[PRP] work day emergency (jamie & cid)

[azuredreams]

Jamie's phone was ringing.

It was Stronger Than You from Steven Universe.

The caller ID read deadsmol and it was two in the afternoon.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Looking at the phone wasn't even necessary, Jamie knew exactly who was calling by the ringtone alone. It had been that song the very first time Cid called and presumably it had always been that way. It was something between his employer and his previous self that he would never think to change.

"Heeello?" he answered, voice drawn out and tentative. Not even letting Cid reply, he went on to ask, "Did I... did I write down the wrong schedule again?"

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"What? No! You haven't like ... done that ever. Well, I mean that one time but that was because of my error not yours so ..." Cid was in ramble mode which usually meant something was going on but Jamie was likely lacking in true experience of that.

"Actually, I was calling to see if you'd be able to come in today? Maybe close?"

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Okay, if Cid thought it was never, then Jamie would conveniently leave out any parts about having to call Ollie to double-check his own schedule more than once. Balancing work and school without any lead-in had been quite a chore at first, but he thought he was starting to get used to it.

"Oh, um, sure," he said, tapping his pencil against a worksheet he'd been filling out for math. "What time do you need me in? I've just got this one thing to finish up for class tomorrow. Unless it's okay for me to work on it behind the counter."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"... as soon as you're able?" he replied meekly, which was odd for someone like Cid who was usually loud and not so meek.

"You can bring whatever you want to work on. It's probably going to be slow anyway and I don't have an issue with you getting classwork done. All the new displays are up and stuff's in shape, so..."

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

The tone made Jamie's brows furrow, but he'd wait until he got there to ask what was up. It sounded like the quicker he left, the better. "Okay, I just gotta pack up my stuff and I can leave so, um, I'll be there soon."

Getting there took what felt like milliseconds with his own car—he was growing used to it, enjoying it, even—and as he stepped up the the shop he peered in the window to see if there was anything notably catastrophic going on.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

The store looked absolutely fine. It was the owner that did not look like it.

It turned out that Cid was nervously pacing by the time Jamie showed up. His fingers kept fidgeting with his hair, making it look far, far fluffier and bigger than it usually was, and he was pulling his glasses off and on every few seconds before he would check his phone.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

In the short time Jamie had known him, everything about Cid right now was decidedly un-Cid-like. Nothing jumped out at him as wrong aside from that, so whatever he'd been called here for, it definitely looked like a personal issue. That was fine, he didn't mind helping. His brows were knitted as he walked into the store.

"Hey, I'm here," he said, voice quiet and gentle as he approached. Jamie was pretty damn empathetic and he could almost feel the waves of anxiety rolling off of his boss. "Is... something wrong? You don't look so good."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Oh! Jamie, thank ******** ..." Cid seemed to relax some as soon as he saw the young man. "Yeah, I mean no-" His fingers raked through his hair. "Trill's sick and the sitter is freaking out on me. Won't come here with the baby because she's afraid that's going to make it worse. Like driving is going to make a sick babbin any worse! Wendy's in Boston at the moment, doing a gig, and-"

His hands waved wildly as to show what else was he supposed to do besides call someone in? So that he could go home and take care of the baby.

saedusk

why, yes, the baby is new to this world. pls feel free to be surprised (tho beta universe jamie prob knew and prob got recruited to babysit with shiloh at some point, heh.)

 

[saedusk]

Wait, what? Trill, sitter, baby? Jamie tried not to make it obvious when he squinted in total disbelief, but the reaction was genuine and difficult to manage. Hopefully it would be taken as something else, anything else, concern if he was lucky. Then again, Cid looked a bit too distracted and way too frazzled to really care.

A father, Jamie almost couldn't believe that Cid was a father. He didn't seem like the parenting type, but was it fair to say he didn't seem like anything when he barely knew the guy? Probably not.

"O-Oh, um... iiit sounds like the sitter is maybe, um, overreacting. Maybe she's never really dealt with a sick baby before or something," he offered, hardly sure what else to say. "But, y-y'know, don't worry, I'll cover the store so... you should go make sure everything's gonna be okay."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"You and Shiloh didn't get like this when Trill got ill when you were watching ..." Cid grumbled, apparently not happy with the behavior of the sitter. If he noticed anything odd about Jamie's expression, he just ignored it as the teenager being concerned for his child.

"D'you have your keys on you? In case I don't make it back and you need to close it up?" He was a whirlwind of motion again, grabbing his bag and then trying to rifle through things to make sure there was nothing else that he needed Jamie to know before he left.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Yep, there it was, yet another thing Jamie felt bad for not knowing. He tried to imagine the two of them watching Trill now and wondered if they'd handle an illness with finesse or not. Honestly, he couldn't help but imagine Shiloh going through all the stages of grief before they finally got their s**t together and calmed down enough to realize it was probably just a cold.

"Y-Yeah," he agreed, not wanting to be too harsh while still acting like it was definitely something he'd done before. "It's kinda something you just gotta be prepared for..."

Speaking of prepared, he pulled his keys out of his pocket to double check the work one was there despite already knowing it was. Better safe than sorry, right? "Got it, no worries." He managed a sympathetic smile.

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

"Perfect," Cid said with a relieved sigh. "I may end up coming back but you never know ..." His bag was pulled up over his shoulder but he stopped a moment and looked to Jamie seriously.

"Go ahead and focus on your homework, alright? It's the slowest day of the week anyway and I doubt we get that much traffic. Don't feel like you got to, you know, go above and beyond today or anything, alright?"

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

"Don't feel like you have to," Jamie lifted his hands in an almost defensive manner, but his shoulders were slack and he was calming down now that the worst of the surprises seemed ready to walk out the door. Besides, he'd closed before, it wouldn't be a big deal. Staying late was part of why he'd driven himself in the first place. "If you've gotta stay, I'll be alright."

Then he sighed, looking grateful. It was true he'd done Cid a favor by coming in, but he still appreciated the consideration when it came to getting his homework done. There was, unfortunately, a chunk of it still to go.

"Thanks, though, I will. I'll knock it out and clean up a bit if I have time."

azuredreamssss

 

[azuredreams]

"That's all I could ever ask for," Cid replied with a weary sigh. "Just want you to do well in school and be safe." He was double checking the contents of his bag before he thought of one more thing.

"Oh, hired a new girl. Her name is Cass? She might come by at some point but ..." His head tilted. "Well, I think she's magic too. Just not magic like you. So it'll help if you do want to take extra time off around the full moon each month. You and Ollie."

As, in all honesty, Jamie's appearance around the full moon here could simply be attributed to cosplaying but he also understood that the young man might want to just take off.

saedusk