Tony held the piece of newspaper precariously in his hand. Five minutes and thirty-two seconds until the interview. A celestial being was certainly not required or expected to acquire a job, but immortality can leave one craving something more. Something to…pass the time. Two minutes left. He looked upward at the inconspicuous sign which read: "Creativity". Some name for a bdsm club. He was admittedly surprised when he had decided to look into the local job listings, and saw the ad. 'looking for a personal assistant to a fetish-club owner. Must be extremely organized, and especially timely. Please also be very CREATIVE!' Tony smirked at the last line. You'd have to be a pretty interesting person to own, or even work at a place like this. His gloved hand removed the pocket watch from his trousers, and clicked it open. Ten seconds left. He slid it back into place, and gripped the brass door handle confidently. If anyone was perfect for such an odd position, it was him.
Walking up to reception, he outstretched his hand to the man at the desk. He had a bright blue mohawk, and matching colored overalls. He looked quite out of place considering the nature of the building, and the decorum inside. Tony cleared his throat, his hand still outstretched. "Hello, my name is Tony. I am here for the interview with Paige, the owner."
The man sitting did his best not to meet eyes with the person standing in front of him. "My name is Manny. I make it a point to avoid bodily contact with anyone entering the club." He knew he would probably be punished for that comment, if Paige had overheard. He wished silently that she was too busy preparing for her interview for her creepy stalker-like omniscience.
Tony, not seeming to be taken aback in the slightest, quickly redacted his hand. He moved one hand behind his back and gave a slight bow. "Yes, please DO excuse my thoughtlessness." After regaining his usual posture Tony simply smiled with a slight glare, rather agitated at the time that was being wasted on these menial introductions.
"W-Well, let me take you to Paige then. Her office is in the back".
Tony curiously inspected his surroundings on the way, particularly noting the black painted rooms, which were covered in bright, vivid colored seemingly splashed on. The floor, even the ceiling; nothing was spared from the splashes of color that brought a shimmer of brightness to the otherwise stereotypical darkness. The hall was lined with different wooden doors, each with a sliding metal peephole so the staff could ensure that no customers were too badly maimed. Thoughts of what kind of masochistic things went on behind those closed doors flashed in his mind, and wrangled a grin from Tony.
Manny looked a bit off-put, as he reached his hand up and knocked on the owner's door. He quickly put his hands back at his sides and stood up straight. It was definitely forced, and Tony noticed that he seemed to be…trembling? His thoughts were interrupted as the large door started to open with a creak, and Tony fought the urge to cover his face as a flash of bright white hurt his eyes. Straining, he began to make out a generously large white room with the same vivid colors splashed all around. It was very hard on the eyes after leaving such a dark environment, but he wasn't going to complain. In the middle of the room sat a mahogany desk, with a large black chair turned away from the two. 'Who had opened the door…' He thought quietly, and more so curiously.
The black chair spun around quickly, revealing a very pale-faced woman who didn't look a day over twenty-two. Being time itself, Tony was rather gifted at guessing things like this. The woman's face was pale white, adored with black lipstick and thick, long lashes. Her hair was a multitude of curly pastel ruffles, matching all the colors on the walls. She wore a long white dress, with poofy sleeves and a bell-type bottom. There were child-like scribblings and doodles around the bottom, which was particularly confusing to Tony. Who was this person? Long black gloves and tights covered all her skin not covered by her clothing, making her true appearance an enigma.
"Why helloooooo! You must be Tony!" She smiled wide and rose from her seat, approaching the two. She looked much too excited for such an occasion, and if this really was the owner of such a vulgar establishment, he wondered what sort of person she must be. Paige stopped halfway through the room, and stared down at Manny. "You're exCUSED!" She raised her voice and the last part as if angered, and stopped bitterly. Manny gave a slight shiver took no extra time in turning quickly to close the door behind him.
"Good evening madame. Indeed I am the Tony you had taken the precious time out of your day to see. It is a pleasure meeting you." He gave a respectful bow, and outstretched his gloved hand in front of him. Tony had simply worn the outfit he adorned daily; it seemed to fit the situation well enough. A red button up shirt covered by a black petticoat with black slacks. A white and red bowtie held together his collar, and white gloves which always covered his hands.
