Who: Pan and Marcel What: discussing Pan’s new job When: backdated to Jan. 26th Where: the art museum Rating: low
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Following his chat with Savannah, Pan reached out to Rebekah about the open security position at the museum. Pan made sure to add that he could not come for an interview during the day. He also added he could not work during the day. Given he was a star and they disappeared with the coming of dawn, Pan too had to essentially disappear once the sun rose. Rebekah didn’t seem bothered by the request; she told Pan to stop by the museum on Friday evening and Marcel, the head of security, would meet with him to discuss the details of the position. Given he’d heard they were vampires, he wasn’t surprised they didn’t seem to have a problem with him working at night.
Pan didn’t possess any business attire, but he did clean-up and actually put a shirt on for the meeting. Though it was annoying, Pan refrained from puffing on a cigarette before the interview as well. He would come clean about the habit (because he was fucking addicted and it would be impossible for him to make it through a shift without a hit of nicotine), but he didn’t want smelling like an ashtray to be the first impression he made.
After donning his long coat and stuffing his feet into his boots, Pan launched into the evening sky and flew in the direction of the museum. Even with playing chicken with the cars, it didn’t take Pan long to reach his destination. Landing at the entrance, he took a moment to look around, assessing his surroundings, before making his way inside.
The place was filled with every kind of art imaginable; Pan wasn’t a collector, but even he could appreciate the amount of talent and imagination surrounding him as he made his way to the front desk. After speaking with a young woman named Claudia and being told Marcel would arrive shortly, the blond plopped down into one of the empty chairs to wait, an ankle resting on his knee and arms propped on the arm rests.
Despite the weight of the situation, Pan didn’t feel anxious or nervous. If anything, he was more curious about the man he was about to meet and the potential situation that was about to unfold. Even if it didn’t work out, the scenario would have provided some much needed entertainment for the night. Though Pan was hoping for a far more profitable outcome. His nearly empty wallet was too.
Claudia didn’t generally stay late, but the co-curator thought either she or Bex should stick around and she voted herself so her fave co-curator could go home and rest. Plus, she had some extra paperwork, so after she poured herself some coffee, the redhead returned to her office.
Marcel didn’t really know Savannah other than in passing, but she hadn’t been wrong about the museum needing some new security, especially with the upcoming parenthood of Marcel and Rebekah. He heard Claudia, obviously, and took a big gulp of water. The vampire fed on a blood bag much earlier today so he wouldn’t smell like copper.
The smell of cigarettes didn’t bother Marcel. Plenty of his vampires back in N’Orleans smoked and these days, even with effort, Alyssa smelled like the expensive smokes her boyfriend favoured. At least the smell didn’t seem to linger in her hair like others.
“Pan?” Marcel asked as he walked towards the blond man. Well, at least, he looked human. “I’m Marcel. Welcome to the River Mill Art Museum. Rebekah mentioned you’re only able to work nights, which works out well enough.” Hopefully they could hire one or two others to cover shifts and work the in-between times. “While I don’t have to sleep, I do prefer to be home with my fiancée at least at some of the same times.”
Spotting Marcel walking towards him, Pan stood and closed the distance between them, meeting the vampire halfway. “That’s me. Good to meet you, Marcel.” He had no reason to say otherwise. Yet. “Yeah, only nights.” As far as the Never King knew, the only way he was ever able to exist in daylight was because of the life shadow. He didn’t see that ever being a possible solution here. Pan didn’t mind; even when he’d existed in the daylight, it had always felt wrong. Unnatural.
Pan didn’t offer a response to the vampire’s last comment. Instead, he actually did the responsible thing. He asked about the job. “So, what does working security entail here exactly? How many people’s asses will I get to kick?” The last part drew a smirk to his lips and amusement flashed in his blue eyes. Despite the job involving security, Pan already knew he would probably not be kicking anyone’s ass. No, if anything, he’d be stuck watching cameras and doing laps around the museum all night. Boring, but if it put cash in his pocket and a drink on the bar, Pan could deal with it.
Marcel motioned that the pair could step into his office to speak. While he noticed the smell of smoke, the vampire said nothing even while knowing a person without enhanced scent probably wouldn’t notice.
