I'd like to thank the people who reviewed and the people who subscribed! You guys seriously made me very happy! So the next chapter is up before the week is, but that's because right now I have nothing better to do than write this story. Hopefully the chapters will get longer as the story goes on. This one is actually longer than the first (by like, 200 words!), and like the first, it ends with Arthur on the stairs. Haha I didn't even plan that...
Bunch of new people, but besides maybe one you know who they are...so I'll let you guess who the one possibly-not-so-easy-to-know character. He was kinda hard to write. D:
Anyway, enjoy~!
Disclaimer: I don't own the series. I would say I owned Dragonfly, but I don't think either Francis or Antonio want me in their kitchen...The results would be almost as bad as if Arthur had been in there...
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As Arthur stepped onto the second floor, it was all he could do not to notice the Tortuga's restaurant, Dragonfly. Its color scheme was largely the same as the lounge downstairs, though there seemed to be a bit more red than gold. From where he stood, he could also see that the actual restaurant part of Dragonfly was closed, but there were a few tables where people sat nursing some drinks on the outer lying area of the floor. Way off to the side was the bar, where he could only assume he'd be working, perhaps even tonight. The darkened lighting around it meant it was just as closed as the food part of the restaurant.
"It's good to know they don't support drinking before noon," mused Arthur, glancing at his wristwatch to see that it was 11:24 in the morning. Seeing the time reminded him that he was to meet up with Mr. Beilschmidt by noon, and he still wasn't even sure if his new boss was in the kitchen of Dragonfly. Determined to not let another future coworker deter his mission so greatly like the buffoons at the front desk (though he granted it was his fault he didn't know there was more than one Beilschmidt), Arthur straightened the tie of his suit and marched towards the double swinging doors leading to the kitchen.
He was almost immediately stopped by a brown haired teenage boy. Blinking in surprise as he observed his young interference, Kirkland saw that he appeared older than the bellhop Raivis, but not by much. The boy was also obviously Asian, while Raivis had just been generically European looking. The two of them stood there for a while, in silence, which was quickly draining the confidence Arthur had worked up during his ascent.
"U-Uh I'm here to see Mr. Beilschmidt, do you happen to know where he—" The Englishman was interrupted by another Asian man, who was however thankfully more vocal.
"Enlai~ you no frightening customer, are you? What did Mr. Bonnefoy tell you, aru?" The approaching man was obviously more frustrated by the boy's silence than Arthur was which made him feel a little better about being intimidated by the teenager. It had happened to others beside him.
The newcomer, bowed upon reaching them, his long black hair swishing over his shoulder as he did so. He immediately stood straight again, pushing the boy out of the way.
"I sorry about Enlai, aru. He have tendency to no talk to customers. I am Yao Wang, his older brother." The man, Yao, bowed again, a smile on his face when he came back up. "How I help you, aru?"
Smiling back, Arthur repeated, "I'm Arthur Kirkland, and I'm just looking for Mr. Beilschmidt. The man at the front desk told me he might be found in the kitchen…"
"Aiya! Why did you no say so sooner? Even Enlai could do that, aru! Follow me!" Yao spun on his heels and walked briskly back to the kitchen. A little shocked at the abruptness of his answer, Arthur hurried to walk after him, only barely noticing that the boy, Enlai, was walking beside him.
There were almost there when suddenly Enlai said in a monotone, "Eyebrows."
Fully prepared to give him a gentle reprimand, Arthur stopped when he turned to Enlai and found that the boy too had unfortunately big eyebrows. Embarrassed, the Brit coughed into his hand that he had raised and murmured, "Y-Yes, quite…" before speeding up his pace a little.
For some reason, this answer seemed to please the Asian boy, who nodded and walked off in a different direction. Kirkland watched him for a couple seconds before he realized Yao had stopped walking.
Yao gave him an inquiring look, glancing at where his younger brother had gone. "Enlai say nothing bad to you, yes?"
"N-No, not at all…"
"Good, good. Mr. Beilschmidt this way." Wang inclined his head towards the kitchen doors and pushed them open, walking in. "He bothering Mr. Bonnefoy and Mr. Carriedo as they plan specials."
Numbly, Arthur followed the man as he weaved in and out of the kitchen equipment, most of it currently inactive. There weren't even any people making any food at all, though there was a lone dark-skinned man pouring two cups of coffee. He completely ignored Arthur and Yao as they walked past the actual kitchen to reach the office at the back.
Not turning to consult Arthur this time, Yao knocked loudly on the office door, and yelled, "Mr. Beilschmidt! A Mr. Kirkland is here to see you, aru!"
Voices could be heard to be bickering, and the Englishman was about to ask Yao if this was the right office when a man boisterously replied, "Ja, send him in Wang! My awesome self has been waiting for this bastard all morning!"
Yao stepped aside, and gestured for Arthur to go in before walking away to, presumably, return to his job. Arthur shifted his glance almost helplessly between the doorknob and Yao's retreating back.
That hadn't been particularly nice of him to just leave him there like that, but before any more bitter thoughts could pass through the gentlemanly Brit's head, he realized he had yet to thank Yao. Deeming that even more profoundly rude than being left, he was about to quickly thank him when the door was yanked open.
"Whatcha keeping the awesome me waiting for, huh? Get your scrawny limey ass in here, Kirkland!" The voice of his new boss startled Arthur, causing him to face the person standing in the door. The man there was a bit taller than Arthur, and had shocking white hair that somehow went perfectly with his blood-red eyes.
"S-Sorry Mr. Beilschmidt!" apologized Arthur as he bowed his head, taking a mental note to thank Yao later for his assistance.
