relatives a younger sibling, stan pierce(father), joan pierce (mother)
jaylin, prefers to be called jay, is the first born of the pierce family. stan and joan were highschool sweethearts who had their child at a young age and by the time jay was born, his parents were in their late twenties. they were both huge fans of star wars, theatre, movies, sci-fy things, and jay also shared these same interests the older they got. they especially dove into games, he just couldn’t get enough of them, and they were exceptionally good at almost any game they played. so much so that at a young age he entered tournaments and ended up winning more than anyone had expected.
in school they were a friendly, outgoing, jokester kind of person. they always greeted everyone with a smile and never really got into fights; unless it was to defend someone from getting bullied. jay’s professors all considered him to be a good kid, even though they sometimes did have to give them detention for being a class clown. during high school jay met WANTED CONNECTION who became their highschool sweetheart from tenth grade all the way through senior year. they were jay’s first everything and even after their break up, he never held any hard feelings over it. they continue to be good friends with this person and consider them a very special part of their life.
they had never felt like college was for them but they went anyway to please their parents. there they majored in video game programming and development and even if they didn’t care to be in college, they loved the classes they were in. one day during his second semester in college they were making their way to speak to one of their professors but it turns out they were not in their office, instead jay came across their assistant. they couldn’t even explain how it happened but one second he was asking about some help with the current assignment and the next the two had been talking for hours about a bunch of other things. from that day forward the most unlikely of friendships formed with WANTED CONNECTION.
now a days they live with their roommate, WANTED CONNECTION, and bearded dragon named godzilla. they love their job as one of the managers at the galactica gift shop, and often treat their employees like their family. jay is probably one of the chillest bosses one could have and they take pride in that.
wanted connections: TBD (outside of the ones in the intro!)
“Hi! Yes, I actually never stepped foot in here considering that I figured the shop is usually for tourist?” Blair felt nervous about her grandmother’s arrival. Genevieve was a very proud matriarch. Six children and a wiry ex-husband, she prided herself on her social connections, yet, in the same token used her excessive wealth for the betterment of others. She had taken Blair in, raising her in the early days of her youth while her parents lived out their dreams. Genevieve had raised her to be kind and caring, thoughtful and bold. She knew early on that Blair was nothing like the rest of her grandchildren and that made their bond even closer.
Her grandmother was one of the main investor to her spa and salon in town and was urging Blair to expand the business beyond the quirky town’s border. She knew her grandmother would be in for a culture shock once she got here, but the woman was also more open-minded than almost any person she’s known. How the aliens would go over for her? That was the question that lingered in her head. “My nan is coming into town and has this thing of collecting knick knacks from where she travels too, so I was wondering if you had like a few bestseller items I could purchase?”
“fair enough. i can’t say i really blame you because having galactica gift shop as the stores name doesn’t really help our case much either.” jay has been suggesting they change the name for some time now, except they can never think of a good enough name to replace it. however the majority of the people who did stop to shop at the little store were mainly tourists and road trippers who wanted to take a piece of roswell with them back home in some way or form. the shop may have been a bit dead right now but during the summer and spring time it thrives to the fullest, at least in jsy’s opinion. they liked the slowness on most days because it normally allowed them time to catch up on some reading, writing, or reorganizing the store. there were also days; like today, that made them contemplate quitting from how boring things could get. except at the end they knew they probably would never actually quit, they really did like their job.
