Who: Ethan Proudfoot & Fitz Proudfoot What: Brotherly chat that doesn't quite go the right way When: Saturday, April 13th 2019 backdated Where: near the Thunderbirds - Brightstar Reserve Warnings: nope
Ethan was expecting his brother to turn up at some point, especially after the ‘conversation’ (or lack thereof) that they’d had on the journals. He was undeniably as frustrated as their sister had been at yet another example of irresponsible behaviour, but he loved each of his siblings, and any negativity came from that frustration rather than any real sense of judgement.
All the energy he’d been feeling was something he now began to put into his work, swinging his arm in controlled but firm sweeping movements as he cast the spells that would renew the protective wards around the Thunderbird population. He’d meant every word of his PSA’s regarding the oft-temperamental creatures, to the point where even someone as notoriously prickly as Dr Brightstar had endorsed the message on Wizgram. Given everything that had been going on on the reserve lately, all Ethan wanted was to ensure that the animals were protected.
It was this thought he had on the brain as his brother’s footsteps approached the viewing platform on which he was working.
Fitz wasn't an idiot, and knew well enough that his brother was certainly less than impressed with his behaviour of late. No matter the fact he'd been trying to do the right thing again. Well, discounting the fact he'd accidentally punched Tony; though that at least was more or less water under the bridge now even if it was yet another mark against him. Talking with Miko had gotten the ball rolling. However, their sister had rightly pointed out that of all their siblings who could actually help him get back into the career he wanted, or at least the directions to take, it was going to be Ethan.
After finding out where his brother was Fitz had walked out to the viewing platform, and watched for a moment before approaching his brother. He was admittedly a little wary as to whether Ethan would help him out; even if logically he knew that his brother didn't hold anything against him really. "Hey,' he greeted, with his hands already anxiously shoved into the pockets of his jacket.
Despite the long separations that typically marked the time between time periods Proudfeet spent together, Ethan knew the approach of each of his siblings far too well. Well enough, in fact, that he knew which of his brothers was standing behind him before he could even announce his own presence.
Before turning around to greet him, of course, he had to finish the spell work at hand. It was for the safety of the Thunderbirds, after all. He held out his left hand and raised a finger, a gesture that clearly said hold on a minute, and continued the nonverbal casting with another minute or so of silent murmuring and complex wand movements with the right.
Eventually, he called out, barely turning his head as he called over his shoulder, surveying his handiwork.
“Hello, Fitz.”
Fitz rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet as he wait for Ethan to finish his work on the wards. Being outside, and not cooped up in the gift shop for most of the daylight hours was a great feeling - and yet another reason in wanting to move on to something better. He missed being outdoors more often like he used to be - not that he lacked opportunity now when he wasn't working.
"How's it going with the Thunderbirds? I saw your news about how well the breeding season is going for them - it's pretty great," he commented, even if it was avoiding what he need to talk with his brother about. "I'd like to know but... well, that obviously isn't why I'm here. I don't know if Kimiko's talked to you or not about why I want to talk to you?"
Ethan didn’t immediately reply, noticing the tone in Fitz’s voice and awaiting a stronger signal as to why he was actually here. He had a feeling that the Thunderbirds - as proud of them as he was - were just being used as a distraction or an in to something greater, and he wasn’t going to let himself get enthusiastic for nothing.
His eyebrow was quirked as he turned around, certainly curious as to his brother’s presence. Wand still out but with his right arm lowered and at his side, he regarded Fitz with something of a curious expression in his face. Their sister wasn’t one to interfere with other people’s business. “Miko’s a busy woman, so, no,” he replied, habitually using the pet name they had for the sibling he was closest to. “I assumed that’s why you were here.”
Ethan slid the wand back into his waist holster and walked up to the shelf affixed to the platform, taking a drink of water and giving Fitz time to compose himself.
Really he should've known better that his brother would prefer him to get to the point directly rather than work around to it after some small talk. He let out a slow long breath as he reached up and ran his fingers through his close-cropped hair. "Sooo... I've been talking to her about um career options for me, amongst other things but that's um the biggest point," he started off anxiously. "She's been great, and she's going to look into a couple things, possibly with the confederation, for me but uh as she rightly pointed out - creatures aren't exactly her forte."
Fitz rocked on his feet for a second as he gathered his thoughts a little more. "I know I've come close to burning my bridges with the reserve and all but... look, I'm not after any favours or anything but I was wondering if you might be able to help me out as far as knowing if there's anything going at the Reserve or not."
“The way you’re standing there, anyone would think you were scared of something,” Ethan quipped, replacing the water bottle and studying his brother with his usual calm contemplation, listening to Fitz. While he wasn’t surprised in the least that Kimiko was encouraging Fitz to settle down with a steady career, he certainly was a little startled that she’d agreed to do some of the searching for him - and to send him over to Ethan himself, to boot. He was starting to wonder if there was something else going on that he didn’t know about.
“Off the top of my head, it’s only Flying Creatures I know anything about,” he replied, the cogs slowly ticking around in his head. “But some of the departments will only take people with specialist experience at anything above entry level, so it really helps to have a firmer goal in mind.” He was thinking of the fire creatures in particular, and even those in his own department, such as the Thunderbirds, who could only be approached by senior staff members.
Fitz gave a slight shrug. "Not scared, just... anxious and wary I guess." There was perhaps a slight touch of fear of things maybe not panning out, and having to do a one-eighty turn and finding something other than creatures that he could work at.
"Right. I'm just trying to get a better idea of what's available so any help would be good really," he responded. Fitz gave a slight frown. 'Specialist experience' was somehow both vague and specific at the same time, and didn't exactly bode well for his chances. "And that would entail what exactly? I mean, I know what they both mean and all but... guessing an AMB and the work with UU might not exactly count for that then?"
