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Front Page News

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.

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"Hopefully make positive change. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes it doesn't." There was only so much his words could do. He needed people to be motivated to change and try better. To take down the corrupt forces he exposed to the light.

He walked to the counter and ordered a black coffee. Cobb was a man of simple taste. "And whatever this guy wants as well," he said, jerking his head towards Cal.

"Sure, people get mad. They sue. They call me a liar. But there's evidence and that's damn hard to argue with. When a blind man can see you're guilty... you're guilty."

That was understandable. You couldn't dictate the outcome of things no matter how much you provided by way of information. But at least the effort made would be a starting point for some. That was an admirable goal.

"I bet some still claim otherwise even with all the evidence piled against them." People only saw what they wanted to see, sometimes.

Cal considered the menu board before ordering an iced coffee with some cream and a blueberry scone. "I can pay for mine," he said, not wanting to seem like he was taking advantage of a treat since he'd planned on getting something to nibble on beforehand.

"I'm sure you can but I'm going to pay anyway. Think of it as makin' up for draggin' you out for nothing."

Cobb wasn't going to back down so he made sure that his credit card was out first and handed over before Cal could really make a move. An extra coffee charge wasn't going to suddenly bankrupt him.

"I promise you, I do know Tony Stark and I have interviewed him. I'm not making that up." Cobb thanked the cashier once he got his card back and tucked it away. "I'll try to get you in on an interview before this internship is up."

Cal held back a sigh, however still smiling faintly as he shook his head and slipped his wallet back into his pocket. "Thanks," he said to Cobb, offering a shrug to the cashier.

"Oh, I wasn't doubting that you knew Mister Stark," he reassured. "It'll be cool to sit in on an interview with him, but I won't be disappointed if it doesn't work out. With everything happening, I'm sure he's a busy man."

"There's always something happenin' in Stark's business. But he's usually willing to talk." Cobb stepped to the side to wait the few minutes it would take for their coffee. Not a long wait because they got simple orders luckily.

He had some other questions for Cal but he could get to those. Cobb didn't need to bother him about Merrin just yet.

"He likes to talk, you see. Uses a lot of unnecessary words so you've got to pick out what's important and what's not." Cobb sometimes did that as well. It was a great distraction.

Cal pocketed his scone as they waited for their drinks, nodding as he continued to listen to Cobb. Completely unaware of that he'd so far dodged bullets for further personal questions.

He smiled crookedly. "Got it. Does he just like hearing himself talk, or does he just get carried away with things?" he asked.

"It's a little of both, actually. He has a stream of consciousness way of talkin'. You let him ramble and you might get something interesting. Or hear a lecture on the "magic switch computer"." Cobb could never tell which he'd get from Tony. That's what made interviewing the man so interesting. He's always interesting.

Also, possibly insane. Cobb was on the fence with that.

"That's another thing about interviews. Sometimes, if you just let people talk you'll get more than if you asked questions." Another skill that would come with practice.

That made sense, both about Tony's way of speaking his mind and about getting information freely from a person who's eager to talk. "You just need to know when to subtly prod them to stay on track, right?" There was, after all, such a thing as too much information.

Cal turned once they were called, getting both their drinks. "Here we go," he said as he held out Cobb's coffee.

"Yeah, a gentle hand to guide the conversation. Thanks." He took the coffee and ran his thumb across the top to find where to drink from. He took a sip right away because he lived off coffee and would drink it at any time of the day or night.

"Speaking of conversations," he said with a little grin. "Noticed you and Merrin gettin' close at the office. Anything you wanna say about that?"

Because Merrin absolutely would not. He figured out her feelings though. Merrin had a little crush on this guy.

Cal had been drinking a bit of his iced coffee at that moment, stopping abruptly if only to cough as that last sip went down the wrong way. Was springing completely non-sequitur questions on a person also an interviewing tactic? He thumped a fist against his chest as he cleared his throat.

"She's part of the reason I end up with so much shredding to catch up on. Although between the two of us I'm not sure who has the more tedious job," he said, smiling crookedly. "I knew her from way back. It's kind of funny how someone you haven't seen in years ends up going to the same school as you."

Alright, he could've timed that better.

"Yeah, she's efficient." Cobb was real proud of the work Merrin did even though it wasn't exciting or that interesting she still gave it her best. He'd done something right in raising her, at least.

"So, just catching up with an old friend?" His tone was a little skeptical. Cal should have a crush on his daughter. Merrin was a great girl. Any guy would be lucky to date her.

Not that he'd be real disappointed if Cal wasn't interested in dating Merrin. It'd be nice for Merrin to have a good friend too. She was a little awkward sometimes.

The intern ducked his head, taking another, albeit careful sip of his drink. "Well, yeah? I guess. It was all kind of sudden when she had to move away..." He was suddenly all the more thankful of having ordered an ice coffee. It was getting warm in here all of a sudden.

