How Heroes Are Made
By Joker's Specter

My entry for rounin's fanfic contest. This will be a multi-chapter fic consisting of a few chapters. I don't usually write stories like this, so hopefully this will be a good attempt. If anybody is interested in joining the contest, I believe you can find the rules in rounin's profile, and there is also a post at the Golden Sun Chat forum here on the site for discussion. Competition would make me a happy author.
-Joker



Disclaimer:
Golden Sun is owned by Nintendo and Camelot.


The people in the town of Vale were enjoying a peaceful era. You wouldn't believe it by looking at it, but the town was founded by sages and warriors, set to guard Mt. Aleph for eternity. The mountain that held the secrets to alchemy was highly regarded as a sacred place, and for centuries the adepts of Vale honed their skills to protect it from intruders. Wars were waged against the town for control of Mt. Aleph, but as the world gradually wasted away, so did the will to fight.

Then the wars stopped. As the need for battling died away, so did Vale's image. Soon, the adepts of the town changed their priorities and began making a living, began raising families, and generally just enjoyed the time of peace. Other than the sages who still guarded Mt. Aleph faithfully, the townspeople let their abilities slowly die away until new generations only retained the basic of psynergy skills. Despite several of the old laws still being in place and the occasional use of basic psynergy, the town completely evolved.

No longer having a need for many weapons, most of the businesses that sold blades and armor shut down. Throughout the years, as travelers began to come by less and less due to the strict laws that allowed minimal freedom in Vale, even more of the weapon dealers went out of business. The chain went on until only one remained, a shop that sold both weapons and armor.

The owner of the building was an old man by the name of Mr. Romar. The aging man ran it most of his life when he took over from his father, but as time took its toll he found it more and more difficult to walk the distance to the shop every day. Mr. Romar hired a single employee to work during the week for him. Little did that employee know just how boring a job he had taken. Still, the man worked and did what he could, and simply just enjoyed the peace like everyone else.

In a time before Saturos and Menardi's mission; a time before Mt. Aleph's eruption that would change everyone's lives. Even before Isaac, Garet, Jenna, and Felix were born...

...there was Kyle.

Inside the dusty, dark shop, nothing could be heard but the soft sounds of a man sleeping. Boxes of swords and armor were scattered around the room. A few chairs were placed rather randomly around the sides, as well as some plants that desperately needed watering. Several were completely dead.

In one of the back corners at a counter marked "Kyle's Desk", the top of someone's head could be seen. The messy, light-brown hair was collecting some of the dust from the counter as the man moved in his sleep.

Nearly every day was like that for Kyle. Shortly after taking the job, the eighteen-year-old set up the extra, unused counter as his desk where he would goof off until a customer walked in. Papers with drawings were strewn everywhere, as well as half-eaten food and several wood-carvings. he had gone to great lengths to entertain himself; sometimes it was weeks before a customer would walk in.

Kyle often wondered why the old man kept him employed, especially every day of the week. But as long as he was getting paid, it wasn't a problem to him. Mr. Romar had no wife and kids, and from what Kyle could guess, the old man got quite a large inheritance along with the shop. It didn't seem like it was too much of a problem.

That particular day, Kyle was having a very interesting dream. He was quite annoyed when he felt someone tapping his head, waking him.

"Mm, huhn?" he slurred as he rolled his head over and sat up, blinking.

"Oh, so you are alive," said a female's voice.

Kyle blinked again, only seeing an outline of a woman in the dim light. It also didn't help that he had blurry vision. He rubbed his eyes and said, "What can I help you with?"

There was a moment of hesitation on the other side of the desk. The woman looked around, studying the shop with an intense stare. "I don't think you can help me, actually. You seem to have a hard time helping yourself," she said in amazement with a strong voice. "How can you breathe in here?"

The young man yawned and finally took a good look at the lady, immediately recognizing her. Vale was small, so Kyle had seen everybody at least a few times. She had wavy shoulder-length red hair, an average figure and a plain face. Her clothes consisted of a simple casual dress that ran all the way down her legs. He decided that if he made it a practice to rate girls, she'd probably be a seven. Not that he rated girls, of course. If he remembered correctly, the woman's name was Doreen.

"Doreen, right?"

"Dora," the woman corrected.

So close. Kyle stood up from his chair and leaned over the counter, spreading dust everywhere. A thin layer coated his cotton shirt. "So... Comments on my work habits aside, what can I do for you?" he asked lazily. He bet himself ten gold pieces she needed a knife for the kitchen.

