Another fic, so soon?
Title: "Industrial Inertia"
Series: Black Butler
Genre: Drama, General
Characters/Pairings: OC, drive-by SebaCiel
Rating: PG-13 (for language)
Word Count: 1,175
Summary: The current head of Funtom Toy Company has been encountering some difficulties.
Notes: Takes place in crescent_moony's Bicentennial series. Spoilers for the end of season two.
To Read:
The current president and CEO of Funtom Toy Company languished in frustration. It was enough that she'd had to fight the board of directors tooth and nail every step of the way in today's meeting, but now even the city's traffic lights had turned against her. Honestly, this was the seventh red light she'd hit in as many miles!
She let out a long sigh, tapping coffee-brown fingertips against her steering wheel. Anjali Elizabeth Kadar (that middle name was something of a relic; every girl born into her family received it, named after some great, great, great, whatever-grandmother from way back when) peered into her side mirror, feebly attempting to tame her unruly hair while she waited for that blessed day when the light in front of her would turn green.
The chairmen had been attempting to persuade her to step down for some time now. Never mind that her line of morbidly cute plush toys were selling like hotcakes with the Hot Topic crowd - periphery demographics were still paying customers, after all. Never mind that her unwillingness to sell out was the only thing keeping them from being absorbed into some soulless corporate juggernaut like, I don't know, Hasbro or something. (Though even Anjali had to admit, those new ponies were pretty fucking adorable.) Never mind that her decision to relocate the company headquarters to Silicon Valley and diversify into handheld gaming had earned them, quite literally, billions upon billions in revenue. Never mind she'd been the one to restore the company's name to its original designation, a subtle reminder to their consumers that there was still value in respecting one's origins.
No, the only thing that seemed to matter to those old tightwads was lowering the costs of production and transportation, even if it meant lowering the quality of their products as a result. They'd even discussed axing the company's annual contribution to UNICEF, for heaven's sake! She wondered how these heartless bastards had ever made it into the upper echelons of a toy-making company...
As much as she'd love to fire the lot and start over completely from scratch, she had to keep in mind that Funtom was still a publicly-owned entity. A rash decision like that would undermine the stockholders' faith in her, if their latent racism and sexism (possibly homophobia too, though she'd been fairly careful about keeping Sophie out of the public eye) hadn't already done so. In truth, the only thing keeping her in her current position was a kind of antiquated nepotism. The Kadars had run the Funtom company ever since, like, the Edwardian period or something. Maybe Victorian, she wasn't really sure.
Just as she was about to bash her head against the car's horn out of pure frustration, two things happened. First, the light finally turned green. But just as she went to press down on the gas pedal, the second thing happened. Her cellphone rang.
Naturally, it couldn't have rung when she was just sitting there doing nothing, it had to ring right when she needed to start driving again. She awkwardly readjusted the bluetooth in her ear, before lightly tapping the "answer" button. Just as she did so, she glanced down at her phone's screen to view the incoming call.
[NUMBER WITHHELD]
Great, probably a telemarketer. If she'd seen that to begin with, she wouldn't have wasted time answering in the first place. Ah well, too late now... She might as well speak up, now that the call was connected.
"Yes, hello? Who is this?"
A pause from the other end, then suddenly, a voice.
"Would I be correct in assuming that I am speaking with the current head of Funtom Toy Company?"
The voice was low and soft, with just the barest of English accents tinging its syllables. A woman? Or maybe a teenage boy... Was this some sort of prank?
"How did you get this number?" Anjali inquired, not bothering to answer his question, "this is my personal cellphone, I don't list this number on any of our websites."
She could hear the assured smile from her mystery caller then - and for some reason, it made her blood run cold.
"Oh, I've been following you off and on for quite some time now, Miss Kadar. Not to fear, though. For the most part, I've been rather impressed with your performance, you've greatly surpassed any predecessors to have come from your family line... You'd have made Marchioness Middleford proud, I should think."
Who was this kid and what the hell was he talking about?
"Who are you, kid, and what the hell are you talking about?"
A chuckle from the other end - and forget blood running cold, it had turned to ice by now.
