[PRP] I Wanna Be Like You (Finn & Jamie) [FIN]

[saedusk]

Jamie had kept the pamphlet he'd grabbed all those months ago, the one detailing the apprenticeship program Waite State offered to interested students. It was secure in his hands now as he walked into the visitor center, held like gold, like a precious goal he truly wanted to see through. Of course he was nervous, Jamie was always nervous, but since the day he'd met Finn on the beach he'd started to think. Wouldn't it be nice to be a park ranger? Wouldn't it be nice to spend his days in the environment he loved?

Soon he'd be starting college. Sure, he'd taken a short break after high school, but it wouldn't last forever. He was already preparing, planning on majoring in environmental science come the start of next semester, and it seemed like the right time to see what needed to be done to become a junior ranger on top of it. The anxiety in his gut was swirled and spun and mixed with excitement.

Silverahhhh

 

[Silverah]

Finn had just spent his morning hauling sandbags into a temporary barricade around the front door to the building in what was probably a clear violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and had now returned, sodden, to the front desk, where he was determinedly trying to towel-dry his hair using a novelty dish-rag from the gift shop. This time of year was usually prime hiking season, between the changing leaves and the cool air, but the ceaseless rain had muddied the trails and sent all the usual guests in search of drier stomping grounds... like the movie theater in the Danvers mall.

The result was that the visitor center was nearly empty - and when someone made their way past his barricade (not that it was very high), Finn had to drop the towel and try to look professional because it wasn't like there was anything to distract them.

"Oh, it's you," he said, recognizing the kid who'd just come through the door. "Hiya. Again. Beach is closed. Some kind of ectoplasm outbreak. Sorry."

Saedusk

 

[saedusk]

The recognition was a pleasant surprise, actually, and Jamie's borderline nervous expression—by no fault of Finn's, it was just the way he looked most of the time—shifted into something a tad more comfortable.

"Oh, um, hi," he responded, making his way to the desk. "It's... It's kinda funny how much that makes it sound like a sci-fi movie."

Hands gripping the edge of the counter, he looked at Finn shortly before shaking his head and letting his eyes droop to the pamphlet he was presenting. "I'm not here to see the beach today. I'm, uh... well, I kinda wanted to... join this program." He pushed it forward, the Junior Ranger information that would likely look more than familiar.

"Is... now an okay time to talk? A-Are you free?" Jamie noted the way Finn looked a touch disheveled, but rain as bad as they'd gotten it would do that to anyone.

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

Finn laughed - at least his reference had gotten him somewhere. In response to Jamie's question, he sort of indicated the entirety of the visitor center with a good-natured shrug. "Yes!" he said, leaning forward onto the desk. "Wow. I can't believe you made it out here in this weather. You're the first other person I've seen all shift."

"Anyway," he continued, glancing down at the pamphlet, "you want to apply? I've got the forms right here. Um."

"This is really strange weather, huh?" he asked.

Saedusk

 

[saedusk]

Maybe, just maybe, the answer to his question should've been an obvious one. In his own defense, he pursed his lips in an obviously held back smile before admitting, "I guess I just... got kinda excited and couldn't wait anymore. I've been thinking about it for a long time. Since we met, actually. So, um, I'd like to apply, yeah. If that's okay."

As he waited for the forms, he considered what Finn said and looked a touch perplexed.

"It... really is strange. I don't mind the rain, but it's getting kiiiinda crazy." It had to have something to do with the Otherworld. Jamie didn't doubt that, but- "I wonder what's causing it..."

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

Finn shrugged, straightening up from the drawers. "I don't know," he said, "and I've got a four year degree saying I know how this stuff works."

He passed the papers across the desk to Jamie. "If you're under eighteen you'll need a parent's signature but other than that you should be able to fill them out. Sorry if you're older. I'm bad at ages."

He turned slightly, looking over his shoulder to glance out the bank of windows.

"There's this place I know where it rains all the time," he said. "Like, literally. Does that sound familiar?"

Saedusk

 

[saedusk]

"That's okay. I, um, I know I look younger anyway... so that doesn't help." Sheepishly he smiled as he looked over the paperwork. "I'm eighteen, though." Only by about half a year, and with plans of living with his parents for a while until he got on his feet, but technically an adult. An adult who looked fourteen or fifteen, but that was a small detail.

Jamie's pen started at paper, but it didn't last long. The question stopped his hand in its tracks and slowly but surely he looked up at Finn, momentarily quiet and searching for the best way to answer.

He could mean Other Ashdown. Realistically, it was hard to believe he meant anywhere else. It was in Jamie's nature to fear looking foolish, but he knew what he had to do.

"The... Otherworld," he responded, heart thudding as he did so, "I've been there. A lot, actually."

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

Finn smiled across the desk. "So you do know it," he said. "Well, it's always good to have people around who don't think I'm completely crazy." He could already tell that Jamie would be a good match for the program, if only for his own completely biased reasons. Also, because they were kind of hurting for applicants.

Apparently it took a very specific kind of person to want to learn how to do trail maintenance for fun.

"Anyway," he said, "between the ectoplasm and the rain I'd bet like, my second-favorite pair of hiking boots that the Otherworld's involved."

"Stuff's weird in the woods. Anyway, if you're not a minor you can finish those forms up and I'll run them by my boss and we'll call you in a few days."

Saedusk

 

[saedusk]

"If... if it weren't for the people I met, I'd be calling myself the crazy one," he said with a small smile in return. A relief washed straight to his fingertips as his heart found a natural rhythm again. "But you're right, I think. I've got a bad feeling about it, anyway."

Pausing, he laughed, but it wasn't a humorous kind. "The bad feeling is always kinda there, though. It never really goes away." Not after all the awful things that seemed to line themselves up to happen one after the other.

"Oh, um, yeah definitely," he agreed, snapping back to attention. It took a few minutes of silent work, but he finished up the forms and pushed them back across the counter. "Thanks," he shifted, but looked hopeful, "I'll wait for the call."

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

"A bad feeling," agreed Finn. "Yeah." But he wasn't going to dwell on the idea - too much work to do. He picked up the forms, stacked them neatly with a quick tap against the desk, and then put them somewhere out of sight.

"Shouldn't take too long," he said. "In the meantime... I'd tell you to stay dry out there, but I'm not sure it's possible."

Saedusk

 

[saedusk]

"I've got an umbrella," he told Finn as he took a step back from the counter. "Won't keep me very dry, but it's better than nothing." As long as it didn't get yanked out of his hand by the wind, he'd be alright, even sideswiped by rain and all. To be fair, it was wet, but it was water—he wouldn't feel cold.

"Cool, um, thanks again," and with that he gave a small, single wave before turning away from the desk. This had been a great idea, he decided, despite the weather. That thought kept him steady as he braved the storm on the other side of the door.

Silverah