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[noexcuscs-blog]

dropkick-pen​:

V looked up when the knock came, but didn’t have time to answer before Avery had opened the door. “What?”

He was mostly done with work for the day, but the clock showed 4.56 and he might as well be a dick. “You’re not off for another four minutes, Avery, and neither am I.”

This time, it was Avery’s time to roll his eyes. “In that case, I’d have the clock in my office checked, because it very clearly showed 5 when I left.” It wasn’t a lie, for once, not that it mattered much. “But whatever. I’ll go back to file that one extra statement away if you insist. But please know I expect you to be ready when I return.”

[noexcuscs-blog]

dropkick-pen​:

V shook his head the entire way back to his own office, but he’d gotten a woefully unqualified assistant in Avery, and that was really what mattered, in the end.

Avery wasn’t one to waste time, so as soon as he was off the clock, he knocked on V’s door. He didn’t waste time waiting for him to answer before he opened the door either. “Hey, guess what.”

[noexcuscs-blog]

dropkick-pen​:

V sighed. “I prefer just V, or some variation of dude if you really must, but really, I have a name.” He looked at Avery’s face, all self-satisfied smirk and cocky confidence. “Get to work.” He turned to leave.

'Really, I have a name’ was bold coming from someone going by V, but Avery wasn’t going to comment on that. He just threw finger guns in V’s direction as he left and then got to work. Sure, he wasn’t an anthropology major, archaeology minor Yale graduate, but certainly, he could sort statements after date.

[noexcuscs-blog]

thehatchetfielders​:

“Oh- would you, Ted? That would be great.” Charlotte answered, reaching to take Ted’s hand again. “Thank you so much. Ah- I hate to ask this of you, but do you think you might be able to take care of them until I get out?” She asked with a small frown. “Or at least find someone who can. I… don’t know that Sam would really be able to give them the attention they need.”

She reached for his hand and Ted felt all his worries wash away. She reached for his hand. He let her take it, of course he did, and a small but genuine smile formed on his lips. “Of course. Of course I’ll take care of them. I’d love to.” He didn’t know a lot about taking care of cats, but he was willing to learn. For Charlotte. “Don’t worry about it, okay? I’ll give them all the attention they want.”

[noexcuscs-blog]

dropkick-pen​:

V rolled his eyes just slightly. “See you later, Avery.” He turned to leave. “Actually, could you do me a favour? Never call me boss again.”

Avery smiled, because of course he did. How could he not? And so what if it was more than a smirk? It’s not like the archive could fire him for smirking, probably. “Boss-man? Chief? We’ll workshop it.” It would’ve been easier to just say sure, but Avery never made it easy for himself; besides, it would be quite stupid making a promise he couldn’t keep.

[noexcuscs-blog]

dropkick-pen​:

V shook his head slightly. “I don’t-” He stopped himself when he saw Avery’s smile; smirk, really. “Fine, sounds good.”

He sent a smile back, mostly cheap and fake, but hey, he was basically Avery’s boss now. “That’s after work. Now: Statements. Sorting. Get to it.”

There was no way Avery was watching V coming to terms with the fact that they were going out for drinks after work and not letting his smirk widen a bit.

Avery supposed cheap, fake smiles and cheap, real drinks was better than no smiles or drinks, so he was more than willing to accept it. “Of course. See you later, boss.”

[noexcuscs-blog]

dropkick-pen​:

V laughed; Avery really was a terrible liar. “I don’t doubt that you will.”

The office they came to was sparse, just a desk and a chair and a bookshelf, but like the rest of the archive, it was covered in misfiled statements. “Nothing yet. Jon had us trying to sort out statements, so I should like to continue that; you can start with what’s in here, just order it by date for now.” He decidedly didn’t mention anything about celebration.

Maybe V’s laugh should have bothered him. But in that train of thoughts, Elias Bouchard’s smug smile should have bothered him as well. As far as Avery was concerned, it didn’t matter wether they believed him or not. He had a job that paid better than bartending had and as long as he wasn’t fired, that wasn’t his responsibility, nor was it his problem to sort out.

