Chapter Text
The well deserved rest Finn asked the Gods so desperately for did not appear. Yesterday, he and Carpaccio arrived back at headquarters a bit too late, so they decided to continue unpacking the next day. They agreed to meet up after school and head to the bureau together, so here Finn was waiting for his co-worker to finish class. Many students bearing the orca uniform passed through, giving him weird looks. It made him uncomfortable how easily he stood out, but he was the only student adorning the adler uniform in a sea of orcas. What did he expect?
He was too busy thinking to himself that he hardly noticed the taller figure standing in front of him. Carpaccio waited a few seconds to be noticed. He waited a few more seconds until he was sick of being ignored. “...Are you trying to be a wall again?”
“H-huh? Oh, you’re here…” Finn smiled embarrassedly. He awkwardly waved hello. The boy blushed at the incident Carpaccio was referencing. “You still remember that? That’s embarrassing, so please forget that…”
“It really was. Did you really think you could blend in with the wall? Or do you have some kind of camouflage technique that happened to stop working at that moment…”
Theres no need to rub it in! Finn internally screamed out. He was ashamed to admit, but this was the truth. “Um, No… I was just hoping you wouldn’t notice I was there.”
“Huh.”
“Please don’t comment further on it…” Finn begged as he covered his face, leaving only his red ears visible. Carpaccio thought he was about to experience this thing people call a ‘laugh’. He didn’t, and he was very disappointed at the missed chance of learning something new.
Without waiting any longer, they push through the crowded halls and gain a couple of whispers, alongside with weird stares. Carpaccio didn’t seem to mind, but Finn felt as if their stares were going to carve a hole into him. As if he didn’t stand out enough, walking side by side with the “better” healing cane made him stick out like a sore thumb.
Soon enough, they arrive at the bureau of magic. After filling in their attendance, they head right into headquarters, passing by the lounge before reaching their office. The lounge was particularly empty today. It seems that most of them are off doing work in their own departments. Without anymore stalling, they began the renovations.
The office wasn’t anywhere near small, but it wasn’t big enough for the both of them either. With Carpaccio’s willingness to set up his own makeshift laboratory in the corner, there’s definitely not enough space. The first thing they did was completely rearrange all the furnitures. They mapped out where they’d place their things, ultimately deciding to split the office into two. Carpaccio’s space on the right and Finn on the left. They wasted no time and started installing the shelves. Finn gets two shelves, Carpaccio gets everything else.
Carpaccio was in charge of screwing in the shelves into place, while Finn started unboxing the boxes. Their desks were places on opposite sides, but they soon realized that was a bad idea, since when they’re sitting on their respective desks, it’s just kind of awkward to stare into each other. Oh well, too late for that.
In addition to Carpaccio’s ten hanging shelves, he also got two bookshelves. Which, ofcourse is filled with his books. There still wasn’t enough space though, as he had to place the rest of this books on the wall shelves. Finn didn’t have too many things to sort out, so he was done pretty quickly. Placing the few books he brought on shelves, cute decorations he thought would make the office more lively, and preparing drawers to place incoming paperwork. For now, his desk was empty, only having stationeries and two bunny figurines he thought was adorable.
Carpaccio, on the other hand, was a complete mess. Remember when I said they split the office into two? Apparently, they never said they’d split it equally. So here Finn was in his cramped space as Carpaccio takes up two thirds of the entire room, making sure his ambition of having a potions room in the corner come true. Finn pondered why someone like him had to pair up with someone like him.
“Do you… need help with anything?” Finn tried to clear the silence. The sound of rustling briefly halted as Carpaccio raised his head. He thought for a bit before answering. “Hmm… yes, actually. I’ve already emptied the boxes and it’s taking up too much space, so go throw them out.”
