The next day was spent fashioning the Phantomhive townhouse so that it was fit for supernatural beings to live in. The electricity and water were taken care of, and wi-fi for the computer at the front desk and in the office was set up. The front desk was installed and mailboxes were set up as well. The front gate was motorised as well, but a second behind that one was added as a checkpoint. A booth was set up within it for visitors and residents to check their cellphones into upon arrival as a security measure.
The demonic duo took out things that were of particularly sentimental value to the bluenette. Mostly family heirlooms and portraits. These would be stored in the mainhouse instead. Yet, the bluenette felt as though there should be a trace of the Phantomhive family left within the house. The walls were almost bare without the portraits. Thus, the man came up with the idea of taking a picture with his spouse in front of the house as the original owners, but he felt as though this would come across as silly if expressed.
Still, the Phantomhive coat-of-arms was still on display quite prominently. Although the Hellsing family's was added in a few places, it still remained as the most important. It made Ciel feel proud. The house even had a name in the council that was put on a plaque on the wall right next to the gate. It was now known simply as "Phantom House", which made the two Phantomhives feel amused. It worked, and soon the house itself would work as well, but the problem remained that they still needed staff.
They made a list of all of the things that would need maintained and the occupations that would be in charge of doing so. Then, they sent that list to the Gehenna Town Welfare Center's hiring agents, including a certain Mister Westley. Adds were placed around Gehenna for it, although quite a few members of the staff would in fact be H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. agents. Restrictions were tough, but it was all for good reason. As the name implies, the townhouse is in town, after all, so there has to be a certain degree of discipline and professionalism in the matter.
Soon, the turncoats and refugees that were very nearly freezing and starving to death were informed that the house would be opened the very next evening. They would need to get on the bus and ride to the house in the dead of night as not to be seen. Naturally, they were elated and vowed to hold out just a little longer.
The night was colder than the day, but they still put out their fire and packed up everything they had. Wink stood by the door, helping people get on the bus, providing words of encouragement as hope slowly began to return to them. The bus ride was frightening, however, as none of them really knew what to expect. Most thought that the house would be some shoddy, prison-like place. The sight of the barbed wire and spikes on top of the brick wall surrounding the property did not help.
Following standard procedure, they stopped inside the inner gate after being dropped off in order to check in any electronic devices with the guards. This didn't take long, as very few of them had any, but the guards still needed to make sure. It was here that they saw their first glimpse at the house's exterior through the bars of the gate. It was hard to see, as it was dark, but they could see lights on inside the building.
"What kind of place is this?" one of them asked, baffled by the strangely nice-looking building.
"I don't know." answered Wink. "We're going to find out soon, though."
Slowly, the gate opened, and the group stepped into the courtyard. As they all drew nearer, the image of the building became clearer, and it was still oddly pleasant. It was like a place from a fairytale, almost. It didn't seem real. Even the door seemed too nice, as did it's handle. Still, when Wink grabbed hold of it, it did not vanish. She opened the heavy wooden door to reveal light coming from the inside, coming from a chandelier of all things.
Eyes narrowed to filter out some of the brightness, while others held up a hand or averted their gaze altogether. The inside of the building looked fancy and was not at all what any of them were expecting. This was lavish in comparison to Gehenna, even. They stared with their mouths agape at this bizarre place they had just crossed over into. The world had changed. There was a woman sitting at the front desk, looking at a computer, who stood up upon their arrival. She wore the uniform of a H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. Supernatural Affairs worker and did her job as such, while her employment was only temporary.
From the stairs came thunderous steps as someone quickly tried to make their way down them. It frightened the new residents, but eventually, they discovered it's source. A blonde man with a cat-like face appeared at the bottom of the steps and with a smile, he approached the others.
"Hello~!" he cheerfully greeted. "Welcome to Phantom House! I'm Alois Phantomhive, one of the owners of the house." the menace stated, introducing himself.
"This house was originally the Phantomhive Family townhouse in the 1800s, but was no longer in use. Now, it has been refurbished and repurposed in partnership with H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. for the sake of temporarily housing those who do not yet have housing assignments. You will be allowed to stay here for as long as it takes until then." he explained further before gesturing to the woman behind the desk.
"Now, to check in, we're going to need all of you to give Jenny, here, your name and you need to confirm your information with her." Alois continued. "Then, you will receive your room assignments. Any questions so far?"
