Snow Lands On Top (book 1)

1: The offer

    It was 1:00 in the morning when Coriolanus waddled out of bed to grab the ringing phone. His hand fumbled in search of it in the dark penthouse. "hello snow residence..." Coriolanus grumbled, his face shifted from a grumpy one to a look of confusion. On the other end of the line, Dr.Gaul was rambling about some offer or maybe a new mutt. With a sigh, he rubbed his sleepy eyes before speaking "Sorry Dr.Gaul, I didn't hear what you said," he could practically feel the annoyance seeping through the phone. It was silent for a long moment before Dr.Gaul spoke again, "I want to see you at my lab tomorrow Snow,"

with that, she hung up, making the penthouse silent again. What could she want? Sure he had just finished his time at the university training under her but why would she call him at 1:00 in the morning? It doesn't matter. After all, if she summoned him then he had no choice but to go and if he wanted to make a good impression then he better get back to bed. 

The next morning he made sure to get up early. He needed time to look his best, especially if he was supposed to meet with Dr.Gaul. Everyone knew that she was crazy, one of her favourite things was torturing her odd creatures in the cold white lab that she practically lived in. The entire time Coriolanus studied under her, he never saw her go back home once. He always assumed that she just left extremely late every night, however she was always there during the earliest hours of the day, as well as the latest. In Coriolanus's eyes, this made her even less sane.

 As he slid on a sleek white button-up that he received as a 20th birthday present from the Plinths, he thought of poor Sejenus at the hanging tree. Sejanus. A day hadn't gone by where Coriolanus hadn't thought of him. Sure he liked to deny that they were friends when thinking of him, but in reality, he was the closest Coriolanus had to a brother. Deep down he knew that it was his fault that Sejanus was dead. the more he thought about it, the more excuses he made. Maybe he saved Sejanus from further embarrassment, one of those days he was going to screw up again. The more he thought about it, the clearer it became. Of course, if Coriolanus hadn't stepped up and reported him, then he would have faced an even more painful death. Yes, there was no reason to feel guilty! But deep down he knew there was.  Coriolanus shook his head, he didn't have time to dwell on the past. He had to make sure to get to the lab right away.

  Coriolanus gave Tigris and Grandma'am a kiss on the cheek as he ran to the door. He had to get going. After all, who knows what Dr.Gaul would do if he was late? Although she hadn't exactly given him a time, or had she? The phone conversation from last night was foggy, he was half asleep when she called. Still, being early would look good and there was nothing for him to lose.

With a shrug, Coriolanus strode out the penthouse door, straight down the many flights of stairs and onto the train. It took around ten minutes to get to the lab from the train station, but Coriolanus made it in 5. He did not want to disappoint Dr.Gaul, bad things happen to people who do.

Coriolanus sat in one of the many lab offices, The room was bright, the white walls and floors making it ten times worse. Coriolanus was sure that the longer he stayed in here, the more nauseous he would feel. His head had already started spinning, or maybe that was the nerves. He glanced at the candy jumbled in the rainbow bowl in front of him. Maybe the sugar would help his head. As he was reaching out, he decided against it. In his opinion, everything here was toxic. That would not be a good way to go. Coriolanus spun around as the door slammed open.