Private Finished Interview at Lockwood

Zora

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Natasha saw and felt Dren's frustration, and she felt immediately bad because she had obviously trespassed into either delicate territory or that quite simply he wasn't sure how to answer her question.

"Oh," Natasha said softly and contritely when Dren proceeded to explain, "My apologies," she added, not wanting to put him on the spot or pry too overly much into something that was private. "I didn't realise."

"Unfortunately, I do need to ask you one more question personal question if you don't mind," she explained since it was sort of related to his upbringing.

"Does being around very sick people bother you?" she asked him, "Many of my patients have come to me as a last resort. Modern medicine or magic healing has not worked for whatever reason, and so they decide to try ancient traditional methods," she explained calmly as she crossed a leg and cupped her knee while she looked at Dren.
 

Romi

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Dren's discomfort had been largely due to communication issues. The easy way to do things was a charm. To strap it on and communicate at one hundred percent effectiveness. But there were downsides. You never knew quite what you were saying. What if you lost it, or it broke? And he'd had a lot of time. Time to sit down and work through an entire language. The only thing he lacked was practice in certain areas.

"No," Dren said after a moment. "The sick have never bothered me. We get sick the same way humans do, and making sure they were taken care of was part of the community life." They tended to each other, and with so many families broken, that had often fallen to loners like Dren.

"The job is not caring for patients, is it?"
 

Zora

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"No, no, it's not," she reassured Dren, "however, sometimes patients may wander through the outside garden area in summer, or you may encounter them here waiting when you are looking after the plants in the clinic," here she made a small gesture to the plants around them.

"And, well, some of my older clients are quite, ah..." here she paused because some of them were downright nosy if she were being honest, but erring on the side of professionalism, she opted for another choice of words, "they can be extremely friendly, and might stop to chat for a bit," she explained.
 

Romi

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So he wouldn't be dealing with them directly as part of his job, but he might run into them. Probably she was worried he was one of those people who'd tell someone to fuck off and leave them alone if they were working.

He nodded his head briefly.

"I am not talkative," Dren said in what might have been the understatement of the year. "But I will not be rude, either."

That was about the best he could commit to it. He'd been described by at least one therapist as socially stunted and withdrawn, but he could at least make an attempt, assuming that was enough.
 

Zora

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"Thank you, that's good to know, Dren," Natasha said with a friendly smile. She hadn't actually been too worried that he'd tell her patients off. It was more like she didn't want him to feel too uncomfortable working for her.

Her last gardener or 'plant caregiver' as he liked to be called, hadn't liked it too much when peppered with questions and/or small talk by some of her friendlier patient/clients, and had stormed out one day after a chatty demon had asked him some rather personal questions, causing him not to return to work for two days.

"And now," Natasha said as she looked down at her notes, "Do you have much experience with gardening or caring for plants?" she asked.
 

Romi

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Dren seemed to wilt slightly at the question. There was no way to pretty it up. No way to make it better. The answer was a big, fat, resounding no. He didn't tend to plants. He didn't garden. Others had done that, and he picked through his experiences, trying to find something to say that wasn't just no.

"I was around plants a lot," Dren said, which was true enough, "but I didn't care for them."

His people were carnivores, and few kept gardens. The only plants they had a real use for were medicinal in nature, or ones for a bit of seasoning when they were trying to pretty things up.

"I can learn," he added, aware it sounded stupid to say.
 

Zora

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When Dren said he didn't have experience, Natasha paused to think for a moment. And during this time, she considered his answers, that he was newish to the island - or so she suspected - and the vibes he gave off as well.

The fact that he was here, polite and respectful, and that he genuinely seemed willing to learn - at least from what she could sense, went over well with Natasha. She had also come from a humble background and was given chances in life when she was literally nothing to anybody but another uneducated child who was nothing but another mouth to feed.

"Okay," Natasha said then with an understanding smile. "Show up this Sunday, 10 am and I'll go through the plants with you, Most are potted, so there is little weeding or anything too complicated," she said nodding thoughtfully as she spoke, picturing the plants in her head, and realising that it was doable. None of the plants, at least for now, needed repotting, bud harvesting, or grafting. She could teach Dren the basics, and the rest as it arose, she reasoned.

"The job is Monday to Friday, the pay is $3.50 over the minimum to start, and will require some snow shovelling and some heavier lifting of boxes of supplies when they arrive two or three times a month," Natasha explained to him.

"Does that sound like something you'd be interested in? Oh, and do you have any questions for me about the job or the business itself?" she asked Dren expectantly.
 

Romi

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Dren was not, by any metric, new. Nor, for that matter, was he a particularly curious person. He nodded along as she explained the hours, and the pay, and the work, noting to himself that none of it seemed that hard. Simple memory. Simple physical labor. He'd expected minimum wage, and getting over that was a boon. It would give him a chance to save up some money. Maybe, if he found someone who would take him, he'd be able to get his own apartment, even if meant sharing with a roommate. It was a positive thing, and Dren showed a rare smile as he nodded.

"That sounds good," he said, a man of extremely few words in the best of circumstances. "No questions." He couldn't think of anything, and even if he could...

He paused, realizing he was missing a very big, very important bit of information.

"I do not know your name."
 

Zora

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"Oh, right. That is important, isn't it?" Natasha said with a slightly embarrassed chuckle when Dren pointed out that she hadn't introduced herself.

"I'm Natasha Lockwood, but feel free to call me Natasha or Nat, if you want," she told him. "Lockwood is, well, actually, it is the name of the place I used to live when I lived in England," she confessed, realising now that perhaps his naming convention wasn't so uncommon after all.

"Anyways, I am sure that you don't want to hear an old vampire like me reminisce about the old days," she stated good-naturedly, standing up then and she held out her hand to Dren. "It was a pleasure meeting you, and I will see you on Sunday," she said as she showed him through the clinic and back to the door, noticing that the snow had still not let up.
 

Romi

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A vampire. They drank blood, tended to be strong, and weren't fond of daylight. He suspected at least one of those was true, but the last? That seemed unlikely. He nodded along as she spoke, registering her name and shuffling between Miss Lockwood, Lockwood, and then finally Natasha. Nat felt... too informal. Too personal. She was supposed to be his boss, after all, and he gave her a small bow, his ears seeming to flatten against his head as his eyes dropped.

"Thank you for this," he said. He didn't see a point in explaining what this was. It was implied, after all, and he was careful to collect up his things before heading back into the snow.

He'd have to be on time.
 
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