With Ears That Sweep Away the Morning Dew

Richard flinched a little, leaning forward in his seat, his brows rising. "Children--?" he half-said, half-chuckled out incredulously. "That's generous, but most of our residents are well above twenty... Many of them still young, but not children by far." Many of them also older than Natan, but there was no reason to freak the man out. Richard gave him an amused look. "It's up to you as to whether you want to employ disciplinary methods or not and of what sort, but the bottom line is that if they refuse to work, they can haul ass off the premises."

Hm! Well, authority with power! That wouldn't go unappreciated. Natan nodded approvingly at Mr. Wallace's answer. He thought inwardly to himself that he would still end up doing most of the work, but now at least he could delegate some of the more unpleasant or dreary tasks. Natan smiled at the thought of not having to scrub at stains anymore.

"Well den" he concluded with a smile. "Ah'm sure Ah can find someting for dem to do"
Finally giving in to the weariness of his legs, Natan grabbed a seat and faced Richard. "So, if de janitor makes sure people clean, what does de castle stewart do?" he asked casually, hoping to find out what a 'stewart' was.

Richard returned the smile automatically. Well, that had gone rather well, he thought. Hopefully putting what they discussed to life would be as smooth. His smile turned a little more genuine and amused when Natan finally chose to sit down, and he made himself more comfortable as well, leaning an elbow against the table.

"The castle steward... well, I look over the castle's resources, including 'human' resources." He placed air quotes around the 'human', as most of them really weren't. "I make sure we know how many do we have and that we don't run out of chairs, scones and janitors, basically."

"Well! Ah'm sure dat keeps you busy, wit all de people running around" Natan replied. He opened his mouth to clarify some point or other when a thought struck him.

If he made sure that they didn't run out of people... How did Natan come to be there. Cracking a nervous smile he tried to act as casual and unconcerned as he could.
"So, if... chew make sure everyting is hea...how did you run out of janitors before?" Master of masking his emotion: Natan Issac! Hardly any of his worry for the demise of his predecessor slipped out! He was as calm as the river in winter, as the sleeping housecat! His voice flowed smooth like honey dripped onto the toast, or the surface of the river stone. More convincing than the speeches of Ghandi was his flawless charade!

Richard gave a slight nod. It was not too busy of a job, but Natan having that opinion would be of no harm at all. The sudden uncertainty that flashed through the janitor's face made him blink. As the question was posed, he huffed, running his hand through his hair in a jokingly smug manner. "Well, that was before I was hired. Besides, for something to run out, it needs to be there in the first place, and I am fairly certain you're the first janitor on these premises."

He inclined his head with a pointed smile. "Now, you make sure you're the last one."

Natan breathed a sigh of relief. Glad to know that the turnovers here weren't lethal!
"Haha, yes sah!" he joked. As far as bosses went, Mr. Wallace was definitely up there. Hadn't threatened to fire him at all!

Taking another breath, Natan planted his hands on his knees and stood up. "Ah hope you don't mind" he said, taking his cleaner from the table. "But Ah should keep working. Ah can't be up all night like an owl!" He chuckled at his own words. "but please, mesye, Ah can jus' work around you"

He was pleased. Natan was a good-natured, hard-working, unproblematic man, the fact he was human surely not irrelevant; they could use more of that type around, but sadly the place was literally made for the opposite. And yet again, he was questioning the good sense of the whole undertaking...

Richard watched the man get up and shook his head. "Ah, it's fine. I should probably just leave you to your work. It has gotten late." A small groan escaping him, he stood up. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Isaac. I hope we'll get to talk again sometime."

"Oh, an chew too! Ahm sure we will" Natan exclaimed, looking up from the table he was starting to clean. As much as he appreciated the company, he was not nocturnal, and there was more to be done. Or maybe he'd call it a night. After all, who'd notice the difference?

Natan pushed the though from his head and continued wiping down the tables. He would, of course. And in his own way, Natan figured that was enough.

With an amused huff, Richard smiled to himself, then headed for the door. Such a little victory, but it was satisfying, especially since he'd so dreaded an interaction. Well, that was work for that night done, he supposed. Maybe he'd take some paperwork to his room and mull over it and a glass of wine. Maybe.