Chapter 108. Finally, Something Good That Could Provide Me With Something More!

"I don’t have the physical tools for a reason," Tyler said. "The reason is that I don’t have them!"

"You can’t simply decide to—"

"I’m not telling you to fight them," Mike said. "I’m telling you that the version of you that exists right now is someone who can be put on the ground in an alley at two in the morning, and the version of you that could exist with six months of actual work is considerably harder to put there."

"Physical training," Tyler said, and there was something in his voice that was not quite dismissal but was in the vicinity.

"Among other things," Mike explained. "Awareness, positioning, and the ability to read a situation before it escalates."

"You were walking into that alley thinking about your schedule!"

"You should have read that alley from the entrance and never entered it."

"I didn’t see them at all," Tyler said. "It’s honestly surprising for me."

"You weren’t paying attention," Mike said. "You were too focused on calculations."

"Those are two distinct tasks, and you can only engage in one at a time."

Tyler was quiet. He was processing his thoughts, which was evident in the specific quality of his silence—neither sulking nor resistant, but genuinely engaged in processing.

"I don’t disagree with the analysis," Tyler said finally.

"Good," Mike said.

"I’m just not sure what to do with it practically," Tyler said. "I’ve never—"

He paused. "Physical things have never been the domain where I’m competent."

"Nobody is competent at things they haven’t done," Mike said. "That’s not a special category for you."

"I understand that intellectually," Tyler said.

"But when it comes to using that knowledge, I often freeze up," he confessed, a hint of frustration in his voice.

Mike nodded, understanding the challenge; it was a common hurdle to cross, one that required patience and practice to break down.

"Most people do," Mike said. "The intellectual understanding is the easy part."

"What’s the hard part?"

"Doing it anyway," Mike said, "in the time before you’re competent, which is also the time when it’s most uncomfortable."

Tyler adjusted his glasses. The bent arm sat at a slightly wrong angle, and he pushed it back, which didn’t entirely fix it.

He was looking straight ahead, at the sidewalk and the streetlights and the quiet residential street they’d turned onto.

"If I were creating a model," Tyler said thoughtfully, "to change the current situation—not just by scheduling, but by making real changes."

"Yes," Mike said.

"The variables would be: physical competence, situational awareness, and leverage," Tyler said. "You’ve addressed the third one tonight with the video."

"The first two require time and instruction."

Mike nodded, considering the implications of Tyler’s words. "It’s not just about teaching skills; it’s about fostering a mindset that allows people to adapt and respond effectively in any situation."

"That’s the model," Mike said.

"The instruction component is where it falls apart," Tyler said. "I don’t know where to get it..."

"The university has a gym and some group classes that are mostly recreational. That’s not what you’re describing."

"No," Mike said. "It’s not."

"What you did in that alley," Tyler said, "is not recreational."

"It isn’t," Mike said.

"Where does one learn that?"

"From someone who knows it," Mike said, his tone suggesting he was neither offering nor withholding anything. It was a specific register that Tyler, noticing the slight turn of his head, picked up on.

"I see," Tyler said.

"Do you," Mike said.

"I’m inferring," Tyler said. "Based on the direction of our conversation and your established pattern of making arrangements that benefit both parties, I am inferring this."

"You’re inferring correctly," Mike said.

Tyler fell silent for a moment. They had ventured deep into the northern section of the district, where the character of the street had transformed—there were wider gaps between the properties, longer front gardens, and the architecture reflected a different set of choices.

"I want to make a proposal," Tyler said.

"I’m listening," Mike said.

"I want to pay you," Tyler stated. "Not for tonight—I understand that tonight is covered by our existing arrangement."

"But going forward, if you’re willing to teach me some of what you did in that alley and the situational awareness you mentioned, I want to compensate you for that as a service."

’Here we go... this is the good shit I needed from a nerd that was rich so that I could use him a lot.’

Mike looked at him sideways.

"I have a huge amount of money," Tyler said, preempting the question. "My mother manages a trust on my behalf, and I have a personal allowance that I don’t spend most of."

"I live here; the university provides my books, and I don’t have expensive habits. The money exists."

"Tyler," Mike said.

"I’m not asking for charity," Tyler said, and his tone conveyed a particular clarity that reflected not wounded pride but a straightforward assertion of his position. "You have something I need."

"I have something that could compensate you for it, and that’s a fair transaction."

"I know what a transaction is," Mike said.

"Then you know this is a reasonable one," Tyler said.

Mike walked a few steps without responding. He was mulling it over, not because he hadn’t already considered it—he had thought it through approximately thirty seconds after Tyler began speaking in the alley—but because the timing of his response conveyed something. He wanted it to signal that he was a person who made decisions thoughtfully, not someone who jumped at offers.

"The arrangement we already have," Mike said, "covers Tuesdays and Thursdays."

"You provide information. I’m a recurring variable."

"Yes," Tyler said.

"This would be separate from that."

"Yes," Tyler said.

"Because I’m not doing this for your schedule data," Mike said. "Those are different things."

"Agreed," Tyler said. "They’re completely separate."

"The information arrangement stands as is. This would be additional."

Mike considered.

"How much," he said.

"What do you think it’s worth?" Tyler asked, his tone revealing a subtle shift—one that suggested he had spent enough time in negotiations to understand how value is determined by those who recognize it.

Mike looked at him.

"You’re better at this than you look," Mike said.

"I’ve been watching how transactions work my entire life," Tyler said. "My mother negotiates for a living. I’ve been in the room."

"What does she do?" Mike said.

"Various things," Tyler said, in the same careful phrasing as before.

Mike let it pass. He’d find out soon enough anyway.

"I’ll think about the number," he said. "Don’t push it tonight."

"Fair," Tyler said.

"It’ll take time," Mike said. "Whatever I teach you takes time."

"You’re not going to be useful in a physical situation for months, and you’re going to be uncomfortable for all of those months."

"I understand that," Tyler said.

"And it’s not just physical," Mike said. "The awareness is harder to teach than the technique because it requires you to operate in a different mode than the one you default to."

"You default to calculation. Awareness is something else. It’s present without being narrow."

"Like peripheral vision," Tyler said, "but for context."

Mike looked at him.

"That’s actually accurate," Mike said.

"I have my moments," Tyler said.

"Mike," Tyler said.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you," Tyler said.

He expressed his gratitude directly, without the embarrassed hedging that people often use when they feel that thanking someone diminishes their worth. He just said it. "Tonight specifically."

"The arrangement benefits both of us," Mike said.

"I know," Tyler said. "I’m saying thank you anyway."

Mike pressed the handkerchief against his cheek once more and looked at the gate.

"Come on," he said. "Which way is your house?"