His office looked awfully empty, something Avery very much planned to change as soon as he got the chance. “Seems easy enough.” He nodded a few times, then turned his attention from the room and back to V.  “So no celebration, huh? Boo. Drinks. Today after work. My treat.”

[noexcuscs-blog]

thehatchetfielders​:

“Oh, uh- th-thank you, Ted.” She said, giving him a small smile and taking the water. “Oh, no, I’m alright. I just-” Charlotte paused for a moment, her smile falling away again. “I’m worried. About the cats. It’s always been my responsibility to feed them, and I can’t exactly do that from here, Ted.”

There it was again, that sneaking suspicion that perhaps Charlotte wasn’t honest with him. It felt incredibly strange, being right in the middle between coming with an angry, accusatory outburst and telling her that of course, of course, he’ll go feed her cats. “I’m sure they cats will be fine,” he ends up settling on. And then he gives in immediately. “I can go feed them later, if you’d like. On my way home. It’s not a problem.”

[noexcuscs-blog]

dropkick-pen​:

The question elicited another laugh from V, who got up and gestured for Avery to follow. “I’ll show you.”

He led him to the office he was to be using. “An archival assistant mostly helps me with investigations,” he explained while walking. “When working for Jon I’d just… Well, Jon always accused Tim of flirting his way to answers, but really, he just knew a lot of people. I didn’t.” V sent Avery a smile as he pushed the door open. “Neither do you, I suppose. I might have you do some other stuff, we’ll see.”

Avery followed. He might as well, right?

“You’d be surprised,” Avery had to bite his tongue not to accidentally slip up and reveal that he’d been in London for five years, nearly six years. "Although rest assured, I will flirt my way to answers for you if that’s what it takes.” It was probably his safest bet anyway. “And have you gotten settled yet? Started any investigations? Celebrated your new job?”

[noexcuscs-blog]

dropkick-pen​:

V choked another laugh at Avery’s affected nonchalance. “Good. I’ve spoken to Sonya, you can transfer immediately. You can take Martin’s old office, I somehow doubt he’ll be coming back.” V handed over a form. “Oh, and you’ll need to sign this.

All Avery knew about Martin was that he’d apparently been living in the archives during the whole worm-thing they’d gone through a few months ago and it seemed a little strange to go from that to not be coming back, but Avery supposed that was fine. It meant he got his own office. It took everything in him not to say ‘cool, cool’, but he managed just smiling at his new boss (?) before quickly scanning over the form before signing it. “Hey, so what exactly do I do as an archival assistant?” Maybe he should have asked before, but better late than never, right?

[noexcuscs-blog]

dropkick-pen​:

V gestured to the chair in the corner of his office. “Have a seat.”

He sat himself down behind the desk. “So, as I said, I’m the new archivist, I’m taking over since Jon left. Well, I’m in need of an assistant and was looking through some of the employees here at the institute, and your resume is very… Impressive.” He couldn’t quite contain a laugh. “So I’m offering you the job.”

He got seated, one leg casually slung over the other, and he listened to what this V had to say. He usually didn’t mingle much with the archival staff, save for Sasha James, and of all things he could have been brought in here for today, this was certainly not what he had expected.

As it turned out, V wasn’t much different from Elias Bouchard. Both had laughed at the mention of his resume, looked so sure of themselves and both times, Avery had smiled confidently and they had offered him the job. So he shrugged. “It’s just Yale,” he said casually. Subtlety had never been his forte and especially not when it came to lies. “I’m in artifact storage. I’ll take it.”

It probably couldn’t get any worse, right?

[noexcuscs-blog]

thehatchetfielders​:

As she waited for him to return, Charlotte looked around the room for a moment and felt a slight frown begin to spread across her face as she thought back to the events that lead to her being in the hospital. She noticed her good hand shaking slightly after a moment, squeezing it into a fist and closing her eyes.

Not long after, Ted (well, a nurse, but whatever) returned to the room with a glass of water for Charlotte. He (okay, still the nurse – shut up!) put it on the table next to Charlotte’s bed and Ted got seated back in the chair next to her bed, where he picked up the glass and held it out for her. “You okay to drink? You’re shaking. Are you– is there anything I can do?”

