tushanshu | 013 ≠ ( CONSOLE

Tomorrow, at midday.

[ That was a fairly busy time at the dojo, and Bakura was interested to see how this one reacted to the various stimuli. ]

What is your name?

Penny.

Bakura. I will see you tomorrow, then.

[Penny's not afraid of asking around. He almost gets in a fight at one point with some less friendly kedan, but manages to avoid the scuffle and get back on track. A few more questions and he figures out he's been living in the water sector and gets directions to the wood sector. The magician tries to tap into his abilities, but the conditions are still too unstable to risk the trip and so he ends up walking and then later hitching a ride on a wagon in exchange for some food he stole not long before.

He arrives to the area early, gets directions, and arrives to the actual dojo a few minutes late. Penny struts into the place, glancing over the melee and chaos of the place without much interest, looking for the white-haired kid who offered him the job. He's concerned about being late, but it's not like he's about to admit to his punctual ways.]

You Bakura? [He asks the only white-haired guy he can find, gaze drifting to watch some of the fights.]

[ Bakura's rather unassuming in person, and although he's aged from his initial arrival appearance, he easily looks at least five years younger than the mid-20's age he claims. The good news as far as an employer went, he's was fairly lax so long as the work got done, and he didn't care that much about schedules, and he doesn't comment on Penny's arrival time. 'Midday' is a fairly loose term, in any case. ]

Looks like you found your yellow bricks. You're not wasting much time in getting a job, if you're such a new arrival. Not content with the charity of others?

[Penny watches the training and sparring until Bakura speaks, at which point he moves on to visibly sizing the guy up. He looks young, kinda dumb, and probably naive. It almost reminds Penny of Q, though he says nothing of the comparison.]

I don't do charity. [He replies lightly. Penny's been living on the streets for the few days since he popped out of a fountain, using a cafe for the console.] Is my background going to be an issue?

[He's ready to fight about it, if necessary. Penny's used to being judged for his looks, his lack of family, and his attitude. The 'where you are from' question being followed up with 'but where are you from originally,' as if Miami isn't a real answer. It wouldn't be the first time and definitely won't be the last. He has no interest in wasting his time if he won't be hired for being a foreigner though.]

Background?

[ The way Bakura repeats it is the sound of someone to whom that honestly never even occurred to ask about, let alone deny someone employment based on it. In fact, once he realizes that's what Penny is suspicious of, he actually laughs a bit. ]

No, I've no interest in your background. I could care less what you have or haven't done.

You could say I'm a bit old fashioned, in that regard.

[ The last bit is added with a private bit of humour. ]

I'll show you the book Enjolras has been keeping.

Alright. [Said in a 'let's do this' manner. Penny has no further need to posture for the moment, dropping the hostility and reverting to a more professional sort of attitude. Or the best he can manage. He nods a little and gesture for Bakura to lead on to wherever they're going to find the book.

Penny has zero experience with accounting. But he gets the idea of it. Numbers in, numbers out. As long as he's not figuring out complicated taxes or something, he's smart and meticulous enough to keep accurate books. Intake forms, cancellations, whatever can't be that hard either. As long as he's not expected to be planning events or anything. The more he can do without being bothered or dealing with people, the better.]

[ Interesting; Pennt had been expecting to be turned away.

Bakura leads Penny to the small office set in the back corner of the dojo. The space is fairly small, made smaller by a desk and shelf of various books on one wall. Most of the books had been here when Bakura had taken over the dojo, but he'd kept them. The office is a bit cluttered, but navigable. There's a second door against the back wall partly ajar, and what appears to be a kitchen through it.

The thief goes to the shelf and takes down a ledger, opening it and turning it so that Penny can see the columns. It's pretty standard to what one would expect: income divided into two columns, the kedan paid different amounts whether they were here to be formally trained by Valdis or Gene, or whether they were here merely to use the facilities themselves. Another column for wages paid out, one for repairs and supplies for the building. Although most of the notations were in French, additional headers had been added on small bookmarks in both English and Japanese, to which Bakura explains: ]

Enjolras' mother tongue was French. Writing here isn't translated the same way that speech is.

Because that would be crazy. [Said with a deadpan delivery. As if this entire place isn't crazy and it's only the idea of translated writing that can really blow Penny's mind. Not that magic is all that dissimilar. He met the Neitherlands and the idea of Fillory with similar skepticism.

He reaches out to slide the book around for his convenience, looking over the columns of numbers and the different headers. The different charges for the students aren't obvious, but there's definitely a pattern to him and he assumes those kinds of basics will be told to him when he gets the job.

Penny points to the Japanese writing.] Is this one yours?

[ he grins ]

You're going to have to raise your tolerance for 'crazy' to get along well here, you know.

[ Bakura glances at the notations and nods ]

Both are mine. A lot of people speak English, and when there were a lot more Foreigners a few years ago, many of them spoke Japanese. I just happen to speak both.

I have a high tolerance for crazy, but that doesn't mean I won't call it out.

