Coworker Conundrums

Nile felt a little bit bad about the whole nearly murdering his coworker twice thing. Sure, Alex seemed to have forgiven him in what was probably a record-breaking time (and good practice for the Executive Board's shenanigans), but still. He just felt a little bit awkward around the kid, even after he apologized multiple times.

"Nile, dear, is everything alright?"

The Countess had (politely) harassed him into tea. She did this every time he visited the island. He wasn't quite sure why. It wasn't like he had been a fantastic student in her class. "Well, you heard about the tiger incident with Alex, right?"

The Countess stirred her tea. She looked faintly amused. Nile watched her take a slow, careful sip. "Oh, yes. He seems quite taken with the dratted thing."

Nile felt the faintest hint of amusement. At least somebody liked the stupid white tiger. He wasn't sure that impressing teenage boys was what Mrs. Rothman had been going for when she had bought it as a pet. "I want to help him to apologize for it. He doesn't really seem to need that much help with his classes, though."

The Countess stirred her tea. Maybe this was why she invited him. Nile tended to attract people and gossip. "Perhaps a gift? Gifts of weaponry are not uncommon; however, he may read too much into it. You're a bit young to be mentoring anyone. Typically, mentors are in their late twenties or early thirties at the youngest."

Nile nearly spat out his tea. At least she was saving him from more drama. This was why Nile went to The Countess's private tea parties. She was nice to him in her sort of way. "Right. Uh, what do teenage boys like these days?"

The Countess looked far too amused for Nile's preferences. Nile let out a sigh. "What did you like when you were fourteen?"

Nile squinted. It was ten years ago. Hmmm. "Explosives, sex, and cigarettes? You think I should get him a prostitute?"

The Countess gave him a dry look. Nile flushed. She somehow knew how to make him feel incredibly stupid. "A young man of Alex's background would not appreciate something quite so…crass. I was thinking you could get him a date or two. It would appeal to his more romantic tendencies."

Nile grinned slightly. He was now morbidly curious. "What did he put down for your ideal date question?"

The Countess poured herself more tea. Nile bit the inside of his cheek. He knew that most operatives tended to write softcore porn as their answer for that one on her quiz. "Oh, he broke out the bouquets and wine. If we're not careful, he'll be a heartbreaker in a few years."

Nile bit back a snort. Well, compared with the average male operative, it was surprisingly cute and nice. "Right. Uh, do we have a general profile of the sort of person he would like?"

The Countess stirred her tea. Nile frowned. "Unfortunately, not. You'll have to ask him yourself. I'm sure it'll go fine. Alex seems quite fond of you after your martial arts display."

Nile wanted to groan. This was going to take a bit, then.

Fortunately, or unfortunately for Nile, he got his chance quite soon. Alex all but bounced up to him after his final demonstration rounds. Aside from a few bruises and the eternally tired look that most students sported at Malagosto, he looked fairly well.

"The swords are awesome!"

Nile immediately perked up under the praise. It didn't matter how many times someone said that. Nile knew that he lived for praise. "Thank you, Alex. Did you want to join me in the staff room for lunch?"

Nile had a sinking suspicion that it would be empty. Mostly because the teachers were planning something nasty for Alex's class's survival trip and were using a secure meeting room instead of the staff room. It was nice being friends with the instructors now. "Sure!"

Nile grinned. It was nice when people cooperated with your plans to get them dates because you felt guilty. Alex followed him into the staff room. Their food was already waiting for them. Nile unwrapped his plate. "Are you and Sekhmet dating?"

Nile coughed as his food nearly went down the wrong hole. Well, that was sudden. "I wish. Unfortunately, I was tragically turned down like three times."

Nile took a bite of his food. There were a few transitions he could use. "What about you?"

Alex sighed. Nile raised an eyebrow. "Well, I was dating a girl back home, but I'm not sure it's going to work out with my new, erm, job, you know. Plus, we kept getting interrupted by Yassen trying to murder her dad, so there was that."

Nile stirred his drink. Maybe she wasn't a civilian, then? "What does her dad do?"

Alex casually took a bite of his food. Nile watched him swallow. "Oh, he's a reporter. Did you see his article on Damien Cray?"

Nile felt his water go down the wrong pipe. A reporter?! Holy shit. Somebody needed to have the civilians not to date talk with him. Nile coughed into his napkin. "Not yet. Is there anyone else you found attractive?"

Alex looked down slightly. "I'm sort of dating her."

Nile grinned slightly. "Yeah, but you're not dead."

Alex huffed slightly. He turned faintly pink. "Mrs. Rothman."

Nile almost did a spit-take. Right. So, Nile was just going to assume that Alex liked dangerous people. "What was Yassen like around you?"

Nile hadn't worked with him all that often. Yassen had said that they had a personality clash. Nile had decided not to argue. "He was graceful. And deadly. I tried to kill him once, but he looked kind of pretty while he was asleep so I didn't manage it, you know."

Alright, there was definitely a danger kink. Nile knew what was good for him and decided to move the topic right on along. Sure, Yassen was declared dead by Scorpia, but Nile was not going to comment, just in case. "If you say so. I've got my eye on this analyst in the Logistics office. I'll take you to meet her once you pass graduation."

Lily was both attractive and also not prone to fits of violently stabbing people. Nile counted that as a plus. Right, there were a few less dangerous clients they could dig up that would probably keep Alex very happy. Maybe the weapons dealer from Slovenia? Sekhmet could help him.

"ALEX! YERMALOV SAYS YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO START YOUR PRIVATE LESSONS FIVE MINUTES AGO!"

Alex looked uncertainly at Nile.

Nile tossed his trash and offered Alex his hand. Alex took it and they both began heading toward the gym. "Let's not keep Professor Yermalov waiting, Alex."

Fin

Based on a prompt by Zyzyax (see story summary). This is the 250th work in the Winds of Change 2022 Alex Rider Prompt event, where a new prompt (plus a short 1-3K work) is posted every day. For more details, see the AO3 collection. We have an index of all the prompts used in this event so far and going forwards - join the discord to get access to the online index (and to take part in our events, chat about everything and anything, and meet a load of awesome people!