A Better Workplace

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Buffy/Yakuza AU, follow-up to Finding Their Feet (because really, the order after the introduction doesn't matter as much)
Chapter Summary: They get further refugees.
Word Count: 485
Rating: Teen

        Like many things, the next change happens before Xander even realizes.  First there’s one, then two, then a whole group of ex-Wolfram & Hart employees suddenly working at the cabaret.  Harmony is smug, though to be fair, she can absolutely call herself a trendsetter, now.  “Evil just isn’t the moneymaker it used to be,” she says, matter-of-fact.  He suspects it’s more like this side comes with perks, such as humans and machines manufacturing and designing things like clothes that she can then purchase.  Also, apparently his terms are generous: paid time off, benefits, and the like.
        He requires a fairly invasive brain scan via magic, and they don’t even bat an eye.  It makes him worry, briefly, about what they’re planning, before Willow explains it, looking sad.  “They’ve experienced far worse at their workplace before.  This is everyday to them.”  Even for ‘evil’ types, Willow’s right, that’s kind of sad.
        The one thing the Honorary Ashigaru didn’t manage to dodge is the noncompete class, which is why most of them move directly into a completely different line of work.  He does set up an HR department, now that he has enough people to need it, and for the first time he also manages to name something on purpose and have it stick (with enough workers, it’s now Alpha, Beta, and Gamma shifts, because it’s always nighttime somewhere in the world, and having different shifts enables them to cater to different clientele; he manages to convince at least some of them that Andrew was the culprit for that one though).
        They might need more dorms.  He has another look at the area, and they might honestly need to magically do that, because the only place left is in the rock of the island and he doesn’t trust himself to do it without causing earthquakes or dangerous mining situations or anything else along those lines.  For the time being, they live in dorms alongside Slayers and commute.  At least portals make the travel easy.
        Buffy’s slightly less on board, at least for a bit.  Because when she shows up she makes accusations about vampire brothels, and it’s kind of ridiculous, because a) it’s not a sex club but b) if it’s, like, a kink thing, and fully consensual, why condemn?  Just let people do their thing, and don’t look if you don’t wanna see.
        He just asks her to trust him and doesn’t defend himself, because she has obvious and well-earned trauma and she’s not going to be seeing this without a filter until she’s got some distance.  Maybe ask Giles about it.  Because the cabaret is for companionship, not for selling bodies.  Again, not that there’s anything wrong with it, if there’s not any coercion or exploitation, but he has to correct some patrons about the roles of his employees enough, he doesn’t need that from Buffy too.  (Luckily he’s got a decent enough security force.)