The four lettered N names strike again
Who: Nate & Neil
What: Nate receives the news that he's officially flat broke. Time to join the rest of the common folk and get a... a... JOB!!!
When: BACKDATED- a few weeks before Christmas
Where: Neil and Nate's place
Rating: PG
Status: Complete and Fluffy
Nate finally got back to the apartment, shutting the door behind him. Life here in Aternaville was... different. But it was nice. For example: Back in New York, there was plenty of cold, but not an awful lot of snow. Here, on the other hand, there was plenty of the white fluffy stuff. Enough so that as he entered the house, he could tell he was covered in white.
"I'm back!" Nate called, smiling to himself. He loved... this. Having a place. The dorm had never felt like he truly belonged if only because of the zombie. But here, here he felt like he could be himself. He'd never lived like that before. But it felt so liberating, he knew he never wanted it to change. "Neil?" he called again, pulling off his scarf and gloves.
Grinning as he heard the familiar voice ring out from the front door, Neil put down his book and set aside his reading glasses before pushing himself out of bed. "Hey!" He beelined for the door and kissed Nate hello, not really caring that the other boy felt like an ice cube. "How did your exam go?"
That was his favorite thing about staying here. Neil. Nate had never thought he'd like living with his significant other, but then he came to realize it was just Blair he wasn't looking forward to living with. Neil was so different. So... warm. In all the ways Blair had been stone cold.
"It went... okay," Nate admitted. He hadn't done especially well. He never had. But he'd always hated asking for help. And his attempts at studying on his own had failed miserably. But he didn't want to get hung up on that. "How's your day goin?"
"Good!" Neil answered, choosing not to delve further into the test. Nate didn't seem to like talking about his schoolwork-- Neil figured if he wanted to, he'd bring it up. And right now, he was feeling slightly giddy that Nate's finals were finished. Neil had taken his last one yesterday. Which meant their semester was finally over, and they could finally just... relax. Together. Which seemed like a really nice idea. "I had practice earlier, and I've pretty much just been reading since then."
"How's practice going?" Nate asked, finding himself actually invested, a nice change of pace from most of the people he dated. Though just as Neil was about to answer, Nate's phone let out a familiar jingle. He pulled the phone out of his pocket, checking the caller ID and his brow furrowed at the number. "...It's... my bank."
Neil raised his eyebrows. Of course he knew about Nate's wealth, but he'd never really witnessed
any actual financial matters taking place. He wondered if he should let Nate handle this one in private. "I'm going to go put some cocoa on. I'll just be in the kitchen when you're done."
"Yeah, okay," he agreed, answering his phone. "Hello?" An automated recording began to drone as Nate listened, his eyes squinting and his brow furrowing further.
A few minutes later, Nate wandered into the kitchen, his cheeks no longer rosy and his face drained of most of its color. Blinking up at Neil, he rubbed the back of his neck, knowing he deserved some kind of explanation. "I uh..." How to explain that he first, had been obscenely wealthy and an heir to a French fortune, then broke, then a prostitute, then now, broke again.
"...How's the cocoa?" he asked, avoiding Neil's gaze and looking at the counter top.
The moment Nate entered the kitchen, Neil started to worry. He hadn't seen that look on Nate's face since the night he'd first come to live here, terrified he was on the verge of being made into a zombie midnight snack. "I'd rather not talk about the cocoa right now," he said, coming up beside Nate and touching his arm. "What's going on?"
"It's uhm..." Okay, let's take this once at a time... "...I haven't been... I'm broke."
Neil stared at him, and put down the box of cocoa mix he'd been holding in his free hand. "Broke?" he repeated. "But I thought your family owned half of New York?" He remembered the way Lulu had put it.
Well that wasn't the reaction Nate had been looking for. Or expecting. "...huh?" He'd never mentioned his money to Neil before, and he didn't think he came off as that stuck up or... or anything.
At Nate's confusion, Neil had to backtrack quickly in his mind. Had Nate ever actually mentioned his financial status to Neil? Or did Neil only know because of Lulu? He couldn't really remember.... The fact that Nate was rich was never particularly important to him, not something he thought about all that often. "Oh. It's just, Lulu used to live in New York, and she said she'd heard your name mentioned. Your family's, I mean."
"...Oh," Nate said softly. Well, that would make sense. If it was long enough ago, and Lulu hadn't been keeping up with the news in New York, she might have totally missed the part about the Archibald family's decent into madness.
"...I uh... I had money. Plenty. But the past few years have been really... really hectic." He didn't know how to explain it, or maybe he was afraid to. Probably the second. "But... now my bank account's almost empty." What was he supposed to do now? He had enough to cover himself for the next week or so, but how was he supposed to get money now?
