8. Chapter 8: Starting Up
(Quentin's POV)
Getting into the flow of the paperwork felt refreshing. Maybe it was the menial work, or it was a taste of home that he didn't realise it could be, but nonetheless, he was contributing to something good. Now he understood why his family was so involved with the police. It being enjoyable was one thing, but not having anyone stop him from being "untrustworthy" was a breath of fresh air after the day he'd just gone through. He never really stopped to imagine what being on the receiving end of prejudice was going to be like, and it felt terrible. It was like being blamed for something that wasn't your even your fault.
'What a perspective change. One day into the world and I'm having my views and past being questioned.'
Going through the reports as simple as they were, it had given him some time to consider some new points about the city. Key of them was getting as far away from Sahara Square and Savannah Central as physically possible. Feeling like you are underwater thanks to all the sweat was horrendous and he might as well avoid the Rainforest District. That couldn't be good either. It made sense he wasn't built for that weather and contrary to his previous opinions of the snow; he was living in a world of change and ice seemed entirely more appealing now.
Shaken out of his thoughts, Nick came by the desk, "Quentin, have a moment? Great. So I was going to talk to you about this at the hospital. What are you going to do? The city gets quite rough out on the streets. It's not all glamour and dreams."
"I'm sure I'll manage. I mean, I am seventy dollars up today. Shouldn't be too hard to figure it out. My trial already kinda worked. Just got to get used to the adversity and move somewhere not so damn hot. All will be golden don't even worry about it." Strangely enough, Quentin felt entirely genuine and confident in his statement. Nick, however, looked entirely unconvinced.
"Really. Are you sure about that? Look, I'd rather not leave a friend out on the streets and we're hardly strangers by now. I have a spare room that you're welcome to, especially now I know you aren't crazy."
'Wow, what an offer out of left field and it sounds great, but I can't. It'd feel far too much like I'm taking advantage. But it would be so easy and not have me out and about doing odd jobs... No! Hold firm, get some damn independence. You can't live off others' goodwill.'
"Hey, I could still be a crazy axe murderer. Don't count me out so soon. I'm just in it for the long haul," Nick looked considerably less impressed, clearly marking the moment to get serious. "Really though I've gotta turn down the offer as great as it is," for the first time Nick looked speechless, catching himself every-time he went to speak. "Look, I'll never be able to repay what you've already done and I feel like I'm taking advantage of your goodwill here and I could be a terrible roommate." Quentin took a deep breath before continuing, "I need to figure something's on my own and try standing without the help of others and actually experience the world. So for now I have to say no, no matter how amazing of an offer that is."
"I see." Nick looked briefly bothered for a moment before switching back to a relaxed, neutral expression. "I still think that's a bad call, but it's your choice."
"Yeah."
"The offer stands anyway. Should you change your mind."
"And I'll let you know if things change. But still thanks, I appreciate it."
It was a slightly uneasy atmosphere after that, with it being a bit of a hard conversation, but it still felt like the best course of action. Plus, being outside and potentially camping was hardly a troubling prospect as paramount above other hobbies, Quentin loved camping. It was serious enough to get him to watch as many survival shows he could find, join the Scouts and then there were all the camping trips with friends at every given school holiday, so a chance to put it into practice was even tempting. It hardly even seemed like an unpleasant situation as it according to Nick, lots of the outskirts of the city was wilderness with even plenty of wooded trails. Maybe his confidence was misplaced, but this was the first situation in the city he knew he could tackle. Still, there was one last thing needed to be done before he set out on his long walk.
"Hey Nick, before I head out I've got something to pass onto you," Quentin grabbed a post-it and scribbled down his only form of communication. "Here is my email address, so now we can talk outside being face to face. Just pretend I'm your distant grandmother who hasn't quite caught up with technology. Obviously expect no instant response, but hey it's better than nothing."
"Well Grandma, I'll keep in touch."
"Thanks, Sonny. Right, I'm off to figure out trains and get to Tundratown. Don't be a stranger, see ya Nick." Nick waved back and Quentin set back off into the world.
