pro·pi·tious adjective
giving or indicating a good chance of success; favorably disposed toward someone
Chapter 10
Cheren heads out early on Saturday morning to go to the bookstore.
There's a new book out on move sets that he'd like to incorporate into the lesson plan he's been working on. He needs to get busy. They'd done about a month's worth of lessons in advance, but they're halfway through those at this point. He doesn't want to wait until the last minute. He supposes they could wing it if they really had to – Alder is certainly knowledgeable enough - but that seems like a horrible idea.
Alder isn't awake yet when he leaves, so he makes sure to close the apartment door behind him quietly before making his way to the store. He's actually so early that they're barely open when he gets there, just coming to unlock the doors as he walks up. It's the same lady as usual, and he smiles at her while she lets him in.
"Morning," he says.
"Good morning," she greets, looking tired.
Cheren quickly moves through the store to the new release section, hoping the book he wants will already be on display so he doesn't have to go find it on the shelf. He's in luck. There's a tidy pile stacked in the middle of the table, and he grabs a copy and heads up to the register.
"That was fast," she comments, ringing him up and telling him the total. She gives him a thoughtful look as he swipes his debit card.
He feels her eyes on him and looks back at her curiously as she slides his book into a small bag.
"You know," she starts, handing over the bag by the handle. "We're looking for a part time employee. You wouldn't be interested, would you?"
He blinks, surprised.
"You seem to know your way around pretty well," she explains. "That's all we really need. We get a little shorthanded when it's busy."
Cheren considers the idea for a moment. "I don't know…" he says. "I'm only really free on the weekends." It might be nice to actually have an income again, no matter how small, but… he hadn't considered taking another jobthis soon.
"That would be good enough," she insists.
He chews on his lip. He needs to think about it. "Would it be okay if I got back to you? I appreciate the offer, but I need to talk it over with someone first."
"Sure," she agrees. "Just don't wait too long. We'll probably start looking for someone this week."
He nods and thanks her, heading home, bag swinging in his hand. He wonders how Alder would feel about him suddenly taking on something else. Obviously the school would remain his priority, but it seems iffy. And could he even handle doing both?
Alder's up by the time he gets back home, messing around in the kitchen. "Hey," he says, turning around as Cheren walks in. "I wondered where you were."
"Bookstore," Cheren explains. He stands there for a moment, considering whether he should mention the job offer. He decides to leave it for now. He's not sure if he wants to accept anyway. There's no point in bringing it up and worrying Alder for no reason.
Cheren heads into his room to grab his laptop and sets it up on the coffee table so he can take notes as he goes. He cracks open his new book on his lap and starts reading. He's a couple pages in when he hears Alder's phone vibrate. He doesn't really pay attention until Alder curses and sets his phone back down with a thud.
"What's wrong?" Cheren asks, looking up.
Alder groans, leaning on the bar counter and rubbing his forehead. "Burgh asked days ago if we wanted to go to some event at Studio Castelia with him this weekend. I completely forgot about it."
"When?" He furrows his eyebrows. This is the first he's heard of it. Then again, he hasn't seen Burgh that much recently. He's been too busy at the gym to stop by regularly.
"This afternoon."
"Hm," Cheren says. "Well, do you want to go?"
Alder sighs. "I guess." He doesn't sound particularly enthusiastic. "Do you?"
"I suppose I can..." Cheren watches Alder as he picks up his phone again to text Burgh back. "What time?" he asks, turning his attention back to his book.
"He says to meet him there at 3."
He nods, glancing away from the page to check his watch. Cheren hadn't really been planning on going anywhere for the rest of the day, but he should still have time to finish up the lesson. He shifts on the couch, trying to get comfortable so he can power through the book as quickly as possible.
Burgh is waiting for them outside of Studio Castelia when they arrive, alongside Iris.
