Jun. 15th, 2020 at 5:07 PM
DYSON + EVELYN
first meeting
JUNE 13th - afternoon | St. Augustine Hospital | PG-13
Taking off the black, thick-framed glasses, Dyson rubbed and pinched at the bridge of his nose for a moment. They were a special blue-light blocking type - being Fae, his eyesight was perfect. However, having to spend hours of his day working under the artificial fluorescent lights often became taxing. Thankfully, his reports were dictated and converted to files, grammatically screened through a computer program, and then faxed to his office for him to sign off on. If he had to spend hours hunched over the computer, like years ago, he might've found a different profession to pursue by now.
The Fae grabbed his pager from his desk and stood, leaving his glasses behind for the time being. Maybe if his eyes looked red and bleary the other members of the board would take pity on him and end the meeting early? Board meetings were such a necessary evil. For the most part he was only there as a courtesy — rarely did any policy changes within the hospital affect the Pathology department. And while he often enjoyed the busy addition to his day, there were times when he simply wanted to stay down in the basement. In the morgue. Where he rarely got visitors and didn't have to talk to anyone living.
He tucked the manila folder that had been on the corner of his desk against his torso and locked his office on the way out. Dyson slipped the keys into his pants pocket, opting to keep his hand tucked in as he walked — looking forward to going home to his dogs after a long day, perhaps even a swim if the weather permitted.
Oddly enough, he heard the elevator arriving even without him hitting the button. Hell, he was still only halfway down the hall. A body, perhaps? He didn't remember getting a call, and his pager hadn't gone off. Maybe one of his colleagues offering some coffee or leftover baked goods from someone's birthday? Or, and it wasn't completely unheard of, someone simply too curious for their own good.
When the doors finally slid open, Dyson stopped dead in his tracks.
A better part of Evelyn's morning had been spent creating the various arrangments that needed to be picked up or delivered. Ten arrangements for delivery and five for pick up. She worked alone, most of the time, and it was days like this where she wished she would hire someone on to help her. Maybe one of these afternoons she could ask someone to teach her how to put an advertisement up for an assistant florist position or she could find a way to teach herself. More than likely she wouldn't hire anyone on and continue to do the work herself.
With everything loaded into her truck, she started with the furthest delivery and worked her way back to her shop. One of the stops along the way was delivering a rather extravagant arrangement to the hospital, she always liked making deliveries to the hospital. It was nice being able to bring a smile to the patients (and even doctors) faces and bring a little brightness into their lives.
Parking in the visitor parking, Evelyn grabbed the arrangement. It was one she was proud of. Large and full of several of her favorite flowers: peony, roses, lilies, and tons of greenery. She took way too many pictures of it for that eventual website she would make for her business. Slamming the door shut to her old hunker of a truck, she made her way towards the entrance. It was a bit chaotic in the lobby, people being pulled in all directions. Evelyn attempted to talk with the greater.
"Good morning, I was wondering where I could find —" she was quickly cut off by the woman behind the desk.
"Down the elevator."
Blinking, she looked down at the name card and shrugged before making her way towards the elevator. Obviously the woman knew the hospital better than she did, so she followed the instructions. Waiting for the elevator to unload, she slipped inside and pressed the bottom-most button. Humming and rocking on her heels as she felt the elevator lurched into motion and began descending to the bottom floor.
Ding, the elevator door opened and she began to step out. The arrangement blocking her view and a bit too preoccupied with the delivery to check if anyone was in front of her. Within an instant, she clashed with the man standing before her. A squeak of surprise came from her as she tried to keep herself from tumbling backward. Her grip on the arrangement tightened to keep from dropping it.
"I am so so sorry," she apologized as she peeked around the arrangement and a soft oh sound came from her as she finally got a good look at the handsome fellow before her and her heart started racing. "H-hi..."
The flowers were perhaps the last thing he expected to see coming off the elevator. A body bag on a gurney, perhaps, or even a stressed looking vampire in search of a quick pick-me-up in order to make it through the rest of their shift. But not such an extravagant arrangement of very fragrant, very pink flowers. In the morgue, of all places.
Dyson couldn't help but look puzzled as they approached, quickly.
It was his own fault that whoever was holding them walked right into him, the petals smushing against his black suit and leaving small yellow stamps of pollen behind. As quickly as it had happened the tiny blonde, whom he could sort of see behind the flowers thanks to his height, had stepped back and then peered around the arrangement at him. "It's.. uh-"
What he had wanted to say was that it was fine, and no harm done — but any and all words quickly escaped him as he looked at the woman. Dyson could only stand there, staring, with his mouth slightly ajar. She was... beautiful. So much so, that in his nine hundred and some odd years of existence, Dyson was sure he hadn't seen true beauty until just now. Certainly nothing, and no one, had even compared. His heart, which felt like it was suddenly in his throat and keeping him from talking, was beating the loudest he'd ever heard it. Or, that he'd ever noticed. Half the time he wasn't even aware he had a heart, if he were being honest.
