Fantasy The Supernatural Catering Company

[nomuseneeded]

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David spun his quill from one finger to the next very slowly as he spoke on the phone. "Yes, of course," he said, speaking slowly, calmly, almost royally. If there was one word that both was the complete opposite of David and defined him completely it was royal.

He was a simple caterer. He worked on behalf of the royal people, be it actual government or the so called royals of the different clans and factions. As far as anyone knew, David O'Brian had never been, and would never be, royal. Even four hundred years of life had never brought him such an opportunity.

And yet royal described David nonetheless. He wore purple dress shirts under his impeccable suits. He spoke in slow, even, commanding tones, and never let it be confusing to anyone who was in charge. And yet he was a benevolent dictator. He listened to the needs of the people in his catering business, and those outside of it, and provided them with what was necessary. He seemed to have the power in the world to make anything happen, and he often proved that to be true.

"I will tell my team posthaste, and we will begin preparing for you. Thank you for your time, Mr. Salem." He hung up. And yet he didn't immediately rush over to tell his team. Instead, he made a few more notes on his yellow legal notepad, dipped his quill in the ink once more, made another note or two, then set the quill aside.

He stood then and walked out of his office and into the common room of Supernatural Catering. "May I have everyone's attention please?" he asked. He didn't give everyone very long between capturing their attention and begin to speak. "We have a job in Philadelphia. There will be gnomes, cyclops, vampires, and werewolves. It is a meeting to build understanding, and it will be run by the mayor himself. We will consider this the utmost priority. Any questions?"

***

Latesha, Tesh for short, had been playing solitaire. She spent too much time playing solitaire for anyone's liking. But Letesha was good at her job. Abarimon naturally didn't have many predators, so she could work with anyone. David needed someone like that; between being a human, a scientist, and a wizard, he had many enemies. Letesha had many friends.

She thought maybe part of it was because she looked so ridiculous. She had been raised in the city, though she had been born and spent the first few years in the Himalayas, and in the city backward feet were not the normal. Just the fact that the word backwards was used proved that.

And that didn't even begin to get into her oxygen mask and tank. But, of course, that was all part of her being a Abarimon. Start breathing the air and after a short while you could never live without it. She thought it made her look more approachable. People were less scared of those with physical differences, whether that should be the case or not.

Tesh downsized the solitaire and looked at David when he was speaking. As soon as he finished she started, words slightly muffled by the mask. "When? How many? You're being pretty vague there Davey."

"David," he said, and it was clear that it annoyed him like she had intended it to. "And on Wednesday. As for how many, we have no idea. We can count heads at the arrival at ten, then have stuff ready for lunch at twelve."

"We'll be rushing like crazy," she said. "How will we know we'll finish it on time?"

"I guess you will have to trust me," David said. Letesha considered that. She hadn't been a part of a dinning service that had failed yet. No one with half a brain second guessed what David was doing. Besides, if they did they'd probably lose half a brain anyway. She decided to wait and see what the others would say.

 

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Lucy heard David's call to order, but struggled to lean out of the kitchen door to listen to his statements. Arms piled high with dirty dishes, pots, and pans, her newly found natural balance was all that kept her from falling through the doorway in a clatter of metal. Of the members of Supernatural Catering, Lucy was the newest and still trying to learn her way around the job.

All that, and she was still coming to grips with the werewolf thing. It wasn't exactly like she hadn't dealt with the supernatural community before- she'd had a few in her fitness classes- but this was different. She had to hold her breath practically the whole time when she was cleaning up after a particularly gory client to avoid licking the plates herself. Plus, she hadn't gone through a full transformation yet, as the next full moon wasn't for another week and a half. People said she was "lucky" the werewolf responsible for cursing her had stuck around long enough to recommend her to caterer David O'Brien, but she really couldn't see the luck in it.

David gave her the creeps, no matter what was said about him. Or maybe it was because of what people said. Lucy couldn't say for sure, just that for a...human, if that's what he could be called, he was leaning hard on the strange factor. But she couldn't say that she didn't appreciate him giving her a job. Even if it meant she spent the majority of her time washing dishes and serving their more irksome clients.

A cool breeze of air on the back made her turn her head slightly. Standing beside the doorway, having completely just appeared into her personal space, was a tall, pale man. Lucy didn't recognize him and he hadn't seemed to notice that he was standing so close to her that they were practically touching. She would have said something, if only she could have been sure he wasn't capable of killing her with lasers from his eyes or something else equally destructive. It wouldn't have surprised her.

Trying to ignore him, Lucy focused instead on the banter Latesha was having with their boss. Lucy liked Tesha; she was witty and nice, and was one of the few who had welcomed her on board. She'd also been the one to recommend Lucy to a werewolf pack, a community she now lived with- as a guest, until they felt they could accept her. Just as it seemed Tesha had accepted David's answer, another voice spoke up behind Lucy.

****
"I'll need a list of ingredients, O'Brien." Dorian had a habit of sounding rather like he looked down upon whoever he was speaking to. This was no exception. A few of their fellows had turned to look at him as he spoke, most with surprise etched on their features. He bit back a smile. Nothing quite like making others feel uncomfortable.

It had been a very long night for him and he didn't plan an hanging around the catering building for longer than necessary. A fresh load of human blood, frozen brains, one or two pouches of nightshade, and a collection of various animal parts waited in the back of his truck, and he wanted to put it all away in the back before heading home.

It would be just like David to take on a last second job like this. The caterer never could seem to turn down a difficult job, but then again, they always seemed to work in his favor. Dorian had worked for David for as long as Supernatural Catering had been around, but they had never completely seen eye to eye. However, Dorian had never really felt the need to push back against the rules the job required.

