Chapter Text
“Can you please stop doing that?” An exasperated groan came from across the room. “I can barely hear my thoughts over your fidgeting.” Pulled abruptly from her thoughts, Alice set her pen down. She must have been bouncing it against her desk again, judging by the lighthearted glare she received. She offered the source of the whine a sheepish smile as she turned her chair towards him.
“Sorry. I suppose I tuned it out.”
Orpheus offered a huff, collapsing back in his chair. A stray lock of hair fell across his temple. Alice found his overly-exaggerated frown quite funny. Many would have to look closely to know that the twitch of his crow’s feet only meant he was struggling to keep a poker face. Alice folded her gloved hands in her lap neatly before flicking her glance to the old clock perched above him for the umpteenth time.
“That’s not to say I’m not equally excited, though. When is she supposed to be here again?” Orpheus squinted out the window in front of his desk, making out shapes through the clouds incessant weeping. He leaned forward, attempting to avoid the glare of the lights behind him to scout out the street.
Alice sat up straighter, immediately thumbing at the tips of her fine cloth gloves with a widening grin.
“Any moment! I had texted her–” Another glance to the clock. “Just about five minutes ago.”
Earning a hum of acknowledgement in response, Alice turned back to her own desk. Employee contracts laid in front of her, with an X tediously placed at each spot a signature would be needed. The only downside of running a business: paperwork. However, Alice reasoned, there was a lot less of it since she and Orpheus decided to sell it to people who actually knew anything about business. The company was successful, but she and her brother were writers at heart, not businessmen. So, in exchange for good salaries, a location in a town close to their hearts, and freedom from confusing business jargon, Alice was content. Besides, they were still involved! They were frequently contacted for input from higher-ups. It was everything she could have ever asked for. Her smile only grew, as did the impatient bounce of her leg. She went to turn to the clock again, but was interrupted.
The entrance to the studio opened, accompanied by a chilly gush of wind that carried the scent of wet dog, and a perfume Alice couldn’t quite remember the name of. The chime of the bell above the door was shrill compared to the quiet of the cozy building. The door swished shut as soon as a set of paws sounded against the hardwood floor, accompanied by a tap of a cane.
“Hello, I’m here!” The guest offered with an audible beam to her words. She wrapped up her umbrella, placing it in the designated storage bin she knew awaited her. Half from memory, half from the times she had bumped into it. Alice, who had practically jumped out of her chair, ran to greet her.
“Helena! Oh goodness, I’m ecstatic you’re here!” Alice, talking excitedly, paused to take Helena’s free hand in her own. “I have much to show you, let me give you a tour of the building? Now that you’re visiting as an employee, I can show you in our staff rooms! Oh, and I have some paperwork for us to finish as well! I do hope the weather wasn’t–”
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That’s where Orpheus stopped listening. Alice had already talked his ear off for the past few weeks on how she planned for the interaction to go. He offered Helena a polite greeting, Alice jumping right in to explain to her that Orpheus was preoccupied with his novel. Although he teasingly rolled his eyes at her, he was thankful.
Writer’s block had been a pain in the ass for him recently. He hoped Helena didn’t think he was being rude as he greeted her service dog before turning back to his laptop. With the chatter of his sister and Helena quieter, he took a breath before focusing back at the screen. He hovered his hands in place over the keys as he let the blue light burn past his eyes. His current novel he was working on was the fourth installment in his series, and he felt the pressure to live up to his audience’s expectations.
He hadn’t expected to get as much acclaim as he did when he started to publish. He had thought, when you start a publishing firm with your sister, you might as well take advantage of it. There isn’t a chance to be denied a publishing when you’re the one publishing. Orpheus hunched over his desk, hand perched to hold his head upright. Ignoring the uncomfortable sensation on his elbow, he clicked his tongue in annoyance. A full-time writer with writer’s block seemed a bit ironic. Waiting and waiting for an idea that seems worth writing down, Orpheus couldn’t stand it. It didn’t help his annoyance that this was an affliction he didn’t face often.
He decided enough was enough. Slamming his laptop shut, (and immediately reopening it to see if he had hurt the innocent piece of metal) Orpheus flailed his hand at the wall for his coat as he reached into the umbrella bin for his own protection from the sky.
“Alice! Helena! I’m headed out, I’ll be back soon.” He called out into the hall.
“Okay! Don’t forget your coat!” Came his answer.
He chose to ignore his sister's meddling. But in this weather? He was practically shivering just standing in front of the door. He wasn’t crazy. Wrapping himself up and grabbing his notebook and pencil, he headed out. Immediately, a grimace spoiled his face as the bitter wind bullied his face. Not ideal, but neither was staring into space. The scenery, although gloomy, was better than the overdose of blue light. He was practically allowing a migraine to further inhibit his writing. Orpheus quickly planned his route and headed across the street. There was a park a few blocks down that he and Alice have lunch at sometimes. He sighed. Hopefully there was a bench without too much rain.
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The kitchen/break room, the bathrooms, the individual offices, the back door that led to the parking lot out back, space for Helena’s service dog Micha, Alice mentally crossed out each location as she introduced Helena to the entire building. Helena had actually been here many times before, but Alice knew Helena would humor her regardless. Besides, Alice had recently had braille plates installed all across the building that Helena was overjoyed to discover. The pair ended up back in the front of the studio, Alice insisting Helena sit while she made them both tea. She grimaced as she walked to the kitchen. Paperwork was the last thing on the tour, and Alice had a burning hatred for it. Alice had dabbled in all sorts of writing, but as soon as the writing became stiff like it did in those kinds of documents, she lost all interest. It faintly reminded her of rubbing alcohol and plastic, artifical.
