Chapter Text
Today is the first day of the rest of my life. I mean, that’s what they say when you start your first “real job”. I think. Personally, it doesn’t feel that different from any other day to me. After all, it’s just another job. With this mentality in mind I make my way to the elevator where a relatively tall man with strawberry blond hair happens to be pacing around. He is muttering to himself and I almost wonder if I should just catch the next elevator but when I look at my wristwatch I determine I must endure this awkward interaction for the sake of getting to work on time.
“Excuse me, are you going up?” I ask, uncomfortable to be interrupting whatever this stranger has going on.
“What’s that? Going up, yeah, I am.” he responds, before I have the time to even repeat myself.
“Mind if I hit the button then?” I say, motioning to the clearly unlit “up” button.
“Aw Maker’s breath have I really just been standing here the whole time and not realized that?” He groans, continuing his pacing. It takes all my willpower to stifle a giggle and I give him an apologetic nod.
“Seems so, unfortunately.” I reply, hitting the button. I make sure it lights up before glancing back up at him. He is, for all intents and purposes Handsome. His face is angular but not enough to be too sharp. His high cheekbones accentuate his perfectly sculpted nose which is peppered with a metric ton of freckles that contrast against his tanned skin. He has neatly shaved stubble which complements the neatly pushed back style his strawberry blonde hair is in. He towers over me, which is why I have to look up to meet his deep set hazel eyes.
“You must think I’m a total idiot.” He sighs, rubbing his eyes. I shake my head. What the hell am I supposed to say to that?
“Happens to all of us.” I say, unsure of how else to respond. He sighs as the elevator dings and its doors open. He motions for me to enter first and I do, clicking the button for the 10th floor once I’m inside.
“My name’s Alistair by the way. Today’s my first day.” The stranger says after a few moments of stale elevator music. His first day? He must be the other new hire my boss told me about. He told me I would probably end up meeting him at some point today.
“I’m June, you wouldn’t happen to be the other new hire, would you?” I asked, straightening out my blazer. A smile spreads across Alistair’s face and he nods happily.
“Right, you must be the other new lawyer, right?” he asks. I nod my head.
“That’s great. To tell you the truth I’m glad I’m not the only new one, yknow?” he says as we reach our floor.
“Being the new person sucks.” I admit. The elevator doors open and he once again motions for me to go first.
“But now we can go through that shitty phase together.” Alistair laughs, pressing his hands together. I smile back at him, glad that I have another new person to cling on to. We make our way to a conference room just down the hall from the elevator where our new boss is already seated at the table with a stack of paperwork.
“Well, are you ready, June?” Alistairs asks me as he reaches to open the conference room door. I shrug.
“As I’ll ever be.”
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It turns out our new boss likes to talk. A lot. Alistair does too, apparently. Our boss’ name is Duncan; He is an executive at Grey & Warden and heads the legal department. He and Alistair have been talking nonstop for ten minutes straight, which I do not mind. It gives me a chance to glance around and become more familiarized with the place I will be spending most of my day. Judging by the lack of wear in the leather chairs we’re in, I can only assume the furniture is new. The conference table looks decidedly expensive and the floor to ceiling window panes gives the room a gorgeous view of the finer streets of Denermin. The computers are of the latest model and it is clear a lot of money has gone into curating a polished aesthetic. As someone who grew up in relative poverty, this is a luxury I am not used to.
“Ah, look at the time. I should show you guys to your office.” Duncan suddenly says, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Unfortunately our department is still being renovated so you two will be sharing an office for the time being.” He continues, as if it’s a major inconvenience. To be honest I didn’t even think I’d get my own cubicle, let alone an office. Besides, there are worse people to be stuck in an office with. I glance over at the fellow newbie and judging by Alistair’s face, he seems to be thinking the same thing.
“It’s no problem at all.” I reply, a smile on my face. We get up and leave the conference room and I find myself immediately missing the comfort of that perfect leather chair. Duncan leads us past rows of offices, stopping by each one of them to introduce us to our fellow co-workers. I receive a few odd looks, which is to be expected; I am an elf after all, it’s rare for any of us to get a job at such a well known company. If Duncan notices, he says nothing and only leads us to the next co-worker to greet. We meet so many co-workers that I begin to lose count and find myself itching to just get to the office already. Luckily my prayers are met and after one last introduction Duncan guides Alistair and I to a rather spacious office at the end of the hall. I peek inside and have to stop myself from letting out a gasp. This office is probably more spacious than the apartment I grew up in. The windows face a park outside located in one of Denerim’s nicer neighborhoods. Actually, let me rephrase that, one of Denerim’s most affluent neighborhoods. The walls are painted a delicate eggshell color and the floors are covered in new carpet. There are two desks at opposite sides of the room, dual monitors positioned neatly on both desks. The room is barren but somehow is probably one of the most expensive rooms I have ever been in. It is perfect.