"Oh," Neil said again, watching Nate's face carefully. This was obviously taking a toll on him. Neil's family had never really had money. Sending Neil to Welton had practically ensured debts for the rest of their lives. He'd always been comfortable, but never more than that.
To be at the top and come crashing down? That had to hurt. And it was clear looking at Nate that it did. "I'm... I'm sorry," he said quietly, wishing he could do more. "The money House and Wilson left me with is enough for two, at leat for a while, anyway. I mean... you have to know I wouldn't mind helping."
Nate shook his head firmly. "I can't accept that," he replied, looking up to Neil with a heavy blue gaze. "I just... I can't take money from you like that." Mixing money with a relationship could only hurt. He'd discovered that quite a few times. "I... I'll get a job." Suddenly saying it seemed so clear. But he'd never even thought about it before now and though he knew plenty about how to go to interviews and talk with businessmen, Nate knew next to nothing about what it actually meant to work.
Neil should have guessed Nate wouldn't want to take money from him. He was about to argue that it wasn't as though he'd had to work for it himself anyway. It had been given to him. But as soon as he mentioned a job, some form of clarity, or determination, seemed to flash across Nate's features. Like maybe he really wanted to do this. "Are you... are you sure?"
Nate thought about it for a moment, before nodding definitively. "Yeah. I mean, how hard can it be?" He was looking into his coffee cup, a look of determination on his face that rarely made an appearance. "Yeah. ...But... where should I apply?"
Resting one hand on Nate's, Neil smiled and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. "I'm sure you'll do fine. We can go look for place that are hiring tomorrow. There are probably plenty of openings, especially with the holidays coming up."
Nate nodded, taking Neil's hand in his own and smiling contently at the other boy. "You don't mind helping me look?" he asked hopefully, his thumb rubbing against the back of Neil's palm.
"Of course not," Neil smiled, turning his hand up to link their fingers. This whole idea, even though Neil hated that Nate had to go through this... it was almost kind of... nice. Living together, going to school together, getting jobs and supporting each other... it was so... domestic. Neil internally rolled his eyes at the thought. "So um... how is your family doing? I mean, it must be hard for them."
Nate swallowed. Another sore topic. He seemed to be loaded with those. But, he supposed now was as fine a time as any. "My Mom's taken it pretty hard... it's uh... it's because of my dad." He didn't really know where to start with the explanation. So that seemed as reasonable a start as any.
"Because of your dad?" Neil repeated. "That you lost your money?" He'd let Nate take this as slowly as he wanted; obviously it wouldn't be an easy story to tell. Still, he thought he should make it clear that Nate shouldn't be worried. "You know nothing your family's done will make me think any less of you, right?"
Nate looked up at Neil and sighed, finally deciding to continue. "...The government is after him. He's wanted for embezzlement. But rather than turn himself in, he escaped the country. Now the feds have frozen all our accounts to try to scare us into telling them where he is. It happened like a year ago and I tried my best to... borrow some money," he said softly, a wince of pain streaking through him as he lied. "But now it looks like it's all gone."
Wow, was really all Neil could think. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting Nate to tell him, but this was... a lot to wrap his mind around. "That's... Nate, I'm so sorry." He squeezed his hand, his heart going out to the other boy, and glad at the same time that he'd been able to open up to him. Shame I can't do the same.
Nate didn't know what to say. He'd never really opened up willingly about the experience to anyone. And it wasn't like he was about to explain everything to him. No, then Nate would... well, he'd probably end up on the street. And he found suddenly that the thing that scared him most was not being with Neil right now. "Nothing anyone can do," Nate said softly, squeezing Neil's hand tightly and leaning forward, his eyes scanning the table. The guilt and the shame were mind-boggling as he avoided eye-contact, knowing Neil wouldn't judge him for what he'd said so far, but the additional unspoken deeds more than enough to make him hate what he'd become.
"You know you can always talk to me," Neil reminded him, smiling as he picked up the hand in his and kissed it quickly. "But for now, you look like you're down enough as is, and your hands are still freezing. So... cocoa, then we spend the evening not thinking about anything to do with school whatsoever. And tomorrow, you can start your journey to becoming a contributing member of society." He winked.
Nate was all grins as Neil pushed the mug of cocoa to him. "How do you always know what to say?" he asked, taking the mug in hand and sipping the tasty treat.
Neil turned as warm as the liquid in his mug, but somehow kept his wits. "I read a lot of scripts. Eventually you find that someone's written dialogue for every possible situation," he joked.
