Hecking Game: IC Inbox

[toothaches]

"--eached Maurice Hutch. Leave your name and number and I'll get back t'you soon as I can."

Comments

phone call;

[deerlisteners]

[It's Tuesday morning! Alastor still needs someone to clean his toilets.]

Hello? Is this Mr. Maurice Hutch?

[toothaches]

[ Maurice takes a second to answer because he's having trouble swiping the little button to "answer" with big meaty claws. ]

Oh, hello! Yes, sir, this is me.

[ He easily recognizes Alastor's unique voice. ]

[deerlisteners]

[BIG. MEATY. CLAWS.]

Are you still interested in the janitorial position at the studio?

[toothaches]

[ He nods emphatically even though Alastor can't see. ]

Yes, sir! I can start as soon as you need me.

[deerlisteners]

Not so fast, fella. You have to prove your worth, first. I only hire the best, you see. And you have some big shoes to fill. [pause] Figuratively, anyway -- Niffty is actually quite small.

[toothaches]

[ Maurice frets a little, but he tries to put on his best Hire Me face...on a phone call. ]

I understand. What do you need from me?

[deerlisteners]

Well, I doubt you have any references or even a resumé to speak of.... Hmm. How about this? We can try a working interview. If you do a reasonable job, you'll be hired. If not... well. I suppose we can cross that bridge if we get to it, mm?

[toothaches]

I'd be glad to do that. Do ya'll have supplies there or should I bring my own?

[deerlisteners]

I have some supplies, but you should bring anything you think you may need.

[toothaches]

[ He's nodding. He hopes Alastor can hear him nodding. ]

Yes, sir, I'll do that. I'm also pretty good at makin' coffee.

[deerlisteners]

We'll see about that.

[Alastor hangs up fairly abruptly, but Maurice's phone chimes within a few seconds with an address in Hell and a time. Strangely, it doesn't seem to be in his texts or emails... just shows up on his phone's screen. Creepy!]

[toothaches]

[ Maurice frowns a little at his phone as it seems to be taken over by the deer man's influence. That's...concerning. BUT HE NEEDS TH IS JOB. ]

[And so he arrives at the radio station at the requested date and time--not early and not late. The ex-vampire carries with him a pair of rubber gloves in one hand and one of those little cleaning caddies in the other--it's empty though. He could only scrounge up so much from the generous hotel staff.]

[He makes his way into the station, careful of his tail, and peers around.]

Hello?

[deerlisteners]

[the station is in a rather desolate part of downtown Hell. The facade and interior are in an art deco style, ornate and antique. Dark interiors with velvet and leather furniture. And there don't seem to be any lights on, and no one is home! It's a bit dusty and there's trash scattered about.

... Except when Maurice walks through the doors, the lights flicker in the foyer and down the hallway. The first door on the left creaks open, and a warm light peeks through, accompanied by soft jazz music]

[toothaches]

[ Maurice only gets a short glimpse of the darkness before the radio station seemingly flickers into life. He quietly admires the stylish decor and almost doesn't notice the garbage at first. This place is fancy. Could he really work here? ]

[He swipes a finger along the back of a chair and frowns thoughtfully at the dust. He's got his work cut out for him, looks like. Then music creeps into the foyer and Maurice's ears perk up.]

Hello?

[ He calls more loudly as he drifts toward the door. Maurice raises a fist to knock--not being bold enough to push his way on in. ]

I'm here about the interview?

[deerlisteners]

Come in, come in~

[a cheery, radio-filtered voice from inside the room. Which turns out to be an office! It has the same art deco theme, but there's also records, old audio equipment, deer skulls, and... uh... that sure is a whole ass alligator skeleton on the wall. And Alastor! Sitting behind the big mahogany desk with a big smile on his face]

Mr. Hutch, I presume.

[toothaches]

[ He pushes the door open. At first, Maurice is enchanted. The retro equipment reminds him of his favorite talk shows he would listen to on long drives. Skeletons on walls are nothing new to him--his favorite bar back home is decorated in all kinds of horrible taxidermy. Plus, alligators are super cool! ]

[But it's when his eyes fall upon Alastor himself that Maurice tenses up. He can't help it--he stares openly at that wide, jagged, yellow grin. Thirty full seconds flit between them before he kicks his brain back into gear.]

Uh yeah! Yes, sir!

[ He nods, trying to look engaged and positive. ]

This place is somethin' else!

[deerlisteners]

[he steeples his fingers and tilts his head, giving the impression of an almost pleasant smile. Yes, yes, compliments good]

Do you like it? It took me some time to acquire all the decor I wanted, yes indeedy! It's still a bit of a work in progress... and now I find myself without anyone to keep it tidy.

[he stands up from behind his desk, standing to his full height of slightly over seven feet]

So. Here's what I was thinking. I will give you... [he taps his finger to his lips, thoughtfully] two hours? Yes, that should be an adequate allotment. You will clean this station in that time period. I will pay you for your time today, of course, but the quality of your work will determine if you get to come back. I will lend you some of the supplies Niffty left behind. Sound fair?

[toothaches]

[ Maurice's furry ears flick backwards involuntarily when Alastor stands. He feels them do it and he hates it! He hates having these stupid animal parts that betray how he's feeling.]

[He nods again and strains to listen instead of just stare at the strange demon. He can't get all up in his own head about this! Alastor is a business man just like Mr. Corey and all he wants out of him is a job well done.]

