FIC: A Gargantuan Failure (Original)

[ficwize]

Title: A Gargantuan Failure
Author: wizefics
Fandom: Original
Prompt: 131. Gargantuan at tamingthemuse
Rating: Gen
Warnings: None
Summary: Sometimes, dad's do know what they're talking about.
Disclaimer: Actually, I do own this.
A/N: This is also written for my writing group, where the prompt was fathers and sons, sharing wisdom. Also, the idea for this scene came from the movie Stardust.

As always, feedback is welcome and appreciated!

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"Father, I've lost my job." Alec stared in the mirror and practiced the line. "I've lost my job, Father." He frowned. That sounded too matter of fact and uncaring. "I'm very sorry, Father, but I've lost my job."

It was no use. No matter how he said the line, it sounded like he was almost glad. Which, to be fair, he was. Getting up every morning to deliver newspapers was hardly his idea of a good time, and the money, while nice, wasn't so extraordinary that Alec was bereft at its loss.

He glanced at his watch – a gift for his thirteenth birthday. It was a quarter past five. His dad would be home in fifteen minutes. Alec felt the first stirrings of panic. It had not been a good day all the way around and admitting that he'd been fired was only going to make it worse.

It had started off as an accident. He really hadn't meant to hit Mr. Meyers with the paper. But then, the old man had lost it, screaming something about upstarts and persecution and how in his day, kids had been respectful. Alec, still astride his bike, with his mouth hanging open, had managed to mutter an irritated, "When was that? The stone age?"

How could he have known that Mr. Meyers may have been 90, but still had excellent hearing? The next thing he'd known, Mr. Meyers had hurled the paper back at him. It turned out that Mr. Meyers also had no problems with his aim.

Alec wasn't even totally sure what had happened next. He only knew that somehow, he and Mr. Meyers had engaged in a paper throwing contest that not only ruined both of their reputations in the neighborhood, but ruined the rest of Alec's papers.

Jack, Alec's boss, had not found it funny at all. "YOU'RE FIRED!"

And that was that.

Taking a deep breath, Alec looked into the mirror again. "Dad, I lost my job. It was really strange… Mr. Meyers, that crazy old guy three blocks over, throws like he pitches for the Yankees and hears like he's part bat. It got ugly, really ugly."

"So I heard." A voice in the hallway made Alec jump and he turned guiltily to see his father standing there and watching him. "It's the talk of the town. How you beat up on poor old Mr. Meyers."

"I did not!" Alec turend and slumped down to sit on the closed toilet. "He beat up on me."

Alec was staring at his hands, so he didn't see the grin that split his dad's face. "Hmmm. I see."

"I didn't mean to lose my job."

"I know, son." His dad came in and sat down on the rim of the bathtub. "Did you learn something from all of this?"

"Yeah. I learned that getting fired makes me feel like a gargantuan failure." Alec muttered.

"You're not a failure." For the first time, Alec's dad's voice was sharp and Alec looked up.

"I’m not?"

"No. You're just not the best newspaper delivary boy in town."

Alec shrugged. "Technically, I'm not a newspaper delivary boy at all anymore."

"True." His dad chuckled. "Did you learn anything else?"

Alec nodded slowly. "I should have just apologized and not gotten mouthy."

"Well, that's a good start." His dad laughed. "And you should probably work on your aim some, too."

Alec grinned, feeling less like a failure than he had all day.