The Road All Runners Come

Part 2/3

When Zon cornered Team the next day, Team was briefly terrified. Then he remembered that everyone assured him Zon was mostly harmless.

"I have some ideas!" Zon said, his excitement making him look more like his sister than he might appreciate.

"Ideas?"

"First have you thought about taking online classes like Win does?"

"Uh—"

"Whatever your major, there are people here who could help you with your classes." Zon's eyes were bright.

"I do—"

"Also, I'm sorry we don't have a full-time position at the café, but we've got a list of people around town that need help. Win can help you go through it."

"Thank y—"

"And we—" Zon was about to say more when Saifah appeared behind him and put his hand over Zon's mouth.

"Let the boy take a breath," Saifah said, smiling at Team.

Team took that breath. "I really appreciate your help. I would love the list."

Saifah didn't remove the hand from Zon's mouth, just used it to nod his head for him. Zon made an irritated noise but didn't struggle. Smiling brighter, Saifah said. "We'll get you the list. There's no rush."

"I want to work," Team said. "I want to help."

Saifah nodded. "You'll fit in fine."

"Thank you," Team said, feeling flustered again. He wasn't—he realized—particularly used to praise.

Saifah towed a vaguely protesting Zon off and Team leaned against the wall for a bit, until Liza walked by. "You okay?" she asked.

And...he was. He was okay. Maybe for the first time in his entire life. "Yeah. Is there something I can help with?"

She patted his shoulder, grinning. "You could give me a hand in the stockroom putting away the dry goods order that just arrived."

"Sure," he said, following her down the hall.

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Win went through the list with him that evening, sorting out things he could do now, things he could learn along the way, and how much to charge.

"The pricing was hard for me," Win said with a chuckle. "I'd never even had a babysitting job."

"Same." Team stared at the list.

"It's okay to be nervous," Win said after a moment. "This is all new to you."

"It was new to you nine months ago, right?"

"Yeah and Fighter talked me down out of my terror that I would screw everything up at the café." Sprawling back on the couch, Win laughed. "I think it took him an hour."

"Oh." It made him feel better to know Win had felt the same way.

"I know all the people on this list. They're good people, I promise."

"Okay." Team took a deep breath. "I can do this."

"Of course you can. Now let's get some rest."

Team nodded.

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Bedtime was awkward as they did the dance of offering to sleep on the couch before finally agreeing they were both okay with sleeping on the bed.