aterat | [Open] Delivery Boy Here

Entry tags:

[Open] Delivery Boy Here

Who; Tommy Shepherd, Jacob, Open
What; Cherishment Deliveries and Tommy's Market Stall
Where; Markets
When;
Warnings;

I. Business Gotta Business | Open
Valentine's, but it wasn't really that. still, Tommy had seen this shit before, and honestly, he'd made some spare bucks at this time of the year, going abroad to get certain gifts for people who wanted to impress their partners.

Here at least he had better reasons to do it. The city was full of the joy and gifts and everything else. And Tommy? He had a fleet of messenger girls and boys to help provide for. So their little stall in the market got a minor remodeling with samples of different business's work. Some cloth flowers from that former King's booth, which Tommy had a sign with that explained where to find that stall. There some nice candles with directions to the chandler's shop for those and nice soaps. And of course there was a box of chocolates. or what had been a box of chocolates because Tommy did nothing to stop his courier kids from taking food from the stall if it wasn't a delivery bound to happen. That one had a sign that said 'chocolates so good they didn't last' and directed to the chocolateer's.

"Deliveries," Tommy called out, sounding more bored than anything. "Wanna send something to a secret admirer? We'll get it there, perhaps even in the next second. Surprise them with flowers appearing in front of their eyes."

He knew the kids were mostly out delivering notes and flowers and other gifts as fleetly as their little feet (all booted because Tommy had put no small amount of the business's funds into getting shoes and warm winter coats for his kids), leaving him alone to manage the stall. He hated being alone. Even his smallest kid, a little girl named Jenica, had gone rushing off with a love note, so all he could do was keep the brazier in the covered stall going and try not to go mad with boredom.

Who knew being a responsible adult could suck so much?

II. Commissioning A Gift | Closed to Jacob
If Tommy had one regular business as a customer that wasn't the lodge, it was Gary's. Wood was always needed. Supplies for sealing carvings mattered too. He absolutely had to do regular deliveries, but it was fine. Fine because Jacob was there, and he called out to the young man who was often there to officially 'receive' deliveries from the cart Tommy was hauling behind himself.

"Hey Jakey-boy," Tommy said with a smirk. "You good today?"

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A rare, soundless chuckle escaped him at that. “I dunno, Tommy. I think it’d be hard to be that cool, right?” Hey, Mono absolutely thought Tommy was very cool compared to most adults in general. He was sure the guy’s brother was neat in his own different way. But that was the thing. Everyone was different.

Oh man, kid is learning. Tommy grins and offers a fist for a bump.

"Yeah, but you're close, kid."

Mono blinked at the raised fist for a moment. He was pretty sure he’d seen a few other people around here do that… So… He was probably supposed to bump Tommy’s fist back too, right? That was the cool thing friends did. So he raised his fist and carefully bump Tommy’s hand back, looking rather pleased with himself once he had.

“Really?” He was close? He was kinda cool? Yeah, that idea made him feel pretty good. He wanted to be cool, cool was better than what other people seemed to think of him in his world.

"Yep, super really. Coolest kid I know," Tommy promised. "DOn't tell the rest of the crew. Don't need them jealous over being less cool."

Damn, he almost wanted to hug the little guy. Clearly he didn't have enough hugs in his life.

Mono absolutely did not have enough hugs in his life, which was probably why he was so awkward about the idea. That and letting people larger than him get too close felt dangerous instinctively… But he was working on that.

Instead, he gave Tommy something close to a more genuine smile at the promise. That did feel good. Being the coolest kid someone knew? Someone as cool as Tommy? That was pretty great! “Wow, thanks Tommy.” He started, before quickly adding. “Promise I won’t tell anyone. I don’t wanna make anyone feel jealous or bad.”

"Good," Tommy said, smirking. But then...

Okay, time to broach this.

"So, I've been thinking. The business has been growing. A lot. And I need help managing stuff. Don't suppose you'd be cool with getting a raise and doing more helping me...?"

Wait, what? Mono’s dark eyes widened with noticeable surprise. Tommy wanted his help with more of the business? Like aside from just carrying messages? “Really?” He felt like he was saying that a lot lately, but it was hard to not be surprised by these things.

“What kinda stuff do you need me to do?” He asked, because of course the kid wanted to help. He liked working for Tommy already, and there was something that made him feel a little better about everything to know he could do something well and be good at helping.

"Yeah. Since my brother isn't here anymore, and I need someone to help me manage stuff, I'd like it to be you. I trust you."

And Mono was most of the reason he'd started this shit, other than his brother and Speedy. Still, he has to make the work sound interesting AND make sure Mono could do it.

"Well, I've got two areas I need help with. One is since Charlese, you remember her, the tall girl who lives near Third and Bulger? She got herself good paying work at the farms, with three a day and a place to live. So she used to help me with the numbers here, doing lots of math for me and writing it down in the book when I wasn't at the shop counter. So I need to find someone to help with that. But if that isn't your thing because you really like being out there running, I need someone to help coordinate the runners to the fancy area, near where the chocolate dude is. Been more business coming from there lately since the chocolate place showed up, and there are more fancy people. Gotta make sure we've got enough people over there, but not so many that there's no work. But doing that means I gotta go over there all the time."

And so he really did need another set of eyes to help manage the kids and make sure they were taken care of.

"That one comes with watching our people. Telling me if there are holes in their clothes, their shoes are wearing down, they lost their patch showing they're with us. You'd help me make sure they're provided for and people are getting fair amounts of work."