"I'll just cut to the chase then, shall I? We're both very busy individuals and I have a date tonight that I've absolutely no intention of being late for. I understand you've been encountering some...friction with the current board of directors, yes?"
"Yes," Anjali replied, swallowing thickly. Something inside told her it was no use lying right now.
"Well, consider that dealt with," the voice took on a falsely-jovial tone, "by someone with an active interest in the continued well-being of your company."
"...Jesus Christ, you haven't killed them, have you?"
Another chuckle from the other end.
"You'll find, Miss Kadar, that the threat of violence is often sufficient enough in and of itself to accomplish one's ends. That said, it would probably be in your best interests to have an alibi lined up for this evening."
"Ri-right," Anjali replied, wary of further irritating the psychopath on her phone, "thank you, I suppose...?"
"No need to thank me," came his curt reply, "if I don't like the direction you're taking this company in, you'll be next."
And with that, the call ended, leaving a very shaken young woman to drive the rest of her way home.
---
"Really, Ciel, was that entirely necessary?"
Sebastian was strolling down a cobblestone sidewalk in the city's historic district, hand-in-hand with his master/lover, on their way to... Well, to wherever the hell Ciel felt like that night.
"Necessary? No, not at all," Ciel stifled an impish giggle, "but it was fun."
"You've never taken this much of an interest before... Why bother starting now?"
"They reused my Bitter Bunny design. They were asking for it."
"And now that poor girl is going to live in constant paranoia for the rest of her life," Sebastian held a wrist to his forehead in mock horror.
"She'll be fine," Ciel shrugged, "it's not wholly unlike your treatment of one Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - and that seemed to work out fairly profitably for him, in the end."
Sebastian merely smiled in response.
"What? What's that grin for?"
"Nothing, Ciel..." Sebastian turned his gaze to the boy beside him, "I'm merely happy to see you haven't changed, that's all."
"Don't be foolish," Ciel responded, blushing faintly, "what reason would I have to change, eh?"
After all, the young demon thought to himself, this life, this routine, being with you...is all I've ever truly wanted.
Series: Black Butler
Genre: Drama, General
Characters/Pairings: OC, drive-by SebaCiel
Rating: PG-13 (for language)
Word Count: 1,175
Summary: The current head of Funtom Toy Company has been encountering some difficulties.
Notes: Takes place in crescent_moony's Bicentennial series. Spoilers for the end of season two.
To Read:
The current president and CEO of Funtom Toy Company languished in frustration. It was enough that she'd had to fight the board of directors tooth and nail every step of the way in today's meeting, but now even the city's traffic lights had turned against her. Honestly, this was the seventh red light she'd hit in as many miles!
She let out a long sigh, tapping coffee-brown fingertips against her steering wheel. Anjali Elizabeth Kadar (that middle name was something of a relic; every girl born into her family received it, named after some great, great, great, whatever-grandmother from way back when) peered into her side mirror, feebly attempting to tame her unruly hair while she waited for that blessed day when the light in front of her would turn green.
The chairmen had been attempting to persuade her to step down for some time now. Never mind that her line of morbidly cute plush toys were selling like hotcakes with the Hot Topic crowd - periphery demographics were still paying customers, after all. Never mind that her unwillingness to sell out was the only thing keeping them from being absorbed into some soulless corporate juggernaut like, I don't know, Hasbro or something. (Though even Anjali had to admit, those new ponies were pretty fucking adorable.) Never mind that her decision to relocate the company headquarters to Silicon Valley and diversify into handheld gaming had earned them, quite literally, billions upon billions in revenue. Never mind she'd been the one to restore the company's name to its original designation, a subtle reminder to their consumers that there was still value in respecting one's origins.
No, the only thing that seemed to matter to those old tightwads was lowering the costs of production and transportation, even if it meant lowering the quality of their products as a result. They'd even discussed axing the company's annual contribution to UNICEF, for heaven's sake! She wondered how these heartless bastards had ever made it into the upper echelons of a toy-making company...