[Penny can deal with pretty much anything thrown his way, including moth men and children's books' imaginary lands. Automatic translating it barely worth notice. But it's still dumb.]

Good for you. [Insult or compliment? You decide!] If I'm in charge of keeping track of all of this, how do I know when people pay and what you pay people? Or am I supposed to handle the money too?

[ Bakura suppressed a laugh at that. Wait until Penny saw Valdis in her hound form, or one of his summons that sometimes were used for sparring. He briefly considered giving the man a heads up... and decided against it. More fun this way. ]

I'll look forward to that.

For costs, kedan pay differently. Those who come only to practice by themselves pay five juulan each day. Those who come to be trained by Valdis or Gene, pay for a week's worth of classes at a time -- which are three times a week -- and that costs 20 juulan, for the week. The same if one of them doesn't show and I cover the classes; it doesn't happen often, but occasionally.

As instructors, both Gene and Valdis get 100 juulan at the end of every week, and that's when you'll get your 50 as well, unless you need it at a different time.

[ It was clear the dojo was a profitable business, although the high wages paid to its employees seemed to take up a large chunk of the net gross. Bakura doesn't seem that bothered by it. ]

If you find anyone shirking on their payments, I'll leave that to your discretion to handle.

[ Mostly because he wanted to see how Penny would handle it. The man is something of an enigma, so far. ]

[Penny looks over the book as he listens, identifying patterns with specific names based on Bakura's description of who pays and is paid what. He runs a finger down a page and flips it to look at another. Without lifting his eyes, he asks the only obvious question.]

Do the teachers collect the money? [Another page flip, more reading, before he finally pauses and looks at Bakura again.] I signed up to keep your books, not play bookie. I'm not a debt collector.

No, they don't. The kedan know enough to leave it by the office.

[ The knowing enough was highly influenced by the fact that there weren't many of them who didn't know that Bakura would send literal monsters after them. ]

Isn't it in your best interest to help with that?

[That's some honor system. Penny almost visibly bristles at the question, his gaze snapping up to meet Bakura's as the book is momentarily forgotten. Although obviously annoyed, he doesn't seem especially pissed off.]

I think it's in my best interest to punch you in the throat if you try to tell me what's in my best interest.

[ The thief grinned in response, although he had no reason at all to doubt either the willingness or capability of Penny to carry out the threat. ]

You could, at that. You must have had some truly awful jobs in the past, to be so defensive. As I said, do what you want if you notice any discrepancies. If that includes ignoring them, so be it.

[As tempting as it is to retort that he's dealt with shitty people and hasn't really had any long-standing job in his lifetime, being in grad school now, the sentiment would only serve to undermine his point and reveal more about himself than he feels is necessary.]

Good. I'll start tomorrow. [It's not a question.] Anything else you need done?

[ It will be interesting, Bakura thinks, to see just how brash this one's going to end up being. ]

Not at the moment. If I think of anything, I'll be sure to run it past you to ensure it meets your standards.

[Penny gives a deadpan sort of stare at the remark, knowing it's bait and resisting the urge to give in to it. If the guy hadn't just hired him, he might have.]

What happened to the last guy? I keep hearing how this place is all Hotel California, but you said he left.

Enjolras? He had been here a long time, longer than myself. You'd have to ask the magician girl, she's been here the longest now, I believe, she might remember when he first got here.

The spell that brings people here just as frequently sends them away. You arrive back at the point you last recall, but you don't remember being here when you return.

[ Said with a certainty, different from the usual way of reciting it. It's something he's experienced and is able to confirm. ]

So he had no control over it? It wasn't a portal or a spell that he chose to cast.

[Penny clarifies. Because while he's not exactly eager to leave if he can return to the same moment in time he left from, he does want to be able to leave eventually. There are a lot of questions about aging and growing his magic that he still hasn't asked. And if the departure comes with a powerful memory charm, that's another hurdle to overcome, but hopefully he can train up his magic in the interim.]

If they're back in another world, how do you know they forget?

Enjolras was about as magical as a leaky bucket, so no, it certainly wasn't his own doing. If the Foreigners could control on their own whether they came or left, I imagine there'd be many less than there are now.

[ Bakura gives Penny a mischievous look. ]

But what do you know of spells or portals?

[ At the question, the thief hummed thoughtfully. ]

There have been a lot of people who've left, only to return later. We all say that same thing, that it was as if no time had passed from when we left, and that we had no idea of what had occurred while we were here.

Enough to know traveling between worlds ain't easy.

[Penny can't help but be as unhelpful as possible with people he doesn't quite trust or like.]

Did you learn any physical skills or magic here that you remembered there without knowing how? Things like muscle memory.

Indeed it's not.

[ Bakura doesn't mind, he'd be just as cagey. The follow-up question, however, is a good one. He likes the way the man thinks. ]

I went back to something that was rather demanding of my full attention, so I didn't have time to notice. It might be worth putting to some of the others who've experienced it, however.

013 ≠ ( CONSOLE | VIDEO )

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