“Now, we get onto the less exciting stuff.” Alice declared as she re-entered the room, tray of cooled tea in one hand, and a treat for Micha in the other. “I’ve fitted your desk with everything I could think of accessibility-wise.” Alice held out her hand to count on her fingers. She would later, in horror, realize the irony. “ I’ve downloaded programs for the braille keyboards we just received, implemented screen readers, that one JAWS program I was telling you about, and… The program that has the, uh..” She trailed off, straining to remember the last program.
Helena smiled knowingly. "NVDA?" She supplied.
"Yes!" Alice's eyes lit up. “Sorry, there’s so much I’ve added. Remind me to show you when we get you working!”
“I know, I know. I will, I promise. And before you say it, I’ll let you know if there’s anything else I need. I believe you covered everything.” Helena affirmed.
Alice beamed as she started guiding her through the paperwork. Micha had fallen asleep at Helena’s feet within seconds, and Alice felt the same. But, it came with the job, so she had to suck it up.
“Oh! By the way, have you decided what kind of writing you’ll be doing?” Alice asked, flicking her pen back and forth.
Helena paused, having been grazing her fingers over the raised dots on the paper. She tucked a stray hair behind her ear shyly, an embarrassed blush misting the tips of her ears.
“Not yet,” She started. “I’m still experimenting. However, I have a lot of interest in writing novels, similar to Orpheus. I still very much enjoy poetry and essays though, so I may need a moment to figure myself out.”
At the mention of her brother, Alice gave a glance to the door. Orpheus had been gone for around twenty minutes, and she was glad to see he had grabbed his coat. Alice had recently discovered, with astonishment, that the stubborn man hadn’t even owned a coat. She had to drag him to the mall that very day. Men, she thought. She turned her head back to Helena as she finished speaking.
“Oh, that’s no worry. I was just curious what you had taken an interest in. Orpheus and I have our main interests; investigative journalism for me and narrative writing for Orpheus, but we aren’t limited to just those options. Orpheus has been more into detective work recently, he had to pause that so he wouldn’t abandon his novels. You won’t ever have limited opportunities here.” Alice grinned now, her dimples accentuated. “I’ll have you know I write a wicked riddle.”
Both women laughed.
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Orpheus huffed. Again.
Going to the park hadn’t brought any ideas for his novel. However, he had found himself people-watching. Or person-watching. Across the small pond sat a man around his age, sitting at the end of the small dock. Although, Orpheus noted, his hair was white. His gaze flicked downwards to peer at the fish, undoubtedly staring back at him. He had no umbrella either, simply letting the rain drench him and his legs swayed over the edge of the damp wood.
Oddly enough, the man was a captivating sight. So much so, that Orpheus was able to scribble down a few new ideas. The more he let his writing utensil flow, the more Orpheus broke through the mental barrier he had built for himself. The darkened sky, the rain tapping against the plastic of the construction project in the park, the smell of damp wood and algae, every sensation Orpheus was experiencing ended up helping him in one way or another. Bullet points, scribbles, quotes, anything Orpheus could think of.
In his writing frenzy, his once neat cursive was almost indecipherable. Almost.
“Must you be so obvious?”
Orpheus jumped the second the first hum of a syllable came from directly behind him, letting out a yelp. Whipping his head around, Orpheus met the eyes of the man from the pond, now perched directly behind where he was sitting. His eyes were fierce and unimpressed, arms crossed tight. Orpheus narrowed his eyes as he turned to face him.
“My goodness, don’t scare a guy like that!” Orpheus almost shouted, throwing his hands up in bewilderment. He snapped his notebook shut before scoffing, shaking his head. “Obvious about writing? Don’t tell me you hated English class that much.”
Orpheus couldn’t register what emotion covered the man’s face before he reached over him to snatch his notebook. Frozen by the stranger’s audacity, he was slow to flail his arms back at the man’s hand. Ignoring his mewls of protest, the man swiftly approached the pond to drop the notebook to the water without hesitation.
He had barely stood up from the bench when he saw the slender figure toss the book without care. Who the hell was this guy? Better yet, why was he stealing and ruining his belongings? He stormed up to the edge of the pond, not sure if he was about to try to fish out his notebook, punch the stupid stranger, or both. He ended up stopping behind him, now mimicking the crossed arms pose he had just seen from the other a moment ago.
“Are you joking? You must be. Is this Alice’s idea of a prank? Or even Norton’s?” Orpheus shook his head, anger choking every one of his senses. “That was my–”
The man whipped around, grabbing Orpheus’s jawline in an iron grip. He pulled the other’s face close, much to the dismay of his victim, who was clawing at his hand and attempting to curse him out.
“Leave me alone.” The man hissed, closing in. Fury burned in his eyes. “I’m not going to play these games with you, or them. Now scurry back and give your stupid report.”
Orpheus was pushed back forcefully, hitting the stone path surrounding the pond with an ‘oomph.’ Sitting up quickly, he only saw the tail end of the man. With his stupid coat flowing behind him.
Orpheus was stunned.
He rubbed at the points where the most pressure was applied to his jawline. Shaking his head, he hauled himself to his knees. The waterlogged notebook had now surfaced the water, and Orpheus could only stare. Sure, he still knew what he was going to write, but it was an inconvenience. Did that man need to get so offended over him staring? Rain had fully soaked through every layer of his clothing at this point. There was nothing else to do but to go home. Yet, he felt defeated. He turned to the last place he had seen the man.
It all felt too odd. He turned to leave the park behind for now. Grabbing his umbrella off the bench as he passed it, he was too lost in thought to even open it.
What was that?