“What is that?” It was probably a question that he shouldn’t be asking, but Marc had to.
“It’s nothing,” Ariel answered simply.
Marc didn’t know how to reply to that, so he just nodded like he understood. He didn’t really.
“Mr. Brendan says it’s called abstract,” she elaborated a little bit more.
“Ah,” Marc got it then. “Well it looks cool. Is it a project from school or just fun?”
“It’s for fun, but Mr. Brendan said I could show it to him anyways,” she said. “I want to take his class again next semester.”
“I think you get an art class every semester anyways,” Marc figured. He remembered it being like that and not really picking classes until he got into his high school years. “Did you want to invite Eric over for another movie tomorrow? Maybe he can pick the movie this time.”
Ariel groaned in complaint. “All he ever talks about are the Lego movies!”
“I’ll tell Alice for him to pick something other than a Lego movie, then,” Marc said, laughing.
He stepped aside to call Alice and set up another playdate for the next day after school. He was half wondering what the chances were of Alice watching them both, and going out to do something with Brendan. But then at what point was spending this much time with Brendan questionable?
He didn’t really see it as a bad thing, though. They stayed inside the rest of the night, with Ariel watching movies on re-runs and Marc half-watching, half-working with her. He didn’t notice when she fell asleep on the carpet, and he wasn’t far behind as he conked out on the couch.
He woke up to the faint sound of his alarm going off upstairs. He groaned and rubbed his eyes and glared towards the light coming into the window. It seemed brighter than usual. He shuffled up towards the window and pulled the blinds open just enough to be blinded by the glare.
“Shit,” he hissed, pulling back quickly. He should have known it was almost snow season—apparently now it was snow season. He hadn’t been planning on snow. He wasn’t even sure where their winter coats were.
He nudged Ariel up with his foot and eventually rolled her over. “Come on lazy bones, we have to get going early this morning.”
She groaned and threw an arm over her eyes. “Not now,” she complained.
“Yes now,” Marc insisted. “It’s snowing outside, and we don’t want to be late.”
That made her pop right up with a grin on her face. “Snow?”
“Yes, snow. Get upstairs and get in your uniform, then start looking for some of your winter clothes. Jacket, gloves, hat, so on.” Marc got her going towards the stairs, and he followed up behind her.
He took a quick shower and got dressed before going on the search for his gloves and coat. He found the coat in the back of his closet, and found one glove but not the other. Then he found his scarf, and the other glove mixed in with his socks.
Marc had to help Ariel find her hat, buried in at the bottom with her socks as well. They ran out the door and Marc nearly slipped on the un-shoveled side walk. He’d have to start paying some local kid to do all of the shoveling for him again.
He got her to school right on time and eyed the empty bike rack. Brendan usually rode his bike, and Marc was wondering how he was getting there. He didn’t have time to stick around though. He got back in his car and sent a quick text message to Brendan to check how he had fared that morning.
Marc had really not been ready for snow. It had been so nice the past few days… and maybe a little chilly the day before, but that was just late fall. And late fall eventually became winter, but he preferred to ignore that little fact.
He got to work and saw he had a reply from Brendan, saying that he had walked because he hadn’t been expecting the snow either. Marc felt guilty and apologized for not being able to give a ride.
Marc sat through work while occasionally looking out at the snow with dismay. Ariel would want to play in it later and he didn’t want to face the cold yet. Alice texted just to make sure that they were still on for the playdate later, though maybe pushed back a half hour.
He agreed to it and was counting down the hours until he went to pick Ariel up from school. He got there a little early and ventured back to Brendan’s class to stop in. Most of the class was either sitting closer to or farther from the windows than usual. Brendan was at his desk with all of his winter gear hung over his desk, and a pair of boots tucked next to his desk.
“How are you getting home?” Marc asked.
“I was going to figure it out,” Brendan answered dubiously. “Why?”
“I can drive you with Ariel,” Marc offered. “If I’d known the weather would be bad this morning I would have found the time to swing by and get you, but…”
“It couldn’t be helped. I think we were all surprised by it,” Brendan laughed. “I was almost late because I had to find my boots.”
“And I was almost late because I couldn’t find the other glove, and Ariel couldn’t find her hat,” Marc chuckled. “But really, let me give you a ride home.”
