Christie critically eyed her four newest employees. After yesterday, she definitely had her qualms about them, but today with all four of them around even she had to admit that they were doing a decent job. They obviously hadn't done this sort of work before, but they were quick learners. All the same she kept a sharp eye on them, especially the one in the purple bandanna. She had heard stories about that one. Stories that he had fallen in with a group of people that Christie, as floor manager, didn't want her workers or her restaurant involved with. Alice, Sarah, Megan and Lindsey, who happened to own the restaurant, did have final say, but Christie couldn't help but feel that keeping the purple one around was going to open a huge can of wormels for them. All the same, he was working hard for her and that was what counted.
Maybe it was because she was watching him more closely than the others, but she had a weird feeling about him. He seemed a little uneasy, but what really struck her was that he noticed things he shouldn't have, especially with it being his second day. It was almost as if he had some innate sense of where his attention was required. A talent she had only seen in the best and most experienced servers seemed to come naturally to the strange 'turtle'. The purple 'turtle' proved her point by turning around at that moment and fixing her with a questioning look, as though he felt he'd been caught doing something wrong and didn't know what it was. Christie quickly schooled her features and gave him what she hoped was a friendly nod telling him that he was doing fine.
Turning her attention away from the purple one she decided to search for the skill he seemed to have in the others. She watched the blue one for only moments before he noticed and turned around. Obviously, that one was capable of the same trick. It wasn't the first time that she wondered what these things were, and she was sure that it wouldn't be the last. Continuing her observation of the blue 'turtle', she noticed that he exuded what she liked to call a 'management vibe'. It was especially apparent when he interacted with the other ones, but there was also something about him that made him seem non-threatening. Even though he obviously had some control over his family, he never once questioned what he was told to do. She found that remarkable. With her family, the ability to keep one's mouth shut had really skipped a generation. To put it simply, Christie didn't take orders well. The blue one looked her way again and, chagrined, she turned her focus to the red one.
Red noticed her attention almost as fast as Blue had. This was getting ridiculous. She knew they had names, but those names were so long and strange that she couldn't remember what they were. Jake pulled Red's attention back to the job at hand. It was quite obvious why Red had the busboy job. Of the four of them, he didn't seem to have much patience for being messed with. Just that one little look from him and she was shuddering. Red didn't have the calm aura that Blue did, nor did he have the patient one that Purple seemed to have under his obvious nervousness. She was pretty sure that Red had a short fuse and decided that he was best left alone. He was doing his job, and doing it well, there was no reason to antagonize him. She could really associate with that as she was fairly well known for her own limited patience with being patronized.
That only left one 'turtle', the one in the kitchen. He seemed to be having the time of his life. Matt even seemed to be in better spirits than usual. Orange took a little longer to notice her gaze than the others had, but he did notice. She had never met anyone quite like this one. He radiated happiness; it came off him in waves. Those who were around him couldn't help but be caught up in his aura and join him in his sheer enjoyment of life. Like blue, the effect was best seen with his family. If they looked down for a while it was only until their next trip to the kitchen.
"Christie?"
She looked around for the source of the voice and found Blue standing behind her. "Oh! You startled me. I didn't realize you were back there."
"Sorry," Blue apologized as though it was something people often got on his case about. "I was wondering if I may ask you a question."
Well, he was polite, that was for sure. "Of course," She would have used his name, but she didn't have a clue what it was. For some reason she thought it started with a 'D' or an 'L'. Maybe purple was the 'D', or was that 'M'? She was taking too long, Blue was half way through his question.
"…at 72, and I honestly don't know how the time system works here. Don might have figured it out, but I'd rather know for sure."
Ok, Blue wasn't 'D'. So 'L' or was that 'R'? She made a mental note to ask Megan later. She noticed that Blue was still waiting for an answer, and he seemed to be getting a little fidgety. "Oh. Well, afternoon shift ends at 70. Where do you need to be?"
"Down where that seminar thing was today." Blue responded promptly.
"There's plenty of time to get to City Center from here." Christie assured him before starting off to make some rounds.
"Christie?" Leo called after her. "Uh, that…" He seemed to be searching for a polite way to phrase what he was trying to say. "That didn't really answer my question. See, our time system is different. We measure time in hours, and there's only 24 hours in a day. I don't know what 72 means."
This shocked the butterfly. She never even considered that there might be other methods for measuring time. Clarets just made so much sense. "It is really quite simple."
Blue didn't look particularly convinced, but he did seem willing to hear her out.
"There are 100 clarets in a day. Seminar starts at 1." She was at a loss about how to tell him how long a claret was, since she had no concept of an… whatever that unit of time he had said was.
"Now long is one seminar block?" Blue asked suddenly.
"4 clarets, with one claret passing period between blocks," Christie informed him.
Blue seemed to be taking in the information, though he seemed a little unsure of the whole system. Christie tried to imagine how she'd feel if she had to deal with these 'hours' and decided that she didn't blame him for being confused.
"Don't worry, you'll get it." She said. It was kind of a strange tone for her. It wasn't often that she was assuring people. Usually she spent her time correcting them in the most efficient manner possible. There was just something about this boy… where did that come from? How old was this turtle anyway? She hadn't thought of any of them as boys before. They acted so much like adults most of the time, but something about how he had asked the question…
Blue looked at her with a slightly lopsided expression on his face. "Well, thanks Christie."
She felt even surer that this turtle was little more than a kid. "If you don't mind my asking…"
Blue turned back around to face her.
"How many latrex are you?"
The only response Blue gave her was a confused stare. He looked like a little lost caterpillar. It was strange to think that this was the one that she was so sure had some control over his family that the others lacked.
"A latrex is 400 cirlets"
Blue gave her another blank stare. "Hey, Donnie! You busy?" Leo called.
"Just a minute, Leo." Purple called back. Well, she had names for two of them now. Purple was Donnie, and Blue was Leo. She was absolutely certain that those weren't the names she had been told a couple days ago, but she didn't press the matter. Purp…Donnie trotted over after he gave an order to Orange.
"I need your numbers." Bl… Leo said flatly.
"Uh, ok." Donnie didn't seem to quite understand why he was there, but he was going to find out soon enough.
"Ok, um," Leo started, "The question is how many latrex we are."
Donnie cocked an eye ridge at the unfamiliar word. "Latrex" He repeated quietly as if committing the word to memory.
"A latrex is 400 cirlets"
"Cirlets." Donnie waited for more information, but Leo didn't have any to give.
"A cirlet is 100 clarets" Christie added for him.
"A DAY!" Leo exclaimed. "A cirlet is a day!"
"14 and a little bit if you assume a day and a cirlet are equal, which they're not. Less if you go by saying that one hour is 4 clarets." Donnie supplied after a moment. "How precise do you want it?"
Leo grinned and shooed Donnie away before getting back to work himself.
Christie was shocked at this news. They were children. She was truly surprised when Donnie said that they were 14, she had expected them to be closer to 19 or 20. This raised some other concerns in her mind. Concerns like you weren't supposed to hire children with fewer than 17 latrex. She sighed and allowed the boys to continue their work. She'd talk to Sarah, Alice, Megan and Lindsey later. She was fairly certain that these children weren't living with any parents right now. Why else did Blu… Leo have to stay home yesterday when Donnie was sick?
She observed them as unobtrusively as possible for the rest of the shift. They didn't act like children. If the rumors about the purple one were true and he was only 14… She didn't even want to think about the consequences that might have on these boys. As they prepared to leave, Leo thanked her again for her help. He was the epitome of perfect manners, and she wondered again about these strange boys.