I had to phone someone so I picked on you

Bird sighed and resisted the urge to slam the door as the latest in a seemingly neverending line of bonkers wannabe-maids hopped down the stairs at the entrance to his house. This latest one had been at least marginally sane, or as sane as a talking kangaroo could be, but he didn't know why someone so klutzy would want to be responsible for cleaning. It had knocked the books of two whole shelves before even sitting down for its interview.

He had braced himself for all sorts of weird creatures as it seemed this island was indeed a haven for everything, but he hadn't expected every interviewee to be so incompetent. At this point he would accept the first good applicant he could get. One of the applicants had wanted to eat Dot when he let her pop out for some questions! And that had been the most qualified one. In fact, Peregrine was debating hiring them part -time and just making sure Dot was never around them. Another had claimed to have experience cleaning, but it turned out they drove a Zamboni. Bird thought that maybe they had mistaken his pool for a skating rink.

Walking back to the library, Bird glanced at the black cat clock on the wall. It had been something that Dot had picked out, and it wasn't hideous so he just went with it. It was around four pm. Good. One more interview and he was going to go out for supper. Maybe treat Dot to some sushi, at least that was one thing they both agreed on. Unlike the movie she had chosen to watch while they waited for the next applicant to ring their doorbell. Really Dot? The Little Mermaid again?!

@The Keen

The movie had just begun when the doorbell rang. Bird was so relieved at not having to watch the fluff-brained mermaid's antics for the 50th time that he momentarily forgot his apprehension at what kind of screwball applicant could show up next and almost raced out of the library to answer the door.

He didn't actually race because that would have made his suit look wrinkly, and he didn't want any potential future employees thinking that he was the weird one. He had, however, forgotten to actually pause the movie in his haste. Dot wondered if she should remind him since Bird wouldn't be able to hear it from the door. Then she decided she'd rather see his face when he brought the new person who wanted to be a maid back to the library. Besides, who didn't like the Little Mermaid?

Happily oblivious to the impending Disney doom, Bird opened the door on - he wasn't sure what exactly. A star - ghost - thing? He'd thought he'd gotten used to strange this afternoon, but apparently the island had more to throw at him. Still, he didn't want to come off as rude, so he lowered his stare and held out a hand. Good afternoon Miss...?" Bird paused for a moment wondering if this was actually a girl and waiting for her name. "My name is Peregrine Desmarais. You are here to apply for the maid position, I presume?" Once she answered he would lead her into the library.

For some reason, Bird was incredibly flustered when he led Avatia into the library only to be greeted with the sounds of an animated crab singing "Under the Sea." Dot's burst of laughter in his head certainly didn't help. The poor boy blushed bright red as he grabbed for the remote and almost fumbled it. Then it seemed to take way too long to find the stop button, and he finally just hit power off.

Completely mortified, Bird turned to his prospective employee and gestured to a comfy-looking chair in front of a wooden desk. "Um.. You c-can sit please, Miss Avatia?" He would take a seat at another chair, behind the desk. The chair that Bird sat in was strategically placed to make him look taller than he was. A couple of other applicants had mistaken him for a 12-year-old because of how short he was. "I wasn't watching that! I mean, my sister, Dot, was. You'll meet her later."

Peregrine took a deep breath and adjusted his tie. It had been a long day. He took a moment to hopefully calm down and to go over his interviewer questions in his head. He had no idea how his father could do this all day, though in fact his father probably had other people doing any actual hiring. "So, Miss Avatia, could you tell me a bit about any relevant experience you have?"

Avatia had no idea how many brownie points she'd earned from Bird by just ignoring the movie and all the awkwardness. And Dot was just pleased at her saying a little sister sounds fun. Hopefully this person wouldn't try to eat her. Bird just quirked his lip at that comment. "Yeah... she can be fun." In his head he added, when she's not being a pain! — Hey! I heard that!

"No experience is... okay. I mean - how old are you? Anyways, as I was saying, professional experience is not required. But if you're interested in being a maid, you must have some idea what it requires. Have you ever cleaned anything?" Bird was not really worried at this point, she still seemed better than most of the nutjobs he'd interviewed so far. "I'm willing to give you the experience, if you're a good worker. But - I can't actually provide any training, you understand?" He didn't want to disappoint the girl, at least she seemed nice enough, but this was a job offer. There had to be some sort of standard.

Bird was still a little put off by the ages of people in this place. Even though he'd met people who were thousands of years old, a couple hundred years old seemed just as amazing. He couldn't really judge her age by her face because she was obviously not human, but going by her clothing and mannerisms, he had guessed that she was a teenager. The boy wondered how the whole being so old, yet acting so young thing worked. Was it developmental or did Avatia just not have a lot of experience with humans? It was kind of irrelevant, though, so he didn't ask out loud.

He also didn't feel like admitting to his misjudgement of the girl's age, so he simply nodded at her answer, and listened to the next. Bird wasn't actually sure Avatia had answered his question. He supposed, when he thought about it, that cleaning was easy, especially in a smaller house with only him and Dot living in it. Being used to living in a mansion with staff, the boy wasn't exactly sure what cleaning a house entailed, and Avatia seemed to be a tidy person, from what he'd seen so far. But then, after hours of interviewing weirdos, Bird was still feeling a little wary, even though the girl had impressed him so far.

"hmm. So, if you find cleaning easy, you must have cleaned your own room, at least? Does your... species live in houses like humans? I'm not extremely picky. I'm just used to a professional cleaning. Was there any reason you wanted to be a maid in particular? Or are you looking for job experience in general?"