"Oh, uh... " Dora took a step back away from the dust. "Yes. I work here now, actually."

Kyle's pale-blue eyes actually widened. He hadn't expected that. "You do? What do you mean?" he questioned.

The girl coughed and covered her mouth. "Oh, yuck. May we please go outside to talk? This dust and smell is disgusting," she said, then went through another coughing fit.

Kyle let out a heavy sigh, thinking she was just being dramatic. Still, he didn't want to bother arguing. After a quick stretch, he walked out from behind the counter and led Dora outside.

Squinting, Kyle immediately sat on the grass and leaned back against the shop wall. He grunted and shaded his eyes with his hand.

"Ahh, that's better." Dora said with a bright smile. "You've made it very disgusting in there."

In the sunlight Kyle decided she was a six. Her insistence that his work habits were messy probably had something to do with that...

Dora turned to stare down at the young man, her bright-blue eyes studying him. "I know you," she said. "You're Kyle."

Squinting at her, Kyle said, "Did you want an award?"

Raising an eyebrow, Dora replied, "And you're extremely rude." She crossed her arms.

Kyle sighed. This was taking way too long. He wanted to go back to sleep. "I think...that we got off on the wrong foot," he said. "I'm Kyle, you're Dora. We're acquainted. So, how may I help you?" He convinced himself he misheard her about working at the shop the first time. This time he paid closer attention.

"I thought you knew that I was coming by today," Dora said with a confused expression. "Mr. Romar hired me a few days ago, and I start today."

Okay, so he didn't mishear. "Why would he hire another employee? Am I fired?" he asked, his full attention finally on the conversation.

"Not that I know of..." Dora said. "I'm not replacing you. I'm taking over the new section."

"New section?"

Dora stared at Kyle, as if she was trying to figure him out. "You really didn't know? Mr. Romar hired me to sell other wares here starting today. Herbs, elixirs, antidotes, and so on." She turned to look at the shop. "I honestly thought you knew."

Kyle stood up and scratched his head. "Not that I can remember... But if that's what Mr. Romar decided, then sure. Sounds like a plan."

"Yes, that is the plan."

Yawning, Kyle said, "Yeah. Welcome aboard. So, when are the items coming in?"

Dora pointed a few feet to Kyle's left at the ground. "They already did. They came in yesterday."

Kyle looked down where Dora was pointing. Sure enough, eight sealed boxes were stacked on the grass in front of the shop, with a delivery notice of the previous day. "Oh. I didn't know they were coming."

The red-haired girl stared at Kyle. "Clearly," she murmured.

Suddenly a thought entered the young adept's head. He ran a hand through his light-brown hair and said, "I think we have a problem."

Dora tilted her head. "I suppose we do, but we may be thinking of different problems. What's yours?"

"Where are you going to sell from? All the armor and weapons are packed behind the counter," he said.

The sigh didn't get past Kyle. He watched as Dora put her face in her hand. So far he wasn't too impressed with her.

"Venus give me strength..." she muttered. She used her hand to brush her wavy hair back and stared hard at Kyle. "The identical counter--I think you call it your desk--is what Mr. Romar intends on me using. You'll have to clean the counter and the space behind it," she added firmly.

"Wait, what?" a stunned Kyle replied. "But I'm all set up there!"

Dora broke eye-contact as she looked down in thought. "Well," she said, and crossed her arms. "It is really gross in that corner." Her blue eyes met Kyle's again and she added, "Then how about you move all the weapons and armor to that corner, and I'll take the counter on the right?"

Kyle almost laughed. "Do you realize how heavy those boxes are?"

Shrugging, Dora said, "Why don't you use Move?"

A pink tint appeared on Kyle's cheeks. "Well, I'm not very good at psynergy yet..." he admitted. "I don't really practice."

Dora narrowed her eyes. "How odd. Then I guess we have no choice but to go with the first idea, hm? I'm going to stay out here and make a list of the inventory in these boxes. I think that's the safest job I can do while you clean out the shop."

"Th-The shop?" Kyle stuttered. Did she want him to clean out the entire thing?

"It's your job to maintain a clean building, Kyle. I can't stand it in there. At least get rid of all the dust in the shop while you're cleaning the counter."

A small amount of anger began coursing through Kyle as his eyebrows furrowed. Who did she think she was? He was the first one to work there. What made Dora think she could tell him what to do? Next, she'd probably ask him to--

"After you're done, you can move the boxes inside. I'll instruct you on where we should put them."

