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 Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 6:50 pm
Quote: With each passing year, you accumulate more stuff. Your new holiday gifts have been put out, but now is the perfect time to make some extra space and purge your old belongings. Donation centers are bustling but there’s never a bad time to give to the needy. Going through your belongings, you may find any number of things. Something you thought was lost? Or just a bad case of nostalgia? Now is a good time to reflect on what is important to you—and maybe actually find some things you can part with.
Of course, when she thought of who to call, it wasn’t someone logical, or something useful either.
It was none other than one of her lieutenants.
But she figured that Laurence wouldn’t be opposed to helping her, especially when he saw the deplorable condition that she was in, it would be his honor to help his general clean out her house, right? Besides. He was an over achiever, so she figured a few well chosen words of praise would have him doing whatever she wanted.
And today, she wanted the downstairs closed cleaned out. Completely.
She had been quite pleased when the blue haired male had agreed to come over, and now she said, the door unlocked, waiting for him to arrive. She had even been thoughtful enough to set out a few trays of cookies to appease his appetite, provided he was hungry.
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 7:20 pm
Laurence didn’t want to be here.
He had just pulled into the driveway and shut off his car when the thought hit him. Not that he hadn’t been thinking it the entire drive over, or every moment after he accepted, but now he really meant it.
Begrudgingly, he pried himself from the car and trudged to the front door. She’d said to just let himself in, but he knocked anyway before he opened the door and called, “Karone? It’s Laurence, where are you?”
Maybe this would be quick so he could go home and enjoy the rest of his day off. He was optimistic—or, at least, trying to be. Laurence didn’t have a lot of luck so he was already expecting the worst—but, at the very least, maybe if he stayed on Karone’s good side, she wouldn’t gripe about him not bringing in any starseeds.
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 7:33 pm
Karone grinned when she heard his voice, raising her own. “I’m in the living room on the couch, Laurence. I’m glad you came…did you bring me any starseeds? I could use the boost, to be honest.”
She sighed rather dramatically, moving so he could clearly see the bright purple cast that rested over her wrist, and the bandages that were wrapped around her impaled shoulder. “As you can see, your poor, sweet, caring, benevolent general was in a pretty nasty fight the other day…though.”
A grin spread across her face, one that held as much malice as it did mirth. “You should see the other party. I’m quite sure that we killed a mutated traitor, and it serves him right. Never turn on me, Laurence, I don’t want to have to ever punish you, and I do find you such a comfort to me. You were a great choice and I haven’t been too disappointed with your work yet.”
She nodded towards the closet that sat across from the couch. “That’s what I would like you to organize for me. I have some trash bags set out, I was thinking we could find some things to donate, but I’m sure most of whatever’s in there will just end up being garbage.”
Karone paused for a moment, grinning once again. “Do you think you’re up to the challenge, lieutenant?”
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 8:17 pm
Laurence grimaced when she mentioned starseeds; he was certain she was only saying that because he knew he was uncomfortable with what he considered to be his one shortcoming. His eyes found her cast and he focused on it for a few seconds before nodding. Admittedly, he was surprised that someone could beat her up in any way—she was a General, basically cream of the crop, and she still bore such marks of battle?
…It didn’t matter how much she’d ‘won’ by—a broken arm was a broken arm, and was something Laurence would rather pass on, if he could.
Before he could ask though, he focused his attention on the closet while she spoke.
“…I don’t suppose I really have much of a choice,” he noted after a few seconds. He was already over here—what was he going to do, just turn around and leave?
God, but he could go quick. It was just a closet. If she thought most of it was garbage, he’d just throw it all in a trash bag and drag it out to the trash can. “Are you sure you want me going through your things? I won’t let you live it down if you have anything embarrassing in here.”
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 8:37 pm
“I mean, you’ve already come all this way…what would be the point of the journey without helping, right?” Karone adjusted herself on the couch to be a bit more comfortable. “I’ll be right here to supervise, just…why don’t you take everything out of the closet first, and put it on the floor and the coffee table, and then we can sort through it, I could even buy some pizza if that would make you a bit more interested in this project. Honestly, Laurence, I thought you’d be thrilled at the chance to come and help me out. I always thought you liked to get ahead…and here I was going to let the higher ups know just how sweet you were being to your all time favorite general…”
If she were going to be honest…she didn’t want this to take any longer than it had to either. Sometimes Laurence’s attitude annoyed her. She had thought he was going to be so perfect, so ready to prove himself…but half the time he just seemed bored and unwilling to do what she asked without putting up a fuss.
Perhaps he hadn’t been a good choice to bring into the ranks after all…not that she would ever admit such a thing out loud…for that would imply she had a lapse in judgment…and that was something that she refused to ever admit.
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 5:21 am
Supervise.
The situation quickly explained itself and Laurence found himself nodding, even if he’d come to the conclusion that she had called him over here to do a project while she just made sure he did it right. He rolled his shoulders and drew in a breath as he prepared himself.
