Front Page News

[heypartner]

WHO: Cobb Vanth & Others
WHERE: The newspaper offices
WHAT: General work day activities and banter.
WHEN: One day.
WARNINGS: Possible swears.



Every day, almost without fail, Cobb made it to the office at 8:30 am.

"Morning Charlie," he said to the security guard as he walked through the lobby, the sound of his cane echoing off the marble floors and slate ceilings. There were a few others around, judging by the echoing footsteps. The building was never quiet but it wasn't a madhouse just yet.

He could smell some fresh flowers and a vanilla chia latte with two shots of expresso as he passed the reception desk which told him who was manning the phones this early. "Morning Jo."

"Morning Mr. Vanth," answered the young African-American woman. He couldn't see her. He couldn't see anything but she had told him once when he commented on how it sounded like she had beads in her hair. She wore her hair in dreadlocks with beads. Cobb 'saw' the world through sound and sense most of the time.

"You're gonna call me Cobb one of these days," he teased playfully on his way to the elevators.

"Of course I will, Mr. Vanth," she replied dryly without looking his way.

He chuckled, cane still leading the way. When it bumped the wall for the elevator bank he reached his hand forward, running his fingers along it until it went from wood paneling to metal. A little swipe of his fingers and he found the buttons to call the elevator. Luckily, those buttons never changed. And this early there was no one offering to get the buttons for him either.

They meant well but he was perfectly capable of handling elevator buttons by himself.

The elevator pinged and he stepped in. Another search with his fingers reading the braille off to the side of the buttons he found the right floor, pushed, and then waited for the familiar sensation of the elevator moving. He went over a few story ideas in his head while the elevator went up. When it stopped and the door opened he stepped off.

He walked into the office, enveloped in familiar scents and sensations. He could walk around the desks here without needing his cane. The layout was imprinted into his mind. It blazed in his senses as well but he didn't rely on that when he was in a familiar place. He could go to his desk but he went to the little breakroom and made coffee first.

With his heightened sense of smell he could brew it without burning the grounds. Unlike some of the people in this newsroom who always, always burned it without fail whenever they made a pot.

With fresh coffee he made his way to his desk and settled in. Time to start the work day.

Comments

[hadthehighground]

And without fail, Ben Bridger was always there a few minutes before Cobb. The man an early riser as he had a younger brother to look after. Even if Ezra was getting older and almost didn’t really need him anymore. Old habits died hard, but one thing remained, he was still dedicated. To his only family, his job, and his friends.

“Hey Cobb, don’t forget about the meeting at ten today.” The man’s soft voice calling into Mr Vanth’s office before taking a whiff. “Oh is that coffee? You always make the best.”

Ben was one of those poor souls who always burnt the coffee, despite loving the stuff. He was talented with a camera and writing, but not always when it came to cooking or brewing coffee. So excuse him as he darts away to pour himself a cup before coming back. The soft clinking of a spoon in his mug as he stirred his preferred concoction of cream and sugar in the blessed dark beverage.

“And I’ll be focusing on settling in the new intern after that. Anything you need from me before then?”

[heypartner]

Ben was, genuinely, one of the few truly good people Cobb had met in his life. The guy worked hard, looked after his little bother, and absolutely lied about his crush on a certain superhero. Cobb liked him as a man and a coworker.

Except for the burned coffee thing but he couldn't be mad because Ben tried his best every time.

"Is it going to be a useful meeting or one of those that wastes an hour of my time?" Cobb pulled his cellphone from his pocket and asked it to read out his calendar to him. It was a meeting about upcoming stories and a general check in. Maybe it'd be productive.

"Oh, I forgot about the intern." Cobb drummed his fingers on his desk. "No, can't think of anything. Could look over the pictures you took for the city part article I'm working on..."

He grinned as he let the sentence trail off.

[hadthehighground]

Ben has always liked Cobb. He was a bit rough around the edges sometimes but a good guy. Great to work with and with a good sense of humor. Easy to talk to too.

Even though the man couldn’t see it there was a soft, lightly amused smile on his face as Ben leaned in the doorway of his office. Taking a sip of his coffee and pushing up his glasses.