Stepping off the train, it had felt like entering an air-conditioned room after being out in the sun all day, and it had never felt better to enter a winter wonderland. It was comfortable and not just about balmy or scorching, so clearly this was where he was supposed to be. Just wearing a t-shirt and about 3 inches of snow was a winning combination he hadn't foreseen. Sure a jacket would help. It was nice. His major goal now was to head out to wilderness on the edge of the admittedly small wing of the city, just out of town, so he could set up camp not too far from civilization. Harkening back to winter survival, he was planning to try his hand at a snow shelter hoping that should this work, he could finally prove to everyone that watching Bear Grylls wasn't a waste of time.
Digging through the snow with his hands was reminiscent of all the time he'd spent out with Danny and the gang on the rare snow days just without all the numbness and massive winter coats. They'd always push it too far, trying to build a small fort and everyone leaving with soaking wet gloves covering their aching hands and someone inevitably leaving shaking and miserable. It always seemed worth it till that point, but now here he was doing exactly that with only a slight chill and dampness. They wish they could do this. After about an hour or two's work of packing snow together tightly under a pine tree and making sure it was unlikely to collapse on him while he was inside it. Good luck digging him out if it did when he blended in so well. It was impressive at least and was a culmination of all he'd ever wanted on the snow days, but there was only so much snow before the snowball was partially dirt and grass. Taking a photo as a memento and to potentially show off if he ever got back, he entered the blue tinged home and used the snow as a faux mattress. Tomorrow would be a better day.
Snow was not nearly as effective of a mattress as he'd hoped, but despite all the discomfort he hadn't frozen solid in the night or had the shelter fall in on him, which was definitely a concern. There was still a chill that had settled into him, however, which was uncomfortable. He had the warmth of the local library to get him up and about, especially the prospect of finally being able to indulge himself in some local history. The movie had only covered so much, so seeing what was going on in the background felt a lot like peaking behind the curtain.
'God, I completely forgot this was a film. I've been so engrossed in getting my life back on track. I should probably look into getting home as well. "Hey, librarian, have any strange books about alternative dimensions after death?" I think I'll stick to the internet.'
A strategically short walk from 'home', he entered the comparatively quaint library to see the usual old computers like every other library. Logging on, he hastily hammered in the question after careful consideration, "are there offshoots of wolves?" this was one that was likely to have the most interesting answer. Really, the question he wanted to know was were there dogs in this world and, as inconsequential as it was, it'd been floating around in his head since last night. Quentin had convinced there had to be. Animals walking and talking in a city was one thing that can get brushed off. Suspension of disbelief and all that. The answer confirmed he was right.
"There are various offshoots from wolves that have cropped up all around the world over centuries in the distant historic communities made up of different packs. Leading up to modern society, wolves didn't interact often outside of packs and those that did now have differing characteristics because of genetics, environment and different partners. However, because of strict social structure, the circumstances for it to happen were uncommon, making the denominations being quite rare. We speculate that with cities and the commonality of inter-pack relationships in the distant future, they could become far more common."
It wasn't exactly the answer that he was expecting, but looking through the different images, it seems like the odds of seeing a Golden Retriever were all of about nil. It seemed like only closest to wolves such as Huskies and German Shepards were to be expected. Then there was them being a minority of the population in the first place, but it was just another contrast to home. The names had changed, of course, as there was no Germany or Alaska, but it was interesting none the less to see the switch between dogs being more common to wolves. If dogs existed here, then it was only fair that other types of animals would also be in the world as well, but also there should in theory be more than just one city. So many questions, but at least he was kinda told about other animals when Nick mentioned Magpies getting a poor reputation as thieves, so that was a given. Other cities it was.
"There are a few different cities around the world with them often catering to different residents such as reptiles, avians, amphibians and aquatic life. There are no large interconnected cities that cater to all the different classes of society due to wildly different requirements needed to house all of them despite proposals. They do all have individual cities with similar climate control for different climates. While they're all very independent from each other, they have similar processes and see similarly low tourism between the different cities."
He was right there were other animals out there but it also in a more abstract way meant that this world probably had a version of Atlantis out there, fish however, had not gotten people level thinking. Cool none the less. History was fairly typical, with some wars between different species leading to some dying out, such as some denominations of bears and wolves, but otherwise there were no massive conflicts like the World Wars. Everyones too disconnected from each other to form alliances before the cities formed, which was… good. Then everyone just went with it, which was comparatively bland if not better off for society, except instead these minor wars still happen with the disconnected smaller towns and single species communities battling each other on rare occasions. There really is no conflict free world, such the nature of people fur or not.
