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 Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2022 3:59 pm
One s**t job down, onto the next.
Too bad it took his boss up and leaving them, just full-on, ******** traitorous bullshit flying the coop, which triggered this sad little domino effect. First, Jet reassigned him to this sheep in wolf's clothing that called himself Kamacite, and that was well and good, Adonis didn't have a problem with it. But he'd complained a little too much about his job, maybe, and he got pulled from construction with no room for argument, and placed in a janitorial stint instead. Maybe something of a gift from old man Lepidolite? Not that Adonis could've crawled himself into anything more glamorous than a janitor job.
Maybe it'd grow on him. He was inside, after all. It kept him from the heat and chill of the outdoors, even if he was right back to cleaning stuff. Funny that kids could destroy places just as well as death could destroy places.
That morning was the first one where he was turned loose on his own. They started Adrian low and slow, and gave him an assignment of a few rooms to prep before the kids came in at the early hour. Which meant he had to get started at an even earlier hour, and all the coffee in the world wasn't about to chase away the pits of hell beneath his eyes. Never cared for that early s**t, and it kinda showed in how he kept forgetting what he was doing in the middle of doing it?
Well, whatever. As long as everything got cleaned. And sanitized. And scrubbed. And —
Was that s**t on one of the seats?! "Damn brats," Adrian sighed, as he changed into a fresh pair of double gloves. "Hope they pull your starseed when you fail the year."
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Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2022 6:39 pm
“If I have anything to say about it, none of them are going to fail.
Celestina had been organizing one of her desk drawers, trying to get everything prepped. School had been going for almost a week now, but she had only been hired a few days before the start of term, and right now, her classroom was as boring as a desert.
Not that you could do much to liven up a military school classroom but, she could at least have her own area with everything how she liked it.
Her eyes narrowed as she stood up, brushing off the knees of her stockings and crossing her arms over her chest, obviously unamused at the fact one of her students was being threatened already. Really, she didn’t have anything against any of them yet, save those kinds of threats for closer to Christmas when a real grudge could be formed.
“And I would appreciate it if you didn’t try to pull the starseeds of those that we’re trying to mold into future agents. It just. Goes against everything this school is doing, and you should know that.”
Though…it was a relief to know that people who worked here were a part of the Negaverse just as she was. It wasn’t that she hadn’t believed Lopezite and Lepidolite it just…
Nobody had spoken of it before, but now. Now she had a perfect opening.
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2022 2:08 pm
"Yeah, yeah, empty threats n' all that. Sure all of 'em will be fine, upstanding Generals someday." Adrian forced some charm into a smile as he worked.
Sure, someday they'd be part of the Negaverse if they didn't screw up and fail out of some classes. Being so new there, Adrian didn't know how they did their recruitment — whether it was an over-time type deal, or if it was a line-'em-up and get-'em-corrupted at a graduation ceremony, but he was sure ole' Lep had something worked out for the fully fledged kiddos. Of course, half the teachers were coworkers to him in his other job, this one included.
This one, who he didn't even realize was in the classroom already. Maybe a good sign to stop muttering to himself while he worked. That was gonna be a helluva habit to unlearn, considering how none of the guys could hear him talking to himself over the jackhammer. Whatever, he'd get used to it.
Or they'd end up popping a few of the kids off to the Citadel early on a surprise field trip. One or the other.
"Say, you got your eye on any of 'em yet? I know it's only been a week, But some of these kids seem real motivated to be the top of their class, you know?" Crouching down, he took out a paint scraper for the fresh wads of gum that collected beneath the desks. "Or do they tell you to wait 'til the end of the year?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2022 7:38 pm
“Not quite yet.” Celestina sighed and looked almost disappointed by the admission, I’m hoping I have some names by the end of this first term though. It would look good if we could start getting some new blood. Not that I’m not new blood.” She walked over to the male and held out a hand, half amused by his words and his attitude but. A colleague was a colleague.
“Celestina. Retzian when I’m in Uniform. Lieutenant. I’m going to assume you were brought in when you were hired too? How long have you worked here? You’re…the first one that I’ve been able to be open with…but I was told that all of the faculty here is part of the organization, I’m just a little uncomfortable asking, I suppose.”
Not that someone could simply sneak in. Not with the Commandant being so hands on. Or. Perhaps a better term would be hands in.
Regardless.
“I apologize for the disarray that the classroom is in. I do clean up after myself, I just. It’s difficult to get organized while teaching as well, but. I won’t have you working so hard if I can help it."
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2022 5:24 pm
Adrian looked at the proffered hand, then at the paint scraper he was holding, and set it down. He clapped his hands together as if to rid himself of some of the grime, stood up, and accepted the handshake for a token introduction.
"Adrian, sometimes Adonis. Wish I could say they brought me in when they brought me in, but I been working with the Negaverse before they even founded this school. I used to work construction, actually, then I must've whined enough about it that they took pity on me and gave me something different." It wasn't a glamorous story by any means, but janitorial wasn't glamorous work either. He wished he could say he was too pretty for it, but the school didn't have any place for models. Not much of an arts program there, and certainly one not geared toward figure drawing.
"As far as I know, yep, they're hundred-percent with us. But I get it, I think — it's kinda hard to be all open about our other jobs when we've been told to keep it to ourselves for so long. Doesn't help that the kids don't know."
Adrian shrugged, then crouched back down to finish his paint scraping. "You can clean up after yourself, yeah, but you've also got a barn full o' kids who won't. Besides, this is like… Job security. Long as there's some a*****e kid running around makin' a mess, I know I'm getting paid.
"So." He chipped off the last piece of gum into a plastic grocery bag. "How do you like it? Being Retzian."
