Before Felipe could shut the coffin lid, Oliver used two fingers to grab the bundled book from where it rested near the dead man’s feet and deposit it on the bench as gingerly as he would a bomb. They had wrapped the book in the linens the maid had dropped in hopes that it would keep the book safe,but more importantly, that it would keep others safe from the book. Since the magic appeared to be tied to the ink that was on the pages, Oliver was fairly certain the trap had burned itself out since the only ink that remained came from the dead man’s orifices. Still, he didn’t want to take any chances. The book could easily fall open or be handled by someone who didn’t realize what it was. Oliver pushed it further back on the bench with the blunt end of the scalpel, just to be safe. For the first time, he wished the laboratory had a vault where he could put the book until they were ready to examine it. Leaving it in the coffin or mortuary cabinet with their John Doe felt like a safer choice, but there was a chance it would get wet again before they could examine it. Oliver sighed and carried the dirtied tools over to the sink. No, much like the dead man, he would just have to deal with the book after lunch.
“Do you want me to order your usual?” Oliver called over the running water.
“Sure. Are you going to invite Gwen to join us?”
Oliver squinted at the clock on the far side of the room and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was only a quarter past noon. Between the grey weather and his schedule being upended first thing in the morning, he had completely lost track of time. He wasn’t sure if Gwen would be working since it was Saturday, but if she was, hopefully she hadn’t eaten yet. Scribbling a note to her, Oliver sent it up the pneumatic tube to the library. He had barely finished loading his dirty tools and soiled gloves into the autoclave when a reply hissed down the tube system. Oliver’s chest loosened a fraction as he read Gwen’s response; she would join them. He quickly added her order to theirs and sent it up to the kitchens.
Gwen had been in the back of his mind all day. They were supposed to go to the Mutual Aid Committee meeting together, but she had sent him a note during breakfast to tell him shecouldn’t make it and to take notes for her. Oliver frowned as he turned the autoclave on and washed his hands again. It wasn’t like Gwen to cancel last minute like that, especially not without an explanation. The fact that she had gone to work and was willing to come down for lunch suggested she was all right, but Oliver would feel better about it once he could see her. More than likely, she had been called away to deal with some library related emergency that took precedence over an optional committee meeting, and that was all.
Oliver turned to start the coffee pot only to find Felipe scooping grounds into the percolator and humming a tune he recognized from the play they had seen the week before. The cello’s sonorous notes resonated in Felipe’s throat as he looped back to the beginning of the section rather than finish the song. An affectionate grin crossed Oliver’s lips in time with the warmth blooming in his chest. Slipping behind Felipe, Oliver wrapped his arms around him and pressed his lips to his neck in time to feel the final echoes of the notes before they faded into a sigh of contentment. Felipe shivered beneath his hands and leaned into him. Oliver kissed the hollow under his jaw, working his way up his cheek to his temple. Felipe’s curls tickled Oliver’s skin as the shorter man turned and caught his lips. Oliver let out a noise of surprise that dissolved into a soft moan as he shut his eyes and let himself be drawn deeper into the kiss. Felipe stepped back and Oliver followed. Without breaking the kiss, he hopped onto the counter and drew Oliver closer until he stood between his legs. Heat rushed through Oliver’s body as Felipe’s knees bracketed him and his tongue skirted the edge of his lip before plunging into his mouth.
Distantly, his brain murmured something about sitting on counters, but he didn’t care. His hands tightened on Felipe’s back and side. He wanted so badly to pull his waistcoat and shirt up to feel the warmth of his skin, but he forced his palmflat against his side. They couldn’t go that far. Any minute now Gwen would burst through the door. Oliver trailed his fingers into Felipe’s curls as he kissed him so deeply for a moment he couldn’t think. The tether pulled taut between them in time with the blood rushing from his brain to places it ought not to go while on the clock. They were so close to the closet and beyond it their basement bedroom. They could be quick and quiet. Forcing himself to stop, Oliver pulled back. He kissed Felipe once more before resting his forehead against his as he caught his breath. For a long moment, they merely leaned against each other, the only sound in the laboratory their labored breaths. Felipe interlaced his fingers with Oliver’s and gave them a loving squeeze in time with a purr of contentment across the tether.
“If I didn’t know better, I would think you’re trying to distract me,” Oliver murmured, forcing himself fully upright.
At the flustered look on Oliver’s face, Felipe barked a laugh. A knowing smile curled his lips as he carefully tidied Oliver’s hair and tugged his tie back into place. “You seem to forget that you started it.”
“Not like that, though I promise I will finish it,” Oliver pressed a quick kiss to his lips, “afterwork.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
Oliver swallowed hard at the sudden heat in Felipe’s gaze, but before he could drag him into the closet, the lock on the door to the hallway rattled. Oliver’s mind raced as he sprung backwards and tried to think blood-cooling thoughts. Felipe had just hopped off the counter when the lab’s inner door bounced open and Gwen swept inside. Stopping short, her eyes widened as she threw her hand over her nose and mouth.
