The gift That Keeps On giving

Dorien didn't know why he had bought Misery the alchemy set. Not really. It just seemed like the right thing to do. After hearing her story and knowing the stakes she was facing, he felt responsible for her. It would help to get her started, and maybe make sure she didn't drive herself further into debt with start up costs.

It had taken most of an afternoon and a lot of walking and bargain hunting down in the shopping district, not to mention the rest of the "Bonus" money that Puse had given him, but Dorien had managed to cobble together a workable set of basic alchemy equipment for relatively cheap. He had gotten it set up in his room (with a grey bow on the largest flask just for the humor value) just in time to have to leave for work. After spending the evening working at Tits', he slept like the dead and almost snored his way through the insistent banging on the door that finally woke him the next morning.

Blearily he dragged himself out of bed and threw on his pants. "One minute..." he shouted as he grabbed his cleanest shirt from a pile on the floor and pulled it over himself. After quickly wetting his hands and slicking back his wild mane of hair he opened the door.

"Sorry, long night last night," he said to the Shadar Kai girl, "The cabaret was hopping. C'mon in."

Misery stepped inside, shaking the light dusting of snow off her coat. "Business is good, then?"

"It's definitely been worse," Dorien said as she stepped inside, "That cherry nectar we made sold like gangbusters.I think you've got that one down pretty well."

"Thanks," she said, not sounding overly excited by his praise. "So, what do we do next?"

"Well..." Dorien said, heading towards his room and opening the door for her, "Next we move on to more difficult stuff like Sheen. But first you're gonna want to get used to your new set up."

He stepped out of the way so that Misery could see the brand new equipment. He was surprised to find himself feeling awkward and even a little bit nervous.

"I ummm... I took the liberty of getting you a few things to... help get you started."

Misery blinked in surprise, taking in the sight of the new equipment, bow and all. "You... got all this for me?"

Dorien shrugged nervously.

"Yeah. I mean, you just seemed so down the other day and I... I figured you could use some cheering up. I maybe went a little bit overboard, I guess, but I'm a chemistry geek, so... you know, once I started getting stuff it just kinda... snowballed."

Taking a hesitant step forward into the bedroom, Misery looked over the assembled materials. "That's very... very... thoughtful of you..." she stammered. It was only when she turned around that Dorien realized she was crying.

Dorien bit his lip awkwardly, uncertain how to proceed. Crying women were not really his area of expertise.

"Crap, ummm... are you ok? I mean... do you need a minute alone or something? I'm sorry, I guess I'm not great at this sort of thing."

Misery shook her head hard enough that her curls bounced. "No!" She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her oversized sweater, trying (and mostly failing) to stop sniffling. "I mean, yes, I'm okay, no, you don't need to leave, and stop saying you're sorry, dummy. It's really nice."

She stepped up on her tiptoes to give him a hug, one that went one longer than was strictly necessary.

For a moment Dorien was startled, unsure what to do with his hands as Misery put her arms around him. He finally settled for resting them on her shoulder blades as she held onto him. When she finally let go he cleared his throat.

"I ummm... You're welcome. You deserve it. You've been working really hard to learn this stuff and I've never really had an apprentice before. It's... actually been really nice having you around the last week or two."

Misery stepped back, looking uncertain. "Wait... did you get me all this because I can't use yours anymore? Because you're quitting?"

Dorien blinked, a sudden sinking feeling developing in the pit of his stomach.

"Well... Yeah. I mean, eventually. In a few weeks I'm out. You're supposed to be my replacement. I... Did you not know that?"

"I know you're done when you finished teaching me - but I'm not going to know all this stuff in another few weeks!" Her eyes widened with alarm. "You're just going to go off and leave me to figure the rest out by myself?"

"Hey, no, I... I mean... You've already learned a lot! I'll make sure you know the most important stuff. And it's not like I'm leaving the city. I'll be... around."

"Besides, I don't exactly have a manual for being a drug producer. Most of this I just kind of make up as I go."

"That's ... a little worrying," she said, still sniffling a bit. "I just don't know, though. What if I fuck something up and someone gets sick, or dies, or..."

That was a question that Dorien had asked himself many times since starting his "Career", and he still hadn't found a good answer for it.

"If that happens..." he said, trying to sound reassuring, "You'll probably never know. The biggest things you need to worry about are getting caught and falling behind on quota, and I think you're smart enough that those won't be a problem for you."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Seeing the young girl crying in his living room, he felt his resolve weakening.

"I... look, let's see how much you know in a few weeks and... I guess we can go from there, ok? I'm not just gonna abandon you."

Misery looked up at him uncertainly. "Okay..." She wanted to trust him, but what reason did he really have to want to help her? "Thank you, then. It's really thoughtful of you to get me all this... it must have been expensive," she added, looking around again at the assorted equipment. The suspicious side of her wondered if he expected something in return, but she didn't think Dorien was like that. At least, they'd been working together for weeks now and he hadn't tried anything. Maybe he wasn't into girls?

"And all I brought you was some cheese," she said lightly, gesturing in the direction of her bag.

Dorien glanced at the bag with a laugh.

"Hey, food is always appreciated. I might even have some bread to go with it that isn't moldy. What say we have some breakfast before we get started?"