Kyle crossed his arms and looked hard at Dora.

The young lady blinked. "Huh. You're getting angry."

There was no reply from Kyle.

"Well, I'm not sorry. Most women would have run screaming from that place. You're lucky I'm even willing to work around the door," she said, waving him off. She turned around and moved toward the boxes. "You'll feel better about it once it's done. A man has to do what a man has to do."

Kyle glared at her back. He definitely agreed with the last thing she said. Spinning on his heel, he walked away from the shop. "This man has to go talk to his employer," he said, marching in the direction of Mr. Romar's house.

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Three knocks didn't feel very satisfactory to Kyle. His good mood from earlier had dropped significantly, and he wanted to keep rapping at the door to vent. Still, Mr. Romar was a good person, and he didn't want to annoy the man by pounding on his door too much.

Kyle suddenly found himself in an odd position as he heard Mr. Romar approaching the door. It wasn't often the young man became this heated. He had always been so laid back and calm. Nothing really phased him. Why was he suddenly acting like this?

Those thoughts gave him the little push he needed to force a smile when Mr. Romar opened the door, wearing his pajamas. The balding, heavy man held a cane at his side. The few areas of hair he had left were all grey and white.

"Good morning, sir," Kyle said a little bit too quickly.

"Oh, hello Kyle! What brings you here?" Mr. Romar said in his rough voice.

Kyle thought about that for a short moment. He didn't want to start complaining right away. What he needed was...delicacy. Unfortunately for him, that wasn't his strong point.

He sighed. "Well, sir. It's about the new employee."

Mr. Romar's eyes studied Kyle. "Is that so?" he said.

A nod from Kyle. "Yeah. I don't really think we'll get along."

The sudden grin on the old man's face surprised Kyle. "She's making you clean the shop, eh?"

"Yeah! How'd you know?" Kyle asked with wide eyes.

Mr. Romar chuckled. "I know how she can get," he responded. "She can be a tough one to get along with."

"Exactly!" Kyle said. "I've only known her for five minutes or so and I can already tell that."

The grin widened on the Mr. Romar's face. "Oh? Well, let me give you a tip, Kyle. It gets easier as time goes on."

"How do you know?" Kyle asked.

"Oh...well, I've known Dora her whole life," Mr. Romar said. "She's my granddaughter."

That prompted an understanding nod from Kyle. Then he immediately froze in surprise. "Wait, granddaughter? You said you have no kids..."

Mr. Romar's grin faded into a soft smile. "Well, I did have a son, but he passed away."

Kyle put two and two together. "So Dora's dad...?"

"Yep."

"Oh." Suddenly Kyle felt like he needed to be nice to Dora. He wondered if that would be possible.

"Dora didn't know him, so she doesn't feel sadness over it. Not that I can see, anyway. He died when she was just a baby," Mr. Romar said as he stared at a spot on Kyle's chest. Kyle couldn't figure out what he might have on his shirt until he realized the old man was simply thinking. Probably reflecting on past memories.

Kyle wasn't sure if he should say something or let his boss keep on reminiscing. Fortunately, Mr. Romar looked up after a moment and smiled again. Kyle wasn't the most observant person around, but he could've sworn it was a fake smile.

"Sadly, I'm afraid you're stuck with the situation. Dora's at the age where she needs work, and there's just not many available jobs out there. Plus, selling the new goods will help the shop out," the old man said as he scratched the side of his head. "The new trade route from Vault should do wonders for us."

Kyle was a little bit more understanding now. Of what, he wasn't sure, but he knew the situation couldn't be changed. He had originally meant to offer to run the entire shop, including the new goods, on his own, but Mr. Romar was right about there not being much work out there. With a sigh, he nodded.

Mr. Romar put a hand on Kyle's shoulder. "You're a good kid, Kyle. That's why I hired you. I trust you'll be able to adjust accordingly."

The compliment helped boost Kyle's confidence. "Thanks, Mr. Romar. I'll do what I can."

He said his goodbyes and started to walk away, but then stopped just as his employer stepped back inside.

"Hey, Mr. Romar?" he called back.

The old man poked his head back outside. "Yes?"

Kyle bit his lip, wondering how he should phrase what he wanted to say. Finally he just shrugged and said, "Any tips?"

Mr. Romar laughed. "A man can never hope to truly understand a woman."

A look of confusion crossed Kyle's face. Was that the tip? Or was he admitting he didn't know any?