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Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2022 5:51 pm
Chuckling softly, Celestina nodded and watched him for a moment before walking back to her desk and continuing to organize. “From what I was told, they stop being such little terrors once they finish the first year, the school is very good with discipline, obviously, but…they will end up causing messes still, I’m sure.”
His question made her have to think for a few minutes and finally all she could do was shrug. “It was. Quite a shock, honestly. Not something that I had been expecting when I got the job offer, and while I’m not complaining…or, not anymore, I wish it had been in the posting, though I know that’s impossible.”
Celestina blew out a breath and glanced out of the window for a moment. “I”m not sure it would have been something that I would have chosen had I known but. I don’t hate it. And I will strive to be the best I can be, that’s just how I am. I.”
She looked back towards Adrian and made a face. “I hate the fact that I have a cat toy for a weapon. It feels like a sick joke, that part does.”
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 12:16 pm
"Guess we'll both be finding that one out, huh?" Kids weren't just about making messes of the spaces they were in; kids made messes of themselves, messes of each other, messes of their faculty. Kids new how to sling mental abuse and emotional damage like they were the hottest new drugs on the block. He hadn't been there for long, but he'd already heard a few of the brand-new little bastards antagonizing each other in the hallways. Nevertheless, he'd hoped Celestina was quite right about the school's disciplinary practices.
And if those didn't work out, he supposed expulsion was in the cards for the nastiest of them.
"Yeah, wouldn't that be a whole lot easier to take?" Sighing, Adrian stretched his arms over his head. "Was real weird to get hit up by a talking cat, who gave me some tampon-lookin' thing with gold bullshit on the end, and told that I'm a magical fellow with the power of skin. Was convinced I was trippin' something fierce for the next, like, month straight. It wears off eventually, though.
"Can't guess how cheap it feels to have that 'by the way, you're joining us' stuff sprung on you, though, that's rough. Suddenly you gotta pay your workplace in other people's energy while they pay you in dollars. What's the exchange rate for that, anyway?" Scoffing, he rolled his shoulders and got back to work.
"Cat toy, though." Adrian chuckled. "The Mauvians must love you. Ever considered taking a can of pepper spray with you, or a baseball bat, or something?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2022 10:01 am
The…power of skin? That…well, honestly that sounded rather gross, but she wasn’t going to make a comment on that. “I’d rather think of it as they liked my resume and the way I interviewed and decided I was a good fit for the school and the Negaverse, it sounds better that way, I feel. And honestly, as a recruiting technique, it’s effective. It allows Lepidolite to hand select those that will be joining not only his staff but the organization as a whole, and I can’t help but approve.”
It was better than just choosing someone at random and bringing them in.
“I’m not sure that there is an exchange rate, but as for jobs, this isn’t a bad one at all, I have to say. I have yet to meet a Mauvian, but I hope that they would like me, as for taking supplemental weapons…I haven’t actually considered that but…I might look into it. It would save me a lot of grief, I’m sure.”
Shuffling a small stack of papers, Celestina hesitated. “If you would ever like to go patrolling together, just let me know. I could use friends and allies.”
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2022 4:55 pm
"They probably did?" Adrian doubted they'd pick one or the other. All the faculty were agents, but not all agents were faculty. She sounded like she was down for it, however conflicted she sounded about it in the beginning. She probably just needed time to adjust, and figure out her new routine, if she was that fresh. Oh, and she'd need to know how the hell she'd be beating anyone with those joke weapons they gave the Lieutenants.
"Y'know, this might sound out of the blue, but if you need any help figuring out your weapon business? Look me up. S'not much worse than going it with only magic at your disposal, so maybe I can teach you a thing or two." He flashed her a smile.
"And we can do the patrolling thing. Never hurts to go the buddy system route. And we can get food out of it, too." Once he got to know her better, he'd have a gauge on how she'd react to pickpocketing a few draining victims for a meal out. It wasn't like Lepidolite paid them a handsome sum for their work, and even if he did, Adrian would still rather spend other people's money for his food than his own money.
Standing up, Adrian wadded up the plastic grocery bag full of second-hand gum and tied it off. "I got nothing going on Thursday. Let's say we meet up here and head out?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2022 10:18 am
“Thursday sounds like a good time for me. We can just leave here after school if you’d like. Perhaps around six? I’m normally here until then regardless, getting everything taken care of.” Celestina gave a small smile and nodded, pleased with the offer for help with her weapon and pleased with the idea of being able to patrol with a partner rather than just alone as she had been doing.
“I’m glad we were able to have this talk, it’s made me feel a lot better about a lot of things, not that I was worried before now but.”
But it was always good to find an ally. “See you Thursday, Adrian. I’m looking forward to it.”
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2022 11:53 pm
Romano's had a secret that everybody knew about. Well, everybody that mattered (the kids didn't, and neither did their parents). He had to imagine that Romano's afforded tons of places, dotted throughout the school, that let the faculty power up in peace, as long as they weren't hanging around in giant groups and exposing the school as a Negaverse recruiting ground.
Yeah, wouldn't be too unusual for some Negaverse Super Senshi and a Lieutenant to be looking for some cheap scores at a school, though. Adrian gave her a thumbs up and a smile.
He'd finished off the last glob of gum with a few scrapes that cut into the pressboard, but no one would be looking at the underside of the damn thing anyway. After tying a knot in the grocery bag filled with filth and shame, he gathered his tools and stuffed them each into the hundred-and-one pockets of the utility belt he wore for the job. "Sounds like a plan! Be seein' you there."
He saw himself out, and thought, that was the strangest damn thing he ever encountered on a job. He never imagined running into someone from the Negaverse while he was working as Adrain, and actually having a discussion about it. Yeah, he could get used to that.
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