As much as she'd love to fire the lot and start over completely from scratch, she had to keep in mind that Funtom was still a publicly-owned entity. A rash decision like that would undermine the stockholders' faith in her, if their latent racism and sexism (possibly homophobia too, though she'd been fairly careful about keeping Sophie out of the public eye) hadn't already done so. In truth, the only thing keeping her in her current position was a kind of antiquated nepotism. The Kadars had run the Funtom company ever since, like, the Edwardian period or something. Maybe Victorian, she wasn't really sure.
Just as she was about to bash her head against the car's horn out of pure frustration, two things happened. First, the light finally turned green. But just as she went to press down on the gas pedal, the second thing happened. Her cellphone rang.
Naturally, it couldn't have rung when she was just sitting there doing nothing, it had to ring right when she needed to start driving again. She awkwardly readjusted the bluetooth in her ear, before lightly tapping the "answer" button. Just as she did so, she glanced down at her phone's screen to view the incoming call.
[NUMBER WITHHELD]
Great, probably a telemarketer. If she'd seen that to begin with, she wouldn't have wasted time answering in the first place. Ah well, too late now... She might as well speak up, now that the call was connected.
"Yes, hello? Who is this?"
A pause from the other end, then suddenly, a voice.
"Would I be correct in assuming that I am speaking with the current head of Funtom Toy Company?"
The voice was low and soft, with just the barest of English accents tinging its syllables. A woman? Or maybe a teenage boy... Was this some sort of prank?
"How did you get this number?" Anjali inquired, not bothering to answer his question, "this is my personal cellphone, I don't list this number on any of our websites."
She could hear the assured smile from her mystery caller then - and for some reason, it made her blood run cold.
"Oh, I've been following you off and on for quite some time now, Miss Kadar. Not to fear, though. For the most part, I've been rather impressed with your performance, you've greatly surpassed any predecessors to have come from your family line... You'd have made Marchioness Middleford proud, I should think."
Who was this kid and what the hell was he talking about?
"Who are you, kid, and what the hell are you talking about?"
A chuckle from the other end - and forget blood running cold, it had turned to ice by now.
"I'll just cut to the chase then, shall I? We're both very busy individuals and I have a date tonight that I've absolutely no intention of being late for. I understand you've been encountering some...friction with the current board of directors, yes?"
"Yes," Anjali replied, swallowing thickly. Something inside told her it was no use lying right now.
"Well, consider that dealt with," the voice took on a falsely-jovial tone, "by someone with an active interest in the continued well-being of your company."
"...Jesus Christ, you haven't killed them, have you?"
Another chuckle from the other end.
"You'll find, Miss Kadar, that the threat of violence is often sufficient enough in and of itself to accomplish one's ends. That said, it would probably be in your best interests to have an alibi lined up for this evening."
"Ri-right," Anjali replied, wary of further irritating the psychopath on her phone, "thank you, I suppose...?"
"No need to thank me," came his curt reply, "if I don't like the direction you're taking this company in, you'll be next."
And with that, the call ended, leaving a very shaken young woman to drive the rest of her way home.
---
"Really, Ciel, was that entirely necessary?"
Sebastian was strolling down a cobblestone sidewalk in the city's historic district, hand-in-hand with his master/lover, on their way to... Well, to wherever the hell Ciel felt like that night.
"Necessary? No, not at all," Ciel stifled an impish giggle, "but it was fun."
"You've never taken this much of an interest before... Why bother starting now?"
"They reused my Bitter Bunny design. They were asking for it."
"And now that poor girl is going to live in constant paranoia for the rest of her life," Sebastian held a wrist to his forehead in mock horror.
"She'll be fine," Ciel shrugged, "it's not wholly unlike your treatment of one Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - and that seemed to work out fairly profitably for him, in the end."
Sebastian merely smiled in response.
"What? What's that grin for?"
"Nothing, Ciel..." Sebastian turned his gaze to the boy beside him, "I'm merely happy to see you haven't changed, that's all."
"Don't be foolish," Ciel responded, blushing faintly, "what reason would I have to change, eh?"
After all, the young demon thought to himself, this life, this routine, being with you...is all I've ever truly wanted.