Groggily, Revy got off at one of London's many underground metro stations and began his walk to work. Once again, he was running late, but that didn't make him walk any faster. Instead, he kept his slow, sleepy, pace. It took a while, but he made it to the gate of Gehenna and talked to the guards to be let in. It was another long walk down mainstreet to the police station, but he made it. He was out of breath, but he clocked in.
Walking through the aisles of cubicles, he made his way toward his own, only to be stopped when someone he passed spoke out to him. Turning around, he sighed through his nose while looking back to the woman as she stood up. Officer Akira Fujiwara addressed him while noting his attitude.
"The chief wants to talk to you." she said. "She told me to tell you as soon as you came in."
"Alright..." Revy answered before shuffling that way. He walked past the other officer as she watched him with an arched eyebrow.
Neither of them had any idea what Chief Sibyl was going to say to him, but both of them had their suspicions. Revy's work ethic, to be a bit blunt, had been lacking for a while. He had been caught asleep at his desk by the boss herself multiple times in the past and the lad was almost always late.
Despite his usually apathetic behaviour, he was actually a bit nervous when he approached the door. On it were the words "Police Chief" in big letters on the rather pointless window that was impossible to see through all the way. Taking in a deep breath, he knocked against the glass and waited.
"Come in." called the woman on the other side, prompting him to enter. When he did, he saw Tegwen Sybil closing files and moving them out of the way. She did stop for a moment to glance over a document and sign it, saying: "Hold on just a moment. I need to write this down before I forget. Please, take a seat."
Sitting down was more frightening than standing, somehow, but he did it anyway. After a few moments, the woman finished and set the paper in a folder before putting it in a tray on her desk. "Sorry about that. New vampires. They always find it tricky to adjust. How are you, by the way?"
"You needed me?" Revy said, cutting her off in hopes of getting right to the point, a gesture that did not go unnoticed.
"Alright, then." Sybil began, folding her hands in front of her as she addressed the lad. "I am concerned about you. You seem unhappy with your work."
"Is anyone happy with working?"
"In an ideal world, yes." she conceded. "But for someone with all of the options in the world, however… I'm not sure why you would stick with something you don't like."
"It's not that I don't like it… I don't really know what it is… I try to get here on time, I really do..." the revenant said, more to rationalise it to himself than to her. "Maybe I'm just in a slump?"
"For months?"
"A long slump."
"I don't know what to tell you..."
"Are you going to tell me that I'm fired?"
"No… I believe in allowing people the chance to prove themselves first." answered his boss. To his relief, her face wore a rather kind expression as she said this. "More than anything, I think you should have an honest discussion with yourself about what you want to do."
"Alright..." In truth, Revy just wanted this to be over. He didn't know what to do with authority figures, no matter how matter how hard he tried.
Perhaps he never was. He didn't know. One could only speculate what his old self wanted to do when they grew up, but perhaps now was not the time. Maybe he should try being a kid first and give up for now. Yet, he felt like he should be doing something already. He just didn't know what. At the same time, however, he knew someone who could help him figure that out.
Revy couldn't sleep at work after he was dismissed from the Chief's office. Several people were surprised that he wasn't fired, but most were relieved. People liked Revy. He could complain and groan, but he still did a good job and had good ideas. While he came across as lazy or disinterested at times, he was actually and alright cop. Like a good worker, he sat right down in his chair and got to work although his mind was racing. He worried. He fussed. Yet, he was also determined.
Life was not fair in that a neat little path was never laid out for everyone. Some people struggled. Some people had no idea where to start or even where they wanted to end up. That was Revy's case. Honestly, he had never thought about anything in that way before. Right now, he was simply going through the motions. His job was a chore he had to do in order to not get in trouble with his brother. Surely Jim would understand and accept that he didn't want to do this, but Revy wanted to weigh his options, first. He wanted to know if leaving would be better than staying.
To find that out, Revy didn't go home right away after work. Instead, he made a detour to the Gehenna Welfare Center, barging in and waltzing up to the front desk. His sour face caught the attention of the man sitting behind it.
The man had dark, curly hair and long sideburns, giving an even dorkier vibe that just his sweater would have on his own. Narrow eyes looked past long eyelashes up at Revy while the boy noted the name plate on the desk's surface. "John Ravenscroft," it said. He was a bit taken aback by the sight of the lad, as his scowl was just as strong through his sunglasses as it was without.
