Chapter 15

When Violet returned to Ramshackle, she was spent. Three hours spent standing at a sink were catching up to her, draining away what little energy she had left. The bite of chilled night air against her skin didn't prick her awake as she creeeeaaaaked open the rusted gate. She was numb to the goosebumps on her arms raised by the scrape of a breeze. Like it or not, she'd have to track down a sweater sooner or later.

With Jelly muscles, she pried open the front door, not bothering to snap on the common room lights. There was no real need, not when she could navigate by the pool of warm light that spilled down the stairs. The door to her room was wide open.

So, Grim was home. Would it be too much to hope he'd turned down the bed for her? Perhaps lit the fireplace? Probably. This was Grim after all.

Violet cleared the last of the stairs, trudged over to the threshold of her room. There was Grim, curled up on her bed and frowning at her empty pillow. She let the corner of her mouth rise. Was this what it was like coming home to a pet?

"Knock knock."

Grim's ears perked up. His flames brightened from an ember's glow to a roaring campfire when he saw her.

"You're back!" He sprang to his feet, then paused like he caught himself. Violet matched him, feeling a little off guard as he donned his usual attitude like a cape. "About time, minion. I was getting impatient."

And there it was, that insufferable superiority that he loved to scrape against her rawest nerves. That night, somehow, he was just shy of that. Violet blamed her fatigue.

"I'm terribly sorry, oh master," she produced a small Styrofoam box from behind her back, "I hope this makes up for it."

Grim's smile blazed with enough joy to shed away his arrogance. Right away his nose went to sniffing the air, desperate for a whiff of the leftovers. Violet popped the lid open to reveal a slice of grilled salmon.

"Eat up," she said. "Not on the bed!"

The cat creature spared a second to roll his eyes before leaping to the floor. He dove in, the instant Styrofoam touched the floorboards.

Violet watched him take a few bites before throwing on her pajamas. With her uniform hung back in the modest wooden wardrobe, she threw herself onto the bed, arms limp at her sides. By the time Grim finished eating, she was already starting to drift.

"So," Grim's voice hoisted her back from the edge of sleep.

"So?" she didn't bother to look at him.

"The deal and stuff. Y'think Ace's right?"

Violet struggled to come up with a response. Whenever she tried her thoughts would slip through her fingers like satin ribbons. Given how her night had gone, it was clear Azul meant to put her to work. Aside from tiredness, it hadn't been awful and that was all she knew. Trying to explore any repercussions beyond that was like slogging through sand. In the end, she could only settle on, "We'll see, I guess."

How Grim had the energy to keep talking was beyond her, "Think they'll let us try everything on the menu? I mean, if you're gonna be working there and all you gotta know your stuff, y'know?"

Violet sighed. Tired or not, Grim was chatty. She might as well indulge him for a minute or two. "Who's 'us'? I'm the one working."

She could hear the pout in his voice, "Aw, c'mon! How's that any way to treat your dorm mate?"

For the first time since seeing Floyd, she laughed, "Technically I'm your housewarden."

"So?" The mattress shifted under Grim's paws. He settled down a hand's width from her face, "We're friends! Doesn't that count for anything?"

Violet raised her head at that, resting her head on her arm to get a better look at him. His flames flickered at his ears like candlelight, dim and warm and reinforcing the wide gaze he'd trained on her. The last time he'd looked like that was the night of their enrollment. Which made her pause: did he believe what he was saying or was he just begging? Somehow, she believed it was the latter.

Violet shot him a smirk, "Fine. I'll smuggle you more."

"Heehee!" He sprang up to his hind legs to pump his forepaw in the air, "That's my human!"

"Yeah, yeah," she didn't fight the tiny smile at her lips. Nor did she resist the urge to scratch Grim between the ears. He purred upon contact, though he tried to mask it. They lay together in silence for a handful of minutes until Violet's vision began to swim. By then, Grim had curled up into a tight ball.

