pro·pi·tious adjective
giving or indicating a good chance of success; favorably disposed toward someone
Chapter 9
The first week of classes ends uneventfully.
Cheren wakes up before Alder for once on Saturday morning and starts attempting to make breakfast. It's not something he usually does, and he has to study the back of the pancake box to remember how to make them. He uses the last egg in the refrigerator and sighs to himself. They have to go to the store today no matter what - no more excuses.
Alder wanders out of his room not long later. "What are you doing?" he asks with a yawn.
"Making-" Cheren starts, before turning around. Alder hasn't bothered getting dressed yet, and he isn't even wearing a shirt. He stares at him for a moment before remembering the pancakes. "Shit. Burning pancakes," he corrects himself, rushing to save them.
When he turns back around, Alder has made his way over to the bar and is slouched over a stool rubbing his head tiredly.
"Why are you naked?" Cheren demands. He hopes his red face can be blamed on standing over the frying pan.
Alder gives him an odd look. "I'm not exactly naked…"
"Close enough," he insists, shooing him away from the kitchen. "Go get dressed while I finish."
"Fine," Alder grumbles, heading back to his room. "Censored in my own home…"
Cheren definitely does not watch his back as he goes, turning back to the frying pan and flipping the pancakes over with the spatula. This man is trying to kill him.
He comes back out a couple minutes later, thankfully wearing clothes this time. Cheren's just finishing up and slides his plate in front of him once he sits down.
"I genuinely have no idea what I did all these years without you," Alder says.
The comment gives him an odd feeling in his chest. "You're lucky you're still alive," Cheren responds mildly, turning around to grab silverware out of the drawer. He hands Alder a fork and sits down for breakfast.
"So we seriously have to go grocery shopping," Cheren announces later on in the morning, hands on his hips in determination.
Alder groans dramatically, looking up from his book. His reading glasses slide down his nose. Cheren pretends he doesn't notice how cute it is. "Do we really?"
"We really do."
"You know, there's a thing now where they'll deliver your groceries-" Alder starts, sounding hopeful.
"No," Cheren insists, albeit reluctantly. As nice as that sounds at the moment, he's determined that they're going to at least try to be responsible adults.
"Damn. Fine, let me get my coat."
The market they normally go to isn't that far from the apartment, which is good because carrying bags of groceries for blocks is incredibly annoying. In some ways, he's still not quite used to this city life.
Cheren makes Alder push the shopping cart. He regrets this immediately, because the man pays no attention to where he's going. Somehow he isn't surprised. He just hopes Alder never decides to buy a car. At least in a grocery store, the damage is relatively minimal.
"You almost hit that lady," he points out, as the woman dodges to the other side of the aisle and shoots them a dirty look.
"What? No, I didn't," Alder argues, looking halfway offended. Moments later, he runs into a display of cereal, knocking half of the boxes on the ground.
Cheren groans and covers his face.
He's just finished picking up the boxes and putting them back where they belong, when he hears his phone start ringing. He reaches into his bag, digging around, and finally pulls it out. It's Black. He debates whether he should call him back later and decides otherwise. It's not like he calls all that often.
"Hey," Cheren answers. Alder glances back at him, and he mouths, "Black." He nods and keeps going, probably trying to give him some privacy.
"Hey! What's up?"
"Not much. We're just grocery shopping."
"Cute. When's the wedding?"
"Black," Cheren hisses into the phone.
"Sorry," he laughs, not sounding remotely apologetic. "So how did your thing go?"
He relaxes. "Good, so far. The kids are all great. Hopefully it stays that way."
"Feeling the urge to go back to teaching yet?"
Cheren thinks about it for a second. "Not yet," he decides. "I'll help out if I need to, but…"
Black makes a thoughtful sound. "Anyway," he says after a moment, "I might be in the city next week. Well, N and I," he corrects, sounding hesitant.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, so do you want to do something? It'll probably be on Friday."
"Of course," Cheren says. "Just text me when and where? Class gets out at 3, so any time after that is fine."
