"What exactly is this ?" Johann mumbled under his breath, staring down onto the plate before him. It was his usual breakfast, that much was true, but it tasted nothing like what the Vice President had come to enjoy greatly in his morning routine. His eggs were soft boiled, not hard boiled, and that alone was enough to practically disgust him. Where he preferred his bread lightly toasted this was almost black, the sausage was coarsely-ground and the beans undercooked. The old man sighed, leaning back in his chair and throwing his head back, his grey right and his red left eye pointed at the ceiling of the mess hall, a vein on his temple visibly swelling in anger. This was not something that Ben, a personal friend of the Vice President, had cooked, he was more than certain. But it couldn't be helped, everyone would be sick every now and again, and he'd have to live with the fact that his food would be prepared by someone other than the only cook he trusted with his precise orders. After all, there was little in the world Johann enjoyed more than a great meal, and little that could get him more angry than a day without breakfast. He would investigate further.
The Vice President of the West Fiore Trading Company had started his day like he always did, waking in his living quarters at an early hour, earlier than the majority of his guild mates, at least, standing before his mirror to inspect his neatly arranged guild uniform, this day deciding on a formal white shirt, a grey vest above, a grey tie and a pair of expensive, white silk pants, his company pin tucked into the left chest pocket above his heart. Additionally he tied the two rapiers he called his own to his belt, put the 2 amulets, one in the shape of a black cross and the other an amber on a silver chain, around his neck and put on his white, runed gloves. Thoroughly equipped he left his room, locking the door behind himself before turning around to head to his office to sign the most urgent of paperwork before breakfast, reminiscing the bygone days of not too long ago where all of the guilds paperwork would find its way onto his desk for one reason or the other, glad that they had found a new Vice President who, much to Johann's appreciation, would also try his best to combat the unending flood of letters, forms and papers that had to be signed, stamped or written up. He left his office for the mess hall a good 30 minutes later, arriving at what seemed to be a place more hectic than usual, the kitchen staff and waiters looking rather nervous for a reason unknown to the VP. He had ordered the usual, and like that, the plate with his breakfast arrived a couple minutes later, as always.
Johann stood up from the chair at one of the tables in the back of the mess hall, with firm, yet calm steps making his way over to the kitchen, greeting the occasional member of mess hall staff before pushing open a door behind a counter and entering the kitchen, without delay spotting someone who was at least dressed like a chet, but who he had never seen before, standing at an oven, looking around hectically as he seemed to struggle with finding kitchen tools. Johann approached the young man, he was a blonde, relatively tall and slim figure, and without much chit chat, asked the other directly "I have never seen you around before ? May I ask you who you are and what happened to Ben ?" the other turned around, the visibly nervous smile on his face looking like someone had caught him with the hand in the cookie jar before stuttering out a response "M-my name is M-Mercutio. I'm playing the p-pinch-hitter for Benvolio. It looks like he had an allergy attack and collapsed just half an hour ago and -" The Vice President raised his hand "Ah, I see. I won't disturb your work then, thank you for the information boy, good luck", the other hastily answering simply with "T-Thanks" before turning back to his kitchen duties, an aura of incompetence oozing from him as he struggled to orient himself.
Johann, hiding his boiling anger behind a false expression of friendly calm, refused to give the botched breakfast even one more thought, leaving the untouched meal on his table before heading out of the mess hall and back to the entrance hall. It was weird, there was only one thing that Ben was allergic against, severely so, which was lavender, but he always made sure that there were no flowers or the like in his kitchen, meaning someone must've mishandled something or ... . Suddenly and with the momentum of a freight train it hit the normally calm and collected Vice President who, with the same vein on his temple swelling up again, remembered a brief conversation he had with Ben about Yona Hisamori, one of the Company's relatively newer employees, and how she tried everything to get the cook to allow her some of the kitchens garden space. Naturally, the middle aged man had declined, much to the alleged dismay of the green haired woman. Johann had shrugged it off, telling his friend that that's just how she was, to be a little more lenient with her and inform him directly if she'd make trouble again. If what Johann was thinking was true ...
He turned right and, lo and behold, there was Yona, close to the huge mahogany front doors of the HQ building with a bunch of flowers in her hands, hastily handing them off to a stranger who seemed to have arrived just moments earlier. Johann, keeping up a friendly smile, making an effort to hide his emotions, slowly made his way over to the two before placing his hand on Yona's shoulder and greeting her with a friendly tone "Good morning, Ms. Hisamori, I hope you had a good night ?" while more sinister thoughts were rushing through his head at the very same moment "because if it's true it will be the last night you ever had", "Oh, and who are you, my friend ? Where are my manners, may I introduce myself. Johann von Weiss, Vice President of the West Fiore Trading Company, at your service" he addressed the man next to her before raising his right hand to his shoulder and giving him a respectful bow all while thinking "I swear I'm gonna kill this green haired brat", "Oh, I see you've already given our guest a warm welcome, Ms. Hisamori" while pointing at the flowers "You're so lucky, girl ...". "Purple iris, pale lady's slipper and, oh, even Lavender, how nice, may I ?" ... "... because if this guy wasn't here I would destroy you", now leaning forward, his face hovering over the bouquet for just a second as he took a deep breath, his left eye turning completely black as he did so, a shining, crimson red pupil sitting in its middle, his senses explosively heightening, surpassing even the abilities of slayers. "A wonderful smell, is it not ?" ... "Her hands smell of lavender before all the other flowers", he asked the other two with a still friendly smile, his left eye still shining in its unnatural colours, giving Yona a piercing stare before turning his attention to the newcomer "So, what brings you here, are you a new client ? Or is there something I can help you with ?" ... "You will curse the day of your birth when I'll be done with you, Yona Hisamori !".
1st C rank Job WC: 1,278
Last edited by Johann on 28th April 2019, 6:20 pm; edited 1 time in total