It had been a few weeks since he'd last been by the home base, not unusual when collecting their unique selection, and he didn't really see much new about the place. Apart from the woman in front of him, whose aura distinctly gave off werewolf wavelengths. He had wanted to get a closer look, but avoided touching her. Werewolf was a taint he didn't particularly care for.

"As soon as you've got it, let me know. I don't want to rush more than absolutely necessary."

 

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David looked Dorian over. He was a good worker, hence why David used him. David only hired the best, and, despite not always getting along with Dorian, he was the best. Of course, he was taking a bit of a risk with Lucy, but there could be something positive about training up someone with no experience. That was how he had gotten Letesha, and that clearly hadn't be a mistake. Besides, he felt a bit bad for Lucy. The first few weeks after being turned were always hard on a werewolf. Often they lost their job, friends, and everything else that made them feel comfortable in life. There were a lot of suicides right after being turned. Besides, Lucy was thankful enough for a job that she was willing to work hard.

"Our client said we can create the menu ourselves, assuming everyone is happily fed. I thought Lucy could tell you what we need to feed them. I will look over your work before we give it to Dorian, but I would like a list by tomorrow morning." He hoped he was making a good decision in giving Lucy some freedom to work. He couldn't very well have such a bring girl washing dishes forever. She deserved a chance to be a real part of the team.

"You're letting the newbie choose the menu?" Letesha asked. It was hard to ascertain whether it was surprise or annoyance in her voice. It wasn't altogether uncommon for people to ask them to help make the menu, as they may have some guests coming that they didn't know how to feed. But normally David or Letesha took care of that. Still, David didn't think he had made a mistake.

***

Letesha liked the new girl. She really did. It wasn't fun being the only female member of a sausage fest. She wanted Lucy to even out the teams a bit. Still, it seemed early to give her so much responsibility. Letesha just wanted to make sure she was ready for it. David did not mess up orders, and if Lucy could not get it right they'd have to redo it, and quickly.

Still, Letesha figured it wasn't worth complaining any more. She turned back to her computer and reopened solitaire. "Any more questions?" David asked. Letesha remained silent, so David turned and went back to his office. "Leave whenever you're ready," David said without looking back. Then he closed his office door. Letesha took that as a cue to leave now. She folded up her laptop and stuck it into her bag. Then she stood and put on her coat.

She looked at Lucy before leaving. "Good luck. If you need any help, call me. Do you want me to write down my number?" She figured Lucy would probably be fine, but that didn't mean she wouldn't be nervous. She didn't want Lucy getting so nervous she couldn't preform, as it were. Still, sometimes you had to throw your kid in the water to see if they could swim.

 

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Lucy tried to keep the surprise out of her voice. "Yes sir- no problem!" It came out a little more rushed than she'd intended, but there was a note of confidence to it. Anything to get away from the sink and the excess blood and meat that made her mouth water. But this was also a rather important task- WAY more important than anything they'd let her do thus far. Part of her wanted to sink back into the kitchen to avoid the funny looks her fellows were giving her. Not that that was even possible with the tall, creepy dude standing behind her.

He was also giving her a look now, that it looked more amused than malicious. The man hadn't made any further comments to David following the proclamation that she was to figure out the menu, so she had to assume he didn't mind. Or maybe wanted to watch her crash and burn- the amusement in his eyes had a slightly malicious appearance.

When Letesha approached her as others started filing out following David's dismissal, Lucy grew a little worried. It was pretty clear that usually Tesha handled the big projects and was in good standing with the group, and Lucy had a fleeting thought that she had inadvertently stepped over some invisible boundary. That was quickly dashed when the woman offered her help. Which Lucy more than gratefully accepted. "Yeah, that would be great! I don't have anything on hand," she shrugged a bit, the stack of dishes tilting a little, "but you could write it and leave it on the door. I still have to finish this before I go."

She smiled appreciatively at Tesha before attempting to back into the kitchen. It took Lucy a moment to realize that the tall man was gone- no where in sight and not in her way any more. It surprised her, but she couldn't think on it too hard. The supernatural community was rather adept at vanishing like that. She just hadn't really learned it herself.

***
Dorian had already made his way out back to start unloading his truck. A last minute menu, an amateur caterer...pushing it a bit, aren't you, David? He chuckled a bit, unlocking the door to the loading bay and carrying stuff in a few boxes at a time. It wasn't really so much his concern. Funny, more than anything else. The panicky little werewolf- what was her name again?- would be a source of fresh entertainment.

It only took a few minutes for Dorian to unload everything, and he gave a casual wave to the other members of the catering company as he passed out of the parking lot in the old truck. Most didn't return the wave of course, but manners were manners. The street leading up to their building was flanked with trees from a surrounding forest, thick pines that stretched high into the air and blocked out the sky. It was late evening and the road was dark, but between the headlights and his sensitive vision, Dorian made the twists and turns with no trouble.

The outskirts of the east coast town were home to many individuals of special circumstance, while the majority of the human population lived further in the city. Dorian could never decide if it was just discrimination that had done this, or rather the open preference most supernaturals had for safely hidden places. Most likely both. Beneath the sound of Johnny Cash's "Man in Black" coming from the radio, he could hear the quiet noises of the forest through his rolled down windows. It was peaceful.

Within 15 minutes, Dorian had pulled onto a dirt driveway that led up to a rundown log house. It had once been a log cabin of sorts, but some decades of his presence had revived it for the modern age. Home sweet home.