Diaz & Ass., Tuesday

[two_idiots_one_body]

Arthur was back in the office today. He would say it was good to break up the monotony of the day, but so far his day had been anything but monotonous.

But really, Arthur, you were adorable, if clueless.

"Shut up, John."

Did I remind you about when you -

"Shut up, or I'm reminding you how much you enjoyed 'whack-a-gremlin'."

What? It was fun!

Arthur sighed.

Maybe there would be some actual business so he could ignore John and get on with things?

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[died8yearsago]

Well, if anything there was a boss who'd done some actual work over the weekend with an aversion to doing the paperwork associated with that work and also figured she had to be paying this guy for something, right?

Rosa very unceremoniously came in from after her class that morning with a coffee in hand.

"Hey, Lester," she greeted with quirk of her chin, "you working on anything?"

[two_idiots_one_body]

Recovering from eating -

Under the desk, Arthur savagely kicked his left foot with his right. John cackled.

"Not especially. I was going to see about calling the station to see if they had anything to pass on." Because they were surely swamped. Right?

[died8yearsago]

There was a pause, there, as Rosa, first tempted to just make some comment about how well that was likely to go for him, changed her mind.

"Good thinking," she said, moving over to her desk to have a seat and put up her feet. "You do that. I bet they could really use the help over there."

[two_idiots_one_body]

Of course, now Arthur was suspicious. But he reached for where he knew the phone was and held it up to his ear. John sighed and punched in the number for the station.

It rang and a man named Ralph picked it up.

"Yes, hello, this is Arthur Lester at Diaz and Associates. I thought I'd see if there were any less sensitive investigative work you could send our way?"

The laughter echoed over the phone.

Arthur scowled. "I assure you, I have worked with the Arkham Police several times, and they've been happy with my results. I'm very qualified. I realise you're likely busy -"

There was more laughter. John growled and hit the hang-up button, and Arthur swallowed an objection and set the receiver down. "So much for that idea."

[died8yearsago]

If there was ever a moment when Rosa wished she had some popcorn....

"Yeah," she said, "I definitely didn't quit that place due to being overworked. But I got something for you."

She fished something out of her pocket, holding up a small recording device.

Which she almost tossed over to him, but she'd noticed how Lester seemed to have a slight delay in all of his actions, and not just because she was used to people with stupid good reaction times, either. And she wasn't about to risk him failing to catch it and have the thing get busted on the floor.

[two_idiots_one_body]

"What -"

He squinted (though oddly, only his eyes - the rest of his face merely looked inquisitive, not confused).

I'm not sure what it is, Arthur, John confessed.

"I take it this is some future gadget I'm meant to recognise?"

[died8yearsago]

"Future?" Rosa quirked an eyebrow. "This thing's practically an antique."

She sighed, a little, putting down her feet and making a production of standing up and moving over to Athur's desk, sitting on the edge of it.

"It's a recording device," she explained, being a little overly demonstrative as she showed the keys and pressed the play button. There was a little pause on the recording before her voice emerged from it (State your name and the date for the recording--) before she shut it off.

"I use it for interviews, and, after, I'll transcribe them as well. But it's a pain in the ass to do."

[two_idiots_one_body]

"Let me guess, you want me to transcribe it for you?" Arthur said.

[died8yearsago]

"Wow," said Rosa, with a lift of her eyebrows, as she held out the microcassette for him to take, "you are good."

[two_idiots_one_body]

John reached out to take it from her.

"I have a highly trained investigative mind," Arthur informed her, deadpan. "I take it I use this thing?" He flicked his fingers at the computer, which he had developed a love/hate relationship with. It was easier than trying to write without seeing, but there were so many buttons and things, and half of them made no sense.

[died8yearsago]

"Preferably," Rosa said. "It'll be way easier in the long run, unless you're really so bored for something to do that you want to end up transcribing it twice."

[two_idiots_one_body]

"Tempting, but no." Or maybe later. He'd have to see how bored he was after he did it the first time. "Is there a specific system to use?"