Still chuckling to himself, Mr. Romar disappeared back into his home. Kyle suddenly felt less confident. Mr. Romar was nice, and pleasant to be around. Dora was...not like her grandfather. And Kyle suddenly realized that talking to him really didn't solve anything. At least, it didn't put anything in Kyle's favor.

He ran his hands through his hair as decided to take the long way back to the shop.

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Dora tapped on her inventory list with her pencil as she stood next to the crates. The information was written down neatly in perfect handwriting. To top it off, she got bored of not having anything to do and drew fancy designs around the edges of the paper. Shortly after that, she started humming a song that she was making up on the spot.

She sighed and looked around. When was Kyle coming back?

Placing the inventory list on the boxes, the red-haired lady decided to walk around the building to get a better feel for the place. Despite her grandfather owning it, she never did see it quite so close. It was an interesting feeling, really. She felt as though it were a part of her; something of her own. Of course, she knew well enough it wasn't hers, but...that didn't mean she couldn't appreciate it.

The building was old and looked like it had been fixed up quite a bit over time. The roof had different types of covering, from a thin top layer of straw, to some dead leaves, sticks, and grass on the bottom. Dora realized that made this one of the earlier buildings to be built in the town. It was very fascinating to her.

The walls of the building were in good condition, which pleased her. The roof would need fixing soon, though. Dora couldn't imagine that it would be able to stop water from leaking in during a rainstorm. She momentarily wondered how it had stayed in such a bad shape for so long, until she remembered who was taking care of the place.

Dora rolled her eyes, even though nobody could see her. Then she finished her walk around the building until she was standing next to the open door again. She wanted to cover her mouth, just in case, but suppressed the urge.

Peering into the shop, Dora wrinkled her nose and squinted. It was so dark in the building. The windows needed cleaning, too. And what was with the smell? She bet that whatever it was, it was at Kyle's "Desk". It made her want to gag; she wasn't sure how she managed to stay in there as long as she did before.

Dora peeked over her shoulder. After once again seeing no sign of Kyle, she turned to stare at the shop. She glared and said, "Well, fine. A woman has to do what a woman has to do, too."

She reached back and tied her red hair into a ponytail. After a moment's consideration, she reached down to pull the front of her long dress up over her mouth and nose. Her bare legs and underwear were showing, but she figured she'd rather die of embarrassment than die of some horrible disease she could catch in Kyle's mess. It also helped that nobody was around to see her.

Breathing in deep the last fresh air she'd get for a few minutes, Dora bravely took a hesitant step inside the shop. Then another, and another, and continued on until she walked behind the counter that Kyle claimed was his desk.

"Ugh. Figures," she muttered into her dress. The place was a mess. Old food was scattered everywhere, papers were stacked in random piles or just in single sheets on the ground or desk. The trash container was overflowing. And not only that, but the message box was filled to the brim with notes. Dora wondered if Kyle even knew what it was.

She walked over and grabbed the top message and read it.

Kyle,

The crates of goods I mentioned in the last message are coming today.
Make sure you take them inside. Also, Dora will be coming in to start
work tomorrow. Don't forget to welcome her with open arms.

Romar

Dora rolled her eyes--something that was likely to become a habit around this place. Open arms? She doubted anybody would want to be touched by Kyle until he washed himself several times in a row.

Dora grabbed the next card and ran her blue eyes over it. It was just as she thought. Most of the recent messages mentioned her employment and what she'd be doing, when she'd start working, and so on. Kyle probably hadn't checked the messages for weeks. The messages were sent by her grandfather early in the morning, apparently before Kyle started working. Or maybe Kyle was just asleep when the messages were brought by--Dora wouldn't be surprised about that.

Sighing, Dora looked around the rest of the counter. A few drawings that were sitting by the chair caught her attention. She picked the top one up and stared at it. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it wasn't bad. The half-finished drawing of what looked like a girl walking by a river at least had the anatomy and perspective right. She thought he could tone down the huge bust, though.

With a smirk, she put the paper down. That wasn't shocking based on what she had already found out about him. She had noted his eyes often traveled down to her chest when they spoke earlier--probably without him even realizing it. It was difficult for her to stay as professional as she had. Kyle would definitely need a slap one day. Probably sooner than later.

Suddenly, Dora heard the door creak. She gasped and spun around in surprise, dropping her dress in the process to cover herself.

"I didn't expect to see you in here," Kyle said, amused.