There was a long pause, as while there were many questions, it was hard to narrow it down to a few. Why was this place so fancy? Why was the Lion here, giving the introductions? It was all moving so fast. The leader of the group, however, managed to raise her hand.
"What are the rules of living here?" questioned Wink, causing the others to nod behind her.
"Excellent question." replied the menace. "There are booklets with all of the house rules in every room. There will also be a presentation in the drawing room at noon tomorrow that will explain that in detail. We will be having one tonight as well for any vampires in the group, or just anyone who just wants to know sooner."
Satisfied with this answer, Wink offered a nod to indicate her understanding. Clapping his hands together, Alois said: "Well, if that's all of the questions for right now, I'll leave you to check in, and I'll see whoever shows up in the drawing room." After he was done, he turned to head to the room in question in order to wait. Once he was out of sight, Wink moved forward and walked to the front desk first.
"Name?" asked the woman sitting there.
"Actual name?"
"Whatever you're entered into the computer as."
"Clara Saunders." answered Wink. The other woman typed at her keyboard, and lo and behold, the witch came up. After verifying some information to make sure that it was accurate, Wink was given a card with her room number on it.
"Do I need a key?" she asked, prompting the lady at the desk to shake her head.
"The only doors that lock are the office and the employee's rooms." she was told. "Sorry."
That wasn't very helpful, but Wink wasn't going to complain. The building was warm and there was a roof over her head. The witch walked forward, waiting on her compatriots to go through the procedure before she went in search. She waited on a few before she went with them to find their respective rooms. It seemed that women were on one end of the building and men were on the other. Once she found her room, she looked around, taking it in.
So this is where she would be staying for a while? It was simple, but Phantomhive standards, but elegant by hers. The witch put away what few items were in her possession before looking around even more. On the small desk, she found a paper booklet that had the rules of the house written inside.
It talked about the non-locking doors and all of the things that were provided. It talked about what times food would be served and where. The bus schedule was inside as well. In addition, it came to Wink's attention that each person had a small mailbox up at the front of the house with their room number on it. This is where they could send or receive mail from Gehenna, including notifications of employment or housing. There were no curfews, but they did have to tell where they were going before they left somewhere. If they did, they would need to be in disguise. The book also talked about employment at the house, as well. Wink only skimmed the book, as she figured that the Lion would go over the important parts, and she had all of the time in the world to read it.
She did believe it to be a good idea to head back downstairs to check on the others and to attend that meeting, however. She was more than willing to stay up a little longer, while a handful of people immediately collapsed upon entering their rooms. Her compatriots were still filing in, slowly but surely. It would probably take several hours before everyone was signed in, with only one computer going. During this time, she talked to the others and told them about the rooms and what she knew of the rules thus far. Everything was oddly relaxed inside, although there were guards all around the walls. People were falling asleep in line before it was over. Even Wink was getting drowsy.
At long last, the time came where everyone was either in their rooms asleep, or on their way to the meeting to go over the rules of the house. When they walked into the room, there were chairs and there was food, which was ransacked almost immediately. Then there was the Phantomhive man, typing away on his phone, obviously breaking the "no technology" rule. When the others came in, however, he looked up from the device and smiled.
"Hello, everyone~!" he greeted in a friendly manner. "I knew that snack table was a good idea." Standing up from his seat, he stood at the front of the room and waited for everyone to get settled.
"Good evening, everyone. What time is it? Four? Damn." Alois said, checking the time on his phone. "It's late. We're having a bit of complications getting the breakfast schedule for nocturnal residents sorted out for tonight, so feel free to eat as much as you want right now. Normally, breakfast will be served from twelve to two, while daytime breakfast will be from eight to ten. The full eating schedule is in your booklets as well as posted by the entrance of the dining room."
"Now, the point of this isn't really to go over eating schedules, though. It's to go over rules." he continued, walking back and forth. "The most important rule is that the same laws that apply in Gehenna apply here. If you sneak into somebody else's room and steal something, that is a criminal offense, and there will be no violence. That, I think is kind of a given, though. In addition, destruction of property is also a crime. You're not allowed behind the front desk or in the office unless you work there, or are called there for whatever reason the situation calls for. Sound good?"
Alois was met with a few nods from the crowd while a few whispered. He could hear what they were saying and found nothing of any interest. Thus, he moved on.
