Conrad Jamieson

“Can’t say I ever been to a beach.”

“Well, you won’t be able to say that at the end of the summer. Every year the farm shuts down for a day and we all go to the beach, its my favorite day of the year actually.”

“Come on, Connie. Do you need help pulling that stick out of your ass? Normally I’d charge, but since you’re special I’ll do it for free.”

“Oh Pops, what a gracious offer!" The older man groaned, his face remaining flat. To please her, he clamped his teeth together and opened his mouth widely. Technically considered a smile, however, it wasn’t too pleasing. 

It’s gettin to be way too hot out here.

“Say cheese!”

“Who wants pancakes?”

“A pancake actually sounds perfect, thanks.”

Alex shifted almost uncomfortably under the other’s gaze. It was a look that he was used to, it felt like he was being sized up. He should be used to it by now, really, that call assessing gaze that got turned on him. When he’d been younger he’d been afraid that they would see something when they’d look at him like that. Something Alex was hiding. Then when he started growing up and things got worse, he started wishing that they would see something. 

“Just imagine all the money you can save for that amount of time too. It’s a win-win.” Fallon stares down at the cat and lets out a sigh. She was lucky she’s so cute. “Is that how cats work? Show their affection by making life difficult for you?” Zie scrunches up zir nose.

“Yeah? Good-good.” The Ukrainian smiled a little to himself, unwilling to admit that having use down the line made him feel oddly better about this whole situation. “I’m Nikolai, by the way. Didn’t catch your name, mate.” 

“Probably because I didn’t tell you it.” Conrad stated firmly, however his face quickly softened. “Conrad. Good to meet you, Nikolai.”

Cormac couldn’t help but laugh, and he shook is head. “I try not to listen to gossip. Too old for that.” He motioned back to where Conrad had been sitting, telling him it was alright to sit back down. He came over and sat next to him, happy for the moment of rest. The excuse of conversation would never be something he passed up. “I work just hard enough to keep this place in top shape for all of the people on it.” He replied, brushing his hand back through his hair. “All of you worry about me too much. But I enjoy doing it. I’m happy to do it all if it means keeping what we have alive.”

“I feel like I’m a bit too old to be the topic of gossip, however I’ve always been quite the narcissist.” Conrad shrugged, smirking as he sat back into his chair. Conrad’s gaze followed Cormac as he sunk into the chair, and his brow furrowed. Conrad knew the man was tired. He also knew that if he tried to help, he would be told ‘I’m fine’, and ‘You worry too much’. “I know you do.” He stated. His eyes fell soft as they often did when the other was in the vicinity. “Just know that there are a lot of people around here who will drop everything to help you and its not wrong to ask for it.” 

“Yeah, I’m starting to see that. People usually like to see me as some kind of punk, though. Wasn’t expecting that to change.”

“People like to put other people in certain boxes. It makes people who don’t fit into the hetero-normative boxes they’ve created targets for some not so great shit.” The older man stated calmly. “It will change here though.” 

Ahh, there it was, the sun through the clouds. It was never easy with Conrad, but Jakob got to him in a way it seemed very few other people on the farm could. “Okay! I can do that, no problem.” He didn’t take the barking personally, it hadn’t taken him long to realise that was just how Conrad was. They balanced each other out, the two ends of the personality spectrum, and two of the people on the farm who had sort of fallen into a staff position. There were dishes left on the floor, and a few pieces of clothing, plus someone had tracked mud in. That’s what Jakob got to work on first, taking a towel and staring to clean up the mud. He was whistling a Hungarian folk song as he did, pausing only to look over and catch the smile, which only made him beam more. “I think I know who this was, I make sure to talk with them.

“Good.” He stated flatly. His smile, however, still remained plastered across his face. He made his way up and down the room with Jakob, picking up things as they went. After a while Conrad picked up the song that Jakob continued to hum, and after a while Conrad began to whistle along. Their voices floated around one another, and with the pleasant distraction, the work was finished quickly.  “You better talk to them.” He said. This time, however, he was serious. “Just let them know that there are certain rules here that might be different from their previous situation. We expect a certain standard.”

“That’s alright, you’ve fulfilled your duties for the day, you shouldn’t have to do anything more.” He shook his head as Conrad stood. “Always so eager to please.” Cormac teased, smiling at him. “You should relax, I’m sure I’ll have plenty of work for you tomorrow.”

Conrad nodded in response to Cormac’s kind words, glad for them. He would have done anything Cormac asked, of course, but he was tired. It had been an incredibly long and hard day, and he wasn’t getting any younger. “Only you, bossman. I’m sure you’ve heard some things about me around the farm.” Conrad smirked naughtily. At the mans words, however, his face fell soft. “You should too, Cormac. You work too damn hard.” His voice fell soft. Private almost.

“I will talk to them, okay?” he said, smiling, “Tere are new people now, they will be a moment to learn the schedules! What is in your way now, Conrad, you know I will help!” He clapped his hands together and rubbed them, ready to get to work if his friend needed him.

Conrads cold glare slowly morphed into a smirk. Conrad had learned quickly during his stay at the farm that it was nearly impossible to be angry at Jakob for an extended period of time. His endless optimism was easily transmitted, even to the grumpiest of the grumpy. “Fine. You can help me finish cleaning up the room.” He barked, however, when he turned to resume cleaning the room, a smile broke across his face.