Her day had been a long one, with the promise of many more just like it to follow. Was this going to be her life now? Going to school, to work, then crashing into a dirty-dish induced coma? And for how long? With each passing day, the idea of working at the lounge until Azul crossed that graduation stage became more likely.

As for the housewarden himself… He was still a mystery, but he was kind. Or, he had been for the whopping ten minutes she'd seen him.

And there was that moment, when he'd spoken to Deuce. He clarified that he'd been asking her a question. Specifically, her. Not the boys and not Grim. She fought to arrive at what to call what he'd given her with that one gesture. Not dignity. Importance, maybe?

Neither of those felt right. All other possibilities floated just outside the scope of her mind like fireflies. Or tiny, sparkling fish. She resigned to put

her musings to rest. In the end, it didn't matter. And if it did, she'd figure it out eventually.

Line

After a week spent elbow-deep in dish water, Violet was sure her fingertips would never unwrinkle again. The gloves could only help so much, keeping her hands dry until sweat beaded on her palms from the work. Granted she was grateful for them, knowing full well she'd be much worse off going at sink with bare hands. But they didn't change the fact that dish washing was tedious work. Perhaps that's why when Jade instructed her to arrive early one evening, she walked with a renewed bounce in her step.

"You've been progressing well," he'd said as they cleaned up. "Its time for you next bit of training."

And so, it was. Jade was waiting for her by the bar when she entered the lounge, two server trays and an apron neatly folded atop a barstool. She'd be learning front-of-house tonight.

Jade started her off on the basics, going over the menu in full detail. As Violet perused each offering she couldn't help but be reminded of Grim. He'd have been salivating by the third entrée description. Granted the food at Mostro Lounge was… pricey. At least considering they catered to a bunch of college students.

Once they cleared both the food and drinks, they moved on to daily specials and the general spiel she'd be expected to give to each table in her section. Jade had her repeat it back to him in portions, then altogether until he was satisfied she hit all the necessary beats.

Each time she fumbled, he caught her. Though there was no mistaking the way Jade brimmed with amusement. He was a lot like Floyd that way, always finding something that tickled him. But he was more refined in it, not as wild and expressive as his twin. Violet wasn't sure if she cared for it, honestly. Floyd always made her feel like she was in on the joke, even if she was part of the punchline. But with Jade, she felt like she was under a microscope. His laughter didn't leave enough room for her to join in.

"The menu," she clarified. "Specials."

"Ah," he pushed open the door to the dining room, gesturing for her to enter first. "Quite simple: practice. Don't worry, after a while you'll find it all comes second nature. In fact, serving might even become your favorite duty. You never know."

Violet almost snorted. If it didn't involve touching soggy leftovers, that was a given. She wondered how hard it would be to convince Azul to keep exclusively in the dining room.

"Is it your favorite?" she slipped her pile of menus into a basket under the seater's podium.

Jade's amusement was back, "In a sense, yes."

"A real passion to help," Violet took his stack, placing half in the basket and half in a cubby hole above it.

He chuckled at that, coming in a little closer as if he were finally letting her in on something,

"The dining room is a world of its own," he said. "There's a lot to keep you entertained, if you know where to look of course."

If she knew where to look? Violet frowned. What was that supposed to mean?

Jade's eyes twinkled. He straightened back to his full height, effectively shutting her back out of the loop. What precious little insight he'd given her was gone. Rather, he'd left her to mull it over herself for the rest of the night.

"Come," he started towards the back once again. "It's almost opening."

Line

The dinner rush didn't leave much time for Violet to ponder over what Jade meant. By the first hour the tables were packed with hungry students all demanding food and drink in spades. Those who came too late waited by the door, two courtesy benches crammed with a party each with more on their way. Even the bar brimmed with students. Two bar tenders mixed and took orders at a pace Violet thought impossible.

Amid the chaos, Jade remained calm. The only beacon of steadiness in the ocean of activity that surrounded them. Violet noted the way he focused on each guest, taking care of them both as individuals and groups at once. As the night grew busier, he sent her off to deliver menus back to the podiums, run orders to the kitchen, even help him carry larger orders on a second tray. That was the worst part, learning how to balance the plates just so against her palm and shoulder. It was much trickier than Jade and the other faceless servers made it look.

