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Entry tags:
LOG: Jay and Warren - Bird Job Proposal
Warren meets Jay, assesses his wings, and offers him a job- or rather decides he's given Jay a job.
Jay didn't like him.
Technically he didn't know the man at all, had just introduced himself, but he hadn't liked Warren Worthington since he had heard the man- or his daddy- owned not just a building but a skyscraper. Highest up Jay had ever been on two feet, even. And the man's reputation proceeded him- he was a flirt despite having a beautiful, living fiance he's heard. He'd heard he was a steamroller of man in the worst way. He'd heard he'd never had to work for or on behalf of anything in his life. And all of this wasn't to mention he was so rich he made the Cabots look poor.
None of it to mention the beautiful white wings- like one of God's own angels- that he didn't have to hide, have the decency to hide (but Jay knew that wasn't fair to dislike the man for that. No one could help the way they were born, and there was nothing wrong with other people being mutants).
Jay just plain didn't like him.
Maybe it was the way he seemed to flaunt this all and more and take it all for granted- to take having a woman who loved him for granted. Even so, Jay had to admit he was the best person to learn from and he'd already managed to drag himself from bed and even wash his hair for this. Too late to turn tail now.
"So," he said, introductions already having been taken care of. "Why'd you ask to meet here?"
Unlike Jay, Warren knew absolutely nothing other than Jay was a red head, had red wings, was related to cranky pants Sam, and apparently was poor. Warren could have found out if he'd wanted to, but he absolutely didn't care enough.
In all honesty, he was intrigued at meeting another fully winged mutant, hence why he'd asked Jay to come to the top of Worthington Industries after dark. His shirt off and his pristine white wings flagrantly on display, the cold air did nothing to him.
"Because this is a safe space. I spent years launching myself off of this ledge." A pause. "Not in a suicidal way. In a 'these 80 floors are mine kingdom and glory be Angel or some shit like that. I used to be dramatic." He peered over the edge, and smiled.
"Anyways. I have things I want to do to you but first things first: shirt off. Let's see them."
Well. If Jay had a 80 floor building to launch himself off, he'd probably feel the same way. But just because Warren was the first other person he had ever met with a flight instinct didn't mean he was endeared to him.
"You've known me all of two minutes and you want me to get half naked, that's what you sound like you're saying," Jay said even as he stripped out of his coat and started unbinding his wings. (He'd worn one of his T-shirts with the back cut out of it- no strip show for Warren).
The bindings has been something his Mama had made up for him, function over comfort. His wings unfolded in a slow, droopy way. He had to flap them out a few times before he was able to stretch them to their full length, like he's had to shake out a wrist. They weren't big and magnificent like Warren's and even the handsome cardinal red couldn't hide that some feathers were slightly out of place. They looked tight. The section of secondary feathers was a little short, like they were underdeveloped. He'd never had a pair on a human to compare them to, but if Jay had a mirror to compare his to Warren's, he's see they just seemed plain off.
Jay crossed his arms over his chest. "Y'happy?"
"No."
Warren really wasn't. As clueless as he could be, he was very aware that he had had the luxury of privacy and resources when his wings were developing. The way Jay unraveled the bindings showed care and respect so he assumed they weren't literal rags but that was the first that would need to go.
"You'll need a harness. Something breathable, flexible.... unless you're trying to break the wings. They can heal to a certain extent if you let them." To prove a point , he unfurled his to their full 18 foot wing span before giving a strong flap and tucking them in perfectly.
"You'd never know they were this big. Equipment. Proper leather."
He stepped a bit closer. "Do you molt often? If you're on a regular kind of schedule, maybe these broken ones eill fall off soon and we can take better care of the regrowth. "
Sure, I'll just get the money for leather when these work well enough, Jay thought initially before remembering that Sam'd mentioned there were people around here who made a point of making sure mutants had the equipment they needed. He'd been being uncharitable to the people around here, he knew, but it'd been so hard not the think the worst of people. That hollowness inside him was rotting him.
