terribly sorry, officer (baelfiery) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-09-15 11:53:00 |
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Neal’s job description had kind of shifted, starting one way when he began at the ranch and then morphing into something else entirely as sand fell through the hourglass. Or really, maybe Emma was right, he did a lot and a bit of everything - but the truth was, he loved each and every part of it. The hard labor outdoors was the beginning point, how it all came about, and while he did still pitch in with that, after Scott left he began taking on a more ‘ranch administrator’ sort of role. He conducted interviews and hired new people, he worked on financial reports and bookkeeping, he scheduled safety inspections and planning meetings, he worked on inventory too. The latter was why he was heading to see Rose, since she was one of the art people who taught classes part-time - and since he was distinctly not artistic, he just let her handle it all for the kids. Lessons and plans and things. But keeping her stocked with supplies was important too - he just needed to know what to order. Approaching her classroom, he waited until the time was up - he was about three minutes early - and after hellions poured out from the room, he went inside to where she was. Not like he looked very professional, since this wasn’t a suit-and-tie kind of place, but he at least had on clean jeans and was carrying a clipboard. That was professional enough, for a dusty ranch. “Hey Rose,” he greeted her, smiling crookedly. “How was class?” Since Cal had shown up in California, Rose had been feeling a little on edge. She wasn’t planning on missing any work - she was certain that Caroline had made sure that Cal wouldn’t be returning to Baxter’s, and while the idea of Cal walking around a dusty ranch in an Amarni suit was an amusing one, it wasn’t a very plausible one. Working took her mind off of Cal, and so she rather enjoyed it. Working with the kids was always a challenge, but it kept her on her toes. She had never had a job before she moved to California, but she revelled in how rewarding this particular job was. Some of the kids seemed to be warming up to her, and most of them had realized by now that she wasn’t as much of a push-over as she looked. “Neal, hello,” she said, smiling at him as she was tidying up after the kids. “Class went very well. It’s amazing to see some of the progress these kids are making.” The hellions in this particular class seemed to like Rose, she probably passed all their tests of will and strength and patience - which meant that she wouldn’t find herself super-glued to a chair or something anytime soon, and that was something Neal appreciated. She had a good rapport with them, was gentle but firm, and he thought art was a beneficial thing for them anyway - it was creative expression, right? “That’s nice to hear,” he said, chuckling warmly. “They definitely need outlets that are healthy, and this is one of them.” Otherwise they’d be out spray painting graffiti or frying ants with a magnifying glass in the sun, bless them. “I came by to see if you needed me to order anything else?” he asked as he stole a glance around the space. “Whatever you need, or are running low on.” “A few of them have some real talent,” she said. Though, it wouldn’t have mattered if none of them had talent. Art was a good outlet for putting the feelings that might otherwise be hard to express out into the world. “It truly is wonderful how they have a space where they can work on that.” She frowned a little at his question, doing a quick mental check. “We’re running low on black paint. If you’re not in too much of a rush, I can make sure that there’s nothing else. It won’t take a minute.” She was normally a little better at keeping stock of the art supplies, but she had been a little preoccupied for the last little while. “Black paint. Got it.” Neal made note of that on the clipboard, and then stepped back to let Rose do her thing. Or actually, he leaned on the edge of the desk, making sure to stay out of her way and not get anything messy on him - not that it would matter anyway, he tended to look like he rolled around in a dirt patch after a particularly hard day at work regardless. “Go ahead and let me know what else, I can wait.” He was the patient sort, and was curious about how she was doing also - they all had to look out for their own, here in the crazy-ass melting pot known as Orange County. “So, things are going well for you? Settled after the latest debacle?” A wince. “The anger thing. Sorry about that, by the way. I hope you weren’t affected too badly but I’m sure you’re familiar with crappy dream bleedover.” “I wasn’t too badly affected,” Rose said, smiling as she looked through the art supplies, marking off any stock that they were running low on. “I was a little irritated, but nothing awful happened. I’ve, luckily, not been affected personally by much dream bleedover.” There had been the giant spider, the week of anger where she luckily just didn’t want to see any of her friends, and a couple of nice dream gifts. “Things are going… well,” she said, a little hesitantly. “I’ve been keeping myself busy before school starts.” For the most part, she sounded fine - but Neal picked up on that little bit of hesitation. He wouldn’t pry, of course, it wasn’t in his nature, though if Rose had something going on he would listen and help if he could. “Oh, right, school - coming up soon, yeah?” He smiled, a note of pride in the expression when he said, “Henry just started school too, seventh grade. He seems to like it so far. I was kind of worried about him since it’s always fun trying to make new friends in a brand new place.” But he was social, and also liked learning - he seemed to want to join a few clubs too, so maybe that would also help him in the friend department. “I’m glad that you haven’t experienced a lot of dream crap though,” Neal added. “Once you do start school, let me know your schedule and things, we can work around it. I wouldn’t want to lose you or anything.” Rose was a good fit for the ranch, and he hoped she would continue to stay on even part-time. “Actually...I had a question for you, about a painting job? Art job, specifically. If you were interested in earning some extra cash.” “At least when they’re that young, everyone is interested in getting to know the new student,” Rose said with a smile. “How’s Henry been adjusting to the Orange County so far?” She didn’t know many of the details surrounding his coming here, though she did know that he had just recently moved up here. “Oh, of course. I already have my class schedule, so I can give that to you before I’m done here,” she said. “I’m so