“Right, very funny. I think I’ll leave the critiques to Peggy. Though maybe I might have you look over the intern’s instead,” he says with a grin.

[heypartner]

"Oh, we're gonna haze the intern huh?" Cobb raised an eyebrow, grinning slightly. "You know one of them's Merrin, right?"

His daughter. Adopted daughter but Cobb never considered them anything less than blood. She was the light of his life. The best thing that ever happened to him.

"She stopped finding my blind jokes funny when she turned thirteen." He could hear it every single time she rolled her eyes. Merrin had no time for his dad jokes now that she was older. He liked to think she secretly still like them.

[hadthehighground]

"I'm sure we can find something to tease her with. Gotta get some new material."

A little ribbing was good for the kids. It was a part of growing up and kept them on their toes, after all. There's a pause though as something idly crosses Ben's mind.

"Hey, it's not normal for facial hair to just... appear overnight, is it? And I don't mean just a little. I'm talking about a full beard."

How About A 'Coworker'?

[stitch_witch]

It was a strange situation, to suddenly become aware. One moment a woman known as Lark Weber, popular celebrity gossip columnist, was working on the latest juicy dish about Tony Stark (and when wasn't there juicy dish about Tony Stark). The next?

The next something snapped in the back of her mind, like a thread had been tugged too long and too hard in two different directions until it could no longer handle the strain. And with that, the spell around her snapped. And Dedicate Initiate Lark looked up just in time to see Cobb settle in at his desk. She looked across at him and thought his face was perhaps a touch familiar. Maybe.

"Excuse me, but where am I?"

[heypartner]

Cobb looked up at Lark's question with an eyebrow raised in her general direction. "From the sound of it, you're at your desk."

But there was something weird in the way she asked the question. Cobb heard the genuine confusion in her voice. It wasn't the usual teasing that might accompany a question like that.

"You have another long night or something?" he asked with a little more genuine concern. She chased gossip and high society like a bloodhound but all those late nights and parties couldn't be easy on her. Maybe she just needed to go home and get some sleep.

[stitch_witch]

Her desk? That seemed unlikely. Lark pushed back from it just enough to look at herself. She was not familiar with anything she wore. What was shit shirt, a flowing blouse with buttons undone in a display of immodesty that she hadn't had since she'd taken her vows. The skirt as well, it was far too short and clung to a lot of places that weren't suitable for an acrobat or what amounted to a priest. And her shoes... How did someone walk on shoes that looked like they had a dagger on the heel? This was all wrong.

"I fear quite long," she answered the man, looking at him. "I don't remember being here, or even awakening from my sleep. Where, may I ask, is here?"

[heypartner]

Okay, sounded like something was really wrong with Lark today.

"You're at work, the newspaper." Cobb got up, picked up his cane, and made his way over to Lark's desk with a little frown. "If you don't remember getting here, maybe you should go home. I'm sure you've got an old article one of the interns can clean up and turn in for today."

He held out a hand to her. "You feeling okay, Lark? Really. I can call you a cab to take you home and help you downstairs."

[stitch_witch]

Newspaper? She doesn’t know this term. Or believes she should not. And this man, she has never seen him in her life to her knowledge, and yet...

The offered hand is accepted and she uses it for balance as she stands. She doesn’t even think to grab the purse by the desk. It is not something she would mentally assign to herself, even if it did match her outfit.

“Yes, I believe something must be dreadfully wrong. Perhaps...”

Magic. She could feel the faint brush of it. It felt like torn cloth, hastily woven, reaching out to pull her in. She feared that perhaps if she said something was wrong aloud it would only make things worse.

“Perhaps I am unwell. Or even struck my head. I do seem quite beside myself.”

[out_of_order]

While never late, Cal was never super early either, but he always seemed to be where he was needed to be at the right time. Unlike quite a few of the occupied desks in the office, Cal managed to keep his relatively organized, things that needed to be done in one stack in a tray here, writing utensils in a cup there, a notepad to keep track of his tasks and even a coaster for a cup of coffee.

