Niagara Falls- Monday
Aug. 24th, 2020 03:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fates_jayeYou know what was fun? The time difference meaning that Jaye still had to pop into her job to get her check this week. And the place was filled with tourists.
"It's Monday. What's with all the busy?" Jaye asked.
"Boats aren't running," Mouthbreather said. "Fogged in."
"Again? It's the Maid of the Mist. Mist. Where's Leslie? Isn't she always whining about not getting enough hours?"
"Yes. That’s why she quit."
"Leslie quit?"
"Last summer. I need more envirofriendly plastic bags. Can you work today?" Mouthbreather asked.
"It's overtime," Jaye warned. Which was the only reason she was considering it.
"It's fine if you get the envirofriendly plastic bags."
Jaye went to the back room for one of the spare vests, and on her way back saw a girl with curly blonde hair coming towards her. Assuming she was a customer, Jaye lowered her eyes and tried to be invisible.
"Excuse mmm-me," the girl said, speaking in a pronounced stutter, holding up Jaye's wallet. "I th-think this is y-y-yours."
"Oh, yeah. Thanks," Jaye said, taking it and looking through it. Maybe there'd be something good in here. "I was looking for... Oh my god, it really is mine. I didn’t even know it was missing... or that I had cash. Where’d you find it?"
"In your p-pocket. Last n-n-night."
Jaye stared at her. "You stole my wallet?"
"My v-van broke down and I ran out of m-money. I was d-desperate."
"Did you put this eight dollars in here?"
"It’s all I h-had. I felt g-g-g-"
"Oh," Jaye said. "Get her words out." She looked back to the girl and guessed, "Guilty?"
The girl nodded.
"Well, forget it. No harm. Um, is there someone you can call?"
"My p-parents live in F-Florida. But they think I’m in C-C-C..."
"Carolina? Kansas?" Jaye tried.
"C-C-C..."
"Colorado? Kentucky? Columbia? California?"
"C-California," the girl nodded. "I told them I had a job waiting for me there, but I don’t. Can’t get a job because I
have a stuh... a stuh... a stuh..."
"S.T.D.?" Jaye asked.
"Stutter. I didn’t want to be a bburden. They have enough problems. Dad’s on an iron lu... iron lu..."
"Lung?" Oh, this was going to be a thing.
The girl nodded again. "My name’s B-B-B..."
Jaye sighed, idly spinning the rack of Niagara Falls nameplates while she waited for the girl to get it out.
"B-B..."
And Jaye's patience was gone. "Bianca. Barlow. Betty-"
But the girl was already nodding.
"Bianca?"
Bianca nodded.
"Huh." Jaye was actually a little impressed with herself there.
"Anyway. I’m really s-s-sorry..."
"Wait. I can’t let you give me your last eight dollars," Jaye said, reaching into the waller. "Here's five back."
"Jaye Tyler, report to customer service," came Mouthbreather's voice over the PA. "Jaye Tyler."
Jaye looked over at the register, a few measly feet away, where he was dealing with a fairly decent line and being an asshole.
"Oh, I got you in t-t-trouble," Bianca said, and turned, immediately running into a stack of T-shirts. But before Jaye could do anything, Bianca was standing up and refolding the shirts with lightning fast speed.
Mouthbreather wandered over to stand next to Jaye, watching in fascination, mouth open. "That was the most amazing bit of
folding I’ve ever witnessed... are these GAP corners? Do you work at the Galleria?"
"Get her words out," the chameleon said.
"Bianca's between jobs right now," Jaye said, and brightened. "Hey, we could use some help around here, couldn't we?"
*****
Since it was busy, Mouthbreather wasted no time in getting Bianca a spare vest, and he made up a temporary name tag that read "BINKY."
"It's short for B-B-B-"
"Get her words-"
"Yeah, I get it," Jaye snapped at the puppet, then looked back to the humans in front of her. "Bianca. Right."
"Tyler here’s gonna show you the ropes," the Mouthbreather told Bianca. "Don’t let her bark scare you. She knows the biz. She trained me -- and now I’m her boss."
Jaye glared daggers at his retreating back.
"Th-thanks for speaking up for m-me b-before," Bianca said once he was gone. "And also for not telling him I st-stole from y-you."
"So... in a way, I kind of helped you by getting your words out..." Jaye tried, looking to the puppet for confirmation. She got nothing.
"Oh, y-yes," Bianca said, confused.
"Okay. So. Can ya count backwards?"
Jaye, of course, just let Bianca do all the work in the name of training. The day slowed down, and Bianca kept trying to do more, with Jaye having to tamp down that urge of hers to keep being helpful. She'd encourage customers to come again, or try to get an item from the back room on a high shelf, or dust, and Jaye kept having to tell her no. There were reasons for not doing all of these things, or Jaye would be doing them herself. Really. And if Bianca was bored enough, Jaye would be happy to let her run out to get more coffee and a selection of donuts for her.