Dora coughed and slowly walked out from behind the counter. "Funny," she said. "I didn't expect to--" she ended up coughing some more, and decided she didn't want to be in the shop anymore. Raising her finger, as if telling Kyle to wait, she walked out of the shop with her breath held. When she was successfully outside, she turned around and put her hands on her hips.

An eyebrow slowly arched on Kyle's forehead.

"Oh, don't look at me that way. It's horrible in there," she said angrily.

Shrugging, Kyle replied, "I don't mind it."

Dora clenched her teeth and scowled at Kyle. "Normal people mind."

Kyle narrowed his eyes and glared back.

Surprisingly, Dora was the first to break the eye contact after the two stared at each other for a minute. "Look, I'll ask you nicely. Will you please clean the counter, and get rid of the dust? I need to get set up," she said. It almost sickened her how she sounded. Begging wasn't something she liked to resort to, but when she looked at Kyle, she was rapidly thinking she might have to.

In an unprecedented act, Kyle actually gave in. "Yeah, fine."

Dora opened her mouth and her eyebrows rose a few inches. "Huh?"

"I'll do it."

There had to be a catch. "Why?"

Kyle walked up to the door and looked right into Dora's eyes. "I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for the old man."

"Oh," was all Dora responded with. She couldn't argue with that.

Nothing more was said between them as Kyle set to work. He took out an old box of cleaning supplies and started with the counters. Seeing the rag after one swipe, Dora quickly realized it wouldn't be enough. She headed home and grabbed her own cleaning supplies and several rags. Before she left to hurry back to the shop, a thought came to her. Rounding off her supplies, she grabbed a jar of water, and then departed from the house with everything stuffed into her arms.

Arriving back at the shop, she was pleasantly surprised to see Kyle still working. She wondered if maybe he wasn't as lazy as he appeared.

"I brought more things to help with the cleaning," the young lady said as she placed the box of more up-to-date supplies in the doorway.

Kyle was busy searching for a broom. "Yeah, thanks," he said without looking at her.

"And water," Dora added, placing the medium-sized jar on the ground next to the box.

A dirty look was shot from Kyle. "Now you want me to clean with water, too?"

Dora was taken aback for a moment. "N-No. Idiot. The water's for you to drink," she replied defensively.

Kyle's eyes softened. "Oh. Okay."

As expected, Dora got no apology. She didn't think the idea to apologize had even occurred to him. Still, being sorry wasn't necessary as long as he was cleaning.

"I'm going to work on the outside of the windows. Maybe you should start on the inside of them; it'll help with the cleaning if you can see what you're doing," Dora said as she yanked a rag out of the box and moved toward the first window.

Kyle stared at the windows and scratched his chin. He didn't really want them clean, since he enjoyed being able to nap in the darkness. Curtains would be a good investment for his section, he decided. Dora wouldn't let him keep one window dirty and one clean.

As expected, not a single customer showed up during the afternoon. That allowed Kyle and Dora to work without interruptions, and soon enough the place was looking halfway decent. Once Kyle had dusted most of the place, Dora felt safe enough to walk in and give him a hand with the cleaning. She insisted he clean up his desk himself, however.

"Where am I supposed to put it all?" Kyle asked, staring at his mess.

Sweeping the other side of the room, Dora said, "I'd say most of it is garbage."

"Garbage?"

"Yeah--you know; trash, litter, refuse, waste?"

Kyle's expression turned sour and he glared at Dora. "I'm not stupid. I meant; what do I have here that's garbage?"

Dora couldn't tell if he was joking or not. She decided to go with her gut feeling and said, "Uh, well... There's the half-finished food that's laying everywhere."

Kyle glanced at all the food that had several bites in it, then had been set off to the side. "Well...I was planning on saving it all for later."

Unable to help it, Dora put her hand over her face and sighed. He sounded serious. She was in absolute amazement at the guy. "You must want to die an early death."

"No, not really."

Dora set the broom against the wall and walked over to where Kyle was. "That food will make you sick if you eat it after leaving it like that for so long," she said. Was she going to have to teach Kyle how to eat, now? Where the heck did he grow up at?

Kyle shrugged. "It hasn't been making me sick."

Her jaw dropping, Dora exclaimed, "You mean you've been eating it?!"

"Yeah," Kyle responded simply, followed by a nod.

Dora studied him again. She found herself doing that often. The young lady continuously found herself increasingly disappointed in him. She felt sorry for whoever would end up marrying the lazy slob. It hadn't even been a full day and she already wanted to give up on him. There was almost no hope.

Kyle suddenly flashed a grin. "Nah, I'm just joking. I'll go grab a box for the garbage."

