Working Hard?

[Kirien Melantha]

It was a typical Saturday evening, and as usual, Kirien was hard at work. Hard at work looking for work. Weiss' was getting plenty of business, but Kirien Melantha was getting slim to none. They came in during her break. They came in before she got in, or after she left. They went straight to the bar. Worst of all, the silly customers, especially the giggling girls, seemed to prefer the bartender's service! She was hardly working anymore!

I'm not going to stand here and be a wallflower. She huffed to herself, surveying the current lack of customers. Well, at least that meant Weiss wasn't stealing her work again. She needed to work hard and prove that she was good at what she did, so her boss would keep her. She needed to work to get money, and get money to buy books, to learn spells. Like how to set people on fire. She needed money to buy weapons, to hack people up with. She needed money to buy cute little dresses when she got too much blood on her old ones. She even needed money to occasionally buy food, so she had enough energy to play!

Before anyone else came in and waved Weiss over instead of herself, she charged the bar where the elf was working, pushed herself up on the counter, and sat down right in front of him. If they couldn't see Weiss, they couldn't ask for him, could they? And even if they did see Weiss, she was in front, so maybe the stupid people would take the hint.

Is my hair bad today or something? She tugged at one pigtail lightly, as if blaming it for her trouble. I don't see what's so good about him!

[Weiss]

Weiss had been minding his own business, wiping down his bar with a damp cloth, when a foreign object suddenly obscured his downcast vision. His eyes travelled slowly up said object and, upon finding out what it actually was, he was far more confused than before he figured it out.

"Kirien, what on earth are you doing?"

He didn't expect her to act normally, no, he wouldn't expect that of anyone, but she had just jumped right in front of him as he was working, as if it was completely acceptable to sit on his bar. The main thought going through his head at the moment was 'bum here, bum not supposed to be here', and based on past experiences, he could only draw one conclusion.

Is she making a pass at me?

He was not so self-involved that he would see anything anyone did as hitting on him, but he had no way of knowing what the girl was thinking, hadn't noticed her lack of business himself, and couldn't accept that the reason might be just plain stupidity, so in his eyes, this was the only valid explanation.

"Kirien I'm afraid I..."

What? Don't like Demons? That's not true at all, Demons are very sexy... Don't like Demons that look like young girls? That's closer, but I don't---

Luckily, or so he considered it, his train of thought was interrupted by a customer.

"A pound of wings is only 30 Aturs tonight," he responded to Caldera, leaning slightly around Kirien to do so.

[Kirien Melantha]

Kirien looked satisfied when Weiss began to explain that he wasn't interested, assuming that he was actually apologizing for stealing all her customers. About time! Hmph. Around that time, Caldera entered and inquired about the special, and she was about to answer...when stupid Weiss cut her off.

He's doing my job again! Ooh! I'll show him! She kicked her feet over the counter, turned so she was facing the interfering blonde, and promptly clamped her little hands over his mouth. 'SHUT UP![/i]' Her eyes said. She sent Caldera a friendly smile over her shoulder.

"Welcome to Weiss' Bar and Grill! I'm Kirien and I'll be your server today!" She whipped out a little notepad and scrawled down 'Wings x2.' "The wings come with your choice of french fries or a house salad. Since you asked for two orders of wings, would you like two sides?"

She momentarily ignored the customer's question as to why she was sitting in front of Weiss. She was sure that her actions made that clear enough. And to suggest she was flirting...what nerve this girl had! If she wanted to flirt with someone, she'd have to find someone who didn't have fluff-for-brains, and she wouldn't need tips, either!

The demon turned her attention back to Weiss, and gave him an 'I'm mad at you' glare. Since it was impolite to glare at customers, she took it out on Weiss instead. This time, her eyes were saying 'I will kill you!'[/color]

[Weiss]

English, yes. Elven, most certainly. Even a few other human languages.

But Weiss didn't speak 'eyes'.

As far as he was concerned, the hands on his mouth were some sort of sexual innuendo. He was originally under the impression that the flirting would at least end when a customer needed attention, but he was also originally under the impression that the customer was not some sort of flirting coach. Yes, he had indeed heard Caldera; his keen elf ears missed very little.

