(no subject)

[hadeir]

I have been reminded by a boy speaking only who spoke MOSTLY* in capslock that Christmas is coming. So in the spirit of giving, I'm willing to do odd jobs for the month. For a price, of course.

I'm a twenty-year-old med student and I'm good at both science and numbers. I part-time for the Confectionary as their cashier.

*edited as of this comment

Comments

[hadeir]

[ too early, but okay! ]

Deal.

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[compendiem]

[ It's already two hours earlier than when he normally wakes up, so this is already generous.

Fast forward to Saturday, he's outside the specified apartment, filling bird feeders and making sure the strings are knotted tightly. There's a ladder behind him that he's leaning on, half nodding off and spilling some of the seeds everywhere while a murder of crows start to gather... Okay, maybe it is sort of early. ]

[hadeir]

Good morning!

[ She greets loudly and cheerily from solid ground despite it not being a very good morning. It's a weekend. Why are they awake at eight?

Is he rattled? She hopes he is, because she's petty that way. ]

[compendiem]

[ He doesn't overreact by crashing backwards into the ladder or anything, but his displeasure at her loud, cheery greeting is apparent on his face for the fraction of a second that his brows pull together. ]

'morn...

[ She gets half a good morning greeting, while he pulls himself up to his feet, checks the watch on his wrist, and starts passing to her the completed bird feeders. Time is money and he really can't spare more than the $50 he had promised, so he gets right to work, heaving the ladder over his shoulder once her arms are full. ]

[hadeir]

[ Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. She gathers the feeders in her arms and she'll be taking a selfie with one of them once she has an arm free. This is going on her Instagram. Smile! Look at her, being a nice and helpful person! ]

How many of these are we putting up?

[compendiem]

[ All sides of the bed are the wrong side; the mistake is waking up in the first place. A little frown grows on his face at the selfie, but he doesn't say anything until she's done. ]

Only made half a dozen. I'll refill them every once in a while as long as the birds are out.

[ He sets the ladder against the closest tree right outside the apartment, giving it a little shake to make sure it doesn't slip easily. ]

You'll want to find a branch that's fairly isolated. So squirrels can't get to it.

[hadeir]

[ She looks absolutely pretty under the morning sunlight. ]

Climb tree, set up feeder, squirrels are evil. Got it.

[ She'll start climbing as soon as the ladder is set and she's put down most of her feeders. She'll hold her hand out for him to hand her the tools once she's at a decent height. ]

[compendiem]

[ "Squirrels aren't evil," Minato mumbles under his breath; that isn't what he wants her to take away from all of this. They're just very opportunistic feeders, but the same comes with birds, and he's sure they'll figure it out amongst themselves, him only providing the food they can divvy up between themselves. He keeps one hand on the ladder to steady it, the other to pass up what Celine needs to secure the feeder. ]

[hadeir]

Did you say something?

[ It probably wasn't important. Anyway, squirrels. They are evil. Celine pushes herself up on the branch and straddles the branch, her legs dangling high above the ground. She stretches like a cat so she can secure the feeder on the tip of this very sturdy tree branch so the squirrels will at least have to make an effort to feed, and so will Minato when he has to refill it. ]

[compendiem]

No.

[ It wasn't important. Moreover, the important thing is Celine trying to make more work for him by putting the bird feeder so far away?! She'd better not be hoping he'd have no choice but to call her back when the seeds run out and pay her for another day's work. ]

Hey. [ He places his foot on the tree trunk and gives it a little kick; the branches barely quiver under the weak shake. ] Doesn't have to be that far...

[hadeir]

[ Hey, tree climbing is a one time deal. And with this excellent quality of work, he should havd no reason to call her back. ]

The birds will reach this better.

[compendiem]

...Mmhmm.

[ He will definitely never call her back... That line of thought is something he can appreciate, though, as the bird feeders were meant for birds while squirrels have their own methods of burying their food stores for the winter. He'll probably scatter some larger nuts for them later to ease off the competition, he thinks to himself, quiet as he keeps the ladder steady and waits for Celine to come back down so they can move onto another tree. ]

[hadeir]

[ See? It's a good idea. Celine carefully makes it back to the ladder and climbs down. She jumps off when she's at a safe distance from the ground. Tadah! There's no need to hold back on the praise, she did an excellent job and she knows it. ]

[compendiem]

[ There's no need, but Minato does it anyways, letting his gaze linger on Celine's oh so proud expression for a moment, then turning away to drag the ladder to the next target tree, half a block down. ]

Here's the next one.

[hadeir]

[ She will take that. ]

Why are you doing this anyway?

[ She's not going to climb until she gets her answer. ]

[compendiem]

The bird feeders?

[ He thought that was pretty obvious: to feed the birds. But it's not like they needed help getting fed, able to live just fine on their own long before Minato moved into the city. Which was only a month and a half ago. ]

I like watching them, I guess. Birds. I draw them.

[hadeir]

Wouldn't it be easier if you used reference photos instead?

[ But okay, she will accept this. She'll climb a few steps up the ladder again. ]

Besides, the birds here seem so [ a dismissive wave of her hand ] common.

[compendiem]

[ It's easier, but references don't have the same sorts of dynamics as a living creature does. It's the fluidity he wants to capture, the tiniest of motions that differentiate life from what may as well be a statue.

But also, because all the fancy birds are at the zoo and he doesn't quite have the money to go there every time he wants to sketch out a toucan or peacock. ]

I like crows.

[hadeir]

I suppose crows are cool.

[ They eat carrion and scare people. She'll gladly put bird houses for crow. ]

[compendiem]

[ The crows around here are fat off nuts and table scraps and whatever Minato thinks to scatter out on his balcony for them, so their intimidation is simply in numbers, flocks here and there settling down on the tree branches around where they're working, recognizing Minato's face for the weeks he's been feeding them, and more importantly, the food Celine is hanging up in "their" trees. ]

Other birds come out during the spring, I bet. Where there's more fruit, nectar, and insects to eat. Right now it's mostly crows.