In his browsing through the equivalent of Wikipedia, he'd stumbled through a few different predator and prey articles which lead him down the rabbit hole to find a whole new dynamic of crime. People eating people. Then there were discovering fringe groups that live along main roads to fulfil "the circle of life" and the "way things should be" which had to be the most concerning thing he'd read to date. Rare or not, the fact the world was still such a viscous mixture of travellers needing to hire guards to head out on the more dangerous roads but also intricate political policies and laws was a crazy fusion. Then there were the missing people and cold cases that the police can't solve. Furthermore, there were independent stations and divisions in the police out in the wilderness to reduce this. Having special police Rangers on rotation out there to prevent this felt absurd. After accidentally clicking on some photos from the scenes, he did a last check on his emails, confirming Nick's address and his police application before he shut down the desktop. He could research the probably crazy theories on getting home later. He just felt sick now.
History was not as fun as everyone makes it out to be, but was a wake up call that this isn't a perfect place with minor flaws just because it was in a film. Instead, it's an actual place with its own harsh history. Just like everywhere else. Things were at least not as severe in other areas and there were no historical events that lined up with humanity, so that can only be good. No one wanted to experience fluffy Hitler.
'What to do with my day now? Fuck history. That sucked. Right focus on something else. I still have enough money to eat for a little while. What to do now?'
While not feeling particularly motivated and letting some of his prior laziness slip in, he decided on a walk around town to learn the area. Aimless, but with purpose. Walking around, Quentin saw everything is coated in a thick coat of snow with icicles lining the lip of all the roofs. It was a cross between a quaint town in a Hallmark Christmas film and a small Norwegian town with its lack of large commercial shops or centres instead being small strips of single window store-fronts. The snowing was seemingly constant here, giving no respite to the grit salt and snow ploughs with the snow only ever becoming a dusting instead of a downpour.
In his focused memorisation of the town, while he updates his drawn map, he spots an almost indistinguishable white poster with small tearable tickets. "Now Hiring temporary staff to assist with a Christmas event. If interested please call the below number or visit us on site." This was leagues better than just wondering around and seemed like a lucky break and a bit too perfect. A week of stable work sounded great, temporary or not. So Quentin snapped off an icy strip and followed his rudimentary map in the giddy hopes that he could get the job.
Following along the row of other small business he found the one. Kamau Events in colourful writing. Stepping into the building itself was a shock to the system with how swelteringly hot it was. The building layout was interesting, with four distinct designs on each quarter, such as a wedding for one and so on. In the centre was a wooden counter manned by a spotted... Hyena?
'I need to brush up on my species' knowledge. Don't want to piss anyone off.'
The potential hyena was working on a blueprint of some sort, scribbling down notes with a pencil and so engrossed she didn't notice the bell as he entered.
'Wait, a god-damn, wait a moment. I'm not wearing something for an interview.' The curse of a single outfit was now officially a problem and right when Quentin considered retreating, the Hyena looked up and noticed him standing there dumbly.
"Good afternoon. Can I help you?" She asked, not moving away from the blueprint, only glancing up for a moment.
'Alright come on Quentin, no backing down now, just breath and go...'
"Afternoon, I saw you're looking for temporary workers for a Christmas event that you're running. Are you, by any chance, still looking?" Quentin painfully dragged out, feeling incredibly self-conscious.
She gave Quentin a look up and down expression unchanging, "You aren't exactly dressed for an interview."
'Yeah, no shit. I figured this would happen. Goodbye potential job. It was nice not knowing you.'
"No ma'am, I just came in from out of town and entirely underestimated what I'd need," Quentin replied before deciding that with things stacked against him, being bold was worth a go. "Despite how I'm dressed, I promise you I work hard and I'm meticulous with my work. I settle for nothing less than perfect, I assure you."