His wingspan was around sixteen and a half feet, smaller than Warren's 18 feet. Maybe the other man had a harness from when he was younger and smaller. Jay was used to hand-me-downs. He'd have to ask at the end of... Whatever this was.
"I think it takes a while for it to do them all," Jay said, feeling oddly like he had at the pediatrician's office before he stopped going. He he reached behind him to touch his secondary feathers. "These're changin' out this year, I reckon."
He'd honestly never paid much mind to it one way or another.
Warren simply nodded again. "Right. Let's see what you're capable of. Keep up." And with no other information, Warren launched himself off, catching a thernal and riding it up. His body was perfectly adapted to this: his eyes didn't dry out, he felt no cold, and being able to fly unencumbered....it was a feeling like no other.
He lazily soared around, occasionally checking to make sure Jay was keeping up until they were out of the proper city area. There was a park Warren liked for the trails and small hills, but especially for the privacy.
"You did alright," he announced when Jay landed. "You have potential. I think you'd be a solid investment."
It was probably high enough that Jay could have just dropped off the building and caught a wind to get going, but that wasn't what he was used to so he gave himself a running start to kick off the side of the roof, staying just behind Warren.
Just like Warren he was made to be in the sky. His eyes and lungs too to the sky perfectly- it was his wings that had a bit of trouble.
Jay's hands formed fists at his side at being called an investment- don't hit him, he reminded himself. You've never been a violent person before December.
"Thanks," Jay responded dully
"I'm assuming you're self taught. Do you research or go off instincts? Also, no more flying until those wings are looked at." He gave Jay a different look, one that he solely reserved for the boardroom where no questions could be asked.
"If you enjoyed any of that, then you will start to take care of those wings. Immediately. We need a full medical qork-up of course, possibly call in some experts, the wardrobe is a given,and an expense account as well. I can't have an employee of mine looking bedgraggled."
"I just sort of fly?" Jay said, blinking at the other man. The rumors were right- steamroller might even be a little weak of a word for Worthington. "And the hell do you mean employee? I ain't signed anything." He was not about to be strong-armed into anything. He stood as tall as he could, still having to look up at Warren, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Where do you get off assumin' I'll work for you?"
Warren locked eyes with Jay. "You need medical, immediately. Possibly physiotherapy, definitely occupational therapy. This costs money and insurance, both which you most likely don't have." His eyes flicked down and up.
"You are able to meet me at a moment's notice so no school, and no job. You've relocated from Appalachia, and I am the only other winged mutant you've met. Feel free to walk away and figure this out on your own. I can survive without you. You can't survive without me."
And then the tiger grin, the kind that said he knew he had Jay over a barrel. "I start my assistants at 100k. Yearly. Bonuses. Rent assistance. That would definitely take care of Mama in the old country, wouldn't it."
Jay's dislike of the other man grew, even if he could see the points he made. They felt like well placed threats. "I also live at some sorta commune where'n I get free medical now, as you know," he said, refusing to cow to Warren.
"And as you pointed out, I only came here recently and I don't know nobody but my brother and sister and I need you. So I know what's in it for me even if 100k is far too much money, but what I'm not seein' is what you get outta this. I'm a high school drop out 'n never worked nowhere but a coal mine. I weren't even a union rep like Sammy was and it ain't exactly a secret I ain't been in my right mind recently. So how I'm seein' it you're lookin' for somethin' to manipulate."
He shrugged. "So I'm not agreeing to nothin' without written job expectations and a contract. And I ain't signin' nothin' without a chance to read it good."
But Warren has a point, that was a lot of money for Mama and his siblings. That could pay off the house, and money left over to pay for things like school for Lizzy. It was hard to act as cool as he was. He wanted to jump and take the offer.
But his Daddy didn't raise an idiot, and neither did his big brother. There were catches to things like this.
Warren snorted dismissively and ignored most of what Jay said. "Obviously. Never agree to anything that isn't backed up by a paper trail. Verbal contracts can be torn apart easily."
