore was close to accepting the deed. Joja Corporation was one of the only jobs that would accept a blind man as a worker, but he only answered calls and redirected the customers to the appropriate company branch. He didn’t need sight for the job. They even got some braille sheets for him, in exchange that he works more hours. And even though this came to play a big part in his decision, he reminded himself of the horrible hours he had to work, just to be denied a promotion like everyone else who worked alongside him.
So when his break was over and Morris told him to go back to work, Lore did what he had to.
“No.”
Morris laughed at this, between chuckles he spoke with a cold hard tone, “excuse me? Laurence Ambrose, you can’t just say ‘no’.”
His tone made Lore increasingly nervous, though he forced his voice to stay smooth. He looked over to where he thought Morris was standing, expression clearly determined. “You heard me, no . I quit.”
Morris stumbled over words, but eventually managed a “why?”. Lore just shrugged, not seeing a need to explain himself. He pocketed the letter, walking back to his cubicle. He used his white cane, swishing it left and right to find his way.
Lore sat up, eyes shifting to the door of the cabin as he heard it creak open. He placed on his non-prescription glasses, giving Dakota a few scratches behind her ears. “Did you get the tools?” the brunette had asked, his brother now sat beside him. “Mhm. Pierre was quite understanding, got ‘em discounted.”
Lore fiddled with the soft cloth of his baggy turtleneck, before deciding to play with the metal hoop that connected his overalls to the straps, slouching against his brother with a sigh. “Let’s do this, then. Hope I don’t end up stabbing myself with a hoe.”
Oliver giggled, rolling his eyes as he patted the top of his younger brother’s head. “At least there’s a doctor in this town if that comes to be.”
Lore scoffed, shooing away the others hand and standing up, Dakota instinctively jumping off the bed to stand beside the blind man. "I'll introduce you to Pierre after, if you'd like. I think it will do you good to be acquainted with the townsfolk."
Lore inwardly groaned, grabbing his walking cane and making his way to the door. "Says you, Mr. I-hate-everyone-that-speaks."
As the two left the small cabin, Oliver looked over the overgrown farm. Weeds, flowers, and debris could be seen in the fields. This would take a lot of work, but right now, they just had to focus on planting the parsnips. Dakota, though, seemed to take the overgrowth as a positive thing. She barked, paws prodding at the soil beneath her as she had the sudden urge to roll around and play.
"Alright alright. No need to worry about me, Ko. Go have fun." Lore told the husky, and this was all the clarification she needed before bounding off to a patch of grass.
"Alright. To work we go, brother."
Lore rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless. The two sat down on their knees at a spot of bare soil, Oliver handing him a small hoe. "Tell me if I'm doing this right, I don't think I can keep my hand in a straight line."
Lore always had shaky hands. Maybe it was because he was always nervous, despite his outward appearance, or perhaps something else. His pale hand gripped onto the handle, lowering it to the soil and dragging it towards him a bit. "And now put the seeds in. I'll go fill the watering can." He handed the blind man the parsnips, leaving the spot to walk over to the pond at one corner of the farm.
Lore, meanwhile, felt around the soil for the tilled line, dropping the parsnip seeds onto his hand and planting them one by one, Oliver returning shortly after. He covered up the seeds, getting up as his brother watered them.
"That wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be." He commented, picking his cane off the soil. Oliver scoffed, making a joke about something that Laurence wasn't really listening to.
"Off to Pierre's, then?"
"Mhm."
"Dakota!" Lore whistled, the husky's ears pricking up from behind tufts of grass, hopping up and trotting over to the blind man.
"Stay out here for a moment." Oliver said, glancing to the side at his younger brother. Lore silently nodded, head tilting to the side in curiosity as the other disappeared into the store.
He stood there for a few minutes with Dakota, before the sound of a soft, smooth tune played into his ears. Without thinking, he began to follow the sound, reaching what seemed to be a staircase leading up to the mountains, based on what he could feel with his white cane. Grabbing onto the two straps on his dogs vest, Dakota slowly helped him up the staircase, the music only growing louder.
It was nice, Lore thought, finding himself with a slight smile. Soon enough, he was standing near someone playing a flute. It was easily identifiable as a flute, now that he could hear it better.
"You play well." Lore commented, leaning back against a tree. He could hear lapping water to the right of him. It wasn't rushing, so they were either by a pond, or a lake.