Finn was doing him a favour, yet it feels like he was following an order. This guy has no manners at all, no ‘please’? No ‘thank you’? Geez, who raised you… Finn couldn’t help but grumble and complain, even though he was the one who offered to help. He stacked the cardboard boxes so high that it covered his vision. Still, he managed to get to his destination. Before he was about to throw them away, a staff member at the bureau stopped him and asked if she could have them, since she needed to store some things. Finn gladly gave it to her and returned to headquarters.
On his way back, he stumbled upon a pleasant surprise, waiting for him in the main lounge. "Ah! Rayne! You’re having a break?”
“Hm. I just finished a short mission, so I’m done for today.” Rayne signaled for his younger brother to sit next to him, Finn happily did just that. “I didn’t get to see you yesterday.”
“Oh, right! I was going to go see you, but you weren’t in your office and I uh, had to go accompany Carpaccio into town. He was really excited about decorating the office…” Finn explained. He couldn’t help but scratch his head when he realized how awkward the words that came out of his mouth sounded. Accompany Carpaccio? He should be fine on his own, why did he have to… ah, on second thought, nevermind. It’s probably better if he keeps an eye on him, remembering what happened yesterday.
“I know.” The sword cane stated. Finn gulped, he already thought of the worst outcome. “I saw in the news today.”
“T-the news huh? Whaaat… what news…”
Rayne raised an eyebrow. Why was his brother acting so weird? “Does it make you uncomfortable? It’s normal for news agencies with too much time on their hands to cover the most irrelevant topic. You singlehandedly nominated the year’s best potions shop.”
Ah, it wasn’t as bad as Finn thought it would be. At least theres no strange rumours or anything… He sighed in relief before smiling awkwardly. “W-well, that wasn’t my idea… I’m still not used to being followed everywhere I go. I mean– they’re not following me, they couldnt care less about me. All they want is Carpaccio this, Carpaccio that, oh Carpaccio the new divine visionary… and stuff like that.”
The older only chuckled hearing his complaints. “Even after all you did, they’re still not giving you credit, huh?”
Finn couldn’t help but huff and show a hint of frustration. “I mean, it’s not like I mind or anything, but if i think about it more… it does get kind of annoying. It’s one thing that I became a divine visionary, but as I predicted before, I’m still at the bottom of the barrel.”
Rayne frowned upon hearing that. The younger noticed the sudden switch in atmosphere and desperately tried to save himself. “A-ah, don’t get it wrong, it’s fine, really it’s fine. It’s the truth after all, I’ll just have to work harder!”
“Don’t worry anymore, brother… I’m not the kind of person I was before. We’re you expecting me to go on, wallowing is self pity?” Finn half-joked, just to make the atmosphere less tense. It was clear Rayne wasn’t expecting him to say that.
“You got me… I was really worried.” He smiled softly while exhaling. He gives Finn a pat on the shoulder before standing up and fixing his robes. “I still have paperwork to do, there’s a storage full of magical tools that haven’t been inspected yet. Have fun.”
“You too!”
The sword cane left for his office, leaving the younger Ames seated by himself. He took a minute or two for a breather before going back to Carpaccio. When he entered, oh was he in for a bigger surprise. This time, not as pleasant as before. “W-what? Carpaccio! I left for ten minutes! What’s all this?!”
Carpaccio halted his activities and turned to Finn who was standing frozen still by the door. With a flat look, he answered the obvious. “I told you already. I’m setting up my research station. Also, it was closer to fifteen minutes, not ten.”
“No, no, no!” Finn slams the door behind him. “You said the station would be in the corner. your corner. Why’s it all over my space?”
“Well, your corner is empty, so I figured i’d utilize it,” he shrugged.
Finn could feel his eyes tick. “No, it’s not empty. I was going to place a sofa there, maybe a coffee table, a-and a shelf full of teabags, maybe with snacks? Whatever it was, I’m going to use that space so move your stuff!”
“What would you need that for?” the other asked, sounding almost genuinely curious.
