2020-08-03 - Offer Accepted

5:30 am. That's when Joey's world starts to get moving. Sparrow's never required to be in during hell hours and the arrangement they kept is "You tell me when I can expect you and I'll hold you to that. Also: go to class." The morning for Joey is usually making sure the guys running numbers and various parts of their businesses are checking in and two early morning coaching sessions. He gets his laps in between that and mostly stays busy. Eventually in the day Sparrow will catch him in his office on a phone call and says "Well, we'll call Capezio and see if they'll do a bulk something. Call them back and find out what we need to get on the vendor list and get back to me. Good. Later."

Sparrow has assured Joey that she can do mornings. Some mornings. Maybe. Depending on course schedule. Mostly? She's left the specifics of when and what and how much for a face to face discussion. Which is why she's showing her face at the gym now, taking him up on his invitation to drop in anytime. She's not exactly dressed like someone who wants to make use of the facilities--who works out in denim cut-offs?--but neither is she entirely out of place, the beat-up sneaks and off-white tee shirt--this one with a red yikes! on the left side of her chest--appropriate enough for the environment.

When it sounds like the call is coming to a close, she knock knocks on the door then pushes it open a little farther to chirp a, "Hey," into the room with a big, bright smile. "Got a few?"

Joey drops his phone onto the desk and tosses the yellow and black Bic pencil with gouged sides back into the cup holder and swivels in his chair. "Sparrow," Green eyes flash up to hers, deep breath, "I will make time. Talk to me." He might look annoyed to the rest of the world, but honestly? It's just Joey face. That he says he will make time means just what it is at face value without imposition. He picks up a look to check through the slats on the window who is out there right now and it's just two people who are a comforting part of normalcy for him. "What's on your mind?"

The rest of the world is especially annoying right now. Particular for people named Joey Kelly. Sparrow gets it and doesn't take that irritated expression personally, her smile softening with some vague hint of sympathy as she steps in. "Just wanted to talk about the job offer. If it's still on the table. See what you'd need me to do. And when." She makes a face and adds, "And maybe to show you my schedule for the upcoming semester. Which starts in a few weeks." With a little wobble of her head, she tacks on, "And maybe just, ya know. Make sure you're holding up okay and all," with nearly convincing nonchalance.

Joey tilts his head to the side and manages the ghost of a very genuine smile. "Sparrow, I will fucking make time for you, girly. It's one of the few things that makes any goddamn sense anymore." He gestures to the chair and informs, "I'll hunt down the stuff for the W-2's in a minute so the government doesn't look t you funny when you pay rent." Taking a deep breath he chuckles tilting his head, "I'm holdin. It's times like this you gotta stay standing when teh ground gets shook. That's how they do it y a know? Rattle your cage and hope you fall apart on your own. Sometimes it's teachers, sometimes it's assholes, or employers, or problems. We'll get through it." There's a long pause and his eyebrow goes up and asks her, "are you okay?" This is normal, it not unfortunate for him, for her? Hmmmm another story.

"I am inherently sensible," Sparrow agrees, whether or not it's actually true. She gives the door a bit of a nudge behind her, letting it slide into closed-or-nearly position as she makes her way to the indicated chair and settles in. There's a nod for the mention of paperwork, a pat to her hip to assure she's got the necessary identification required on hand. That comfortable cheer dims around the cage-rattling bit of Joey's answer, but she covers it, poorly, with a glance about his office and a bit of agreeable nodding during that pause.

Her right shoulder comes up higher than the left when she shrugs, trying to sell her ease with all that's going down. It's reflex, put on a brave face and play Mama Bird. Skirting a look back toward Joey, though, she admits, "If anyone else was asking, I'd tell 'em I'm just fine. Not a worry in the world except for a whole bunch of people I care about getting caught up in something I don't understand. Just focused on helping, ya know?" But it's Joey. She flashes a frown which lingers indistinctly, the mask of optimism set aside for the moment. "But it's been kinda shit, ya know? Cris has made a point of shoving me away. Hard. For my own good." Her eyeroll speaks volumes. "Know he's been shot, but." She's keeping her distance. Her jaw tightens for a second before she continues. "I don't like how much Rhys is poking around at all of this. Especially when I keep hearing about people getting hurt. Worried about Mac who has shown more emotion in the past few weeks than in the entire time I was working for her. Worried about people getting caught in crossfire. Caught my parents fighting the other night about whether or not to leave Gray Harbor. Like just. Up and leave. Business and all. And just." Sparrow shrugs again. "At least Zelie's not gonna be around most of the time come September." Some other thought inspires an irritated frown, but she pushes past it. "Then there's school. Rent. Haven't told Corey yet that there's a very good chance we're not gonna be able to keep our place for much longer. We're scraping by, but. I dunno. It's not life or death over here, so." Shrug.