He pulled out his phone and sent a few texts to Illyana. "You're oncall constantly by the way, but Yana will be in touch asap about anything and everything. Just tell her what you need or want, if there's changes but you will be employed soon."
He was shaking inside with want for that security Warren was offering, the thoughts of all he could get taken care of even if he worked for Warren only one year. To hell with school for just Lizzy, that was enough to start college funds for Joelle and Jeb and the twins too.
"No." He said firmly, even if he didn't quite believe his own tone of voice. "You don't get to act like it's a done deal. You haven't explained the hell you want me for and I ain't gonna be beholden to you. You want me to work for you? You're gonna do it right. I gonna get a contract, 'n job expectations 'fore I speak to this Yana woman about anything I may be needing because I'm standin' here not even knowing what a 100k assistant even does."
Jay stalked up to Warren and pretended he didn't need to look up at him. "And before that, you're gonna tell me what you want from me. What's in this for you? I ain't gonna be your Reba McIntire song, I'll tell you that."
He hoped he sounded more confident than he was, but for some reason his voice had never failed to do exact what he wanted it to.
A grin slowly broke across Warren's face.
"That. That's what I need. Someone to tell me to fuck off. Excellent. You talk to Yana because she does my personal job offers and contracts and whatever the fuck else I want her to do because she is my executive assistant. You will learn from her and then you will be the executive assistant for the executive director for my charity."
He looked pleased with himself.
"You passed the first stage of the interview. Congrats. Are you hungry? I kinda want ramen now..."
Jay was fuming, and not sure if it was at Warren or himself for not seeing the test.
But... He could see the good this might do not just do good for his family and himself, but him being in charge as charity (as loathe as he was to take it, same with most folks he knew) might mean it actually did something. Hell, if his job was tell Warren to fuck off that probably meant he could tell the folks that thought they knew best for others off too.
"If I decide to interview further after lookin' all your your job offer and contact and papers over, which you'll give me two weeks to get sorted about," Jay said, correcting the assumption that he would end up working for Warren.
He stepped off though slightly. "And yeah, I could eat something, maybe."
Jay didn't like him.
Technically he didn't know the man at all, had just introduced himself, but he hadn't liked Warren Worthington since he had heard the man- or his daddy- owned not just a building but a skyscraper. Highest up Jay had ever been on two feet, even. And the man's reputation proceeded him- he was a flirt despite having a beautiful, living fiance he's heard. He'd heard he was a steamroller of man in the worst way. He'd heard he'd never had to work for or on behalf of anything in his life. And all of this wasn't to mention he was so rich he made the Cabots look poor.
None of it to mention the beautiful white wings- like one of God's own angels- that he didn't have to hide, have the decency to hide (but Jay knew that wasn't fair to dislike the man for that. No one could help the way they were born, and there was nothing wrong with other people being mutants).
Jay just plain didn't like him.
Maybe it was the way he seemed to flaunt this all and more and take it all for granted- to take having a woman who loved him for granted. Even so, Jay had to admit he was the best person to learn from and he'd already managed to drag himself from bed and even wash his hair for this. Too late to turn tail now.
"So," he said, introductions already having been taken care of. "Why'd you ask to meet here?"
Unlike Jay, Warren knew absolutely nothing other than Jay was a red head, had red wings, was related to cranky pants Sam, and apparently was poor. Warren could have found out if he'd wanted to, but he absolutely didn't care enough.
In all honesty, he was intrigued at meeting another fully winged mutant, hence why he'd asked Jay to come to the top of Worthington Industries after dark. His shirt off and his pristine white wings flagrantly on display, the cold air did nothing to him.
"Because this is a safe space. I spent years launching myself off of this ledge." A pause. "Not in a suicidal way. In a 'these 80 floors are mine kingdom and glory be Angel or some shit like that. I used to be dramatic." He peered over the edge, and smiled.
"Anyways. I have things I want to do to you but first things first: shirt off. Let's see them."
