A Job Worth Asking For Who: Nic and Grayson Where: Heme When: Afternoon
It took a bit of thinking for Nic to come up with a reason Heme might employ him, but once he found it he was sure he was perfect for the job. There weren't many people who could boast to be effective in managing troublesome vampires, though Nic knew he'd have to be careful in his wording and how he played it off. He didn't want anyone to feel threatened by his abilities, otherwise working there would be quite unpleasant. That was if he could get the job.
Visiting Heme when it was being used as a shelter was quite different than when it was primarily a bar. It was also the first time he'd stepped inside while there was still light outside, and it took his eyes a moment to adjust. He'd called ahead, so he knew who he was looking for, though he didn't know what he looked like. At least he wasn't the only human in the bar, and for once he wasn't the only one that smelled of death. The demons had done a nice job of seeing to that.
Grayson was at one end of the bar, looking over the scene still set up around him. With the news of demon attacks becoming fewer and fewer as time passed throughout the day, he was starting to think of when might best to shift Heme from a shelter back to its original purpose, serving drinks to humans and vampires alike. He'd never throw anyone out who might still be needing a place to stay, or felt it was still too unsafe to travel, but he was starting to put together a few ideas in his head. He'd spent the good majority of the last few days in the bar, and he'd be happy when the crisis had finally passed and he could get a change of scenery.
Noticing the young man who walked into the bar, not a face he'd grown accustomed to seeing over the weekend, Grayson gave him a smile. Normally he'd be overseeing the place from his spot in the VIP area, but this wasn't the time for that. Grayson needed to be involved, needed to be doing what he could to keep the place running smoothly. "Good evening," he said to the man, nodding his head in his direction.
"Evening," Nic said with a small smile. "I'm looking for Grayson Mudali? I called about the possible job openings." He could probably poke around in the heads of a few people and find out who he was supposed to talk to, but that didn't seem like a good way to meet a future employer. Besides, Nic had gotten himself in enough trouble recently that he thought he should maybe practice not using his skills unless necessary. It would get him in a lot less trouble, or so he hoped.
"Ah, yes, you must be the man I spoke to on the phone earlier. I'm Grayson Mudali." He extended a hand to to the man, sensing a bit of hesitation on his behalf. Grayson was aware that he could be intimidating, yes, but he wasn't trying to be. Perhaps today was not the best time to be discussing possible job openings at the bar, but if he was being honest, Grayson could use a moment or two of dealing with "normal" business, rather than all the complications demons had presented him. "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Castalia, yes?" His memory for names was good, but then again, it had been a long weekend.
"Yes, Nic Castalia," Nic said, his smile a little less hesitant as he shook the vampire's hand. As far as vampires went, Nic got a better vibe from Grayson and that was always a good start. He was still a potential boss, though, and so Nic wanted to make sure he was on best behavior. "I wanted to know what positions are open to non-vampires." It was his understanding that the bartenders had to be vampires, but he wasn't sure about the rest of the establishment. He remembered reading something about discrimination laws and them having to open it up to other applicants, but he couldn't recall the extent to which it had been put in place.
"Nic, then. Come on, we can talk over here." There was an empty small table in the corner, off to the side. Grayson would still have a good view of the bar and it allowed them a bit of privacy, so that way their business would not be overheard by everyone in the bar. "It depends, really, on what position you're looking for," he said as he took a seat, gesturing for Nic to join him. "Our bartenders are vampires, given what we serve here, but we do have servers and DJs who are human." And a bouncer, Grayson would not say no to another bouncer, truth be told.
Nic followed Grayson over to the corner table, glad to have the privacy that it offered them. He had the feeling he would need to get into what he was in order to get the job and that wasn't something he wanted to broadcast to the entire bar at once. "My previous job was in law enforcement, so I was wondering if you happened to need anything in the way of security." He had bar-tending experience, but not in blood, so that wasn't worth anything there. Even if they let him, Nic wasn't sure he wanted to be handing that much blood, especially knowing it was for consumption.
A former member of law enforcement, looking to work in the bar now? There was a story there and it was best not to dig for it, Grayson was fairly certain. "I won't lie, I do need another bouncer," he said, "but it's better to have a vampire in that position. Our kind is - not so easy to escort from the premises, so to speak." Grayson had thrown people out of his establishment before, both as a human and as a vampire. Never the easiest of jobs, but when people couldn't play nice with each other, it became a necessity. "No offense meant towards your skills, of course."