Joey listens and when he asks a question if it matters to him he hangs in there and dumps his attention on it without distraction. He might be one of 8 people without ADD in this town really, but speaks for how much he does care about the truth behind the BS and the 'face'.

His lower eyelids squint a bit empathizing, "That's a lot of big shit you got going on." She mentions Rhys though which almost gets a chuckle from him. "Rhys knows what he's doing more than people give him credit for. He doesn't know how to take shortcuts which also means? Well, he's more resourceful. But yeah, I feel ya. I worry too."

The rest has his jaw tighten and he slouches in his chair a bit, knees apart and heels bouncing at the legs of his chair which rarely happens but he's thinking and brainstorming. There's a sigh that's thoughtful looking to Sparrow, "He cares. That's the takeaway from this. He cares, the situation is shit and the only thing we know how to do sometimes is put what we care about as far out of the blast radius of BS so we don't cause it to get hurt, whatever it is. Sometimes? Sometimes it causes more problems than it fixes. Recently? I talked to this gal, goddamn you'd like her. Coira? I'd introduce Nicole but then I'd never see either one of em again. POINT IS, she told me some shit that makes some sense that I'm working through that Cruz ain't got to yet maybe and that's... you gotta let that person choose. Nicole staying with me is not my choice it's hers. I will say though his play's smart because if he gets you killed I'm a have to shoot him." There's a head wobble of admittance with a hand flap, "don't call em out on that. I got feelings on some shit."

There's a pause and he considers the house and Mac, "The house situation? That's super fucking real and... controllable. That's the good news. It's a pain in the ass but that's something we can control the factors on. Just means adulting kinda hard and that sucks, but it don't make it not scary. I can't promise this town will ever be clean but I can say, like Felix promised me, I ain't gonna let your family lose your house. We can patch that. BUT... I might ask you to help me paint some stuff on occasion when you got free time. Cool? How's Mac holdin up?"

Sparrow's dark brows push up toward her purple hair when Joey suggests people don't given Rhys enough credit. Like she isn't giving him enough credit. "Don't think I don't know how competent he is, Joey Lee." But the worry is shared--between a couple of non-worriers, at that--and thus requires no further elaboration. When he asserts that Cristobal's actions are evidence that he cares, she looks away, following an eyeroll off to the left while she listens. Probably. Definitely, given how she lifts her hand to point at Joey when he emphasizes the importance of choice. When she looks back to him, she points again and says, "That's exactly it. The method matters. And I'm tryna be understanding about his circumstances, but." She's got feelings on some shit, too. Lots of 'em. And they aren't easy to articulate in full. What she manages is clenched teeth, a purposeful breath, a quiet mutter of, "You hear anything about how he's doing, lemme know?"

She pulls another face at the assurance about her house, but that seems more reflex than genuine irritation. This isn't the first time she's been offered help with this particular problem. "What I need is a reliable, compatible tenant." With a gesture toward Joey, she adds, "And a job. But even if I've got a good job and C's got a good job? We can't do it just the two of us. It's really not the end of the world. Just the end of a good thing. We'll figure it out." She even draws her hand up to her chest, dead center, to draw an X over it, not quite hitting her heart. "And Mac's okay, best I can tell. For a pretty permissive definition of okay. She's talking to people. Figuring out what she wants to do now." But that's really about as much insight as she can offer, her shrug nearly apologetic.

She might be trying to redirect away from all this ick when she nudges, "You gonna tell me what I'm supposed to do around here except maybe a little painting sometimes?"

Joey listens and tries not to give unsolicited advice which, ya know, he's human. He watches her regarding Cris and says with a slow nod, "You know i'm not gonna ever tell you look after your own ass too right? Don't let our bullshit become your bullshit. You gotta take care of you too. I know you know that. He knows that. So... yeah. it's some shit grabbin some feels and having things blow up. Trust me, I fuckin know. I'm sorry you're having to deal with it but, it is... what it is."

The house situation gets a slow nod and with it a deep breath moving onto other topics. "Soooo I office terribly. I cna't read my ownfucking writing and I'm reliable for googling porn or yelling at people i'm mad at and knowing how to figure out event signup stuff. Part of the job is just making sure these fuckers pay their dues and realistically? They won't. Boxers are notoriously broke but we need to stay on top of it so if concessions gotta be made I know what to take it out of them in trade on. Still, numbers is good. Also there's like phones and shit and questions and I hate doing that part. We got bills, and we'll show you how keeping this place from falling apart works. That aside you can use whatever you want. " There's a pause and he considers, "Might consider doing another event before fall. Could improve the mood around here some. We'll brainstorm on that." He considers further and smirks, with a wry grin of mischief reminiscent of the nicer twin, "Expect Duarte to absolutely try to impress you. You have my full endorsement to bust his balls. If you can use your powers to make him actually clean up shit better I will not fucking mind. If there' s a problem with anyone? Handle it however you gotta. I got your back."