Cheren waves at Burgh and politely greets Iris. He's surprised to see her, plus he doesn't exactly know her very well, despite meeting her several times over the years. She's sort of friends with Bianca, but that's about the extent of their relationship.
She smiles up at him before turning to Alder. "Hi! It's been awhile!"
"Too long," Alder agrees easily. "I didn't know you were in town!"
"I'm just visiting for a few days." Iris shivers as a gust of wind blows down the sidewalk, rustling her dress. She turns to Burgh, pulling on his arm. "Let's go in. It's too cold out here!"
Alder and Cheren follow behind as they go into the gallery. It's surprisingly crowded, much more so than Cheren would expect, and it suddenly occurs to him that he has no idea what they're doing here.
"Why are we here again?" he whispers, leaning close to Alder.
Alder leans back into him. His body heat against Cheren's arm feels even warmer than usual after being out in the cold. Cheren tries to ignore it.
"Some new exhibit? I don't know much about it either, but Burgh was really excited about it."
"What a nerd," Cheren comments.
Alder just grins in agreement, leaning away. Cheren tries to pretend he's not disappointed.
Burgh hears his name and turns around. "Are you two talking about me?"
"No," they answer in unison. He shoots them a suspicious look but continues walking through the crowds.
Cheren's only been to Studio Castelia once, and it was years ago. Art isn't really his thing, but he takes a look around as they head to wherever it is they're going. It's changed a lot since his last visit. He pauses to look at a painting that catches his interest, and Alder bumps into him, body solid against Cheren's shoulder.
"Sorry," Cheren apologizes, continuing on.
"Want to stick around afterwards?" Alder asks. "You haven't been here in a long time, right?"
"Sure," he agrees. They might as well, since they're already here. It might be fun.
The exhibit turns out to be fairly interesting. The artist is there speaking, and Burgh lingers behind after the crowd has dispersed to talk to him. He's young, Cheren guesses maybe around Iris' age. Although he knows next to nothing about art, it's obvious the kid is good. Cheren's impressed. Burgh apparently is too, judging from how excited he looks.
He, Alder, and Iris stand off to the side while the two talk. Iris starts bouncing on her heels after several minutes, looking bored.
"He dragged you here too, huh?" Cheren asks.
She looks up and laughs. "He always does. I can't even tell you how many times I've been here. It's alright though, I don't mind. He loves it here."
"It was pretty cool," Cheren admits. He stares down at her head and notices how tiny she is next to him. He can't believe someone so young managed to beat Alder. She gives him a questioning look, and he just shakes his head. "Nothing." He doesn't think she would appreciate the thought.
She just nods and turns the other way to say something to Alder. Cheren can't quite hear them, but whatever it is, they laugh animatedly. Cheren suppresses a pang of jealously. He immediately realizes how pathetic that is and shoves his hands in his jacket pockets, feeling frustrated at himself.
It's getting worse, isn't it?
He frowns to himself, but he doesn't have time to stew on it, since Burgh finally makes his way back over to them.
"Shall we go?" Burgh asks, looking pleased. Apparently the conversation went well.
"Cheren wants to look around, actually," Alder tells him, nodding his head in Cheren's direction with a smile.
To be honest, he doesn't really feel like it anymore, but Burgh's face lights up like a Christmas tree. Cheren doesn't have it in him to argue when he looks like that.
"Splendid! Then let's start over here," he says, waving them over to a nearby exhibit. "This is one of my favorites!"
The area has gotten more crowded in the time they were standing around, and Alder places a hand on Cheren's lower back to push him on ahead. It lingers there for a few moments, and Cheren's stomach flip flops.
The gallery is more appealing to Cheren than it was the first time he visited, maybe because Burgh is around to add information. He seems to know everything about every work there. Art is his thing, so Cheren supposes that makes sense. He probably knows a lot of the artists too.