"No offense taken," Nic said with an easy smile. He knew he didn't look the sort and, from his last run in with Liliya, knew that a vampire's strength was easily three times his own. "What if I told you I could perform all the duties of the job without relying on my physical strength?" he asked. He knew he was going to have to go into greater detail, but he was still working through what all he wanted to put on the table. The more he thought about it, the more Nic realized he might have to put it all out there, otherwise it would just come back to bite him later.
That comment was enough to make Grayson raise an eyebrow. The man looked in shape, yes, but he didn't smell like a were, so he doubted there was an bonus to Nic's strength that he just wasn't seeing. There was something else about Nic, something Grayson couldn't quite place, but it was enough to intrigue the vampire. "I'd be interested to know how you'd plan to do it."
"By asking nicely," Nic said. "Or, actually, by command. Have you ever heard of necromancy?" Some vampires had, while others had not. If Nic had any idea of how old Grayson was, he would have taken a guess, but since that was impossible to tell with their brief amount of contact, Nic wouldn't assume Grayson knew more than Nic had told him. "One of the traits of a necromancer is control of the dead, including vampires."
Grayson was about to comment that asking, or commanding, didn't always work - and then Nic brought up necromancy. This boy was full of surprises, it seemed, and Grayson kept his face even throughout. A necromancer who wanted to work in a vampire bar. Funny thing, that. "I've heard of it, yes, but nothing beyond stories," he said. "I've not actually met one, before this moment." It was an intriguing idea, to say the least - though it did, however, cross his mind that Nic could use those same powers against his co-workers, as well.
"There's not a lot of us," Nic said. "And we don't usually show up in vampires bars, looking for jobs." Both of these things were true and not just because vampires bars didn't exist a few months ago. Nic knew the history between vampires and necromancers, knew why there were so few of one and why it was generally better to be a legend than a reality. The quickest way to create an enemy was to force someone to do something they didn't want to. A necromancer working in a vampire bar was much like giving a pyromaniac a box of matches and sitting them down in a forest of dead pine trees--- sooner or later, you were going to get burned. Nic figured that if he was going to get burned either way, at least do so in a position where it was his job to do so. How many opportunities could there be to order a vampire around within the law?
"I'm going to tell you something, and I'm going to hope it stays between the two of us," Nic said. "A necromancer has one big choice in life-- to embrace the magic in their blood or to deny it. There is no right answer. Both results in death where we're basically poisoned by our own blood. In one case, we live about ten years longer, but we have to feed the addiction or suffer from migraines. In the other, we just get migraines period. I chose what seemed to be the lesser of two evils, but it means I need something to do with my powers. I'm hoping... maybe this will put them to good use."
What Grayson knew about necromancers was confined to the stories his sire, Hasim, had told him shortly after he'd been turned. That a necromancer could raise the dead, give them commands - and that included vampires. That they were enemies of their race, and should be treated with caution at the very least. However, Grayson was generally good at reading people, and he doubted this Nic Castalia meant to do them any harm. If that wasn't the case... well, it would be an experiment, regardless. Grayson had proved, time and time again, that he could and would run an establishment such as Heme efficiently. If Nic could end some of the disputes that would inevitably happen the bar peacefully, that would be for the best, wouldn't it?
He just nodded, when Nic started to speak again; Grayson was not the kind of man to spread gossip, genuinely intrigued by the details of what a necromancer actually went through. "You've no need to worry about this getting out," he said, glad then for the privacy this table allowed them, and for the fact that their voices didn't carry far, not even by vampire standards. "I understand what it's like, to fight what you are. It's better to accept it, and deal with the challenges ahead." It sounded like one was born a necromancer, not chosen, like Grayson had been, which cast an entirely different light on the situation. "If I let you work here, I must ask you, and I mean no ill will in doing so - will I be able to trust that you won't use your powers without reason?"
