You should listen to Navi DuBleu. (heyheylisten) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-09-15 14:16:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, agent washington, navi |
Who: Wash and Navi.
What: Job Interview.
When: About a week ago.
Where: Navi’s plant nursery, Deku's Nursery.
Warnings/Ratings: Nope.
Status: Complete!
Thank god Navi’s plant nursery was nearby. Wash had pretty much his fill of busses by this time and was more determined now than ever before to get a car. It hadn’t been so bad since he’d never traveled that far from Seal Beach, but over the past week he’d gallivanted practically all over the county. Orange County had a pretty decent mass transit system, but god dammit, Wash was tired of waiting for a god damn bus.
Living modestly on the money the military gave him monthly as a thank-you for a decade of his life and what felt like an apology for having no further use for him, Wash had been able to save up a decent amount of cash in the bank, however, once he’d joined the network, he’d seen the balance of those savings start to go down. Having a job would help keep that balance from dipping too low. Wash never wanted to be in a position where he would have to depend on anyone. He’d seen that before, been a victim of that, and he had sworn it would never happen again.
However, the main reason he’d put himself out there as wanting work was that he was also growing weary of doing nothing. He could feasibly live off of the money the military gave him, but it made him feel broken, useless. He was desperate to show that he wasn’t. To show himself that he wasn’t.
He arrived at the plant nursery around the time he said he would have. He liked plants. They were pretty and calming. And they didn’t talk back to you. For having grown up in a city, Wash found that he was really enjoying the whole nature thing. Maybe dreaming he was a space marine in the middle of a war and stuck aboard a ship had something to do with that.
Once inside the nursery, Wash went about finding Navi.
Navi didn’t employ many people in the nursery itself. There were a couple of people to help customers find things that they needed - high school kids who had summer jobs, or college kids who had part time jobs - and a couple of people of the same ilk who would work the cash registers. But the person who did most of the heavy lifting (along with inventory, and just generally caring for the plants, and all the administrative duties) was Navi herself.
She had on wellies, short denim shorts, and a t-shirt that showed a tiny sliver of her stomach because it had shrunk in the wash. Navi was pretty, but didn’t seem to be aware of the fact, and even if she was, she was too busy leaning over and singing to an iris as she watered some ferns in the pot next to it.
There she was. Singing to the plant. Somehow that didn’t at all seem abnormal. After what Wash had seen over the past few months, normal everyday quirks really didn’t phase him much anymore. It was kind of sweet, actually. Wash hated to interrupt, but he was just kind of standing there a little awkwardly. If he stood there too much longer he was going to cross over from being awkward to creepy.
He cleared his throat and stepped up to Navi and leaned over a little next to her. “Hey, Navi. Sorry to interrupt.”
Turning around, the petite blonde smiled when she saw a guy she didn’t recognize approach her. He looked a little familiar, and she figured he was Wash. “Hi! Wash, right? I’m glad you came! Wanna do the paperwork first, or do you wanna see what you’d be doing and make sure you like it?”
Wash straightened and gave her a little half smile. “Yeah, that’s me,” he said. “Thanks for offering me the job, Navi. I really appreciate it. Do you mind showing me around first? Then we can sign the paperwork. Is that alright?”
“Oh, of course! Let me put the hose away so nobody trips.” She rewound the cord, her arms deceptively strong from lifting and loading lots of bags of soil or heavy pots filled with plants. She did the lion’s share of work, so she tended to end up with the lion’s share of bumps, bruises, and scrapes too.
“So, uh, we specialize in seedlings and plants here! I try to cater to a market that’s a bit more conservationist, though I’ll help people find plants that they need no matter what. But most of the people that shop with me are hippies like I am, which is always nice.” Even her bags of fertilizer were local, bought and bagged from a cow farmer on the outskirts of Napa Valley.
Wash watched Navi roll up and put away the hose. He noted that despite her size, she was actually quite strong. Impressively so, actually. He also noted that this was the second fairey he’d met from Valar that had ties to hippies. He wondered if that was a common theme among fairies or merely a coincidence. Eh, probably a coincidence.
“So you do the whole ‘Think Globally, Act Locally’ thing,” Wash noted the bags of locally “grown” fertilizer. “That’s cool. Do you get a lot of private customers or businesses?”
“It just makes sense in fiscal and environmental ways. And both, actually! Some people wander in, some people get references from other places that recommend various garden centers that are conservationist, and some others are businesses who know that I try to do a good job.” Navi retied her blonde hair into a ponytail before motioning for Wash to walk with her. The nursery was just a long rectangle of plants, flowers, fertilizers, and pots, but she had it organized pretty neurotically.
