Welcome to Gaia! ::

Gwendolyn Caspian was always one known for her courage and self-confidence, and this applied to her in more ways than one, especially outside of her Senshi persona. She skipped classes, sneaking out of what felt like a high security prison on a weekly basis, despite the consequences, and sometimes going through ridiculous methods to get out of being caught. However, it was these blatant acts of truancy that brought her to where she was today, all dressed up in what Maddy considered to be appropriate business attire, paraded throughout the business district a week prior to Christmas, filling out job applications until she felt her hand was going to wilt away for positions that she knew she'd never, ever again.

She had no prior work experience, but Maddy was determined for her to get a part time job. The deal was simple: if she was going to consider dropping out of high school, then the only alternative was to get a job and help pay bills for their apartment. At first, Gwen thought it was a good deal, but now, she was starting to feel like the task was hopeless; how in the blazes was she expected to get a job with no experience, especially so close to Christmas? Maddy was trying to kill her...

As the sun was beginning to set in the sky, Maddy brought her to what she hoped was her final destination, and immediately she felt a bit weary to step foot inside that flower shop. Not that she really cared for flowers, but the place seemed awfully familiar, though the name Padma's Bouquet didn't immediately ring a bell. She never been here as Gwen, but surely this wasn't the same place that she had battled that youma before, was it?

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get going!" Maddy encouraged her when she was moving to slow, giving her younger sister a swat on the butt and getting her moving to avoid the second swipe. Gwen poked her tongue at her and turned away before she had the chance to retaliate, and she took in a deep breath and entered the shop, absolutely certain that this wasn't the same flower shop she completely demolished that night. She got straight to the point, announcing herself and her intentions; no point in playing coy and cute when it hadn't worked in the last few shops. "Hey, is anyone still in here? I'd like to fill out an application!"

Never known for her subtly (and it was hard to be when one had monochromatic hair, bright golden eyes and three stripes on her left cheek), one could practically read the distress on her face when she caught sight of the employee's face. Yes, yes, this was the same shop she and a youma had plowed through, because she had remembered that face all too well. Though, he did appear less angry this time around (amazing what NOT breaking his window and plants with a youma as a battering ram would do to one's temperament), but that didn't make Gwen all the more eager to approach him and ask for a job. 'Work for a guy who had the audacity to throw pots at me when I saved his life... yeah right!'

So, what she WANTED to do was simply turn around and leave. It would have been completely easy, too, considering he looked like he was busy with another customer and he wasn't immediately clambering to get her to fill an application out. Yet, what stopped Gwen in her hasty retreat was her sister, whom she spotted from the corner of her eye when she turned her head. If anything, Maddy's annoyed expression, mixed with some exhaustion of her own, was a great way of keeping her in that store, if only to avoid that rage filled rant of her again, on how disappointed she was with her little sister and blah blah blah. Yes, Gwen gave a huff and moved towards the counter, like the employee had instructed, rummaging around and looking for a comfortable place to start writing once she held both vital keys to possible employment in hand. She was tired of standing up and writing... surely he'd have a chair?

"So, you want me to just fill it out here... or is there a more secluded place? With a chair, maybe?" Gwen asked, hoping that she didn't appear too shy in front of him. After all, what was she worrying about? Thankfully, he didn't seem to recognize her, so that would have nothing to do with him rejecting her employment, right? She dressed nicely (as nicely as Gwen had a want to dress, anyway), and as Gwendolyn Caspian, she hadn't done anything to bar her from employment... yet. "Um, also, do you need a resume or cover letter? Because not gonna lie... never held a job before. Minus some 'volunteer' work, anyway."

It had done a lot for Gwen's confidence to know that she at least seemed to have gotten a head start in her quest, and she was starting to feel really good about herself. Standing and walking constantly? She could do that! She could do that really well! She couldn't help but try to boast this, puffing her chest out and allowing her confidence to shine, like the beacon it was meant to be, not this meek little candle that had been trying to consume her in the past few weeks. "I'm good on my feet, actually! Nothing I hate more than being cooped up in a chair for hours on end, staring at a blackboard filled with meaningless scribble when I could be doing something useful!"