“You guys should go ahead and get settled in, we’ll reconvene after the lunch break to get your training started.” Duncan says, patting Alistair and I on the back as he makes his exit. I glance up at Alistair, who is apparently just as mystified as I am about our new luxurious office. He looks back at me and his eyes expand, a smile forming on his face.
“Well this is fucking A, isn’t it?” he finally says. I let out a laugh. It is indeed fucking A.
“Rock paper scissors for the desk by the window?” I say to which Alistair smiles.
“Oh, you’re on.” We decide on the best out of three but as a rock paper scissors champion I already know that I’m going to win. He throws out paper in the first round while I defeat him with scissors. Next he goes for scissors but I have gone for rock. We lock eyes for the final round and his paper is crushed by my scissors. I let out a victory yelp. Alistair curses to himself and I place my things on the clearly superior desk with the expensive view.
“Are you sure you’re not a mage, woman?” Alistair asks as he settles for the inferior desk.
“Positive. Just someone who’s very good at rock paper scissors.” I reply, gloating. He scowls but in a way that conveys no hard feelings. We spend the next few minutes setting up our computers in relative silence. For as outgoing as he is, Alistair is actually quite silent and for a moment I almost forget that he’s there. I have to sneak a quick look at him to make sure that he’s even still here. He suddenly turns around, almost as if he noticed me looking at him.
“So, June. If we’re going to be stuck in this office together we should probably know more about each other.” Alistair says, leaning back in his chair. I almost take offense to the way he says ‘stuck in this office together’ but I decide to let it go and entertain him.
“Well you already know my name is June, last name Tabris. I was born and raised in Denerim and I recently graduated from Denerim Law.” I say, crossing my arms across my chest. I study his face and scan for any judgement. I do not like to admit it but I have always been self conscious of my achievements and where I come from.
“Ah, a Deneriminite. Or Denerimian. I don’t actually know what you lot go by. But I myself am from Redcliffe. I graduated from Ferelden U a few years back.” Alistair replies. I have never been to Redcliffe but from what I know it is a relatively rural area. It must be quite a difference from Denerim.
“Wow, how are you liking Denerim so far?” Alistair inhales and looks up as if he needs to think about this question before responding.
“Y’know, I’m not really sure so far. My apartment is gross and I almost got attacked on the subway buuuut I did have a really good bagel this morning so that’s something.” he says, a lopsided grin on his face. I snort and nod. Sounds like Denerim for sure.
“Yeah, there’s definitely some places here you should avoid if you’re not used to city life.”
“Where in Denerim are you from?” he asks. There it is, the question I’ve been dreading. I know there’s no reason to feel embarrassed about where I’m from in front of him but always being the poor one in the group makes that more of a reflex than a voluntary thing.
“I’m from the alienage.” I reply shortly, shifting uncomfortably. Alistair does not seem to notice this and instead just gives me a large smile which is somewhat reassuring. He is interrupted by the sound of his stomach growling and I suppress a smile.
“Clearly it’s time for some food. Do you wanna grab some lunch?”
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Alistair and I are sitting in the company cafeteria which is nicer than most of the takeout places I frequent. I settle on a simple pasta salad while Alistair decides to take advantage of our free lunch passes and seems to be setting up a one man buffet.
“Are you gonna be able to eat all that?” I ask skeptically. He feigns hurt.
“Am I gonna be able to eat all that, she asks. Ha! Of course I am, wanna bet on it?” Alistair says proudy. I shake my head.
“Mm, I’m not sure about those odds so I’m out for now. Maybe next time.” I reply before digging into my food. Having been sustaining on a diet of lentils and ramen noodles for Creator knows how long this pasta salad tastes like heaven in my mouth. We spend the rest of our lunch scarfing down our food and occasionally sharing tidbits from our life. For example, I learn that he originally enrolled in the Templar program but dropped out just before graduating, meanwhile he learns that I was the valedictorian of my graduating class in law school. We keep sharing little bits of our lives back and forth until we are finished eating and return upstairs to our office. Duncan is already waiting for us with a large stack of paper I assumed to be the training manual.