Mono listened eagerly. This was important, after all. The boy did remember Charlese well, and it was nice that she’d found a good-paying job, even if he did feel a little sad. Both that she was gone and because Tommy needed to find someone to take over. Especially with something as important as numbers. The boy was definitely a little uncertain about that job. He had grasped adding and subtracting, but that was entirely because learning how to count money you earned and then how much you had left after you spent it was very important in this world. It wasn’t something anyone bothered with anymore in his own… Which, in addition to the fact that the school there wasn’t really a school anymore, meant the boy really hadn’t had a formal education. He learned on the go, and so the boy knew he might not be up to the task there.

The second task, though, now that is something that Mono brightened at the idea of. He was good at thinking on the fly and excelled at team work. He had coordinated a lot of complicated situations to get places that he needed to go with Six… So even if this was a much bigger kind of task, maybe he could handle that? Still, the boy keeps his mouth shit at Tommy was explaining, carefully listening to make sure he was getting all the important facts before he decided how to reply.

The continued explanation boosted his confidence in what he felt he could handle. Watching people was something he excelled at for obvious reasons, noticing things like that would be easy! And he could make sure his fellow messengers were taken care of, which was a good thing to do… So he finally responded as Tommy finished, words chosen carefully. “Um… I dunno if I could do what Charlese did. I can count money and stuff to make sure I got enough for things, but I’ve never learned all the math.” Mono was quite sure there was a lot more to math than adding and subtracting. “But I think I could definitely help with the second thing! I think I can do it. I’m really good at watching people! And I think I could help with coordinating stuff to make sure there’s enough people where they need to be.”

He would still want Tommy to show him the basics of how he liked things to be done, of course, even if he already had a decent idea from watching Tommy since he started working for them.

Alright then. There it is. This will work.

"Alright. We'll start training on it tomorrow if you want. I'll get someone to cover the stall if you are down for it."

ANd Tommy hoped he was. He actually could use the help.

Mono nodded quickly. “Tomorrow? Yeah, definitely!” The kid wanted to learn, especially if it helped out Tommy.

Plus… The challenge would be good. Sometimes Mono found he didn’t have enough to keep him occupied. The kid got bored, and still defaulted to following random people around the city… One of these times it was actually going to get him in trouble.

"Awesome then," Tommy said, offering his hand for a high five. He really was glad that the kid was excited to help. And he really did need a good lieutenant out there.

"It comes with a minor pay raise, because you're managing more stuff, just so you know."

High fives were something Mono understood better than fist bumps, so he was rather excited about getting one from his boss. “Really awesome!” He parroted with a little more excitement than he usually displayed.

“A pay raise? That’s neat. Then I can afford extra treats to share.” Sometimes Illyana’s imps showed up. He was supposed to be a good influence on them… or something… Mostly, he just fed them treats and liked not being alone in the apartment sometimes.

Wow. That... Tommy wanted to give him even more for that. But he had to help the other kids too.

"Good to hear it. I'll talk to the clothes shop people to make you a new arm band to symbolize the new role."

“Really? I can still wear the same coat if we just change the arm band, right?” That was important, after all. He really liked the coat Tommy had given him. It was nice and warm, and that made it his second favourite coat after the trench coat he had arrived with. That made it pretty darn special, given how stubborn he was about the clothes he’d arrived with and wearing them around despite the state of them.

"Of course," Tommy said. "Though when the weather gets warmer, we're going to have to get you all lighter coats. So you don't overheat."

It was really important to remember that. To have excuses to take care of Mono and his clothing needs.

Especially since the kid was bound to hit a growth spurt at some point. Even his beloved trench coat was going to get too small one day.

But the kid relaxed to hear that, “Oh! Okay, that’s good then. I really like it, it’s all cozy.” He responded with a little nod, though he realized it was going to get warmer again. “Yeah, I guess the season’s gonna change again, isn’t it? I kinda like that, even if winter was more fun this year since I wasn’t as cold.”

Ah growth spurts, the inevitable part of life.

"Yeah, seasons do that. They change."

Mono nodded. They definitely did. “They do! They change differently here than I’m used to. It’s really nice, though.” And he liked learning the different things people did depending on the season. At least the shift from winter to spring would mean it was a little easier to run messages around the city without any ice to slip on.

“What time do ya want me to show up to learn the new stuff? Do you want me to work at different times than I have been?” That seemed important to find out, since… Time was weird for Mono.

"Normal time for now," Tommy said, because he wants the kid to learn before he lets him loose.

“Okay, then I’ll meet you when I normally work.” He responded with a nod, it was smart to get him used to things first anyway… He was going to be a pretty eager student though, if anything he’d learned from people in the past was anything to go by. Especially when it came to taking on something that would help!

"We'll meet here and walk there," Tommy suggested.

With that he took out a hard fruit candy and handed it over.

"Go on, get back out there. Stretch your legs."

That sounded reasonable to Mono, and it was something to look forward to tomorrow. Right now, though, he was glad to get back out. He was warmed up pretty well from sitting next to the heater and talking to Tommy, but the kid definitely needed to get moving again. “Okay!” He took the candy, pocketing it for later if he needed it, before grabbing his little messenger satchel and adjusting it to get back to his deliveries.

“See you later, Tommy!” And he was off, hopeful to avoid any more old ladies who wanted to pinch his cheeks.

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[Open] Delivery Boy Here

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