lazy_but_loyal | OOM - Fangtasia/Northman residence

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jason todd,
oom

OOM - Fangtasia/Northman residence

Okay. She's got this.

Eric has left with Russell Edgington and his new bride Sophie-Ann. And now Pam has ensconced herself in Eric's office and is actually doing stuff. And things. Because she has to, and procrastinating isn't an option. With one eye on the clock, she needs to get things in order at Fangtasia at least an hour before dawn if they're going to be open for business tomorrow night.

She calls the number for the professional cleaners that ask no questions and talks to a guy with a Russian accent who requires cash up front. It's a lot of cash, but it'll be worth it. They'll be at the club in forty-five minutes.

With that out of the way, she calls Ginger.

"Pam!" she nearly shrieks over the phone. "Oh mah Gawd, are you all right? I was at the bar two nights ago, but there were these guards at the door who wouldn't tell me a thing, so I tried callin' y'all and callin' y'all, but there was ever any answer, so I figured you and Eric were outta town or somethin', but why--"

"Ginger."

"...Yes, Pam?"

"Shut the fuck up and listen."

"Sure thing, Pam."

"Don't come in to work tonight. But come in tomorrow during the day, and straighten up the place. It looks like a fucking pigsty."

"Okay, I can do that. Anythin' else?"

"That's all for now."

"Okay! Just lemme know if there's anythin'--"

"I will."

Click.

Pam rubs her temple. That Ginger.

The Magister's minions had trashed the bar. Fortunately they hadn't destroyed much of what was in the storeroom, but Pam will still need to restock their supply of liquor and TruBlood. And buy new glassware to replace what's been broken. Fuckers.

And now she has to tell the rest of the staff not to come in. That's easy enough. She leans back in Eric's chair and scrolls through her phone's saved numbers, and after composing a quick text message, she sends it out to all the staff.

There. Done. Next?

Jay. Pickup truck. Right.

She calls the vampire-friendly rental place. The woman on the other end of the line tells her that they can get a truck to Fangtasia within the next two hours. Awesome. Pam will just have to get a ride home with Jay, but whatever.

While she's putting in orders for liquor, the cleaners arrive. They are two large men in overalls, one human, one vampire, equipped with an industrial grade vacuum pump, mops, and a large drum of bleach. Pam pays them, and then shows them down to the dungeon. As is their business motto, they don't ask questions. It takes them about an hour to completely sterilize everything. Pam is impressed.

No more Magister.

It's not long before the pickup truck arrives in the parking lot. Pam signs the paperwork, and the driver hands her the keys.

So far, everything is going according to plan. She anticipates the moment when the whole thing goes off the fucking rails, but for now, she'll take it.

Time to go get Jay.

Milliways napkin in her back jeans pocket, she opens the door to Eric's office--

--and enters the bar at the end of the universe.

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"Oh, thank fuck," she breathes out when the text pops up on her phone. Another distraction.

The place is about half-packed when Jay arrives, techno-rock blaring on the speakers, couples grinding on the dance floor and dancers writhing on the poles. Pam is waiting at the bar, and when she spots Jay, she crosses the room toward him.

"We can use the back door to bring your trailer through," she says, leaning in a little to be heard over the music.

"You look like you're short handed at the bar? I'm happy to step in if you want?"

She hesitates for a moment, glancing back at the bar and the crowd. It should be all right without his help, but-- it couldn't hurt.

"Sure, why not. There's a couple of hours until last call if you're up for it."

With a tic of her head, she motions for him to follow her.

He nods and follows, scanning the crowd as he does. Doesn't hurt to get a feel for the crowd.

Behind the bar, there's a burly tattooed bartender with a Fu-Manchu mustache, and a girl with green spiky hair and a scanty leather-and-fishnets outfit serving drinks.

"Bruno, Mandy. Here, have another pair of hands for tonight. This is Jay."

Bruno nods with a grunt; Mandy gives him an indifferent stare.

"Don't eat him," Pam adds.

Both of them grin toothily.

Pam waves Jay behind the bar.

Jay gives them both a respectful nod and gets to work. He turns on the charm, all the way up to play up to the crowd.

He's worked more than a few bar and bouncer shifts in the off days between missions and knows his way about a cocktail shaker. And the fang-banger crowd is easy to impress.

A skinny, petite blonde woman, wearing denim cutoffs and a floral halter top, and carrying a bucket of ice, edges her way behind the bar.

"Oh, hey!" Ginger chirps at Jay, grinning a bit goofily. "Have we met?"

They might have; she can't remember. Then again, she can't remember much of anything!

"I don't think so." Jay smiles, offering her a hand between pouring drinks. "I'm Jay. I'm... one of Eric's." He leaves it at that. "I offered Pam a hand. Looks like you guys were a little short staffed."

She wipes her hand on a towel and shakes his hand.

"One of Eric's...?" She stares at him blankly for a second. "Oh! Oh, never mind, okay, I get it." And she gives him an exaggerated wink.