Well. If Jay had a 80 floor building to launch himself off, he'd probably feel the same way. But just because Warren was the first other person he had ever met with a flight instinct didn't mean he was endeared to him.
"You've known me all of two minutes and you want me to get half naked, that's what you sound like you're saying," Jay said even as he stripped out of his coat and started unbinding his wings. (He'd worn one of his T-shirts with the back cut out of it- no strip show for Warren).
The bindings has been something his Mama had made up for him, function over comfort. His wings unfolded in a slow, droopy way. He had to flap them out a few times before he was able to stretch them to their full length, like he's had to shake out a wrist. They weren't big and magnificent like Warren's and even the handsome cardinal red couldn't hide that some feathers were slightly out of place. They looked tight. The section of secondary feathers was a little short, like they were underdeveloped. He'd never had a pair on a human to compare them to, but if Jay had a mirror to compare his to Warren's, he's see they just seemed plain off.
Jay crossed his arms over his chest. "Y'happy?"
"No."
Warren really wasn't. As clueless as he could be, he was very aware that he had had the luxury of privacy and resources when his wings were developing. The way Jay unraveled the bindings showed care and respect so he assumed they weren't literal rags but that was the first that would need to go.
"You'll need a harness. Something breathable, flexible.... unless you're trying to break the wings. They can heal to a certain extent if you let them." To prove a point , he unfurled his to their full 18 foot wing span before giving a strong flap and tucking them in perfectly.
"You'd never know they were this big. Equipment. Proper leather."
He stepped a bit closer. "Do you molt often? If you're on a regular kind of schedule, maybe these broken ones eill fall off soon and we can take better care of the regrowth. "
Sure, I'll just get the money for leather when these work well enough, Jay thought initially before remembering that Sam'd mentioned there were people around here who made a point of making sure mutants had the equipment they needed. He'd been being uncharitable to the people around here, he knew, but it'd been so hard not the think the worst of people. That hollowness inside him was rotting him.
His wingspan was around sixteen and a half feet, smaller than Warren's 18 feet. Maybe the other man had a harness from when he was younger and smaller. Jay was used to hand-me-downs. He'd have to ask at the end of... Whatever this was.
"I think it takes a while for it to do them all," Jay said, feeling oddly like he had at the pediatrician's office before he stopped going. He he reached behind him to touch his secondary feathers. "These're changin' out this year, I reckon."
He'd honestly never paid much mind to it one way or another.
Warren simply nodded again. "Right. Let's see what you're capable of. Keep up." And with no other information, Warren launched himself off, catching a thernal and riding it up. His body was perfectly adapted to this: his eyes didn't dry out, he felt no cold, and being able to fly unencumbered....it was a feeling like no other.
He lazily soared around, occasionally checking to make sure Jay was keeping up until they were out of the proper city area. There was a park Warren liked for the trails and small hills, but especially for the privacy.
"You did alright," he announced when Jay landed. "You have potential. I think you'd be a solid investment."
It was probably high enough that Jay could have just dropped off the building and caught a wind to get going, but that wasn't what he was used to so he gave himself a running start to kick off the side of the roof, staying just behind Warren.
Just like Warren he was made to be in the sky. His eyes and lungs too to the sky perfectly- it was his wings that had a bit of trouble.
Jay's hands formed fists at his side at being called an investment- don't hit him, he reminded himself. You've never been a violent person before December.
"Thanks," Jay responded dully
"I'm assuming you're self taught. Do you research or go off instincts? Also, no more flying until those wings are looked at." He gave Jay a different look, one that he solely reserved for the boardroom where no questions could be asked.
"If you enjoyed any of that, then you will start to take care of those wings. Immediately. We need a full medical qork-up of course, possibly call in some experts, the wardrobe is a given,and an expense account as well. I can't have an employee of mine looking bedgraggled."
"I just sort of fly?" Jay said, blinking at the other man. The rumors were right- steamroller might even be a little weak of a word for Worthington. "And the hell do you mean employee? I ain't signed anything." He was not about to be strong-armed into anything. He stood as tall as he could, still having to look up at Warren, and crossed his arms over his chest. "Where do you get off assumin' I'll work for you?"
