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Hope for Hire [Aiden][August]

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Post by AJ Wed Oct 10, 2012 7:57 am

Sigh

Could the autumn leaves get any drier?

A man languidly continued down the block, leaning back and rolling his shoulders in an attempt to throw off the heavy feeling on his back. It didn’t work too well. With another heavy sigh he trudged one foot after the other, paying only enough attention to avoid colliding into any oncoming pedestrians.
He made the right choice, right? It had been a week since he turned in his letter to the chief, hoping to leave the force as quietly as possible. But instead he was granted a temporary hiatus instead of a termination…to reconsider his options, he was told. And although Aiden would much rather get himself fired than be stuck in this career limbo, there wasn't much he could do short of illegal means to get himself officially cut off. Was this what they called a midlife quarter-life crisis? What good was this jobless period of time supposed to do? They were only delaying the inevitable; Aiden didn't want to be a cop anymore. Why couldn't they accept that and let him move on?

Argh He ruffled the back of his hair. That was the current state of things these days. And to add on top of things, Aiden needed to get a job. Although he had a decent amount saved up for emergencies, it was foolish to think he could last through this “break” on savings alone. But right now he didn't even want to tackle that problem. What he wanted, needed, right now was a distraction; something carefree and lighthearted. Something like the sound of laughter coming from the left. Who was making that noise anyways?

Oh, kids. The sight of the young’ins playing brought a soft smile to the (former) cop’s face as he made his way over. Leaning on the chain link fence, he welcomed the distraction of tykes scurrying and chasing each other around the courtyard. From the looks of it, this looked like it could be a school, but Aiden couldn't remember any being in this area.


“Funny…I don’t remember a any schools or daycares being around here.”


Last edited by AJ on Sun Oct 14, 2012 6:10 am; edited 2 times in total
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Post by August Thu Oct 11, 2012 3:24 am

It had been a productive day for August so far--he'd woken up at a decent time, there'd been coffee in the coffee pot already, he'd fixed the leaky part of the roof over a bathroom over said cup of coffee, Esteban's joints didn't ache too much today, despite the onset of autumn, and even the kids were well-behaved--as much as a rag-tag group of abandoned Harbinger orphans could be. Aka: nothing had been set on fire or irreparably destroyed yet.

Hopefully it could stay that way for half a day longer--it wasn't like August had an extra set of hands he could spare in case anything did get set on fire. Esteban was useful in his own, slightly lovingly intimidating way, but when it came to the physical things, he was a tad... lacking.

Not that August could blame him. It was partly his fault as well.

At the moment though, he might as well savor their lives. The man was outside in the yard, tossing a few of the boys around as they tried to tackle him down, multicolored eyes bright with joy, screaming in glee as they were swung up off of the ground before landing again, and then movement caught August's eye as he rotated past the chainlink fence to the yard--there was a man standing there.

He put the next boy down carefully on the ground, eyes fastened on the stranger, tossed a word back to the little gang of boys to grab their brothers and sisters and go play in the inner courtyard, before sliding his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie and sauntering up to the fence, giving the man a bright smile.

"Hello," he said as he got nearer. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
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Post by AJ Thu Oct 11, 2012 8:21 pm

Oh, is their recess over already?

Aiden checked his watch as the kids went around the corner.
No that wasn't right. Even if this was a school, the schedule would've been completely off. Then was it a daycare? The stranger tilted his head and backtracked a couple steps to look for a sign, or any other indicator, of what this building was. The neighborhood it was in was definitely familiar; he had been around this area before. But for what? Probably a case he was working on. At the sound of approaching footsteps, Aiden pulled his head away from his search and turned his attention back towards the courtyard.

"Hello, is there anything I can do for you?"

He must have been a worker, or at least familiar with this place. Was he the one who sent the kids inside? Suddenly a look of shock passed over the cop’s face as he realized just how suspicious he must have looked as an outsider. It wasn't every day that a grown man just stood at some unknown place watching a group of kids...nope, not suspicious at all. Aiden tried to clear the misunderstanding.

“O-oh no. Sorry. I-I was just passing by when I saw the kids- wait, no. I didn't it like that. I just…” he threw his hands up in surrender. This was NOT helping his case. There was a long pause as Aiden tried to calm down and think of a way to explain himself without making the situation worse. Okay, take two. “Umm... okay if you take any offense I totally understand; this is a really bad misunderstanding. But just to clarify, I just quit my job and was moping around when I saw the kids having a good time and it brought back some memories so I was just going to watch them play for a while and then be on my way. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Phew. Just share his whole life story to a stranger who’s probably about to call the cops on you; that’s not awkward at all. Actually, thinking about it now, he really didn't want to see what the faces of said cops would look like if they were called over and turned out to be his co-workers…

Oh God….could this day GET any worse?
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Post by August Fri Oct 12, 2012 6:00 pm

August listened to the other man, couldn't help a hint of a smile creep into his face as he started flustering; he looked the stranger over as he spoke, trying to properly explain himself, taking in his appearance (neat, not too scruffy; he had a good home then), the way he held himself (confident despite the fluster), and... hmm. Well, there was a sort of air around him that wasn't immediately explainable. He certainly didn't look like the average resident of this area of the South District at any rate. Maybe a plain-clothes cop? Working undercover? If it were an Acropolis agent, he would have come in uniform...

