Gabe walked into the park. It had only been a few weeks that he'd been in New York, but he still hadn't found a job. He'd tried everywhere, but with such a pitiful work history nobody wanted to give him a job. He kicked a rock of the path, than sat on a bench.

"Wow. One of the biggest cities in the world, and I can't even flip burgers at Mickey D's."

Gabe shook his head, and looked up at the sky. He wondered how his dad was doing by himself, and how the last close friend he'd had was doing at Princeton. He shook these idle thoughts out of his head. Neither one of them cared how he was doing. He knew he had to find a job, or he wouldn't make rent.

"I'd rather flip burgers and live in a crummy apartment than live homeless in New York."

He got up off the bench, and headed back to the ever elusive task of finding a simple job.

Gabe headed out the back side of Central Park, towards the prolific Carnegie Hall.

"I haven't been down here to look for a job lately."

He continued walking down the streets, walking in and out of stores, looking for applications.

Busy. That was the best word to describe what Tarin's life was like at the moment. It wasn't enough that he'd tried to flame an entire city block, AND had ran into the children of the last woman John Erik had killed while marauding around the city in his body. Tarin sighed, wishing for a brief moment that they still had another helper in the shop.

Some of the time, things were slow, so slow that they closed up early and went home. Word seemed to be spreading about Tarin though, and the requests for his skills were starting to pile up. Even though a fair number of people didn't have legitimate spirits with them, Tarin was starting to feel the strain of the constant work. Lee was keeping books and trying to run the front of the shop, but the rate at which the business was expanding was starting to be too much for her too. It was time to face the facts. At some point they were going to have to hire someone.

The bell on the door rang and Tarin prepared to tell the customer that they were closed for lunch. Only it wasn't someone coming in for his services, it was a young man looking for a job. Tarin blinked, then blinked again. Holy hell...ask and you shall receive.

"Actually...we are hiring. No application though." Tarin set his fork down and moved around the counter, extending his hand to be shook, "I'm Tarin Brooks. Let's start with you telling me a little about yourself."

Gabe looked at the man behind the counter, shaking his extended hand.

"No application for a job? My favorite kind. My name is Gabriel Fenix. I just moved here a little while ago from Chicago. I'm trying to find a job, because my landlord has been pestering me for rent. Which is a week late. If I can't make some money soon, I'll be on the street. I've worked a few other jobs up through high school. I'm not exactly sure what you need me to do, but I'm a fast learner."

Gabe gave his best smile at his possible future employer.

"It think it's easier to get to know someone you're going to be working with closely before hiring them. Seeing it on paper is one thing, but hearing it from a person's own lips is another all together."

The guy shook his hand and Tarin smiled, he was young, but he knew what was expected. He went on to talk, telling Tarin the way he owed rent. Rent that was a week late

The kid, Gabe, went on to admit that he didn't have a clue what would be expected of him and Tarin couldn't help but chuckle and run a hand through his hair. "Well...the sign in the front window doesn't say 'medium' in reference to a shirt size." The smile faded slightly as Tarin regarded the kid standing in his shop. There was no point in holding back. If the kid was going to work there, he'd have to know sooner or later exactly what it was that went on in the back of the shop.

"I'm a medium. I talk to the dead. People come in here hoping to reconnect with their loved ones. If I can, I help them. Your basic responsibilities would be helping out up here though. Getting customers in line and singed in...collecting money when I'm done with them...selling the stuff in the front. Helping my co-owner and fiance with anything she needs help with. What do you think?"

Tarin was watching for the reaction. The last thing he needed was a wishy-washy kid who was either going to freak out or stop showing up a week after he was given the job.

Gabe took in all that he heard, and decided to answer carefully.

"I think I can handle all the up front stuff. Sounds like I could learn it easily enough. And I'd like to meet your fiance. So I know all the people I'll be working with."

He than thought about how Tarin had told him about his abilities.

"Communing with the dead, huh? That's cool. I guess since your telling your 'secret', I should tell you mine, huh?"

Gabe smiled, running a hand through his hair.

"I've got abilities, too. I'm a pre-cog. I can see the future. It's never definite, obviously. People make choices that can cause it to change. As a matter of fact, I saw you in a vision a few days ago, and thought it was just another random vision."

