Fantasy House of Opportunity

[simj26]

Noh

Noh's lips curled further at Hana's return of his pun. He barely felt Mai's hand unlink from his, and barely noticed her cozying it up with the Byakko guy. His eyes were elsewhere at this point, namely on the ancient being that made its way down the stairs. He swept his hand across his chest, and the other to his back as he bowed low to the one and only Jinbaba. It would be too much to say that he didn't like her. After all, she was giving him cash, and a place to stay. It was only right that he treated her as his superior. Not so much the others. He stood silent as Jinbaba spoke her piece, and after she was done, he remained so. His eyes darted around the place, scanning each of their expressions, and immediately, he found nothing but suspicions and discord.


"So that's the big deal, huh. A spy." He finally spoke, scratching his head irritably. He didn't particularly enjoy pointing fingers at people. It was the law, the rule in the code of friends. You don't rat another out. Even as the 'incentive' stared at him in the face, Noh could only but sigh. What's 2 c cut from his pay, anyway? What did freedom mean to him anyway? What was there left of his original name to care for?


He wasn't cut out for this. Washing glasses, preparing drinks, entertaining the customers, these jobs were what he did. "Darn. All this hard thinking's giving me rather," he blinked blearily and buried his face in his hands, before opening them, revealing a grotesquely disfigured face, one of his eyes on his chin, and the other at the tip of his nose, and his mouth seated on his forehead, "mixed feelings." He gave a loud laugh to disguise his growing disgust at the others for their ability to turn on their own co-workers just for a paltry sum of money, before tugging at his eyes and his mouth, flicking them off his face. His facial features now barren, there was no way of telling what he was thinking through his eyes.


"Alright, Detectives, I'm afraid this is out of my jurisdiction." He gave a mocking salute at the crowd gathered. "Rookie Noh will be heading back on the beat patrol now at the bar, sirs. Here's to your successful investigation." He made what seemed to be a sound of stifled laughter, before waving dismissively at them. "Alright, you big boys and girls don't play too rough now. If you do, I'll be around to kiss those booboos away. Now, if you'd excuse me, Jinbaba-sama, all of you," he bowed to the old lady, then to the rest, "I'll be taking my leave. If you've need for refreshments during your work, of which I'm very sure you'll be most intent on doing, please, visit the bar." He bowed again, and turned on his heel, making his way back to his original post. Though there were no facial expressions, there could have been a slight tinge of acidic derision in his words, not so much as aimed towards Jinbaba, but more of towards his co-workers.

 

[Reinhardt]

Byakko


The cool winds that breezed past Byakko had sent him into a relaxed state, even causing him to get a bit drowsy. As his breathed became softer, and his eyes slowly closed, a blurred scenery came upon his sight.


It was a green pasture, with various kinds of men and beast alike, all in one place. Surprisingly, they bore no sign of hatred and conflict towards each other, instead they demonstrated peace and unity. The same cool breezes blew past the scenery, the delightful sound of serenity echoed throughout this sight. It seemed so real, yet felt much like an illusion, a trick of his mind.


Still, Byakko could not resist the seduction of this illusion. He wanted to indulge in it, he wanted for its blur to fade away. He greatly desired to experience living in such a utopia. However, before his eyes could come to a close, and this illusion would turn to his sweet dream, the meeting had began.


The loud voice of the establishment's owner echoed through the hall, ringing in his ears and urging him to wake up. As expected, he did, shrugging off the soothing sensation of the cool breeze from the opened window, and giving the witch all of his attention.


"Once again, she disrupts the calm.", he muttered under his breath.


The wait was a bit lengthy, but the meeting itself was short. In fact, too short that it made the wait not worth at all. Jinbaba, the witch, the owner of the House of Opportunity, had announced a fee things that would concern and affect most of the staff, if not all.


A spy from a competitor had apparently worked their way into the ranks of the staff. All are entrusted with the task of finding this mole, and should they succeed they will attain an appropriate reward - appropriate to Jinbaba's perspective, that is.


Jinbaba and her two subordinates - the woman and the kirin, had quickly left the hall after such a short-lived assembly. As soon as they were no longer in sight, the various staff members began to discuss and plan on this witch - err, spy hunt. It would seem that a lot were going in for this reward, a rather materialistic one - money. Byakko, on the other hand, was not interested. He found the idea of one turning against another as an atrocity. He knew not why, but he was just opposed to it.


Silently, he decided to leave and return to the theater, and prepare for his upcoming act. Turning around, he had bumped again to another being. What is it with me and all this bumping today?, he wondered in his thoughts. He would have left, ignoring the fact that he had caused very little harm to another creature. But he was not that sort.


"My apologies...", he addressed it to the yokai. Apparently, it was Mai, a futakuchi-onna. "..young lady."


Tags: @waifu

 

[lonecoyote]

Anzu



​

One...two...three...and jump! Anzu leaped from her corner of the stage to the middle of the stage, her form and balance being as perfect as it had to be for her performance later in the day. Anzu smiled to herself and relaxed her body, putting her hands on her hips and taking a piece of paper from her back pocket. Her eyes scanned the routine yet again and she turned to see the other dancers lounging about.


"Hey! Everyone! Come now! Let's get this right!" she clapped her hands and made her voice loud enough to be heard from the bar. When working on the second floor, things could get noisy so her voice had to be loud. The dancers looked at her and got into position. Anzu nodded and folded the piece of paper back up and began to pace around the stage.


"Alright, from the top! Everything has to be perfect! If one person misses a step, we do it again!" she said, counting down and watching each figure carefully. She smiled when they executed it just right. "Awesome, people! Awesome!" she clapped with a smile on her face. She rejoined the group at the front and began to teach them the next half of the routine.


The routine for tonight was a mixture of reggae and belly dancing. So basically a lot of hip moving and skin showing. Was it something Anzu looked forward to? Absolutely not. She was more of a ballet girl. Then again, she had to be whatever Jinbaba wanted her to be. After twenty-five minutes of showing the girls the dance again and doing it with them, Anzu needed a rest.


"Take five!" she said and used the back of her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead. She walked to the corner of the stage where her drink was, taking a few sips before putting it back down. Before the girls came back out, she decided to do the entire routine herself to make sure she was doing it right. She pressed play for the song, fixed her headpiece to make sure it would not come off and began. The song was rather loud and she watched as Kaoru bounced around at the bar. She doesn't pay him much attention since all he ever did was distract her from her dance. If she didn't make sure the dance was up to par with Jinbaba's approval, she'd have to pay from her own wages and her wages weren't as good as some of the others.


