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toxic_cornTitle: In Good Hands
Author: toxic_corn
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Casey and all the little Buy More nerds belong to NBC. Not me.
Prompt: Casey has to go out of town on business: Who takes care of the bonsai tree?
Pairings: None, it's mostly gen. With maybe a hint of het.
Spoilers: None for any specific episode.
Notes: For![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
nerd_herder's Caseython. I'm still not entirely comfortable with the Chuck-verse so I hope this is okay! Maybe someday I'll be writing R-rated fic but until then I'm taking it easy with fluff.
In Good Hands
"Morgan!"
I want a girl who gets up early
"Morgan!!"
I want a girl who stays up late
"GRIMES!!!"
Startled by the seemingly sudden appearance of his boss, Big Mike, Morgan fell to the floorin mid running-man. The frat boy he'd been showing a surround sound system to quietly turned down the volume of the music.
"Sorry, boss!" Morgan sprang to his feet and settled his hands on his hips, attempting casual cool. "I was just showing the customer here that surround sound is the only way to go for any kegger or frat par-"
"Whatever," Big Mike said, unimpressed. "Wrap it up and come see me in my office."
Five minutes later, after the frat boy had sneered at the price and gone to Circuit City instead, Morgan quickly headed to Big Mike's office. "Mike, I know exactly what you're gonna say; I can stand to brush up on my dancing skills but I've only danced off of a DDR mat maybe like, twice in my life before so-"
"I need you to take the afternoon shift next Thursday," Big Mike said, not looking up from his magazine.
"No can do, boss." Morgan shook his head. "Next Thursday is the last episode of The Office before the writer's strike shuts it down and I'm planning this huge bash at Chuck's house that he doesn't actually know about yet so I'll be busy."
"If you want a job here, you're going to come in on Thursday."
"Right." Morgan nodded and headed to the door when a thought suddenly struck him. "Hey, doesn't John usually work that shift?"
"He's taking a personal day. When you can manage to make a sale, you can get one of those, too."
Nodding again, Morgan went back out to the selling floor, digesting this bit of information. Personal day. That'd be sweet. He could spend the day at home eating Peanut Butter M&M's and watching whatever marathon was on SciFi that day. He looked across the room at John, showing an mp3 player to a middle-aged woman. John was turning into one of the best salesmen Buy More had. He was especially popular among the teenage-girl/twenty-something co-ed population for some reason. And he was getting a personal day. Maybe... if Morgan got on John's good side... he could share some of his secrets so Morgan could make a sale and get a personal day! He could taste the peanut butter already.
Morgan scurried over to John and the customer, not noticing the look of dread that crossed the big man's features at his presence. "John! Buddy! Just the go to guy I was looking for. So I heard you're taking a personal day on Thursday. Good, good, we could all use some time to unwind. What are your plans?"
"They're personal," John said gruffly.
Morgan and the customer both looked at him curiously.
"I'm going out of town," he added begrudgingly. "To visit... family."
"Out of town? Sweet! You know, if you need anyone to bring in your mail or water your plants, I'm your guy!"
John winced. "Plants...? My bonsai!"
"Bonsai? I can tree-sit, easily!" Morgan nodded eagerly.
"You?" John snorted. "I wouldn't trust you with a pet rock."
"Well, who else are you going to trust it with?"
When John looked stumped, Morgan clapped his hands together and pointed at him reassuringly. "Give me ten minutes, man."
Watching Morgan hurry away, the customer said, "I'd be worried if I were you."
~*~
John Casey hated surprises. He liked having everything planned, down to the minutest detail, having all contingencies covered. Since taking up with Chuck the Wonder Nerd, surprises had been popping up on his watch more and more often.
He hated it.
Going back to Washington for a bit would be a breath of relief after the last miserable few months. On the heel of that thought, Casey opened the breakroom door to see a handful of Buy More employees in a cluster, murmuring amongst each other, wearing numbers on their fronts.
"John! You made it!" Morgan bounded over to him and stood close, folding his arms proudly.
