Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Finn, the newly appointed Healing Cane, stood nervously in front of this huge door, which was the main entrance to the divine visionaries headquarters. Beside him was the ever so unfazed Carpaccio, who is now his… co-worker? No, the other divine visionaries would be his co-workers. What would that make Carpaccio?

He sighed and cheered himself on. It’s alright, you can do this. You made it this far, and you didn’t mess up your speech during the ceremony! Well, almost. He’s already familiar with the other canes, so what’s making him so nervous? They love him, and he… well, he’s scared of them but that’s the same thing. Carpaccio noticed that Finn was making a strange expression while mumbling to himself. “...What are you doing?”

“E-eh? No, nothing… I’m fine.” He stumbled over embarrassment. “A-anyways, let’s go in… W-what should we say? Good Morning? Pleasure to be working with you? ah, is that too informal? Maybe I should say something more–”

Before he could finish, Carpaccio had already pushed the door wide open, exposing the two of them to everyone present. Finn activated full panic mode. Inside was a lounge where a few visionaries were sitting. There were multiple doors that led to personal offices for each of them. There was also a meeting room, but it had it’s doors closed. Other facilities such as a kitchen or shower room were also provided. How fancy.

“Finn, You’re here.” Lance greeted with his usual cool tone. Kaldo was among those present, he wasted no time in approaching them. “Welcome you two! It’s your first day, feeling nervous?”

“Kind of,” “What’s that?”

They simultaneously faced eachother, Finn’s expression saying “Seriously..?” and Carpaccio with a curious face. He tilted his head, “I don’t think I feel anything different.” Finn could only force a sarcastic smile.

“Wow, look at you two! Your chemistry is through the roof.” Was that sarcasm? “Haha, you two will get used to this in no time. Anyways, I assume you’re already familiar with everyone, so let’s just get into the tour. Lance and I will be showing you around.”

The tour consists of every single crack and crevice in the headquarters, it was overall a very detailed tour. Kaldo was a very talkative tour guide and Lance was just there to make sure the tour doesn’t end up becoming a honey themed tea party. They paid a visit to all the visionaries in their office, and finally reached their very own. “Now, this one right here is yours. It’s still quite empty, so decorate it as you will.”

He signaled something to Lance and right away he revealed two fresh robes with customized icons at the back. A plus sign? Well, they were the healing canes after all. “Aaand here is your work attire. Usually, you get a spare, but since there are two of you… you get one each. You’ll have to figure out how to dry them quickly.” The two newcomers accepted gratefully and immediately tried them out.

“I can't believe I’m wearing something like this…” Finn was in awe. This was the pinnacle of happiness, he couldn't ask for anything more.

“It’s not that hard to believe,” Carpaccio commented. Someone like him wouldn't get it. “Also, doesn't that look too big on you?”

“Hm?” Finn looked down at himself. He looked at his sleeves. “Oh, you’re right… are these in the same sizes?”

Kaldo could only smile. Lance shrugged, “They said it would be too much of a hassle to make it in different sizes. You’ll grow into it.”

Why does it feel like Finn is always getting the short end of the stick? “Anyways, let me briefly explain how things are around here. Since you two will be members of the Magical Medicine Administration, you’ll spend lots of your time there instead of in your personal office. I heard you were big in research, Carpaccio?”

The healing cane nodded at Kaldo’s statement. “Great! You’ll love this type of work… and as for Finn, you might have things you need to get used to, but you’ll do it in no time.”

Kaldo pulled up a piece of paper. “Looks like a contract?” “Wait, is that a check?” “That’s a certificate.” Finn and Carpaccio threw their guesses. They were right on the money. That right there are the benefits they will be receiving for successfully becoming a divine visionary.

“Right. As usual, these are your rewards. This certificate officially states that your status has been elevated to nobility, and you will receive a hefty sum. Albeit shared between you two, of course.” The flame cane explained. The two nodded, they didn't seem to mind splitting everything into half. “Oh, I forgot one more thing. Notice how there’s only one certificate? That’s because we only provide one. Now this might sound absurd, but only one last name can be signed on. You can still write ‘Carpaccio and Finn’, but for the column right here, you’ll have to decide between Ames or Luo-yang.”