Focus. Twirl, twirl, stomp, move side to side, arms up, legs together, now tur-! A sharp pain coursed through Anzu's ankle, causing her to fall on the stage floor. She winced and began to rub her ankle but even her touch hurt. She looked at her ankle as it began to swell.


"Not good, this won't do." she spoke softly, getting up and making sure to not put any weight on her foot. She hobbled to the back of the stage where the girls were and saw them all leaving.


"Where are you going?" she asked them and they all looked at her as if she had grown a new oddity.


"Didn't you hear? Jinbaba called a meeting." one girl said and Anzu sucked in a shaky breath. Of course she would call a meeting when she was injured.


"Are you ok, Anzu?"


"Hmm? Oh, this? Yes, I'll be fine. You all go to the meeting. I won't be there. I think she'd want me to be better for the show tonight. Go on." she said and shooed them out. When they all left, Anzu let out a sigh and sat down in a chair. She grabbed some bandaging and wrapped her ankle up to relieve the pain.


"I wonder how bad I'll be punished for not showing up to the meeting." she wondered aloud. This time alone gave Anzu the time to reflect on herself. She was a very eccentric looking female. She had a headpiece that represented what yokai she was, although she couldn't remember what yokai she resembled. Her red markings weren't paint but aided in her illusion as a dancer. She was well known on the second floor since she could be found on the stage in the middle of all of the customers. She had been at the house for too long and over the years had forgotten when or how she arrived. It truly frustrated her. It felt so wrong of her to be there. She felt like she was needed elsewhere. Protecting something. Looking over someone. There was a part of her that wished nothing but to be out of the place that worked her for many hours and days. Then there was the other part of her that had grown accustomed to this lifestyle.


"Anzu! Anzu! Anzu! You won't believe this!" she heard the girls yell and suddenly surround her. Anzu jolted up right in her chair, looking at each of them. The meeting was either very short or she had lost track of time completely. All at once the girls began to talk and this confused her.


"Girls! One at a time, please." she said and held up a hand, looking at each of them. They all told her about what the meeting was about. What they said made her raise her brows. There was a spy in the house? Who could it be? There were a few faces that popped into her mind but she wanted to give others the benefit of the doubt. Wait-her pay was being cut by five percent because of this person? Whoever caught them got a money reward? Anzu didn't know how to feel about this. She could use the money to get food and something else. There was a nagging feeling in the back of her head that she needed a train ticket.


"Thank you, ladies. I appreciate the information. Give me two more hours of your time and then you may go do as you please. Remember to be back here half an hour before the doors open. Now, back to work!" she told them and stood, putting as much weight as she could on her sprained ankle. Anzu wasn't sure what she was going to do about the spy but she knew that she had to get the routine perfect or her pay would get deducted even more than the five percent.

 

[KamiKahzy]

Mago - 1st Floor Meeting Room > Kitchens





Jinbaba's presence had silenced the hall as it always did, and the meeting commenced quickly. Mago was mildly surprised at Jinbaba's statement about a spy in their midst, but he was even more surprised by the fact the meeting was over with so quickly! 'Wut, dat's it?' he thought to himself as he stared off after Jinbaba's hasty exit. He took his free hand and scratched behind his ear as he processed what just happened. He'd been dragged out of his kitchen for a very brief announcement that someone had it out for Jinbaba and the staff here. Well what else was new? Honestly, if that's all she wanted to say then Mago felt his time had been thoroughly wasted.


A familiar voice took Mago out of his ruminations and back into reality, where he noticed a distinct little serving girl he knew worked at the casino's bar. Some would say she had a case of 'butter face', but Mago wasn't one to discard beauty that was marred with only minor blemishes. Her sharp smile didn't bother him, he still thought she was an attractive little spirit. He'd chatted with her before, drank with her when he was gambling, and even made a pass at her on a few occasions. He thought she had returned a few of his flirts one time, but the sake had flowed that night and he wasn't entirely sure just how clothed he was that evening. Regardless, he spoke plainly to Maria as his mind began to wander back to his duties. "Eh... I dunno Maria, dis aint my kinda game. Nevah been one fah tinkin' too much, I jus' go wid my gut. An' right now mah gut's sayin'..." Mago dropped a hand on his potbelly just enough to cause a slight jiggle in his midriff. He cocked his head to the side and pretended to be listening to an unspoken voice, making thoughtful expressions as he nodded once or twice. "...My gut's sayin' I gots food what needs fixin'."


Mago slowly stood up from his seat and looked at both Maria and Hana with his trademark smile. "I'll see you ladies latah. Hana, Maria." He tipped his head gently to each of the women as he addressed them, then turned and made his way for the exit. As he was walking he suddenly yelled loud enough to rattle the chandeliers that lit the room. "Kitchen crew, back ta woik! Let's go, hustle-hustle-hustle!" Immediately a gaggle of spirits in kitchen uniforms snapped to and abandoned their idle chatter to respond to Mago's summons. He led his staff out of the meeting hall like a mother duck, heading up the casino stairs and back towards the double doors of his domain. As he was passing the stage he noticed the girls were out and practicing their routines, and Mago couldn't help but smile and wave at the young lovelies. He'd convinced a few of them to spend the night with him, but one in particular he was fond of watching was the elusive Anzo. She was the head dancer for several reasons, and her beauty was certainly among them. But what Mago really admired was her grace and dedication to her craft, it wasn't often you found someone so focused on doing the best they could in their given field. It's probably why he placed Hana and Anzo among his top five crushes within the casino, he thought dedication was sexy in a way.


But just as soon as he saw her he had to leave her, and Mago strode through his kitchen doors with purpose and greeted the soot spirits that had been working diligently in his absence. "Mago's back sooties! Take a break so's we can all get sorted." The soot spirits chirped and cooed in response, floating back to their home beneath the ovens to wait near the edge. Mago went to his station and grabbed a bag of candies he kept for snacking, then walked over to the ovens and dumped half the contents onto the floor. Immediately the soot spirits swarmed from their hiding place and began to snag up the candies to share among themselves. Mago smiled at the tiny spirits before he turned around and got back to his station. In truth this whole 'spy' thing wasn't any of his business. Sure he'd keep an eye out, but he had far too much work to deal with for him to worry about it. He'd keep his kitchen running as it aught, and if anything happened then he'd bring it up with Hana, simple as that. And spirits help any of his staff that wanted to shirk their duties to go off on some 'spy hunt'. They were a team, and anybody not willing to work for the team might find themselves on Mago's chopping block next.