"Hello, officer..." he said, regaining his composure. "How may I help you?"
"Daniel Westley. I wanna talk to him." Revy bluntly replied, giving absolutely no room for negotiation.
"Do you have an appointment?"
"No. He's one of my brother's friends. I need to talk to him."
"Uh… Let me see if he can see you..." Ravenscroft replied, standing up and walking away without another word, only to disappear down the hall.
When he reached his destination, he knocked lightly on the door frame. "Hey, Dan..." he started, inviting the Westley's attention. "There's a kid out here wanting to talk to you. He says you're friends with his brother..."
"What's he look like?" Daniel asked without looking away from his task. Throughout the day, Ravenscroft's daughter would come to see him and he was very fixed on putting her hair in pigtails the way she asked.
"Uh… Red hair- like, really red, sunglasses..." John trailed off before glancing over his shoulder. "Kind of rude..."
"I think I know who you're talking about." Daniel answered before patting his knees with a smile. "All done." he told the girl. "I have a client, now, so I need you to go play with your daddy for a bit, alright?"
"I don't want to play with daddy." the girl huffed. "I wanna stay here."
"Ruby, let Daniel work." her father insisted, gesturing for her to come with him.
"It'll only be a little bit, then you can come right back, okay? Pinkie-swear." said the other man, urging her to do as she's told. "I don't think you want to be here when this guy comes in. He's really grouchy."
"Okay..." Ruby answered. Making her reluctance obvious with a massive pout, she walked back over to her father and held onto his hand.
"I'll send him in." smiled Ravenscroft, despite not feeling confident in this. "Thanks for watching Ruby."
"No problem. And don't worry about that guy. I hear he's got no bite." Daniel stated, sitting back down in his chair.
Nodding, the other man stepped out with his child in tow, bringing her to the front desk with him. Clearing his throat, he looked the teen in the eyes and said: "He says to go right on in. It's the third fourth door on the left."
"Alright." Revy answered without a shred of politeness, sticking his hands in his pockets while he sauntered over. It was in little ways that one could distinctly tell Revy from his brother and not just the bright red hair. His shoulders slouched and he walked with less certainty, masked only by his rough attitude. He didn't even knock once he got to Daniel's office. He just leaned against the door frame and expected Daniel to invite him in.
"So, whatcha need, Revy?" the Westley questioned, not picking up on the other's game. Upon realising this, the lad actually walked inside. "I don't see you a lot."
"I wanna know about jobs in Gehenna." blurted out the Macken. "Being a police officer sucks."
"Not panning out how you planned, huh?" nodded Daniel, believing to understand.
"No shit. There's no interesting crime in Gehenna. All I do is either sit at my desk and wait for something to do, or fill out paperwork!"
"What was the final straw?"
"The boss noticed."
"That'll do it..." winced the man, recalling his days as a boy in school. "Come on in. Sit down." he invited, prompting the other to do just that. "Alois know about this?"
"No. I haven't told him. I just started thinking about quitting today! Chief Sybil told me stuff like: 'You have the ability to do whatever you want. You shouldn't waste it on something that makes you unhappy.'"
"The chief knows what's up..." Now Daniel couldn't help but think about the people he has come into his office and end up with jobs they don't necessarily like, but have so they can eat. Apparently, Tegwen knows of the privilege that comes with ties to the Phantomhive family and of eternal life. Revy had no idea, it seemed. Regardless, Daniel decided that it was best if he shook the thought. "What kind of things are you interested in?"
"I doubt they have game developers in Gehenna."
"Are you interested in tech?"
"No, just games."
"Stories? Maybe you could write?"
"I can't write for shit."
"What else do you like?"
"Youtube."
"I have no idea what to do with you..." the Westley conceded, rubbing his head while looking over documents from his filing cabinet. "It sounds like you aren't ready for career stuff right now. That just leaves lackey jobs."
"Lackey jobs?!" barked the revenant. "What's that supposed to mean?!"
"Sweeping hair at the hair salon, cashier in a bakery, janitor at the welfare center..."
"Two of those sound like I'm being set up for a career as a janitor..." observed the lad. "The other one just sounds impossible for me..."
"Yeah… Cashiers have to be able to smile and be polite..."
"So do consultants… you sure you really work here?"