[Maurice draws in a breath.]

Yes, sir. That sounds perfectly fair to me.

[ He does not ask about the hourly rate. Anything is better than nothing. He glances around in search of a clock, forgetting for a moment that his fancy new phone has a clock on it. ]

Is there any room I ought not go in?

[deerlisteners]

[Oh Maurice. It's something you get used to! And learn to control :)

The kid is clearly petrified, though, despite putting on a brave face. Which Alastor is just eating it up]

There's a few things that you needn't bother with. Here, I'll give you a quick tour.

[he leads him down the hallway to the storage closet, which is actually quite large. There's a reasonable amount of cleaning supplies (mop and vacuum included) tucked into one corner plus a utility sink. A lot of the equipment seems to be kind of... tiny? But there's normal sized stuff as well] Your extra supplies are in here. You needn't clean this room. [he walks back out to the viewing room, pointing to each of the studios in turn] Clean both of the studios, but do not, u̷̧̓n̸̟̯͂̽d̶̮̬̋ḛ̷̛̇r̶̗̩͋ ̴͓̅̿A̴̧̟̎N̴̩͋Y̴̗̆ ̶͈̜́ç̵͖̒ỉ̵̠͕ř̵̦c̴͍̀ű̷̥m̵̟̠͒̈ş̸̪͐͆ṭ̵̇͘ã̴͍̦n̶͇͊ć̶̬̣e̷͙̼͘s̵̨͒͝, touch the equipment. [... scary. But then he's back to his charming businesslike self] It's all very delicate, you see!

[he turns his back to Maurice and heads back down the hall to his office, counting off the rooms on his fingers as he speaks]

Let's see... the green room, the break room, both restrooms, the hallway, and the foyer all need some elbow grease. Don't worry about my office. But everywhere else, you are responsible for everything from the ceiling to the floor. [when he turns back around, he has an ornate pocket watch in his hand]

If there are no more questions... your trial begins now.

[toothaches]

[ Maurice clams up and follows Alastor. He feels like he's swimming in his shadow. He listens. He listens and wonders how Alastor is doing that with his voice. One could expect a demon to have a big scary voice, but when the deer man lays down the law, Maurice feels like there is static prickling inside his ears. He rubs one of them after sliding his gloves on and willing his claws not to poke through the tips of the fingers. ]

[The miniature cleaning supplies gets a stare and an inward groan, but he doesn't show it on his face.]

[It's a bigger place than Fred's, but the directions are straight forward and something Maurice appreciates greatly. It's then that he notices the little antlers between Alastor's pointy ears and his fluff-tipped tail. Of course a creature with fur would need to vacuum more than a human being. Huh, he thinks to himself.]

[The clock appears and Maurice straightens his back.]

Yes, sir.

[ Without another word, Maurice goes to work. ]

[He starts in the bathrooms, making sure everything is swept and mopped and wiped down and and that both of them are stocked with paper. Next is the break room which gets much the same treatment.]

[By the time he finishes making sure everything in the communal fridge is in-date, he remembers his phone. Maurice glances at the time and nearly bites his tongue. He's already spent almost forty minutes on this! He has to speed up! Finished is better than perfect!]

[Maurice carries a trash can under one arm as he bustles about collecting trash. He grabs it in fistfulls, not shying away from anything that looks Questionable. He's got gloves. It's fine! It's fine.]

[Maurice starts dusting. While the wood doesn't get oiled, it does get wiped down. He's never dealt with velvet, so he tries to "brush" all the fibers the same way after patting the dust out of the cushions. He is very very careful about the recording equipment--to the point that he probably could have cleaned a little closer to it than he does. He must finish!]

[Once all the dust is on the floor, he breaks out the vacuum and here is where he begins to struggle. His stupid Godzilla tail continually gets caught up in the electrical cord. His movement loses direction and grace as he struggles to turn in tight spots. Furniture topples. He resets it and fusses over possible damage. Feathers and fur are wedged into the cracks between the floors and the baseboards. He tries to tweeze it out with his claws.]

[Tick. Tick. Tick.]

[deerlisteners]

[Alastor doesn't watch him. He wants to see how he works when he's not feeling like a fish in a bowl, so the Radio Demon vanishes to his office while the other man works. Besides, he has other things to attend to.

But it's not long before there's only minutes left for Maurice's cleaning gig. He hears the vacuum, so that's good!]

[toothaches]

[ Tick. Tick. Tick.]

[ At last, every part of the radio station receives some form of attention from Maurice. He favors some areas over others, but he doesn't think he's done too bad for two hours. ]

[Maurice pushes his hair out of his face as he stands outside Alastor's office. He's dusty and sweaty, but feeling confident.]

[deerlisteners]

[DING. Time's up. The door to the office opens for Maurice]

And that's time. Please, come inside.

[toothaches]

[ Maurice enters, but not without giving the door a significant look. This Alastor guy is...very very spooky. But he tries not to think about that. ]

I think I got to everything.

[deerlisteners]

Two hours goes by in a flash, doesn't it? [he waves his hand and the door creaks closed behind Maurice] Time to see how you did. I will return shortly, so make yourself comfortable.

[there are several large overstuffed chairs to choose from! Alastor melts into a pool of shadows, disappearing to go and inspect the station. Maurice will find the office door locked from the outside if he tries to leave.

Alastor wants his work to speak for itself]