Gabe smiled again. He hadn't smiled much since his mom died.

"I saw the car crash that killed my mom a week before it happened. And my former friends acceptance to Princeton. I have another ability, too. One that I don't use often. I can send psychic suggestions to people, making them think they are in pain. I don't actually cause any harm, but it's useful for subduing people. I guess it'd help if anyone tried to rob your shop. So if your willing to give me a job, I only have two questions. When can I start, and how much does it pay? I know it's a little to the point, but I'm in a pretty rough spot here."

Tarin nodded, it wasn't the up front stuff that people usually had a problem with. It was the 'in back' stuff. The stuff that involved the dead people hanging around all the time. Tarin nodded about his wanting to meet Lee. At the moment, she was in back, probably fixing lunch or getting a drink. He could meet her all he wanted, after he reacted to the information about the spirits.

Tarin actually laughed out loud when the kid said his powers were cool. "I'm not sure that 'cool' is exactly the word for it...but they're better than some." At least he hadn't freaked out. The kid would fit in perfectly.

Then came the other half of the show and tell session. The kid had powers too. Pretty intense powers to be exact. There was a bad side to his powers though too. Tarin frowned slightly at the story. The kid had known hardship, but hadn't they all?

"I'm sorry about your mother. If it makes you feel any better, the first ghost I saw was my dead father. I guess we all have our own skeletons, eh?" And apparently the kid's included the power to make people feel excruciating pain...without really doing any damage at all. Wow. "Well, I don't know how much we need a security guard...but I can't say that wouldn't be a handy thing to have around.." Especially if the dude who threw the bookcase comes back. The thought wasn't voiced, but Tarin sure thought it. No reason this couldn't be a mutually benficial situation after all.

Tarin regarded the kid for another few moments, pondering over the last question. They had more than enough money for another person in the shop.

"You can start right now if that's what you want to do. As for pay...I'll have to talk that over with my business manager, but I promise you it will be enough."

Looking back towards the shop, he smiled, "And as for meeting my fiance. LEE! Can you come up here! I'd like you to meet a prospective new shop helper."

Things had definitely been interesting since the merge had happened. Things weren't nearly as bad as Lee had feared they would be, what with how bad the merge had been, but at the same time things didn't seem to be getting any better.

And, to make things even worse, the shop was quite busy. Busier than normal. Lee didn't know if it was because of the time of year, hadn't Tarin told her the previous year, not long after they had gotten together, that things were always busier and thus harder for him just before the holidays?

Whatever the reason, the shop was really busy most days, and they had to take their lunch breaks when they could. Such as this day, when Lee had barely had the time to run a couple of stores down to grab some sandwiches to eat. So, while Tarin had started in on his lunch in the front of the shop, Lee had gone into the back to grab herself a can of coke to drink.

At least she was, at taking her time as she relaxed, until she heard Tarin calling for her from the front of the shop.

Her brow furrowed slightly, Lee made her way back out to the front, can in hand, the 3 inch heels of her Mary Janes clicking on the wooden floors as her black and grey plaid skirt swished around her thighs.

"What's that, Tarin?" Lee asked as she reached the counter, then looked over at the young man she didn't recognize. "A new shop helper?"

Gabe turned when he heard the click clack of the woman's shoes coming into the front room. She was a pretty woman, whom Tarin was obviously head over heels for, by the way he said the word fiance and the way he looked at her when she entered the room.

"Hello Lee. My name is Gabriel Fenix. You can call me Gabe or Gabriel. Either way works just fine. I was just discussing a job here with Tarin, and he said he'd have to run some things by you. But I'm ready to start, right away, as Tarin put it. I could even start right now, if that's what you want."

He smiled again, and offered her his hand. He didn't know if she had any abilities, like himself and Tarin, but he wasn't about to just openly ask. After all, some people don't like to just hang their laundry out for everyone to see.

The young man in the shop introduced himself as Gabriel, though he said he didn't mind being called Gabe either. After he had finished speaking, he held his hand out to her, and Lee only hesitated a moment before she moved her hand to shake.