What: Nate receives the news that he's officially flat broke. Time to join the rest of the common folk and get a... a... JOB!!!
When: BACKDATED- a few weeks before Christmas
Where: Neil and Nate's place
Rating: PG
Status: Complete and Fluffy
Nate finally got back to the apartment, shutting the door behind him. Life here in Aternaville was... different. But it was nice. For example: Back in New York, there was plenty of cold, but not an awful lot of snow. Here, on the other hand, there was plenty of the white fluffy stuff. Enough so that as he entered the house, he could tell he was covered in white.
"I'm back!" Nate called, smiling to himself. He loved... this. Having a place. The dorm had never felt like he truly belonged if only because of the zombie. But here, here he felt like he could be himself. He'd never lived like that before. But it felt so liberating, he knew he never wanted it to change. "Neil?" he called again, pulling off his scarf and gloves.
Grinning as he heard the familiar voice ring out from the front door, Neil put down his book and set aside his reading glasses before pushing himself out of bed. "Hey!" He beelined for the door and kissed Nate hello, not really caring that the other boy felt like an ice cube. "How did your exam go?"
That was his favorite thing about staying here. Neil. Nate had never thought he'd like living with his significant other, but then he came to realize it was just Blair he wasn't looking forward to living with. Neil was so different. So... warm. In all the ways Blair had been stone cold.
"It went... okay," Nate admitted. He hadn't done especially well. He never had. But he'd always hated asking for help. And his attempts at studying on his own had failed miserably. But he didn't want to get hung up on that. "How's your day goin?"
"Good!" Neil answered, choosing not to delve further into the test. Nate didn't seem to like talking about his schoolwork-- Neil figured if he wanted to, he'd bring it up. And right now, he was feeling slightly giddy that Nate's finals were finished. Neil had taken his last one yesterday. Which meant their semester was finally over, and they could finally just... relax. Together. Which seemed like a really nice idea. "I had practice earlier, and I've pretty much just been reading since then."
"How's practice going?" Nate asked, finding himself actually invested, a nice change of pace from most of the people he dated. Though just as Neil was about to answer, Nate's phone let out a familiar jingle. He pulled the phone out of his pocket, checking the caller ID and his brow furrowed at the number. "...It's... my bank."
Neil raised his eyebrows. Of course he knew about Nate's wealth, but he'd never really witnessed
any actual financial matters taking place. He wondered if he should let Nate handle this one in private. "I'm going to go put some cocoa on. I'll just be in the kitchen when you're done."
"Yeah, okay," he agreed, answering his phone. "Hello?" An automated recording began to drone as Nate listened, his eyes squinting and his brow furrowing further.
A few minutes later, Nate wandered into the kitchen, his cheeks no longer rosy and his face drained of most of its color. Blinking up at Neil, he rubbed the back of his neck, knowing he deserved some kind of explanation. "I uh..." How to explain that he first, had been obscenely wealthy and an heir to a French fortune, then broke, then a prostitute, then now, broke again.
"...How's the cocoa?" he asked, avoiding Neil's gaze and looking at the counter top.
The moment Nate entered the kitchen, Neil started to worry. He hadn't seen that look on Nate's face since the night he'd first come to live here, terrified he was on the verge of being made into a zombie midnight snack. "I'd rather not talk about the cocoa right now," he said, coming up beside Nate and touching his arm. "What's going on?"
"It's uhm..." Okay, let's take this once at a time... "...I haven't been... I'm broke."
Neil stared at him, and put down the box of cocoa mix he'd been holding in his free hand. "Broke?" he repeated. "But I thought your family owned half of New York?" He remembered the way Lulu had put it.
Well that wasn't the reaction Nate had been looking for. Or expecting. "...huh?" He'd never mentioned his money to Neil before, and he didn't think he came off as that stuck up or... or anything.
At Nate's confusion, Neil had to backtrack quickly in his mind. Had Nate ever actually mentioned his financial status to Neil? Or did Neil only know because of Lulu? He couldn't really remember.... The fact that Nate was rich was never particularly important to him, not something he thought about all that often. "Oh. It's just, Lulu used to live in New York, and she said she'd heard your name mentioned. Your family's, I mean."
"...Oh," Nate said softly. Well, that would make sense. If it was long enough ago, and Lulu hadn't been keeping up with the news in New York, she might have totally missed the part about the Archibald family's decent into madness.
"...I uh... I had money. Plenty. But the past few years have been really... really hectic." He didn't know how to explain it, or maybe he was afraid to. Probably the second. "But... now my bank account's almost empty." What was he supposed to do now? He had enough to cover himself for the next week or so, but how was he supposed to get money now?