Finally though, the other man wound to a stop, and August snorted, relaxing his shoulders from their tense, ready line, letting go of the couple of nails inside his front hoodie pocket (better safe than sorry, and if this guy had been a threat, or was a threat, then it would have been to his favor to get the first shot in). "Well, since you seem unfamiliar with the area, this is Hope Orphanage. We're the main one in the area for harbinger children."
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Post by AJ Sun Oct 14, 2012 12:06 am

There was an inward sigh of relief as Aiden took note of the man relax ever so slightly. It was rare for him to lose composure like this, but given the circumstances, there probably wasn’t much he could have done to save face. At the very least, his welcomer seemed amused by his floundering. Taking a deep breath to calm down, the cop listened on to the man’s reply as he also took a quick second to assess just what he would be up against in case things decided to turn hostile…not that it would..

There was a tinkling of metal as Aiden glanced at the objects that fell out of the stranger’s pockets.

…hopefully.

Let’s see, casual dress, definitely favoring maneuverability over aesthetics. The tied hair swept out of his face further supported that notion. But the most obvious feature was those solar flare eyes….harbinger.

“Well, since you seem unfamiliar with the area, this is Hope Orphanage. We're the main one in the area for harbinger children."

“I see…” he murmured in reply. Oh. Well that explained a lot. Aiden blinked once, then twice in recognition as he absorbed this new information. It wasn’t unusual for orphanages to exist given the rate of gang activity around the city, but it was the first time Aiden had ever heard of one especially for harbinger children. Not that the mention of the super humans frightened him. In fact, despite his own normalcy, Aiden had plenty of experience interacting with harbingers since a young age. Where most people recoiled at the mention of harbingers like it was some foreign species, by now Aiden simply took it in stride like it was as casual as talking about the weather. But the fact that there was an institution helping these rare people...The more he entertained the idea, the more he became intrigued. Suddenly there was a new kindle of curiosity as Aiden ventured his hospitality a little further,

“Wow that's incredible. Then do you work here? What's it like here? I mean, how does a usual day on the job go around here? If you don't mind me asking, that is." He caught his tongue, realizing the rudeness of his inquisitions.

Oops, this time his curiosity made him slip.
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Post by August Sun Oct 14, 2012 2:17 am

He'd been expecting the look of vague politeness or sympathy that most people got on their faces when he told them that this was an orphanage (oh look at the poor, abandoned children, they must be so unloved or unfortunate), sometimes tempered with a bit of hate (filthy harbingers, they deserved it), or outright rage (they should have been killed, freaks of nature, and those were the times when August's smile would turn brittle and he'd let years of pain and grit and sheer stubbornness bleed into the expression and politely tell them to leave the premises, and most people left very quickly after that), but he hadn't been expecting the enthusiasm that this guy responded with. August gave him another cursory scan, the guy's eyes a perfectly ordinary shade (he supposed it could be contacts, but...), and then laughed, the expression folding the laugh lines around his mouth and at the corners of his eyes, creasing them deeper.

"Depends on the day! Sometimes it's a bit touch-and-go, with kids coming in and going out, learning how to control their powers, dealing with restitutions, things like that. Sometimes you have to just be there for them; they're ordinary, normal kids underneath the abilities as well. So there's that. And then there's, y'know--" He shrugged his shoulders, somehow encompassing the entirety of the South District with the motion. "Some people don't take kindly to us. The Father's made friends in the area, but it's been eh sometimes. Never a day when it's not a reward though," he concluded with a smile. And it was true. Seeing something come of what they had, making another child's life brighter, helping out, that was worth it.
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Post by AJ Sun Oct 14, 2012 6:06 am

Despite his clumsy slip ups, the harbinger didn't seem to mind Aiden’s barrage of questions; in fact, he seemed quite amused. As the conversation continued Aiden listened on with eager ears, wanting to absorb every detail the man gave about this curious place.

"Depends on the day! Sometimes it's a bit touch-and-go, with kids coming in and going out, learning how to control their powers, dealing with restitutions, things like that. Sometimes you have to just be there for them; they're ordinary, normal kids underneath the abilities as well…”

Aiden nodded his head in agreement. He could attest to that.

“So there's that. And then there's, y'know--"

He took note of the nonchalant motion solemnly. It wasn't too hard to guess what was coming next.

"Some people don't take kindly to us. The Father's made friends in the area, but it's been eh sometimes. Never a day when it's not a reward though."

From the way the host was speaking, he was a man that (besides the Father) held some authority in the place; if there even was a hierarchy. Aiden couldn't really begin to guess just how many people would work in an orphanage like this…let alone volunteer. Regular orphanages were already understaffed as it was, let alone one that specialized in harbinger children. Especially given the general public’s view on those born with the mutated power, it was safe to assume that the staff here numbered to a single digit. But it was clear, judging by his last statement, that whoever did choose to stick around long enough, definitely stayed because they had a heart for these kids. Those types of people, who could find their own value of reward in a thankless job, were definitely good people in Aiden’s books.

However, AJ could only give a sheepish smile in response as he hesitated. Hesitating between opting to not wear out his welcome and leave, or sate his curiosity further.

“I see…” he began. While debating the options in his head, Aiden bent down and picked up the nails strewn about the pavement. “They’re good kids. Well, at least from what I saw.” He stood up and handed his collection back to its owner, a gesture meant to show the harbinger that it was an unnecessary measure; he meant no harm. Finally, deciding to press his luck a bit further, Aiden casually continued, “So besides you and the Father, how many others do you have helping out?“

Should he add one more?

“Or I guess what I’m getting at is, do you take volunteers?”
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