I swear it's only temporary.

The staff hated it. They had thought Vito seemingly disappearing meant their freedom, meant that there would be no chance for future oppression. But when Jack saw the state the club was in, she had acted quickly. And they were anything but pleased to see her strolling in as the new temporary owner. She had caused trouble with her mere presence, always putting Vito in a bad mood. How would he respond when he returned to see her behind the bar?

She had met with the staff and explained she did not plan on changing things. She did not want to know most of the goings on, but she did agree to give a few of the older employees raises as a reward for their cooperation. The head barman still seemed wary of her, though he accepted the coins with pleasure.

Jack could not answer their unspoken inquiries about their boss- they dared not question his motives for leaving. But Jack could not answer if she tried. She was sure she would have felt it had something terrible happened. But she felt a weakening in their connection, as though he were far- either physically or figuratively.

All she knew was that Satan's was in serious trouble of going to waste if she had not stepped up. She told the dancers they could feel free to wear jeans and sweaters, mostly because she hated seeing so much of their skin, and the barman seemed to have warmed a bit to her. She even learned that his name was Walter. They seemed to warm to the idea of continuing to work at Satan's. Perhaps they even thought Jack had saved the day.

Who knew what Vito would think?

Just a few hours ago, Kendall had wondered about his fairly surprising decision about reporting to a job. His father had yet to hear about it, not that the older Rookwood would have disallowed his son's decision. It was, after all, a good reason to dwell at Knockturn Alley longer than the suitable duration for a young wizard, without the invitation of suspicion, should there be any Rookwood business required in the area. No, Kendall decided, his father would like the change and the choice made by his son, should he be told about it. What would pose as an information worthy of a cocked eyebrow, however, was that Kendall had even committed himself to a job.

Of course the boy wasn't going to, or even be allowed to, be idle. He had learnt that, even as a child, accompanying his father in Rookwood businesses that were rather difficult to understand at that age. Whatever it was, Augustus had always believed and behaved, whether overtly or innately, like his son was really an extension of himself. Kendall had yet to find his attempts at being his own person exhausted. Rather, he was still happy with an identity that seemed inseparable from the older Rookwood, even as maturing in his teenage years compelled him to start looking for personal avenues. After all, which young man wouldn't want the assurance of personal pride and ownership?

Kendall had, as of late, seem to embark on a personal mission; of what, he was certainly uncertain about. He had managed to secure a reason to locate himself somewhere in Knockturn Alley. Sure, the clichés about the place seem to dismiss his virgin endeavour at a job as rather blasé. Still, Knockturn Alley never lost its charm to the very people it was established for. It had yet to become a sort of place with historical importance but merely performing as an aesthetic piece of plot in modern times. No, the Alley is still a place of mystery that possesses an allure of suspicious invitation. Naturally, Kendall had been drawn to it too, and the call from a poster for a deejay at Satan's one day as he walked by had provided the much desired avenue to indulge his curiosity.

Though uncertain, Kendall was rather positive about his decision. He was, however, keeping it from his father for now, as if fearing that Augustus would jump immediately at the chance to make use of his son's latest venture for yet another Rookwood endeavour. In fact, no one was told about his new occupation. The cloudy skies merely helped to dampen everyone's curiosity as they walked without much desire to pay attention to the details around them. Kendall strolled into the Alley and stopped right outside Satan's, licking his lips as he eyed the establishment thoughtfully. He had stood at a distance just a couple of seconds ago, observing the people that filed past the area, seemingly not giving two hoots about the nightclub.

Satisfied with that bit of observation done, Kendall stepped into Satan's, only to realise he was told to report at this time on this day, but not who to look out for. Adopting only the appearance of composure, the boy ran his hand through his hair and squinted his eyes a little, as if by doing so he could figure out who was going to meet him to orientate the place and the job for him, on his first day. While Kendall usually got the attention at school, no one gave him any here. The boy raised an eyebrow, as if the lack of that initial etiquette he expected had been a cause for concern. Standing at the very entrance of Satan's was only going to give Kendall an awkward sort of disposition should attention decide to find him. Decidedly, then, he eased to the bar and rested his elbow on the bar-top.