"You're adapting quickly," Jade said while they waited for their latest table's food to be plated.

Was she? Violet hardly thought so. She was doing everything in her power to keep her head from spinning. For the first time since her deal with Azul, she was glad for the enchantment on her hat. If not for it, she was sure she would have knocked it off her head at some point during her training.

One of the bar tenders burst into the kitchen, then, looking worse for wear.

"We're drowning out here," he cried.

Jade gave a frown, "I'm afraid I'm training tonight."

"Please," the bartender wasn't taking 'no' for an answer.

With a sigh, Jade turned to Violet, "Would you be so kind as to deliver table 13 their meal while I'm gone? Once you're through, you can wait for me here."

Violet had to keep her jaw from dropping open. Was he serious? Leaving her alone in the middle of a dinner rush? 'Absolutely, not!' she wanted to say. But Jade was already gone. The only sign of him was the swinging of the bar door.

Ding!

The order slid across the metal counter. Three hefty bowls of boiling soup, because why wouldn't it be? Suppressing a groan, she slammed a tray down and began maneuvering the food on to it. She crouched down low in order to slide the tray onto her waiting. She managed to scoot it halfway off the counter, enough so she could brace her palm against the bottom. Now came the hard part: lifting the tray.

Taking a deep breath, she slid her shoulder under the edge, inching her fingers further as she made to straighten her knees. Her left hand gripped the plastic above her shoulder for extra support. She heard the kitchen door open, ignored it. She had to get this just right—

The bowls clinked above her as the tray shifted to the right. Oh, no. Her palm had missed the center of the tray. It took a sharp dip away from her. She was going to drop it.

"Whoa!"

Violet's body shot to the left. Her arm readjusted lightning fast, pressing down on the tray to save it from spilling. Her right hand shot to the middle as she straightened.

She froze.

How had she done that?

"Parker?" her breath hitched at the sound of that voice. "Geeze, you could have burned my face off."

Hissing laughter followed as she turned and came face to face with Ruggie. He was standing in the same posture she was, except he held a phantom tray in place of her very real one.

"Brace yourself," he said. "I'm letting go."

Violet barely cobbled together the sense to listen when his magic released. Her knees buckled, but it had nothing to do with the weight on her shoulder. Her left fingers gripped the lip of the tray, the tips turned white under the pressure. She swallowed the wave of bile that threatened to climb her throat.

He'd used magic on her again. That horrible, invasive puppet magic. She thought she'd gotten over the tryouts incident. At least, she thought she'd convinced herself she had. There was no hiding the way she still flinched whenever he came too close during MagiShift practice. No disguising the fact she avoided interacting with him at all costs. They hadn't spoken two words to each other since… Now that Violet thought about it, she hadn't spoken to Ruggie at all. The only thing that came close was her begging him to stop!

"What are you doing here?" Violet hoped the question sounded tough.

"I could ask you the same thing. You're welcome, y'know," the animal ears atop his head flattened, lowering in time with his frown.

Violet summoned up anger, forced herself to feel fire beneath her skin. Anything to mask the fear that froze her temples. Squaring her shoulders, she strode past him without so much as a glance, slowing only to nudge the door open with her foot.

Something brushed against her side. Her vision went red.

"Don't touch me!" she snapped, her foot planted between the threshold and the door.

To his credit, Ruggie reared back. On hand flew up, palm facing Violet. In his other hand was a wooden stand, the kind Jade used when delivering bigger orders to a table. Ruggie's ears were flat again, tilted back like a dog who'd been scolded.

"You'll need this," he lifted the frame.

Her anger turned stale. So she would. There was no way she could deliver three soups without one. Her pride didn't let her admit, at least not out loud. Instead she let her scowl drop and jutted her chin towards the door before slipping through. Ruggie followed a healthy distance behind her. They delivered the food together, plastering on their best customer service grins in the process. When he last ceramic bowl made contact with the table, Violet whirled on her heel, scooped the stand shut and power walked back to the kitchen.