“How are you finding your office?” Duncan asks as I settle back into my desk.
“Bloody amazing.” Alistair blurts out with apparent disregard for any office decorum. Our boss laughs and nods as if in agreement.
“It certainly is a beautiful view, isn’t it? Anyway, I figured we could get started on some of the training so I can give you guys your first assignment.” Duncan says. He talks us through company expectations, policies and rules before getting into further explaining our roles. This goes on for what seems like hours before he finally gets around to giving us an assignment.
“We’ve been approached by a very big client and I would like you two to do some research for our next meeting with them.” Duncan explains, handing us both a binder on the new client.
“We’re on it.” I say. Duncan gives a smile in response and leaves the office, leaving Alistair and I to divy up the work we’ve just been assigned.
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After hours of mind numbingly boring research the working day is done and it is time for me to return home. I head down to the subway with Alistair but our apartments are on opposite sides of the city so we part ways at the pay station. I board the train and tune out the ambient subway sounds around me and focus on the music playing in my headphones. It has been a long day but surprisingly not miserable which is really all I was hoping for. For the most part, my coworkers are nice and the assignment I have at the moment is not too arduous. I think of all the hard work it took to get me this position in the first place and let out a sigh of relief that it all worked out in the end. Had it not, I would probably still be living with my dad in the alienage and working odd jobs for coppers.
I involuntarily shiver at the thought of the alienage. I had never been too bothered by the poverty I grew up in when I was younger, it was all I knew after all. Everyone around me also wore hand-me-downs and had hungry nights. My friends’ parents were always working and almost never around and at the time all that meant to me was that we could spend hours and hours hanging out. When our water would get shut off we would merely take showers every few days at my cousin’s apartment in exchange for any extra food we had. Our own apartment was a dingy one bedroom in the heart of the alienage. There was only one room which meant that my father ended up converting the living room into his room. It wasn’t the best living situation but I had known no other and never felt like I was missing out on anything at the time.
It wasn’t until I got to high school that I found out we were poor. My father did work for a wealthy noble in Denerim and managed to get me a scholarship at one of the nicer private schools outside of the alienage. Until that point I had rarely interacted with anyone outside of the alienage and was shocked to discover that most kids my age didn’t have to ration the water they used or scrape together coppers just to be able to afford lunch. There was also the fact that I was an elf, something that the humans at my school never let me forget. Once I discovered the opulence of the non lower class I made it my mission to make it out of the alienage. I ignored the bullies and studied my ass off, becoming the top ranked student in my class. I made it through college with flying colors and soon found myself in law school juggling odd jobs just to pay the rent. It was difficult but I pushed through it and once I passed the bar and got an offer with Grey & Warden I immediately packed my bags. My father was sad to see me go of course but he was proud that at least one of us got out. I promised to send him money but as any proud parent would, he refused. He told me my happiness was all that mattered to him. With that I managed to find someone who was looking for a roommate. The rent wasn’t inexpensive but it wasn’t too pricey and the roommate turned out to be rather nice. And now, after all that I am heading back to my mid-tier apartment after my first day of work.
I got off at my stop and walked a few blocks down to my apartment building. It isn’t in the nicest area but it isn't the worst either. I live on the fourth floor with a lovely view of an alley packed with garbage. It isn't the dream but it is certainly nicer than anywhere I’ve ever lived before. Opting for the elevator, I make my way up to our apartment and opened the door to find my roommate, Leliana, in the middle of cooking dinner.
“June! Welcome back!” Leliana says upon hearing the door open. Being from Orlais, she has a thick Orlesian accent that just oozes elegance.
“Smells good in here.” I say, slipping off my shoes.
“How was your first day?” she asks, blue eyes beaming.
“It was pretty good. Got my first assignment and everything.” I reply, throwing myself on the couch. We spend the next half an hour talking about our respective days. Leliana is a grad student and spends most of her days either taking classes or teaching them. She tells me about the class she taught today and I tell her about my adventures with my new officemate. We talk all the way into dinner before I let out a yawn and realize it’s time for me to go to bed. I say goodnight to my roommate, shower and return to my room, happy to be in my bed and by myself for the first time all day. The so-called first day of the rest of my life was over.