"Great." Black sounds relieved.
Cheren frowns to himself, suddenly feeling guilty. Did Black actually think he'd say no just because of N tagging along? He'll have to make an effort to be nicer to him this time. The guy clearly isn't going anywhere, so he might as well learn to deal with it.
They hang up after a few minutes, and Cheren runs to catch up to Alder.
"What'd he want?" Alder asks, looking curious. He stops the cart and grabs a box of hot chocolate off the shelf.
"He and N might be around Friday. Wanted to know if I wanted to do something with them," Cheren explains. He pats his pockets trying to figure out where he stuck the grocery list while he was on the phone. He finally pulls it out from his jacket and unwrinkles it.
"Ah… N. How is that, anyway?"
"Odd," Cheren admits. "But he's important to Black, so... I don't know." He shrugs helplessly.
Alder shoots him an understanding look. "Well, he seems like a nice enough kid I guess."
"Yeah. I'll just have to get used to it."
He nods. "Not much else you can do."
Monday comes too soon.
Once the kids are settled into class, Cheren leans back in his chair with a sigh. Getting back on a proper schedule is rough. He's sure it's much worse for Alder. He's been doing whatever the hell he wanted for… Cheren doesn't even know how long. Years. Maybe a lifetime, from the sounds of it.
Cheren has always lived by routine.
He straightens and grabs the stack of homework the kids handed in. The assignment was just a simple written introduction, nothing that needs any serious grading, but he still wants to give them some feedback.
Cheren starts reading the first one and laughs. The kid has started and ended his paragraph with a declaration of being the next Pokemon champion. Cheren scribbles a "Good luck!" on the paper and gives him an A. The next couple pages are basically the same. He just shakes his head, amused. They've got some ambitious kids here. He can't say much though; he was just the same at their age. It's pretty embarrassing, looking back at himself now.
After a few more, he gets up to stretch and idly wonders how class is going. He walks over to the classroom door and peaks through the tiny window. Alder is over-enthusiastically waving his arms around to explain something, looking as happy as Cheren's ever seen him. He can't quite hear what he's saying through the door, but he looks completely and utterly ridiculous.
Cheren falls a little bit more in love with him.
He swallows dryly and stands there watching for a few more minutes before going back to his desk. He taps his pen, staring at the next paper without really reading it.
This is… becoming a problem. He wonders how the hell he's supposed to get over someone who's around all the time.
Cheren shakes his head and forces himself to concentrate. He needs to get through these so he can hand them back before the kids leave. He's halfway through the stack when he glances up at the clock and realizes it's almost lunch time. Oops.
He grabs his jacket and goes to buy their lunch. He's running a few minutes later than usual, so by the time he gets back, class has already been dismissed. Alder's leaning against the classroom door frame waiting for him.
"Thanks," he says with a grin, as Cheren hands him his food. He's in a good mood, Cheren notices. "Want to eat in here?" he asks, tilting his head towards the classroom.
Cheren bites his lip, thinking, and decides against it. "Nah. I still need to finish grading." It's a poor excuse, but he can't think of anything else. He needs to back away a little bit, or his dumb crush is going to get out of hand very quickly.
Alder doesn't seem to think much of it. "Alright," he says.
Cheren eats alone at his desk.
By Friday afternoon, Cheren still hasn't heard anything more from Black. Where were they even supposed to meet? He texts him a couple times but gets no response.
He frowns, wondering if he didn't end up coming into town after all. He was looking forward to seeing him, so he can't pretend he's not a little disappointed. He shrugs it off, putting his phone away to get ready for class to let out.
Cheren hears the door open behind him and stands up, quickly throwing his jacket on as kids stream out of the classroom. He and Alder start to head outside to see them off, and Cheren startles as he opens the door.
"Surprise!" Black yells, jumping out in front of him. N is a few feet behind him, looking mostly disinterested.
"Oh my God," Cheren says, clutching his chest. "You scared me." He realizes they're holding up the line and pushes Black over to the side so the kids can get out. He waves goodbye to them before turning back to Black and elbowing him. "What was that for?"
