itsscienceliam:
It felt like a good sign when Alex introduced himself and Liam to Elias, and it was also a relief that Elias no longer had to worry about accidentally saying one of their names before he was supposed to know them. A surprised smile pulled at his lips when Alex went on to ask about the job. Oh, how splendid! That didn’t even take as long as Elias had prepared for it to take! Elias didn’t worry about the surprise on his face, it was reasonable to be pleasantly surprised there was a well-qualified job candidate sitting right in the shop he’d walked into to ask about putting up a help wanted sign. As if he’d had no idea. He did have to work not to smile too wide at Tybalt’s clear enthusiasm, as well as Liam’s excited response that Elias pretended not to see out of the corner of his eyes. Instead he focused on Alex. “Oh? Is that so? Library experience is certainly a plus. How about I interview you right now, Alex? That is, if that’s alright. If you’d like some time to prepare you can pop back over to my shop whenever you like.”
The corners of Alex’s lips twitched up into a smile at Liam’s clearly enthusiastic response when he finally decided to say fuck it and try to see if he couldn’t get this job that was apparently open at this bloke’s bookshop. Alex still wasn’t sure about it all, but the fact was he needed a job, and this was a job with books which meant it was a job he could actually do well, and it was next door to Liam’s work. Honestly that last part was what really put him over the edge. And maybe whatever was weird about this bloke had a perfectly normal explanation. One that Alex could figure out while getting paid so he and Liam and Bilbo could keep a roof over their heads. He just had to hope this bloke went for it, but he’d come into a pizza shop to hang a flyer and Alex was a bloke in that pizza shop so he was pretty sure he fit the bill even before you factored in the fact he read a lot of books. Though it was a surprise when he offered to interview Alex right now. “Er–” He resisted the urge to glance over at Liam, because that didn’t look very professional, and nodded. “Um, yeah, alright. I don’t mind that.” He shifted slightly as Elias came and sat across from him at the booth, giving him a pleasant smile that still made Alex feel just a little unnerved. Or maybe it was just because now this was a job interview and those stressed him out. Most normal interactions stressed him out, always a game of how long could he pretend to be normal for until this new person figured out he was a nutcase. Hopefully Elias wouldn’t figure it out until after he offered Alex a job. Alex could do this. He tried to sit up straight and awkwardly ran a hand through his hair. “Er–sorry, I’m not really dressed for an interview.”
Elias smiled at Alex, wishing he could help the boy calm down a bit. But nerves were expected. He almost wanted to just give Alex the job and spare him any worry, but from what Tybs had told him that would just make them more suspicious and therefore less likely to take the job. So an interview it was. “That’s quite alright, it’s not as if you expected to have a job interview today. Anyhow, I wouldn’t ask you to dress any differently at the shop than how you’re dressed now, I like to keep things casual.” Which Elias’s clothes gave away most likely. “I just have a few questions. First, have you ever worked a register before?” Elias smiled as Alex nodded and explained he’d worked at a shop in his hometown. “Brilliant! Are you comfortable working unsupervised?” He listened as Alex nodded again and talked about how he was often the only person monitoring the library’s circulation desk. “Splendid! Now, for the more important questions. Do you have a favorite author?” Alex looked surprised, then gathered himself and quickly answered, “Tolkien.” Elias smiled again, not surprised by the answer. “Ah! A good choice indeed. Do you have a favorite book of his?” “The Hobbit,” Alex answered without hesitation this time, and kept going. “I mean, I know that one’s more for kids than Lord of the Rings, which is also incredible, but I grew up on the Hobbit, it’s what started it all off, isn’t it? My dog’s even named Bilbo.” Elias smiled, charmed, as if he’d never known about Bilbo before now–it didn’t matter that he did, because it was charming simply to get to hear Tybs’s muggle as Tybs had described him. “Another excellent choice. If you had said Thoreau I would have had to turn you away,” he added with amusement, the comment partly for Tybalt’s sake, but it was also true; Elias was not fond of that one. “But I’m so pleased you didn’t,” he said undeterred by Alex’s look of polite confusion. “I think you’re just the help I need at the bookshop, and you’ve spared me having to hope someone might notice a flyer.” Elias told Alex the times he needed someone to help out, which he already knew just so happened to be the days and times that Liam was most frequently at the pizza shop, and he was gratified at the excited look that got from Alex. Alex seemed pleased when Elias told him the pay as well, which was also good. A fair wage for a bloke at a bookshop, Elias thought. “Splendid. Then you’ll start Monday.”