“You don’t have to butter me up or anything,” he insisted, moving to the closet. It was nice to be wanted, he supposed; it’s not like he had friends that were calling him over to hang out. And what was he going to do if he was home? Stay in bed and clean his own closet?
…No, his place was already impeccable.
From too much time alone, probably.
“It’s not you, it’s this weather,” he tried to justify. “I hate the cold, it just makes me want to bundle up and sleep. It’ll be easier once I start moving.”
He began pulling things from the closet and laying them out on the table, trying to make it as easy for her as possible. He didn’t know what to expect, but at the very least he did still want to stay on her good side, and sulking wasn’t the way to do that.
“How long have you lived here?” he asked as he moved some of the boxes. “Or, I mean, how long has it been since you’ve gone through here? Some of these boxes look a little old.”
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 12:46 pm
Karone grinned, pulling out her phone and sending a quick order to the pizza place anyway. She wasn’t going to take that much advantage of her poor little lieutenant…even if it was kind of fun to.
“I’ll agree with you on that. This weather is utterly miserable and I wish it would just head back to the arctic or wherever it’s supposed to be this cold. Canada. Russia, I don’t really care. Give it to the Polar bears and give us springtime, am I right?”
Of course she was right, it wasn’t really a question. But…he didn’t need reminding.
Not really. Maybe in an hour or so he would, but he was doing good now.
As the closet began to empty out, she leaned forward, picking up a few things from off of the table. A few pictures that had been forgotten, a few of them bringing a smile to her face. One was herself and Gale, back when they were younger, Karone must have been about thirteen in the picture, holding her baby sister who was unfortunately pulling her hair in an effort to squirm down out of her arms better but hey…she could have only been four or five in the picture…it was cute.
Sometimes she really missed her sister and thought about getting in contact with her, trying to strike up the old friendship they had before…life got in the way.
It took a moment for Karone to realize that Laurence had spoken. “Hm? Oh. I’ve lived here about eight years now…almost nine, so yeah. They could have been here since I moved in…which is why I called you to help. I need to clean, badly.”
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 3:17 pm
Laurence found himself absentmindedly nodding as she answered. He had been focused on his task, but he couldn’t help but pause for a few seconds to eye the item she was holding.
“Is that you?” he asked after a pause; there were similarities, but he figured it was best to be polite and ask, first. “And your…”
He tilted his head so he could see the image better. “Sister? I didn’t know you had siblings.”
He wouldn’t have been surprised if she was an only child; she had the haughtiness of a spoiled only child. Or, a very spoiled younger sibling.
It wouldn’t have surprised him if Tobias called over his friends to do his work for him, not unlike what Karone was doing to him, now. Not that they were friends, exactly, but Tobias was so spoiled that he didn’t have to worry about work friends since he wasn’t working.
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 3:28 pm
Laughing, Karone passed him the picture. Yeah. It’s me. With my good ol’ brown hair, just like it used to be before I kept going on…” She gave a little grin. “Dye-its. Haha. Get it? Whatever, I thought it was clever. Anyway, that’s my baby sister, Gale. We used to be pretty close…but then I got into the Negaverse and I just…” She shrugged, seeming almost a little sad. “I guess I just didn’t want her getting involved in anything, so I distanced myself from her. She’s a great girl, I’ll tell you that one. She’s working to become a nurse, I think you two would get along pretty good, honestly. Mr. I am a Pharmacy God.”
Karone winked. “Pizza will be here in about half an hour, or so the app says…do you want to just sit and chat until then? Do you have siblings, Laurence? I don’t know much about you, and I suppose…now that I’m realizing that, it’s bothering me a bit.”
She patted the couch next to herself and began scrolling though her phone, looking for a more recent picture of her sister. “Ah. Here’s one from last year, this is Gale. See? I told you she’s a cutie.”
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 3:49 pm
Laurence nearly huffed when she referred to him as ‘Mr. I am a Pharmacy God,’ but the fact of the matter was that he was good at his job because he tried so hard at it. He was very proud of his job and how well he did it, so he only held his head a little higher when she mentioned it.
He wouldn’t admit it, but he was a little sore from moving everything out of the closet. When Karone offered to sit and chat, he was more than happy to accept. He sat down next to her and leaned over to peer at the picture she presented. “She’s very pretty. You two have good genetics. It’s good that you get along, too. I mean, aside from the distance thing. I’ve got a younger brother, myself, but we don’t really get along that well.”
He seemed a bit sour at the topic and leaned back, pursing his lips just slightly. “I’m the oldest. My parents always had high expectations for me, and I always worked my hardest to reach them. I thought I was doing well. I mean, for all intents and purposes, they should be very proud of me. I was an excellent student—I graduated with honors, top grades, and ahead of schedule. All with scholarships, my parents didn’t have to pay a dime for my schooling. I interned with a highly prestigious doctor. I have a good job, I’m financially stable, take care of myself. But.”