He shrugs. "My phone died. I figured we better just meet you here."
Cheren shakes his head at him before leaning around Black to greet N. "Hi," he says, trying his best to smile.
"Hello," N says quietly and nods.
Cheren tries not to sigh. This is going to be difficult. He turns his attention back to Black. "So where do you want to go?"
"I dunno," Black says. "Want to just go see a movie or something? Is there anything good playing?"
"I doubt it." Nonetheless, he pulls out his phone to check the show times.
"Hey, Black. N," Alder greets, making his way over. "How are you two doing?"
"We're good. How's the teaching life?"
"So far, so good," he says with a smile.
Cheren glances up from his phone. "We're going to go see a movie, do you want to come?" He hands his phone over to Black. "These all look terrible, but pick one."
"I don't think so." Alder shakes his head. "I'll probably just head home. You guys have fun though."
"Wow, they really do," Black agrees, scrolling through the list of movies playing. "How about this one?"
Cheren leans over to see which movie he's pointing to and groans. "I knew you'd pick that one." Black's always loved crappy action films. He can't even count how many he's been forced to watch over the years.
Black just laughs, then glances at N. "Is that good with you? It doesn't start for another hour though."
N nods. "That's fine."
"So you really don't wanna come, huh?" Black asks, turning his attention back to Alder.
"I'll pass. You don't want to hang out with an old man like me."
"Cheren sure doesn't seem to mind it," he comments. "Ow!" he yelps a moment later, as Cheren discreetly kicks him.
Alder just looks amused.
He insists that Cheren go on ahead while he closes up. Cheren wants to argue, but it's true that Black and N probably don't want to hang around the school doing nothing. He decides he'll make it up to him somehow later.
They wander off in the direction of the movie theater. It isn't far, so they don't have to rush. Black gets distracted by shops along the way and pulls Cheren and N inside with him.
"This is so cool!" he exclaims, picking up some new Pokemon gadget.
"Do you really need that?" Cheren asks, raising his eyebrows. He eyes it over Black's shoulder. He has to admit that it is pretty cool, but he has no use for things like that now. Hell, he barely even touches his Pokedex.
"... Probably not," Black admits, putting it back down. He and N continue further into the store as a training book catches Cheren's eye.
He pauses to take a look. "Hold on-" he starts to say, looking up from the display. Now that there's some distance between them, he suddenly notices they're holding hands. Oh. Black sure didn't tell him about that. He watches as Black tightens his grip, tugging N with him, as he excitedly makes his way over to something else.
Cheren blinks, caught off guard. He realizes he's not actually all that surprised. Black's always had an unusual interest in N. Mostly he wonders why he never mentioned it. He shakes it off, hurrying to catch up to them. He'll ask him about it later.
The movie ends up being about as terrible as Cheren had expected.
"That was awesome!" Black says, as they leave the theater. They stop by a trash can to throw their leftover popcorn away.
"I don't know if awesome is the word…"
"It was pretty bad," N agrees quietly.
"See?" Cheren throws N a small smile. At least they can agree on something?
Black huffs. "You both have no taste." He turns to Cheren. "What time is it, by the way?"
Cheren glances down at his watch. "Almost 8?" Not only was the movie terrible, but it was also way too long. It's already long past dark.
"Want to go eat before we leave?" Black asks N. Cheren can't see him, but he must nod. "Cheren?"
"Sure." He shrugs.
They stop at the first place they come across, which ends up being a small diner. They get lucky and don't have to wait long for a table. The waitress seats them, and Black slides into the other side of the booth next to N.
Cheren flips through the menu quickly, deciding on a salad. He's not really that hungry. He glances up across the table, and Black is leaning well into N's space sharing his menu. He doesn't seem to mind.
He realizes he's kind of jealous. His stomach twists uncomfortably.
"So, anything new and exciting happen this week?" Black asks, after they've ordered.
Cheren thinks, fiddling with his straw. "... Not exactly. I graded some papers."
