pro·pi·tious adjective
giving or indicating a good chance of success; favorably disposed toward someone


Chapter 5


After Christmas, Cheren throws himself into his work. The official opening is only two weeks off, which is terrifying. It's exciting too. But mostly terrifying. The preview event is even sooner.

It's New Year's Eve, and the day has been spent running around buying last minute supplies. He pulls out the list he made with Alder and runs down it again, deciding he's done for the day after he stops by the bookstore.

He shoves the list back into his pocket as he walks through the doors, quickly making his way to the reference section. He was overwhelmed the first time he came here, but after frequent visits he knows his way around fairly well.

Cheren pulls several books off the shelf and flips through them, putting one back and keeping the others. He starts a pile on the ground next to him and continues looking. Between himself, Alder, and Burgh, they already have quite a few, but the school bookshelf still looks pretty sparse. He wishes he had his books from home, but he doesn't want to trouble his parents to send them.

A few minutes later he has as many as he can feasibly carry home, and he makes his way to the checkout. He smiles at the cashier, a middle aged woman he recognizes from his last visit, and drops them on the counter.

"Hello! Find everything okay?"

"I did, thanks."

She chit chats while she rings up his books. Cheren's always been terrible at small talk, but he answers as well as he can manage. She seems like a nice woman. Finally she gives him the total, and he hands her Alder's credit card.

"See you next time!" she calls as he walks out of the store.


He's seriously regretting buying so much by the time he gets back to the apartment. He finally sets the bags down outside the door to dig his keys out. His arms are killing him.

Alder's on the phone when he walks in and dumps the bags onto the coffee table with a thud. He looks over to him though and shakes his head when he sees how much Cheren's managed to bring home in one trip.

"Sure, see you later," he says into the phone distractedly and then hangs up. "I told you I could go with you," he tells Cheren.

Cheren just shrugs. "I got most of it. I might have to go back one more time."

Alder just sighs at him before changing the subject. "Anyway, Burgh wants us to come by for dinner later."

"Oh?" Cheren asks. He realizes he hasn't actually been to Burgh's home yet. He's not even sure where he lives exactly. He collapses on the couch, rubbing his sore arm, and decides that he's not moving until it's time to go.


Burgh turns out to live all the way across the city. Cheren stares wide eyed at the apartment complex. It's huge. A doorman actually holds the door open for them as they enter. He's been in the city a while now, but he's not sure he'll ever get used to this kind of thing.

Alder leads him to the elevator and pushes the button for the top floor. Cheren glances around as they wait for it to stop. Even the elevator screams money. He suddenly feels underdressed in his casual button up. Why didn't he wear a tie?

They knock on Burgh's door, and it opens almost immediately.

"Welcome!" he says enthusiastically. "Come in!"

Cheren feels more comfortable once they're inside. It's more what he would've expected from Burgh: bright colors and art supplies scattered haphazardly all over.

"Feel free to sit down," Burgh says, before taking their coats and disappearing down the hall.

Cheren nods, looking around at the art on the wall, before wandering over to the couch. He raises his eyebrows when he realizes there's nowhere to actually sit.

Alder laughs when he sees his face. "It's always like this," he tells him. "You've just gotta move all his crap." He starts picking up sketchbooks and piling them on the coffee table, making a spot for himself and Cheren.

They sit on the newly cleared couch, and Burgh comes back out.

"Need any help?" Alder asks.

"Nah, it's almost done anyway. Just waiting for the timer." He disappears into the kitchen for a moment to check it and then returns to hover in the doorway as he waits. "Anything exciting happen today? Sorry I couldn't stop by."

"Not much. Same old."

"I went to the bookstore," Cheren says with a shrug.

"Oh, very unusual," Burgh teases. "I don't blame you though. I must admit I go there often myself." The timer goes off with a faint 'ding,' and he's gone again.

Burgh calls them in a few minutes later. Cheren's surprised to see he's actually set the kitchen table, fancy napkins and all. He tries to remember the last time he sat down to eat at a real table and can't. It's not really something he misses, but it's nice once in a while.

He sits down on the far side, across from Alder, as Burgh brings the food over. It looks incredible. They've been so busy that they haven't been cooking recently - mostly living off of pizza and whatever else can be delivered or picked up on the way home.

"What do you want to drink?" Burgh asks. "I just opened a bottle of wine."

"I'm still underage…" Cheren reminds him. "Just water please?" Alder laughs a little, and he glares at him. He doesn't like breaking rules unnecessarily. It's not like he has much interest in drinking anyway.

"Of course, Cheren. I forgot. I apologize."

"I'll have some wine," Alder says. "Being that I am not underage." He laughs again, and Cheren kicks him under the table. "Ow."

Sometimes Cheren finds it hard to believe that he's the younger one.

Burgh comes back and hands them their glasses, taking his seat at the head of the table. "When is your birthday, Cheren? You're 20, right?"

Cheren shrugs. "It's in March," he says, being intentionally vague. He hates when people make a big deal out of his birthday. Not that it happens often.

"When in March?" he persists.