“Isn’t it nice to have something like that if you’re having a tiresome day? What if i want to take a 20 minute nap during breaks… That would come in useful.” Finn reasoned, finally making his way closer to Carpaccio. He observes his partner’s activities closer, turns out there’s already a potion in the making. Remember that potion making machine? Yeah, it’s annoyingly loud.
“There’s a lounge outside,” Carpaccio thought. “Can’t you nap there? Although I wouldn’t imagine myself sleeping at work.”
Finn scrunched his face. “First of all, it’s not sleeping at work if its during breaks, and second, It’s more comfortable to have more privacy while sleeping, right?”
“I guess.”
After a back and forth discussion, Carpaccio finally agreed to move his things, although still taking up some of Finn’s space, but it’s better than nothing. Carpaccio noticed the potion making process was producing a concerning amount of smoke. Not wanting to suffocate the both of them, he opened the conveniently placed window.
“Are you sure it’s not burnt?”
Carpaccio shook his head, “It shouldn't be.”
Finn still thought the machine was a total rip off, but the other was having the time of his life. Before he knew it, the sky had turned dark. “It’s evening already… Time sure passes by quickly.”
“That’s because you were asleep.” Carpaccio deadpans.
They agreed to call it a day and packed things up. They were told that Kaldo had grabbed everyone take outs so they gathered at the lounge before heading off. There waiting was Kaldo, Renatus, Lance and Rayne, who was glaring daggers at a certain red head. Finn was the only one who noticed the murderous aura coming from his brother. Was everyone esle just too used to it?
The healing canes took a seat and each were given a box of take out. They were about to head off until Kaldo decided he would start some small talk. “So, anything interesting happened today? You two always seem like you’re up to something fun.”
“...Fun? No way, all I got today was this major headache whenever Carpaccio’s around,” Finn complained
Carpaccio didn’t feel guilty at all. A normal person would perhaps apologize, or if you’re someone like Renatus, you’d defend yourself. But Carpaccio blamed it on something else. “Are you sure the headache isn’t from the smoke?”
“Wait, what smoke–” Rayne questioned concerningly.
His concerns were ignored though, as the two peas in a pod continued their bickering. “That’s still your fault! Who told you to set up a makeshift laboratory in OUR office? I told you that was a bad idea…”
“A makeshift what,” Lance scrunches his nose, hoping he misheard.
“It’s more of a potions station. Also it’s not like I’d burn the place down or anything, so it should be fine,” Carpaccio explained normally, not getting the hints of concern given by others.
“Thats definitely not fine!” Finn rebutted as he ultimately lost the quarrel. He’s accepted the fact that from now on, he’ll probably have to deal with his partner’s shenanigans since there’s no way he’s winning an argument with someone who couldn’t care less.
Renatus stayed quiet as he watched the scene unfold. He continued eating, not letting the sight bother him. The divine visionary besides him, however, sat there with the same smile on his face, along side a jar of pure honey which he was pouring onto his food. Isn’t he enjoying this too much? This whole thing was his idea, after all…
Kaldo noticed the topic was getting old, and so he started another one. “Alright, alright. Just be careful you two. Anyways, about that certificate I mentioned yesterday…”
“Oh right!” Finn turned to Kaldo, “Sorry, we haven’t really discussed it yet…”
“It’s fine, you can talk about it now. Give me the final conclusion as fast as possible, your official work should start this Monday, so maybe have it ready before Sunday?”
Finn nodded. “Let’s just talk about it now…” He looked over to Carpaccio, who stared back at him. “Carpaccio, what do you think?”
With the way Finn was speaking and the silence as everyone locked their attention at him, it felt more like a therapy session. Actually, Carpaccio wouldn’t know. He’s never been anywhere near a psychiatrist. Everyone thinks he should go see one.
“I think. My name should be on the certificate, since… He’s already a divine visionary,” He pointed at the sword cane. Carpaccio made a good point. “People should already know you’re a divine visionary, and if they ask for your name, Ames is already on the list of nobilities. If we use your last name, there’s no way to verify I’m actually a nobility.”
