Work Text:
“Hiya Poet, I’m home!” Theta called as she walked into the apartment she shared with Memphis and Isaiah. The latter should be at school right now, seeing as it was the middle of a weekday. Theta had just gotten back from her latest show rehearsal, and today was Memphis’s day off from work.
There was no immediate response, and Theta gave a good natured shake of her head. Memphis had a tendency to become lost in his writing on days like this, frequently getting so focused that he didn’t even realize hours had passed.
One time he made the mistake of getting into one of his zones while at the museum with all the others. Theta had walked in to find Sam, Evie, and Henry playing a game that seemingly consisted of seeing how many objects they could place around Memphis without him noticing. Bonus points if they managed to place any onto him, according to an unremorseful Henry. Evidently someone had accomplished that as a flustered Memphis pulled a handful of feathers out of his pocket later that night, utterly baffled as to how they had gotten there.
Theta walked into their bedroom now, expecting to see Memphis at his small desk pushed into a corner. Instead she found him sitting on their bed, staring intently at a piece of paper in his hands.
“Poet?” she asked, somewhat uncertainly.
His head shot up, his eyes meeting hers, intensely blazing. “Hi Princess, sorry, didn’t hear you come in.”
“I could tell,” she smirked, hoping that joking was the right approach for whatever was currently happening. “What’s that?”
“Oh,” Memphis cleared his throat. “This. I’m not even sure if this is real. Feels like all of a sudden Henry or Ling are gonna come bursting in saying it’s all a dream and I needa wake up now.”
“Memphis.” Theta was serious now herself. “What is that?”
“You remember when I sent that collection of poems out to those fellas at the publishing house downtown?”
“Yeah,” Theta said slowly, not daring to hope yet.
“Looks like they think I’ve got something. They wanna meet with me next week to discuss details for a publishing deal.” Memphis looked flabbergasted, his right hand carefully running over the words embossed on the page.
“Poet,” Theta breathed. “That’s amazing!” She quickly sat down next to him, throwing her arms around him and pulling him in close.
“Yeah,” Memphis laughed, the reality finally sinking in. “Yeah!”
“Can I see the letter?” Theta asked eagerly, bouncing up and down a little on the bed. Memphis grinned at her and handed it over.
“Dear Mr. Campbell,
Thank you for your manuscript submission. We are quite impressed by your work, it is by far the freshest voice we’ve come across in a long while. If you are able we would like to schedule a meeting with you to go over a publication deal...”
“Aaaaahhhhhh!” Theta shrieked. “Poet, this is amazing! I knew you could do it! Knew they would have to see your talent!”
Memphis blushed a bit, casting his gaze towards the floor, smile still firmly fixed in place. “I couldn’t have done it without you.” He brought his gaze back to hers, dark eyes full of love and hope for what this meant for their future.
“I love you,” Theta beamed at him. He leaned over and kissed her in response.
“Love you too,” he said after he pulled back.
“Oh, Isaiah is going to be so thrilled to hear this!” Theta gushed. “We oughta go out somewhere tonight to celebrate. Find a nice dinner spot. Wherever you’d like!”
“That sounds perfect. Anything would be as long as you and Isaiah are there.”
Seven months later there was a new book added to the bookshelf in the apartment. It had a place of honor, prominently displayed on a special stand. It was the same book that could be found proudly owned in several other apartments in the city (all of these copies personally signed by the author). It was the same book that could be found in many apartments and homes across the country too. The book was a deep grey color, with shiny silver words etched into the surface.
Princess
A Collection
by Memphis Campbell