"... The 19th," Cheren finally says. They'll probably forget by then anyway, he decides. It's still over 2 months away.

Luckily the subject is dropped after they start eating. Cheren piles macaroni onto his plate, wondering how Burgh knew it was his favorite.

"This is amazing," Alder says after a few minutes of comfortable silence. "Please move in with us so I never have to cook again."

"It really is," Cheren agrees.

"See, he never says that when I cook," Alder adds.

Burgh laughs. "Then you'd get spoiled. Besides, I wouldn't want to get in the way of the little married thing you two have going on."

Cheren chokes on his macaroni, immediately feeling his face get hot.

"What married thing?" Alder asks, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, please explain," Cheren adds.

"Oh," he says, glancing between them. "Oops. Nevermind."

Alder just shrugs it off and continues eating. Cheren avoids eye contact with either of them for the rest of the meal.


Cheren had assumed they'd be going home after dinner, but apparently it's a whole New Year's Eve event.

Burgh tries to coerce him into a game of monopoly. Cheren finally relents because he's actually greatat monopoly. He played countless times as a kid and is pleased to have beaten Black and Bianca every time. Black refuses to play it with him anymore.

They relocate all the stuff Alder shoved onto the coffee table earlier and set it up on there. Cheren decides he really doesn't want to be squished between the two of them on the couch after that awkward dinner comment, so he kneels on the ground on the other side of the table. It's not comfortable, but it's certainly better than being next to Alder at the moment.

"You go first then, Cheren," Burgh says, as he finishes handing out their money.

"Alright," he agrees, taking the dice. He happens to glance up at Alder as he rolls and finds him staring at him. He looks away and moves his piece.

"Buying it?" Burgh asks.

"Yeah," Cheren says, leaning forward to see the price. Once he had all these things memorized, but it's been a long time now. He hands Burgh the money and places the card off to the side.

The game doesn't end for well over an hour. Cheren destroys them.


He helps Burgh pack everything back up after they're finished and then eyes the clock. He wonders if they can finally leave yet. He's getting kind of tired.

"Oh, the countdown will start soon!" Burgh says suddenly, grabbing the tv remote to turn it on.

Apparently not.

Burgh sits back down on the end of the couch, clearly making a space for Cheren. He shoots him a look of perfect innocence as he pats the seat between he and Alder.

Cheren tries not to react as he stiffly squeezes by him to sit down. It's as cramped as he expected. He sits as close to Burgh as he possibly can without being too obvious, but it doesn't make much difference. Alder's leg brushes against his, and Cheren visibly flinches. Burgh gives him an amused look, but Cheren ignores it.

Alder doesn't seem to mind the situation but then Cheren can never tell with him. He and Burgh talk over Cheren's head as he stares uncomfortably at the television.

"We should go next year," Burgh says, nudging Cheren with his elbow and nodding towards the screen showing the masses of people downtown.

"I don't know about that." Actually he can't imagine anything worse. Castelia is bad enough on a normal day. Besides, Cheren's not even sure where he'll be a year from now. Probably long gone.

"It'd be fun," he insists. "I've been a couple times. Remember when we went years ago, Alder?"

Alder laughs. He's so close that Cheren can feel it vibrate through him. "Yeah. It was… interesting. I also remember you kissing some innocent bystander at midnight."

"That's what you're supposed to do!"

Cheren snorts. Somehow it isn't hard to imagine Burgh doing that at all.

"I wouldn't mind going again though," Alder continues. "It was fun."

The countdown finally starts, and Burgh counts loudly and enthusiastically along with the tv. He tries to get Cheren to join him, but he refuses. He does at least clap lightly when the ball drops.

Burgh doesn't let them leave until long after midnight. Cheren's exhausted by the time they finally get back home. He mumbles a "goodnight" to Alder and heads off to bed immediately.


New Year's Day is a quiet one.

Cheren still feels somewhat awkward around Alder for reasons he's not entirely sure of. It doesn't help that Alder insists they take the day off, so Cheren has nothing to do and no particular excuse to get out of the apartment. It feels unnatural to just lay about after being busy every day.

He finally convinces himself to leave his room and be social in the evening. Alder's in his chair working on something when Cheren enters the living room, but he pauses to look up and smile when he hears him come in.

"Hey," he says easily.

Cheren isn't sure how to feel about the fact that he's the only one this bothered by a silly joke.


Alder supposedly has something to do the next day which means Cheren is once again left to his own devices. He doesn't know what to do with himself.

He spends the morning reading in his room. When he ventures out in the afternoon, the apartment is still empty. He can't think of anything else to do, so he decides to go out and wander around the city, eventually ending up at the Pokemon park again.

He lets his Pokemon out of their balls and makes himself comfortable on the ground next to the lake, realizing he should probably call home. He never got around to it on Christmas. His mom probably isn't pleased.

She answers after only a couple rings. "Cheren!" she says. The surprise in her voice makes him feel extra guilty. "Happy New Year!"

"Hi Mom. You too."

She complains about him not coming home for Christmas (he never does) before asking how he's been.