"Other than the blatantly illegal stuff, there's also the stuff that can get you kicked out." the menace said. "Noise complaints are a thing. If you're too loud consistently, and your neighbours continuously complain to staff about it, you can be kicked out of Phantom House. You can appeal to not be, though, but you need a really good reason. Like you have a baby or something and it's cryin'.
"Also, if you're constantly making messes and not cleaning up." he added. "If your room is in complete shambles with trash everywhere, you either need to pick it up, or be praying you don't get kicked out for it. That is a thing that can happen. On that note, room inspections are a thing that will happen once a month. There's no reason to really worry about this. It's to make sure you're not sneaking in weapons, drugs, or other contraband. Sound fair?"
He was met with a few more nods from the crowd, and people seemed to find this to be reasonable. A few conversed about it with those next to them, while others waited for him to carry on. He clapped his hands together and rubbed them in anticipation as he prepared to move onto the next thing.
"Now we're gonna talk about what you can do." the Phantomhive declared. "First thing is: this isn't a prison. You can come and go just like the residents of Gehenna. All you have to do is check in with the guys at the front gate and tell them where you're off to and when you plan to come back. You can also take the bus to and from Gehenna and H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. HQ for business reasons, or if you want to go shopping in Gehenna or just visit.
"If you're expecting a letter from H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. or somewhere in Gehenna, you are each assigned a mailbox with your room number on it. You can find them in the main entryway. This is for things like, if you need to be informed about your new housing assignment or are expecting news from a potential employer. If you need to send a letter, you can drop it off at the front desk, and it will be sent out for you. If letters are too slow, however, there is also a phone that you can use in the lobby as well."
There was a pause as Alois waited to see if everyone was keeping up with the information. He waited for them to process it, and he answered questions they had about what had been discussed. He went on to tell them that they had access to the garden whenever they pleased as well as the courtyard. They seemed to like that idea, and also liked the information that there was a suggestion box in the lobby as well. It was surprising how much freedom they were granted in this place. It was about the same as living in Gehenna, but all in only one building.
The time came for Alois to leave, eventually, forcing him to say his goodbyes and allow the residents to get their rest. Someone else would to the presentation that morning, but he insisted that he be there when they arrived that evening. The man got in his car and drove off into the early morning, getting home really late. His brothers were still asleep when he arrived, but neither his husband or the family butler was.
Tiredly, he took off his coat and shoes before heading up to the master bedroom to change into more comfortable clothes. He changed into pyjamas and headed to the office, where his spouse was killing time. Ciel was working, despite the time, as he felt no need to go to bed without the other there. His back was to the door, but he smiled as he heard it open and waited for the blonde to hug him from behind.
"Hello, darling." the Watchdog greeted, turning his head to peck the blonde on the lips. "How did it go?"
"I think it went really well." Alois answered, nuzzling Ciel's shoulder with his eyes closed. "Everybody was calm and had lots of questions. They seemed pretty happy with things for the time being."
"That's good. Think things will go according to plan?"
"After a while, maybe, once the place becomes more established. I think a few people might actually need to move out, first, so it's not just one big community, there."
"That sounds about right." the bluenette said. Taking the other's hand, he placed the back of it to his lips before turning around. "Ready to go to bed?"
"Oh, I was born ready." jokingly answered the menace, smiling as he earned a chuckle. With a sigh, he childishly said: "Carry me." while wrapping his arms around the other man's neck.
Although Ciel shook his head, he did as requested, all the same. He scooped the other up bridal style, allowing the Lion to stay close to his chest. "You're so needy." he teased.
"You're the one who stayed up for me."
"True. Let's turn in for the night."
A/N: World building nonsense.
Now watch and be amazed as I move onto something else and ignore this concept for a few chapters~!
I'm gonna check in on the side characters for a bit. I miss them...
In case you haven't noticed, a lot of this story is unplanned and is just me improvising.
Oh! And Character Shet might be a bit funky for a bit because reviews aren't showing up for some reason and I have to read them through my e-mail. I can still read them, though! Don't feel like you shouldn't bother sending any because I LIVE for them.
I am so thirsty...
The only thing that this seems to kind of affect is crediting the question. If I mess up your name, I'm sorry! It's just FanFiction is acting weird for me yet again.
Until the next chapter, my duckies~!
CHARACTER SHET
Question: "Question for Kris; Now that you're a werewolf, how are you handling the fact that you're gonna outlive Travis, Audrey, and Dan?" by Guest
Kris: *fingers in ears* "I'm sorry, I can't hear you."
