Chapter Text
Hi Dr. Richter! Is it okay if my friend Kiki and I ask you for some advice?
Vyn blinked and smiled as he remembered Kiki, Rosa’s friend and co-worker. She had helped them during the case where they had to investigate Janus, and also ran into them while he and Rosa were out on their friendly dates – in a bookstore, holding armsful of manga that Rosa also became excited about. Vyn found her somewhat excitable, but kind and friendly. The discovery of Rosa’s interests in such media resulted in Vyn being introduced to the shows, movies and reading material that the two young women enjoyed, and to his surprise, found as a pleasant distraction himself.
It must be related to a case they’re working on. He tapped out his reply.
Of course. I was about to go to dinner. If you would like, I can pick you two up, and we can enjoy each others’ company with some good food. My treat.
Vyn had been planning to see if Rosa was available for dinner, but he truly didn’t mind entertaining Kiki as well. He found out quite a bit about the day-to-day of Themis Law from how relaxed Rosa got with Kiki present; and thus was better able to help alleviate Rosa’s stress. He’d been oddly touched when Kiki had messaged him, asking for advice on how to politely refuse a co-worker’s rather obvious attempts to try and shove more work on the intern without blowing up her own workplace relations. She had gotten him movie tickets as thank you and told him to take Rosa out to the movie she had been wanting to watch but wouldn’t take the time for.
“If you asked her, Dr. Richter, she would say yes!” And indeed, Rosa had.
I wonder if Kiki is able to perceive my courtship of her friend better than Rosa herself is. Vyn sighed as he took off his doctor’s coat and slipped on a grey blazer over his usual ensemble of white button down shirt and waistcoat. He paused in his small office bathroom to run a comb through his hair to ensure he looked as impeccable as always, before taking his doctor’s coat and work satchel, and clocking out for the day. He waved goodbye to the nurses he passed and the receptionist, and within minutes was pulling up to the curb that led to the plaza in front of Themis Law Firm’s building.
Vyn had just gotten out his phone to let Rosa know he was waiting when he heard his name being called. He looked up and saw Rosa, dressed in a lovely old rose and white businesswoman’s attire, and Kiki in a dark blue suit with a yellow scarf around her neck. As the two walked toward him, he placed his fingertips on his chest and bowed slightly.
“Ladies,” Vyn said in greeting. “You both look lovely this evening.”
To his surprise both of the girls each grabbed an arm and hustled Vyn toward the car. “Hi, Dr. Richter, we’ve got to go like right now hurry—” Kiki gabbled.
“We’ll explain later—” Rosa added.
“Er… Alright.” Vyn pressed his keyfob lock button and the three of them piled in as quickly as possible. When he pulled out into traffic, the two young women breathed a loud sigh of relief.
“We got out of there just in time,” Kiki remarked, looking back at the group of women that just came out of the firm.
“Sorry about that, Vyn;” Rosa said from next to him, looking apologetic. “We really didn’t want to go to the mixer.”
“Ugh, yeah. Just no.” Kiki shuddered in the backseat. “I know they mean well that they want us to find boyfriends but…”
Vyn glanced at the rear-view mirror and then at Rosa next to him. “...Forgive my ignorance, but what is a ‘mixer’, in this case? It seems to be a slang term I am unfamiliar with.”
“Mmm, it’s a group blind date,” Rosa replied. “Usually for the express purpose of meeting the opposite sex and getting a significant other.” A pause. “Kiki and I don’t have boyfriends so the busybodies at work want to keep introducing us to guys and bringing us along means more chances for them at the same time.”
Vyn’s brow furrowed. “More… chances?”
“Of finding a guy they might like, since having us along means two more guys along for the mixer,” Kiki shook her head and muttered. “This is why I prefer chasing idols.”
Vyn decided to distract them. “A Japanese restaurant opened up in the Victorian District recently; I was thinking it would be a good place to try.”
“Wait. You’re taking us to Shinzo’s?” Kiki gasped. “The wait list for that place is supposed to be two months long at least! How did you get a reservation at such short notice?!”
“I did not. I was consulted regarding a psychological matter, and I am supposed to come back to test the implementation of my consultation and evaluate it as part of my assessment.” His golden eyes danced with mischief. “But it is a lonely thing to eat alone in such a fine establishment so I thought I would share the opportunity.”
“Lucky us!” Rosa grinned. “Thank you, Dr. Richter! Is there anything we can do to help?”
“Just relax and enjoy the meal.” Vyn smiled at her. “It is all that is required of the two of you. My aim is to have the two of you de-stress.”
“Everything was so delicious and pretty!” Kiki exclaimed as she sank down onto Vyn’s couch later that evening.