@Anomaly @Teh Frixz @Turnip @Nano

 

[waifu]

Mai

​

So they weren't getting a raise after all. Mai hung her head down in disappointment. She didn't understand any of it. She didn't see the point of a spy from another establishment lingering around this place. If anything, she was more curious about Rocco's Gambling Saloon now - wait. Mai gasped, maybe this was the spy's plan along?! They wanted to promote their establishment with a clever marketing strategy. The spirit world was a scary place....


Just as she was thinking all of this, she felt something graze against her body. She turned to see Byakko, the supremely talented actor, looking at her. Mai felt her eye twitch. She had completely forgotten the personality she was standing next to once the meeting started. Byakko apologized and Mai started panicking because she realized he was waiting for her to respond. "Hbh... hbhbhwuu."


Unable to form words, Mai turned red. "I.. I'm sorry!" She finally screamed and ran away.

@Reinhardt

 

[Dusky]

STATE OF FINANCES

Maria

Debt: 10,000c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 4c 7p

Mago

Debt: 500c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 12c 3p

Noh

Debt: 1,950c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 9c 5p

Shu

Debt: 0c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 4c 2p

Emi

Debt: 900c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 6c 7p

Mai

Debt: 1200c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 9c 5p

Hayato

Debt: 750c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 9c 5p

Takeru

Debt: 0c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 4c 2p

Byakko

Debt: 0c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 4c 2p

Anzu

Debt: 400c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 9c 5p

HOUSE OF OPPORTUNITY

Back to work...

​

MEETING ROOM Jinbaba's eyes pass over Noh without a hint of thought or feeling as he addresses her before she sweeps away. His humor, it seems, is lost on her. A gaggle of girls nearby seem to have picked up on his barb, and they glare at him.


Meanwhile, Hana rolls her eyes at Mago's loud departure. "You've got a little free time, but don't be fizzing over this for too long, now. Mago's right; there's still work to do." With a casual wave, she departs.


Hayato and Takeru hear a nearby tanuki snort and mutter to himself, "Like that'll ever work out." When he sees their attention has been drawn, he shrugs. "Who gets the prize money?"

BACKSTAGE "Anzu," says a concerned voice through the flurry of dancers assuming their positions. Jack, her dance partner, his textured brown skin furrowing as his brightly colored eyebrows draw together. Usually her dance partner, anyway - today's routine is a solo for Anzu. "Can I have a minute?" he continues, his eyes flitting to her ankle. "I insist."


When he has her standing off to the side, he crosses his arms and pierces her with a knowing look. "You can't dance on that."

 

[Nano]

Shu


At the conclusion of the meeting, Shu's eyes flicked open. He had had his eyes closed during the entire meeting, but he had still been listening to the entire speech. Something interesting was finally happening at The House of Opportunity. As his pay was extremely meager in the first place, the 5% of his wages that had been docked didn't make too much of a difference. The money didn't matter too much as the issue that kept him here in the first place wasn't debt but rather his forgotten name and promise. His savings would come in handy when he had to leave this place, but it wasn't like that was going to happen anytime soon. This message from Jinbaba gave him nothing but amusement, not because of the money that he could potentially gain, but because of the entertainment that it would potentially provide. Playing the role of the spy would have most definitely been the most exciting but being the seeker was fine too.


Plucking a loose feather off of his clothes, Shu brought the tip towards his mouth to cover the wry smile that had begun to form on his face. He was looking forward to the troubles that the spy would bring to this establishment. Jinbaba might have simply made her problems worse. Indeed, Rocco had suggested that he was trying to gain some dirt on the hag spirit, but his motives might have been much simpler than that. Surely, the spirit must have known that Jinbaba would get all of her workers to seek out the "rat" which would in turn slowly but surely cause chaos in the establishment as more and more accusations were made. Many of the yōkai here weren't very well acquainted with each other, especially if they were from different stations, but they still all held a mutual respect for and trust in each other. If this trust was broken and utterly trampled into the ground, then the establishment wouldn't be able to run as smoothly as it did at the present.


At Mago's call for the kitchen staff to return to their stations, Shu rose from his seat and began to walk back to the kitchen while humming a tune. However, soon after rising from his seat, he nearly bumped into a large white yōkai. "Ah, whoops. My apologies, sir." With a somewhat apologetic, yet fox-like grin, the crane continued on his way while humming the same tune that he had been humming before bumping into the yōkai. He hadn't been in such a good mood in a while.




Tagged: @Edric Yuma @KamiKahzy

 

[Turnip]

Hayato


Hayato couldn't help but give a sly smirk at the tengu's enthusiasm. After a careful look around the room, he was led in by Takeru's gesture and leaned in to hear his whipsered words. "The spy, huh..." He placed a hand on his chin in thought. Truthfully, it was hard to think of where to begin to finding this supposed spy. There hadn't been anything remarkably odd about the House these days, or so he thought. And there was also the fact that Hayato spent most of his time in the kitchen as well. Though it was usually pretty busy, it wasn't exactly a place people passed through often, save the cooks and waiting staff. He'd have to reconsider this plan a little. "Sorry, 'fraid I got nothin' at the moment..." he said with a sigh. His initial eagerness seemed to wane as he thought more and more on the complications of this little spy hunt.


The tanuki butting into their conversation didn't help to make him feel any better. "Ya think that's any of your business, pal? Better quit the eavesdropping, if ya know what's good for ya...!" He shooed him away with a wave of his hand, but the interruption did bring up another important point he forgot to address. How exactly were they going to split this anyways? He turned to Takeru and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll be splittin' this thing even, of course!" Hayato remarked with a laugh. For now, that would do. No reason to think too hard on it now...