“Well, I’ll keep this for now. Tell me once you’ve decided. Good luck on your first day! Take it easy, go around the place, tour the rest of the bureau, anything you want. Byebye now!” And off the two divine visionaries went, as they had more duties to attend to. That leaves our freshly nominated visionaries, who stood in awkward silence. Unlike them, however, the two newcomers don't actually have work until all the official paperwork has gone through. It gives them about… three days of free time.

“...um, so like… what now?” Finn talked first. Carpaccio stayed silent. Seeing as his attempt to start a conversation was denied, he sighed and sat down on his office chair. Wait, there’s only one chair and one desk? They’ll have to buy another one by themselves. “Hey, do you want this desk or do you want to choose one by yourself?”

“Any is fine.” He answered shortly.

“Okay…”

“........”

Silence yet again. Carpaccio wasn't doing anything either. He was just standing there– staring at the other, for some reason. Finn spun his chair in another direction to avoid eye contact. He fidgeted around, resting his head on a hand and started tapping on the wooden desk. Carpaccio on the other hand, finally moved from that spot and started… inspecting the shelves? “...This won't be enough for my books.”

“We have five shelves???” Finn questioned whether Carpaccio happened to have bad eyesight. The taller however, grabbed a hold of his own chin, already planning out where to put the next five shelves. “Five isn't enough. Maybe ten minimum? Not to mention there’ll be your stuff too…”

“No I think–”

“Have you already decided what things you’d like to bring here? I’ve already put them in boxes, I’ll bring them tomorrow. There’s about… seven in total.” He said casually, not seeing anything wrong with his statement.

Finn’s eyes shot wide open. “S-seven?! I only have two! Carpaccio, you know you don't have to bring everything right?… just bring office related things.”

“Hm, no.”

“NO?!”

It turns out that in those seven boxes, we're all of his ongoing research papers. Three boxes of papers and the rest were books. Seven boxes, pure paper inside of them. When Finn had asked where his necessities were, he said he would just buy them.

----

And buy them he did. Here the two of them were, in town square, on a mission to find a list of things the master cane user needed. “Do you really need all that? How are we going to carry this back?” Poor Finn, his words didn't even register in his co-worker’s mind. He was far too focused on his three meter long list.

Without saying a word, Carpaccio disappeared into the crowd. Great, Finn looked away for one second and he’s gone! Finn panicked for a moment until he noticed a swarm of people gathering at a certain store. With no hesitation, he immediately knew his partner was there. It was a magical potions shop, of course it was. He pushed through the crowd and saw Carpaccio’s red hair in the middle of everyone’s attention, shaking the store owner’s hand. He looked really out of it though, the poor guy only wanted to go inside.

“Carpaccio! Geez, just let me know whenever a store catches your eye…” The healer scolds him. Carpaccio turned to him with a simple “Oh, sorry.”

“Well, whatever. Now, what are we going to do about this crowd–”

Not having a chance to finish speaking, the shop owner takes his hand and starts shaking it vigorously. “Two divine visionaries at my humble store! This is unbelievable, welcome, welcome!” Finn could only smile awkwardly while Carpaccio, still with his flat expression, went past the other two and entered. The crowd outside was about to follow him inside but was stopped by the owner.

The store was huge and full of potions, books, tools, and various ingredients. Carpaccio grabbed a shopping basket, wasting no time getting himself immersed in all the available supplies, and began putting everything he saw inside the basket as he checked things off the list. Finn only waited by the entrance, sneaking occasional peeks outside to see if the crowd was gone. They’re not.

Soon enough, Carpaccio made his way to the tools section. He has his eyes on this one brewer machine, yet he passed by it, thinking there wouldn’t be enough space for it. He went around the place a couple more times before reaching the counter with three baskets in total. Finn’s jaw practically fell to the floor. “Hey, aren’t we shopping for office supplies?!”

“...It seems I got a little carried away.” He says as he pulls out his wallet. “...it’s empty. Do they take checks here?”

“Obviously not!” Finn sighed before generously taking out his own pouch and lent his ‘friend’ money. Carpaccio took it without a word and began counting the number of items, which by itself took a solid five minutes. After confirming the total, he reached out to pay, before hesitating. Finn raised a brow, “What is it?”