Paige gasped audibly, and ran to meet her interviewee. Her mouth opened into a wide smile, and her deep red eyes seemed to light up with glee. "Well color me surprised! You are so handsome!" To Tony's dismay, she did not hold back touching his clothes, feeling his gloves, before finally stopping in front of him and outstretching her hand. "Oh, pardon my manners! I've just had so many uncultured creeps come in and apply, I had almost lost hope! My name is Paige, I'm the owner of Creativity."
Tony smiled, and accepted the handshake. It was much more firm then he was expecting, almost scarily so. "Yes, I can only imagine. Though it takes a person of a certain caliber to be here in the first place, does it not?"
Paige removed the pencil from behind her ear and pointed it accusingly at Tony. "I'm asking the questions here, at least for now. Capisce?" She stepped lightly backwards, almost bouncing back to her desk. "Come have a seat!"
Tony walked forward and pulled out a chair, making point not to take his eyes off Paige. She was all over the place, he couldn't quite tell what she was going to do next. Keeping his confident demeanor, he spoke up. "So Ms. Paige, what is it you'd like to know about me?" He folded his hands in his lap, not particularly appreciating the height difference of the two in their respective seats.
Paige twitted her fingers excitedly, and spun the pencil around almost like a nervous tick. "Well Mr. Tony. Would you tell me how you feel you are in terms of organization and timeliness? That is of course the reason I'm needing an assistant." She held the pencil firmly in her hand, as if she were ready to attack.
Tony smiled and closed his eyes. "I was to be here at 4'oclock sharp. I arrived five minutes and thirty two seconds early. I thought about what kind of place this would be, what sort of person you would be, and pondered these things for exactly three minutes. Two minutes and twenty two seconds went by as I thought about the colorful sign, and exactly why you were so drawn to the word "creativity". With exactly ten seconds remaining I entered and spoke to the receptionist "Manny". He spoke for twenty three seconds before leading me down the hall to your room, and it took an additional fifteen seconds before we were introduced. We have been talking for exactly four minutes and seventeen seconds, and as a normal interview lasts ten minutes I believe we should move on to another question."
Paige sat transfixed on the man in front of him, the smile still lingering on her face. She folded her hands with her elbows on the desk and rested her chin. "Mr. Tony, I make it a point not to have any clocks here in my club. Exact timeliness prohibits creativity. How exactly do you figure all those -precise- numbers?"
Tony's smile faltered, before quickly returning to it's normal relaxed state. "Time is a tool that is very important to me. Time is the most important aspect of living after all. Either we don't have enough…" He paused. "Or we have too much."
Paige looked hesitant, as if he'd just erased the very colors from her hair. "Well then. It sounds like you fit the bill pretty well Mr. Tony. Do not be mistaken, I do not enjoy time. I rather…despise it. But having someone around with your precision will be very beneficial. I am a busy person after all."
Tony smirked, and leaned in closer. "There will always be time in your schedule, I guarantee it. You will have plenty of time to "get creative". He put particular emphasis on the last part, and stared directly at the flustered girl in front of him.
A light blush appeared across Paige's face, as she smiled and gripped her pencil tightly. "I think that you paint an elaborate picture of yourself. I'm interested to see what you can do, Mr. Tony; and what exactly called you to a place like this. Most people that come through my doors are very unusual, and I tend to doubt you are an exception."
Tony grinned. "What I enjoy in my own spare time is of no concern of yours, nor this interview." He placed his hands closer to hers and stared into her eyes with a smirk.
"Now I've been dying to ask you, as someone who claims to hate time, why pray tell did you scribble a clock onto your pretty white dress? That seems a bit hypocritical, wouldn't you agree?"
Paige's smile disappeared from her face. "How dare you question me." In an instant, she grabbed at the pencil sitting on the desk in front of her and threw herself forward at Tony's face, aiming to at least gouge out an eye. Tony took advantage of her momentum to snatch her by the wrist and throw her easily over him, and she toppled to the floor. Paige tried to scramble to her feet to attack again, but Tony was swift. He was sooner up at her then she could reach for the pencil she had dropped.
"So quick to anger… it was a simple question. Is that any way to treat someone you invited into your business?" He grabbed at her wrists, effectively pinning them to the wall. "Now I see why you own a place like this. After all, it would take a sadist to run something so indecent."