Oh dear. It seemed to Ethan that he was going to have to do more explaining than he’d originally hoped for, and here he was in charge of the shift while the Head of the Department had a day off. Well, perhaps he would be able to make the point by showing rather than telling. Wordlessly, he shrugged the backpack back onto his shoulders, and motioned for Fitz to follow him from the viewing area, and down the trail that led downhill towards the woods.
As they made their way towards a small clearing, Ethan motioning for his brother to walk gently and keep his voice low, he finally replied. “In Flying Creatures, I don’t know that we’ve employed anyone, since I’ve been here, who hasn’t been an intern in our department and been trained up through. The only reason I got in was because of my internship in Maryland.” He was, of course, referring to the post with the Snallygaster Protection League - and this was still a Flying Creature, which hopefully made the point somewhat clearer. “Most of the heads here prefer depth of experience rather than breadth, if you see what I mean. There’s not a lot of chance to swap between disciplines, but once you’re in a department, it’s possible to go further.”
Hence the fact he was, of course, a 25 year old deputy.
Fitz silently followed after his brother even if he had little idea of where they were going. In hindsight he ought to have known his brother would be busy, and he certainly could've picked an easier time but knowing his own tendencies he hadn't wanted to put off talking to him for too long.
"So basically, aside from doing an internship and being trained up, the departments'd pretty much prefer you to have focused, or specialised, on the one creature rather than several?" he quietly asked for clarification, wondering if he had the right of it. Though if he did have the right idea then that didn't make his chances of working with any specific department on the reserve very good. Sure, Fitz could rattle on and tell you just about anything from behavioural habits to caring to feeding about any creature but you could hardly say he specialised in just one or two . Unless you counted dragons. And he suspected to work with them here at the reserve, or potentially anywhere, that there'd be more training involved and he'd probably have to do an internship to boot - despite having done his advanced magical baccalaureate in Dragonology. "Guess it does make sense and I can understand going with that approach - even if it is... kinda disappointing in a way."
“Most. There are some - the smaller departments especially - where they can’t afford to wait around for specialists, you know? They’ll take anyone with talent and focus on hard work, especially if you’ve got transferable skills,” he replied, reaching into the backpack he’d carried on one shoulder. Clearly extendable, he put in an arm to bring out again a large back of feed, which he then set before him on the floor. “Give me a hand?” he asked his brother, gesturing to the bag and the almost empty troughs gathered around the clearing.
“Of course, there’s nothing to stop you from thinking of ways to use your skills across departments, and putting in a bid at funding review,” he continued to whisper, pulling his wand from his pocket and getting to work.
For a moment his brow furrowed as he considered what his brother said. It wasn't so much that it didn't make sense, because it did, but rather that it seemed a little odd since he'd have figured it'd be the smaller departments, and not the larger ones, looking at wanting specialists. Still, if and when he made up his mind and applied, he'd be happy with whichever one decided to take him on. "Yeah," he answered, as he got out his wand to help fill the troughs.
"Maybe not nothing no but someone or someones possibly," he threw back. Fitz sighed as he waved his wand and carefully sending more feed out. "If it hadn't been for Director Constantine I'd have been out of a job already after helping JJ - and she would've lost her's as well if we hadn't been that lucky. Not trying to be pessimistic, and I know it comes down to a vote and all but... you gotta admit my chances aren't exactly that spectacular even if I did come up with some great idea."
Once all the troughs were filled he turned to his brother, and gave a tentative smile. "Might still need to make my mind up about exactly what it is I want to do but... I appreciate the help y'know," he said still keeping his voice low. "Even if it's just getting information - thanks."
Well, Ethan thought to himself as Fitz shot back his words, finding them a little self pitying. Sure, things had already happened now and that couldn’t be changed, but being down in the dumps would always be beaten by proactivity as far as usefulness was concerned. “At some point, you’re just going to have to stop debating your options, pick one and go for it. At least that way you’ll be occupied and moving forward, rather than standing still.” Always the active sort, Ethan had never been one to rest, on his laurels or otherwise.
At that point there was a rustling off to the left, behind one of the bushes, and Ethan motioned quickly for his brother to join him on the path. By the time they had moved, the source of the rustling was revealed - a clutch of recently hatched Occamies, sliding across the floor followed by a slightly dishevelled looking parent. Ethan crouched down on his haunches, grinning to himself at the sight of one of his favourites.
Fitz just stared at his brother. "I'm not... Merlin, I know that alright?!" His voice still low but noticeably tight as he tried to refrain from a much louder outburst. "I'm not just going to blindly jump into something though. And it's not just deciding whether I want to go into rescuing or just stick to the reserve but also trying to decide if the right place for me is here in Snowcap or... elsewhere." After what his brother had just said he wasn't exactly wanting to hear his brother's reaction and thoughts on his other option of working for CREATURE in one of their regional offices down in San Diego.
With a sigh he followed Ethan back to the path, and crouched next to him. It was always good getting to see newborn creatures coming out. However, his delight at seeing the young Occamy hatchlings certainly didn't mirror his brother's in that moment. "I appreciate you listening to and talking with me but... I think i should probably just let you get back to work," he said after a moment.
Fitz just didn’t get it, Ethan thought, as his attention was focused on observing the younglings and their welfare. What Fitz had heard and what Ethan had actually said were two completely different things… His defensiveness, though not unexpected, meant that he wasn’t exactly in a position to be able to accept the good advice he’d come out of his way to ask for - and if you weren’t able to do that, it would be a while before things went the way he wanted, and that was that.
“I’ll see you at Dad’s soon,” Ethan replied softly, his tone not one dismissing his brother, just accepting Fitz’s right to walk away.