He grimaced. “I’ve got a younger brother. Spoiled rotten. I don’t know if he’s ever actually achieved anything in his life, much less worked towards it. But he’s their absolute favorite. They dote on him all the time. I mean, he’s probably not that bad? But it’s hard to like him when all of my life since he’s been born is my parents fawning over him for no real reason.”
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 4:05 pm
“Parents always dote on the babies, I know it felt like it was that way when I was little…I had been the only child for almost ten years, you know? And suddenly in came this baby and everything was Gale this and Gale that…but…well.” Karone shrugged. “Our parents died about six years ago, really nasty car accident, but…that’s when Gale and I got close. She was old enough that she didn’t have to go into foster care or anything, I took care of her, and Mom and Dad left enough money for her to be all set for school…and that’s about it.
Karone glanced at the picture on her phone again and sighed. “I should get back into her life, I know that I should…and you…have you spoken to your brother about this? I mean, I know that sounds stupid, but when you talk to your siblings…sometimes they listen. I know it worked for Gale and me.”
She went quiet for a moment. “For what it’s worth, I think your achievements are pretty damn impressive. I knew you were special, that’s why I picked you to be my first lieutenant. I was absolutely right about my choice, and I know I pick on you a lot…but I want you to succeed. And it takes a lot…and I don’t want to see the higher ups ever use you for target practice. I care about you, Laurence. You’re my responsibility.”
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2018 5:47 pm
Laurence was quiet as he listened; he hadn’t expected any sort of personal information in this trip, but it made Karone seem more human. He sympathized with her, in a strange way. Briefly, he wondered if his parents died if he and Tobias would be closer, but guilt washed through him at the concept.
“Your words are very kind,” he said, and he meant them. He offered a small smile but his brows knit as if he were concerned he was doing something wrong. Truthfully, it had been so long since he received genuine praise that mattered that he’d forgotten how to accept it. “…And it means a lot,” he confessed, after squirming in his seat for another second or two. “I want to do my best. To make you proud. I don’t want to let you down, or make you look bad. I have high aspirations, and I hope to meet them soon.”
If people would just stop getting sick and calling out of work, maybe he’d have more time to power up. Maybe he’d have had an opportunity to make a difference.
He had been avoiding eye contact since she praised him, and in an effort to break out of the awkwardness he’d cast upon himself he cleared his throat and said, “You should talk to your sister. If you guys had a good relationship, I’m sure she’d be happy to hear from you. My brother and I,” he shrugged. “Tobias thinks he’s the best thing in the world. He’s got an ego that prevents him from thinking we’re even close to the same level. I don’t know if we’ll ever get along, but. I wanted to. When we were younger, I was so excited to have a younger brother. I thought it was going to be like in all the movies, you know? Stupid adventures, a best friend.”
His lips pursed and he tried to shrug away the emotions. “It just didn’t happen like that. Maybe it was my parents always putting him on a pedestal that made him think he was better than me, too good for me, or maybe he’s just an a**. Either way. It is what it is.”
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Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:11 am
Karone nodded slowly. “You’ll meet them. I know you will. And I’ll be thrilled to see you grow and come into your own. When you’re ready for a promotion, I’ll start giving you some lieutenants that I want you to look after…and I expect you to be just as hard on them as I am on you, but…” She shrugged. “Maybe take some time to get to know them…I think that’s my issue. I’ve been treating you all like minions…but you’re people. And I’m glad that you came over today and gave me the chance to remember that. It’s important.”
She chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully and sighed. “Look. I think we both need to take a good look at what’s going on with us and our siblings. I’ll talk to my sister if you try to work things out with your brother. Maybe he’s feeling the same things about you? Maybe he wants to get close to you but you freeze him out…? Just…go and talk to him, okay? For me?”
Reaching out with her good hand, she patted Laurence’s shoulder, and then jumped when the doorbell rang. “Jesus Christ. I’ll bet that’s the pizza. That was the fastest delivery time ever, but hey. I’m not complaining.”
Pausing, she looked at her lieutenant…and perhaps now, he was her friend too, and smiled that sweet, almost simpering smile that she was best at. “…Be a dear and get that, won’t you? I’m hurt.”
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Posted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:53 am
Laurence groaned; he thought it was inwardly, only, but he realized the heavy, grumbling sigh after her request to work things out with his brother was audible. The doorbell rang almost simultaneously, and he had never been so happy to have an early delivery. “Oh, yeah,” he said, standing up quickly.
“I’ll get it, no problem.”
He managed to return a smile, even if he knew he was being played.
He didn’t promise Karone he would talk to his brother, but he didn’t say he wouldn’t, either. It was something he’d have to think on. Her sister seemed like a sweet girl, and Karone didn’t seem to have any hard feelings towards her.
Tobias, though…
Tobias was a piece of s**t, sometimes, and Laurence didn’t want to open up and show him any weakness.
But that was something he could worry about, later. For now, he could focus on pizza, and finishing Karone’s chores.
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