“It’s fine. I was planning to procrastinate on some grading anyways, so the longer it takes me to get home the better,” Brendan protested.
“You could come procrastinate or do your grading at my house,” it was out of Marc’s mouth before he remembered he had plans with Alice and Eric, but for him it was more of a work-date with Alice anyways. Brendan could join in on the working and talk teacher talk with Alice. “I have a playdate set up with a boy for Ariel and his mom, and we just do work while the kids watch a movie. You can ‘not’ do your grading then.”
“Well, shit,” Brendan sighed and did a quick check around the classroom to make sure he hadn’t been heard. “I might as well join in on the party then. Come see me again after you get Ariel.”
Marc nodded and ducked out of the class to go see Ariel just before the bell rang. He met her there and they went back down to Brendan’s classroom. He was making sure that everyone was properly cleaned up before they could actually leave the class.
Brendan and Ariel put on all of their winter gear to go outside and to Marc’s car. The school was crowded with parents and hired hands that decided today was the day to pick up their kids in a car. It took longer for them to get out, and then Marc dropped by Brendan’s house so that he could pick up the grading work.
From there Marc drove them back, where Ariel threw herself into the few inches of snow out on the front lawn, creating a snow angel with her arms and legs. Marc sighed and helped her back up onto her feet so that she could get inside and start to melt.
Marc made sure everything that was snow covered was hung up over the tiled entrance where it could properly form puddles. Brendan set his work out on the kitchen table. Ariel got up onto a chair to try and see what he was doing. “These are from the high school students,” Brendan explained, showing a few of them off. “Though I’m actually a couple projects behind in grading because it’s taking so long.”
“Why does it take so long?” Ariel wanted to know.
“Because I can’t grade on just their talent, because not everyone has it. I have to grade on if they accomplished the proper elements and the goal of the assignment,” Brendan went on.
She watched him grade some of the projects and Marc went upstairs to get his laptop for work. As he got downstairs he heard the knock of the door, and he went to let Alice and Eric in. “Alice, this is Brendan, a friend of mine and the art teacher at their school. Brendan, Alice, Eric's mother.”
Brendan nodded and smiled from where he was working, and Alice smiled back. “I think we met briefly at parent teacher night,” Alice said, sitting down across from him. “But I’m sure you see a lot of faces of parents. I’m a professor at the nearby university, for the college of business there.”
“Marc mentioned you were a teacher too,” Brendan responded. “He probably thinks that because we both teach that we’ll connect on some other level.” He waved his fingers at her dramatically, earning a laugh.
Hell, Marc had never gotten Alice to laugh, though he hadn’t really tried before either. Marc set the movie up that Eric had brought over before joining Brendan and Alice at the table.
“So how are you planning to get to and from school without a car?” Marc asked. “Are you really planning to walk every day?”
“I might try setting up some carpool with another teacher… see if anyone drives by me on their way to school that could pick me up if I contribute some gas money or something,” Brendan theorized. “Or see if there are any workable bus routes nearby.”
“You don’t have a car?” Alice asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I usually just need my bike,” Brendan defended himself. “Or have always been close enough to walk. It’s about a thirty minute walk from where I am… so it’s not too bad.”
Alice gave him one of those looks that Marc was sure only a parent could master. “And what if it’s too cold or snowing really hard out?” she challenged him. “Where do you live?”
Brendan hesitating in answering. “I don’t need a ride,” he said again, knowing that it was all a trap.
“If you’re not that far from school, it wouldn’t be hard for either of us to swing by and get you.” Alice looked towards Marc with purpose. “Marc probably lives closer, though. And you already know where he lives, don’t you?”
“Shit,” Brendan hissed. “I wouldn’t need a ride every day, just on the really bad days. How about that, does that make you feel better, mom?”
Alice glared at him slightly, but Marc could see she was also trying not to smile. “It does,” she declared. “I’d rather not have to explain how the art teacher froze to death as he was walking to work.”
“Thanks for your obviously deep care and concern for my personal well-being,” Brendan exasperated dramatically, bending his wrist forward with some flair.
Alice snorted. “You’re welcome.”
Marc gave a half a grin as he listened to their bantering. Eventually they settled back into working, with Alice shooting Marc the occasional look.
The movie ended and no one really wanted venture outside yet. “Where’s your bathroom?” Brendan asked.
