☾Masha ☾
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One Night in He'll nightclub|| Day 4, afternoon }
Nabriales had seen himself out not too long after they had finished setting up most of the details about his new employment. She still wasn't fully certain having him there was the best of ideas, but she did enjoy the way he'd tried to embarrass Cortes. And she could deal with that for a few weeks while she found someone a little more permanent. And a little more able to be controlled by her. That was a little more important to her. Especially with Cortes being who he was.
So she went back to flipping through paint colors, checking profiles of local interior designers, even though she figured she could do it herself and save some money. She had done it before, after all, and she'd been in enough clubs to know what was good and what wasn't. So she was sure that she could handle it.
She was sure that someone would be along shortly to beg for a job that they probably shouldn't be taking.
Damian fingered the newspaper clipping in his hand as he walked down another dodgy looking alley in the entertainment district, eyes scanning the small ad for the hundredth time as he tried to wrap his head around the current situation. To say he’d been a touch confused when one of Darius’ goons had stopped by to give him a seemingly random newspaper ad that morning and an order to apply was an understatement, even after looking up all the info he could on this ‘One Night in Hell’ club.
From what he could gather, it used to be a pretty popular spot till a change in management, as the previous owner had met their end in an ‘accident’, and was immediately replaced by this Cortes guy. How . . . convenient for him.
Too convenient. After the change, the club had seem to have fallen into obscurity, plagued with numbers of complaints, fired staff, and more ‘accidents’ and disappearances. It hardly seemed like the kind of place that an errand boy like him would be sent to in order to work, but it wasn’t his job to question Darius. He just had to do what he was told and try not to screw things up.
That being said, the thought of having to run two part-time jobs on a regular basis brought about a slight grimace to his face. While it wasn’t like he had much else to do in the city, his time as Darius’ errand boy and messenger was harrowing enough for the young licentia without adding in the stress of two jobs, especially given how one of them required constant interaction with Mr. Nabriales. While Damian held a good deal of respect for the man and his craft, having to serve as his guinea pig had lead to some awkward and embarrassing moments, such as the whole kerfuffle with Ms. Corinna.
Just the thought of that whole incident brought both a blush and a shiver to Damian, the memory of her parting words still poking at his mind, no matter how hard he tried to ignore them. With a sigh, he pocketed the clipping, letting his mind and feet wander ever so slightly
After a few more minutes of walking, he would find himself at his destination, a rather drab looking building that seemed more suited for storage than entertaining the many party-goers that made up Ominar’s nightlife. As he cautiously made his way inside, he found the interior to not be much better, as the decor looked as someone tried to depict a classic depiction of the underworld with left halloween decorations. Damian wondered whether it’d truly was worth it to renovate this dump of a club, but quickly shook off the thought as he turned his attention to the bar where he noticed two people, a man and a woman, sitting down and talking to what must be another job applicant. Well, one of them was talking, the man seemingly more interested in his drink than anything else.
Not wanting to interrupt, Damian simply took a seat nearby, waiting for his presence to be acknowledged in someway.
It took Masha a few moments before she looked up again, glancing around over the rim of her glasses for a moment. She looked back down for a second before looking back up at Damian. She raised an eyebrow, pushing her glasses up into her hair as she took him in. After another second she asked “can I help you with something?”
“Uh, yes Ma’am.” Damian quickly rose from his seat, making his way forward, offering a brief nod to the other applicant before taking the seat across from his possible employers, glancing between the two with some apprehension. “My name is Damian, and I just happened to . . . find your ad in the paper. I was hoping that I could, perhaps, f-fill one of the positions. W-with my skillset, I could be either a server or a . . . b-bouncer, if you need one.”
Damian mentally cursed at himself as he stuttered his way through the end of his introduction. Still, he couldn’t take it back now, so he continued onward, reaching into his pocket to pull out a small notebook. Flipping through the pages, he found the page he was looking for and placed it on the bar table, pushing it slightly in Masha’s direction as an invitation to look. “I’ve also have some skill in fashion design, and after doing some research, made a few uniform designs that I thought might be good for a renovation based off the old designs. They’re just some quick sketches tho.”
The sketches presented weren’t bad , giving a range of 3 different outfits for both male and female staff, each with a set theme and all of them looking rather good for simple sketches. The first set seemed to take the name of the establishment too heart, having a slightly devilish flair to it with deep red coloration mixed with black, while holding mostly to a formal dress code. The next one was more oriented to a club setting, looking to be a bit lighter in terms of fabric without becoming tasteless and focusing on cooler neon colorations tempered by a midnight blue. The final one was the most standard of them all, just being some slight retouches to the current uniform, adding just a small hint of flair to them with flashes of iridescent accents making the outfit as a whole look fancier than it really was.
Masha looked at him with a raised eyebrow, smirking a little at his nervous panic. She looked to the other man for a moment and waved him off a little. “We’ll let you know,” she said to him and he nodded and got up. She took the notebook that Damian offered and looked through it with a reserved expression as she did so. They weren’t too bad, really. Maybe he could be of help with this place.
She slid it back over to him, smiling. “They’re nice,” she said passively, though there was sincerity in her tone as well. “So...Damian. Just happen to find the ad, of course. What kind of experience do you have working in a nightclub then that makes you think you capable of so many positions?”
“Um, well. . . I don’t have much experience with nightclubs specifically,” Damian admitted while nervously pulling at his hair. “b-but I have a good head for numbers, have a good memory, have been told that i’m generally pleasant to be around, which is why I think i’d be good as a server. I’m also pretty quick on my feet as well.”
