Chapter Text
Tiresias was walking down the road, his white cane tapping on the pavement in a comforting rhythm, Nova trotting beside him. The guide dog kept a vigilant eye on him the entire time.
It was raining but of course Tiresias, with his hands full, couldn’t hold an umbrella, so he was trusting on his jacket to keep him warm and dry.
Soon Nova stopped in front of a door, the door of the coffee shop.
“Good girl…” Tiresias muttered, his voice a bit shaky from the cold. “Let’s go inside and get warm, huh? I’ll get you a pup cup if you want.”
Nova looked up at him, practically with stars in her eyes. Tiresias knew what it looked like, even if he could only see the blurry outline of the dog. Everything was even more muffled now that it was cloudy and raining.
Tiresias reached for the door handle and pushed the door open, smiling at the familiar chime of the bell above the door. He was greeted by the warmth coming from the hearth and the comforting smell of coffee.
He walked up to the counter, still tapping his white cane on the ground. Eventually he reached the counter.
“Hello! What could I get for you today?” The barista at the counter asked, unnervingly cheerful, especially for such a gloomy day.
“Just a black coffee with 3 shots of espresso and a pup-cup.” He replied, knowing damn well that it’s going to kick him in the ass later.
“Okay! That’ll be 5.40.” Tiresias nodded and got his card out, he always had them in a specific order in his wallet so he knew what card was where, but he had a small sticky tag on one side in braille just to be sure that he had the right one.
As soon as he paid, Nova walked him over to a table, he sat down on one of the chairs, Nova sitting between his legs. Tiresias gently scratched her behind her ears, she raised her head slightly so he could scratch her nose too.
Tiresias chuckled. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” He teased, Nova just gave him a huff in return.
Soon his name was called, he stood up, and like normal the world spun for a second.
But it didn’t stop…
As he felt his remaining vision fade and Nova trying to get him to sit down again, he fell, landing in someone’s arms.
“Gotcha.” They said, their voice strangely soothing.
Tiresias felt himself being lowered to the ground, his hyper-aware ears hearing the other person huff a bit, clearly struggling as well.
He felt Nova lay down on his legs, a comforting pressure as he felt himself lose consciousness, the world getting muffled.
----------
Hermes sat in one of the booths, working on his laptop, though he wasn’t eating or drinking anything.
He looked up as the barista called out another name ‘Tiresias’, such a beautiful name, he could easily use it in one of his books. Hermes scanned the room, looking for the person called Tiresias.
Hermes saw a good-looking man stand up, he looked young but also like he had gone through a lot. His eyes were slightly cloudy. As he stood up, a beautiful Border Collie also stood up.
But Hermes, being as hypervigilant and experienced with medical episodes as he was, immediately noticed the signs of someone about to faint. He immediately got up, dashing over to the young boy and catching him just as he fell. “Gotcha.”
Hermes immediately lowered him to the floor, he huffed a bit as his legs screamed at him for the strain.
As soon as Hermes got Tiresias on the floor, the Border Collie got on his lap, giving pressure therapy.
Hermes patiently waited the few minutes it took for the boy to regain consciousness.
One of the baristas came over. “Sir, is he okay? And do you need anything?”
“I think he’ll be okay, judging from how his dog reacted, this has happened before. He’ll need something salty and some water, I’ll pay for it.” He replied.
“You don’t have to pay, sir. This is a medical emergency, you shouldn't have to pay for anything, plus, we’ll be happy to help.” The barista answered, them probably having a good nature and being sympathetic.
“Thank you.” Hermes answered, smiling up at them.
“No need to thank me, it’s only the bare minimum.” The barista said as they went back to the counter, getting a salty snack and some water.
The boy began waking up. “Hey, you okay?” Hermes asked, his voice soft.
The boy immediately tried to stand up and get away from him. “W-who are you…?” He said, his voice panicked.
“Calm down, I won’t do anything, I promise. You just fainted.” Hermes said, still in a soothing voice.
Nova, noticing her owner’s distress, licked his hand.
“B-but who a-are you.”
“Hermes. And lay down, you’re going to faint again if you keep this up.”
Tiresias nodded, now recognizing that the stranger, Hermes, didn’t mean any harm. He laid down again, resting his head on Nova’s back.
Just then the barista came back, holding a bottle of water and a packet of salted crackers. Laying them on the table. Hermes gave them an appreciative nod.
“Are you feeling up to drinking some water?”
Tiresias nodded, the movement making his head spin, the flare not having passed yet.
“Okay.”
Hermes grabbed the bottle from the table, opening it and placing it in Tiresias’ shaky hands.
As the boy drank, Hermes also opened the crackers. “Here, get some salt in you.”
“You seem to know a lot about this.” Tiresias muttered, making the other blush.
"I'm just interested in medical stuff, plus, I know a few people with medical struggles."
"Ah..."
Hermes smiled, watching as the lad ate a few of the crackers.
“You feeling a bit better?”
The boy nodded, sitting up a bit more. This allowed Hermes to see the other’s cloudy eyes. “You’re eyes…”
“Stargardt’s disease.”
“Progressive blindness.”
“Yeah.”
----------
After a while Tiresias was able to stand up again, Hermes supporting him a bit at first.
The barista had remade Tiresias’ order, bringing it over to him. “A black coffee with 3 espresso and a pup-cup.”
“Thanks.” Tiresias said as he took the coffee from them. “Is it still raining?”
“No, you want me to walk you home? Just in case anything else happens, I don’t want you to be alone in the open right now.”
Tiresias gave him a bright and appreciative smile. “I would like that, thank you.”
“No need to thank me.” Hermes said as he gathered his laptop and notebooks.