Bianca helped close at the end of the day, and as Jaye was locking up, said, "Th-thanks for everything today. I don’t feel t-tired at all."
"Well, you're a quick study," Jaye said vaguely.
"I n-never had a m-m-mentor before."
"Mentor? Please," Jaye scoffed. "I’m five-wordblurb-girl who lives in a trailer."
"I live in a v-van," Bianca said.
Jaye frowned, and considered this little pickpocket in a whole new light. She'd been looking at this all wrong. Here she was: Bianca, someone more of a loser than Jaye.
"What are your feelings on beer?" Jaye asked.
*****
Jaye brought her to the Barrel. She sat on her usual stool, shelling peanuts, with Bianca sitting next to her and carefully watching what she was doing.
"This is actually more work than I've done all day," Jaye told Eric when he made his way over behind the bar.
"Business slow?" he asked.
"Normal," she said, "but we finally got some decent help. Eric, this is Bianca. Bianca and I will both have a beer."
"Y-yes, p-please," Bianca said shyly.
"Comin’ up."
As he went to get the beers, Bianca tried to half whisper, "He’s c-c-c... he’s c-c. He’s-"
"Get her words out," said the bass on the wall.
"He’s cute," Jaye finished.
Eric reappeared at that exact moment, and while he didn't seem to mind hearing that, he was nice enough not to say anything. "Anything else?"
"I’ll let ya know," Jaye said, not trying to smile, but she did hold his gaze till he walked away to deal with another customer. And then she looked to the bass and hissed, "That was just tricky."
To Bianca, she said, "I’m running to the little girl’s. Be right back."
"If you w-want m-me t-to-"
"Some things I gotta do on my own," Jaye told her.
She hopped up to head to the bathroom, but Mahandra stopped her as she made her way back from the dining area with a drinks tray. "So who's the girl?"
"Friend from work," Jaye said.
"You don’t have any-"
"Friends from work? I know. Weird, huh?"
"Uh, well, that certainly is," Mahandra said, and frowned when she looked to the bar. Jaye turned to look, too, and saw what Bianca was doing that had caught her attention. "Is she-"
"Shelling peanuts for me? Yeah. I guess she is..." Okay. A little weird.
"You’re not using the new girl as your personal-"
"Slave? Well, not in a historically insensitive way," Jaye assured her. "In fact I’m helping her. I’m sort of her speech therapist. I’ve been finishing her sentences for her."
"Then you’re sort of everybody’s speech therapist, aren’tcha?" Mahandra said wryly.
[NFB, NFI, etc. From Ep 2, Karma Chameleon.]
"It's Monday. What's with all the busy?" Jaye asked.
"Boats aren't running," Mouthbreather said. "Fogged in."
"Again? It's the Maid of the Mist. Mist. Where's Leslie? Isn't she always whining about not getting enough hours?"
"Yes. That’s why she quit."
"Leslie quit?"
"Last summer. I need more envirofriendly plastic bags. Can you work today?" Mouthbreather asked.
"It's overtime," Jaye warned. Which was the only reason she was considering it.
"It's fine if you get the envirofriendly plastic bags."
Jaye went to the back room for one of the spare vests, and on her way back saw a girl with curly blonde hair coming towards her. Assuming she was a customer, Jaye lowered her eyes and tried to be invisible.
"Excuse mmm-me," the girl said, speaking in a pronounced stutter, holding up Jaye's wallet. "I th-think this is y-y-yours."
"Oh, yeah. Thanks," Jaye said, taking it and looking through it. Maybe there'd be something good in here. "I was looking for... Oh my god, it really is mine. I didn’t even know it was missing... or that I had cash. Where’d you find it?"
"In your p-pocket. Last n-n-night."
Jaye stared at her. "You stole my wallet?"
"My v-van broke down and I ran out of m-money. I was d-desperate."
"Did you put this eight dollars in here?"
"It’s all I h-had. I felt g-g-g-"
"Oh," Jaye said. "Get her words out." She looked back to the girl and guessed, "Guilty?"
The girl nodded.
"Well, forget it. No harm. Um, is there someone you can call?"
"My p-parents live in F-Florida. But they think I’m in C-C-C..."
"Carolina? Kansas?" Jaye tried.
"C-C-C..."
"Colorado? Kentucky? Columbia? California?"
"C-California," the girl nodded. "I told them I had a job waiting for me there, but I don’t. Can’t get a job because I
have a stuh... a stuh... a stuh..."
"S.T.D.?" Jaye asked.
"Stutter. I didn’t want to be a bburden. They have enough problems. Dad’s on an iron lu... iron lu..."
"Lung?" Oh, this was going to be a thing.
The girl nodded again. "My name’s B-B-B..."
Jaye sighed, idly spinning the rack of Niagara Falls nameplates while she waited for the girl to get it out.
"B-B..."
And Jaye's patience was gone. "Bianca. Barlow. Betty-"
But the girl was already nodding.
