The Midnight Sun

“So you figure, Skarlet, every patron enters the establishment, and sits down. And it is the task of the wait staff to take their order, provide them with what they ask for, from the bar and kitchen, and then take their payment. Part of what you’ll need to do is assign each member of the wait staff to a particular set of tables, that will be their responsibility to tend. They’ve already done this to a basic extent, themselves, but just watching now, I can see that Marianne over there, straight black hair, standing by the door, her tables are closer to the door, and people sit at them more frequently. In the time I’ve been standing here, she’s served perhaps double the amount of customers as some of the waiters here in the back. Once you’ve got a handle on how things go, the trends and patterns of the floor, I’ll expect you to assign each member of the wait staff a table. If it’s done properly, a system like that would mean slightly faster service for each patron. Marianne there, since her tables are always filled, some of her customers are having to wait for a significant amount of time as other patrons fiddle with their purses and such. That will be one of your responsibilities, making sure each and every customer in here gets prompt and quality service. Making any changes you need to the existing structure to ensure the best experience for all involved.”

Naoki waves her mug at the topics of her discussion, taking sips in between clauses. By the time she’s finished, the mug has been drained once again.

“The other thing you should do, in addition to allocating the members of the wait staff, is to allocate yourself. You are a resource just as much as they are, and you should deploy yourself to important or otherwise troublesome situations. For example, if some important member of the ministry comes in. It may be preferable to take their order yourself, rather than allowing one of the standard wait staff to do it. Or if there’s a large group, or some customer catches your eye as someone who might start a fight, or seems interesting for any other reason. Sometimes, making sure things run smoothly means doing things yourself.”

Naoki slides the mug across the bar to Kevin, signalling that she’d like another refill.

“I realize that I have perhaps oversimplified your duties, here. But to be honest, the wait staff are already very competent. I don’t suffer fools, and I certainly don’t appoint the inept to work my bar. You’ll be a strong, leading support element to an already organized and functional group.”

As the mug slides back towards her, Madame Naoki picks it up in mid-slide, and in the same fluid motion, takes another long drag at the hot chocolate, wiping her mouth with a handkerchief before speaking again.

“Oh, you should also keep in mind, this is the day. So this is the day-shift wait staff. As the sun sets, the day shift ends, and the night shift workers will gradually phase out these guys. You can choose to work whatever hours you’d like to, but I encourage you to be around for the twilight hours. That’s when most of the action is. And the bar, and everyone that sits directly at the bar- that’s not your responsibility. Kevin handles the bar with his boys. You only need to worry about those who sit at tables.”

“My pleasure, Skarlet. I trust you do your best, and I trust your best to be the best. Like I said, everyone will help you into this. And if you find that you don’t like this station, let me know, and we can work something else out. We can fill in those blank spaces on your contract tomorrow, if you’d still like to do this. I’ll come back in a few hours to see how things are going. Until then.”

Madame Naoki raises a hand to wave to Skarlet, and then to the bar at large. A number of employees wave back, before returning to their duties. Satisfied with her work here, Naoki gestures to Artemis, and departs back up the stairs to her office.

Artaxerxes smiles. 

"Aye, and I'm damn good at it too. Tools, knives, swords... Sharp as a razor but as strong as the best steel." 

He takes another sip. 

"And I'm no wizard, or a demon, or any of the other crazies you've got holed up in here, but I know my way around the world. I've got certain connections. I've done a lot of work for professional assassins. I feel as though I can adjust to the world of magic and monsters well, if given the chance."

Artaxerxes raises the ale. 

"Thanks mate. You're doin' me a favor, to be sure."

He finishes his drink, gets up, and begins making his way up to Naoki's office. Once there, he knocks on the door. 

Artaxerxes scratches his chin. 

"Hrmm. Well, my name is Artaxerxes. I came from some backwater village you've probably never heard of. When I was a little boy, I was apprenticed to a ridiculously egotistical smithy. So egotistical, in fact, that he never actually let me craft anything. All I did was sharpen his tools. After five years of doing nothing but that I got extremely good at it. So I built myself a little grinding frame, packed my things, and hit the road. I've been drifting for the past twenty years, during which I've worked for armies, inns, gangs, assassins, mercenaries... you name it. If they had a blade, I probably worked for them. Over that time I picked up some common sense, if you will, about how to handle myself around criminals and the like. I can spot a bluff from a mile and a profit from twice that distance."

Artaxerxes chuckles lightly at this. 

"But ah... I'm not particularly skilled in any way you would consider useful I suppose. I can fight, but I'm no warrior. I've always believed in magic, but I haven't any myself, not really. But I'm a quick learner, and I know my way around people. And it's getting SO hard to find work out there these days. If there's anything you can do for me, Madame, it would be much obliged."

Madame Naoki nods as she listens to Artaxerxes’ story.

“Fair enough. Though your skill is very specific, I can see the value in it. Do you have an example of your work on hand?”

Naoki takes the knife from the desk carefully, by the handle. Her inexperience handling weapons is evident, even as she considers the simple knife. She holds the blade vertically, facing upward. With her other hand, she takes a bit of scrap paper from the desk, and drops it down over the knife’s edge.