As he left, Dora found herself speechless. The lazy slob tricked her. Here she was, worried about his health, and he returns the favor by fooling her and making her worry even more! He was such a...a...

"Jerk," she heard herself mutter as he walked out the door.

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Kyle retained his grin for several minutes after he left the shop. That had been extremely satisfying. The expression on Dora's face was priceless, too. He actually wanted to sit down and sketch it--maybe even frame it on the shop wall. That would get under her skin.

Then he remembered Dora's father, and how she had grown up without him. Maybe he was being too mean? He wasn't exactly used to handling people who had dead relatives. What if he pushed it too much? Where was the line?

And yet, Mr. Romar did say she's not upset by the fact that her father died. She was eighteen years old or so, and her dad died when she was a baby. That's a lot of time to get over it. Kyle needed to fight back somewhat, otherwise she'd assume full control of the shop and boss him around just for the sake of not letting him sit.

For a fraction of a second he wondered what the benefits of quitting would be. Then he stopped that train of thought and mentally kicked himself; what would that accomplish? Then Dora would win, and he'd be out of a job. He still lived with his parents, after all. He needed a job so he could pay for a house to be built. How would he reach that point if he quits when something goes wrong?

Kyle sighed. His job had gone from the least complicated thing in his life to the most complicated in the span of a few hours simply by adding a girl to the mix. He was amazed at how that worked. The thought led him back to Mr. Romar's "advice". The notion that a man can never truly understand a woman seemed to be dead on the mark. He wasn't sure he could ever comprehend the pushy redhead. It was far from worth the effort to try too hard.

Upon reaching his house, Kyle searched through some junk until he found an empty crate that was in moderately good condition. He carried the crate outside, set it on the grass, and then grabbed the top edge with one hand. With a slow pace, he began to walk lazily back to the shop, hoping that by the time he got back there Dora would have made a lot of progress.

When he finally reached the shop, he was surprised to find Dora going through his papers. That wasn't exactly the progress he had in mind.

"What are you doing?" he asked curiously as she shuffled through his drawings. He couldn't help but notice the amused smirk plastered on her face.

"Organizing," was all Dora said.

"Why are you organizing my stuff?"

Dora looked up at Kyle. "I thought it might be helpful. Venus knows you couldn't possibly do it by yourself."

Kyle's eyebrows creased in annoyance. "I could..."

"Shall I organize them by date, or by breast size?" she joked as she leafed through the drawings.

A few seconds later Kyle yanked the drawings out of Dora's hands. "I'll move my things," he snapped.

Dora's sly smile remained, despite Kyle's outburst. "That's fair enough," she said as she walked around the counter. "I finished sweeping."

Kyle felt Dora's eyes on his back as he gathered all of his drawings into one large stack. He didn't really want to do that, but he suddenly felt very vulnerable with them sitting out there for Dora to see.

"I suppose I'll bring in a few of the lighter crates while you work on cleaning there," he heard her say behind him.

"Actually," Kyle said quickly. "It's time for my lunch break." He sat down in his chair and pulled out a bag from underneath the counter.

Dora, who had already stepped out the door, reappeared in the doorway and said, "But we aren't done yet!"

Kyle smiled down at his food as he pulled it out. He wasn't the best cook, but his constant work allowed him to get some decent food. Fresh bread, cooked meat, ripe fruit, and a few treats for desert. He also had a glass bottle of water, which came in handy since he had finished off the jar of water that Dora had brought him. "Sorry, I don't know what to tell you," he responded. Eyeing his meal, he reached for the treats and ate them first.

Placing her hands on her hips, Dora frowned in disapprovement. "Why are you being so complicated?" she inquired. "We'll be done in another hour."

"And I'll start up again when I'm done eating," Kyle said with a full mouth. He really didn't care if she understood what he said or not. He leaned back in his chair, swallowed, and said, "Why don't you run home and eat or something? Might do you some good."

Dora took a deep, calming breath. "I prefer to reward myself after a job well done. If we eat now we'll get lazy and it will go slower."

Kyle shrugged. "Lady, it's slow around here all the time. You'll learn that."

Dora scowled. "You idiot. That's why we're trying to improve the place as quickly as possible--so that we can pick up more business!" she exclaimed. Clearly the calming breath didn't help.