The bouncer had warmed to Jack a little, seeing as there was no trouble with her presence so long as his real boss was not around to throttle him for letting her get through. So when he noticed a young man had slipped passed him and was heading to he bar, where Jack and Walter squeezed past each other, Walter bartending and Jack tending to her own matters of business, he flagged Jack down and pointed at the young man.

Jack's eyes narrowed on him and she stepped towards him, saying, "Hey, kid, you have to pay to get in, you can't just walk in here." She wanted to add that he was too young to be there, but neither the nightclub nor Knockturn had any such policy and no manager or owner lasted long with that attitude. Plus Jack hated hypocrites. She could not become one.

Before she could be forced to compromise herself in any such way, Walter made his way over to them, greeting the younger man with a call of "Hey Kendall!" Jack glanced back at the bartender who had begun to trust her to see him reach out to shake hands with this young man before he turned to Jack. "This is Kendall Rookwood. I hired him a few weeks ago for Vito as a deejay."

Walter glanced between the two before saying, "Kendall, this is Jack. She is the owner right now while our other owner is..." Walter glanced at Jack. He really did not want to be held responsible for Vito in any sort of way, so Jack said, "While he takes a break. I'm Jack Dyllan." She thrust a hand out for him to shake. "Anything you need?"

Admittedly, it was surprisingly easy to have entered Satan's the way he did. Kendall, however, took little notice of that. Rather, he was distracted by his attempts to seek for that familiar face that told him to report to work on this day. It was just the second time that Kendall had stepped into Satan's, and just as he was trying to make out his way around the place, he was also attempting to mask the uncertainty on his face. Being typical Kendall, though, that wasn't much of a challenge. The boy replayed the mantra that he had in his head earlier: they need me; I don't need them. Even then, he knew better than to believe that wholeheartedly. Perhaps his father had taught him better - balancing one's ego with just a touch of reality, if not all of it.

Kendall's thoughts were, however, interrupted by ... he turned to see a girl who looked not much older than himself, calling him kid. A blink of a scowl flashed and disappeared on the boy's face, as he remembered the superficial pleasantries due to others, even in his displeasure. He had learnt, early, that impulsiveness was a self-made trap. Until he could ascertain a situation and turn it to his advantage, Kendall was willing to delay an impulsive response or a more calculated one. It always proved to work well. And so, he turned to the red-head and smiled, not apologetically, but with what he thought was an affable smile.

Before Kendall could speak to the girl, with whom he had decided to speak to about his purpose at Satan's, another voice called out. This time, because he heard his name, Kendall turned to locate the owner of the voice, but he was puzzled. It took a few seconds of eyeing the man as Kendall frowned to think who he was, before the boy realised that this was the man that hired him. By that time, Kendall wasn't happy with himself. His confidence in his supposedly astute observation skills took a dent then and there. Kendall couldn't believe how he had just stood near the bar without realising that the only face he would recognise at Satan's, for now, was the man behind the bar.

Quickly, though, Kendall shrugged the thoughts in his mind and reached for a handshake with the barman, as he found himself eased into an introduction to the girl. Kendall turned to Jack and shook her hand. "Pleasure." He had his performance of a smile on his face again for her, before he spoke again. "Well, yes. Anything I should know about this place, or working here, or ... the clients?" It was what he came for, really, the people. As small as Knockturn Alley was, no one merely makes acquaintances along the pavements or in the shops. No, people talked when they ease up at a place they believed to be comfortable. Aside from that, of course, Augustus had talked about how Satan's is often used as a place for more private dealings, both for him and the others. Kendall was certainly hopeful about the chances here.

Jack had been learning grace, so she did not overly apologize nor contemplate her mistake and the fact that she had almost thrown out their newest employee. She kne wthe transition was going to be rough, and every moment she spent in Satan's proved that to her, time and time again. She knew she just had to be patient and wait for Vito to return.

Eventually.