"Oh," Neil said again, watching Nate's face carefully. This was obviously taking a toll on him. Neil's family had never really had money. Sending Neil to Welton had practically ensured debts for the rest of their lives. He'd always been comfortable, but never more than that.
To be at the top and come crashing down? That had to hurt. And it was clear looking at Nate that it did. "I'm... I'm sorry," he said quietly, wishing he could do more. "The money House and Wilson left me with is enough for two, at leat for a while, anyway. I mean... you have to know I wouldn't mind helping."
Nate shook his head firmly. "I can't accept that," he replied, looking up to Neil with a heavy blue gaze. "I just... I can't take money from you like that." Mixing money with a relationship could only hurt. He'd discovered that quite a few times. "I... I'll get a job." Suddenly saying it seemed so clear. But he'd never even thought about it before now and though he knew plenty about how to go to interviews and talk with businessmen, Nate knew next to nothing about what it actually meant to work.
Neil should have guessed Nate wouldn't want to take money from him. He was about to argue that it wasn't as though he'd had to work for it himself anyway. It had been given to him. But as soon as he mentioned a job, some form of clarity, or determination, seemed to flash across Nate's features. Like maybe he really wanted to do this. "Are you... are you sure?"
Nate thought about it for a moment, before nodding definitively. "Yeah. I mean, how hard can it be?" He was looking into his coffee cup, a look of determination on his face that rarely made an appearance. "Yeah. ...But... where should I apply?"
Resting one hand on Nate's, Neil smiled and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. "I'm sure you'll do fine. We can go look for place that are hiring tomorrow. There are probably plenty of openings, especially with the holidays coming up."
Nate nodded, taking Neil's hand in his own and smiling contently at the other boy. "You don't mind helping me look?" he asked hopefully, his thumb rubbing against the back of Neil's palm.
"Of course not," Neil smiled, turning his hand up to link their fingers. This whole idea, even though Neil hated that Nate had to go through this... it was almost kind of... nice. Living together, going to school together, getting jobs and supporting each other... it was so... domestic. Neil internally rolled his eyes at the thought. "So um... how is your family doing? I mean, it must be hard for them."
Nate swallowed. Another sore topic. He seemed to be loaded with those. But, he supposed now was as fine a time as any. "My Mom's taken it pretty hard... it's uh... it's because of my dad." He didn't really know where to start with the explanation. So that seemed as reasonable a start as any.
"Because of your dad?" Neil repeated. "That you lost your money?" He'd let Nate take this as slowly as he wanted; obviously it wouldn't be an easy story to tell. Still, he thought he should make it clear that Nate shouldn't be worried. "You know nothing your family's done will make me think any less of you, right?"
Nate looked up at Neil and sighed, finally deciding to continue. "...The government is after him. He's wanted for embezzlement. But rather than turn himself in, he escaped the country. Now the feds have frozen all our accounts to try to scare us into telling them where he is. It happened like a year ago and I tried my best to... borrow some money," he said softly, a wince of pain streaking through him as he lied. "But now it looks like it's all gone."
Wow, was really all Neil could think. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting Nate to tell him, but this was... a lot to wrap his mind around. "That's... Nate, I'm so sorry." He squeezed his hand, his heart going out to the other boy, and glad at the same time that he'd been able to open up to him. Shame I can't do the same.
Nate didn't know what to say. He'd never really opened up willingly about the experience to anyone. And it wasn't like he was about to explain everything to him. No, then Nate would... well, he'd probably end up on the street. And he found suddenly that the thing that scared him most was not being with Neil right now. "Nothing anyone can do," Nate said softly, squeezing Neil's hand tightly and leaning forward, his eyes scanning the table. The guilt and the shame were mind-boggling as he avoided eye-contact, knowing Neil wouldn't judge him for what he'd said so far, but the additional unspoken deeds more than enough to make him hate what he'd become.
"You know you can always talk to me," Neil reminded him, smiling as he picked up the hand in his and kissed it quickly. "But for now, you look like you're down enough as is, and your hands are still freezing. So... cocoa, then we spend the evening not thinking about anything to do with school whatsoever. And tomorrow, you can start your journey to becoming a contributing member of society." He winked.
Nate was all grins as Neil pushed the mug of cocoa to him. "How do you always know what to say?" he asked, taking the mug in hand and sipping the tasty treat.
Neil turned as warm as the liquid in his mug, but somehow kept his wits. "I read a lot of scripts. Eventually you find that someone's written dialogue for every possible situation," he joked.