Of course a lot of the work he tended to be given had him away from his desk, which was why he'd be found over on the opposite side of the office, running old printed files that had already been digitally scanned into a paper shredder. It was a tedious process, and while it was at least something to keep busy with, the monotony was wearying.

[heypartner]

"Here kid," Cobb said as he set a fresh cup of coffee for Cal. He deliberately ignored the coaster. "I can hear how bored you are."

And the constant drone of the shedder had started to get on Cobb's nerves. He needed Cal to take a break for his own sanity. If Cal didn't stop he would probably unplug the shedder just for two minutes of peace.

"Take a break, would you? It's the good stuff." Cobb ran his fingers along the edge of the desk until he found a clear space which felt wide enough to sit down on. He could sense where stuff was but it was always better to check.

[out_of_order]

Snapped out of whatever trance the consistent grinding of gears and paper against metal, Cal lifted his head and smiled briefly at the man and the offering of coffee. "Sorry. You know how it is with this sort of thing, you just start working on auto-pilot." He let the last bit of paper go rolling through, depositing a fresh layer of diamond-shaped bits on the ever-growing heap before the sound died off to a blissful silence.

"Thanks, sir," he said, setting down the folder and the remnants of its contents he'd yet to get to off to the side so he could pick up the cup. He took a moment to appreciate the scent before having a sip. While he wasn't an avid coffee consumer, he'd never turn down a cup of 'the good stuff.' There was just something almost magical about the way Cobb managed to brew his coffee that Cal was convinced he could have made one heck of a barista if he hadn't chosen his current line of profession.

[heypartner]

"You don't have to call me sir."

Cobb really tried to make sure that everyone around the office treated him like anyone else. Cal was a good kid though, always friendly, almost always in a good mood. He liked him.

"Yeah, it's real repetitive," he said dryly. At least the sound had stopped. For awhile they could all enjoy the normal sounds of the office. "Have you got any other projects to do? Ones that don't involve the paper shredder."

[out_of_order]

"Cobb, sorry," Cal amended, giving a sheepish grin. It wasn't the first time he'd been given the reminder but Cal had been taught to give people respect where respect was due. Old habits died hard.

"Some light editing and a proof-reading for a few digital articles to go up on the site, but those won't go up until the weekend," he said. He was otherwise caught up, more relevant things ready to go for the next publish. It probably wasn't a surprise. Cal Kestis was always on top of things when it came to the things he was given to work on. Shredding old files was usually something he was given when more senior reporters had nothing else to shove at him, if only so they could get their own jobs done.

[noch]

Merrin may be a fresh new intern, but she's already pretty familiar with the paper and its offices, having come to visit Cobb at work many times over the years, which is why she moves around the office a lot more comfortably than most of the other interns. She only recently started drinking coffee herself, courtesy of her eight a.m. classes, but Cobb has taught her well. Around mid-morning, she sets a fresh cup of coffee on his desk, made exactly how he takes it.

Trusting that he already knows exactly who's now leaning her weight against his desk—probably knew when she was still twenty paces away—she doesn't say anything, but instead takes a sip of her own coffee—black, with a small pinch of sugar.

[heypartner]

Oh, he knew. Cobb figured he could sense his girl from anywhere in the building but that might just be the father in him bragging. He never expected he'd end up with a kid. Not for awhile, at least, but after doing the story on what happened to Merrin's family he just couldn't forget the little girl.

And somehow, he'd gotten approval to adopt her. Cobb had never looked back.

"Hey kiddo." He picked up the coffee and took a sip before leaning back in his chair and looking at her. "You finish all your assignments already?"

Depending on her answer he might assign her something just for a joke.

[noch]

The period of time just after her mother had died, along with her sisters, is still kind of a blur in Merrin's memory. At the time, she'd felt completely numb, lost, only half-present among all the new adults coming in and out of her life, talking at her about accidents and condolences and foster care and adoption and a million other things that she barely remembers.

It feels like she only woke up again after Cobb took her in, gave her a new life. She never thought that anyone would be able to fill the hole that her family had left in her heart, but he didn't have to—there's plenty of space in there now for him.