So as Kirien introduced herself, he merely stood there silently, pondering what there was to ponder. He had thought there was something wrong with the girl flirting with him due to, perhaps, their age difference, but the customer seemed to be fine with it. And the customer is always right, right? Besides, he had dated Elven women that had more of an age gap than this. And also besides, flirting didn't really mean anything, right? It was all in fun; Kirien's hands over his mouth earlier was part of the game.

Thus decided, he innocently peeked his head around Kirien again to address Caldera, a smile on his face. "And would you like a drink with that?"

When the angry glare came his way, he again lost the meaning in translation, and so he shot Kirien a wink. When in Rome...

[Kirien Melantha]

Kirien scratched '1 salad, 1 fries w/water' onto her notepad, flipped it shut, and clicked her pen closed. "If that's all, your order should be ready soon." She told Caldera with her Happy Waitress Smile. However, her Happy Waitress Smile merged with her Angry Waitress Is Going To Kill Her Boss Smile to create the much-feared Scary Waitress Is Trying To Appear Cheerful When She's About To Rip Someone's Face Off Smile.

She was supposed to take the order to the kitchen about then, so they could start working on Caldera's order. She was also supposed to scream at Weiss for doing her job, but that wouldn't do at all in front of a customer. It was unprofessional, and if they lost customers because of it, she could lose her job.

Anyone else would go take the order to the kitchen and let out her frustration by screaming at the top of her lungs or bashing some pots around, or even waiting until the customer left to scold her boss. But Kirien was not going to chance leaving Weiss with her customer. He'd probably convince her that she was his customer if she did that! She considered asking him to take the order back, so she could guard Caldera, but doing so would probably reflect badly on herself. There was only one other option.

She attempted to shove the irritating elf into the kitchen.

[Weiss]

Weiss had just poured a glass of water from behind the bar for Caldera, and was about ready to hand it to her when Kirien began shoving him along, nearly causing him to tip the glass over. He just barely managed to right the glass and shoot Caldera an apologetic smile before being swept away.

"Kirien," he said over his shoulder as the girl pushed him along, "Kirien, I think you're moving things a little quickly. Couldn't this at least wait until we're off the clock? I have to watch the bar, you know. People might steal alcohol or something. Kirien."

When they finally made it through the swinging doors to the kitchen, Weiss hopped forward so Kirien wouldn't be able to usher him along any more, and turned to face her.

The chef, Al, looked at them both quizzically, but decided not to ask questions, and simply turned back to his work.

"Kirien, I know how you feel, and it's perfectly normal. Lots of people feel that way about me, I can't help it. I'm just, you know, doing my thing." He paused for a moment before coming to a decision. "But I'm afraid I can't let this happen. I'm your boss, and if you do this, it will look badly upon both of us. I can't let you make a bad decision."

Alyyarwen didn't look up, but he nodded his agreeance, if mainly because he didn't particularly want to see them 'do this'.

[Kirien Melantha]

There was only so much Kirien could take before she snapped. This was too much.

"I DON'T WANT TO SLEEP WITH YOU!" The redhead screamed at the top of her lungs. The entire restaurant might have heard her just then, but she didn't care. At least it'd sink in...hopefully.

She was red-faced from anger and embarrassment. She certainly wasn't thinking about doing anything, but the fact that he kept saying she was did enough to frustrate her. She exhaled sharply several times, as if trying to keep herself from screaming that loud again. Couldn't be good for business.

If they don't like us as much it's all his fault. I got out of the room and everything!

"You're the bartender. I'm the waitress. I get the people who want to actually eat stuff! Usually they sit at tables! You get the drunkards, who usually go sit at the bar! Back off, mister! If you wanted to do everything, why'd you ever bother getting employees?!"

She stomped over to the equally-as-stupid cook, tore the order out from her notepad, slammed it down in front of him, and exited the kitchen. Happy Waitress Face back on? Good.

[Weiss]

Weiss stood for a moment in stunned silence.

He promptly decided that one moment was not enough, and stood for a few more moments in stunned silence.

In fact, the chances were very high that he would have stood there the whole night in stunned silence had Alyyarwen not chosen that moment to speak, though his words were in his native Elven tongue.

"Oh, wow. She's definitely got the hots for you, Weiss."

"I know! I don't even do it on purpose!" Weiss said confusedly. "I mean, she's my employee!"