The paper slices seamlessly, drawn through the blade by nothing more than gravity. Two portions of paper lazily drift to rest side by side on the desk’s surface.

At this impressive display of quality, Madame Naoki’s eyebrows raise. What extraordinary fortune she was experiencing of late, regarding skilled individuals. He said he could do weapons- swords, as well. This man sitting before her is not only, as evidenced, very skilled at his craft, but is also an immense tactical asset. One that she would have no trouble justifying.

Finished with her appraisal, she slides the knife back across the desk to Artaxerxes.

“Impressive. I will employ you, if you’ll accept my employment. Allow me a moment to prepare the necessary paperwork.”

Madame Naoki slides back in her chair, and begins rummaging in the desk’s drawers. From within, she extracts a small handful of half-completed employment contracts.

“There are a few things you should be aware of, before entering into any sort of agreement here. Being employed by The Midnight Sun is more than just that. Not only do we provide food, lodgings, and other benefits, but by signing on with us, you also agree to a number of other things. To become a part of our family, as it were. These contracts here, they outline the terms exactly, but the gist of it is such that you agree not to work against the wishes of the organization at large, agree to respect your employees, and do your best at your job. Oh, and you can’t break the local law. You are, of course, free to read them all in their entirety, but that’s a succinct summary, I think.”

“We’re a bit more than just a business, I think you can understand.”

She gives Artaxerxes a particular sort of look, that lets on a bit of what she’s trying to imply. Based on what he said of his past work experience, she thinks that he’ll follow.

After a minute more of writing, Naoki slides the documents, now mostly completed, across the desk at Artaxerxes for his reading and signing. One is a form, that asks some things about the subject. Name, birthplace, age, and the like. Another is the formal contract of employment, that would employ Artaxerxes as a ‘Sharpening Officer’, and pay him a fairly generous salary for ‘fulfilling the duties expected of The Sharpening Officer’. It also goes into some terms about not wronging the family, and such.

The last contract is an explanation of benefits and additional terms. He is to be provided with food, lodgings, clothing and the like, as well as a nice health and dental plan, among other things.

“Is there anything I should be aware of when striking a deal with you? Do you have any unique conditions, or quirks I should know about? Will you need any equipment, or special accommodations to do your job?”

After Artaxerxes has finished filling out the forms, Madame Naoki takes a moment to check them over, checking to ensure he’s signed in on all the right lines, and giving a cursory examination of the information he put on the form.

“We could probably find some magnification tools for you to use. As far as a forge or workshop goes, no, not really. We have some empty rooms, though, you can assume one of them as your workshop.”

Satisfied with his work, Naoki files the forms away into a folder, which she then labels with his name. She would later file the folder away with its kin in the sitting room.

“As for what work you’ll do exactly, that’s sort of a good question. We’re not exactly an army, yet. We don’t all have tools to be sharpened. Though, I imagine that the chefs go through a lot of knives…”

“All of this paperwork is in order, so you’re now an official Midnight Sun employee. Congratulations.”

Reaching into another drawer of her desk, she considers the contents for a moment, before carefully selecting a small purple gem, of high quality and octagonal cut. She holds it between two fingers, displaying it to Artaxerxes.

“Another thing you should be aware of, we have a unique system of communication. A sort of magical gemcraft, each member carries one of these purple gems on their person somewhere. They allow for telepathic communication between the gem-holder and Mr. Cresno, our resident... communications... coordinator. He’s in the office across the hall, you’ll need to be introduced.”

Placing the gem back into the drawer, she grabs a handful of the drawer’s contents, and dumps it on the desk with a small orchestra of clinking metal. It’s an impressive assortment of metal jewelry, earrings, rings, brooches, made of gold, iron, silver, and other metals. Each item has a purple jewel embedded into it in some form. She spreads the pile out on the desk, showcasing the assortment.

“However, as opposed to just carrying these gems in our pockets, most choose to wear a trinket, or bit of jewelry with the gem embedded into it. For example, I have this earring. Others have necklaces, rings, piercings, or have had the gem embedded into a bit of clothing they wear all the time. The way you wear yours is mostly up to you, but you should keep in mind that for the gem to function it has to touch your skin, so it should be kept somewhere where you can touch it easily, perhaps even covertly. You have the option of selecting one of these items here, or, if you don’t find any of these to your liking, we can have Mr. Cresno make you a custom piece. You’ll need to wear a gem in some way, but the choice of how is yours.”

“After you’ve selected a way to wear your gem, we’ll need to briefly stop in with Mr. Cresno, allow him to make a note and calibrate your gem, or whatever it is he does, then I’ll show you your room, and introduce you to the kitchen staff.”

"Hello! Welcome to the Midnight Sun." A young lady in a sexy bunny suit greets Lum'Valia. Her curvaceous body fills out the outfit really well. Her dark red eyes examine the dragon in human form before she continues, she feels an unusual aura from her. She says with a smile, "How may I help you?"