“As for my qualifications as a bouncer. . .” His pause was longer this time, his face turned downward as he seemed to struggle with what he was trying to say. However, after a deep breath, he continued on, though his eyes didn’t rise to meet Masha’s as he did so. “Those are more tied to
what I am, rather than who I am.”
Closing his eyes, Damian released his hold on his physical form, his features fading away into a haze of thick violet mist for a moment before reforming into a carbon copy of Masha, as if she were looking into a mirror. The only issue was the eyes, which still held Damian’s anxious energy instead of her own relaxed confidence. He would change once more, this time into a large and intimidating man that easily looked the part of ‘Nightclub bouncer’, before resuming his original form, eyes still downcast as he continued speaking.
“. . . My grasp on shadow magic isn’t perfect, but it can serve as a good restraint if need be.” Another nervous tug at his hair. “Me being a Nightwalker isn’t a problem . . . is it? I know my kind isn’t very . . well liked.”
Masha smirked at his acknowledgement that he'd never worked in a club before. She was not at all surprised. That had been her whole day. But then he went on and she sat looking at him with open surprise. This...this was not at all the type of applicant she was expecting to want to be in this shit hole of a night club.
She laughed, shaking her head slightly. “You literally have enough power to squash me, and you want to work at this trashy place?” She blinked more, closing her mouth that had been left slightly open in surprise. “You work for the Fox,” she said simply after a moment. She didn't need much more to figure that out. There was no other way that he'd be here. “He sent you. Maybe indirectly, but your his.”
Damian nodded, somewhat worried about her reaction and her knowledge of Darius, and that she had figured it out. Was this something she was supposed to know, or had he screwed up his job before at had even begun. His mouth suddenly felt very dry as anxiety and paranoia began to creep in, but he held the panic down for the moment, if only to formulate a response.
“Y-yes, but i’m uncertain of the reasoning behind it. I was just given the ad and told to apply, preferably as a bouncer.” Licking his lips, he ceased his sideways glances in favor for looking Masha right in the eyes. “I d-don’t want to cause any trouble Ma’am. I’ll do as you tell me as well as I can, I’ll keep my head low. I’m uncertain of what Darius has planned for me, or for you, or this club, but I’m certain he doesn’t want to hurt you or anything. Well. . .at least as certain as I can be.”
Masha laughed, picking up her cigarette case and pulling one out. Unless he counted any love bites he might give her, no, Darius didn't want to hurt her. “He and I are business partners of a sort. I'm doing him a favor here, of sorts, and he is doing me a very big favor. Well, sorta. It isn't as
free or easy as all that. But the simple version is that he's mostly my boss too.”
She shrugged a little bit, lighting up. “As to why he sent you specifically, I'm sure I can figure that out soon enough.” And she did have quite a few ideas of what he could do for her, but she wouldn't put voice to them just yet. “So you can relax, Damian, I don't bite. Well, unless you want me to.”
Damian visibly relaxed as Masha explained her relation to Darius, glad that he hadn’t ruined one of Darius’ plans with his bumbling. That said, her last comment sent a shiver through his being, Masha’s form being momentarily replaced with that of Corinna before he quickly turned his eyes downward once more, his face quickly reddening with a blush as he once again started playing with his hair.
She laughed at his embarrassment, pleased that she could so easily make someone like him blush with just some joking words. “You are something, aren't you,” she chuckled. “I guess that concludes the interview. But might I suggest you don't let the other Manger know who else you work for. He and our mutual friend aren't on the friendliest of terms at the moment.” She hummed in thought for a second before deciding. “Probably best you meet with Irma, probably gonna put you on wait staff unless I really need your other abilities.”
“Understood.” Damian said with nod, his nerves finally having settled. It wasn’t the preferred occupation, he had managed to get hired and wait staff was likely a better fit for him anyway. However, he felt as if he was missing one crucial piece of info about his new employer. “Um, if you don’t mind me asking Ma’am, what’s your name? I’m guessing the other Manager is this Cortez i read about in the articles written online about this place, but there wasn’t any mention of someone like you ever working here. Did Darius pull you from somewhere to help run this place?”
Masha laughed as she put out the cigarette she was smoking and stood up. She had to think of how her accent sounded today. Did she sound more Russian right now because she was kinda tipsy and frazzled about this whole thing or did she sound more English just then. Not that she was sure that he’d know either way. “More like I showed up out of nowhere and asked for something. This is what he gave me.” She looked over at him with a smile as she started towards the back, adjusting her skirt back down to where it was supposed to be. “My name is Masha by the way.”
“I see,” Damian said with a somewhat confused look upon his face. From what he knew of Darius(which was admittedly little) he didn’t seem the type to just
give people things because they asked. It made him wonder slightly about the relation between the two for a moment, but quickly discarded that train of thought. He was likely over thinking on the matter, and even if he wasn’t, the Nightwalker knew it unwise to try and dig into Darius’ personal matters.
Stay low and do what you’re told. He reminded himself
Nothing more. . . nothing less.“Well, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Masha. I hope I meet your expectations of me.” Damian gave a quick bow, eyes scanning the club’s interior once more as he rose back up. “Tho I must say I envy your position. This establishment has seen better days.”
She grinned at that, her smile almost predatory. “It still hasn't seen the best yet. Now come among and don't dawdle.”
{SoL Period 1 Post}
