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?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"What helps me?"

Shit now that was a question. How did he answer it?

"Time. Time and love. For me every minute is like a day. I have a lot more distance from my pain."

Mono looked a little confused at that. Time and love made sense… Kinda… But that time worked that differently for Tommy? If the kid understood his own world a little better, he might understand a little better… But as it was, he tilted his head with a questioning tone. “So, time is really different for you than it is for other people? Is it ‘cause of how fast you can go?”

"Exactly," Tommy said. "You ever have that sort of day that feels like it goes on FOREVER? For me, all days are like that."

Everything lasts far too long.

“Every day???” Mono looked at Tommy with some mild-childlike horror. The kid hadn’t a very good concept of time, but since arriving in this world, he had found the odd day that dragged along slowly when he was bored. The idea of everyday being like that sounded pretty bad to him. “That sounds really annoying!”

This time Tommy couldn't force a smile. Yeah, every day.

"When I use my powers, it's worse. The packages, I get across town in seconds. But it's like when you're running. I run all that distance. I experience it like you would. Mabe I'm quicker because I can dodge around people more easily, and jump stuff if I need to, but I experience every moment of it. In some ways, I'm older than I actually am."

Mono’s expression scrunched a bit, clearly thinking harder on the explanation as he tried to think about what that all meant. “So even though to us you’re going super fast, to you it’s just like normal…” That sounded even worse, really. “That would be like dealing with a bunch of extra time! No wonder you get really bored…” And considering that time seemed… terribly broken in his world, he did not like to think of what that would do to Tommy to deal with.

“So if you experience extra time and it means you’re kinda older than you really are… Your powers make stuff kinda bad for you, even when you’re just trying to help people.” That sucked. A lot. More than just being bored! It was honestly a little scary to the kid, too. “Should you use them for stuff like work if you gotta experience extra time, too?”

"I'm still faster, even by my perceptions. It's a rush. It's a thrill. I can't NOT be fast. It's just not possible. That's not what I'm going to do or going to be. I'll never let go of it."

Being without it was just a mess.

“I guess I kinda understand… It’s part of you, kinda like how my ability is part of me.” Even if he couldn’t help but think he would be better off without it himself. He still would always use it, and certainly hadn’t ever been able to deny that there was a particular pull he felt to use them. This world had been the first time he hadn’t had access to them, even if he still felt them there…

Still, he hoped nothing bad would eventually happen to Tommy from using his… That was what scared the kid, really.

Tommy would be nothing without his powers. He at least embraced them, even when they made his life harder.

"I can help people with it too. Behind like I am. So I'd never let it go."

“I guess… it just kinda sucks that it makes your life hard sometimes.” He responded with a little, sad frown. Abilities making your life hard was something he kind of identified with rather strongly, after all.

It was really amazing to the child that Tommy still helped people with his powers, even when it made things difficult.

"Yeah, but that's just what I was born to deal with I guess. I can't let it go."

This was what he was supposed to be. Even if it was painful.

"At least I can take it and not have to worry about my brother.

“I guess I understand…” Mono responded with a small nod. This had all given the kid a lot to think about, really.

At the mention of Tommy’s brother, though, that was a shift in topic that he was curious about and what he meant about not needing to worry. “You don't? Because he's different from you?"

"I don't think he could live like I do," Tommy answered with a shrug. "Or what I've lived through. What I dealt with, I don't want to think about him experiencing."

HE had to protect Billy. Fuck knew Billy never did.

That certainly made sense to the kid. Between the children he’d met around the city, and even some of the older arrivals to this place… Mono didn’t like the idea of the things that happened in his world happening here. It was upsetting and shouldn’t happen. He never had family, at least as far as he knew, but he’d want to protect them too if he had. And… he sort of wanted to protect his friend Six, but Mono knew the ship on keeping bad things from happening to her had sailed even before he met her. “Yeah, I kinda get that… Even if it still sucks you went through stuff, not wanting other people you care about to go through it, too. I think about that sometimes…”

So he tilted his head up. “Your brother’s lucky that he’s got you to think about him and want better things for him.” He added with a small nod.

If only he was lucky while Billy was still around him. But that wasn't going to happen at all.

"Yeah, he is. Poor dweeb doesn't deserve how good I am for him though. He needs to get cool on my level."

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.

[Open] Delivery Boy Here

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