Ah. His lord commandership had decided to deign him with the honor of his word.

Fox had enough practice acting (and staring into the face of danger) that he passed it off well-- didn’t avert his eyes and startle. Simply let his head fall to the side.

“Oh, don’t mind me, m’lord,” he said, the sarcasm thick in his words, “I was just lost in thought. Say, how much is the salary of a Head Ranger in Hoenn, these days?”

He dropped his gaze and took his trash stabby stick in hand, going about his business of stabbing trash.

“And just how much of it do you spend on hair gel?”

⚰︎ commitment, act i

Laurence Anderson

One eyebrow went skyward, in almost a direct parallel of the Lord Commander’s own face. “Endorsements?” he parrots, pausing midway to depositing a styrofoam cup in his trash bag. “What, they pay you to put your mug on TV? With what, a lifetime supply of hair product?”

Fox thought if such was the case Lars would be better off doing something more lucrative. Like acting. Although one needs charisma for acting, and not just a handsome face.

Yes, he did just mentally admit that Lars was handsome. He was confident enough in his own self to do so and still be sure of his loathing for the man.

“One would think you would utilize such a resource for the better of the community, as fits your station.” He stabbed a candybar wrapper. “But that may be asking a lot of the vain, it appears.”

Lars’ question makes him throw his head back and laugh-- a genuine shock of laughter, pleased and lilting on the air.

“Of course I did,” he said, through chuckles. “In all honesty, I was hoping you’d deport me. Little did I realize your own government didn’t know what to do about the giant death balloon you were all trapped in.”

Is it the truth? Is it a lie? Fox sometimes outfoxes himself.

⚰︎ commitment, act i

Laurence Anderson

Fox fixes the head ranger with a look that could kill.

“At least there,” he said, his voice gone cold, “I know who my friends are.”

But he couldn’t go back. Physically, because the dome was keeping them in, and also--

Well.

He stabbed through another piece of trash and deposited it in his bag.

“‘Stuck’ seems a very mild way of putting it,” he mumbles, after the silence has dragged on too long. “What did you do to be put on trash duty, anyway?”

⚰︎ commitment, act i

Laurence Anderson

Fox shivered against the strange temperature shift, narrowing his eyes at the Head Ranger once more in suspicion.

What was that?

“That,” he said, coldly, “is a generous overestimation of what I think you do on a daily basis.”

He turned away, then, to focus on picking up trash to get out of this hellish situation as fast as possible.

⚰︎ commitment, act i

Laurence Anderson

“The title is just a title. It’s the power that has the glamor.”

There was nothing that Lars could say that would make Fox think that he was anything other than a Class A Bootlicker. His boots were just a bit bigger, so everyone underneath him had to do the licking, too.

“Couldn’t pay me to be a link in your little daisy chain.”

⚰︎ commitment, act i

Laurence Anderson

“Oh,” Fox gasped, fingers coming up to hover over his lips, expression flashing aggrieved. “Is it that obvious?” He batted his eyelashes and tilted his head, looking coy. “Oops.”

He’d finally gotten through the armor. Lars was definitely holding back now.

Fox leaned in, eyebrows raised, grin shit-eating and goading.

“Yes, your majesty,” he said, dipping into a sweeping bow. Lars was pretty good at proving his points for him. It was almost charming.

⚰︎ commitment, act i

Laurence Anderson