The downside is, getting through everything like this takes forever. By the time they're nearing their way back to the front, Cheren's tired of standing and knows more about local art than he ever wanted to. Burgh's just started another long winded explanation when the loud speaker comes on, announcing that the gallery will be closing in 10 minutes. Cheren almost sighs in relief before realizing Burgh intends to continue until they get kicked out.
Cheren sits at his desk after they get back home, tapping his fingers idly. He considers the job offer again, still feeling unsure. He hears Alder banging around in the kitchen and gets up, heading out of his room to see what he's doing exactly.
"What's up?" he asks, lingering in the doorway of the kitchen.
Alder turns around, pan in his hand. "I suddenly wanted brownies."
"Huh," Cheren says. Now that he's thinking about brownies, he does too. "Want help?"
"Why not?"
He walks over to the cupboard, slippers making a shuffling sound on the hard kitchen floor. "I'm assuming by brownies, you mean from a box, not from scratch, right?"
Alder laughs. "Well, yeah. I sure don't want them that bad."
Cheren shakes his head fondly, pulling the box off the shelf and setting it on the counter. He's in a slightly better mood since they got home.
He glances at the directions on the back to see what they need and grabs the eggs out of the fridge. Once he's got everything into the bowl, he slides it over to Alder to mix. He leans with his elbows on the counter and watches, marveling at how much faster mixing goes when you actually have any semblance of muscle.
He takes the bowl back when it's done and dumps the batter into the pan, sticking it in the oven and setting the timer. When Cheren turns back around, Alder is licking the batter spoon. He gives him a horrified look.
"You're going to get food poisoning," Cheren tells him.
Alder just seems amused. "No, I'm not."
"You will," Cheren insists. "You're going to die, and I'll have to tell everyone it was because you couldn't stop yourself from eating brownie mix."
"Alright," Alder shrugs. "Then you have some too, and that won't be a problem." He waves the spoon at Cheren, who backs away in alarm.
"No thanks."
"Come on, just a little," Alder grins, following after him.
"Absolutely not," he refuses, continuing to back out the kitchen. Alder smiles deviously, and Cheren realizes he needs to run.
Alder chases after him around the living room. Luckily, Cheren is younger and faster, despite almost tripping over his slipper a few times. Alder gives up on catching him eventually and stops, out of breath.
"I'm too old for this," he mourns, hands on his knees.
Cheren collapses on the sofa once he decides he's safe, laughing. "You're ridiculous," he wheezes.
"I'm ridiculous?"
"Yes!"
Alder drops into his chair with a sigh, and they wait for the brownies to finish baking. Cheren pushes himself up on the couch, staring over at Alder.
God, he doesn't want to give this up.
He thinks about the bookstore again and wonders if it would actually be the perfect solution. He wouldn't make a ton of money working just weekends, but it might be enough to get by for a while longer.
Cheren nods to himself, coming to a decision. Alder looks tired though, so he doesn't want to bring it up tonight. He'll wait until tomorrow.
By noon on Sunday, Cheren still hasn't worked up the nerve. It's silly, he knows. Alder is fine with just about everything. This, though… he's not sure what his reaction will be. He starts to bring it up a few times and wimps out, changing the subject. Alder seems confused but doesn't ask.
He kind of wishes he would.
Finally they sit down for lunch and Cheren tells himself to just do it already. He needs to hurry up if he wants to get down to the bookstore before they close. He jiggles his foot on the bar of the stool nervously, glancing over at Alder.
"I think I'm going to get a part time job," Cheren finally says, staring down at his food. When he hesitantly looks up to gauge his reaction, Alder's frowning at him.
"… Are you sure? I've told you before that I have no problem paying you, if it's the money you need."
Cheren shakes his head. "It's not the same."
Alder sets his fork down and sighs. He doesn't look mad, just confused and maybe slightly disappointed. "I just don't see why not."
"I can't rely on you for everything," Cheren says. Alder opens his mouth to argue, but Cheren cuts him off before he can say anything. "I know you don't mind, and I'm grateful for that, but I do. I want to be able to help pay for things like an actual adult. I'm going to run out of money eventually, if I don't do something."