"Bianca?"
Bianca nodded.
"Huh." Jaye was actually a little impressed with herself there.
"Anyway. I’m really s-s-sorry..."
"Wait. I can’t let you give me your last eight dollars," Jaye said, reaching into the waller. "Here's five back."
"Jaye Tyler, report to customer service," came Mouthbreather's voice over the PA. "Jaye Tyler."
Jaye looked over at the register, a few measly feet away, where he was dealing with a fairly decent line and being an asshole.
"Oh, I got you in t-t-trouble," Bianca said, and turned, immediately running into a stack of T-shirts. But before Jaye could do anything, Bianca was standing up and refolding the shirts with lightning fast speed.
Mouthbreather wandered over to stand next to Jaye, watching in fascination, mouth open. "That was the most amazing bit of
folding I’ve ever witnessed... are these GAP corners? Do you work at the Galleria?"
"Get her words out," the chameleon said.
"Bianca's between jobs right now," Jaye said, and brightened. "Hey, we could use some help around here, couldn't we?"
*****
Since it was busy, Mouthbreather wasted no time in getting Bianca a spare vest, and he made up a temporary name tag that read "BINKY."
"It's short for B-B-B-"
"Get her words-"
"Yeah, I get it," Jaye snapped at the puppet, then looked back to the humans in front of her. "Bianca. Right."
"Tyler here’s gonna show you the ropes," the Mouthbreather told Bianca. "Don’t let her bark scare you. She knows the biz. She trained me -- and now I’m her boss."
Jaye glared daggers at his retreating back.
"Th-thanks for speaking up for m-me b-before," Bianca said once he was gone. "And also for not telling him I st-stole from y-you."
"So... in a way, I kind of helped you by getting your words out..." Jaye tried, looking to the puppet for confirmation. She got nothing.
"Oh, y-yes," Bianca said, confused.
"Okay. So. Can ya count backwards?"
Jaye, of course, just let Bianca do all the work in the name of training. The day slowed down, and Bianca kept trying to do more, with Jaye having to tamp down that urge of hers to keep being helpful. She'd encourage customers to come again, or try to get an item from the back room on a high shelf, or dust, and Jaye kept having to tell her no. There were reasons for not doing all of these things, or Jaye would be doing them herself. Really. And if Bianca was bored enough, Jaye would be happy to let her run out to get more coffee and a selection of donuts for her.
Bianca helped close at the end of the day, and as Jaye was locking up, said, "Th-thanks for everything today. I don’t feel t-tired at all."
"Well, you're a quick study," Jaye said vaguely.
"I n-never had a m-m-mentor before."
"Mentor? Please," Jaye scoffed. "I’m five-wordblurb-girl who lives in a trailer."
"I live in a v-van," Bianca said.
Jaye frowned, and considered this little pickpocket in a whole new light. She'd been looking at this all wrong. Here she was: Bianca, someone more of a loser than Jaye.
"What are your feelings on beer?" Jaye asked.
*****
Jaye brought her to the Barrel. She sat on her usual stool, shelling peanuts, with Bianca sitting next to her and carefully watching what she was doing.
"This is actually more work than I've done all day," Jaye told Eric when he made his way over behind the bar.
"Business slow?" he asked.
"Normal," she said, "but we finally got some decent help. Eric, this is Bianca. Bianca and I will both have a beer."
"Y-yes, p-please," Bianca said shyly.
"Comin’ up."
As he went to get the beers, Bianca tried to half whisper, "He’s c-c-c... he’s c-c. He’s-"
"Get her words out," said the bass on the wall.
"He’s cute," Jaye finished.
Eric reappeared at that exact moment, and while he didn't seem to mind hearing that, he was nice enough not to say anything. "Anything else?"
"I’ll let ya know," Jaye said, not trying to smile, but she did hold his gaze till he walked away to deal with another customer. And then she looked to the bass and hissed, "That was just tricky."
To Bianca, she said, "I’m running to the little girl’s. Be right back."
"If you w-want m-me t-to-"
"Some things I gotta do on my own," Jaye told her.
She hopped up to head to the bathroom, but Mahandra stopped her as she made her way back from the dining area with a drinks tray. "So who's the girl?"
"Friend from work," Jaye said.
"You don’t have any-"
"Friends from work? I know. Weird, huh?"
"Uh, well, that certainly is," Mahandra said, and frowned when she looked to the bar. Jaye turned to look, too, and saw what Bianca was doing that had caught her attention. "Is she-"
"Shelling peanuts for me? Yeah. I guess she is..." Okay. A little weird.
"You’re not using the new girl as your personal-"
"Slave? Well, not in a historically insensitive way," Jaye assured her. "In fact I’m helping her. I’m sort of her speech therapist. I’ve been finishing her sentences for her."
"Then you’re sort of everybody’s speech therapist, aren’tcha?" Mahandra said wryly.
[NFB, NFI, etc. From Ep 2, Karma Chameleon.]