"Is everyone running a marathon?" John asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No! These are your potential Bonsai sitters!" As he finished his statement, everyone fell silent, waiting to find out what would happen next.
Casey could feel a sharp pain behind his eyeball that could only be induced by Morgan Grimes. "Of all the stupid-"
"Hey, it'll be cool! You can be Simon Cowell and I'll be-"
"Paula Abdul?" Lester suggested with a smirk, making everyone snicker.
Morgan attempted to stare Lester down. "Randy Jackson." He ignored the skeptical looks he received and picked up a pad of legal paper from the breakroom table and pushing the button down on his ballpoint pen with a professional air. "Allright, let's see here. Who's first? Number..."
"One?" Casey asked, dryly.
"Good place to start. One. Step forward."
A pimply high-school kid made his way to the front of the crowd. "Hi, sir. Russel Bateman."
Casey nodded to him. "Bateman. What do you know about plants?"
The kid blushed. "Well, I did this report in third grade about gymnosperms-"
"Next," Casey said flatly.
"We should probably take a seat," Morgan said, pulling up a chair and sitting down at the table. "This is gonna take awhile."
Casey looked at the five other Buy More employees standing there. "Why's that?"
"Because I called some people and they're gonna come in and audition for you."
"Why the hell would they do that?" Was being crazy a prerequisite for working here or what?
"Some people owe me favors. Sit down, big guy."
Reluctantly, Casey sat down beside Morgan but scooted his chair a little ways away just to be on the safe side.
"Next?" Morgan called out.
Jeff looked down at his front to make sure that his "2" was really a two and then stepped forward. "Here."
"Do you know how to care for a bonsai plant?" Morgan asked, sternly.
"It drinks what I drink, right?" Jeff asked, looking at Casey nervously.
"Ye- Wait." Casey narrowed his eyes. "You're the boozehound aren't you?"
"I like beer," Jeff said unapologetically.
Casey and Morgan exchanged an exasperated look. "Next."
As the auditions continued on, Casey surprised himself by actually kind of having fun. It felt good to judge people. Especially when their "qualifications" were ludicrous. When one employee said he was appropriate for the job because he "watched Buckaroo Bonzai" when he was a kid, Casey laughed for two minutes straight once the loser had left the room.
"Who's next?" Casey asked after the last hopeful had left the room disappointed.
"No one." Morgan marked the name off his list. "That was everybody."
"Wow. No one here can be trusted with a plant?" Casey frowned. "That's sad yet... not terribly surprising."
"We'll figure something out," Morgan said confidently and stood up. "Let's get back out on the floor before Big Mike realizes we're missing."
They ended up out at the Nerd Herd desk and Casey didn't mind too much. Morgan was kind of like the weird smell in a cheap apartment; when you first move in, you notice how obnoxious it is but given time you sort of grow used to it.
"How'd the auditions go?" Chuck asked, hanging up the help line phone.
"Bad. Everyone here is lame." Morgan slumped onto the desk, his forehead making a loud THUNK as it connected with the counter.
Casey looked suspiciously at Chuck. "I didn't see you audition."
Chuck's eyes widened. "Oh... I don't do plants."
Morgan lifted his head. "He killed Ellie's Japanese peace lilly."
"Thanks, Morgan."
"No problem." Morgan suddenly nodded off into the distance. "Speaking of... hey, El."
Casey turned and nodded politely to Ellie Bartowski as she walked to the desk, smiling warmly. "Hey guys. Chuck, I was wondering if I could maybe take you out for lunch? Have some sibling bonding time?"
"Yeah sure," Chuck agreed.
Ellie looked around the store in bemusement. "What's with everyone wearing numbers? Did you guys run a marathon?"
Morgan ignored Casey's amused snort. "No, John's going out of town and we were holding auditions to see who could take care of John's bonsai tree."
"Oh!" Ellie's eyes widened. "John, I'd be happy to take care of your tree for you."
"Yeah? You ever taken care of a bonsai before?" After so many dead ends, Casey wasn't ready to get his hopes up again.
"Yeah. I took Shakespearean English in high school."
Everyone stared at her.