She gave her leg a stretch and immediately forgot all about her desire to find a place to sit, and without further ado, she went back to filling out, yet, another application, hoping that in some way, it'd be her last one. She was thankful for the employer's suggestion, honestly. This would give her the time she needed to make sure everything was accurate and allow him the chance to finish with the older woman, and Gwen was a little taken back when she addressed her, and she scooched over to allow him to do his work and not get in her way.

"Yes ma'am! Very important business! Got to get a job and pay my part of the rent since I'm not going to waste my time with school!" Gwen said with a bob of her head, not thinking too much about what she was saying or how it might have came out. If anything, she was kind of hoping that the desperation would be enough to encourage him to give her a position... at least if she got this position, she could have done something to repay the poor guy for wrecking up his shop, even if he didn't realize who she was. "I'm ready to take on the adult world and if that means I need to work my butt off, I'll jump to it!"

Gwen beamed at the conversation she was having with the elderly woman. If anything, it did a lot to help ease her anxieties within her about applying for a job, even getting out into the 'real world'. It pleased her to know that she wasn't the only one that seemed to find school to be utterly pointless- Gwen has no ambitions on going to college. Even though she was practicing her gymnastics more than she used to (mostly during her patrols, anyways), she knew it'd never be enough to get her into college, and the Olympics? Right out. Impossible. Gwen was willing to try anything, but there were things that even she knew to be not worth pursuing.

A regular job at a flower shop? That seemed boring as sin, but it was far better than the alternative and it was a decent place to start. Assuming she ever finished her application. "Maybe I'll look into community college later, but for now, I think I'll enjoy being up and about instead of sitting in a classroom all day!"

It seemed that the shopkeeper was willing to take the elderly woman up on her offer, and Gwen was going to take this chance to finally get her application filled out. She waved to her, her smile genuine as well as her words. "It's been nice talking to you, ma'am! I hope the best for your granddaughter!"

Only when she and the shopkeeper had left did Gwen get back to feverishly filling out the application. Since there was no one around her, she allowed for her groans to be heard; her fingers and hands were cramping from all the other applications she had filled out today, and though the woman had did well in alleviating some of her anxieties, she couldn't help but feel that working for the guy who, unknowingly, threw pots and flowers at her after she helped wreck his store, was going to be extremely weird and awkward. Yet, if anything, she should have seen it as a way of paying him back, for apologizing for ruining his plants... even if he'd never know.

That got her writing even faster, breezing through the Work Experience section without a single thought. That part was easy! 'I hope I get this job... I don't know if I can take being rejected again!'

Gwen didn't mind Krishna skirting in and out of the store, really- it gave her time to bunker down on the application, and by the time he returned, she was more than ready to hand off the paperwork to him. She tried not to allow too much of her nervousness bubble to the surface, wanting to give off an aura of confidence in hopes of that increasing her chances. Everyone liked a confident worker, right?

And confident she felt, until he asked her what she knew about horticulture, and immediately, Gwen's mind drew a blank. In truth, she had no idea what the word even meant, and it had absolutely nothing to do with her skipping classes. The word resembled agriculture, and Gwen knew what THAT was... and given that she was in a flower and plant shop, then perhaps it was safe to assume that it had something to do with plants?

It was her best shot, and Gwen jumped at it. "Well, I know that you have to water them regularly, or else they'll wither away and die, and that's just be terrible. A lot of them smell really nice... which attracts bees and other insects, even spiders, but some of them aren't SO bad for the flowers."