Alder frowns at him. "I suppose there's no convincing you, then?"
"No," Cheren agrees. "And it'll only be on the weekends, so you don't need to worry. I definitely won't let it interfere with my school obligations."
Alder studies him for a moment. "Fine. You obviously don't need my permission, but you have my blessing. When are you going to start looking?
"I already have something lined up," Cheren says, somewhat sheepishly. "They asked me to work at the bookstore."
"Oh. That was quick."
"Yeah." Cheren shrugs. "I'm not sure when they'll have me start? I need to go talk to them later."
"Hm."
They finish eating in silence for the most part. Alder seems… alright with it. At the very least, it could've been much worse. Cheren's relieved. He gets up when he's finished and puts his plate in the sink.
"I'll walk over there now and let them know," he announces. Alder just nods, and Cheren heads into his room to change. Technically, he hasn't been hired yet, so he probably needs to look halfway decent.
He comes back out a few minutes later, straightening his tie. Alder's still at the bar and turns around to give him an approving look.
"You look nice," Alder says, eyeing his blazer. He seems like he wants to say something else, but he stops there.
"Thanks." Cheren colors slightly and turns away to grab his keys off the table, hiding his face. "Do you need anything while I'm out?"
"Nah."
Cheren nods. "Alright. I'll be back later then." He shifts his bag on his shoulder.
"Good luck," Alder calls after him.
It doesn't take long at the bookstore. He learns that the woman who hired him is named Sheryl, and she gives him some paper work to fill out, which he does off to the side of the counter. Considering Cheren's limited work experience, the forms are a little confusing, but he manages.
She asks him his size and hands him his uniform - a polo shirt with the store name on it, along with a schedule with his hours penciled in. Finally, he's good to go. He thanks her again before he leaves and heads home, looking down at the paper she gave him as he walks.
He starts next weekend.
As usual, Alder's reading when he gets back home. He looks up over his glasses when Cheren walks in. "How'd it go?"
"Uh," he starts, momentarily distracted by Alder's glasses slipping ever so slightly down the curve of his nose. "Good. I start next Saturday." He shakes his head to get ahold of himself and puts his bag down, heading into his room to take off his blazer. He hangs up his uniform in his closet before coming back out and sitting on the couch.
Alder closes his book and removes his glasses, leaning forward to place them on the coffee table. "You're definitely sure you want to do this, right?" he asks. "Are you sure you aren't going to be overwhelmed with two jobs?"
"No," Cheren admits, loosening his tie so he can relax. "But I'm going to try."
"Alright," Alder accepts.
They sit there quietly for a few minutes before Cheren realizes he never had Alder go over the lesson plan he did the day before. He grabs his laptop off the table and opens the file, leaning over the coffee table and handing it over to him.
"Look over this and see if you like it," he says.
Alder sets the computer on his lap and scrolls through the document, reading through it quickly. He looks up at Cheren when he finishes.
"Well?" Cheren asks.
"It's good," he acknowledges, sounding impressed. "But it always is."
Cheren takes his laptop back. "There's nothing else you want added in?"
He shrugs. "I think you've covered all the basics, but I'll let you know if I think of anything. Thanks, Cheren."
"Okay." Cheren reads through it one more time himself before closing the lid. He's pretty happy with this one. It seems like he's finally getting the hang of this thing.
"I'm going to be lost if you ever end up leaving," Alder comments suddenly. His tone is light, but he has a serious look on his face when Cheren glances at him.
"I'm doing this because I don't want to leave," Cheren tells him, hand tightening on his laptop.
He doesn't stick around long enough for Alder to respond.
Notes: Finally, another chapter! If you don't count the prologue, we're now halfway through! I also wanted to ask if anyone would be interested if I made a tumblr tag to post progress updates and such once in a while? Let me know!