She leaned the stand against the counter as Ruggie burst into the kitchen behind her.

"Hey," his ears perked up again, all signs of a dog brought to heel gone.

"I've got nothing to say to you," Violet leaned against the counter, arms crossed over her chest. She pulled the brim of her cap lower on her forehead for good measure.

Ruggie grinned in a manner that reminded her a little too much of Ace, "Wait, are you still mad about tryouts?" When she didn't answer, he snickered. "Nothing personal, man. Orders are orders, am I right?"

'Orders are orders?' Did he expect her to let him off the hook just like that? Violet chewed on the side of her tongue. She had no intention of dignifying him with a response.

Whether she did or not, however, didn't much matter. The door to the kitchen flew open, revealing a somewhat flustered Azul.

"And why are you standing around?" he adjusted his glasses, eyes sharp as ever. "Where's Jade?"

Ruggie blinked.

"He's at the bar," Violet explained.

Azul gusted a sigh, "At the bar while he should be training. No matter, I'll—"

"Don't."

Both Azul and Violet turned to Ruggie. He stretched his arms behind his head, scratching at a patch in his hair, "It's a zoo out there. The others are trash at making drinks. Let him stay, I can teach the runt. While you're at, pull some of the guys that can cook to help the kitchen. I'll get them back on the floor when things settle."

The runt shot Ruggie her meanest glare. Where did he get off ordering Azul around in his own restaurant? Even so, it seemed the housewarden was thinking the offer over.

"You are rather adept… Very well. I'll leave you to it."

Azul disappeared from the kitchen with a click of his heel.

Violet's face went slack as she watched Ruggie give a final stretch, then saunter to the bar door. Violet stepped up behind him as he leaned out and called, "Eh, Jade! Stay with the drinks. I'm taking over."

However Jade responded Violet didn't hear, but he must have if the the thumbs up from Ruggie was anything to go by. He side-stepped her back into the kitchen, tossing his jacket onto a coat hook by the door.

"What are you doing?" Violet demanded.

He unfurled a fresh apron from a nearby bin, ducking into it and wrapping the tie around his waist, "Getting to work. C'mon," he shot her a fresh grin, "I'll show you how to really get the job done."

Line

Reluctant as she was, Violet had to give Ruggie some real credit. The way he navigated the the dining room was nothing short of a dance, rivalled only by his skill on the MagiShift pitch. He used that same agility to weave through departing and arriving guests, took their orders with a friendly, efficient ease before moving on to clear tables for waiting parties. He didn't have Jade's refinement, but in a sense, that was better. Through it all, he managed to feed her helpful tricks with each new order.

"It's not that hard," he said to her while they piled dirty glasses together. "As long as you pay attention, know your customer and all that crap. Take that table."

He pointed over by one of the booths by the window. A mix of students chattered away over drinks and three plates of appetizers, "Heartslabyul and Scarabia. Party dorms. Keep the drinks flowing and you're looking a real nice tip at the end of the night. Just make sure they don't get too crazy. Any damages come out of your cut. Learned that the hard way."

Violet nodded, though she found it funny to think of Heartslabyul as a "party dorm" with Riddle in charge. Still, Ruggie had a point. If Ace and Deuce were anything to go by, she could see where the reputation stemmed from, even if it was exaggerated.

"Over there," Ruggie gestured to a table in the far back corner. A few students with dark blue armbands sipped mugs of warm drinks over what looked like holographic laptops. "Ignihyde. Always make sure they're somewhere private. They're the most reclusive people I've ever met. Seriously need to touch some grass if you know what I mean. Just offer 'em food, no small talk."

The phrase sounded like something her sister would say, Violet thought. But she caught the gist of it. They seemed the opposite of the crowd she ran with back in high school.

"You know your way around here," Violet hitched the tray of dirty dishes off the table, grateful she didn't have to wash them.