The boy smiled in a friendly way, more friendly than Jack was comfortable with in Knockturn Alley, and returned her handshake. She knew to be on the lookout for those who would do whatever it took to get ahead. Taking over a popular, flourishing nightclub with an owner that had countless enemies had not done any favors for her paranoia.

But she did know how to deal with the dwellers of Knockturn Alley- she had been dealing with the worst for years, anyway. Kendall asked about the 'clients' and Jack shook her head. "Not really. You just play the music- they'll voice their approval or disapproval. You can put up a tips jar if you want." She paused. She knew he should probably know the inner workings at least. She glanced at Walter, but he already knew what she needed.

He returned with a dusty handbook and handed it to Jack. She blew the dust off of the front and handed it to the boy. "Here's some information about what Satan's offers customers. It has some basic employee rules and wages in there as well." Walter added, "There's some punishments in their that say death and beheadings-" Jack caught his train of thought and said, "Ignore those."

If anyone had thought that the skies outside were too dark to do any good, they haven't been in Satan's yet. Kendall ran a hand through his hair as he allowed his eyes to adjust to the lighting, or the lack of it, in Satan's. The deliberate dim from whatever lights the place had promoted a glow of humdrum giddiness that, oddly, held a gnawing thrill of what could go on behind the façade of it all. That was the general suggestion. In reality, the place was certainly lacking in customers. It was still early, after all. Whatever it is, Kendall could afford the patience. He was to be here for most of the night anyway.

The boy returned his attention to the redhead. She had begun to look more familiar than ever, and these waves of recognition occupied his mind for awhile. And then, of course, with the recalling of her name playing in his head, he remembered who she was. With a slight raise of his eyebrows, Kendall looked at Jack curiously. He wouldn't have placed the former infamous Gryffindor in a place like this, let alone find her to be the owner of it, no matter if that was merely temporary. What was her business in Knockturn Alley, and Satan's at that? Certainly, she was going to be his person of interest today. That is, until someone else could come up with something more intriguing than his question of the day.

"Death and beheadings?" A glint of amusement flashed across Kendall's eyes. "How does the current management deal with cases as serious as those that warranted death and beheadings under the older one then?" Anything to keep Jack talking. He took a step closer, which was really still a fair bit of distance away from the girl. With that, he also reached out to receive the book. The weight of it surprised him, but Kendall held it steadily. Hopefully, though, this handbook was not hefty because of rules. He imagined what else it could possibly include ... cases of staff deaths and beheadings, cases of client dealings, details of Satan's dealings ... of course he was too optimistic about it. He had, after all, a rather naively romanticised notion of the place, expecting it to be a world of all things subversive.

"It's a very unconventional place for a Gryffindor, isn't it?" Kendall couldn't resist that venture. He did wonder, of course, if this star from Hogwarts had somehow decided in a change of lifestyle, or that she had ulterior motives to jeopardise the plans of the people of Knockturn Alley. "It's very unorthodox. But, very very interesting." He offered, yet again, a pretentious smile of friendliness. Yet, there was no malice in the appearance of it, nor was there any in his intentions.

The boy seemed amused by the jokes. Jack might have been too, had she not known some of the ways Vito had handled disobedient employees in the past. Sure, the handbook's punishments had been Vito's own little twisted humor, but capital punishment had not been uncommon. Jack could still remember the bandages that had covered Walter's face for awhile after recieving a bottle to the face.

His question was a little prying; though he probably did not recognize the innate danger he was putting himself and her reputation with such question. She did not let the possibility of what could happen if she ever let her precarious situation out- why was she saving this seedy nightclub for the criminal owner anyway?- cross her face. She only chuckled.

"We mostly just give you a warning or settle with a paycut or bathroom duty." Walter grinned a little, though there was a haunted, almost haggard look in his eyes. She was not sure how Walter would get on when Vito returned. He seemed to be thinking that maybe his treatment had been something he did not need to put up with. Jack knew it would piss Vito off, but she also had come to enjoy Walter's presence. She did not want him at risk.