She already has a feeling where this question is going, but she gives him the real answer anyway. "Mm. I just finished giving Cal the last of the documents to shred." If she sounds like she really relished handing them over, it's because she spent literal hours of her life scanning those files in, one by one. There will probably be more to scan later, because there always is, but at least this much is done.

[heypartner]

It was a hell of a thing to convince the city that a blind man could raise a kid but he had fought hard for the chance to prove he could do it. And, all bragging aside, he thought he did a pretty good job.

"Well, that's going to make for an annoying afternoon." The shredder had a high pitched scream that most people probably couldn't hear. He could. "Who raised you to be so efficient?"

He grinned at her for a second. "What else they give you? I hope somethin' more than busy work around the office."

Digitizing old articles was important, sure, but the interns should also learn how to be reporters and how a newspaper worked. He was hands off about her assignments because he didn't want anyone to think he was favoring his own kid but he was going to check in.

[noch]

Years with Cobb have made her a little more aware of ambient noises and smells, knowing that they're going to be more overwhelming to him—or so she likes to think. So she knows exactly what he means by an annoying afternoon, even if the shredder doesn't really bother her very much, personally.

"You know exactly who," she returns with a sort of fond exasperation, split about halfway down the middle between said fondness and exasperation. "Which means you are complimenting yourself again." Shaking her head, she shifts her weight so that she's sitting perched on the edge of his desk, legs crossed and one foot swinging.

"There are a few articles I need to post to the website later, so I was going to check court records, see if there's anything interesting in there." Most people didn't realize that all of those records are very, very public. The majority of them were boring, sure, but every once in a while you could find a diamond in the rough.

Is that busy work? She doesn't really mind research and investigation—it's definitely more her strong suit than, say, interviewing people, because she tends to demand answers rather than coax them out. Cobb and Cal are much better at that kind of thing than she is—they're friendlier, more unassuming. She doesn't have their people skills.

[thesepreciousthings]

When Cal got to his desk, he'd find the chair in front of it already occupied by one Director Starling of SHIELD, the early morning edition in her hand.

"Care to explain where you got some of this information, Mr. Vanth?"

[heypartner]

"Nope." Cobb had gotten it from lurking on rooftops and listening in with his heightened senses. Not something easily explained to the Director of SHIELD. "I have my journalistic integrity to think of."

He tapped his cane against the edge of the desk and made a bit of a show searching out a clean place to sit down. "Does SHIELD having something to hide? If the Director shows up, I've got to think I'm on to something."

Sometimes, Cobb lived to be a thorn in SHIELD's side.

[thesepreciousthings]

"I'm more inclined to wonder what you're hiding, sir," she said smoothly, crossing her ankles. She had sources that had reported someone that wasn't One of Theirs skulking around on rooftops, and she had her guesses. But she was no hero, no vigilante, and she didn't work on hunches.

"SHIELD releases relevant information in a timely manner, as you know: we believe in transparency, but we also like to be sure of our facts. This? This here? This is rumor-mongering of unconfirmed information. I could get this whole paper in trouble for libelous reporting if it continues."

[heypartner]

"You're a government agency. There's no transparency." Maybe some other folks would've found her intimidating but Cobb hadn't yet. She was one tough woman but so far, she hadn't abused her power. Not around him, at least. "You tell the public the story you want them to know. Folks like me, we make sure you're still being honest."

Because there was no way any government agency was completely honest with the public. He would make sure they're being honest and not off starting coups or whatever bullshit governments do.

"Ooo, scary. I'm sure our lawyers have heard it before. If you've got evidence anything I wrote up was a lie, I'd be happy to hear about it." Cobb scratched his chin. "But that'd mean you'd have put your cards on the table. Don't think you wanna do that Director."

[thesepreciousthings]

She set her jaw and her resolve. He used a lot of the slippery footwork most journalists did, wanting to play on her and push her buttons until she lost her temper on him and let something slip. That wasn't going to happen. She could play poker just as well as anyone, and the information he'd gotten had been a plan in its earliest prototype stages.

"Look, Mr. Vanth, that information you gathered - however you did - was in its infancy. If I can get you to swear - written affidavit, mind - that you won't mention me by name, I can give you a little more context, but you're going to have to reach across the table and trust me."