Mago's announcement would abruptly put an end to the two yokai's scheming, for the moment. "Well, that's my cue, boss's callin' for us. Great guy, but ya don't wanna see him pissed..." He remembered the last time he got on Mago's bad side just like it was yesterday. Showing up to the kitchen completely hammered after a little trip to the bar got him an earful and a near death experience with Mago's meat cleaver. .... On second thought, maybe that was yesterday. All the more reason not to keep him waiting. "As much as I hate to cut our meetin' short, I'm off! Meet me after my shift if ya wanna talk some more!" With this, he gave a quick wink and a finger gun to the tengu and made his way back to his post.


"Home sweet home..." Hayato thought to himself as he pushed open the kitchen doors. It seemed like everyone wasn't back yet. Though he'd love to get back to cooking, some small talk with the boss wouldn't hurt, would it? "Y'know, those sooties of yours are quite somethin', boss. Never figured how you got your hooves on such a cute li'l army." To this he gave a chuckle towards the soot spirits. He had to admit they were pretty adorable, and handy to have around the kitchen.


@AngstyAlb @Anomaly @KamiKahzy

 

[lonecoyote]

Anzu

​

"Alright, now, let's start from the beginning people!" Anzu called out, this time incorporating the males. She watched as everyone began to dance fluidly, not one messing up. Right as she was about to call for time, one of the females tripped and tumbled into the male in front of her which caused him to drop his partner.


"Hey! Watch it you klutz!" the girl on the ground yelled and the male tried to help her up, but the female batted his hand away.


"I-I-I'm sorry, it was by accident! I swear!" she girl who caused the catastrophe to happen apologized. Anzu recognized the girl because she was new but she was good so she gave her a part in the dance.


"You shouldn't even be here! You're still new! I can do so much better than this! I don't need-"


"That's enough. Shinta, she apologized. It was an accident. She didn't mean it. Please calm down. We all need this job but if you want to go ahead and ask Jinbaba for a raise, be my guest. Otherwise, please keep the arguing to a minimum. Now, pull yourselves together and we'll start where we left off." Anzu said and smiled softly to them. Rather than yelling at either of them, Anzu would rather talk things out and keep peace. Shinta let out an annoyed sigh and nodded, getting back into place.


"Can I have a minute?" a voice called to Anzu and she turned to see her partner standing there. Anzu smiled at Jack and held up a finger to him.


"I insist." he threw in and she let out a sigh, making a motion with her hand for them to keep going.


"Go through the entire routine. If you mess up, keep going." she told them as she walked off to the side of the stage with him. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him. When he told her that she couldn't dance on that, and by that he meant her ankle, she only shook her head.


"Don't worry about me. My ankle will be fine. If I don't do the routine, I won't get paid for the night and I haven't eaten in two days. I'll make it. I appreciate your concern though." she said with a smile and walked back to the center of the stage. Everyone was standing there and they were all in line for her. Anzu nodded to them and counted herself off before she took the leap, landing on her good foot and making sure to put as little pressure on her other foot as possible. She needed to find a way to mask that she wasn't using her bad foot but at the same time make it look like she was using it.


Confusing, isn't it?

 

[Dusky]

HOUSE OF OPPORTUNITY


KITCHENS The susuwatari seem to halt in their work and turn as a mass to Hayato. They are still for a moment, and then they flock towards him, piling themselves up at his feet and, for lack of a better word, nuzzling him. They are highly susceptible to praise and having their egos stroked, it would seem. Their fluffy black bodies adore him for several glorious milliseconds before they are recalled to their jobs.


Of course, they leave behind a layer of soot.

BACKSTAGE As the routine comes to a close, loud and slow clapping rings out. Jack is leaning against a wall, still watching and waiting. He is the spirit of an autumn leaf, something pretty even as it slowly approaches the end of its life and falls, swaying, to the ground; his dance, when he does dance, shows it. A wonderful partner for ballet. The beauty is expressed, too, in the softness of his voice and the bright, warm hues of his tousled hair.


"Are you going to make me shout over the music?" he says, voice equal parts amusement and reproach. "I wasn't finished."

 

[Edric Yuma]

Emi gasped, the two dots which were the eyes on his face widening ever so slightly. A spy? Now that came as a shock. He'd already been working for a long time in the hotel, and had a strong trust in everyone there. And now Jinbaba was telling him that among his coworkers, one of them could be a spy? That was absurd. There was no way any of the people he worked with happened to also be a spy in their spare time. Not even the one soot spirit which stole his precious Mochi ice cream.


As he was pondering the musings that were normal to a big Kodama like him, Emi suddenly was pushed backwards. "Owie!"


The bump hadn't really hurt, of course, as his slightly protruding stomach absorbed the blow. It was simply a reflex, something he had been trained to say whenever he received an unwelcome physical action. It was the crane that he had stood next to earlier, who was now promptly apologizing. And with that, the crane left. "Um... It's okay?" Emi replied, before realizing the crane was probably already too far to hear him.


Emi sighed. Responding quickly to new interactions was not his forte. That crane did look pretty suspicious, however... what was with that look on his face? It was scary. Oh well, back to the hotel he goes....


Spotting a familiar-looking tengu looking at a tanuki, he walked over. Now is the time to be brave! I must strike a conversation, this is the perfect opportunity! "Hello, er-" What was his name again? Oh yeah, "Takeru. How are you taking in this new information?"


@Nano @AngstyAlb

 

[Reinhardt]

Byakko


"What a strange lass.", Byakko said, after seeing Mai struggle with her words, only to apologize in a loud manner. Byakko, then continued on his way back to the theater, slowly progressing through the crowd. Eventually, the jam-packed area was cleared, and there were but a few left idling in the hall, it would seem that today was a busy day, just like the others. Various yokai here and there continued with their jobs. Finally, after a while, Byakko had came upon the stairs leading to the second floor, where the theater could be found.


However, before he could go up a number of nekomatas blocked his path. "Yo, Byakko.", one of them said, a black cat with two tails, its ends on tiny white flames. "You doin' the spy hunt?"


"No, Kinneko.", Byakko said. "Now, clear the path, little friend."


"What? You don't want the prize? That's a lot of money. And when I say a lot, you know I mean it.", the black nekomata said.


"As I have said, Kinneko, no. I don't like the idea of one turning against another.", Byakko said, taking one step forward, clearly showing that he wishes to leave. The black, two-tailed cat grunted. "Fine, Byakko. But, if you ever change your mind, don't hesitate to come to me.", Kinneko said, with a smirk on his face. The group of nekomatas, then, left the scene, following the black cat in the lead.