The two liner looked back at the machine he had his sight on earlier. He stared the owner dead in the eye. “How much is that.” It sounded more like a statement than a question. The man excitedly answers. “That’s the shop’s best seller! It’s high quality and has a large capacity, it will last you a long time. For the price, it’s only 30,000 pounds!”

“30,000?! Carpaccio, I don’t have that much!” The price was jaw dropping. For measurement, the three baskets Carpaccio got only totaled up to 4.000, which was already on the expensive end. Taking the other’s protests into consideration, Carpaccio’s expression finally changes into that of disappointment. “Oh,” he says.

The shop owner chuckled in amusement. “My, my, it seems you really like that one, hmm? Tell you what, I’ll give you a discount if you agree to write a personal rating of my shop! Also, I'd like to take a picture and frame it on the wall, is that okay?”

The taller spent no time rethinking. “Sure, anything for a discount, I guess.” And so the man fetched his camera and took a photo with both of them. He was pleased with the results, but Finn didn’t look too happy, both in the picture and in real life. He could be seen smiling awkwardly, and his stance was kinda off too. So many people are gonna see that…

While Mr. Shop owner was packaging the items, Finn and Carpaccio were each given a piece of paper. Finn wrote a positive comment as a sign of thanks for the discount. When he looked over to his partner, however, it was blank. Well, partially blank. He did write down the word “good” and called it a day. Finn pointed out that it should be more sincere, he argued that it was already sincere. Finn ended up telling Carpaccio what to write, word for word, while still trying to make it look like Carpaccio wrote it.

After all that was done, they again thanked the store owner and exited the shop. Thanks to a handy dandy teleportation spell, they don’t need to walk around the town while carrying multiple baggage. They soon noticed that the morning had now turned to evening. How long did they spend inside there?!

“...Now, Let’s go find a stationary shop. What about that desk now that we’re on topic?”

“How about a trip to the bank first?” Finn said sarcastically. “You used up all my money, remember? You gotta pay me back… deposit that check while you’re on it.”

“Oh. right.”

Well, off they went to the nearest bank. It was quite busy at this hour, so they had to wait in line for a while. It would’ve been fine if it hadn’t been for the many people asking for photos and autographs. Being famous is hard, Finn thought. Although truth be told, people were more excited about Carpaccio than himself. Should he feel glad or offended?

By the time they got to the front of the line, all disturbance had been shooed off by the security. The woman attending to them was an older woman, who looked like she hadn’t been following the news lately. Carpaccio handed over the check and the woman almost didn’t believe it. “My goodness… that’s quite the amount you have there. Where’d you get all that from?”

“Aha… you wouldn’t believe it…”

They deposited most of the money into Carpaccio’s bank account first, splitting the money equally later. After grabbing some cash (coins), they head to a local department store. Again, they were stopped by another horde of people. Finn couldn’t really hear what they were babbling about, since there were so many of them. Carpaccio remained indifferent, he seemed used to it. Doesn’t he have a fan club back in Easton?

Finn however, was annoyed. He’s getting stopped wherever he goes, and it’s by flocks of people who aren’t even there to see him! They’re all fawning over CARPACCIO. What do they see in him? One voice silences the crowd with its out-of-the-world question. “Are you two together?”

“W-what? Together? No, obviously not–” “Yes.”

What. What did he say? Finn practically side-eyed him as his head slowly turned to face him, with an unpleased expression. Carpaccio didn’t notice anything wrong though. The mob let out a loud gasp. Finn remembered people were watching and tried his best to clarify. “Wait, wait, wait, he didn’t mean that– you see I believe he misunderstood the question and–”

Before he could finish, the crowd was gone. No one left in sight. They didn’t want to bother the pair’s very wrongly assumed ‘date’. Finn could feel the dread coming in. it’s their first day and they’ve already caused a scandal. “This is going in the news… Isn’t it?”

“What news?”

“YOU!” Finn was going to lose it– if it wasn’t Carpaccio who he was dealing with, he might have already thrown a temper tantrum. “Why on earth would you say that?!”

“...what? It’s the truth. I’m not sure why, but that person asked if we were together.” Carpaccio looked Finn dead in the eye. “We’re both right here. We’re together.”

I should have just given up, Finn thought.

They return back to headquarters with a wooden desk, seven new shelves, and weird looks from all the other visionaries. Finn needs a break.