“There are few opportunities to kick asses. Generally it’s more of a watch things and make rounds type of job. That being said, if you want to add a little excitement, we’re always open to an employee trying to steal something so we know where we need to add security.” Against people like Kaz and company.
“I recommend some good playlists and audiobooks if you get bored enough. And of course, you’ll get extra shifts when we have events, which happen in the evenings.” Marcel waited for any questions the man might have. “The most exciting of jobs it is not, but we pay well.”
Pan followed the vampire into his office and claimed the seat across from the desk. Pan spared a quick glance, taking in his surroundings before it once more settled back on Marcel. Idly, he wondered if he would receive an office or if the space without the security camera footage would be his domain.
“I figured as much.” Pan guessed it would be mostly laps around the museum halls and watching video footage. Though, the idea of stealing something to test security did appeal to the Never King who was always up for a challenge. He smiled mischievously. “I suppose if I get bored enough, I’ll take you up on the offer.” Because why the hell not? It certainly beat endlessly walking the halls and staring at security footage.
He nodded at Marcel’s suggestions. “I’ll keep it in mind.” Pan enjoyed reading even if he rarely had the time to indulge in a book in Neverland. So far, he couldn’t say he was a fan of the music here, but he’d only been here for about two months. Maybe it would grow on him. Doubtful. “Anything exciting ever happened at these parties?” Pan asked. He didn’t know why he even voiced it. He doubted it. This place came off as far too prim and proper for anything even akin to a bar brawl. Sure, some of the art was risque, but that was probably as outrageous as this place got. The events were probably all about black ties, starch collar, and stuffy people.
A chuckle. “The ‘pay well’ part is what I am most concerned about.” After all, he had to make enough to survive here; nothing was cheap in this fucking town, particularly anything that had to do with the two things Pan enjoyed most nowadays: alcohol and cigarettes. He was yet to indulge in the other. The Darling’s glaring face always appeared whenever he even considered entering the fucking strip club.
The Never King straightened and shifted forward in his seat. “So, when can I start pacing these halls and ogling that video footage?”
Pan would find himself with an office, albeit a smaller one that he’d have to share if they hired any other security personnel. They had five offices: Rebekah’s main one, the one that Claudia hadn’t wanted to move out of with her promotion, his, and then the security one and the one shared by the assistants.
“Not super exciting work, but we prefer it that way.” Marcel honestly found it surprising Kaz hadn’t tried to steal anything from here, but probably he didn’t want the headache. “Just give me a head’s up so I kind of know it’s going to happen.” What he didn’t want was to get an alarm and not know it had to do with Pan.
“Sadly no, but you’ll learn that people don’t enjoy pissing off my fiancée or Claudia, but especially Rebekah.” Claudia learned from Irina though, so she could be formidable when pushed. “Though we do enjoy decorating and by we I mean my future sister-in-law, Alyssa. We always feature a few of her pieces.”
“I am sure the pay will be appreciated,” he deadpanned. Marcel didn’t even think about a strip club, going home to a vampire who took away his breath every night. Plus, Rebekah would murder him. So really, best overall. He mentioned the pay rate.
“You need to sign some papers, but if you could start tomorrow, that would be great. We’ll work out a schedule because I doubt you want to work every night.”
Pan was pretty sure he had the “not exciting” part of this job down and he hadn’t even worked a single shift yet. “Sure.” He hoped he wouldn’t have to reveal the exact details of his fake heist. He felt that would certainly defeat the purpose of the entire exercise, but did it honestly matter? He was getting fucking paid for it anyway.
The Never King looked briefly amused. “Can’t say I blame them. Your fiancée could probably rip them apart and do her nails at the same time.” Rebekah was a vampire after all. Just like the man seated in front of him now. Pan had little doubt they could do some serious damage if the mood or moment struck them. As Pan could if the right situation arose. Who wasn’t fucking dangerous in this town?
Pan settled back in the seat once more, hands behind his head in a rather relaxed gesture despite the supposed formality of the situation. “It’s a necessary evil of this world. You need a fucking income to get by.” Something he’d never required in Neverland. He shrugged and hands settled on his knees again. “It sucks, but until this place gets sick of me and decides to send me packing, I have to play by its rules.” At least there was plenty of nicotine and alcohol.