Once the path to the stairs was clear, Byakko hurried up to the second floor. He had to prepare for his incoming act, after all. Upon arriving, he saw the kirin Anzu, a friend of his, on the stage, rehearsing her performance. However, as he watched her graceful movements, he saw something off. It seemed that she had an injured ankle, and it was clearly hindering her from dancing at her best.


Byakko neared the stage. "You should get that mended, Anzu.", he said, addressing the dancing kirin.


Tags: @lonecoyote

 

[KamiKahzy]

Mago - Kitchens





Mago was just getting the last bit of meat off the salmon he had been cleaning when he saw one of his younger chefs approach him. He chucked the fish bones and guts into the waste bin and regarded Hayato with an easy grin. "Ah, dey was already heyah when I showed up. Didn't move as fast doh, dere old boss wuddint as gentle as me. Aint dat right Kai?" A unique spirit a few stations over merely grunted in derision at Mago's statement. The spirit was a male with a pointed nose and sharp chin that seemed to curl towards each other like a beak. His face was long but fair, and his inky black hair was held back by a red bandana with an embroidered wave pattern in gold. But the most notable thing about this spirit was not that he was gutting seafood as only a professional can, but that he was doing so with six hands. Kai was in fact a squid spirit, and had previously been the head chef until Mago climbed through the ranks. Kai held nothing but spite for the pig, but Mago did not return the sentiment. As far as he was concerned Kai was a skilled and hard worker, and he felt the kitchen would be lesser without him. So he kept the squid around as his sous chef despite the bad blood between them.


Mago laughed to himself at Kai's response before turning back to Hayato. He was about to continue his thought when he saw his tiny workforce suddenly cuddling the bird's legs in a brief moment of affection. A quick grunt and a knowing look from Mago was enough to get the susuwatari back to work behind the ovens, leaving a layer of soot on Hayato's uniform. Mago chuckled at the scene, then jerked a thumb toward the doors that led out back towards the loading area. "Why don'cha shake dat off out back, den get back to it, huh? An' Hayato," Mago raised his knife and pointed it right at the rooster's pretty mane of hair, "Don't let me catch ya usin' dat sashimi ya done spilled earlier. If it aint clean it aint good, staht ovah." Mago then went back to his own fish, expertly slicing the meat into the shapes and portions he needed for his next dish.


@Anomaly @Turnip

 

[lonecoyote]

Anzu

​

From her stance, Anzu went to switch her position so she was now almost gliding across the stage. The outfit she was to wear for the dance was basically swimwear with the bottoms having a clear fabric that came to her mid thigh and made a jingling noise when she moved.


"Keep going, keep going, keep going!" She mumbled to herself, her leg buckling from her weight. She made it across the stage and leaned against a podium. Anzu let out a breath and crossed one foot behind the other as she rested. Normally, her steps were light and almost inaudible from her Kirin nature. However, at the end of her routine, a thump could be heard from her putting nearly all of her wight on her good foot. This aggravated Anzu. Her steps were not to be heard because then that took the audience's attention from her performance to her injury.


"Damn..." she mumbled out, looking at her wrapped ankle. She honestly couldn't afford to miss a show. Especially one that she had a solo in. In all of her time, she tried to never miss a single show because that meant no pay and no pay equaled a not so happy Anzu. She ran a hand along her side before reaching up to rub on her antlers.


"Anzu?" she heard a voice call her and she looked over at them. She gave her dancers a smile and stuck a finger up, making a swirling motion. They all nodded and got into position once again and began at the top. The way she saw it, everyone was prepared for the performance and executed it greatly. Except for herself.


She heard Jack's voice call out again through gaps in the music and she looked over at him. She decided to walk back over to him, giving off signs that she wasn't hurting. Of course her walk wasn't perfect, she had a few missteps and hobbling but she corrected herself. Anzu was a elegant yokai, one who just looked like everything she did was somewhat whimsical or like she was walking on air. With her hurt foot, one could tell there was something wrong.


"What is it, Jack? Like I said earlier, I will be alright. It's nothing that I cannot handle." she told him, arms on her hips to emphasize just how serious she was. As elegant, whimsical, and sophisticated as she was, Anzu was also hard headed and stubborn.


"You should get that mended, Anzu." a familiar voice said and Anzu looked to see Byakko standing there. Anzu let out a huff and balanced on her good leg, extending her hurt foot and pointing to her bandaging.


"It is mended. I bandaged it myself." she told him, looking at the dancers and seeing that they were rapping things up. She looked back down at Byakko and bit the inside of her cheek. "I'll have the dancers off of the stage after this run through. They should be prepared for the night." she told him and watched each step the dancers took. When she saw the dancers dance, she noticed that they had adapted some of her own movements. They all looked so fluent and had a look to them that gave off the sense that they were proud of what they did. Seeing them do so well always brought a smile and a sense of joy on her face.


"At the end of the routine, you are free to go and prepare for the show later. Please practice on your own time as well. If there are any questions, come ask me!" she said over the music. The sound of her rumbling tummy made Anzu's cheeks flush a light pink color and she looked away from the two males before her.


"I apologize for that. Just a bit peckish is all." she remembered that the last time she ate was well over two days ago because she was devoted to her solo routine.


@Anomaly @Reinhardt

 

[Dusky]

HOUSE OF OPPORTUNITY


STAGE Jack's face is molded into confusion, then surprise, then amusement as he laughs heartily. "Really, girl, what are we going to do with you? You don't eat, you dance on injured ankles - you're something else, alright. Byakko's right," he says, nodding towards the enormous tiger. "If you don't get it looked at, it's only going to get worse before your routine. If you stay off it for the next few hours and take good care of it, it'll probably feel better by the time you have to perform. If not..." He doesn't finish the sentence. He's sure Anzu has already figured out how hard a time she's going to have.


"Besides," he adds, smirking, "if I know you, you've already memorized your part, the ladies' parts, and the men's parts. And doesn't Byakko here need time to rehearse, as well?"

KITCHEN Kai's six arms seem to phase in and out of a tentacle state as they go in and out of use. He seems to prefer it when they hang as sucker-covered appendages, but the benefits of opposable thumbs cannot be denied. He is a brilliant multitasker - as many a lady can attest.


He mumbles something - Mago could almost swear he hears Hana's name.

