Even after recovering from the surgery, Jez still had a need for regular medical care. Vance was almost always willing to accompany her on her trips to the healer, but always remained outside, and for reasons that hadn't necessarily been clear to either of them, he had always turned away to do his own thing before the trip to the chemist. It might have been the waiting - tedium was something that Vance couldn't stand - but just as likely, it was that he knew Jez didn't really want him there. Their relationship, though long, was not much of a physical one, and Vance was still sensitive to giving Jez a certain amount of privacy, under the assumption that she wanted it. He wasn't wrong about that, but it was just one of those tacit agreements that they have made without much preamble.
Their next trip to the healer was different. Vance thought about how regularly they had to make this trip, and realized that while he had no chance of getting into the medical field as a healer, he didn't really have any idea about the chemical / pharmaceutical side of the house. Was it just as difficult, or was it something that anyone could do? After Jez exited from her discussion with the healer, they headed to the chemist as usual, but this time, when she turned to thank Vance for coming and to tell him goodbye, he asked if he could join her.
"Sure, I suppose..." Jez replied with a confused look on her face. "But what's up? Why would you want to come there? It takes forever, and I'm sure you've got other things to do." Vance nodded and then smiled, "You're right about that, and I doubt very much it'll become a habit. Consider it a part of my education, though." Jez laughed a little and shook her head at Vance's strangeness, in a way that indicated that while she didn't understand much about him, she cared about him all the same anyway.
Once they were inside, Vance was curious to see the process in action. Behind the tall counter, a man took the requests from his patrons for certain treatments, and proceeded to work what seemed to be a strange sort of alchemy. He would grab two or three of the dozens of nearly-identical bottles down, and measure precise amounts out of each one, and then mix them all together in a large bowl or a small urn. After grinding them into a fine powder he would typically (although not always) mix them with liquid in whatever amount the remedy called for, then bottle it and give the customer instructions on exactly how to take it and when. It was a strange system, and sure enough, it was slow. What also surprised Vance was how the various customers inside all seemed to have no qualms about privacy, or sharing their ailments with whoever was in earshot - there really wasn't any option for discretion in this place.
However, that wasn't the thing that struck Vance the most. What really got him thinking was the amount of trust that people seemed to place in the chemist, completely blindly. What if he made a mistake in the ratios, or grabbed the wrong ingredients, or even went out of his way to cause harm instead of helping, perhaps mixing in something that would give them a new problem and ensure his continuity of business? It seemed there was nothing that would stop him, and either this fact hadn't occurred to the customers, or they had simply accepted the risk, as nobody seemed to pay much mind to what he did or how - not that they were likely to understand it or be in a position to judge if it was being done correctly. This trust was exactly the kind of thing that Vance was looking for - this, he could exploit.
He started to make a list of everything that he needed to learn next. Where did the ingredients come from? How did the chemist know what to mix, and in what percentages? How did he decide whether to make it a liquid, or a salve, or even leave it as a powder? It must matter somehow, but the details were beyond Vance's current knowledge. He needed to find a way, he decided, to unlock the secrets of this trade. Until then, he wouldn't know the right angle to attack, or how he could insert himself into the whole business and make the move that would set him up for life - but he was convinced that it was here, somewhere.
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Vance was brought back to reality by the sudden realization that Jez had been trying to get his attention. "You're doing that thing again; you're completely gone. Lost in thought?" She eyed him sideways, trying to figure out what Vance's interest was in this place, and what he might be thinking. While she felt that she had embraced being open and honest with Vance, she also knew that there was much of his life that he hadn't really shared with her. This felt like a good opportunity to get him to open up to her and talk about it, but the place wasn't right. They'd talk later, Jez decided. Maybe then she could finally figure out what he did when they were apart, what he really cared about, maybe even eventually what Vance did for money - it wasn't like Ben was exactly forthcoming either, and he was her brother...something. It wasn't any more than that she cared for him and wanted to know him as well as he knew her, and Vance didn't give her very many opportunities to make that happen.
Brief mumbled apologies were made, and Vance tried hard to be more present. They talked through typical simple-minded topics as they waited - school, friends, no-so-friends, games, and so on. Jez came across a bit vapid sometimes, but Vance never let it show. Whenever he became too irritated, he tried to turn the conversation to compliments or other things that would distract her. Luckily the wait was soon enough over; Jez got her medicine quickly, as the man behind the counter recognized her, and knew her order, which was apparently always the same. A simple concoction was quickly prepared and they began the walk home together.
"Vance, really, what were you thinking about at the chemist?" Jez asked. Vance thought hard about how to answer, and with a flash of inspiration, he had a great idea. "I was thinking that this is the kind of place Ben would do really well in. Maybe he should become a chemist. He's smart enough, he's got a keen eye, and he's careful. I don't know, it's not really my place to tell him what to do, but imagine how great that would be for your family."
Jez was stunned, thinking that Vance was again selflessly looking out for her and her family, and she hugged him tightly right there on the street. "That's a great idea, Vance. You're so sweet. I'm sure Ben would be a great chemist, if he could ever get an apprenticeship somewhere. But how would that ever happen? We don't know anyone, and a job like that doesn't just take random people off of the street. It would take a lot of luck, unless you also managed to solve that problem in your little mental vacation?"
Vance chuckled a little, "I might have. I might have. First, let me talk to Ben and see if he's even interested. If so, I'll see what I can do. I'm glad you like the idea though!" They continued home, and again the conversation turned to reasonably small talk, just the way Vance wanted. Jez felt like she had gotten a victory, getting Vance to share something of his inner thoughts, and Vance was satisfied knowing that she felt exactly the way he wanted her to. Once he dealt with Ben, all would be in place.
There was no problem with Ben. In fact, Vance didn't even have to pitch it as a part of his operation. Instead he presented it to Ben as a way out of what they had been up to, a way for him to make a new start as a respectable young man, and to create a life for himself. Ben was excited, even to the point where he didn't think about what Vance could possibly want for himself out of the suggestion - and he knew Vance well enough to know that Vance always had an angle. But with Ben's eager approval of the idea, and a new confidence that this would put both Ben and Jez deeper under his control while also setting him up for the future, Vance began preparations.
It might have been hard in other situations to get a relatively poor boy (and an unknown one at that) a high-skill apprenticeship, but Vance believed that he had an ace up his sleeve. He actually recognized the chemist, or at least he was pretty sure he did. If Vance was right, the man had a particular weakness for alcohol, and had on more than one occasion been "relieved" of some possessions after a night in the local pub. All Vance had to do was to create a situation where Ben could be a hero to the man, stopping a small mugging or pickpocketing. If he timed it just right, perhaps the grateful victim would be inclined to be generous to the young boy. To be doubly sure, though, Vance would need to make sure that the man knew he was in need of an apprentice.