Sighing, Kyle closed his eyes. He really wasn't in the mood to argue. Why couldn't she just leave him alone to eat in peace? Every woman should know that a self-respecting man worked better on a full stomach. "I highly doubt your little herbs will bring in more business," he said. It was a real thought he had, and he hadn't meant it as an insult, but apparently it came out that way. Dora's eyes narrowed and she stormed out of the building.

Kyle stared at the doorway as he slowly chewed some bread in his mouth. He suddenly remembered the adage "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned", and wondered if maybe he had just made things worse for himself.

The young adept forcefully pushed those thoughts aside and went back to his meal. It was break time; he could worry about all that later.

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Dora sat on a stump a few yards away and tried to wipe her dress clean. It had collected a lot of dirt and dust from the work, and looked like she had worn it for weeks. She made a mental note to not wear a dress anymore until the shop was completely clean. It wasn't exactly fancy or anything, but she still would prefer not to ruin a perfectly good dress.

Groaning in irritation, she gave up and leaned forward and rested her chin in her hands. The day was not going at all like she had expected. As she woke up that morning, she had hoped to be set up and ready to sell within an hour or two. It had been almost four hours and she wasn't even close to ready. At the rate they were going, she would have to stay late setting up. She had been hoping to make a nice celebratory dinner with her family and boyfriend, too...

But Kyle... Dora frowned and looked back at the shop. What was his problem? It was all his mess. She shouldn't even have to clean it up, yet she'd been helping him most of the time and he still had an attitude toward her. Did he treat everyone like that, or did she do something wrong? All she was doing was making him work on a responsibility he agreed to take on. It's not like he wasn't getting paid for it...

What would it take? She didn't want to complain to her grandfather--after all, Kyle had reluctantly done some cleaning, so there was hope. Dora just had to figure out how to motivate the man. It would be a personal challenge of hers, and not something she should hand off so easily to her grandfather to fix. With a mindset like that, she was sure she could change things.

With a rough nod, she stood to her feet and marched back to the store. Her mind was made up; she was certain she had an inkling on how Kyle's thought process worked. Maybe she could use that to her advantage. Walking into the store, she saw Kyle was still slowly eating his food.

"Hey, what's your favorite meal?" she asked firmly.

Kyle's expression made him look like he was staring at a trap. "Huh?"

"What's your favorite thing to eat?" She wasn't at all surprised she had to repeat herself for him.

They stared at each other for a few minutes. It seemed like Kyle refused to speak. Dora sighed. "Look. We need to find a middle ground here. I appreciate you helping clean the store--for my grandfather's sake--but we also need to get along or we're going to have problems in the future." She didn't really believe they'd ever get along, but at least finding some middle ground would be satisfactory.

Kyle raised an eyebrow and said, "What does that have to do with my favorite food?"

Time to turn on the charm. Dora walked up to the counter and gave a sweet smile. "I'll make you a deal. If you work hard for me this week, I'll prepare your lunch every day out of whatever you want," she proposed.

The idea seemed to appeal to Kyle. Dora could just see the wheels in his head turning. "And," she said quietly, as if it was a secret, "as a bonus, at the end of the week I'll make you a big dinner as a reward. Whatever you request, as long as it's within reason."

Kyle seemed to be all for it. "And I just have to finish cleaning the shop?"

Dora almost lost her smile, but she managed to hold it in place. It was an important moment. "No," she said with a quick shake of her head. "You have to do everything I request that involves our job here. Also, lunch is only to be eaten when I say so. I promise I won't make you wait too long for it, however."

Now with all the information clear to Kyle, he seemed to be hesitant. "Are you a good cook?" he questioned.

Dora's smile grew. "The best," she said with just a slight amount of arrogance. "In fact, if you don't like the first lunch, I'll give you one chance to call off the deal."

Kyle looked down and appeared to be deeply considering the proposal. Dora wondered just what happened to him that led him to be so lazy. Most hard-working men would take the deal right away.

"Just this week?" Kyle finally asked.

Dora nodded. "Yep."

"Can I add one more thing aside from the meals?"

The female adept really did drop her smile that time. "They're not enough?"

Kyle shrugged. "They are, but I'd like some curtains too if it's not too much trouble."

Dora was dumbfounded. "Huh? Curtains? What for?" she sputtered out.

"The window," Kyle stated, pointing to his side of the room. He then added, "The sun is too bright for me, so I thought I could use the curtains to dim the room when business is slow."

A perplexed expression crossed Dora's face. After considering the other benefits of the request, she couldn't deny him. The room desperately needed more color. His reason was a little...disappointing, to say the least. But at least it would improve the shop overall. Her smile returned. "That's a good idea. I'll make a set for both windows."