Paige screamed and stared up at him, angrily thrashing about. "Where the hell do you get off calling me a sadist? You stupid man! Let me go!"
Tony chuckled. "I know you're stronger than this, I could feel it in your handshake. You could easily break free at any moment if you wanted to. You really are quite the slut, enjoying being treated like this." He moved his leg in between her thighs and whispered in her ear "you want me to make you feel filthy, is that it Ms. Paige?"
Paige was mortified. Excited. Her eyes widened as a wild grin spread across her face. "You're really something Tony…" The black gloves on her arms seemed to be melting off her arms, seeping some sort of black fluid. "You think you can come in here and act like you know me?! Maybe you're right. Maybe I am some sort of sick creature, but you don't seem to mind being awfully close to me." She threw herself out of Tony's hold, and smashed her fist into the side of his face sending him reeling to the ground. Her gloves fell to the ground with a 'slop' along with a mess of black slime, revealing the same color skin as the slime: a black darkness. Her legs, her arms, her neck, everything was dripping, she left a dark dribbled trail as she picked up the pencil and walked towards Tony's stunned body. "Do you like to paint, Tony? I do. Let's paint with the color of your BLOOD!" She let out a shriek as she jumped forward at him again, driving her pencil hard into his collarbone.
To Paiges's dismay, Tony did not let out a yell. He removed his favorite pocket watch from his pocket, and quickly wrapped the chain around her throat in retaliation. He grimaced, as the sudden movement seemed to drive the pencil sideways, scraping against the bone inside him. "How will you paint when you cannot breathe? Now you'll squirm, now you'll wreathe!"
Paige struggled on top of him, the black slime making the chains effectively slide around the skin of her neck. "You want to-rhyme…you stupid shit…that's pretty creative…but can you commit?" She struggled at the chain, grabbing desperately at her neck. Her kicking was erratic, too unconcentrated to much to do any actual damage to her captor.
Tony chuckled at her comeback to his rhymes, even given the circumstances. "Look at you now, you're a sight to see. Your face turning red, and your envy is green."
Paige stopped her struggling, her eyes narrowed. "I hate…" Tony stopped pulling for a moment, and looked up at her. "I hate the color green!" she yelled, and dug her sharp fingers into his arms. He recoiled in pain, letting go of the chain which restrained her. Paige did not let up, her claws digging further into his arms and causing blood to quickly seep through his coat. She giggled maniacally at the look of pain in his eyes, as her black slime dripped down onto his neck and face. "Green is not a creative color, Mr. Tony. I advise you to remember that well." She wrapped her fingers delicately around her favorite pencil, and ripped it from his chest.
Tony lurched at the pain of his insides being maneuvered and torn and shoved Paige off of him, sending her as far away from him as he could. Gripping his chest, he stood up slowly and brushed off his coat. Thick layers of slime splashed to the floor below, mixing with his blood. He grimaced, his outfit was absolutely ruined. As Paige regained her composure not far away, he opened his watch. It was filthy with the black of Paige's skin, and he did his best to wipe it away. Fifteen minutes. Far too long for a normal interview. Then again, this woman was far from normal. He did not think she could be human, which would make their meeting even more unlikely.
"Mr. Tony." Paige snapped from across the room, keeping her distance. Her voice changed frequently, from bubbly and fun to an intimidating, demanding tone. Tony looked her way, and pocketed his watch. "Noon." she spoke sternly.
"Noon, Ms. Paige?" He straightened up and gave a courteous smile.
"Be here tomorrow at noon. If you're still truly interested in taking the job." She smiled and rubbed at the soreness of her neck. The slime seemed to have settled down and it looked to be regular skin again, for the most part. "But you really should work on your creativity…"
"I will keep that in mind, Ms. Paige." Tony smiled, and bowed. "I thank you for the opportunity. You may rest assured I will be here in a timely manner." He turned around to the door, making sure to keep his ears open for any further mischief from the girl. He walked back down the dark hallway and gave his best to Manny, who gave a concerned and confused look at his disheveled appearance. Upon reaching the outside, he pulled out his pocket watch and grinned. '19 hours, 43 minutes and 18 seconds until I will see you again, Ms. Paige.'