Ruggie shot her a conspirator's wink, "The Mostro Lounge is… special. After a while, you get to seeing what makes different people tick. Once you know that, you've got gold."

They trudged back to the kitchens, passing half the tables on their way. For the first time, Violet took a second to look around. Really look. What she found in her surroundings made her pause.

Mixes of dorms, of students either talking or studying. Some kept to the corners, speaking in hushed tones behind menus. Others traded notes, played games, took bets. Everywhere she looked, she caught a glimpse of what some of these boys got up to after school hours. Each table and booth and barstool served as a window into their private lives in one way or another.

The dining room is like a world of its own, Jade's words weaved through her thoughts as she re-entered the kitchens. There's a lot to keep you entertained, if you know where to look of course.

Jade was right.

Line

As her shift progressed, Violet felt herself softening to Ruggie. She tried to resist it, but she could only play the tryouts incident over so many times before the memory lost its punch. And was it losing it. With every piece of advice and every joke he made at the more obnoxious patrons' expense, Violet found that he wasn't so bad. At least, when he wasn't controlling her like some demented version of Geppetto.

"Alright, we've got a shrimp salad, orange float, and a round of calamari," with each name, the corresponding plate landed on the table. Ruggie had handed her the reigns long ago. He stood off to the side, watching with his usual lazy-eyed grin in case she needed him. She didn't and hadn't for the past eight tables.

"Geez," he met his knuckles to her's in fist bump on their way back to the kitchen. "Keep this up, and I'll be out of a job."

Violet snorted a laugh, "Right."

Dammit, she was really starting to like Ruggie.

Line

The end of the night was like hitting a brick wall. She wasn't sure how, but somehow everyone seemed to agree on a threshold to leave. By 9:30, not a single new guest entered the waiting area. Half an hour later, the bar was abandoned. The only sign anyone had been there were a few loose napkins and rings of condensation on the polished wood. Those, too, were disappearing with every swipe of the bar tenders' rags.

At half past ten, the last of the chairs were stacked and the music cut with a wave of Azul's magic pen.

"Excellent work, everyone," the housewarden fanned through a wad of Thaumarks from the bar's till. "You're free to go, at your convenience of course."

A handful of other waiters and kitchen staff streamed out the doors. Most likely heading back towards their rooms. Only Azul, Jade, Violet, and Ruggie remained.

"Nice job," Ruggie slipped his apron off. He traded its place with his uniform jacket on the coat hook.

Violet scoffed, "Me? You ran this place."

"Eh," he shrugged, "Its nothing compared to the other jobs I've had to do."

Other jobs. Now there was something interesting. "Yeah? Like what?"

He waved her off, "Too many to list. See you at practice."

Violet stumbled over the abruptness of his response. After a night's worth of essentially tag-teaming, that was it? That didn't feel right at all. Hell, if anyone should be in a hurry to leave it should be her. She stepped after him, not quite sure what made her do it.

"Hey!" she called out to him by the lounge's entrance. He stopped just outside the skeletal jaws. Violet forced herself to speak before things got awkward, "Thanks. You, uh… I appreciate your help."

Ruggie's head tilted, reminding Violet of a puppy confused by a new toy. One of his ears twitched along with a muscle in his cheek. Gray eyes shifted down to a spot between the two of them, swimming with thoughts Violet couldn't even attempt to read. When he looked back up, he wore a smile.

"No worries," he said.

Violet nodded once. She watched him turn around, take two steps, then face her once again. That same look from early stuck on his face, drooping grey eyes fixed on her own dark ones.

"Do me a favor," he said. "And remind Azul to factor in that trainer premium, will you? I didn't bust my tail for nothing."

Violet's stomach withered. Her shoulder's tensed.

Trainer premium.

He'd helped her for a trainer premium.

"Sure," Violet's voice was hollow, a husk of sound.

If Ruggie noticed, he didn't show it. Instead he snickered at her, flicked his gaze along her body and left. His parting words echoed through Violet's head as she walked back to Ramshackle that night.

"Like I said, Parker. It's nothing personal."