It was a tense stand-off between the two as she squinted at him, weighing up her options while Quentin tried his best to not cringe from the fierce stare-down. After an eternity, she held a hand out expectantly with Quentin staring at it, hesitating before shaking it confusedly.
"We are very shorthanded and this is a rush job. Don't make me regret this. I hope you don't have any plans, as we'll be heading down to the site now."
"Right now?"
"If you want the job, then yes right now."
She swept up her small stack of papers and clipboard before knocking the door of the backroom to have someone take her place at the counter before heading out the door, leaving Quentin to catch up with her as she moved on without him.
It was a stroke of good luck that he'd actually gotten the position with the odds stacked against him so badly. The only thing that he didn't have to worry about was a new debit card that he'd found slotted into his documents when reading through them this morning. Apparently banks weren't common outside the cities, so they were a basic issue for visitors. Banks outside the city are in everyone knows everyone towns and aren't the most secure, so they aren't used much. Quirks of the city.
"If you don't mind me asking, why did you give me the job?" Quentin asked, almost regretting asking like he'd jinx it.
"You not want it anymore?" She asked with Quentin shaking his head. "Like I said, we're short staffed but also I'm new to the city as well, so I get the struggle."
"I really appreciate it. So what is the event?"
"Tundratown emergency services Christmas party paid for by the city to say thanks for their work."
"Who else will I be working with?"
"I only have one person working full time at the moment. Getting events has been difficult, so this one has to be perfect to put the business on the map for good. There are a couple of people from the services overseeing it and pitching in here and there. Ah, and by the way, I didn't catch your name."
"Quentin."
"Good to meet you, I'm Amara."
'God, all this adult-ing. I never expected to be doing all this employment, finances and looking to rent so soon. Living independently. Sheesh, life has hit me fast.'
Temporary or not, it still took the pressure off him for a while and will let him get some essentials. It was weird how everything was sort of just moving along and he was just coasting through it. The stress really should be hitting him harder. He'd been worried over less.
'Perspective changes I guess.'
The event hall was a basic empty event space reminiscent of a sports hall but without all the painted lines. Amara was right about the lack of staff and it really put into perspective why she hired him so quickly. A massive room with a couple people in it: a reindeer in a polo shirt and slacks working away at something, and a white wolf in a ZPD t-shirt staring glumly at some papers. It seemed weird having a police officer helping, but with only four people on the job and a week before Christmas, Quentin was bound to appreciate the help. Staring into the hall, Quentin had decided that this was an excellent opportunity to pay forwards his good fortune and the help that others had given him. The event had to be perfect.
The job itself was simple, as Amara was taking all the complex tasks for herself. The main part so far was setting out different environment fixtures and making sure the layout was right, which Quentin quickly found out Amara would obsessively check over so he'd know if he messed up. Eventually, he released to aid the others, so he found himself with the Reindeer or the only actual employee while he made origami napkins for the actual event.
"Hey, do you need some help?"
"Hmm, give me a second," the Reindeer whispered out, "Alright done. Hello, do you need something?"
"I was told you might need some help? I'm Quentin, by the way."
"A pleasure, I'm Kellan. Do you know how to do Origami, by any chance?"
"Yeah, no but it's all really impressive," Quentin looked over a few of the made items all of which were creative items relating the three services with a yellow badge for the police, a red firefighters helmet and an old-fashioned nurses cap in white. All intricate in their own right. "I'd be up to learn and help if you'd like."
"I would appreciate the help. Here's the simplest one to start off with."
There was a lot to get done compared to setting out the collapsible furniture, as it was much more technical and hands on. There was still a lot of getting used to having one less finger, so the coordination was a challenge that would be slow to pass. Quentin's weren't nearly as neat as Kellan's, but he was setting them aside to a different place to redo later, still resolute to make sure that everything was perfect. Which was looking like a monumental task with his skills.
'He even said this was the simplest…'
Conversation was very passive with Kellan focusing more intently on making sure he was doing everything right and with Quentin struggling with coordination and needing tonnes of focus, it left the pair sitting in silence for a majority of the time asides from some minor chats.
"So what made you choose this job?" Kellan asked.
"Seemed like a great opportunity, but also I admittedly stumbled across the job listing on a telegraph pole. How about yourself?"