Wash had to admit that was pretty impressive. Business minded and environmentally minded. Wash himself didn’t know much about either, but it made sense to support local businesses when possible, especially if you were a fellow local business owner.
Wash was also starting to redefine his definition of hippy. He had yet to meet Kyu’s parents (a prospect that was honestly nerve-wracking as it would be for any new boyfriend), and Kyu had said on several occasion that they were hippies. But from what Kyu had said they sounded a bit like Navi - the opposite of what TV and movies had taught the masses hippies were like. Also, that head massage trick? Genius.
Wash started walking with Navi among the plants. “You’re really organized,” Wash observed. “Like really organized.” He put his hands in his pockets as they walked. “So you stay pretty busy then. Are you looking for someone to be full-time or part-time?”
“It’s my grandpa’s organizational system. It’s a family business, I inherited it from him when I was eighteen.” Navi beamed with pride at that much, obviously fond of the man. She turned to look at Wash, grinning. “Well, depends - which one do you want? I can always use the help, honestly.”
Eighteen. “Wow,” Wash breathed. That seemed really young to take over a business, but impressive. Navi had a right to be proud. The family business was doing well, thriving much like the plants she obviously cared very much about. It was very appealing.
“Part-time would be ideal,” he answered her. He rubbed the back of his neck for a moment before his hand snaked up to the back of his head. “I don’t have a car right now, and I also got a job working for the Jean Grey Outreach Center out in Trabuco Canyon. Days I’m not there, I can be here.”
“That works for me! Honestly, just come by whenever and lend a hand. Plants aren’t exactly pressing, and usually I just do what needs doing. If you can come by and help, it means I don’t have to do paperwork at home.” Navi made a grossed out face, obviously not a fan of the paper pushing parts of her job. “There’s a digital time clock, you just punch in the last four of your social and a PIN you make up, so easy peasy there. Honestly, I’d go by the honors system but it’s easier to do digital so I don’t have to remember when everyone comes in.” She giggled a little, then her eyes went wide.
“Oh! Do you need insurance or anything? How are you getting around? I could give you an advance if you want help getting your car.” That was easy enough, and it would help her retain what she figured was going to be a reliable employee. Navi had a gut for people.
The clock-in system seemed easy. And Navi was laid back and relaxed and would be easy to work for. The whole thing was actually perfect. The days he didn’t truck across the county to the out-reach center he could come and help Navi. It would be the first two real jobs that weren’t for the military he’d ever had and he’d managed to score two really cool bosses. Wash had somehow really managed to luck out.
And then Navi took it a step further by offering to help him get a car, which took Wash completely off guard. “I, uh, take the bus,” he told her. “It’s not bad,” he went on as if he felt the need to defend how he got around. Her offer of an advance was nice, but Wash wasn’t comfortable with her fronting that kind of money. Even a used POS would cost a couple of grand. It was a lot to expect from someone he’d just met.
“You don’t have to do that. Like I said, I got another job at the outreach center so I can save up the money to get something.” It was kind of the truth, but Navi didn’t need to know Wash needed work in order to keep himself busy. “I appreciate it, though,” he smiled. “Its really nice of you.”
“It’s no problem!” Navi smiled and bounced on her heels. “I don’t know, it just makes sense to make sure employees can get here. It might cost more in the short term, but in the long term, it works out. Let me know if you change your mind, though.” The bus system in California was notoriously crappy, so he might plausibly in future get sick of it.
She motioned for him to follow her to her office, a room in the back of the greenhouse. It was cosy warm because of proximity and cheerfully decorated with furniture that looked more at home in a living room than an office. There was a lounge chair in front of the desk and a loveseat in a corner with a table that had a teaset and an electric kettle. There was a mini fridge as well.
“Do you want anything to drink while you fill out all the boring crappy paperwork?” A picture on her desk was of a one eyed, one eared, three legged tabby cat with mottled fur. It looked thrilled to be in Navi’s arms.
Navi’s office looked comfortable enough that it could easily be mistaken for someone’s home rather than a place someone did business in. However, Wash couldn’t picture the fairy gardner sitting in a cold impersonal work space, bent over a cheap looking desk. The bright cheery feel of the room matched the bright cheery feel of Navi’s personality, right down to the hospital draw of the loveseat and teaset.
“I’m good,” he told her. His eyes fell on the picture of the one-eyed, one eared, three legged tabby cat on Navi’s desk. Without thinking he picked it up to look at. “Is this your cat?” He asked.
“Yup, that’s Zora. I got her from a shelter. Nobody wanted her because she looks like a salty old cuss, but she’s really sweet once she warms up to you. Some people weren’t particularly nice to her, so it took her a while to warm up to the people at the shelter. She and I got on like gangbusters, though, so we’ve been together ever since.” Navi sounded every inch like the proud mom she was. “Do you have any pets?”