"Wow, yeah, exciting," Black laughs. "But you like it, right?"
"Yeah, I do." He nods. "It's fun - the atmosphere without the responsibility. I can't exactly stay there forever, though."
Black takes a sip of his soda. "You probably could if you wanted to," he points out.
Cheren leans back in his seat and sighs. "Technically, yes. I don't think he's going to kick me out. But I can't just depend on Alder for the rest of my life. I'll have to get an actual paying job at some point."
"He's not paying you, huh?"
"No, I told him I wouldn't accept it," Cheren explains. "He won't let me pay rent, so it's only fair. It's not like I'm doing that much anyway."
"Hm," Black muses, propping his chin in his hand, elbow on the table. "It is kind of a weird situation." He tilts his head towards N. "Got any useful advice?"
N blinks. "If that's what you wish to do, you should," he says. "I'm sure there's a way."
"... And there you go," Black says, turning back to Cheren.
Cheren sighs again. "I suppose." He wishes it were that easy. He drums his fingers on table.
"Is everything going okay living with him, though? Man, it's still surreal to me. We grew up hearing about the guy, and now here you are."
"Sometimes I can't believe it either," Cheren admits. "But yeah, it's fine. We get along pretty well. As far as roommates go, I probably couldn't ask for much more."
"Oh?" Black grins.
Cheren just glares at him. N glances between the two of them, looking lost.
He doesn't exactly feel like explaining, so he changes the subject instead. "So what have you two been up to?" From what he understands, N has been living with Black, but he doesn't know much more beyond that.
Black shrugs. "Not much, honestly. I've done a couple of events here and there. Today I shot an ad for the Battle Company. That's why we came into town, actually." He looks over at N. "N's kinda just been hanging out. He helps me out a lot."
"I'm still figuring out where to go from here," N says.
Cheren nods. He can certainly understand that. "There's no rush," he tells N. He's only started to figure that out for himself recently. N's been through a lot… he can't even imagine.
Their food comes a few minutes later.
"Have you noticed Bianca is the only one of us with a legitimate career?" Black asks, before taking a bite of his burger.
Cheren laughs, stabbing at his salad."Yes. I'm happy for her though. I used to worry about what she was going to do."
"Me too. She sure showed us…"
"She really did." Cheren feels a swell of pride thinking about her.
Cheren tries to engage N a couple times while they're eating, but he can't get much out of him. He does half smile once though, so overall, he counts it as a success.
When they're almost done eating, Black flags down the waitress for the bill. "We better get going soon," he says.
"Yeah, it's getting pretty late," Cheren agrees. He wishes they could stay longer. "Are you sure you don't just want to spend the night? I doubt Alder would mind."
"We'd better not," Black says, shaking his head. "Thanks, though. Next time we may take you up on that."
They pay and head outside. Cheren zips up his jacket as far as it'll go, as they stand on the sidewalk. It's freezing out. It almost feels like snow.
"Well, I have no idea when we'll be back, but hopefully soon," Black says with a smile.
Cheren nods and turns to N. "It was good to see you. You two are welcome to stay with Alder and I whenever you want."
"Thank you."
He watches them head off down the sidewalk. Black takes N's hand again before they turn a corner, and Cheren feels another pang of jealousy. He scolds himself for it. He should be happy for them. Black's his best friend, and regardless of his own feelings towards N, he obviously likes him for whatever reason.
It's not their fault he fell for someone he can never have.
Cheren puts the thought out of his mind and turns to head home himself. He pulls his phone out to quickly text Alder that he's on his way. He gets a response almost immediately.
FROM: Alder
Want me to come get you?
He texts back, telling him he's fine. It's true that he's not normally out this late alone, but he's not that far from the apartment anyway. He knows his way back.
FROM: Alder
K. Be safe
Cheren smiles down at his phone before shoving it in his pocket and starting the walk home.
Notes: A chapter appeared! I've been very busy lately with work, but I plan to continue (very slowly) making my way through this.