"I wasn't really sure what to do after getting my degree and I always enjoyed organising family functions, so I've been here since it started up a few months ago."
"So what did you do your degree in then?"
"I have a doctorate, but I couldn't really stomach all the blood and found out too late that I was squeamish. So now I have an expensive piece of paper and nothing to really show for it otherwise."
'You'd think they'd have covered more mock practical tasks beforehand. Maybe I would have made the same mistake. I should be more careful with my choices.'
"I'm sorry, that must have been rough."
"It's alright I prefer this even if my parents aren't best pleased." Kellan looked sad for a moment before moving on. "Were you going to do anything at University?"
"Accounting was the plan, but I don't really know. It was never about interest really, it was just an aimless choice that seemed alright. I was good with numbers, though, so there were worse choices."
"It's better to choose something interesting regardless of pay-check. It can only make things so much better. Say if you're any good with finances, Officer Grizzoli might want a hand."
'Is that his way of telling me to stop making horrendous origami? I don't blame you, god that's wonky.'
Quentin nodded and agreed, wishing Kellan good luck on getting them done and offering him help if he needed it. It felt like leaving the job half done and poorly done at that, along with bouncing from task to task.
Quentin turned around. 'Maybe I'll do a couple more instead.'
Finishing up with a few more, Quentin apologised for the quality, which was brushed off as fine, saying he was getting better, which wasn't a shared sentiment. There were loads left to do, so he'd get good, eventually. Hopefully. Instead, he walked over to the arctic wolf who was sorting over several manilla documents and looking tiredly over a calculator and checking back and forth. Quentin knocked on a nearby table to get his attention.
"Officer Grizzoli, is it? I heard your trouble in number land."
"Yup that's me, I'm Leo. Hey, your the fox that was with Nick and Judy in the bullpen yesterday! Ah sorry, yeah, just pouring over the event budget while I'm here. The committee wants to make sure it's not costing too much and this and that."
"I guess I am the fox from yesterday, then. I can help get all this sorted out nice and quick. Still surprised they've got police running the budget."
Leo sighed, "I think it's at least got something to do with Amara being a Hyena but they'd never say it. The rates are too good for them to turn down, especially for the quality of her stuff. Otherwise, personally, I'm here as they needed SWAT numbers, not more beat cops, so I'm watching the event. For some reason."
"So they stuck you on this. I'm sorry?"
"Still doing my bit, just not my usual day job," Leo replied with trace bitterness.
"If we do the budget poorly, the overspending could be almost criminal."
"You don't want an over-expensive thank you."
"The audacity. Your work is worth a tiny fraction of our budget, but keep it up."
Crunching the numbers was what the pair spent the rest of the afternoon doing, eventually getting everything in order so that everything could go ahead. The work came much more naturally compared to origami napkins, giving the pair a chance to chat in-between the work, which made things move much more quickly and eventually the day was over. Amara had spoken to Quentin about getting him paid day by day to get himself settled in the city. She wasn't wrong about needing to settle and it was a great opportunity to make himself more comfortable and presentable, so given his situation, the camping store was ideal to get himself the essentials, which ended up being the cheapest of each item. A jacket, sleeping bag, camp stove with a couple of new t-shirts with simple designs and off went the day's wages on his meager shopping list.
Minor improvements were adding up and the week would get more difficult, but things were tangibly getting better with being able to have warm food. The only way things could get better was if he could keep his mind off Christmas...
(18/12/22) One week till Christmas... Honestly, I'm not entirely sure about this chapter, all things considered, as it really is an in-between and a chance to set out some new characters. Then there is Quentin, needing to establish his place in the world, so I don't really know. Not much to say but other than this, the Christmas Chapter will come earlier than Christmas day as while it is "on schedule" I normally edit on Sundays and I've got family stuff going on. So it'll be earlier than usual as it's a better time for people to read it and just ideal for me.
To anyone from Argentina congrats on the world-cup, I assume it was close so crack out the confetti. Better luck next time England.
Anyway, that's me off with the closing note to Luk. I don't really know how I'd slot Skye in with the way I set the chapter out, but she may crop up later on. Who knows? Not me. I plan chapters three in advance in blocks. Feedback and suggestions welcome.
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