"The professor had a Bonsai tree and he gave me extra credit for caring for it on long weekends. I didn't um, do so well in the class." She added quickly, "Anyway, so you can drop your tree off at our place tonight or tomorrow morning if you want."
"Sure." Casey smiled. "Thanks, Ellie."
Morgan looked between them, miffed. "Hey, she didn't even take a number."
Not taking his eyes off of Ellie Bartowski's smiling face, Casey ripped the number off of Lester's back as the nerd passed by.
"Hey!" he exclaimed in alarm but then wisely kept going when he saw John Casey's hulking form.
John handed Ellie the number. "You're hired."
She laughed. "Excellent. Well, I'll see you tonight, then. Chuck, are you ready to go?"
"Sure, let's jet." Chuck came out from behind the counter, saying to Morgan, "Tell Big Mike I took an early lunch, will you?"
"Okay," Morgan agreed, still looking sullen that Ellie hadn't had to go through the official interview process. "Have fun." Watching them walk away, he turned back to Casey. "So, since I helped you out with-"
"I think that woman over there wants to buy a washing machine," Casey cut him off. "You should think about getting back to work, too." He walked off without waiting for Morgan's response. As he went, he had to smile. Despite all odds, he'd had a pretty good day. And his baby would be in good hands.
The End
Author: toxic_corn
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Casey and all the little Buy More nerds belong to NBC. Not me.
Prompt: Casey has to go out of town on business: Who takes care of the bonsai tree?
Pairings: None, it's mostly gen. With maybe a hint of het.
Spoilers: None for any specific episode.
Notes: For
nerd_herder's Caseython. I'm still not entirely comfortable with the Chuck-verse so I hope this is okay! Maybe someday I'll be writing R-rated fic but until then I'm taking it easy with fluff."Morgan!"
I want a girl who gets up early
"Morgan!!"
I want a girl who stays up late
"GRIMES!!!"
Startled by the seemingly sudden appearance of his boss, Big Mike, Morgan fell to the floorin mid running-man. The frat boy he'd been showing a surround sound system to quietly turned down the volume of the music.
"Sorry, boss!" Morgan sprang to his feet and settled his hands on his hips, attempting casual cool. "I was just showing the customer here that surround sound is the only way to go for any kegger or frat par-"
"Whatever," Big Mike said, unimpressed. "Wrap it up and come see me in my office."
Five minutes later, after the frat boy had sneered at the price and gone to Circuit City instead, Morgan quickly headed to Big Mike's office. "Mike, I know exactly what you're gonna say; I can stand to brush up on my dancing skills but I've only danced off of a DDR mat maybe like, twice in my life before so-"
"I need you to take the afternoon shift next Thursday," Big Mike said, not looking up from his magazine.
"No can do, boss." Morgan shook his head. "Next Thursday is the last episode of The Office before the writer's strike shuts it down and I'm planning this huge bash at Chuck's house that he doesn't actually know about yet so I'll be busy."
"If you want a job here, you're going to come in on Thursday."
"Right." Morgan nodded and headed to the door when a thought suddenly struck him. "Hey, doesn't John usually work that shift?"
"He's taking a personal day. When you can manage to make a sale, you can get one of those, too."
Nodding again, Morgan went back out to the selling floor, digesting this bit of information. Personal day. That'd be sweet. He could spend the day at home eating Peanut Butter M&M's and watching whatever marathon was on SciFi that day. He looked across the room at John, showing an mp3 player to a middle-aged woman. John was turning into one of the best salesmen Buy More had. He was especially popular among the teenage-girl/twenty-something co-ed population for some reason. And he was getting a personal day. Maybe... if Morgan got on John's good side... he could share some of his secrets so Morgan could make a sale and get a personal day! He could taste the peanut butter already.
Morgan scurried over to John and the customer, not noticing the look of dread that crossed the big man's features at his presence. "John! Buddy! Just the go to guy I was looking for. So I heard you're taking a personal day on Thursday. Good, good, we could all use some time to unwind. What are your plans?"
"They're personal," John said gruffly.
