"Where will you be?"
* * * * * * * * * *
Hershel will probably be down in the lobby getting drunk off the whiskey all of the other initiates have been sent to fetch for him. He also might be some kind of magic being which is why he invoked elves in his last bit of dialogue. Maybe he's a cyclops or a troll. So he might be under a bridge or devouring sailors in a cave down by Lake Michigan.
Or, you know, he'll just be waiting in the lobby since he works at this weird hotel.
"That, maybe some conjuring too. You disappear like an elf into the woodwork, the more professionally the better, and when you reappear, you've got the hooch, not to mention the ice, see."
* * * * * * * * * *
In other words, "Just go get the fucking liquor and don't bother me until you have it. And I'm saying not to mention ice but that means I'm mentioning ice. I want ice. Don't come back without ice."
"You disappear like an elf into the woodwork"
Against the Day begins the year J.R.R. Tolkien was born. This story takes place before even that. What I'm trying to say is people had a different idea of what elves were in the 19th century. They weren't tall sexy mofos with pale skin and lilting voices that caused hobbits to think, "I am a garbage creature," and then go eat three more breakfasts. Elves back then were tiny little jerks who sometimes built shoes for you and sometimes stole your children. Sometimes you were happy they interfered with your life and sometimes you had loads of shoes.
"disappear like an elf into the woodwork, the more professionally the better"
How professional are elves, really? I imagine they disappear into the woodwork in only one of two ways: whimsically and terrifyingly. I'm almost positive they don't wear ties or carry briefcases.
"see"
Ending a sentence with this word means you're a gangster. It's an implied threat. I don't know how I know this but I think probably from Looney Tunes or Abbott and Costello.
"Service?"
* * * * * * * * * *
Yes, of course service, Lew. You're seeking atonement by joining some kind of group. The most important step to getting better is to make yourself available to do volunteer work. Usually it isn't running out to get another member an eighth of whiskey. But if you squint and spin around a couple times, every service asked by a religion or Alcoholics Anonymous is just running out to get another member an eighth of whiskey.
Okay, maybe not Alcoholics Anonymous.