"absolutely, we do! we have items that are just so out of this world, and you best believe the majority of them are named after space puns. let’s get started, shall we?” jay makes his way around the counter, heading towards wall filled with various flavors of tea. “we’ll start off our little bestsellers tour with a stop at the gravi-tea station. we have a various amount of flavors to choose from, including my personal favorite,” they pick up one of the small spaceship shaped containers, “blueberry. is your nan interested in tea? if not, right next to our gravi-tea section is our space jam. also, please tell me to stop with the puns if you want. it’s just..it’s in the job description.”
due to a childhood characterised by lack , striker wouldn’t have caught the wizard of oz reference even if it slapped him — much like a dislodged , flying fencepost — square in the face . instead he was focused on the cows and only the cows ; second only to his brothers , they captivated his heart in ways no other creature had the capacity to . those sweet , softly mooing bovine were the reason he rolled out of bed in the early hours and didn’t return until the sky was awash with a sea of oranges and pinks . “ ah , don’t worry yer head about it , “ responded striker as the stranger tottered to his aid , “ jus’ glad of the helpin’ hand . if i lost even one of these cows i’d never forgive myself , “ ramming his arm against the door , he gestured for the other to follow suit , “ use all your might t’ get them closed !! put your back into it . “ like two sailors on a maiden voyage , the two began their fruitless attempt to shove closed the barn doors .
at least you’re being helpful and not a handful, jay silently told themselves, giving themselves a small bit of comfort. “rest assured all cows will be accounted for and safely, erm, shoved into this here barn.” they offered a friendly, reassuring smile to the older male and then began to silently summon the strength of a hundred hordor’s (his favorite game of thrones character) in order get themselves ready to hold the large wooden barn door down. unlike the storm, which had begun to pick up rapidly, jaylin’s strength did not magically speed up and they didn’t feel like they were much weight on the door. “for the cows!” jay yelled, shoving themselves into the door with a bit more oomph, mentally cursing the winds working against them currently. “hey!” jay calls out to the other, “i know this is probably the worst time for introductions, but, i’m jay! uhh! now that you know who i am, do you think i could hide out the storm with you for a bit? i forgot to look at the weather and, well, i’m kinda stuck walking home in this! i’ll even stay with the cows, man!”
he would’ve more readily agreed to being waterboarded than going into the gift shop on his day off, he thought. the place was already starting to weave its way into his dreams. not even in ways that were interesting – he dreamt he got up, and went to work. that was it, and that was worse. just about the only thing that could drag him in was precisely what he was dealing with on his first full day off in what felt like a month, but was actually only three days. he was quite literally dragging his feet as he entered the shop, flinching against the door chime like it were an explosion directly in his ear canal.
he spotted jay, feeling a wash of relief that at least it wasn’t asher behind the counter, because jay meant there was at least some chance of help. “imma snitch,” marlon said, playful grin curving his lips as he leaned against the counter. “nah, really, i think i left my phone here closing up last night – pretty sure i ‘find my iphone’d it to death, because it quit telling me it was here at like, four this morning. you see it anywhere?”
“snitch on what? i was just,” they lazily brush their fingertips against the counter, “brushing off some dust, see? i would never just lay around on the job. what would the big boss say?” he joked; he was sure that the owner of the gift shop probably would’ve given them a look of disapproval over the way they were leaned over on the counter, plus distracted with not really watching the store. although with marlon being the person who walked in the door, not that jay would admit this out loud, for many reasons, his presence was far more distracting than any tik tok and they couldn’t deny they were glad the other had forgotten their phone despite the inconvenience it might’ve caused him.
“it’s in the office, in the back,” they replied, pushing themselves off the counter, “c’mon, i put it away in my drawer. it was on the front counter this morning, and for some reason, as soon as i saw it, i instantly went to call you to let you know you left your phone. well,” jay chuckled, “let’s just say i realized right there and then i can’t function well without coffee.” as they make their way to the back office they had, a perk of being one of the managers, jay turns around to look at marlon, they knew this place so well he could walk backwards all around the shop with a blind fold by this point, “what’s on your agenda today, marlon?”
one thing about jaylin as a manager was that they were the kind of manager their crew could call up if they needed a shift covered and couldn’t find anyone else to do it. granted they couldn’t always cover the shift, but nine times out of ten, chances were very likely he’d end up in the shop, on an off day, if needed. they didn’t really mind time spent in the shop, though, it helped keep them out of his roommates hair and also it was something to do outside of binge watching the next thing they could find on netflix.