"It's alright Weiss. You're the Weiss. It happens. Now, you've just got to pretend this didn't happen, and you've got to go out there, and you've got to do your job. Just your job. You know why, Weiss?"

"Because she asked me not to do hers?" he asked lamely. "I pay her either way, you know..."

"Yes... but... no. Because if you do her job, you're just giving her fuel, you know? Attention. An excuse to be involved with you."

"Am I supposed to fire her? I don't want to fire her, she does a good job." His tone was that of a confused child.

"No! Don't do that! That's fuel Weiss, fuel! Just do your thing, okay? But minus the waiter bit."

"Okay..." said Weiss dejectedly.

"Come on, that's not Weiss. Where's my man Weiss?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Weiss said with a chuckle, shaking himself out of it. "Time to get to work."

Al switched back to English then. "Yeah! That's my boy, Weiss! Go serve those drinks!" And then he mumbled in Elven, "I've got to get this order done before that psycho waitress come in here and castrates me. I hope you like it rough, Weiss."

But Weiss had left the kitchen already, and taken his rightful place behind the bar, smiling broadly.

[Kirien Melantha]

"That won't be necessary." Kirien told Caldera in a frighteningly cheery manner. "We've already started working on your order!" She generously left out the part about finding their chef incompetant, and the part where she suggested Caldera eat elsewhere unless she wanted to suffer from food poisoning. Something told her that her blonde bimbo of a boss wouldn't like that, despite the fact that his head chef was clearly a complete idiot.

She caught sight of Weiss' equally-as-creepy-smile. I think he's overdoing the Happy Bartender Face. She mused to herself, apparantly oblivious that she looked like she was about to rip someone's eyeball out and eat it. No one ever complained about her service, anyway. Her customers seemed to like her because she was cute and young...or they knew she'd follow them into a dark alleyway if she got bad criticism.

She snatched up a pitcher of ice water from behind the bar, and headed off to refill any empty glasses, as she usually did with nothng to do. Then she remembered that Caldera was their only customer. With a half-second frown, she returned the pitcher to it's original position.

[Weiss]

Incompetency was a pretty vague description of Alyyarwen Lolothorien. Incompetent in a few choice fields, perhaps, but you would find no one better at his job than this particular elf. He could easily have found work in a more classy or expensive establishment, but his roots were here, and here he stayed. He had started his career as a chef in this very place, back when Weiss' brother, the other Weiss boy, still owned it. Al was a cousin of theirs, and as such, their first choice for the chef position, though he was a pretty terrible one in those days. Of course, that is another story completely.

The point being, Al was not an incompetent chef in the least. His wings were dubbed Raewyn Island's best kept secret, and on any normal 'Wings Special' night, the place would be teeming with people. It was strange that it was so empty.

Contrary to Kirien's belief, Weiss' smile was actually a genuine one. He returned happily to cleaning off his bar, working around Caldera of course, after which he proceeded to shine a few of his good glasses in a very bartender-ly fashion.

Upon finishing the order, Al tapped the service bell in the kitchen lightly, signalling Kirien to come get the dish. Only one serving of wings and one side-dish (the salad) was ready, but he figured the customer could only eat so many things at once anyway, why overwhelm her with four dishes?

[Kirien Melantha]

Eager to have something to do, Kirien grabbed the water pitcher again and all but pounced Caldera's empty glass. "I'm level four." She told her customer cheerily, secretly thinking that the other woman was a complete idiot for even asking such a silly question. Certainly she was at least 13 in appearance, but younger than 18. She despised small talk. It was all empty and meaningless. No one really wanted to know how your day was, or what you thought of the weather, did they?

When she heard the kitchen bell ding, she startled a little, not expecting the order to be done so quickly. Maybe I was wrong about that lazy cook. "That should be your order. One moment!" She happily skipped off to shove the pitcher at Weiss, then skipped into the kitchen. Only half the order was ready. Figures. I could probably cook better than him! He can't even get the order right!

The demon picked up the salad and the first order of wings and gave Al a dirty look. "You're missing half the order." She told him matter-of-factly, assuming that he simply forgot the rest of the order. She trailed out of the kitchen immediately afterward, not interested in what his 'bumbling excuse' would be.