Had the heat suddenly turned on for some reason? Dyson couldn't help but feel as though he had tied the knot of his tie far too tight that morning. And oh gods — had she asked him a question? She must've. She wouldn't just stop and look at him like that. His mouth shutting quickly, and with a faint clear of his throat, he tried to recover from the adoration.
"Third floor."
As much as he tried he simply couldn't look away from her face, which he prayed didn't look creepy or like he was suddenly having some sort of cerebrovascular incident. "Y-you probably want th-the third.. floor," Dyson finished, suddenly wondering when his stutter had returned.
Unadbashedly Evelyn's bright eyes scanned over the length of his body — not once but twice until she noticed the pollen imprint on his shirt. An embarrassed flush covered her cheeks as she carefully propped the arrangement on one hip while fishing through the pockets of her torn jeans for something. After a moment she produced a floral print handkerchief and reached out to help dust the pollen away as she took one or two steps closer to him.
While she wanted to help get the pollen off his shirt, she used this as an excuse to get a better look at him. Momentarily she looked up at him, noticing the way his eyes stood out against his pale skin and dark hair. It was enough to have her pulse pounding in her ears, which almost drowned out what he said.
It took her a moment to realize he said that she wanted the third floor. She started to pull away before an interesting scent caught her nose and she had to resist the urge to step even closer to him. Personal bubbles was a concept she was still learning about. Quickly realizing she had been hovering around him too long, Evelyn took two steps back to give him a little room.
"The ahh... umm..," floundering as she tried to think of the word the wanted to use. "Receptionist? No, the hospital greeter! She pointed me in this direction." Even if she ended up in the wrong place, she felt like she was supposed to meet him. A strange feeling to have but she couldn't shake the polarity she felt towards him.
"Again, really sorry about bumping into you Doctor," she looked to see if he had a badge or any kind of identification on him that would give her his name if he didn't relinquish it to her willingly.
Even without the absurdly large bundle of flowers that literally cut through the smell of xylene, she was a breath of fresh air. And she stood out, remarkably so, against the grey, sterile backdrop that was the morgue. Hell she could stand out in a full garden of brightly colored flowers - he was sure of it.
Had she not been carrying the flowers he might have realized she was a fae as well. Maybe.
He willed himself together, desperately, enough to concentrate and not look like a blubbering idiot. Although with how close she had been standing he didn't know how much help it would be. A new feeling for him, and a slightly terrifying one if he were being honest. He couldn't help but study her features as she spoke; how the blushing of her cheeks nearly matched the deep pink of her lips. Her skin flawless from what he could see, and looking as if it radiated a sun-kissed warmth even on the coldest of days.
Tell her your name, he thought for a moment. But the need to assure her everything was fine overruled that logic. "It's quite alright, Miss," Dyson said with a tone of voice that was very much unlike his normal, calmly-low tone. For some reason he had sounded more cheerfully reassuring, amused even. "Really," he added for good measure, another clear of his throat as if attempting to reign his vocal chords in.
AT LEAST GET HERS! a small, but loud, internal voice screamed even as he smiled down at her. "Please, allow me," Dyson said, stepping toward the elevator, though his eyes never left the petite blonde. It took him two tries to find the button that opened the doors.
"You're beautiful.." he whispered in the moment of silence as they waited.
His eyes nearly bugged out of his head at the words that had unwillingly left his mouth. "They're. They're beautiful. They are. The flowers. The flowers are beautiful," the older fae said quickly, feeling his heart skip a couple beats before pounding away in chest again at the sudden plague of word vomit. Never in his many years had he been so.. disarmed by someone so instantly.
"Evelyn!" She blurted out when he called her Miss, her tone a bit too eager and willing than she would have liked. Looking desperate wasn't how she wanted to come across to anyone, especially someone that made her feel so alive. Tucking some of her hair behind her ear, she repeated herself. This time her tone a bit more controlled, but that excitedly feminine lilt to her voice still present. "My name is Evelyn."
Normally she would have been intimidated by the way he loomed over her, but the smile that graced his face was comforting. His smile was so distracting that she stood there like an idiot when he moved passed her to press the button for the elevator. She knew she should have moved, yet she was frozen there at the moment. Completely distracted by everything about him.
You're beautiful..