She handed him the handbook and he asked a question that set her on guard. Her arm fell to her side, cold. Had she been a dog, her hackles would have raised, her scruff would have fluffed, and her ears would have pricked backwards. Luckily, she was much more in control of herself in her human form, which enabled her to keep a completely passive expression.

"Oh you know, a place is a place," she said vaguely. He continued on, making it seem a little more obvious he was curious. He didn't seem to have bad intent, but this curiousity was just the trait that killed the cat. "Well, life can be interesting," she said lightly, giving him a look that suggested he had better drop it before irritating his new boss. "If you have any questions, Walter or I can help you."

For better or for worse, Kendall was in a rather persistent mood. He had found himself indulge more often in these temperaments. Perhaps it was idleness, or perhaps it was boredom. He did not seem to have much to do these days; or he might just have grown too big for the typical nodes of satisfaction. Admittedly, he was dismayed to have lost Rise. The girl had gone missing, and it bothered him - his grand plan was forced to dissipate, just like that. That, coupled with the odd pain in his muscles at certain points of his movements, made Kendall more irritable as of late.

It was, then, as if he had to translate his irritation into a physical manifestation, doing so by effecting an unrelenting desire to probe at whoever and whatever. He was, however, fairly unaware of his increasing loss of patience and almost unyielding demands. All of it was certainly not doing him any good. Kendall had recognised the growing difficulty he had to face in attempting to keep calm and focus on whatever he had at hand. It was still too early to realise that he was really beginning to lose his bearings for reasons that were still unclear.

Kendall licked his lips in a fashion that asserted his tongue too fiercely against them. He needed to know. He needed answers. It was not as if the business of Satan's was any of his to take in too seriously. He just could not stop the rising vexation he felt from what he thought to be dodging replies from Jack. She seemed sufficiently polite, but she did not indulge his questions. Kendall stared at her before looking away to direct it to a wall behind her, blinking a little but in an imposing effort to distract his mind from his annoyance.

"In fact," he started quickly, as if it could stop Jack in her tracks before she could move on away from him to busy herself with whatever she thought she was required to busy herself with. " ... audacious as it is, I have a massive load of questions that you can help me with." A pause as Kendall let his eyes linger on Jack's face. "And while I would also like to indulge in a good conversation with the boss, I'm not about to begrudge the opportunity of sharing one with you first. After all ... " Kendall ran a hand through his hair as he smirked, not withdrawing from his offensive. " ... I should think that there would be a lot to learn about from a Triwizard Champion." Why did he say that? It seemed a plausible avenue to elicit a response from the redhead. And that, alone, was at least a score on the board for him.

[OOC: Sorry that I'm so bad at replying to posts these days. I still love you!]

This boy, she could not decide, was either really stupid or smarter than his own good. She was beginning tothink the latter which made her very displeased to be working with him. However, she could not fire someone on the grounds that she thought they were too smart. Firing people just because she had the power to do so was not something Jack would do. Too akin to Vito's own business philisophies for her own taste.

She could, however, leave him to his own devices. She was very busy as owner and manager of the bouncing nightclub. She had to be a million places at once and it was unfair of a new employee to attempt to monopolize all of her time to ask questions he should really not be trying to get answers for. So before he could speak, she turned and took a step away.

But his voice caught her ears. This kid is persistent as hell! She stopped and turned slowly, her eyes narrowed now to show him that in her mind, he had placed himself in a very dangerous, precocious position. Her eyes almost said I hope it's worth it. He was not going to be having an easy time now. No, he had secured that much for himself.

His words echoed through her head like a cannon. She felt Walter's eyes flick to her. She had not exactly ever told Walter anything about her personal life so this was news to him undoubtedly. Jack raied her head. "First off, I am your boss. Have no confusion there. I own Satan's. I manage it. All calls are mine." Sort of. "Make no mistakes there. I am your boss. My past nonwithstanding. Second, you obviously know me from Hogwarts. This is not Hogwarts. The rules there do not apply here. We have our own rules. So you better get the two separate in your mind. And third, if you have interest in keeping this job, you might want to be a little more proactive about keeping it."

(it's ok. I know how things get. Love you too xD)