Boy just seemed to fit Ryder for some reason. Not that he would ever say such a thing out loud. Goodness. How condescending would that be? Ryder wasn’t twelve.
He was much too lovely in an adult way to be twelve.
What is in this tea? Rein it in, Charles.
It didn’t take long at all before the croissant, halved, two plates, two forks, and napkins appeared.
“Mm. Smell that? Have a seat and eat with me. I have a meeting later, yes? And do I have dinner plans? After dinner plans?” He hardly looked at his calendar anymore; he just waited for Ryder to tell him what was happening next. Fairly soon he thought he might even start referring people to Ryder to get on his calendar.
“You have a meeting at two, and you needed to call a Mr. Arwen before, you asked for Caesar salad with croutons and chicken and wine for supper, and you are free as a bird this evening.”
“Oh. Excellent. Let’s take a walk later if it’s not too chilly.” He loved to walk when he was here, especially at night. He loved the lights and people watching, the occasional musician on the corner.
“No problem. That sounds like fun. I like exploring.” Ryder waited for him to take a bite.
So polite.
He cut a piece off with the side of his fork and held it up like one would for a toast, then put the fork in his mouth, knowing before he bit down that it was going to be amazing.
It was even better than he’d expected.
“Oh. Mmm. Mhm.” He nodded approval as the not-too-sweet chocolate melted on his tongue.
“Good?”
“Uhn.”
“Yay!” Ryder took a bite, and his eyes crossed in obvious bliss.
“See?” He took another bite and this time the flakey pastry hit his tongue first, so buttery and lush.
“Okay, this is amazing. I think that I have to learn how to do this…”
“You know, everyone else I know would say something like ‘I can’t wait to go back to that place’, but not you. You just said, ‘I have to learn how to do this.’ You’re unique, Ryder. Different. Creative. I appreciate those things about you.”
Ryder beamed at him. “Well, I have to go back, see if they’ll tell me how. If they won’t, I’ll look it up. Google and Amazon and YouTube are my friends.”
“Good luck. There is a lot of competition in this city. They actually might not tell you.”
Ryder shrugged. “That’s okay. Can’t hurt to ask. The worst they can say is no.”
“I don’t know about that. This is New York. They could say many worse things. Many. With a lot of cursing.” He laughed and took another bite.
Ryder wrinkled his nose. “I’ll have to channel Roper then. He can snap back like nothing going.”
“He’s a brave one, hm? He sounds like someone who doesn’t mind getting himself in trouble.” And very different than Ryder that way.
“He loves trouble. Loves it.” Ryder chuckled, the sound low and soft, fond.
“And that’s why you say you had to take care of him?” He wondered who did that for Roper now that Ryder wasn’t there.
“He’s totally grown-up. He’s just less…picky. I like to be in a nice space, if that makes sense.”
“It does.” He understood what Ryder meant, even without meeting Roper. “I prefer to be in a nice space as well.”
“Yes. I can tell. I am trying to keep it done right for you.”
“You’re doing an excellent job.” The acknowledgement and praise always seemed to make Ryder happy. “I’m very pleased.”