“I almost didn’t want to eat the food, I thought it was so gorgeous.” Rosa settled down next to her. She smiled up at Vyn. “Good thing you reminded me that it’s all meant to be eaten!”
“Beauty in transience, a feast for the senses with which to enjoy the now,” Vyn said softly. “That’s what Tsukimi Ren wanted to achieve with his restaurant. You are supposed to feel that pang of hesitation, but then enjoy the fruits of the effort put into the meal all the more.”
“It was a wonderful meal and a rather dreamy experience. But I hope that everything you were supposed to do got done, Dr. Richter! I hope we didn’t distract you from your tasks.”
“Not at all. In fact, your being there helped me with the assessment even more.” Vyn moved to his kitchen. “I baked a dark chocolate and matcha cake earlier and found myself with little time to enjoy it this week. It will pair excellently with this cherry blossom green tea blend I recently obtained.” As he began his preparations, he looked more seriously at the young women. “Perhaps now you can explain to me why you two did not want to go to the mixers with your colleagues.”
“Well… it’s unpleasant to have to deal with that kind of pressure.” Rosa fidgeted. “I know, I should be having a boyfriend and living my best life, but I am enjoying my work! I feel like a boyfriend would get in the way of that.”
Vyn gently pushed down the nugget of pain that formed in his chest and busied himself preparing the tea. “I hope that when you do choose a relationship that your boyfriend will be understanding about your career while also helping you balance work-life requirements.”
“Where would I find someone like that?” Rosa asked helplessly.
In front of you? Vyn thought to himself wistfully. He kept his pleasantly smiling mask up as he waited for the water to boil. “I am sure there are men out there who understand their beloved’s need for independence. You should find someone that will not pressure you in a relationship.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not like we really want to be pressured but at the same time, we kinda are.” Kiki knit her hands together. “If we’re not up for a solid relationship it’s like we should be having a good time all the time. While it’s fun to go out clubbing once in a while, my idea of fun doesn’t involve always going out on dates or making sure my ‘youth is fully enjoyed’. Sometimes I just want to veg out on a tv show or online.”
Vyn brought out the tea and the three fourths of the cake he had remaining. He cut slices and poured the tea. “But… how you choose to enjoy your youth is entirely up to you.” The puzzled bafflement was clear in his smooth voice. “For example, whether you choose to go singing karaoke, or read a book, or take a nap as your form of relaxation is entirely dependent on your mood and physical and mental needs. If you wanted to scale a cliff side with your bare hands for the challenge of it to work out your stress then that is your needs met.” Serving out the tea, he sat down in his elegant and comfortable armchair.
“Have you done that, Dr. Richter? Scale a cliff? Wait, no, that’s not what I wanted to say!” Rosa waved her hands.
“I guess you’ve probably heard worse,” Kiki sighed. “But pretty much we’re being pressured to go on mixers and dates because we’re both still virgins.”
Vyn, who had just taken a sip of his tea, very carefully swallowed it instead of snorting it out his nose. He gently put down his cup and saucer. “Do you mean to tell me that your co-workers are pressing you to have sex with random strangers?” His voice was stripped of tone and inflection, leaving only the barest words as bones. “Specifically, because you are still…inexperienced?”
“Uh… okay I phrased it badly, because it sounds like borderline sexual assault when you phrase it that way.” Kiki grimaced. “I guess in some sense, it’s so that we’re not so naive and ignorant of male interest and advances, y’know? I mean… we’re not so completely dense and ignorant about that stuff - who is anymore, these days?” She twiddled her fingers together. “I mean, between the media and all that… what we just haven’t done is actually do it.”
Rosa fidgeted. “There’s also the sense that we’re not… well, women despite our age. We’re just girls.” She flushed. “Because we haven’t taken that step to adulthood, as it were.”
Vyn flexed his fingers, as if preparing to grasp a weapon and go hunting. He took a deep breath and forced the red haze of rage that was starting to form at the edges of his vision away. Calm. This is perhaps a cultural difference, a big one, that I have not run into until now. “If your not having experienced sex has your female co-workers deride you as not being a ‘proper woman’ then by that metric, I am not a ‘proper man’ either.” Vyn allowed some acid to sting his words, the only form of relief he could find in releasing some of his anger.
“What?” Both women stared at him.
“I too am a virgin,” Vyn replied. “And yes, I am aware of the pressures for men to sow their wild oats, so to speak, but I find nothing wrong in not having had sex. That is a personal choice, of when and with whom to engage in such intimacy with.”
“So… uh… I guess you are not opposed to the idea of premarital sex?” Kiki asked, hesitantly.