It was true, with how busy the shop had suddenly seemed to have become, another set of hands would help things out. She might actually be able to go out long enough to get something better than day old sandwiches from the nearby store.

"Nice to meet you, Gabe," Lee said, pulling her hand back before she had actually been holding it too long, using the excuse of opening her pop to let go.

"And what sort of things did you need to run past me?" Lee asked, turning to look at Tarin as she took a sip of Coke.

Lee was prompt coming out from the back of the shop and Tarin smiled at her as she came up. She was the only thing that had really been stable since the last merge, the only thing that made him feel okay about the whole situation. If Lee was willing to stay with him in spite of everything, then there had to be something in him good enough to stick around.

She was dressed to the nines today, it figured, there was a young man in the shop. Surprisingly though, Tarin didn't feel the usual pang of jealousy that he usually got when Lee was ogled by someone other than him. After further investigation, though, that was probably because there was no ogling taking place. This guy was seeming better and better all the time.

Lee shook hands, something that surprised Tarin slightly, she was coming a long ways with the contact issues. The younger guy, Gabe, introduced himself and reiterated some of the things he'd told Tarin and even had the good grace to leave out any more conversation on powers.

Lee was at ease with the kid, or so it appeared, and she turned to Tarin to ask what he'd needed to run by her.

"Well. I'm thinking we may have found a good replacement for Garrett. I just wanted you to meet him before I gave him any definite answer. As he said, he's interested in starting immediately, what would you say to showing him a few things and seeing how the afternoon works out?"

Tarin paused, waiting fo Lee's answer and turned back to Gabe, "Of course, no matter what we'll pay you for today. I'm glad Lee was in, she'll be the one teaching you. I'll be in back with the other clients. And like I said before, we'll have to discuss an actual salary later and see if we can come to an agreement if this works out."

Releasing Lee's hand, Gabe gave her and Tarin both a smile. Yep, head over heels. Literally. Gabe turned to Tarin after hearing what he'd said about the forth coming job.

"Sure. We can do a test run and see how it goes. No problem. You saved me the trouble of filling out an application, it's the least I can do. One question though. Do I need to go home and change?"

He looked down at the black trench coat he was wearing, open over the Coheed and Cambria hoodie he had on. Underneath was a black t-shirt. He wore a pair of jeans that he'd had since high school, and the bottoms were a little worn. His Adio skate shoes finished off the ensemble.

"I didn't think I'd be working today, so I just wore some comfortable clothes. My apologies for not looking somewhat professional."

((OOC: I'm sooooo sorry! I didn't realize it was my turn to post, and no one poked me about it. Probably because I'm normally the one poking and reminding Tarin that it's time to post....))


Lee nodded as she listened to Tarin. He thought that this guy would be a good addition to the shop. Well, he had been the one who had been talking to the guy while she'd been in the back of the shop. Glancing over at Gabe, Lee noticed that he didn't exactly look to be dressed exactly for an interview. But then again, Tarin didn't tend to dress the part of a business man by any means, and were she ever so inclined, Lee knew that she could get away with working wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt.

Turning back to Tarin as he started to address Gabe once more, Lee noticed something else after a couple moments. He was actually being friendly, cordial, to another man. A man who had touched her, even if it was just a hand shake. And it didn't appear to be forced. Other than his brother and the bartender at their bar down the street, Lee wasn't sure she had ever actually seen such a thing before; the jealousy always seemed to flare up, even if Tarin tried to hide it.

"Yeah, we can definitely give it a try, see how things go," Lee said with a nod, turning back toward Gabe. "Business seems to go in spurts and stops around here, so we'll have time to go over things and start getting you familiarized with stuff this afternoon. And don't worry about changing, we're pretty easy going about that sort of thing around here."

Gabe gave a silent sigh of relief. All of his other interviewers hadn't been anywhere near as polite as the two of them had been, and for that he was glad. He knew he probably looked like absolute crap, but they didn't seem to mind.

"I really appreciate the whole 'easy going' thing. You guys have been really cool about the whole thing. So, what's first?"

He turned to Lee, who, as Tarin had pointed out, would be showing him the proverbial ropes.