One of Eric's under-the-table employees! Obviously!

"Yeah, things've been a bit off-kilter the past couple of days, but I think we're good now. Thanks for steppin' in! We could use a handy guy like you around."

She pokes him with a bony elbow before dumping the contents of the ice bucket in the trough under the bar.

"I'm Ginger, by the way. Nice to meet'cha!"

Edited 2014-12-10 14:52 (UTC)

Jay ducks out of her way, trying not to bump the vamp bar-staff as he takes more orders. "Nice to meet you, Ginger. I'm sure things will quieten down soon enough." He doubts it but Ginger doesn't seem like the sort to over-think things. "And I'm always happy to help."

"Aww, ain't you sweet," Ginger says completely unironically, beaming at him. With the empty bucket in tow, she makes her way out from behind the bar.

"Well, you ever come here during the daytime, you lemme know. We can have lunch! I'll make you my special peanut butter 'n butter sandwich."

She waves at him and disappears into the back rooms.

Jay laughs and nods, pouring out another round of cocktails. "Sounds great. Thanks, Ginger." He has a feeling he wouldn't enjoy special peanut butter 'n butter sandwich but as the chances of him being here during daylight was low, there was no point worrying.

He flirts openly with a little band of goth-kids on the other side of the bar, steadily emptying their wallets with rounds of custom cocktails.

Meanwhile, Pam keeps an eye on things while carding people at the door, weeding out the underaged and warning baby vamps to behave themselves. She sometimes turns to watch Jay as he works, charming both humans and vampires alike. He would make a good under-the-table employee.

When the crowd begins to thin out, Pam goes over to the bar and tells Mandy she can take off early, a reward for switching from dancing to bartending on short notice. Eventually last call is announced, and the dancers descend from their platforms while the music rages on. Straggling couples insist on making out until they're thrown out. And with a last sweep of the restrooms to make sure that nobody's feeding on the premises, Pam is ready to call it a night.

"Time to close up shop," she tells Jay as she goes behind the register to collect the cash. The till is stuffed with green.

"Holy shit. Not bad, sweetheart."

Jay gives her a little bow and splits his tips with the others. "My pleasure. It was good fun, I haven't worked the bar in a while." Not that anyone could tell.

Bruno pockets his share with a grunted, "Thanks, man," and he claps him on the shoulder, a squeeze lingering longer than it should. With a salute to Pam, he checks out for the evening.

Pam takes Mandy's split and folds it up, tucking it away to give to her tomorrow night.

"You are definitely a people person," she snorts as she shuts off the music, and the empty club is suddenly silent, but for the clinking of glasses as Ginger carries them away into the kitchen.

"No problems, mate." Jay smiles up at Bruno, not minding the lingering touch.

He waits till they're gone and shrugs to Pam, starting the clean up and wiping down the bar. "Charm has it's uses. And it was fun."

Pam starts bundling up the cash and receipts. She'll look them over tomorrow.

"Well, at least you had some fun at the end of the day. Everything go okay at the house?"

"Everything's up and running. Eric's room too. I gave the garden defences a once over too. It shouldn't need any more done to it for a while." He clears up the last of the glasses and set things back in place.

"Good. I'll tell Eric," she says with a nod, and she glances toward the kitchen.

"I should get you back to Milliways before Ginger's done in there."

Jay pockets the last of his tips and grabs his tool box. "After you."

Pam arches an eyebrow with a smirk.

"Let's face it, the phrase 'after you' was only invented so that a gentleman can stare at a woman's ass as she walks in front of him."

And thus she brushes past him, slipping out from behind the bar and crossing the room toward the exit, walking with a little extra sway in her hips.

"While being gentlemanly about it." Jay grins, happily watching that sway.

He follows, collecting his gear as he goes. "Well, thanks for a lovely evening."

"What can I say," she says wryly. "Just call me Miss Hospitality."

She pulls a folded-up Milliways napkin out of her brassiere.

The parking lot is empty except for the pickup truck and Ginger's car. There's a wide alley around the corner of the building, and it's out of the way enough so that any passersby won't notice a door morphing in size to let Jay's trailer through.

She supposes she should thank him or something before he goes.

"I'll let Eric know that you did a good job."

There.

"I won't dare." He chuckles at her joking comment.

He nods and grabs his trailer, dragging it straight into the garage. "I'll see you around, Pam." He gives her a little salute and heads out.

"See ya," she drawls, and she shuts the door behind him.

When she opens it again, it's just another entrance to the club, and not the end of the universe. She heads inside, going down a long, dark corridor, and emerges among the back rooms. Stepping into Eric's office and closing the door, she takes a change of clothes out of her travel bag and starts to undress.

Everything is quiet. Ginger will help her close up and then drive her home. And then maybe she might get at least a text from Eric before dawn? Maybe? Just to say he's okay? Or when he's coming home?

Goddammit. She's starting to worry again.

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runningred - 2014-12-11 07:28 (UTC) - Expand

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