"Yes," Nic said, confident in his response. If he were stupid enough to use them without reason, he'd be in the perfect place to get himself killed. Nic knew he was good at getting himself in trouble when it came to his use of necromancy, but he'd never even considered using it in or around Heme. If he couldn't keep himself under control, he'd resign before things got bad. "I recognize that misuse of my powers in this vicinity will not only make my kind look even worse, but will likely result in violence directed towards me," Nic said with a half smile. "I'd like to avoid a bar full of vampires coming after me if at all possible."
It was the tone in Nic's voice that convinced Grayson of the young man's sincerity. It was not simply a matter of Nic losing his job because he'd misused his powers - and he would, Grayson wouldn't hesitate in that - but the violence that would result in here was something to avoid. There was no way for that to end well, in the public's eye, in the eyes of his House elders, of the vampires he employed day in and day out. "You're likely right, and I've no wish to deal with calming down a bar full of angry vampires, either." Grayson was capable of it... it just wasn't high on his to do list. "Do you think you'll be able to handle the job?"
Seeing as how bars like Heme were a new thing, Nic couldn't have been expected to have held this exact position before. It was a new thing all around, but he still thought it was something he'd be able to handle. "I think so," Nic answered. "If not, I'll let you know rather than keep on at it." Even if it was for self preservation that he had to back off. "Do you need anything from me? References, previous job experience..." If he got the job, he knew there'd be paperwork to fill out, but he wasn't completely sure he had it yet.
The entire concept was an interesting one to him, a necromancer working with vampires instead of against them. Grayson's gift of empathy told him Nic was being sincere, and he'd always been good at telling when someone was lying to him. "That's a fair arrangement," Grayson said, nodding. This was going to be quite the little experiment, both for Nic, and for the others working in the bar. "References would be lovely, if you happen to have them handy. You did say you were previously in law enforcement, yes?"
"I do," Nic said, reaching into his pocket to pull out his iPhone. "I was with Scarlet Oak Police Department for only a few months, but prior to that I was a part of NYPD. My experience before that was in bar tending." Even if he didn't serve at Heme, it meant he was familiar with the atmosphere and the schedule, the duties that came with working at a bar and the clientele... at least for the most part. Since he didn't have any paper handy, Nic used the nearest napkin to jot down some names and numbers. "These two are the police chiefs, and this one's the bar I worked at in New York. My cousin owns the bar, just in case he mentions it." While Nic doubted Grayson would be familiar with the New York underground scene, he didn't think it would discredit him in this instance. If there was one thing the Castalias could do well it was run a club.
"NYPD, impressive. And prior bar experience will only help you here." Some restaurants refused to hire inexperienced servers, and Grayson was much of the same ilk. Especially given the new, delicate nature of what the bar was, letting a newbie behind the counter - or guarding the door, in this case - could only end badly. Accepting the napkin Nic offered, Grayson glanced over the numbers, making a note to call them once Nic had left. "Noted. I don't recognize the name of the bar, but I probably know where it is." Grayson learned about this business by running a speakeasy in Manhattan, after all, he did consider it another one of his homes.
"Great," Nic smiled, feeling pretty good about how this had gone so far. "I look forward to hearing from you, then. I know things have been a little crazy lately, so just give me a call when you've made a decision." He didn't expect an offer on the spot, which was why he'd added his own name and number to the bottom of the napkin. Hopefully it wouldn't be too long, since Nic needed the income, but a few days wouldn't hurt.
Grayson smiled back, an easy smile, well practiced. This wasn't the first interview he'd conducted, after all. "It'll likely be tomorrow sometime, I'm hoping." he said, "as you can see, the last few days have been a bit - hectic, to say the least." With fewer and fewer reports of demon attacks coming in as the day wore on, Grayson had hoped that the worst might have passed. Not that he'd ever throw anyone out of the bar who felt they needed to stay, of course, but it would be nice when Heme returned to business as normal. He extended a hand to Nic again, "It was nice to meet you, and I'll be in touch."
"Nice to meet you too," Nic said, shaking Grayson's hand as he rose from his seat. He would definitely note this as being one of the more pleasant experiences he'd had with a vampire, along with the times he'd hung out with Saoirse. He'd need to call her and let her know he'd interviewed, just to give her a head's up. She knew a bit more about what he could do, and some of that he wanted to keep quiet, more for the sake of getting along with his colleges. He didn't intend to dip into their minds, so it would be better if they weren't worrying about it in the first place.