Wash smiled, turning his eyes back to the picture. “I think she looks sweet,” he said. “No, no pets,” he went on before setting the picture back on the desk. “I always wanted one when I was a kid but…” he shrugged. “I don’t think it would have gone over well. I used to feed strays at the park near my house growing up.”
“She’s got this smoker’s meow, it’s the cutest thing.” Navi smiled fondly as she retrieved copies of the forms Wash would have to fill out, clipped them to a clipboard, and handed them over along with a pen. “Can you have them now?”
“The apartment building I’m in now has a clause in the lease stating we’re not supposed to have pets,” Wash said. “Not that actually stops anyone from having a pet. I’ve seen people there with dogs. This one guy down the hall has a bird of some kind. A loud bird.”
The thought had actually never occurred to him that he could get a pet now. Aside from his apartment’s property manager - who didn’t seem to give a shit - there wasn’t anyone around that could tell him no, or stop him from getting one, or potentially hurt any poor animal Wash decided to bring home. Maybe it was time to get one.
Wash took the clipboard and pen and sat down on the lounge chair in front of the desk to fill it out. He filled in his legal name, social, date of birth and all the other pertinent information an employer needed from a new hire. When he was done, he signed the form and handed the clipboard back. “Do you need to see my ID or anything?” he asked.
“Oh, all birds are loud, that’s how they communicate with the rest of the flock. It’s mostly a way to find out where everyone is, and if they’re okay, if there’s predators around, that sort of thing. It’s kind of a loving thing when it yells. It’s mostly saying ‘DAD ARE YOU OKAY’ over and over.” Navi smiled and curled up on the loveseat, leaning over to pour herself a glass of water from the pitcher in her minifridge.
“Yup, just your ID and your social security card or passport or military ID. IF you don’t have one of those, just bring ‘em when you come in to work the first time.” She could understand why people wouldn’t carry those around with them.
That kind of made sense. Birds were social creatures - or at the very least communal ones. Wash was glad that it was just squawking he’d hear coming from his neighbor’s door and literally not something screaming for its daddy repeatedly. That would be creepy as balls.
He placed the clipboard on the desk and dug out his wallet. He pulled his military ID from its little pocket and handed it to Navi along with the paperwork. “I don’t have my social security card with me,” he said, “but I’ll bring it in next time.”
“No worries!” She made a quick scan of the ID with her computer, typing with speedy efficiency. She handed back the ID and smiled at him brightly. “So, we’re closed on Tuesdays - I found it’s the slowest day of the week - and open every other day from 7 to 9. And I pay everyone an extra dollar an hour on Saturdays and Sundays, just to sort of apologize for them coming in on the weekends.” She also liked having the place closed during the week so everyone could go to the doctor’s office or whatnot. “Do you have any questions for me?”
Wash put his ID back in his wallet. “Navi, you seriously have to be the coolest boss ever. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a boss paying her employees more just because they came in in the weekend.” He did have a couple of questions and he shifted a little awkwardly on the lounge, not really sure the best way to ask. So he just came out with it. “How much is the pay?” He asked carefully.
“It’s not that much more.” She giggled and shook her head. “I mean, I wish I could do more, you know? And it’s eighteen an hour. It’s not a lot more than the minimum wage up in Seattle, but I try to make up for it by having insurance for everyone and being easy with scheduling and having hours whenever you want ‘em. And raises are a thing, since if you learn different stuff around here, you should get paid for knowing more, you know?”
From what Wash had read, eighteen an hour was over twice the federal minimum wage, and something that could be lived on quite comfortably. Navi was a sweetheart. It was apparent she cared about her business and the people who worked for her. Wash laughed a little to himself. “When I was a kid I had no idea what I was going to be when I grew up,” he said. “In high school all I wanted to do was join the military and I honestly thought I’d be there for the rest of my life. Never in a million years did I think I’d be working in a plant nursery.” He’d never in a million years thought he’d dream about being a mad scientist and/or a space marine, meet fairies and vampires or have to survive an apocalypse, either. Life was full of surprises.
“But I think I’m going to like it here,” he went on giving Navi a small, but thankful smile. “Thanks.”
“Do you like hugs?” Navi wanted to hug him, but she wouldn’t if he didn’t want one. “I’m glad you feel comfortable. Mi casa es su casa, Wash.”
Wash wasn’t big on hugs, particularly from people he didn’t know well and he’d only really just met Navi. But at the same time he didn’t want to offend her or anything. “Uhh…” he hesitated a moment. “I’m not really a hugg-ey person. But I appreciate the sentiment.”