Morgan and the customer both looked at him curiously.
"I'm going out of town," he added begrudgingly. "To visit... family."
"Out of town? Sweet! You know, if you need anyone to bring in your mail or water your plants, I'm your guy!"
John winced. "Plants...? My bonsai!"
"Bonsai? I can tree-sit, easily!" Morgan nodded eagerly.
"You?" John snorted. "I wouldn't trust you with a pet rock."
"Well, who else are you going to trust it with?"
When John looked stumped, Morgan clapped his hands together and pointed at him reassuringly. "Give me ten minutes, man."
Watching Morgan hurry away, the customer said, "I'd be worried if I were you."
John Casey hated surprises. He liked having everything planned, down to the minutest detail, having all contingencies covered. Since taking up with Chuck the Wonder Nerd, surprises had been popping up on his watch more and more often.
He hated it.
Going back to Washington for a bit would be a breath of relief after the last miserable few months. On the heel of that thought, Casey opened the breakroom door to see a handful of Buy More employees in a cluster, murmuring amongst each other, wearing numbers on their fronts.
"John! You made it!" Morgan bounded over to him and stood close, folding his arms proudly.
"Is everyone running a marathon?" John asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No! These are your potential Bonsai sitters!" As he finished his statement, everyone fell silent, waiting to find out what would happen next.
Casey could feel a sharp pain behind his eyeball that could only be induced by Morgan Grimes. "Of all the stupid-"
"Hey, it'll be cool! You can be Simon Cowell and I'll be-"
"Paula Abdul?" Lester suggested with a smirk, making everyone snicker.
Morgan attempted to stare Lester down. "Randy Jackson." He ignored the skeptical looks he received and picked up a pad of legal paper from the breakroom table and pushing the button down on his ballpoint pen with a professional air. "Allright, let's see here. Who's first? Number..."
"One?" Casey asked, dryly.
"Good place to start. One. Step forward."
A pimply high-school kid made his way to the front of the crowd. "Hi, sir. Russel Bateman."
Casey nodded to him. "Bateman. What do you know about plants?"
The kid blushed. "Well, I did this report in third grade about gymnosperms-"
"Next," Casey said flatly.
"We should probably take a seat," Morgan said, pulling up a chair and sitting down at the table. "This is gonna take awhile."
Casey looked at the five other Buy More employees standing there. "Why's that?"
"Because I called some people and they're gonna come in and audition for you."
"Why the hell would they do that?" Was being crazy a prerequisite for working here or what?
"Some people owe me favors. Sit down, big guy."
Reluctantly, Casey sat down beside Morgan but scooted his chair a little ways away just to be on the safe side.
"Next?" Morgan called out.
Jeff looked down at his front to make sure that his "2" was really a two and then stepped forward. "Here."
"Do you know how to care for a bonsai plant?" Morgan asked, sternly.
"It drinks what I drink, right?" Jeff asked, looking at Casey nervously.
"Ye- Wait." Casey narrowed his eyes. "You're the boozehound aren't you?"
"I like beer," Jeff said unapologetically.
Casey and Morgan exchanged an exasperated look. "Next."
As the auditions continued on, Casey surprised himself by actually kind of having fun. It felt good to judge people. Especially when their "qualifications" were ludicrous. When one employee said he was appropriate for the job because he "watched Buckaroo Bonzai" when he was a kid, Casey laughed for two minutes straight once the loser had left the room.
"Who's next?" Casey asked after the last hopeful had left the room disappointed.
"No one." Morgan marked the name off his list. "That was everybody."
"Wow. No one here can be trusted with a plant?" Casey frowned. "That's sad yet... not terribly surprising."
"We'll figure something out," Morgan said confidently and stood up. "Let's get back out on the floor before Big Mike realizes we're missing."
They ended up out at the Nerd Herd desk and Casey didn't mind too much. Morgan was kind of like the weird smell in a cheap apartment; when you first move in, you notice how obnoxious it is but given time you sort of grow used to it.
"How'd the auditions go?" Chuck asked, hanging up the help line phone.
