houseofcards_rp | ota {behind the mirror}

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ota {behind the mirror}

He's only meant to close his eyes for a minute, maybe five. But, he'd worked till well after sundown yesterday, then had come Donia Carruthers and her emergency stroke, which had seen him up all night long, getting the woman stable and trying to calm her distraught husband, and by then, adrenaline and coffee had rendered him unable to sleep, so back to his office he went.

And the agenda was full: a meeting with Rowan regarding the security issues involving the other Suits, the conversation with Mano about the h/vac system in the Castle as well as the planning and organization of a possible summer luau for the entire Deck, and countless other little details scrawled into his calendar. But somewhere around mid-morning, Theo's eyes just refused to stay open and he unconsciously leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, slipping into a doze before he realized it.

Just a minute. Just five minutes. That's all.

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That knocking at the door frame is Justin pushing his way in, a couple of cans of paint in hand, and a couple of brushes in another. "Yeah, sorry. I can work around you, no worries."

Hey, you were the one who told him you wanted your office painted, Theo.

Theo opened his eyes and sat up, spying Justin just coming into his office, and smiled. "Ah, yes. Excellent. I have..." he pushed back from the desk, rose and fetched a few large pieces of heavy cloth, shaking one out, "...drop-cloths."

He set it aside, nodding to the couch and chairs along the wall. "Let's move the furniture out into the hallway, and we'll start on that side and work around."

Some paint rollers and pans and tape to keep the paint from getting on the trim of things probably would have also been a good idea, not that Justin would have known to fetch them. Or necessarily cared.

Also, the paint cans he's carrying may be full of the cheapest paint there was to get at the store, so it likely looks something rather reminiscent of concrete gray.

But he'll just set the cans down and raise his eyebrows at the furniture. "You do realize you'd be better off with somebody who actually knows what the fuck they're doing, right?"

Fair warning, Theo, fair warning.

"Never too late to learn something new," Theo replied cheerfully. He glanced at the cans of paint, cocked an eyebrow and shook his head. "I wish you'd have checked with me before shlepping those heavy things all the way up here, Justin."

Theo stepped over to the small closet on the other side of his office, rummaged for a few minutes, procuring two large paper bags of painting supplies as well as two cans of primer and two cans of peachy-cream colored paint. "I already had most of this up here."

He fished a photo concept from his stack of papers and held it out. "This is the plan," he explained. "Already have the furniture, as you can see, but the walls need to be done, as well as the carpet." His grin reappeared. "Won't take long."

"Shoulda made your orders more plain then, I guess."

He doesn't look to be in too much of a hurry to either remove the stuff he's brought up or take the stuff that Theo's pulled out.

And he'll be raising his eyebrows at the picture. "Wanna look like every other Joe Blow office in the world? Pretty damn boring, man."

"I'll do better next time, promise," Theo replied easily, picking up the cans and setting them out in the hall. "I prefer functionality over ostentatious, so this'll do, for now."

He gestured to the filing cabinet along the wall. "Let's start with that and then move around the room. It's on rollers, so it'll just roll right out into the hall."

"You know you're a King right? And you've got people who actually do this sort of shit for a living?"

Because, really. Neither of them, as near as he could tell, were house painters.

And even as he goes to shove the filing cabinet around. "What d'you really think you're gonna get out of this?"

Besides probably a headache for them both.

"So they keep telling me." Theo had to grin at the thought, picking up the other end of the cabinet to help it over the small quirk of carpet--that would soon be replaced, thankfully.

"Well, for one, a newer looking, brighter office. And dusted furniture, for two," he added with a chuckle, swiping a bit of it off the corner of the bookshelf. "Spring cleaning come a touch early, maybe."

Justin snorts and pushes the cabinet up against the hallway wall.

"I meant the part where you're making me do it."

Because, at best, he's going to get a shoddy job and a belligerent Two.

Well. Extra-belligerent.

Theo cocked an eyebrow his way. "What, you think you're incapable of painting a few walls and replacing a little bit of carpet? Tsk, Justin, you sell yourself short, my man."

Devil's advocate? Yeah, Theo could play it.

"Are you seriously trying to play the affable father figure with me? Because, in somebody's words: ain't nobody got time for that shit. We aren't friends. You're the boss and I gotta at least make like I'm doing what you're telling me. But that doesn't mean I have to give a shit."

So maybe they can just do this without the act and get on with it so he can get out of there.

Theo's cosmopolitan expression never changed. "I don't give a shit if we're 'friends' or not, Justin," he replied blandly. "But let me clue you in on a few little facts you might be unaware of."

The doctor turned around and now his usually open expression was steely, brooking no nonsense. "This is your Suit and I am your King. I don't personally give a rat's ass about your personal problems. But the days of the Hearts taking in whatever reject which happens to wander our way are over. We did not build our Suit on such weakness, nor will I allow it to infest its foundations."

He didn't raise his voice, but his tone took on an edge. "I will not tolerate this foul-mouth of yours, nor your issues with any and all of humanity. You will do your work, and you will do it well, and you will uphold the integrity of your Suit with dignity--as all under this banner do--else you will be stripped from the Suit and all its comforts and left to find another which will tolerate such boorishness.

I have no desire to see you fail, or suffer in any way, but you will respect the Suit, its members, and your Royalty. And you will perform your tasks to the best of your ability; I don't care if you curse me, the Deck and whatever else the day long, that's your choice. But you'd better step carefully, Justin, because you only have a limited number of choices left.

"Now," Theo gestured to the rest of the furniture, "get over there and grab the end of the bookcase."

"You gonna kick out anybody who talks back to you or doesn't fit whatever the fuck you think Hearts're supposed to be? Cause that's gonna work out real well, I bet." And a big change from the vision held for the Suit by one of its more well-known recent Kings.

He can snark and move furniture at the same time, even, so he does.

If that'd been his plan, there'd only be...maybe three or four left in the entire Suit. Theo picked up on his end of the bookcase, saying evenly, "No, as a matter of fact. But neither am I going to allow anyone to take advantage of it, either."

The heavy bookcase thudded to the floor in the hallway. "And regardless of your thoughts on the matter, that's how it's going to be. No one gets free rides, Justin. Not me, not you, not anyone. You're a member of the Suit, so you're going to act like it."

Then went back into the office and took his laptop off his desk. "I don't expect you to prance around scattering flowers or singing hymns all the day long, but I do expect you to pull your weight. And right now," he eyed the youth sternly, "you suck at it."

"Yeah, uh huh," he mutters in response. But he'll set to, sullenly, assisting Theo as ordered but he'll shut his mouth.

Not like it's really worth all the effort anymore anyway.

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ota {behind the mirror}

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