(no subject)

[frumpyface.livejournal.com]

WHO: Erk and Madoka
WHAT: Cleaning up the mean streets. Or houses. That may not be that mean.
WHEN: Last week, 10/26
WHERE: If a perfectly usable house is left to decay over years, who's the right crew to call for the job?

It's funny how calling something a different name changes it. When Erk first took the job, "North Street" didn't mean much of anything to him. As he asked for better directions and found that North Street was equivalent to the Safe Zone Border, he knew exactly where he was going.

While he wasn't one to shirk work, he was told there would be a second person who also signed up. When he arrived on the scene, before testing the doors to his temporary workplace, he took a quick look around to see if he could spot this mystery person.

Comments

[fatedmagica.livejournal.com]

Madoka had not hesitated to hurry off to her new job. Ever since arriving, the girl's number one concern had been the fact that she didn't remember having any talents. So when a job that would, she hoped, take more hard work than talent was offered she immediately took it. And with a huge, determined smile at that!

Being a fairly diligent person, Madoka had arrived as early as possible. It was because of that decision to arrive early that, once Erk arrived, Madoka's determination to do a great job had been dashed. She had taken some time to look around the building she would be cleaning and the effect had been devastating on her self confidence. Someone as pathetic as her having to clean so much? Would she be able to do this? Maybe she should have left the job for someone with more cleaning experience than herself...

As Erk's footsteps came to her attention, the pinkette turned and tried to manage a smile... a weak one, tainted by the weak will that came with her lack of self-worth.

"Um... hello... sorry, I guess... Are you supposed to be cleaning this place with me?" Poor guy, Madoka thought, having to put up with someone as useless as me for help.

[frumpyface.livejournal.com]

Sorry? Sorry for what? Pushing that to the back of his mind for a moment, he nodded. "Yes, I am. I am Erk, pleased to meet you, milady."

He looked briefly towards the house, his best attempt at a friendly smile faltered when he noticed just how bad it was. "Disrepair is certainly one word for it... I wonder if this is even a job for a single day."

[fatedmagica.livejournal.com]

"Ah... mm! I'm Madoka... it's nice to meet you, Erk, um..."

Madoka looked around again, feeling her heart sink. A job for a single day... Madoka was wondering if it was a job for a single week. Especially since Erk was stuck working with a person like her.

Even though she meant to hold it in, a discouraged sigh left her lips.

"Well, I guess... all we can do is try our best?" She spoke up in a hopeful tone, with a hopeful smile to match. "No matter how long it takes, as long as it's done well then um... it should be okay, right?"

[frumpyface.livejournal.com]

"Well then, Lady Madoka. Shall we?"

He took a longer look at it this time, trying to figure out where to best put their efforts. "I think for the most part, anything we see from here is going to be negligible. After all, we were tasked to clean - I highly doubt fixing the walls counts as a cleaning."

[fatedmagica.livejournal.com]

"Ah, um... mm." He had a point. Madoka hated to admit that she mostly agreed because she didn't think she could fix the walls. But even then, she wanted to at least try to do any repair work that she felt she had even a 50% chance of doing right... after all, for a useless person like Madoka, 50% was probably the highest she could go...

"Why not start with, um, picking up debris and sweeping? If we clear the clutter then maybe we can see what things we can repair a bit more easily...?" After all, the task at hand looked quite scary and impossible at the moment. Madoka hoped clearing some chaos might make it less scary.

[frumpyface.livejournal.com]

"'Even the longest journey starts with a simple step.' Excellent point, Lady Madoka." He offered her his own strained smile, but this was borne not of a lack of confidence, but of an uncertainty as to how this whole 'sociable' thing worked.

He walked up the main steps ahead of her and opened the door, holding it open for her. "After you, milady."

[fatedmagica.livejournal.com]

Madoka attempted a nervous smile. He'd agreed with her decision so she tried to feel a bit better about herself. A simple step, she reminded herself, then they could slowly start this huge task.

"Ah- mm! Th-thank you." Madoka nervously stepped through the doors and waited for him to follow, a bit flustered by his manners. "Okay then. I guess... we'd better begin! This house won't clean itself!"

...wow, how late.

[frumpyface.livejournal.com]

And the house was a mess. Debris was scattered about the ground floor as if no one had ever heard of a trash can, including one doorway that was practically inaccessible because of it. The hallway and stairs were mostly clean... in that all the debris was concentrated closest to the door.

"...ha... it would have been nice if they said more than 'clean.' Let's see... perhaps one of us takes the large room, and the other handles the hallway before coming to help? How does that sound?"