“Should I brace for corpses or organs? I forgot to ask,” she called.
“The coast is clear, Gwen,” Felipe replied as he finished loading the percolator.
“Good, because I like this outfit and don’t want it to smell corpsey. I still haven’t gotten the smell out of my church dress.”
As Gwen shut the door and came down the steps in the laboratory proper, Oliver eyed the outfit in question. Recently, Gwen had been favoring shirtwaists with colorful ties that matched her skirts for working in the library over her more elaborate gowns. He could understand why as it probably made it easier to climb ladders or deal with ink or glue stains. This was almost a hybrid between the two styles; it had the shape of a shirtwaist outfit but the more colorful fabric of a gown. The majority of the skirt and bolero had been cut from terracotta wool while the collar and hem were trimmed in sage green. Where most women would have worn a solid color shirtwaist, the fabric of Gwen’s was printed with poppies ranging from bright red to stark white and was capped at her throat with a serpentine brooch in the shape of a moth. The colors brought out the ochre notes of her rich, dark brown skin, and in the place where her braids converged, Oliver spotted a poppy-shaped comb.
“You do look very smart today,” Oliver said.
“Thank you. I thought I would get a little dressed up to make a good impression at the Mutual Aid Committee meeting, but as you know, that was a waste.” Rolling a stool closer with her powers, Gwen sank onto it with a huff of disgust. “The only ones who got to see my outfit were Mr. Turpin and a handful of patrons, all of whom couldn’t have cared less, except one of them had the audacity to say I looked like a potted plant.”
Behind them, Felipe smothered a snort. Gwen turned to him with a thunderous glare, but he quickly raised his hands in surrender. “For the record, I do not think you look like a plant. I was laughing because I’m fairly certain I know who said that.”
Gwen sighed. “It was Eleanor Sasson.”
“Of course, it was Miss Sasson,” Felipe replied with a shake of his head. “She once told me I looked like a handsome mushroom in my brown suit. She needs to spend less time with plants and more time with people.”
At Gwen’s begrudging laugh, Oliver drew closer but hesitated. It was at times like these that he wished he wished he shared a tether with Gwen the way he did with Felipe. Usually, her emotions were written all over her face, but today, he struggled to puzzle out the lack of emotion. It felt as if she was holding back, though he didn’t know what or why, but beneath her glasses, there was a tension around her eyes he wasn’t used to seeing on her features. Gwen didn’t tolerate bad behavior from him or from library patrons, yet she tended to be far more easygoing and flexible than him and thus, less prone to shifting moods. Oliver assumed her uncharacteristic reticence could have been from starting her day on the wrong foot. She had been quite excited to go to the committee meeting.
“I— I took thorough notes for you during the meeting,” Oliver said, hoping it would help. His notes could never be a replacement for actually being there, but he wanted Gwen to know he tried and took the task seriously. Skimming the notes he had taken that morning to make sure they made sense, Oliver chewed his lip nervously but handed them over. “I mean, I took notes while I was there. Felipe and I ended up being called away to a deal with a dead man partway through. The overall gist of the meeting is that Holbrook wants everyone to be involved in an open house sometime before Christmas. Today’s meeting was mostly introductions and figuring out how we might be useful in regards to said open house. I’m sure Reynard can fill you in on anything I missed, but at the end of my notes, there are several ideas Holbrook had for how you might be of service. He pointedly asked me to write them down and give them to you. He also said meet with you to talk about it before the next meeting.”
“Are you going to tell Gwen what else happened at the meeting?” Felipe asked pointedly as the percolator gurgled.
“I wasn’t planning to.”
Levitating the notepad from his hand, Gwen leveled him a hard look. “Ol, would you rather I hear it from you or Bennett? Either way, I’m sure I’ll find out.”
“Me, but it isn’t— I—” Oliver released a frustrated groan and caught himself before he could rake a hand through his pomaded hair. “We just got off on the wrong foot; that’s all. Holbrook decided to ask what powers everyone has, and I panicked because that nosey busybody wouldn’t have liked my answer and I wasn’t going to expose myself like that. I responded in a way that I thought was measured and controlled, which I later found out came off as rude. Holbrook thought I was being rude on purpose, assumed I was only there to take notes for you, and seemed very happy to see me leave early. He also probably thinks that I am a prick with an attitude, but the feeling is mutual.”
When Oliver raised his gaze to Felipe, he looked like he was biting his tongue to keep from saying more.
“I wasn’t going to say anything because I didn’t want you to think I was trying to weasel out of going to the next meeting with you by making you dislike Holbrook.”
“Were you being a prick with an attitude?” Gwen asked.