“But you’re Carpaccio. Everyone knows you, everyone loves you. If the certificate is under your name, I’ll get thrown under the bus again,” Finn argued back.
Rayne nodded in agreement, showing full support for the decision that the certificate will be signed under their last name. Carpaccio seemed confused. “What? You mean literally or–”
“Not literally, I meant like– you know, people won’t acknowledge me.”
The taller couldn’t phantom that concept, having been praised and loved for everything he’s done, throughout his life. “Yes they do. Why won’t they? You won. You’re a visionary. Are you saying people don’t recognize you as one?”
“Well… they probably think I don’t deserve to be one,” Finn felt everyone staring at him. It adds to the awkwardness. “Unlike you, you’re not really… You don’t have any flaws. They think you’re perfect, overpowered, and really really… hot?”
“What.”
Finn rolled his eyes. With a fanbase as big as his, is he truly oblivious or does he just not care? The conversation was getting off track. “Anyways, you get it.”
Carpaccio stayed silent. He blinked. Then blinked again. Trying to understand just why people would discredit Finn like that. In his eyes, Finn was… how should he say this? He’s not perfect, but it’s not like he’s a burden either. He’s relatively weak, pathetic, and often nags a lot, but he’s not as terrible as he claims. Is he just fishing out compliments? There’s no way someone like him would genuinely think he’s worthless, Carpaccio thought.
“I don’t.”
“W-what? What do you not get? That’s all there is to it, even when I reach achievements they dont acknowledge me, so imagine what would happen if–”
“Thats not what I meant.” Carpaccio interrupted. He grabbed his own chin and started thinking. “You’re great at healing, you gained a second line, you have wits, and you’re nice. What’s there to dismiss? Isn’t it all concrete proof?”
All this has gotten Finn fired up. “Exactly! Look, I don’t get it either, but that’s just how it is. People hate me, for some reason, and they think I’m piggy riding my way to the top! Oh i did something by myself? Impossible! It’s because of Rayne, then it’s thanks to Mash, and then it’s definitely because Kaldo rigged the system! And next, it’s gonna be because of you.”
“Everyone thinks I’m the same old Finn Ames from middle school. It’s like they think the only valid form of magic is if I can take someone down with one strike! Just wait, the moment they get overpowered by another mage, who’s gonna heal them huh? Not me! Not me, because I’m weak and useless and a burden and–”
“...Shut up.” Carpaccio placed his palm over his mouth and physically made him stop talking. “It’s getting really annoying… Also, I don’t think that way.”
Finn pushed his partner’s hand away, utterly confused. “...Thanks…?”
“You’re welcome.” Oh, and it’s over, just like that. Problem solved. Thanks Carpaccio indeed. “Anyways, sign the certificate under my name.”
“Didn’t you hear anything I said?!!”
The other blocked his ears. “Stop trying to guilt trip me, it’s not gonna work.”
“Damnit!”
Renatus yawned. This is boring, he’s tired, his shift’s about to start, why can’t these kids just go home already? “You two are so annoying… Won’t everything be solved if you two had the same last name? Go register yourself in his family or something…”
The immortal cane wasn’t really thinking when he said that, it was just a one time comment. But the moment he wiped his eyes, he was met with a change of atmosphere and a certain Rayne Ames that looked like he was about to do the impossible.
Kaldo smiled at the interesting sight. “My, my, Renatus, are you implying Finn right here should change his last name? I don’t think our sword cane would be too pleased with that.”
“What?” He looked to Rayne, who was currently in an extremely foul mood. Just looking at the kid sent chills down his spine. Whatever these guys were thinking, it was wrong. “Dude chill out, I didn’t mean anything by that okay? Just forget what I said…”
They ended up talking so much that they had completely forgotten to eat. They took the already cold food to go. Along with Lance, the three Easton students checked out of headquarters a little earlier than everyone else did. They made it to their dorms just in time before lights out. That's the story of how Carpaccio won another argument, I guess.