He could tell the person in front of him was startled by the small gasp that sounded from them. "Cripes on a stick, dude. Don't just sneak up on someone!"
Lore blinked, shifting his eyes from one spot to where he heard the voice. He had been staring at the wrong spot before. "I… didn't? I came up from in front, not behind." He said to them- her . Dakota layed down at his heel.
Lore rose a brow as he heard an amused snort coming from the left of him. There were two people there.
"Oh be quiet, Seb." The girl said, before looking at the farmer. "You're one of the new farmers, right?" he nodded, "I'm Abigail. The one that's reading over there is Sebastian."
"I'm Lore. This is Dakota, she's my guide dog."
"You have a dog?" Sebastian spoke up, voice loud, sounding excited, like he just noticed the adorable Siberian Husky with misscoloured eyes look at him. He noticed this, clearing his throat awkwardly. "I mean, uh, cute dog." Abigail casted him a strange glance, for which he just shrugged.
He chuckled. "She is? Wouldn't be surprised with how much my brother spoils her."
It was his turn, however, to get a strange look. He could feel the two pairs of eyes on him, causing him to shift around nervously in his spot. Dakota's ears perked, muzzle turning up as she peered at her owner.
"I'm sorry, could you clarify?" Abigail asked in confusion, but Lore was equally as confused.
"I'm… blind. Blind. You know, as in physically incapable of visual capabilities?" He used his hands to gesture at himself. "I told you that Dakota is my guide dog? Thought it'd be obvious."
"...oh." he only heard Abigail say, but he just nodded. Perhaps Sebastian just went back to reading.
"Yep. Anyways, I need help. I don't know my way back to Pierre's. I am completely and utterly lost."
Meanwhile, back at Pierre's, Oliver opened the door, holding a bag of something. Behind him, a peek of light brown hair could be seen. "So I got-"
He froze, heart skipping a beat as he looked around. "Laurence?" Where did his brother go? Dakota wasn't there, so at least she was with him. He felt panic begin to siege through him as he stepped away from the shop, desperate to find where Lore had disappeared to.
"Dusty! Don't y..."
He couldn't hear the rest.
Oliver felt a number of emotions, panic, confusion, but most of all, pain.
He fell backwards onto the cobblestone ground, vision going black. He felt a great weight on top of him, and incoherent words being exchanged and called. Soon, his vision cleared, to see Pierre and some boy- dark brown hair, and worried, almost guilty brown eyes.
"Dusty- Dusty get off him!" The boy instructed, pulling back on what Oliver could only assume was a leash. As that happened, the weight was relieved from him, allowing the boy to sit up properly. He rubbed his head, eyes looking around. Despite the pain he felt in his head; he was focused on a certain thing.
"Has anyone seen my brother? H… he wasn't outside like he was when I left him, and-" Oliver stumbled over words, he looked at the brown haired boy who had been looking at him in clear confusion- only for realization to dawn over him. Dusty, a great Dane, was staring at him with a tilted head, curious of the new comer. "You're one of the new farmers? Calm down; you just got knocked over, take a second."
Oliver grumbled something, finding himself huff in irritation. "Calm down? Excuse-" he took a deep breath, and another, before shooting the other boy a glare. He just realized Pierre had disappeared.
"I'm Alex. This is Dusty. I'm sorry about that, he was excited when he saw you. He didn't mean any harm." The boy- Alex , smiled at him, but Oliver only rolled his eyes.
"Oliver."
"Oliver…-" Alex seemed like he was processing the name, "cool. I'll see you around, yeah?"
The freckle-face slowly stood up, dusting himself off. "Of course. Not like I'll be leaving the farm for my brother to care for. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find him." He quickly walked off, muttering in annoyance of all the people. he spotted a familiar looking husky, leading his brother and two other strangers- one with jet-black hair, and a girl with dark amethyst hair.
Suddenly another person, with light hair cut off at her chin, whipped him around. She was taller than him. Of course she was taller than him. Everyone was taller than him at this point. "Are you okay? Bleeding anywhere? What hurts-"
Yoba, there were so many things happening!
"What? I'm fine- please don't touch me."
He assumed this girl was the town's doctor- or assistant. Maybe Pierre went to go get her. She didn't let go of his shoulders, so he slapped her hand away and just turned around, the group now in front of him. "Lore- oh thank goodness. You scared me-" as he went to hug his younger brother, he rose a brow at the two people that accompanied him.
"Abigail, Sebastian, this is my brother Oliver."