The World Ends With You [Finished]

[Kari Muffin]

Zane had managed to choke down all of his insecurities as he walked down the hallway behind a rather confident Mid-range mouse. He had finally decided that he wanted to join the Court of Spades. And thanks to his father he was walking down the halls this very moment on his way to meet the Queen of Spades. He wished that his father wasn't an excuse to meet. The sparrow never wanted to use his father's name to get places in the first place. And yet... here he was, ready to meet a terrifying woman who could probably chomp his head off in a single bite.

Was this really a good idea? At least some of the staff seemed to be male. That couldn't hurt, could it?

The sparrow held back a sigh.

The Mid-ranger, Ichigo, trotted down the hall with a smile on his face. Another person applying the the courts. Only good could come from this. The court needed help, and this bird would be perfect. He seemed reasonable, polite and responsible! The mouse paused in front of the proper door, motioning for the sparrow to stop.

The mouse knocked on the door and awaited for the response so he could properly announce the guest.

[The Jenn]

A son of the Queen of Diamonds... yes, Donnie wanted to meet the man. She'd heard enough about his father to interest her. Not that she would have refused to meet with him anyway, as a Jack of Spades who went through the proper channels, but it certainly made her set the date a little sooner. She could bump back the one incredibly tedious and probably unproductive meeting another day. Mikael had been more than happy to tell the stuffy man that he would have to wait, with clear authority from his employer to do so. It amused her to watch, sometimes.

She was just re-familiaring herself with her schedule over the next few days, delivered courtesy of her young secretary not long ago, when a knock sounded at the door. Probably the man she'd been waiting for.

"Enter," she called out, sitting up a little straighter and stowing the piece of paper in her top drawer. No need to flash something like that around when there were guests.

[Kari Muffin]

Ichigo slowly opened the door, bowing his head he stepped to the side for the bird to enter. He clearly announced, "Presenting, Your Majesty, Mister Zane Giovanni."

The mouse continued to keep his head bowed as Zane entered the room. The sparrow gave a bow to The Queen of Spades as well. He could feel the nerves welling up inside of him. He stuffed them back down as he came out of the formal bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you, your Majesty. I'm sorry if I interrupted anything. I hope it's not a problem that I'm slightly early."

Slightly being a good twenty minutes. If he had a lip, he would have honestly bit it at that very moment. Why was he so bloody nervous when he dealt with royalty on a regular basis. Maybe it was just because he didn't want to deal with the woman's wrath after what he had heard happened. Not to mention he saw what that poor woman had gone through because of the murdering of the previous Queen.

Murdering. What if his Dad ended up like that?

Not the time to think about that now.

"With the recent call for help, I was hoping that I could offer my services, Your Majesty."

Ichigo departed once he was dismissed, gently shutting the door behind the pair. Making sure no one was around, he skipped down the hallway. It was clearly going to be a good day.

[The Jenn]

Donnie made a point of at least trying to remember the names of some of the palace's guards, if only so she could know who was supposed to be leading people around and who wasn't. She didn't have them all down yet, but a Mid-Ranger in a sea of other realms was hard to ignore. "Thank you, Ichigo." The words and preceding nod were a polite dismissal.

Turning her attention to the bird, she gave him a quick, polite once-over. What strange wings. She wondered if he was a pure breed, or if there was something else in the mix. His father was a pure sparrow, at least. And... manners. Thank the cliffs, the man had manners.

"I wasn't doing anything pressing before you arrived, so your timing wasn't bad. I was just organizing a few things." She motioned for him to sit in one of the chairs across from her desk, watching him curiously. Quite a colorful mix of regions, much like herself.

She settled her fingers together, bangles dropping down her forearm and rings flashing a little in the sunlight coming through behind her. If he wanted to begin straight away, she certainly could. "That's quite admirable. The palace is in need of assistance. What makes you qualified to join the Court, sir? What are your talents? Also, are you seeking a titled position, or merely a high-ranking job?"

[Kari Muffin]

He gladly took the seat when she made the motion. At least she was a little less terrifying now that she had spoken more than just one commanding word. There was still something about her that was intimidating, but she was part Yarrow, and that probably had something to do with it.

Zane was happy to get down to business. It made him far more comfortable than exchanging random pleasantries. "Your Majesty, I have been looking at joining the courts for a long while. I've come to the Court before under the previous Queen, and I found that it really wasn't for me at the time. However, with the way you're bringing about change... I think I might fit in a bit better with the way things are organized. I'm an accountant, really, and that might not be the highest priority on your list of people to acquire help from, but I don't want to walk away without trying."