"Hmph, whatever, just get in here," grumbled Beilschmidt as he stepped aside, allowing for Arthur to walk past him into the office.
"Eh? This is the hombre you were talking about earlier, amigo?" inquired a cheery male voice. Looking around the room, Kirkland found that it belonged to a curly brown haired man who was sitting on the desk towards the back of the room. The man had light brown skin, as if he'd spent one too many days out in the sun, and his greens eyes shone alongside his smile as he watched Arthur and the albino.
"Hn, he isn't quite the beaux you said he was, mon cher," added the blonde man sitting in the chair behind the desk. He was lazily resting his chin on his hand; his blues eyes observing Arthur nonchalantly. "In fact, he's rather just a plain old Rosbif if you ask me…"
It was all the Englishman could do not to retort, 'Well no one did ask you, ya bastard,' but that would be incredibly rude, considering the fact that he didn't even know the man's name yet.
However when he did, perhaps he could make an exception of gentleman behavior for the Frenchman.
"Kesesese this guy may seem average, but I've heard from a reliable source that he's pretty good with drinks!" Beilschmidt beamed, a wide grin on his face as he clasped a hand on Arthur's shoulder. "I'm Gilbert Beilschmidt, and these two less awesome people are my friends and co-managers: Francis Bonnefoy and Antonio Fernandez Carriedo! Francis, Antonio, this is Arthur Kirkland, our new bartender!"
"Bonjour, Monsieur Sourcils." The Brit winced a little at the French nickname he had a feeling would stick.
"Hola, Arthur!" Kirkland restrained the urge to frown at being addressed so informally.
Arthur Kirkland was dumbfounded. These guys were the managers of La Tortuga? They were so…so…juvenile…
"Hello Mr. Bonnefoy, Mr. Carriedo, Mr. Beilschmidt. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Honhon, no need to be so formal, Monsieur Sourcils! Simply Francis will suffice!" The Frenchman smiled coyly at Arthur, only causing him to dislike this Bonnefoy more.
"Si, si! You can just call me 'Boss' if ya want!" chirped the Spaniard happily, a goofy grin on his face. A goofy grin that for some reason seemed to have a dark purpose behind it that even its owner didn't fully realize…
"And you can call me 'Sir Awesome'!" Ruffling Kirkland's hair roughly, Gilbert chuckled and continued, "So you've met your new bosses, anything you wanna add Kirkland?"
Arthur took a few moments to glance at Gilbert and Antonio before locking eyes with Francis. He desperately wanted to say something to the damnable frog, but despite knowing his name now, Bonnefoy was one of his bosses. While he might take insults from Gilbert, who was a friend, he might not take to it so kindly from a new employee who could be easily fired.
"I have nothing else to say, sir…" Gilbert gave the Englishman a pointed stare and he grudgingly revised, "I have nothing else to say, Sir Awesome…"
"Alright then! I'll take you to Lud's office, and he'll take you to your room! Be right back, Francis, Tony!" Gilbert then pushed Arthur out of the office, closing the door behind him.
"Pardon me, but wouldn't it just be easier for you to show me?" Kirkland looked down at his feet the moment Beilschmidt set his eyes on him.
"Ja, I suppose it would be, aber I need to continue bugging Francis and Tony as they come up with tonight's specials." He winked cheekily at Arthur, who desperately wanted to roll his eyes back. "'Sides! You'll like Lud! He's got a stick up his ass that is even bigger than yours!"
Feeling a light blush spread across his cheeks, Arthur tried not to glare at Gilbert, but couldn't help himself. The man was an obnoxious prat.
However, instead of angering the German, it just made him laugh.
"Kesesese, though I must say, Kirkland! You're a lot easier to get a rise out of than meinen Bruder."
Arthur blinked. Well, that explained the 'which Beilschmidt' question posed by the woman at the front desk earlier. The other one was Gilbert's brother.
By now they had made their way out of the kitchen and past the closed part of the restaurant. As they neared the stairs, the Englishman saw that on the other side of the floor was what looked like a whole other restaurant, but with the same overall scheme. Seeing the Londoner's gaze, Beilschmidt calmly explained.
"Yeah, it's still the Dragonfly, but that's where breakfast is served. It has its own kitchen and everything, but it closes at ten." Leading the way back down the stairs, Gilbert continued talking, "Lud works in maintenance, but you can go to him if you have a problem with anything. He seems like a tough guy, but don't let that fool ya. He's just a big marshmallow."
The Brit just nodded, not really feeling up to commenting on his boss's commentary. He had a feeling Gilbert would keep rambling with or without his input, so he decided to save his breath as they traveled to the other Beilschmidt's office...
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A/N: ...So did you like it? Did you figure out who that one possibly-not-so-easy-to-know character is? I'll give the official answer at the beginning of the next chapter (though I don't think it's actually that hard to figure out...)
I don't think this chapter was quite as fulfilling as the first...maybe it's from the lack of Alfred, who I promise is appearing soon! If not the next chapter, then definitely the next!
Seriously guys, I don't really know that much more about what's going to happen than you do...
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TRANSLATIONS:
Ja (German) - yes
hombre (Spanish) - man
amigo (Spanish) - friend
beaux (French) - handsome man
mon cher (French) - my dear/love
Rosbif (French) - Roastbeef, apparently a name they call the English
Bonjour Monsieur Sourcils (French) - Hello Mr. Eyebrows
Hola (Spanish) - Hi/Hello
Si, si (Spanish) - Yes, yes
aber (German) - but
mein Bruder (German) - my brother
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Reviews will be used as ammo for Arthur to throw at Francis! (But subscribing/favoriting works too if you're lazy!)