The moment those words escaped his lips Evelyn's blush turned a shade or two redder and her face brightened up like the sun peeking out from behind a cloud. Bashfully she hid her face behind the arrangement she was holding and her heart sank ever so slightly when he corrected himself. He meant the flowers of course. The last person to call her beautiful only wanted her for her blood, so she had a hard time believing she was attractive to anyone. As a human or a fae. Still, she couldn't help dwelling on the idea that he might think she was beautiful. It was enough to have her heart racing once more.
"I... Th-they appreciates the compliment," she murmured as she looked up at him through her long thick lashes, hoping she was smooth enough to catch herself.
Evelyn nearly jumped out of her skin the moment the elevator dinged on arrival, causing her to laugh nervously as she slowly made her way towards the open doors. "Are you going up as well?" She held her hand out to keep the door open as she waited for his answer.
ubconsciously, he was aware of just how badly he was handling the entire interaction. The Unseelie fae wasn't typically one to lose control, ever. His entire existence had been measured control, in fact. Until now. Although, he wasn't quite sure who was more to blame - her infectious smile and blushed, dimpled cheeks or his sudden unquestionable fascination.
Regardless, Dyson wasn't used to be looked at in such an innocent way. He was a Mors — a Bringer of Death and dreaded by most back home. Even a lot of the mortals were timid around him. He was the polar opposite of basically her entire being... But she didn't know he was Fae, and if she did she'd likely fear him, as well.
Even her name was beautiful to him. Dyson couldn't help but smile at her slight overreaction. For a moment it made him feel less ridiculous about the way he was acting.
The way she ducked slightly behind the flowers she held made him smirk. It was tempting to simply reach out and take the flowers but he didn't want to seem mistakenly forceful. Was everything she did utterly adorable, or had he just been lucky enough to witness the coy demeanor?
As she walked past him to enter the elevator once more he couldn't help but let his eyes close briefly, taking in the thick aroma of flowers - which would forever be associated with her in his mind. When he opened his eyes again her hand was out to hold the doors open in invitation. He wanted to. So badly.
"I'll take the next one," he told her kindly. She didn't need him staring at her the entire ride - which would be near impossible to avoid. That and he wasn't entirely sure he could tolerate the close proximity to her for that long.
The excited, almost borderline giddy, expression she had slowly began fading away when he said he would catch the next elevator. Her eyebrows knit together in slight confusion as she carefully removed her hand from holding the door open, placing it on the unsupported side of the arrangement she was holding.
"Of course," she acknowledged as she tried to smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes that almost seemed sad or disappointed. "Farewell, Doctor."
The brief moment before the doors slid completely shut, Evelyn's face faltered into a frown and she seemed to almost wilt before she was completely out of his sight.
She forgot to press the button for what floor she wanted, so she lingered there in the unmoving elevator before the realization hit her. In a panicked motion, she quickly pressed the button for the third floor, which sent the elevator ascending the floors to her destination.
The whiplash from the extreme shift in emotions she had felt within a short period of time left her almost stunned. There was a tight feeling in her chest, almost like someone was gripping onto her heart, and it made her uncomfortable all over.
Evelyn's mind was racing wildly as she wondered if she had done something to offend him, or perhaps the fragrance from the flowers was too overpowering? Whatever it was she felt like she had left a terrible first impression with him and feeling left her rather dissatisfied. She tried her best to cheer herself back up before she reached the third floor, but she still didn't feel her full self when she made the delivery. Thankfully it was someone she didn't know at the desk, so they wouldn't comment on her slightly down demeanor.
Upon leaving she decided to take the stairs — almost afraid to run into him again in the elevator.
"Enjoy the rest of your day," Dyson told her gently, genuinely wishing it for her. He couldn't help but note how her smile had differed. His eyes watching her retreat into the elevator and the doors slowly closing — every fiber in his being screaming out for him to go with her. And Dyson hating himself for ignoring it, simply to fight for some form of control back.
Witnessing her pout made him groan, internally, at how helplessly convincing it was. Just a glimpse of the sadness on her face made him basically prepared to sign his life away to her or give her anything she wanted.
When the elevator doors finally closed, so did Dyson's eyes — the fae letting out a heavy breath as if he'd been holding his the entire time. He leaned in, resting his forehead against the cool metal of the doors as he could finally hear it ascending.
What on Earth?
Try as he might, he couldn't answer the question himself. Straightening his posture and pulling away, he saw the blurry, distorted outline of himself in the polished silver. "Get it together," he told himself sternly. The whole interaction quite bewildering in itself. Purposely, he waited a few minutes so she had enough time to get to the third floor before he called the elevator once more. He'd be late, but that was farthest from his mind currently.
Upon entering the empty elevator, all he could smell was the heavy musk of the flowers Evelyn had been holding. He actually groaned quietly, out loud this time, in a helpless frustration. There was no way he was going to be able to attentively sit through his admin meeting.
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