If all else failed, fall back on what she did know about animals, as sometimes they had a hand in helping out plant life with pollination and distribution of the seeds. She tried to think of others things, simple things, but playing it off like she knew her stuff, hoping to either fool him or at least show to him how desperate and willing she was to have this job. "They require a lot of sunlight, and don't like the cold. Which is completely understandable, because I hate the cold too! They're like having a pet, only... um... immobile and don't talk back to you."

'So far, so good,' Gwen thought to herself when Krishna didn't immediately call her out on her bullshit. She was certain that he suspected it, but if he wasn't going to bring it up, neither was she. She held her ground and tried not to fidget too much, trying so desperately to hold onto that illusion of confidence if she thought it would help. When he threw the next set of questions at her, she spoke without really thinking, not really lying but trying to get her point across, despite some hint of nervousness. "Well, if by figures you mean basic math, then I think I can do that fairly well! Not a math whiz, but I can do simple addition and subtraction!"

She may have been failing in school, but she wasn't THAT bad off. Yet. She addressed the other two matters quickly, before she forgot them, which was rather likely given how scatter brain she felt right now. "I can write up reports if you tell me exactly what needs to go there, and I like talking to customers. Or other people in general. Heck, I even talk to animals sometimes, as weird as that sounds!"

Speaking of animals, Gwen had to make a mental note to -not- bring Micah to work with her, assuming she had the job. A rat in a flower shop would be extremely bad for business, and given how quickly Krishna defended himself against a powered Senshi, she could only imagine the horrors he's put poor Micah through if he spotted the obese little rat.

"I can do whatever you want me to do..." She added in, a beaming smile on her face, a clear sign of her desperation. She glanced at Maddy outside, seeing her impatience but wanting to tell her to stick it. After all, she's the one who insisted on getting a job- therefor, she would have to wait!

It didn't dawn on Gwen until he had gotten halfway through the list of duties that she was, in fact, being hired. Or in the process of being hired. Her eyes widened with surprise and there was nothing she could do to hide her excitement, as it shown like the sun on her face in the form of a smile that stretched from one ear to the other. Before she could go into an all out squee and even maybe a victory dance, she caught herself and did her best to relay what he had just said, speaking with not only confidence but barely contained enthusiasm.

"Oh, I can do all of those things! I've never run a cash register before-- obviously, because I never had a job before, but I can count and add and all that I need to do for that! I don't mind heavy lifting- I'm a lot stronger than I look!" She said, refraining from flexing but just barely. "And I love running errands! Anything and anywhere! Just let me know!"

She knew she was rambling, but she was so excited. All of the other things, such as cleaning, the amount of hours she'd be getting and how crazy they'll be, or even that it would require some learning in the process, but right now, she was simply too excited to care. She'd cross those bridges and then some when she got there. For now, she was willing to do anything to keep this job, and she all but saluted to him. "I'll do my absolute best, Mr. ... um, did we introduce each other? I can't remember, I'm too happy to remember."

She extended her hand, "Gwendolyn Caspian!"

"Well, it's great to meet you, Krishna!" Gwen said, unable to hide her excitement and refusing to feel a single ounce of guilt from it. Why should she feel guilty? She not only landed a job, but she was working her way into finally correcting one of her past mistakes and helping the poor man out, all without him ever realizing that she was the one that helped wreck his store in the first place! It was a great feeling, even if she'd never get recognition for it... though it would have been for the best. "And it'll be a pleasure working with you! I'll be here, bright and early tomorrow! Or whatever time you need me!"

No, Gwen didn't care. She'd wake up at the crack of dawn if she needed to, because now, she had a job, and she was one step closer to becoming the responsible adult that Maddy and others seemed to want her to be. She cared nothing for what laid ahead of her, the hard work and hours, the loss of free time, because at least now she was moving ahead in her life (and it wasn't just her Senshi side, either!).

She gave Krishna one last beaming smile before waving her farewells and all but running out of the store. The door hadn't even closed all the way before she addressed Maddy, and her joy could not be contained. "Ha! Got the job! In record time, too!"