[noexcuscs-blog]

Upon hearing his name, Avery’s head shot up and he caught sight of... well, V. The new archivist, as he’d just introduced himself as. And of course, Avery flashed him a smile. “My pleasure.” He added a wink, naturally, and made his way down the stairs with a lot of confidence for someone who’d never been in any archivists’ office.

"Ah, Avery, right." V caught sight of the guy he'd chosen across the entrance. "I'm V, the new archivist. Can I speak to you in my office for a moment?" He gestured towards the stairs leading down to the archive.

@noexcuscs

[noexcuscs-blog]

thehatchetfielders​:

She smiled up at him again, a light blush coloring her face slightly as she took his hand in her own. “Well… if you’re really sure…” Charlotte hesitated for a moment before pulling her hand away again, clearing her throat slightly. “Ah- could you please get a nurse to bring me some water? I’m pretty thirsty.”

“I’m sure,” Ted said way too fast and way too eagerly, but trying to bite the words back was a lost cause, so he just repeated them instead. “I’m sure.” They came out more calmly this time and he supposed that was for the better, because she was pulling away her hand. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, of course.” He nodded, reaching out for her hand again but catching himself before fully going through with it. “I’ll be right back,” he told her, quickly getting off his chair to go find a nurse.

[noexcuscs-blog]

thehatchetfielders​:

“Well- it was really nice of you to come see me, Ted, but I don’t want you getting in trouble with Mr. Davidson.” Charlotte said, offering him a small smile for a moment. “You should go to work. I… I’ll still be here at the end of the day…” She let out a quiet sigh, frowning slightly and looking away from Ted again.

Ted smiled back: It didn’t quite reach his eyes, but he smiled back. “I’m not in trouble. I’ve taken the day off.” He let his knuckles gently brush over her hand, not taking his eyes off her as he tried to think about what he should do. She’s probably right, he should go to work; but he’d much rather stay here with her. “I could keep you company, you know... I wouldn’t mind.”

[noexcuscs-blog]

thehatchetfielders​:

Looking back over at him, Charlotte bit her lip gently and stayed silent for another moment before speaking, her voice shaking slightly. “Y… yes. That’s what happened, Ted, it wasn’t… anything else, I promise. Really. Don’t worry.” She said, her eyes flicking away again before returning to him. At Ted’s next question, she sighed quietly and fidgeted slightly with her good hand. “Sam… he was here last night, and he’s probably at work by now. Speaking of, why aren’t you at work, Ted? How did you even know I was here?”

It was hard to pinpoint exactly what he was feeling. He wanted to say it was relief, because he wanted so badly to just believe her, but fuck, he didn’t like nor did he trust Sam and he had a tendency to believe in the worst possible scenarios when it came to people he care about. Saved him the worry later.  “Alright,” he said anyway, because wether he believed her or not, she probably didn’t need that kind of stress right now. “I called you. A nurse picked up, told me you were here.” He elegantly skipped the first question, because admitting to being worried just didn’t feel quite right. Neither did admitting to calling and texting several times and skipping out on work, so he just didn’t.

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thehatchetfielders‌:

Charlotte’s eyes slowly opened at his touch and she looked up at Ted, a small smile at seeing him appearing on her face for a moment that quickly faded away when she remembered where she was. “T-Ted? What- why are you-” The woman began, her voice slightly hoarse as she spoke. “I… I tripped. Down the stairs.” She finally said after a few moments of hesitation, moving her gaze away from him to stare up at the ceiling.

The fact that a small smile appears on Charlotte’s lips is the most wonderful thing ever, but at the same time, it is incredibly sad; because just as fast as it gets there, it’s gone again. And Ted has to think of other things, like the question she’s not quite asking and how hoarse her voice sounds. Or if he’s going to believe her. “You tripped,” he repeated, perhaps a bit more dry than he intended. “Down the stairs.  And you ended in the hospital?” She wasn’t meeting his eyes and all it does is make him think he’s right in his suspicions. Dammit!

“Sam?” He didn’t know if he was asking where Sam was, or if he was trying to lead her towards admitting that her piece of shit husband got her here, but he has to say something, because Charlotte sure as hell won’t.