No Confessions

Ch29

    "What shall we do tonight?" Lucy asked, sitting herself into her corner chair. "I assume you'd like to stay in. You've always loathed parties. I always had to drag you from your desk to go with me." Lucy laughed, reaching out to Mina.
    Mina stepped forward to sit beside her love. Because the corner chair was quite small, Mina opted to simply sit on the ground. Taking Lucy's hand, she offered "Why don't we go out? You seem home-bound."
Lucy looked down to Mina sitting on the floor. Her eyes were full of sincerity. She was genuinely asking. She was tempted, but she knew how Mina detested parties. "Mina, you know how I adore parties, but I also know how you hate them." Mina looked up, surprised. She opened her mouth in a kind protest but Lucy continued before she could. "I will not put you through something such as that. Do not put yourself through pain for my sake."
Mina nearly scoffed. "And what of all the times you've dragged me from my home to go out with you? Lucy, really. You are quite the hypocrite some days."
"But I never brought you anywhere where there weren't any quiet spots!" Lucy cried. "And–and you even asked me to take you to some of the places!"
Mina frowned. It was true. Lucy had never taken her anywhere without showing her the quiet spots in the location. Nor had she ever brought Mina anywhere she knew would make her blatantly uncomfortable. Not that it ever truly mattered; Mina always felt safe when she was with Lucy. "Fair."
"So what are we to do?" Lucy asked, sinking down to sit on the floor by Mina. "Work?" Sarcasm.
"Hey, why not." Genuine.
"Seriously?" Lucy laughed, dumbstruck. "You're–not kidding, are you?" Lucy seemed to droop. Mina was always working. All day, everyday.
Almost.
Mina had eased up on her work after Lucy and her 'got together'. She had more free time for herself, however, she often didn't know what to do with it. Mina had even begun her writing habit again. This time however, she was not writing to Jonathan, but to herself. A recollection of her life and of stories to tell again. Mina had often gone to buy journals to write in, but soon she found she was quite fond of writing on a typewriter and simply folding the paper into the journal. 
"No, I'm not kidding." Mina laughed at Lucy's unapproving face. "Come now, love. I have an idea. Why don't I teach you how to use my typewriter?" Lucy paused for a moment then nodded enthusiastically.
Mina's typewriter sat on a desk in the Westenra's foyer. The pair decided it should stay there due to all the time Mina spent there. Because her father was often out working at the hospital, if Mina stayed home, she'd be completely alone. Before, Lucy often found her working at home, alone and for odd reasons, in the dark.
"To the foyer I suppose." Mina breathed, standing up and lifting Lucy with her. "Come along, my dear."
"Okay..."

____________________

"What in blazes."
Mina snorted. Lucy was sitting at the desk, completely clueless about the machine in front of her. "It's not that difficult, really!" Mina chimed, handing Lucy a sheet of paper. "Just insert the paper into the machine and I'll show you the rest."
"I–so–I don't know how to do that." Lucy admitted, ruffling the paper in her hands.
"Okay, don't worry, Luce. I'll show you." Mina said, leaning into Lucy's back. "Right here, this is the platen." she said, pointing at a long cylinder roller running across the typewriter. "Look here." Just behind the roller is a small, flat angled piece of machinery that tilts back slightly. "That's the paper table. You want the paper to be between the roller and the paper table."
Lucy sets the paper into the space between the two, following Mina's instructions. "Now what?"
"The roller knob, on the side." Mina said, pointing to a small knob on the right. "Turn it counterclockwise. Towards you. This feeds the paper into the roller. Keep turning it until the paper is just behind the keys."
"Like this?" Lucy asked, looking at Mina for praise.
Mina smiled down at her. "Yes, just like that." she breathed. Something shifted in Lucy's expression. Something knowing. Suggesting. "Lucy, no."
"Lucy, yes." That same look.
Mina just sighed, moving her face away from Lucy's. "Next is setting the carriage; the part that moves the roller across the paper. Each time you hit a key, the carriage moves the roller to the left a little. You want to start with the carriage as far right as it goes." Mina instructed, leaning over Lucy to help her move the roller. "I've already set margins so there's no need to worry about that."
"Can I start typing now?" Lucy asked, unamused. She didn't seem to enjoy all the preparations for writing for this machine.
Mina chuckled at her lack of enthusiasm. "Yes, you can. It's a bit tricky though. Each key causes a stamp to press into the paper. You want to type hard enough that the letters stamp on clearly. Maybe try typing somewhat slowly, Luce; since you've never used a typewriter before."
"And if it gets to the end of the page? I mean, I can't write on the same line forever."
"I'll show you when you get to it. If you get to it."
"Okay." Lucy hummed and began typing. It was slow at first, but she quickly became more fluid. Soon, the typing stopped with a ding. "Mina..." Lucy called, staring at the machine.
"You didn't break it, Luce." Mina assures. "You just reached the end of the line you're writing on. You have to return the carriage to start a new line. The carriage return lever," Her hand pointed at a metallic lever at the left side of the typewriter. "Press it and push the roller to the right until it stops. You can start typing again."
"Thank you, my darling." Lucy said and resumed her typing.
Mina couldn't help but be mesmerized by the sounds. No matter how many times Mina's used the writer, the sounds it produced never failed to captivate her. Her mind blurred and her only concentration was on the sounds of the typewriter. Her focus then wandered to Lucy's typing hands.
Slender fingers dancing among the keys. It was as if Lucy had everything she wanted to type already with her; something Mina was never able to do. She made no spelling mistakes nor any take backs of words. Letters inked themselves onto the paper, although MIna never focused on what they said. She had only changed the ribbon days ago, so all of Lucy's words would be clear as the day.
"I can feel you watching me type. You can't look at the paper, Mina. It's a secret." Lucy called out Mina from her thoughts.
"Okay, I'm not looking at the paper. Just the keyboard."
"And my hands upon it." Lucy hummed, her typing pace unchanged. "Oh Mina, my love?" She gave a hummed response. "Do you wish my hands were elsewhere?"
Mina's face grew hot. "Else–where?"
"Elsewhere." Lucy reiterated. "On you, perhaps?"
"Lucy!"
"Mina?" Lucy asked, eyes of innocence.
"I–you–why must you–" Mina took a deep breath. "Forget it. Keep typing whatever you're typing. Why must you be so flirtatious with me? I do not deserve to be constantly flustered."
"Now who's the hypocrite." Lucy mumbled through a smile.
"Just–keep writing whatever your 'secret' is."
Lucy's typing continued and Mina's mind gladly melted into the sounds. Time went by and Mina heard the distinct sound of paper leaving the roller.
"Mina! Mina, look!" Lucy exclaimed, looking excitedly between her and the paper in her hand.
    "How long were you writing?" Mina asked, looking at the words on the page. It was nearly covered top to bottom in ink. "Is it a letter? It seems to be formatted as one."
    "Not just any letter!" Lucy pointed out, handing her the paper. "A love letter. To you of course. My heart belongs to only one. The angelic Miss Mina Murray."
    "Right, right, you simp. Am I to read it?"
"What  else would you do with a letter addressed to you?"
"Thank you, I suppose."
"Read!" Lucy insisted. She seemed quite proud of her work.
"Okay, okay!" Mina laughed, taking a moment to be enamoured by Lucy's enthusiasm. "I'm reading, I'm reading."