he's down on his luck / he's down on his knees (scrooge x poe)

[nevermore_a_duck]

 This hadn't been the best plan, but for Poe De Spell, it was the only plan he had. He'd lost track of how long it'd been since that fateful day he ran away in the middle of the night, in a desperate escape to get away from his parent's clutches. The arranged marriage had been the straw that broke the camel's back.

What a sight he must be now, he mused. The high-class fashion he was once so proud of was basically in tatters. He had long since run out of the money he could use - he didn't bring his credit cards, that would have made for easy tracking. Anything he had managed to take had now been sold just so he could eat and maybe find a roof to sleep under, but even that wasn't made to be forever.

Where did one find work when your grades were bribed to As? Who did you trust, when his parents had a bounty on his head? 

He did keep his phone, but it was off. If he turned it on, his parents would find him. But it was a last chance deal - if truly all else failed, he'd use it. He prayed it never came to that. Even if it meant selling the last thing he had - himself.

He sat on the side of the road, ignoring his stomach growling for the umpteenth time, eyes distant and not really staring at anything. 

Comments

[nevermore_a_duck]

"Aside from drinking and partying?" He asked bitterly before shaking his head. Going down that path would just make things worse.

He rubbed his temples, thinking. "... Sometimes... the mansion had a library. Not that any of us ever actually read the damn things, it was just to show off. But... if I was dodging calls, I'd hide in there, and get bored, so I'd... organize them, I guess. Try to put stuff in alphabetical order, date published, that sort of thing. "

[richestduck]

"So organization. That's a good skill. You were always good at talking to people, so communication. Can you type or take notes quickly?"

[nevermore_a_duck]

Poe nodded slowly. "It's been a while, but my fingers were always fastest on my phone and computer keys... but are they really just going to take my word for it?"

[richestduck]

"You might have to take a small test for it, but usually they don't do much checking."

[nevermore_a_duck]

"I haven't taken a test in years... But I guess this time, I can at least say I'll earn whatever I get." An odd comfort.

[richestduck]

"These aren't tasks you have to study for. You might have a typing speed test where they give you something to type and the computer will judge your accuracy in addition to your speed."

[nevermore_a_duck]

"I haven't done that in a while... but I admit, I rarely had typos. One wrong spelling at the wrong group of people, and it becomes a running joke you never live down."

[richestduck]

"So you'll be fine. Maybe a bit rusty but that's fixed easily enough."

[nevermore_a_duck]

"... You're awfully confident in me." What was that all about?

[richestduck]

"You're not trying to get a job as a rocket scientist. You said so yourself: You can answer a phone and take messages. It won't be glamorous or pay that much, but it's work experience which can give you an edge for the next job and so on and so forth down the line."

[nevermore_a_duck]

Or maybe Scrooge was doing that thing were he was shoving panic down deep into his body.

"... Then let's give it a go. At least one of us has faith."

[richestduck]

Scrooge raised a brow. "The way I see it, if we try and fail, we learn something for next time. You don't learn anything if everything is an immediate success."

[nevermore_a_duck]

"Tell that to my parents." Poe dead-panned, beginning to get out of the truck. "If I didn't get perfection on the first try, they did all in their power to make it look like I did anyway."

[richestduck]

"And that's why you had no idea what you could do," Scrooge pointed out. "But we'll figure something out one way or another."

[nevermore_a_duck]

At this rate, they were going to go like this forever in circles. So, with a sigh, Poe finally just shut up and followed Scrooge inside.

[richestduck]

Scrooge led the way in and proceeded to talk with the friendly if slightly bored woman there. It was all business, introducing themselves and so on.

"Do you two have resumes?" she asked.

"I have one, but he's going to need a little help putting his together," Scrooge said, gesturing to Poe.

"All right then. Why don't I get you set up to put you into the system and I'll help your friend?"

[nevermore_a_duck]

Instantly, Poe flipped to his "performance" persona - a charming smile, an easy demeanor, harmless body language.

"Of course, we'll be grateful for all the help you can give." Poe said calmly, as if they hadn't been going on and on about the dread of failure. "I will definitely need more than he does, but I'm looking forward to the tricks up your sleeve."

[richestduck]

The woman giggled. "I'll be happy to help, sir!"

Scrooge cast Poe a smug look before sitting down in front of the computer she indicated to input his resume.

[nevermore_a_duck]

Poe was so used to manipulating everyone in the room that he didn't really see it as talent - more like survival. But now he also had to make sure Scrooge survived too.

So as Scrooge entered himself into the system, Poe made "casual" conversation with the receptionist, peppered in a little light flirting, and gently enthused about Scrooge's better qualities, such as his perseverance and determination. If he could get this woman to gush about the "two hot guys" to others, word would spread, interest would rise... one won a good game of chess by making the best use of the pawns.

[richestduck]

The receptionist asked questions about Poe as well, offering suggestions for what his skills could be put down as. The entire time she listened to Poe with rapt attention, idly playing with her hair.

[nevermore_a_duck]

Trying to take a lesson from Scrooge, Poe listed off what "skills" he had... but wrapped them in enough loopholes to come off as authentic. Not straight up lies, but the truth was probably stretched to its limits in several places.

Anytime it seemed she could have been skeptical or ready to push for a detail he couldn't give, Poe was easily able to cut her off with a compliment about her hair or asking her advice about things he already knew about, just to make her feel better.

[richestduck]

And after about an hour...

"All right! Why don't you look it over while I check on your friend?"

And Poe would probably be startled to see a legitimate resume all nice and neatly-laid out.

[nevermore_a_duck]

"If you insist on leaving me all by my lonesome..." A little tease, before checking out her work.

Hm. Hm! It did seem professional... of course, what did he? He wasn't sure what these things were supposed to say. Right now, he'd just have to put his faith in it.

[richestduck]

If nothing else, Scrooge could definitely look over it later.

Scrooge was managing just fine and he followed the receptionist back to Poe.

"I'll print you out a copy of your resume and give you a call within the next day or two for if we have something open that fits your skillset," the woman said cheerfully.

[nevermore_a_duck]

"My utmost thanks, but then, I imagine you're under a mountain of gratitude every single day... I can only hope my appreciation doesn't feel tedious." A little chuckle.

"Shall we be on, Scrooge? I will be waiting for that phone call eagerly... be it for work, or, otherwise." Oh ho ho ho.