"Bad. Everyone here is lame." Morgan slumped onto the desk, his forehead making a loud THUNK as it connected with the counter.
Casey looked suspiciously at Chuck. "I didn't see you audition."
Chuck's eyes widened. "Oh... I don't do plants."
Morgan lifted his head. "He killed Ellie's Japanese peace lilly."
"Thanks, Morgan."
"No problem." Morgan suddenly nodded off into the distance. "Speaking of... hey, El."
Casey turned and nodded politely to Ellie Bartowski as she walked to the desk, smiling warmly. "Hey guys. Chuck, I was wondering if I could maybe take you out for lunch? Have some sibling bonding time?"
"Yeah sure," Chuck agreed.
Ellie looked around the store in bemusement. "What's with everyone wearing numbers? Did you guys run a marathon?"
Morgan ignored Casey's amused snort. "No, John's going out of town and we were holding auditions to see who could take care of John's bonsai tree."
"Oh!" Ellie's eyes widened. "John, I'd be happy to take care of your tree for you."
"Yeah? You ever taken care of a bonsai before?" After so many dead ends, Casey wasn't ready to get his hopes up again.
"Yeah. I took Shakespearean English in high school."
Everyone stared at her.
"The professor had a Bonsai tree and he gave me extra credit for caring for it on long weekends. I didn't um, do so well in the class." She added quickly, "Anyway, so you can drop your tree off at our place tonight or tomorrow morning if you want."
"Sure." Casey smiled. "Thanks, Ellie."
Morgan looked between them, miffed. "Hey, she didn't even take a number."
Not taking his eyes off of Ellie Bartowski's smiling face, Casey ripped the number off of Lester's back as the nerd passed by.
"Hey!" he exclaimed in alarm but then wisely kept going when he saw John Casey's hulking form.
John handed Ellie the number. "You're hired."
She laughed. "Excellent. Well, I'll see you tonight, then. Chuck, are you ready to go?"
"Sure, let's jet." Chuck came out from behind the counter, saying to Morgan, "Tell Big Mike I took an early lunch, will you?"
"Okay," Morgan agreed, still looking sullen that Ellie hadn't had to go through the official interview process. "Have fun." Watching them walk away, he turned back to Casey. "So, since I helped you out with-"
"I think that woman over there wants to buy a washing machine," Casey cut him off. "You should think about getting back to work, too." He walked off without waiting for Morgan's response. As he went, he had to smile. Despite all odds, he'd had a pretty good day. And his baby would be in good hands.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-12-02 12:09 am (UTC)*twirls away, babbling*
no subject
Date: 2007-12-02 12:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-02 01:20 am (UTC)LOL! So true XD
I loved how the bonsai finally ended up with Ellie :)
no subject
Date: 2007-12-02 01:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-02 04:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-02 04:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-02 05:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-02 07:47 pm (UTC)I so love how the fandom is in love with that Bonsai
Heh, go back and watch the episode and see how he caresses that tree; if anybody's in love with it, it ain't fandom. XD
no subject
Date: 2007-12-12 09:00 am (UTC)Your character voices were spot on here! GO YOU!
no subject
Date: 2007-12-12 10:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 06:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 06:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 06:18 am (UTC)*laughs* That's actually what made me read it. I love the 'G' rating!
I know - it's sad. Jayne!babies and G ratings. Shhhh! I have a reputation to uphold... riiiiiiiiiiight (a reputation based on fluff and rainbows, maybe) ;D
no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 06:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 06:31 am (UTC)Every now and then I slip, but I usually end up cowering in a corner - hiding from the colorful language for human anatomy.
*waves freak flag higher and higher* My apologies for spamming you like this. I swear - I'm usually much more normal. Riiiiiiiiight ;)
no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 10:03 pm (UTC)Aww, you haven't been spamming. It's actually been interesting. :D
no subject
Date: 2008-06-02 10:06 pm (UTC)Okay, so it was technically his for the time it took to rip it off of Lester's back and hand it to Ellie, but still...every little bit counts, right?
Loved this! Please keep writing more JELLIE!