 

[KamiKahzy]

Mago - Kitchens





Mago's floppy ears perked up the tiniest bit when he heard Kai's mumblings. He doesn't stop working as he's in the middle of laying salmon on top of his nigiri, but he does shout over his shoulder towards his sous chef, "Ya say some'tin Kai? Gotta speak up, can't hear ya wid dat beak o' yers."


@Anomaly

 

[PetiteMacaron]

Sui


As a result of all of the bad times as well as the good times that she had experienced throughout her long life, Sui had come to always look for the good things in the situation and make the best out of them. Whether an event was bad or good did not depend on the occurrence itself but rather upon the way that the person thought of the situation. A single external event could be interpreted in a multitude of ways and it was simply our interpretation of the event that made us believe that is was "bad" or "good." This applied to even working at The House of Opportunities. Many viewed it as a prison, but Sui loved her job. She was allowed to dance, sing and entertain the guests. Spreading happiness was something that she found great pleasure in doing, even if the happiness was only a fleeting moment of euphoria for the guests.


This day did not differ much from the rest of the days that she had spent at The House of Opportunities. Sui had been woken up by the sound of the night slowly coming to life just like any other ordinary day. She had been filled with a strange sense of foreboding that something was going to happen, but she had quickly shaken off that feeling. If something were to happen, she would deal with it then. There was no need to worry excessively about something that was going to happen no matter how much she thought about it. Thus, she went on with her day as usually did.


As per usual, she was found flitting from guest to guest, making sure that everyone was having a good time. Her naturally cheerful air made it easy for others to strike up a conversation with her and that was something that she found very fun. This could clearly be seen by the smile that was ever present on her face as well as the flower petals that would occasionally be sprayed into the air like confetti before fading away as they slowly fluttered down towards the floor. The turtle had been so engrossed in her job that she had managed to completely miss the message of the personnel who had come to inform the workers in the area about a meeting.


"Sui...Sui...SUI!" a voice called out several times before the exasperated spirit finally grabbed a hold of her shoulder as to catch her attention. It was Shion, the yosuzume. Turning around to meet the eyes of the yōkai, Sui gave the poor sparrow an impish smile and a soft, "Hm?"


At this Shion heaved a great sigh and rubbed his temples with two of his fingers. "Don't just give me a ‘Hm.’ You should really pay attention. Anyway, Jinbaba called for a meeting just now and wants everyone to go to the meeting hall in the first floor."


After thinking for a bit to process the newly gained information, Sui gave Shion yet another bright smile and answered in a mellifluous way, “Very well, very well! I understand.” She spun around and bound out of the room without even waiting for his response. How exciting, Jinbaba was calling for a meeting, something that she seldom did. What could the meeting possibly be about? On her way to the meeting hall, Sui amused herself with all of the different possible reasons that she could think up of. Each successive idea made her more and more excited which made her anticipation grow.


In her excitement and haste, Sui nearly tripped at the entrance of the meeting hall. Luckily, she managed to regain her balance, sparing her from the painful fall that would have ensued. For someone who was known for her graceful dancing, she was rather accident prone when it came to anything else. Her luck saved her most of the time, but that didn't mean she never got into trouble. Smiling sheepishly at the yōkai that she had disturbed at her blunder, Sui moved towards an empty seat and promptly sat herself down before anything else could happen.


As she had been late, the meeting started soon after she had seated herself. To her great disappointment, the meeting was rather short. However, Jinbaba had provided her and all of the spirits gathered in the room with rather intriguing information. A spy had somehow managed to worm its way into the staff. She frowned at this news. She hoped that this so-called spy wouldn't bring discord to The House of Opportunities. Her worries were short lived when the excitement came bubbling back. It was a spy! Despite the potential mayhem that it could cause, this didn't mean that she couldn't enjoy the event. This was like a detective game of some sort and it even came with a reward!


Looking for someone she knew, even if it was just as acquaintances, Sui bounced out of her seat and looked around fervently. Something particularly thrilling had just happened and she wanted to share this feeling with someone. Spotting Mai who was–strangely enough–running, red faced, Sui seized her arm and stopped the flustered girl. She bounced up and down. “Mai! Mai! It's a spy, a spy! Don't you think this is all rather exciting?”


Sui lifted her arms up in the air to emphasize her statement and twirled once. A small amount of flower petals exploded into the air and slowly drifted downwards before vanishing. Blinking at the girl, Sui lowered her arms. Oh...had she confused the girl with her suddenness?


@waifu

 

[waifu]

Mai

​

Mai panted from all the running. A familiar face suddenly stopped Mai from making her exit. It was Sui, another member of the entertainers' group. Sui and Mai had talked some before when she helped out the acting crew that one time. Sui was really friendly and sweet, it always surprised her how down-to-earth she was despite being so popular. She had a charming personality and an adorable face to boot. Mai often wondered if she got a lot of compliments.


Completely forgetting about her embarrassing encounter with Byakko just now, Mai cocked her head to the side as Sui raised arm and spun around. Why was she rejoicing about a spy in this building? Was she also involved someone? Mai tried to catch one of the flowers that emitted from Sui's twirling, but it dodged her hand and vanished. Mai frowned.


"I.. I don't know about exciting, it's scary! Do you think it's Ryougi?" Mai lowered her tone, immediately suggesting - and hoping - that it's the inugami from the reception desk.

@PetiteMacaron

 

[Turnip]

Hayato


Before he knew it, Hayato soon found himself the target of the soot yokai army. It was an awfully warm gesture, both figuratively and literally, and he couldn't help but laugh in delight. "'Ey now, it ain't a fair fight if you're gonna go a thousand against one!" he chuckled. After trying his best to return the gesture, they eventually scurried back to their own business, leaving the basan behind them. He had barely noticed the soot covering him from head to toe until Mago had pointed it out. "Don'tcha worry boss, I only play dirty for pretty faces. I'll get cleaned up in no time." He would've left the kitchen in higher spirits, had he not been called out with a knife to his face and reminded of his previous sashimi incident. Hayato couldn't help but redden at the embarrassment, so someone had noticed... "Aha, ya don't have ta worry 'bout that either...! I- I'll just be headin' out then!" He hastily tried to avoid any more threats from Mago and made his way through the back doors.