glad you’re so willing to work around my schedule. Working here really has been a good experience so far.” It wasn’t the type of people that she had normally encountered in high society, and it had certainly helped open her eyes to people in different walks of life. She perked up a little at the prospect of a job, the interest evident on her face. “What kind of job? I would certainly be interested.” She was beginning to really appreciate having a little extra cash. It was surprising how quickly her money seemed to disappear once she got it, and while she was making some headway on putting away money for when her and Jack went to Santa Monica, a little extra never hurt. “He’s good, he likes Orange County - loves it, actually,” Neal laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. Henry had taken to the oddness like a duck to water, but all three of his parents knew that the kid would - he always had that heart of the Truest Believer, and would in any life. “Mostly because of the strangeness, the magic,” he emphasized the word with a grin. And getting to meet his real-life comic book heroes didn’t hurt either. But speaking of that, “Oh, right, well...I’m doing his room at my place?” Neal explained. “He wants a detailed comic book theme. I’ve got a picture of it on my phone...” He rummaged in his pocket for the device, flipping it to the one Henry found online and decided he wanted his room to look like, and he showed Rose. “The base coat’s done on the walls, and he has all the other comic stuff but we just need the...stencils, I guess? The details? Would you be interested in something like that?” “At least someone enjoys it,” Rose said, smiling. “I could understand how someone could be fascinated with the real life magic. When you take away everything else that comes with it, it seems like it can be pretty wonderful. He’s not a dreamer, is he?” Rose was a little uncertain about doing a comic book themed room - her art style tended to lean more toward impressionism than anything that could be construed as a comic book - but once she looked at the photos, she smiled. “I think I could handle that. I would be happy to help.” It would give her a challenge, right? And Henry would be so happy that he was getting his room professionally remodeled - also because it’d save him from having to do anymore of the boring painting with his dad, since the background coat on the walls was already done. Now came the fun part. “Sounds great,” he was glad that he’d have someone he knew and was familiar with helping out with the project, “If you’re free some night this week, come on over and see the room. We can talk compensation. And you can meet Henry officially.” He had come by the ranch a lot at first, when he arrived in the OC, but now that he’d started school it was less and less - since obviously he had other things to do. “And no, he’s not a dreamer.” Neal couldn’t help but sound relieved about that. “His mom...well, both his mom’s...we all decided to keep him away from the network. He knows about the dreams though, he knows another version of him exists somewhere, but he just has to live with not seeing it. There’s too much crap that comes along with it all.” “I should be free on Wednesday, if that time is agreeable with you,” Rose said, smiling. She wouldn’t actually make the stencils until she saw the room itself, but she was looking forward to being able to go home to get started on them. “I’m looking forward to meeting Henry. He sounds like a wonderful boy.” Rose couldn’t imagine having two mothers, since she could barely stand her own mother as it was. But then, she doubted that Henry’s mother’s were anything like Ruth, given how much she enjoyed spending time with Neal. “That was probably a good decision. These dreams can be a handful to deal with even with someone grown. I do hope he’s not too disappointed.” “They can be. And there’s enough weird OC stuff to keep him fascinated. He’ll be okay not seeing the other extras.” And Neal had been there for what happened to Henry in the dreams - some of it would be considered amazing to see, fantastical and adventurous, but then there were some parts that were just too dark for the kid. Like being under the Sleeping Curse. All the shit Regina pulled before she began to try to change her ways a little. Henry’s psychologically abusive great-grandfather, Peter Pan. And Neal dying, which was the icing on the shit cake - and Henry hadn’t even remembered his father at the time. It was a painful, horrible blow that he didn’t want his son to face in this life, even memories of it. Making note of all the other supplies Rose needed, Neal made sure to be thorough with everything, going off her list. “But yeah, Wednesday’s good,” he nodded. “He’s going to be happy to meet you too. Probably will have a lot of questions. Hope you don’t mind curiosity,” he snickered throatily. The OC was a lot to take in, even without the dreams. Her dreams so far hadn’t been too much to take in, but even she was dreading when the ship finally started sinking. She wasn’t sure what to expect from it and while sometimes she thought about asking Jack, she was pretty sure that she would only be more fixated on the end if she knew what happened. She couldn’t imagine a child going through something similar. “I don’t mind answering questions at all,” Rose said. She liked kids, especially curious ones. She had once been filled with questions, though her mother had always subscribed to the idea that children should be seen and not heard, so Rose had learned how to start answering the questions she had on her own. “I’m looking forward to it.” Good thing Rose didn’t mind, because sometimes Henry just didn’t have a filter. He’d probably ask about her dreams, since he knew of them, but overall he meant well - and Neal would be there to mitigate any extreme nosiness on the kid’s end. “Sounds great,” he said, and he was looking forward to it too. “I always appreciate the rare bits of normalcy we get.” You kind of had to, around here. Because you never knew when it’d all be taken out from under you. “But yeah, send me your schedule and that’ll be good,” he added. “And if you need anything else at all, anything, feel free to let me know.” Art or otherwise - he liked helping people, if he could. “This place is very good at making sure we appreciate the good when it comes,” Rose said, smiling. Between the giant rampaging spiders and the end of the world storm, Rose was really beginning to appreciate the simple things like coming to work and painting a young boys room. “Of course. I’ll have that to you before I leave for the day,” Rose said, smiling at Neal. “And thank you.” She meant it. It was a kind offer. “I will let you know if anything arises.” |