as they leaned against the front counter, lazily resting their chin in the palm of left their hand, their right hand occupied with skimming through seemingly endless, and mindless, tik toks of all sorts of things, jay wondered if they closed shop early would the big boss really mind. they did a time check, an hour left before closing, could they survive the time left on his shift or would they end up dying from boredom? the ring that came from the bell at the entrance, signaling someone’s arrival to the gift shop, caused jay’s gaze to stray from their phones screen, “why, hello!” they happily greeted, straightening up a bit, “welcome to galactica gift shop. please, please tell me you need help with something. it’s okay if you’re just looking around too, but i can’t promise i won’t zone back out into the black void that is tik tok.”
“ sweet mother o’ mary , “ the male cursed , almost rushed off his feet by a sudden gust of unrelenting wind that was taking absolutely no prisoners . the january weather was unruly , unpredictable but , come rain or shine , the cowboy was out among the hay bales and cow dung , doing whatever his boss instructed of him without second throught . trust striker to be out in the literal eye of the storm , ignoring any and all warnings for his wellbeing , putting the safety of livestock before .. well .. anything else , as usual . he didn’t expect any other idiot to be out in the throws of the whipping wind , and yet eyes settled on the first figure he saw as hands struggled with the doors of the barn , attempting to shove their group of cows safety in their warm , wooden sanctuary . “ well , don’t jus’ stand there !! help me out . “
when jay had gone out for a run today they had completely forgotten to check the whether, and so they did not prepare accordingly. before they could make it back to safety the winds had picked up, dust was blowing in every direction, they felt like they were about to enter the tornado that would take them to the land of oz. despite being a wizard of oz fan, jay was not interested in visiting oz today. they thought they had been making progress but suddenly came to a halt in front of puhlman’s ranch, looking over to see on of the ranch handlers attempting to save some cows from the inevitable storm. “shit! sorry!” they ran over to help the guy round up the cows, offering an apologetic smile as he got closer, “i didn’t mean to just stand there. sorry about that!” they turn to look at the cows, head tilting, “what’s the best approach here?”
“ welcome to the crashdown cafe . let me show you to your seat , and get ready for take-off . can i get you a drink or a gluten-free menu ?? “ the welcome messages her boss had passed down to her were starting to get ridiculous , and the deadpan delivery made the crude puns ten times worse than they already were . ender didn’t belong in a mint gown with deely-bobbers atop her head ; that much was clear by the way her face was painted like a masterpiece , eyeliner sharp enough to kill and lids glittering with shimmering shadow . perhaps if she continued to fake it — to dress like the job she wanted , not the one she had — she would be able to fool the general public that she was , in fact , the long lost daughter of kris jenner . “ you should try the zeppelin zinger wings . they’re cosmic – apparently . whatever that’s supposed to mean . “
jay’s lips parted to protest her saying the usual crashdown cafe greeting they normally did whenever someone entered the place, but she was quick and already saying it before he could get a word out. leave it to roswell, new mexico to find a way to add alien puns in every single establishment they can think of. “i was going to tell you that you didn’t have to say all that,” they chuckled, offering her a kind smile, “i understand the alien puns and space jokes get old after a while. i’m one of the managers over at the gift shop. you’ll be happy to hear i don’t force my employees to say the greeting we’re supposed to say. to be honest, i don’t even know it.” they might’ve been rambling a little, but only because, jay usually got a little stuttery when he was around people who were attractive to them. they took a seat when they arrived at the booth, chuckling at the waitresses comment on the wings, “i’m not sure what it means either, but who doesn’t want to give something cosmic flavored a try? i’ll take an order of the zeppelin zinger wings, fries, and whatever milkshake is your favorite flavor. also, you wouldn’t happen to have seen this person here would you? i’m suppose to be meeting them up here but they haven’t replied to my messages all day. i’m starting to think i might get stood up.” he chuckled, shaking his head a bit, they showed her the picture of the person on their phone.