"Right now only half of your order is ready, but the other half should be done soon!" She told Caldera, as she gently placed the plate of salad before her, the wings following after. "We...assumed it would be better to give you these, so you don't get too hungry...and so your wings don't get cold while we're waiting for the other ones." She explained, making up her own reason for Al's 'incompetence.' Ironically, her reason and the real reason were one in the same.

[Weiss]

Weiss accepted the pitcher (not that he had much choice) and filled it the rest of the way with fresh water. "Can I get you something stronger?" he inquired of Caldera, as the waitress left the area. His eyes flicked in Kirien's direction but he would make no other hint as to why Caldera would, perhaps, care for a little something to numb the mind with. Had he not been on duty he would have had a drink of his own by now, that's for sure.

Al matched Kirien's dirty look with surprising tenacity. "Yoah missin haff duh orrrrrduh," he whined in a very mocking, sing-song voice, though he was careful to wait to do so until Kirien had left the kitchen again. "What a piece of work that one is..." he muttered, shaking his head slowly as he prepared part two of Caldera's meal.

[Kirien Melantha]

What to do. There wasn't much to do. Kirien detested small talk, but thankfully, she wasn't expected to entertain her customer. Waitresses took orders, delivered food, and supplied refills. Unfortunately, she'd already done everything required of her.

For a moment she seriously contemplated strangling Weiss. When someone came in who clearly wanted food, that did not stop Weiss. Anyone else might reason that the elf was probably at least as bored as she was. Anyone else might reason that he was only being courteous, but she only saw him trying to steal her customer. Again.

She reminded herself how much of a pain it would be to get another job once more. She had no problem getting herself hired. When being interviewed, she simply had to act as cute and sweet as she was capable; she charmed the poor suckers every time. Once she was in, she was in to stay. Any crack in her perfect act would surely be ignored; she was an excellent worker. The problem was, if she strangled Weiss...she wasn't sure that anywhere else was hiring. TI was always looking for new members, and the restorer team at Raewyn Hospital was short-staffed, but no one seemed to want to hire a girl her age.

She shimmied over to Weiss and stole the water pitcher to pour herself a glass. Drinking in front of customers wasn't encouraged, but there weren't exactly that many around. If her boss had anything to say about it, she'd claim she was dehydrated, but it was more to pass the time than anything.

She fidgeted impatiently between the bar area and the door to the kitchen, waiting for sound that the rest of Caldera's order was done. After exactly thirty seconds of waiting, she set the glass down, leered at the door, and stormed the kitchen. The Caldera woman must be out of her mind, complimenting their idiot chef.

[Weiss]

"The favourite, you say? That'd be beer, by a long shot," Weiss said, pouring Caldera a glass from the tap as he finished speaking. He slid the glass to Caldera and nodded when she complimented Al's cooking. "He sure does. He's been cooking longer than most people's lives last. He could probably be working at a five-star establishment but he likes it here. It's more fun, I suppose." He failed to mention how a certain abusive waitress made things a little different nowadays, though Al found some pretty odd things to be 'fun'.

Odd things like bugging the psychopath of a waitress they had. Which was why, when he saw her storming over again, he removed his hand from on top of the bell, having decided not to ring it after all, and made his way to the kitchen doors, grabbing the order on his way. Upon reaching them, he simply stood just out of their swinging range and stared at them with a smug look on his face.

Quite the sight for Kirien to see upon storming in.

[Kirien Melantha]

The sight of a smug Al holding the remaining half of her customer's order only made the hotheaded redhead more agitated. "What're you looking at?" She demanded snappily.

She knew he didn't ring the bell, which meant he was willingly and knowingly preventing their customer from receiving their order. He should get fired for such behavior, but for some reason her crazy boss liked him. He probably wouldn't have any of her complaints, despite the fact that she was obviously a better worker than Al. She found herself hoping that the food was freezing cold, just so the customer would complain, and only Al could take the blame. If the food was cold, it was either cooked improperly, or Al had taken too long to put it out.

"Gimme." She held out her hands expectantly, and wiggled her fingers pointedly, just in case he didn't realize he was supposed to place the plates on her palms.

I bet it's been done for a really long time, and the dirty pig got hungry and started munching on it himself! That would be even better than it being freezing!