Warren locked eyes with Jay. "You need medical, immediately. Possibly physiotherapy, definitely occupational therapy. This costs money and insurance, both which you most likely don't have." His eyes flicked down and up.
"You are able to meet me at a moment's notice so no school, and no job. You've relocated from Appalachia, and I am the only other winged mutant you've met. Feel free to walk away and figure this out on your own. I can survive without you. You can't survive without me."
And then the tiger grin, the kind that said he knew he had Jay over a barrel. "I start my assistants at 100k. Yearly. Bonuses. Rent assistance. That would definitely take care of Mama in the old country, wouldn't it."
Jay's dislike of the other man grew, even if he could see the points he made. They felt like well placed threats. "I also live at some sorta commune where'n I get free medical now, as you know," he said, refusing to cow to Warren.
"And as you pointed out, I only came here recently and I don't know nobody but my brother and sister and I need you. So I know what's in it for me even if 100k is far too much money, but what I'm not seein' is what you get outta this. I'm a high school drop out 'n never worked nowhere but a coal mine. I weren't even a union rep like Sammy was and it ain't exactly a secret I ain't been in my right mind recently. So how I'm seein' it you're lookin' for somethin' to manipulate."
He shrugged. "So I'm not agreeing to nothin' without written job expectations and a contract. And I ain't signin' nothin' without a chance to read it good."
But Warren has a point, that was a lot of money for Mama and his siblings. That could pay off the house, and money left over to pay for things like school for Lizzy. It was hard to act as cool as he was. He wanted to jump and take the offer.
But his Daddy didn't raise an idiot, and neither did his big brother. There were catches to things like this.
Warren snorted dismissively and ignored most of what Jay said. "Obviously. Never agree to anything that isn't backed up by a paper trail. Verbal contracts can be torn apart easily."
He pulled out his phone and sent a few texts to Illyana. "You're oncall constantly by the way, but Yana will be in touch asap about anything and everything. Just tell her what you need or want, if there's changes but you will be employed soon."
He was shaking inside with want for that security Warren was offering, the thoughts of all he could get taken care of even if he worked for Warren only one year. To hell with school for just Lizzy, that was enough to start college funds for Joelle and Jeb and the twins too.
"No." He said firmly, even if he didn't quite believe his own tone of voice. "You don't get to act like it's a done deal. You haven't explained the hell you want me for and I ain't gonna be beholden to you. You want me to work for you? You're gonna do it right. I gonna get a contract, 'n job expectations 'fore I speak to this Yana woman about anything I may be needing because I'm standin' here not even knowing what a 100k assistant even does."
Jay stalked up to Warren and pretended he didn't need to look up at him. "And before that, you're gonna tell me what you want from me. What's in this for you? I ain't gonna be your Reba McIntire song, I'll tell you that."
He hoped he sounded more confident than he was, but for some reason his voice had never failed to do exact what he wanted it to.
A grin slowly broke across Warren's face.
"That. That's what I need. Someone to tell me to fuck off. Excellent. You talk to Yana because she does my personal job offers and contracts and whatever the fuck else I want her to do because she is my executive assistant. You will learn from her and then you will be the executive assistant for the executive director for my charity."
He looked pleased with himself.
"You passed the first stage of the interview. Congrats. Are you hungry? I kinda want ramen now..."
Jay was fuming, and not sure if it was at Warren or himself for not seeing the test.
But... He could see the good this might do not just do good for his family and himself, but him being in charge as charity (as loathe as he was to take it, same with most folks he knew) might mean it actually did something. Hell, if his job was tell Warren to fuck off that probably meant he could tell the folks that thought they knew best for others off too.
"If I decide to interview further after lookin' all your your job offer and contact and papers over, which you'll give me two weeks to get sorted about," Jay said, correcting the assumption that he would end up working for Warren.
He stepped off though slightly. "And yeah, I could eat something, maybe."