"It is what it is," Sparrow echoes dryly, content to leave all the complicated emotional nonsense behind. She can worry about untangling it later. Or just leaving it behind. Whatever. It is not a Right Now problem. Right now, she listens to the list of possible responsibilities, nodding to this point or that like she's making a mental list. Which she then repeats back at Joey to make sure she's got it all right. "Reception, dues and excuses, keeping the lights on, keeping Duarte on task and... potential event planning." Without waiting for confirmation, she nods. "I can do that. Though..." She casts a worried look across the desk and wonders, "You sure hosting something's a good idea? Pretty sure this goes one hundred percent entirely against that Cris-is-in-the-right stuff you were pitching just a minute ago, getting everybody together like easy targets. Rattle all the cages at once. Not that I'm not in favor of improving moods and having fun, just." The world's really scary right now.

Eeeeh she's got a point. Joey's jaw tilts and he considers it also asking, "Who said I was inviting them? Maybe it's a great way to set an ambush, or make some faces get shown. Maybe make them wonder if it's a red herring. Maybe it's a way to tell them fuck you I'm not going to ground for them or anyone else. We stop producing they'll starve us out. "

He pauses and looks down trying to get his fight response curbed. It comes up in the form of a sigh and a mumble, "This... isn't the only business I own." Oh there's some guilt for admitting that.

Sparrow probably shouldn't smile, but she can't help it. She doesn't wanna, doesn't try. Hell, there's a little bit of pride in the way she watches him run through all the iterations of fuck you a big event might permit. "Bring the riot, yeah?" For her, it's all attitude and abstraction, but it's an idea she can get behind, a feeling she understands. Partying as an act of defiance might be one of the most Sparrow things a person can do. But the quieter comment interrupts whatever event planning has revved up in her head, brows pitching upward inquisitively as she asks, "What do you mean?"

Of all the things she could ask. He looks away for a moment and idly bites at his thumbnail. The unevenness at the corner is suddenly a problem to be remedied now. ", um, I might also run a um..." fight club? Gun running exchange? the mall crime in Gray Harbor?! "a dance...studio... been going for a while aaaaaaand I bought it when Roxy needed to start over aaaaand I kinda...still... own it." Now he spares a look to Sparrow.

Sparrow's eyebrows inch together the littlest bit while she waits, the barest hint of curiosity interrupting an otherwise patient demeanor. When the big reveal comes? She seems to be waiting for more. It's only when Joey looks her way that she gets that nothing else is coming. That's it. "Alright, cool. Are you, uh... proposing that as an alternate location for a potential event? Do you need help there too?" She's not following the logic. Or the cause for concern. Help?

Joey is waiting too. There are 0 explosions here. He blinks at her and relaxes entirely. His hands lift in that gesture of Nope, that's it. "I'm just thinking we have options open. It's not something I generally talk about, buuuut yes. I'm taking care of bills and shit for there. It's nice. Just keep it on the DL so these dirtbags don't give me shit about it and don't think they can drag whatever business up there they want. Keeping it nice for a friend of mine.

Options! Sparrow's brows tick briefly as that piece clicks into place, and she nods a bit, expanding the scope of her potential event-planning slightly. "I get it." She doesn't. "Wanting to keep things separate. Good to know we've got the option, though, for whatever doesn't fit here. Though. Ya know. Rhys has access to some pretty nice venues too. All a matter of what we wanna do." With a curious tilt of her head, she wonders, "Another charity event?"

Hrmmms, "Yeah I mean we could. Depending on what sounds pretty bitchin we can use either or talk to Rhys. We got some options. For now, you got enough? You want that on advance I can hook you up to make sure you can get through rent-due."

"I'm alright," Sparrow assures of her financial situation. "Got all my owed PTO paid out from Control Pad, so." For the moment, everything's holding. "If you get me the paperwork, your dues list and access to wherever you do your budgeting and bill-pay, I can spend some time getting oriented." With an upward pitch of her brows, she adds, "And I'll do some thinking on some end-of-summer something. You figure out a charity? Maybe something local?"

Joey cracks a smile. "yeah something local like that. Actually in the meantime since you talk to a bunch of others who are, ya know, civilians? Let's find out who is kinda hurting. Maybe we'll do something for people who kidna get looked over. Be like that time I told people they have to put money int eh kid scout jar or they can come tell me why they ain't. I'm great at trucking fundraising. So, here, take this, and... breathe. You got this. You are still in control of the canoe, Sparrow."