Liam was surprised when Elias wanted to interview Alex on the spot, a good surprise. That felt like a good sign. The bloke was either very desperate or thought Alex would already be a good fit, either one would work out in Alex’s favor so it did’t matter which. Job interviews never bothered Liam much. He was always a, ‘take me or leave me,’ sort of bloke. But Alex found them difficult. He wanted to give the other a reassuring smile or a squeeze of his hand. Since he couldn’t he just found something to do. First trashing the flyer the bloke had given him. If he didn’t hire Alex, Liam sure wasn’t gonna help him find someone else. After that he busied himself with wiping down the counter hoping that him seeming busy instead of watching the interview would help Alex. Not that it stopped him from listening in. Liam had never worked at a bookshop, or a library, he was too loud for the library. Which probably worked out because he also would have been the sort to forget he was working if he came across an interesting book. It was nice that Alex wouldn’t have to worry about getting clothes or wearing a uniform. Not a given despite what Elias was wearing, some bosses were dicks. This one just seemed a little weird, but sort of in the way Liam knew he came across as weird to people. He liked that the most important question was who Alex’s favorite author was. That was fun. Plus it was nice to hear Alex sounding like himself as he talked about why The Hobbit was his favorite. The Thoreau stuff was a little odd but he guessed everyone had their quirks. It was hard not to react when Elias told Alex he’d gotten job, but he did do a little shimmy in excitement behind the counter. His excitement over it grew when he heard when Elias wanted Alex there. That was perfect. And he wanted Alex to start right away, excellent. Yesssssss!!!!! Liam nearly popped into the walk in so he could celebrate but managed to contain himself. It’d be better with Alex after Elias left anyway.
This was going far better than even Tybalt had hoped, and he’d known it was going to go well. Alex was hooked! It was also immense fun to watch Elias in action. He always enjoyed himself with that. Elias was charming and witty. Not at all the timid Ravenclaw Tybalt used to flirt with till he riled Elias out of that timidity. All just to get a rise out of Elias. The reactions he got these days from flirting with Elias were far better, if frustrating. Tybalt floated over to Alex to give him a pat on his hand, or actually his hand passing through Alex’s. “Just relax, Alex, you’ve already got the job,” he told the muggle with a smile as if Alex could actually see and hear him. After that he floated over to where Liam was wiping the same spot on the counter in a terrible attempt at looking busy so as not to distract Elias. He watched the pair of them interacting, pleased with how well Alex was doing. Even better than his interview for the library, Tybalt thought. “Ha! I told you,” Tybalt shouted out when Alex chose Tolkien as his favorite author. Because he’d naturally talked to Elias about what his muggles read. Liam’s books of choice were a little more niche but the muggle had been smart enough to read books Alex had leant him instead of books filled with bad information written by men who’d never met a ghost in their lives. Tybalt was only concerned with the inaccuracies about ghosts, the other ones about creatures, poltergeist, ghouls, and other things didn’t interest him enough to have an opinion on. It was nice to see Alex warm up to Elias as he talked about The Hobbit. Brilliant! “Ugh, Thoreau,” Tybalt muttered. Which was naturally not all he said about the subject. “Quite right too,” he agreed enthusiastically when Elias said he’d have to turn Alex away over Thoreau. Tybalt had a lot of strong opinions of Thoreau, all of them summed up by contempt for the muggle’s emphasis on a simple life and his abstinence from nearly all the things Tybalt found enjoyable in life. A prime example of both life and talent wasted on someone who clearly did not know how to use them.
