3. Almost every problem has a solution

The first thing Desmond did, was to lay down on his bed and stare at the white ceiling. Altair, even though he and especially his eyes were a little intimidating, seemed rather friendly. But at the beginning, his last foster parents had seemed nice as well, later however… Desmond furiously shook his head, causing his hood to slide down. He didn't want to think about the past too much. It had happened and there was nothing he could do to change that fact.

He stretched and got back up again and looked once more around the room. He was not sure what to do with himself now. Of course he could unpack his things, but from experience he knew that it was more often than not a waste of effort. Barely unpacked, he often could pack up again and leave the place. Desmond wasn't really eager to experience it again, so he decided to leave his clothes in the suitcase for not. Living out of the suitcase was nothing new for him after all. There were only a handful of things he would unpack, like his toothbrush for an instance. The rest would follow when he knew that Altair wasn't going to dumb him as well.

Desmond put his hood back over his hood, he always felt safe with it on and thought on what to do. His phone was unfortunately low on battery and he had to charge it, before it would do him any good. So Desmond eventually decided to look for Altair, Jean had asked him to give the man a chance after all and Desmond would stay true to his promise. He sighed and finally left the room.

He eventually found the older man sitting in the kitchen, hunched over a table full of books and scribbles notes. He seemed deep in thoughts, but also slightly annoyed at something and Desmond was unsure if he should approach the man, so he settled for leaning against the doorframe and observing him for now.

Not much time had when Desmond entered the kitchen were Altair was currently trying to solve a task in his book, but failing terrible. He sighed frustrated and eventually looked up, finding the teenager standing in the doorway, silently observing him.

How long was he standing there without me noticing?

"Hey, already finished with unpacking?" Altair asked, sat his pen down and leaned back in his chair.

Desmond nodded and curiously looked around the kitchen.

"Are you hungry or thirsty? Or do you need something else?" Altair tried again, not really expecting a real answer.

"No, I am fine… what are you doing?"

That's a beginning.

"Trying to solve a task, but I can't find my mistake. You can sit down if you want. I am not going to bite, you know."

Desmond grimaced, but slowly approached the table and eventually sat down opposite of Altair. He laid his arms on the table and was looking at Altair's notes.

"You forgot the binomial formula." Desmond eventually said after a moment of silence.

"What binomial formula?"

Desmond pointed at the functional equation at the top of the page.

"But the exponent is three…"

"It's still a binomial formula, you just have to dissolve the clamp differently… shall I show you?" Desmond hesitantly asked.

Altair looked up at the teenager, who was nervously fidgeting with his hood. Why is he so nervous? He isn't afraid, because he pointed out my mistake, is he?

"Sit next to me and show me!" Altair encouraged.

Desmond was obviously tense when he sat down next to the older male. Altair handed him a pen and a paper and Desmond was about to start writing, when he suddenly stopped and took the pen in his right hand instead in his left.

When Altair looked quizzically at him, Desmond shrugged and said: "You wouldn't see anything otherwise."

"You are left-hander?"

"I prefer my left hand, but I am almost equally good with both hands."

Just like me then…

Altair hummed in agreement and focused his attention then to the things Desmond was writing down. He started with the derivation of the formula and showed an example afterwards.

"I can't believe that I get tutoring from my little brother… how old are you again?" Altair asked after Desmond had finished.

"Fifteen."

Altair had hummed in reply and turned back to his task. At the corner of his eyes he watched Desmond, who was curiously and almost shyly looking through Altair's other notes. The older boy didn't mind, at least the teenager was entertained then. Desmond eventually stopped at one page.

"Is that an electrical circuit?" Altair looked up at the question and looked at the page Desmond was holding out to him.

"Yeah, we had to draw a circuit with a mistake for out partner to find. Think you can spot it?" Altair didn't really expect the teenager to find the mistake; he was even more surprised when Desmond answered after less than ten minutes.

"The ground is missing, or in other words the safety measures."

Altair was stunned for a moment and could only gawk at the boy. "That's incredible. My partner needed a whole hour to find that mistake… where did you learn all this?"

Desmond put the paper back to its place and from what Altair could make out under the boy's hood which hid half of his face, he suddenly looked rather sad.

"Mother sometimes took me with her to her work." Desmond whispered and pulled his legs up, so that his feet were resting on the chair and he could embrace his knees with his arms.

Altair thought for a moment. When I remember correctly, mother had worked as an electrician…

"Sorry, shouldn't have asked that."

Desmond only shrugged and turned his face away from Altair.

Great, now I've done it. I knew I wasn't cut out for this. Altair didn't know how to react, he never was the one to comfort people.

Desmond should have expected this question, but he didn't. He answered nonetheless, and felt immediately terrible afterwards. Memories of his formers life with his mother filled mind and when he felt tears starting to form in his eyes, he swiftly turned his head away from him. He didn't cry however, he hadn't done so in years and wouldn't do so anytime soon.

Silence filled the room, only Altair's scribbling and page turning could be heard in the room.

What he must think of me know? Desmond wondered.

He finally decided he couldn't take the silence anymore, so he got up and forced himself to walk normally out of the room. Desmond didn't look back, but he knew Altair's eyes were following him.

I hope you liked this chapter.

Please leave a comment and tell me what you think! ^^