"I was hoping to gain a title, but I would understand if I didn't receive one. I'm not really looking for a job for the sake of money, if I was... I would have chosen to take over my father's shipping firm."

That was quite a lot to say. He blushed a bit under his feathers. "I hope I'm not being to forward."

[The Jenn]

Donnie could see how an organized, internally motivated man would have taken issue with Lysaras's lax style of management. Yes, she could understand that all too well. Her yellow eyes narrowed slightly in approval as he continued to speak. It was too bad that he hadn't taken the job before, since the Court's finances might not have been in such a state of disrepair when she arrived, but at the same time... not something she needed to comment on. Merely something to consider.

She ignored the anxious question at the end of his explanation. "An accountant, hmm? We really don't have anyone currently titled with a head for numbers, at least not in particular. Vessatha takes care of general day-to-day operations very effectively, and Dysthymia oversees whatever crisis I turn him towards, as does Wulfram, but our Court is not in the best position financially. To be quite frank, our records are disorganized and the current budget is based off of approximations of what the numbers may actually be rather than something more concrete. It's something that's been worrying me for a few weeks now."

The fingers of her right hand lightly drummed out a rhythm against the wood of her desk. "If what you're truly interested in is a title and some responsibility, the two go hand in hand and there are certainly openings. Tell me what your first order of business might be, if you were appointed as one of the Court's Jacks, barring any further instructions or information?"

[Kari Muffin]

Zane's eyes widened briefly and her horrifying statement. How could any organization run on simple guesswork? If you over or undershot there were horrible consequences! How could anyone let something like that fall into disrepair when it was so important it could make or break the Court? How could they offer decent wages either? Were people getting paid the proper amounts? Had there been skimming off the top?

He shifted slightly listening to the rest of what she had to say. "I would, without a doubt, go about restructuring the fiances. Even if I had to count all the money the Court possessed by hand. I would probably first try to find some sort of paper trail, of course, bad or not I should hope there is one. And then use a typical filing system so more than one person has access to such important information."

He probably should have used his Jack power, but right now he just figured that being honest was better than being on the dot right.

[The Jenn]

The way the bird's eyes widened reassured Donnie that she wasn't the only one deeply disturbed by the Court's current financial situation. Their biggest problem was a lack of reliable and current information with which to make decisions. Without knowing precisely how much money the Court had to spend, it made implementing any new programs difficult, much less finding problems in those that were currently being paid for.

She listened to him and slowly nodded. "I don't have a head for the kind of thing it would take to get the finances in order. I've chipped away at it enough to realize what a horrible mess we've got, but I really don't have the time necessary to devote to it, nor do my current nobles."

Her fingers changed their pattern to a different rhythm as she appraised him for a moment. "To be quite honest with you, I'm not sure how comfortable I would feel entrusting temporary control of the Court's finances to a Jack. I need to be intimately acquainted with the process as you go through it, and I need you to be able to devote yourself to this project without the distraction of other tasks for a little while. Are you willing to consider an increase in rank? It would entail your becoming one of my Kings, which is no small matter. I can be very difficult to deal with on a bad day."

[Kari Muffin]

Increasing his rank so he could work specifically in finances as one of her Kings. The thought had never crossed his mind. In all honesty he had always wanted to be a King, he just never had a legitimate reason.

And dealing with her on a bad day couldn't be half as bad as dealing with diva Ez on a bad day. He had faith in most cards that they couldn't get as bad as Ez when he was on a downward spiral of hate. She honestly couldn't be that bad.

"I would," Zane said with a small smile, "Even if it's a difficult task becoming one of your Kings, I'll rise to the challenge. Bad days or not, I think the finances need to be fixed properly and I'm more than willing to devote myself to them completely if you'd allow it."

[The Jenn]

"Well then," Donnie told him in a decisive voice, expression turning suddenly into a challenging smirk. He would probably recognize the expression, having been around his parents' human forms for long enough.

"If you're so interested, I have two choices for you. I could increase your rank now, set you to work, and do something incredibly unpleasant to you if you prove yourself unworthy of the title and responsibility. Alternately, I could throw you into the finances for a day or two and expect a report on precisely the condition you believe them to be in. If I agree with your evaluation and approve of the way in which you've conducted your investigation, I grant you the rank. If not, no harm done and you leave. Which would you prefer?"

Just how confident was he in his abilities? She was interested to find out. The options were very similar, but the one carried significantly more risk than the other if he had any doubts as to his own work ethic or skills.