He nodded. “I can start tomorrow. Give me the forms to fill out and I’m all yours for whenever you need me.” Because what else did he have to do in this fucking town anyway? Not much.
“I don’t need the details ahead of time of what you’re doing, but obviously afterwards.” Marcel knew he’d need to know the details afterwards, so they could analyze what did and didn’t work.
He smirked and laughed. “Oh, you have no idea.” Rebekah possessed a strength about her, but if someone attempted to cross her, she wouldn’t hesitate to inform the person of their mistake all while looking absolutely perfect. A lot of people here could do damage, even those who didn’t look like it, like his future sister-in-law.
“Yeah, while the Dome provides free living spaces, they don’t exactly fill fridges or glasses of alcohol.” Marcel could use compulsion, but if Rebekah decided to get a job, then Marcel would follow suit. He didn’t mind the job and certainly beat out sitting around bored. “Sadly, yeah, rules exist here which…sucks.” The vampire sighed. “Could be worse, but definitely better.”
Marcel passed the required forms to Pan, along with a pen. “Bourbon?” he asked, pouring himself a small glass.
Pan looked mildly surprised. “You may want to know ahead of time too. In case any of these alarms connect right to the police.” Oh, Pan would enjoy flying circles around those bastards all night long, but he was sure Rebekah and Marcel wouldn’t enjoy the experience nearly as much as he would. It would be an unnecessary headache and, as much as Pan liked causing trouble, he much preferred to do it when his employers weren’t involved.
He chuckled in return. “I may know a thing or two about strong women.” With the death shadow, the Darling was a force to be reckoned with as well. Oh, she could be kind, forgiving, but if anything threatened her or her little family, Pan knew she wouldn’t hesitate to maim and kill to eliminate it. The thought comforted him even as it hurt; a dagger twisting in his heart. There was a good chance he would never see her again, never see any of them again, and he couldn’t fucking bear to think about it. He steeled himself once more and pushed away the thoughts of his little family, far away in Neverland.
Instead, he focused on how annoying this place was in the most practical of ways: financially. “Yeah, you’re fucking telling me. Would it have killed them to give us at least ten thousand to start off with? A thousand is fucking peanuts in this place.” Pan’s sigh echoed Marcel’s and he folded his arms upon his chest. “I suppose so. Though being snatched away from your world is pretty fucking terrible.” And knowing you could never see it again? The icing on that shitty cake.
The Never King shifted forward in his chair and accepted the papers and pen Marcel passed to him. The first line gave him pause. It asked for his first name. Pan hadn’t gone by “Peter” in a long time. Decades at this point. Only Tinkerbell had ever called him that. “Peter” was the only part of him that she still owned. Fuck her. Pan’s grip briefly tightened on the pen, but he ignored that first line and moved to fill in his last name. In an abnormal world like this one, he doubted Marcel would care. All the vampire cared about was that he showed up and did his job without fucking anything up. Pan was confident he could. For the most part.
The offer of a drink pulled Pan from his thoughts and he glanced up at the vampire from behind thick lashes. “Yeah, thanks.” He needed something to chase thoughts of Tinkerbell from his brain. To chase away the thoughts of his little family too.
“Oh. I want to know the when, but I don’t need to know the how until after.” Marcel needed to prepare himself, Rebekah, and possibly the police if Pan caused the alarm to sound.
For Marcel, he would always bet on Rebekah as the strongest person he knew. He couldn’t imagine being separated from her and could only guess how Pan felt if he had someone back home whom he loved. “A thousand dollars isn’t terrible, but more would be nice while people get settled.” Marcel knew how much worse he’d find this place without Rebekah and Hope. Which certainly remained a fear, given what happened with Hayley, Klaus, Cami and Josh. Not like if he returned home he’d get to see them given their deaths.
No, Marcel wouldn’t care about the first name, but if anyone came to ask, he’d feign like he hadn’t realized, and then compel them to think a first name had been listed. He handed the new member of the security team a small glass of bourbon.