"I've been… good. Black and Bianca came to stay with us for a few days, so that was nice."

"Good," she says, sounding happy. "You need to socialize more. And how's Alder?"

"Uh," Cheren pauses to think. "He's fine I guess?" Alder pretty much always seems fine.

"He's such a nice man. Bring him home with you when you come to visit," she insists.

Cheren rolls his eyes. For some reason his mom loves Alder even though she's only met him a couple times. Maybe more than she loves her own son. "We'll see." He kind of doubts it.

She ends up cutting the call short. Apparently she has a lunch date with Bianca's mother. "You need to start calling more often!" she scolds before she hangs up.

"I know. I will," he promises. "Bye Mom."

He sticks his phone back into his pocket. He hasn't actually been home in a long time. Nuvema was just so far from Aspertia. It's not quite as major a trip now though, so he resolves himself to go visit sometime soon.

Cheren stands up and calls his Pokemon back, deciding to go home.


He lays around on the couch for the rest of the day, reading again. Alder gets back in the evening and he glances up from his book at him. "Hey."

"Hey," Alder greets, taking his coat off. He collapses in his chair across from Cheren and sighs. "So what did you do today?" he asks after a moment. He looks worn out.

Cheren shrugs. "Not much. Talked to my mom. She says hi, by the way."

"I hope she's doing well."

"Seems like it. What did you do today?" Cheren asks, raising his eyebrows. It's unusual that Alder doesn't tell him where he's going. Though to be fair, he didn't really give him an opportunity to.

"Business stuff," Alder says, groaning. "It was horrible. I had to go talk to the lawyer. Had no idea what he was talking about half the time."

"Sounds fun."

"I should've made you come too. You're smarter than me."

"Well…" Cheren doesn't argue with that. Alder makes a face at him and he hides his grin behind his book. "Only in some ways. I'm sure he knows what he's doing anyway."

He doesn't say anything after that, so Cheren goes back to his reading. He's managed to get through the next few chapters when Alder stands up.

"I'm going to bed," he announces. "Today was strangely tiring."

"Kay." Cheren's in the midst of turning the page when he feels Alder ruffle his hair. He bats at his hand. "Stop harassing me, and go to bed."

Alder laughs. "Night," he says, going to his room and closing the door quietly behind him.

Cheren realizes he's still smiling a moment later and rolls his eyes at himself. He glances at the clock and decides he can finish his book some other day. He bookmarks it and leaves it on the coffee table, cutting the lights out behind him.


There's exactly five days left until the preview event when Cheren realizes they can do this.

He'd initially thought Alder was crazy for trying to open so soon, and he was. What in the hell would he have done if he hadn't had help? They really managed to get it done though. He crosses the last major thing off of their to-do list, stunned. Everything left is a minor detail and can easily be taken care in the next day or so.

He walks into Alder's soon to be classroom to see him casually spinning around in his new chair.

"I'm testing it," he clarifies, once he sees the amused look on Cheren's face.

"Uh huh," Cheren says, walking over to his desk. He sets their list down in front of Alder and leans over to point at a couple things. "You do these, and I'll take care of the rest."

"Okay- Wait." Alder stops spinning and picks up the list, squinting at it. "That's it?"

"That's it."

"Well then."

"Yeah."


Cheren's in the middle of filling the bookshelf upstairs in the research room when he hears Alder come up behind him.

"Need any help?"

He shrugs. "If you want. I'm almost done though."

Alder sits down on the floor beside him and picks up a book. "Knowing you, I'm assuming these are going in some sort of order?"

"Of course," Cheren says, giving him an exasperated look. He can't believe he has to ask. "Alphabetical. Last name."

"Ah." He glances down at the book in his hand and finds the proper spot for it. "You do realize this will last about 30 seconds with a bunch of kids, right?"

"I know," Cheren admits, grumbling. He'll just have to redo it. Often.

They finish up in silence. Cheren sticks the last one on the shelf and then leans back to see how it looks. He nods to himself, feeling satisfied.

Alder stands and offers him a hand to pull him up. He takes it, and Alder hauls him to his feet effortlessly. Cheren only notices in times like these, but the difference in their strength is ridiculous.

"Thanks."

"We're really done, huh?" Alder asks, glancing around the room.

"At least for now," Cheren confirms. "We might find something later, but…"

Alder nods, placing his hands on his hips and grinning. "I can't believe it."

"Me either, to be honest."

"Thank you. Seriously."

Cheren glances away, crossing his arms awkwardly. "It was nothing," he says, feeling sheepish.

Alder shakes his head. "It was definitely something. I hope you'll stick with me for a little bit longer."

"Of course."


Notes: I wanted to thank everyone for the kind words I've received. I wrote this fic because I love their relationship, and I was dissatisfied with Cheren's canon ending. I know this pairing isn't exactly popular, and frankly I was unsure if I would have a single reader. I'm really happy other people are enjoying it.

Secondly, I apologize for the delays I've been having in getting chapters out. But! This fic will absolutely be completed and fully posted no matter how long it takes.