"Kris needs people who can work nights at his shop." the other said, electing to ignore the jab. "Oh… That's another cashier job… I'm sorry, there's nothing really exciting. Maybe you should take a break and focus more on school, for now. You still have time to figure that out."
"It doesn't feel like I do..." Revy's nose wrinkled as he looked down at his hands. He didn't want to wait. There was a bizarre sense of urgency that he felt but couldn't quite place. "It feels like I should be a functioning adult already."
"Most teenagers do, don't they?"
Why did those words feel like they didn't fit? Surely, Revy should be a fully functioning member of society by now, right? Did teenagers really feel this deep sense of wrongness in their current state? He was behind. He was wrong. His appearance was wrong, who he was was wrong, and where he is in life is wrong. Why? Why did he feel so alien in everything he did?
"Are you okay?" inquired the man across from him on the other side of the desk. "Hey? You're looking kind of green..."
"Huh?" the boy let out, snapping from his trance. Looking up at Daniel, he could see the concern on his face.
"Are you okay?" the Westley asked again. "You don't look good."
Swallowing, Revy composed himself a bit before standing. "I should go home." he said rather suddenly. "Thanks for the help."
"You're welcome?" Daniel answered, arching an eyebrow as the Macken left. He would have to call Alois about it later and check in on him, as much as he didn't want to rat him out to his older sibling. The way Revy looked concerned him. It concerned Revy, too.
The long walk back to the station began, leading the lad out of Gehenna and onto a desolate London street. As he walked onward, people slowly started to appear, the closer he got to human civilization. Soon, he was among a small crowd on the sidewalk as everyone quietly shuffled from place to place with the sound of shoes hitting concrete drowning out most everything else but the sound of cars passing by.
He walked and he walked, all the while his eyes steadily became less and less focused. Everything was a blur as his head felt foggy. A thin layer of sweat began to coat his skin as he thoughtlessly shuffled onward, heart racing. He felt as though something was behind him, but he didn't know what. The urge to look grew and grew before he couldn't bear it any longer. Quickly, he looked over his shoulder and his eyes gazed upon a sight that was familiar to him, but he couldn't place. No longer could he hear the sounds of shuffling feet. Instead, it was replaced with hushed murmuring as he stared up at the zeppelin in the sky. That was strange. It was day time not too long ago.
Suddenly, projectiles shot out from the sides of the ships and booming could be heard off in the distance. It grew closer and closer, but Revy could not run away. He couldn't even blink. All he could do was look on in horror as his heart sank. The realisation dawned on him that he was not going to be able to escape this. As the sound of bombs grew closer, he closed his eyes and grit his teeth, bracing for impact.
BOOM!
In an instant, Revy was on the ground. "Don't stand in the middle of the street." he heard a passing voice say before its owner wandered off. Slowly, he opened his eyes and it was day time once again. Breath heavy, adrenaline coursing, and mind racing, the boy wondered how he was alive, let alone what on earth that was to begin with. He wanted to say that it was a dream, but no. It was far too real. He could feel the ground shake, but now it was steady. He could smell smoke, but now all he smelled was London. Most peculiar. Somehow, he was going to have to make it home and ask someone about this. Question was, who was his best option?
A/N: Why can't I just stick with one subplot at a time, huh? Why do I have to be like this? I don't know which thing to go with... I feel like Sebastian needs a turn, but I also wanna write about Kris and his family matters. Cielois is nice, too.
Alas, Yuri! On Ice has ended today. Still gonna be trapped in ice hell for a while, though...
While I was at it, I finished watching Mob Psycho 100. Good shit.
Now all I have to do is write.
For now...
Oh, and I need to remember to wrap presents tomorrow... dammit...
How does one wrap socks again?
Until the next chapter, my duckies~!
CHARACTER SHET
Question: "do you guys miss those dirty questions? some of those words are kind of imprinted in my mind forever now. "painful looking hard-on" in particular. jeeesus." by forestkiid
Ciel: "No. Not in the slightest."
Alois: "I dunno if I miss them. Some of them were fun to answer, though. 'Painful-looking hard-on'... Tsk, tsk, tsk... That must be awkward, now... Well, not that it wasn't before..."
Kristopherson: "I hate all of you."
Audrey: "I didn't get hardly any, so whatever."
Daniel: "NO."
Travis: "I don't really remember that much about it."