"I didn't know she was going to be interning at the paper too." It was nice being able to see her more than just during a few classes or in passing at school.

The tragedy of Merrin's early childhood was something Cobb was very familiar with. He covered the story. It was how they met. How he got to know the girl and eventually decided to adopt her. He was a little... protective of his girl.

"She kept pretty quiet about it. Doesn't want anyone thinking she got the internship because of me." Cobb kept as hands off as possible so that everyone knew it was all above board and fair.

"But we're talking more about how you seem to have some feelings for her. Which is fine. You're both almost adults. Just want to make sure you're not going to do anything stupid." Cobb didn't think so but he was a dad.

Cal nodded over his drink. That was understandable, and sounded very much like the Merrin he'd come to know.

At least this time he didn't choke as Cobb got right back to things, but by that point it was anticipated, if not so direct. That directness was why Cal had to smile a little, even as he shook his head.

"I... Yeah, I guess I do. But I don't want to complicate things, and if how things are right now between us are comfortable, then that's fine."

Well, at least Cal had admitted it. Cobb hadn't thought he'd do that. But turned out, Cal was a pretty honest kid. No wonder Merrin liked him.

"That's your choice. You can always take the risk," he offered with a little shrug. He wasn't going to reveal his daughter's crush. He was a good dad, kept her secrets, but he might try to nudge Cal a little.

"Sometimes, the only way to find out the answer is to ask."

It seemed pointless to try hiding a fact if even a blind person could figure it out, but even more so was the fact that it was also Merrin's father asking him. Cal had still been working out his own feelings on the matter as it was, and hadn't felt particularly wrong when he'd said the things he did.

"I know," he said, smiling a faint, lopsided smile. He took another sip from his drink, arching a brow. "I'm kind of surprised you're the one telling me these things."

"Well, the way I see it. I could threaten you and be really controlling about Merrin's life or I can be a decent dad." He shrugged a shoulder. The whole threatening boyfriends thing felt creepy to Cobb. Cal was just a kid and kids made mistake.

He'd take care of Merrin if she ended up heartbroken. But it didn't even seem like they'd get that far.

"Would you like me to be threatening?" He shook his finger in the general direction of Cal's face based on the sound of his voice. "Don't you touch my daughter now or I'll get a shotgun. Pretty sure someone will sell a blind man a gun. This is America."

Despite the 'threat', Cal's lips twitched into a lopsided smile. "Cliché doesn't suit you, Cobb," he said. "I'm glad Merrin has you looking out for her, though. I mean, not that she doesn't seem like she can take care of herself, but at least she has someone."

But he took the man's words to heart. Take a little risk. That applied as much to getting a lead on a big story as it did potentially asking someone out on a date.

"I'm fantastic at cliches. What are you talking about?" Cobb chuckled before sipping his coffee. He was a little worried about his girl starting to date but hey, every partner had to go through this.

Merrin would absolutely destroy this kid if Cal broke her heart. So, Cobb wasn't panicked about it.

"I encouraged her independence. Stuff like that matters when you're raised by someone with a disability." After all, Cobb spent most of his life with people telling him he couldn't do something because he was blind. Of course, he raised his girl not to listen to that bullshit.

"Not that disability means inability," Cal observed as he pulled his scone out of his pocket to have a small bite.

"Should we start heading back? Not that I'm not enjoying being out of the office, but I think senior reporters have more leeway than interns do." Coming back without an interview was one thing, but he didn't think going for coffee would fly as an excuse for him.

"To too many people it does." Even in this modern day and age people still thought blind meant helpless. Cobb was clearly capable. Perhaps a little too capable sometimes but no one looked that closely. "You wouldn't believe the bullshit the state put me through before I could adopt Merrin."

Because being blind meant he'd be a bad parent or some nonsense. Cobb had a hard fight but it was well worth all the legal fees. Merrin was the best thing to happen in his life.

"Yeah, we probably should. If we take too long the boss will figure out I don't do anything but cause problems." He started making his way towards the door.

Cal shook his head. "Hard to prove yourself when they don't let you get the chance." That seemed hardly fair, but it was probably a good thing that Cobb seemed the stubborn type to go to whatever lengths to get something done.

He started after Cobb as they decided to take their leave then. "You? Cause problems?" he grinned.

"I know, who would believe it?"

Once they were outside the coffee shop Cobb once again went to flag down a cab. He hoped next time they went out it would be better. There's nothing that replaces good, old fashioned, experience.

"If anyone asks, I had an interview lined up that Stark canceled at the last minute." Because otherwise, it looked like they had wasted a lot of time for nothing. Cobb wasn't sure he could get in trouble for this one but better to be safe than sorry.

Cobb was easy to talk to. Cal felt a little more reserved around the other reporters. He laughed as he stepped outside, tucking the rest of his scone back into his pocket as Cobb hailed a cab.

"Got it," he said. Given how busy Stark sounded it was entirely plausible, and it wasn't like they hadn't tried.

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