A sigh of relief came from Kyle, then he chuckled. "And here I thought you'd hit me for being sexist and assuming you could sew."

Hearing that, Dora suddenly did want to hit, or at least scold him. But she restrained herself, since she was a little embarrassed she hadn't caught that herself. "I'm letting it slide this time," she said, looking away. Then, to change the subject, she asked, "Are you done eating yet?"

Kyle looked down at his meal. "Nope. You interrupted me. I'll get right back to it."

Impatience flooded through Dora. However, due to her new mindset of trying to get along with Kyle, the best she could do was ask him to "please hurry", and then she wandered off before she was unable to resist telling him to stop thinking with his stomach. After all, that was her key to using him for the next week.

!-1- -1- -2- -3- -5-!
!-8- -1- -3- -2- -1-!

Much to Kyle's delight, the rest of the work that day went by in a blur. After throwing away all of the garbage, it was simply a matter of moving his stuff over to the weapons and armor counter, and then bringing in the crates that were sitting outside for Dora. She had opted to do the rest at her new counter. Probably because she didn't trust Kyle's idea of clean, but as long as it allowed him to do less work, it wasn't a problem for him.

After that, it was simply a matter of lounging around and watching Dora clean up her area. The counter Kyle was somewhat forced to move to was already empty except for a vase, so wiping all the dust away was easy. Behind the counter, armor and weapons were stacked in boxes and on stands for had been there since Kyle started working, and so far he hadn't had to restock. There just weren't enough customers.

Before he knew it, it was closing time. Dora had half of the crates unpacked as Kyle stood up and stretched, preparing to close the shop. He was about to tell her it was time to lock up when a black-haired guy about their age walked in.

Kyle was about to ask him how he could help them when the man said, "There's my hard worker!" Grinning, he walked up to Dora.

Dora smiled back. "We're closing soon, silly. You'll have to come back tomorrow." She gave a wink and walked around to give him a light kiss on the lips.

The man didn't take her eyes off of him. "I know. I'm here to walk you home."

Kyle just watched with amusement. He was more entertained that Dora somehow had a boyfriend than by the fact that they didn't seem to remember he was there.

"That's sweet, Hun, but I need to stay a bit late tonight. We had, er..." she looked at Kyle, "a slow start."

The man looked over and noticed Kyle for the first time. "Ah, hey there," he said with a small wave. "The name's James."

Kyle gave him a nod. "I'm Kyle."

James smiled. "Good to meet you." Then he turned back to Dora and said, "So...that's a cancellation of the celebratory dinner?" He gave a joking frown and whimper.

Kyle suppressed a gag, and instead decided to stare at the floor.

"I'm afraid so. We'll postpone it until tomorrow night," said Dora, hugging him.

A few more things were said between the two of them that Kyle really had no interest in, so he went about his business pretending to be organizing his counter until James left.

When the man shut the door behind him, Kyle walked around the counter and tossed Dora the key to the shop. "Looks like you're locking up."

Dora grabbed the key and walked it back over to him. "I have a copy," she said, looking him in his pale blue eyes. "Kyle, you are serious about this deal, right?"

Snapping his finger's, Kyle suddenly said, "Oh, right, I almost forgot!" He strode over to the counter and grabbed a folded paper he had tucked under the vase. He hadn't given it to Dora earlier because he didn't want to stop her while she worked, just in case she got any more bright ideas about him doing something extra. "Here. It's what I want to eat for each day of the week."

Taking the paper, Dora studied it for a few seconds. Her lips formed an amused smile and she said, "You don't get much variety in your meals, do you?"

Shrugging, Kyle said, "You said my favorites. Those are my favorites."

Dora tucked the paper away in her dress pocket. "Okay, fair enough. I'll see you early tomorrow then."

"Yep," he nodded, and turned to walk out.

Before he could disappear, Dora called, "And Kyle?"

Kyle turned his head. "Yeah?"

"Wear some light clothes tomorrow. It's going to be a hot day."

Raising an eyebrow, Kyle just nodded. He didn't want to drag things on any longer. The sun was starting to go down, and he didn't want to miss the only hour of sunlight he had free during the day.

As he walked home, Kyle concentrated on the last thing Dora said. It wasn't hot in the shop, so what would he need light clothes for? He was a bit worried, since he had pretty much agreed to be her slave for the week. He didn't know what she had planned the next day, but he was certain he wouldn't enjoy it.


End: Chapter One