“What consenting adults do or choose to do behind closed doors is none of my business,” Vyn replied. He took a deep breath and sighed. “Forgive me. I did not mean to be… so upset. It offends me greatly to see two perfectly lovely, intelligent and spirited young women such as yourselves be looked down upon simply because you are sexually inexperienced.”
Kiki and Rosa looked at each other then at Vyn, and then fidgeted in embarrassment. “Truth be told, Dr. Richter… we’ve been talking about it and just between the three of us, we wouldn’t mind losing our cherries.” Kiki pushed her glasses up her nose.
“But… it’s a little scary to just hook up with someone we barely even know . The pressure is rather heavy to put out early on.” Rosa poked at her slice of cake. “None of the guys we’ve met at the mixers seemed like guys we’d really like enough to date, never mind go to bed with.”
Vyn ached inside with the need to protect and defend them. “Scary? Are you afraid of being physically harmed?”
“Well… yes. Hookups are kinda risky, y’know?” Kiki edged closer to Rosa. “The last time we went to fill the party a guy got really drunk and was very upset that Rosa didn’t want to go home with him even though she out-drank him and he lost his bet.” She shuddered. “Then there’s the risk of getting someone who’ll post naked pics of you online, or stalk you if you break up with them.”
“Then there’s the risk of STDs… and if you get one you’re blamed for it, even though logically it’s not your fault.” Rosa sighed.
Vyn stared at them, choosing his words carefully, remembering that he was just their friend, and that as such, there were certain things he could not say — especially not to Rosa, regardless of how he felt. “So you have considered and valid reasons for being careful with your bodies and choices. This is certainly commendable, and let no-one tell you otherwise. While I can understand that it is difficult to resist social pressures, this is one that only you should make the decision on. When you find a man that you feel attracted to enough — and feel safe enough with — to make the decision to welcome him to your bed, I hope that he is kind and worthy of that choice.”
The doorbell rang. Vyn excused himself to answer it, glad for the sudden interruption. Comfort yourself in the knowledge that Rosa and her friend trust you this much, to come to you and speak about such intimate matters that also leave them feeling vulnerable. He signed for the package — a book he had ordered — and set it aside on the kitchen counter. I have become this reliable to her… Hearing the two murmuring to each other, Vyn decided to give them a bit of privacy to recover, and headed to the guest toilet. Afterward he washed his hands more thoroughly than required to give them a bit more time.
Sighing as he dried his hands, Vyn shook his head as a realisation floated through his mind. So much for Kiki noticing my courting Rosa. With a wry smile, he exited the toilet.
Vyn sat back down and picked up his slice of cake, but Kiki and Rosa were quietly looking down at their own plates, not eating, their eyes focused on nothing. He sighed and put down his plate again. They are vulnerable. I must protect them. They need someone they feel safe enough to run to, and that person is I. I must emphasise this, especially in this regard.
“Rosa… Kiki…” Vyn waited until they looked up. “As an outsider to Themis, there is not much I can do about the social pressures you are both facing while at work. However, I can at least make myself available as an escape route if you need to avoid mixer functions in the future. If by some mischance, I am unable to personally come to your rescue, feel free to use my name in some excuse. Just let me know so I can corroborate your story.”
Rosa frowned. “Isn’t that unfair to you?”
With a shake of his silver head and a smile, Vyn put the final nail in his own coffin. “I am your trusted and reliable friend, am I not? If I can keep you safe with naught but my name and presence, then it is the very least I can do. I have said it before, if there is something you need and I can help, then you must not be afraid to ask me.”
“Really?” Rosa’s eyes widened. “Anything?”
“Yes.” Vyn nodded firmly. “You have honoured me with the trust that you can speak to me about such an intimate dilemma. I am certain that you would not have done so, if there was not anything I could do to help, even if it is just to listen, though I hope that I can do more than just that.” When they looked hesitant, he leaned forward and held out his hands to them both. “Please. Let me protect you from such things, if you wish to be protected. Anything you need from me… ask it of me.”
After a moment, Rosa, then Kiki put their hand in his. He smiled and squeezed their fingers reassuringly.
“Alright… you’ve convinced me, Dr. Richter.” Rosa’s cheeks turned pink. Her fingers curled around his. “We’ll ask for your help.”
Vyn smiled beatifically. “Good.”
To his surprise, Kiki turned tomato red. Rosa’s face also grew more flushed and the fingers that were curled around his tightened even more. What…?
“So… so… uhm… so I guess this means we go upstairs to your bedroom now?” Kiki stammered.
“Eh?” Vyn stared at them, feeling like someone had just whacked him with a mace. Hard.
Wait.
What?