"Ah man... Can't go a day without gettin' threatened by that knife, huh?" The basan had been mumbling to himself as he wandered the casino's halls. Where his destination was, he didn't know. He was used to pacing around, it helped to keep him calm and prevent any accidental transformations into his more avian form. Can't have that on the job, the only use for wings in a kitchen is on a platter. It wasn't until he approached the meeting room once more that he realized he hadn't been paying attention to where he'd been going. Well, that happens when you're lost in your own thoughts. Hayato started to turn back towards the kitchen, but an idea came to him and stopped him in his tracks. Maybe a quick look inside would help in his little investigation for the spy...? It wouldn't hurt, at the very least. He peeked through the doors, laying eyes on the boring, old room once more. Looks like most everyone had left, save a few yokai talking amongst themselves.


"Mai! Mai! It's a spy, a spy! Don't you think this is all rather exciting?"





The words across the room were loud enough to ring in Hayato's ears, and he couldn't help but be intrigued. Maybe this would be a new lead...! Either way, he couldn't pass the opportunity to learn something more about the spy. Sorry Mago, but being a few minutes late wouldn't hurt, would it? Carefully, Hayato made his way across the room, and began eavesdropping on the two girls discussing the supposed identity of the spy. All the while hidden, of course.


@waifu @PetiteMacaron

 

[Reinhardt]

Byakko


"Indeed.", Byakko nodded to Jack. "You have a knack for seeking excellence, Anzu, but that does not mean you can overexert yourself without having any equivalent consequence. Rest now, and tend to your wound." A number of nekomatas, the same ones from earlier, neared towards the enormous tiger. As expected, Kinneko, the black, two-tailed cat, had emerged in the midst of this purr-y crowd one more. Apparently, they too, had to rehearse. "Yo, Byakko, we gon' practice our skit or what?", Kinneko gently nudged him. "Be patient, little friend. We will have our preparatory exercises as soon as the dancers finish theirs." The black cat softly growled, and sat still. He could not go against Byakko, after all, he owed the white tiger a life-saving meal.


Tags: @Anomaly @lonecoyote

 

[Teh Frixz]

Maria


And off they went. The players in Jinbaba's little game all deciding on how they were going to act. Some plotting away and other's refusing to play. It spurred on a sort of, feeling that Maria wasn't quite used to having. It was like an old scar splitting open, an emotion beyond the base hunger that dominated her life. As she stood off in the corner on her own, her twisted grin began twitching and slowly became for the first time an actual smile.


With none of the employee's paying attention towards her, Maria slunk off like a shadow retreating from the rising sun. Her memorized steps back to the casino floor take a significant turn, swinging in towards the kitchen. As much as she enjoyed her bar and mix stations, the real heart of the Casino was the kitchen. Spirits were a ravenous bunch and the amount of food they put out was a little link to everywhere. But what she was after wasn't the making and preparation of food, but instead the cleaning.


Doing her best to sneak past Mago, Maria slips on in towards the scullery and cleanup stations.


@Anomaly


@KamiKahzy

 

[Dusky]

STATE OF FINANCES

Maria

Debt: 10,000c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 4c 7p

Mago

Debt: 500c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 12c 3p

Noh

Debt: 1,950c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 9c 5p

Shu

Debt: 0c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 4c 2p

Emi

Debt: 900c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 6c 7p

Mai

Debt: 1200c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 9c 5p

Hayato

Debt: 750c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 9c 5p

Takeru

Debt: 0c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 4c 2p

Byakko

Debt: 0c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 4c 2p

Anzu

Debt: 400c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 9c 5p

Sui

Debt: 0c


Savings: 0c


Hourly Wages: 4c 2p

HOUSE OF OPPORTUNITY


BACKSTAGE A serpentine body slithers in, forked tongue flitting out of a woman's mouth. "It'sss too cold for thisss nonsssenssse," she complains to Byakko, quietly enough that only he can hear, and coiling up next to him. "Jussst tell her she'sss hogging the ssstage. It would be more honessst." Ah, Mina. As irritable as ever.

KITCHENS Kai's beak clicks in what might approximate a bitter laugh. "You don't give all the orders around here, Mago. The one that's really in charge is Hana. Who, by the way, is quite the firecracker, and I know from... personal experience."


The former head chef has noticed Maria, but he raises no alarms. Instead, he winks at her, silently wishing her success in whatever mischief she has planned.

MEETING ROOM Takeru responds and then moves along. It's just Emi and the tanuki, now. The racoon watches with wide, curious eyes. "Don't look at me like that, ya marshmallow. I'm innocent! And anyway, don't you have a job to go back to?"


Ryougi passes by Sui and Mai on his way to wherever he's going. Whether he heard them or not is unclear, though he does have those canine senses... If he has heard Mai's suspicions, he is too intent on what he is doing to say anything.


And what he is doing is pulling the door open wider and staring down at Hayato with disapproval. "Eavesdropping? Skulking about like that is most... suspicious."


There's a money-loving glint in his eye.

BAR When Noh makes it back to the bar, he finds that someone has been waiting or him. The mujina is already drunk - really, already? It's still evening! It stands on a stool in its badger form and raises his face to look at Noh.


"You've got the besht timing, brother," he chuckles, hiccuping. "Give me shomething shtrong, okaaaay? I want to forget. I ushed to shing shongsh, man. Do you know any shongsh?"

STAIRWELL As Shu makes his way back to the kitchens, stepping onto a landing of the staircase, a woman slips out of a door locked to all but management. She is beautiful in a startling way - very long, very straight black hair, and skin so pale it's white. Even her eyes seem washed out, bleached - once blue, perhaps. He may recognize her as the woman on Jinbaba's right up on the balcony. She still has the same bored countenance, even after nearly running into him.


"Oh, careful dear. Shouldn't you be running along to... whatever it is you do?" A smile transforms her haughty face, though it loses none of the airs she seems to put on. Hm. Her teeth are gleaming white, too. She pinches his cheek. "My, but you are cute! I could probably make an excuse for you, if you'd like to spend some time with me~."

 

[KamiKahzy]

Mago - Kitchens





Mago's hand stalled for a minute when he heard Kai's comment about Hana, letting the slice of fish he was about to plate hover in midair over the dish. Activity in the kitchen seemed to stop along with Mago's momentum, as if the entire space was somehow tied to him on a deeper level. Staff turned to look at their boss as the massive pig spirit's face was set in a stony expression. The noise that was common in a kitchen immediately ceased, so much so you could hear a toothpick drop. After what seemed an eternity in seconds passed a small, nearly inaudible sound came from Mago's lips. It was so faint some thought it was a trick of the wind, but it was there and it was distinct.