Marc pointed down the hall, and Brendan slid out the table and disappeared down the hall. Alice sat forward and raised her eyebrow at Marc. “So…” she started slowly. “He’s gay, right?”
“Yeah,” Marc answered. He hadn’t been able to tell right off the bat like she had, so he was feeling a little inadequate. Or maybe Brendan had been acting a little more flamboyant, but more out of trying to be funny than anything else.
Alice nodded and leaned back into her chair, giving him one of those looks. “We’re not dating,” Marc threw it out there quickly.
“Understandable,” Alice muttered, tapping her red pen onto her stack of assignments. “He seems fun, though. Anyways, are you not dating anyone then?”
Marc felt like that was a trap question. “No,” he admitted. Not that he was really looking, but he felt like a set up might be coming.
“If you want me to introduce you to anyone, I can name a few of my co-workers,” Alice suggested. “Or there are some single mom’s at the school that I meet at the parent board meetings every once and a while.”
Marc had almost forgotten that a parent board existed. “I’m not looking into dating right now.” Or ever, really. Not at this rate. It wasn’t the top thing on his mind, although he could almost see where she was getting with it. She could probably tell that he and Brendan had been spending a fair amount of time together, and she wasn’t bothered by Brendan being gay.
Marc didn’t want to explain to her of everything that had happened with his ex-wife and most recently with his father, though. Those were most of the reasons he stayed away from people, even though he now was maybe up to a count of two friends—including Alice—if he didn’t count the people at work like Ryan. That was doing pretty well all on its own.
“Even if you just wanted to go out for drinks sometime,” Alice offered. “Or if you and Ariel wanted to come over to dinner with me and my husband. Have an adult night and a kids night.” She tilted her head towards the two in the living room who had moved on to playing a card came on the living room floor.
“Maybe,” Marc answered and was now hoping for Brendan to come back so that Alice would stop trying to get him out. Though, those were the same thoughts he’d had when Brendan was trying to socialize him.
Brendan came back a few seconds later, glancing between the two of him. “Jeez, what were you talking about? Marc looks about ready to hide.”
“I was just inviting him out to do normal adult things,” Alice defended herself. “But it seems he doesn’t want to.”
“Ah, you got to ease him into it,” Brendan suggested. “I couldn’t even get him to talk to me outside of school at first.”
Marc rolled his eyes. “You could stop talking about me like I’m not here.”
Brendan and Alice chuckled before going back at each other and ignoring Marc for fun then. Marc gave up and went to join Ariel and Eric on the living room floor with cards. After it turned dark Alice decided it was time for her and Eric to head out for the night.
Marc showed them out and realized it was time to put together a late dinner. “I can take you home after dinner,” Marc said apologetically, not really realizing how late it was getting. It would almost be time for Ariel to get to bed too.
Brendan ended up being more in charge of dinner, with Marc helping and handing things. Marc figured at least he was learning that way without being able to mess anything up. Marc focused his mind more on the food and was waiting for Ariel to go to bed. They ate with Marc on the couch and Ariel and Brendan sitting cross-legged on the floor.
Ariel helped with the clean-up afterwards before Brendan sent her upstairs to get ready before bed, so that she could fall asleep on the ride to take Brendan home. Marc cleared his throat stiffly. “So Alice thought we might be dating,” he put it out there, trying to laugh at it all while checking Brendan’s reaction.
“Ah,” Brendan remarked. “I guess I was a little more on top of it today. Was she just assuming that because I’m gay?”
“No,” Marc wasn’t really sure what it was. “I guess just because we spend a lot of time together.”
“Well hey, we’re friends.” Brendan tapped a fist into his shoulder. “Besides, I do have a date this weekend. Tomorrow, actually,” Brendan said, realizing what day it was.
“Oh?” Marc hadn’t heard about any of that.
“Yeah, someone I met through someone else at the studio. I said yes for the sake of the date, though…” he furrowed his brow. “Not sure if it’ll go any further than that.”
“Oh.” Marc still wasn’t too thrilled about it. Did that just mean that Brendan was trying to get laid? He didn’t think Brendan was that kind of person, but then there shouldn’t be anything wrong with sex. “Let me know how that goes,” Marc grumbled.
Brendan nodded as Ariel came downstairs to take Brendan home for the night.