Mago was laughing.


It started out small, only the tiniest of chuckles that would make even a pixie jealous. Then it began to grow, reaching a healthy chortle that was much closer to Mago's standard. But quickly it grew into a full on belly laugh, and the intensity of it was both infectious and slightly worrying. The staff relaxed when they felt the danger of Mago's temper had passed, but they still looked over their shoulder periodically fearing this laugh was a precursor to some unknown madness.


Mago had to grip the counter to keep himself upright he was laughing so hard, his other hand holding his gut to ease the stitch in his side. Tears streamed down his face as he struggled to breathe, but thankfully the fish he was prepping had been placed gently to the side for later. Mago never wasted food, even in the face of adversity.


After he'd laughed enough to rattle the pots and pans hanging about the kitchen he forced himself upright, fighting off lingering giggles and wiping the tears from his eyes. He looked over at Kai and said between chuckles, "HA! An' uh... heh, when'd ya figyah dat out Kai? When... when you was starin' at her ass an' damn neah' fried yaself wid dat oil? Or when... Hoo! When she blew her fuse at ya aftah ya shoved ya tentacle up her dress? HAHAHAHA!" That last memory in particular was a favorite of Mago's. He hadn't the faintest idea why the squid thought he would get away with it, but that day Hana had nearly destroyed half the kitchen when she felt his tentacle on her thigh. Mago managed to duck down behind his station just in time to save his uniform from getting singed, but a good chunk of the staff weren't so lucky. Jinbaba herself had come down thinking a gas main had burst, but when she saw the situation she considered Kai's punishment fitting and left him to his wounds and Hana's tongue lashing.


The staff that was within earshot began to laugh at Kai's expense as they too remembered that day. Though the ones that had been caught in the blast radius laughed with less enthusiasm. But Mago was having a good old belly laugh at Kai's misfortune, and there wasn't much that could ruin his mood at this point.




Unfortunately for Mago his mirth was exactly the opportunity Maria needed to sneak past him and get through to the scullery, where the dishes were being cleaned by the lower tiered staff. As was often the case the workers had decided to take a smoke break and had left the station completely deserted. Nobody could blame Maria for thinking she was in the clear, and she might have gotten through without incident if it weren't for one problem. A tiny, fuzzy little problem.


One of the susuwatari had noticed Maria sneaking into the kitchens and now stood on the tip of a large soup ladle that stuck out near the top of a precarious pile of dirty dishes. Its legs were fully extended so it could get a better look at the intruder, getting very close to her face before she could fully notice the obstructing mote.


The soot spirit did not look pleased.


@Anomaly @Teh Frixz

 

[Nano]

Shu


Still humming the tune that he could not remember why sounded so familiar, Shu climbed up the steps at a steady pace. This humming was soon interrupted by the sight of a door opening right as he stepped onto the landing of the staircase. From the door came a woman with long black hair and skin so pale that it was probably even whiter than his own. She was stunningly beautiful–as all yuki-onna were–and gave off a regal and sophisticated air to go along with her hauteur. Being that she had nearly just run into him, Shu prepared to apologize to the yuki-onna as it was certainly not a good idea to offend a yōkai known for being ruthless. However, the yōkai pinched his cheek before he could do so.


"My, but you are cute! I could probably make an excuse for you, if you'd like to spend some time with me~." she said with a smile on her face.


At this, the crane fought the urge to allow a frown to appear on his face. Contrary to what many believed due to his arrogant mien, Shu, like all other tsuru, remained faithful to a single partner throughout their whole entire life until either of their deaths. Cheating or fooling around was something that was nearly unheard of, even amongst the most flagrant members of their kind. Based on the fact that she was often seen nearby Jinbaba and from her words which suggested authority, he guessed that she was someone of considerable standing within the House of Opportunity. Normally, he would have taken advantage of a situation where he would be able to gain a considerable amount of information, but this just happened to be the one line that he would never cross. There was also the fact that he had to consider how this spirit must be particularly clever. Expecting to be able to gauge out significant information from her would be underestimating her greatly.


Of course, he would never reveal any of these thoughts, so he had to make up some sort of excuse. Taking the yuki-onna's chilled hand and lightly kissing the tips of her fingers, he gave her a rare, humble smile. “Your words are quite flattering. However, a man such as I is not worthy of a fair maiden like you. As much as I would be overjoyed to accompany you for a time, my supervisor is particularly strict and would have my head no matter what excuse I give. After all, I am but a lowly member of the staff. My deepest apologies, my lady, but I must bid you adieu.” With this, he slowly released his hold on her hand and turned to go on his way.


Once finally back in the kitchens, Shu attempted to sneak past Mago who was engaged in conversation Kai. His mood had already turned sour at everything that he had just said and he didn't want to deal with a lecture. He hated speaking so formally or respectively and abhorred lowering himself just to please. Even if it was to prevent himself from being turned into a tsuru popsicle, it still didn't leave him without a bad taste in his mouth. Shu viciously stabbed a small knife into a yomogi daifuku from the batch that he had been working on prior to the start of the meeting. Immediately regretting having given into impulse, he gingerly retracted the blade and stared solemnly at the anko that was now visible from within the daifuku. He should probably go to relieve his frustrations by joining in on the spy hunt later in the night.




Tagged: @Anomaly @KamiKahzy

 

[Teh Frixz]

Maria


Scanning the room slowly, her head comes to a rest right before the glaring Sprite. A little piece of soot upset at her slinking through the scullery.


For a moment, their eyes lock, each one doing their best not to blink. Oh so carefully, Maria leans in to speak before lunging in!


She chomps down, taking a chunk of the ladle with the spirit into her maw. Her sharp teeth slicing cleanly through the metal, leaving almost comical grooves.


To her benefit, she doesn't swallow, instead holding the spirit captive in her mouth before hurrying off towards where the old food is scraped off and sent to the incinerator. She opens then shuts the door quickly and steps gently down the steps into the trash room, only now opening her mouth and spitting the spirit out onto the floor.


Licking soot off her teeth she stares down at it, pulling a finger up to her mouth and making a shoosh sound while smiling.