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Post by airlock on Jun 23, 2006 14:55:38 GMT -5
People liked being around Lars Anderssen.
If there was one thing that he was good at, it was being happy.
He'd been a happy baby, his mother always delighted in telling anybody who would listen. The happy baby had grown into a cheerful little boy, into a pleasant young adolescent (apart from his early experiments with his mutant powers which had seen him develop alarming mood swings) and finally into an affable, friendly young man.
People liked being around Lars Anderssen.
He had the sort of sunny personality and infectious laughter that made you happy just being near him. He was always to be found in a group, rarely alone, and anybody who spent too long around him came away feeling almost light-headed and dizzy with the effects of his personality.
Or, more accurately, the effects of his mutant ability. Increasing the oxygen levels in the immediate vicinity of whichever crowd he happened to be in at the time was an effective way to ensure evenings were always pleasant, never a chore.
It was, perhaps, a blessing that someone with Lars' natural ambivalence had received the mutation he had. If he had been introvert, depressive or otherwise a loner, oxygen levels would have sunk with his mood.
When he had taken the Worthington Cure, he had been worried at first that his friends would simply drift away from him, but he'd underestimated his own force of personality and natural charisma.
People liked being around Lars Anderssen.
Because he was one of life's good guys.
Right now, standing on a somewhat rickety chair changing a lightbulb in the utility room, he briefly wondered why it was that he was actually enjoying doing all these jobs. Sure, there were a couple of very pretty girls there, and he'd felt a jolt of the old spark when he'd looked at Marie. He'd passed it over as mere chemistry. She was stunning, after all.
It was strange how he didn't look people in the eye, a habit borne out of his mutant days. It was, he imagined, a little like Marie's continued reluctance to touch anybody.
Old habits died hard.
He was so happy that he was whistling (rather tunelessly) to himself as he worked.
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Post by Admin on Jun 23, 2006 20:49:09 GMT -5
(Cont. from Xavier's thread)
The song might have sounded a bit like a rather off-tune version of James Taylor's "Handyman", or it may have just been Lee's overactive imagination. Either way, she propped herself up in the doorway to the utility room, arms crossed casually, and blocking some of the light he probably needed to change the bulb. "So you've become our maid now? And here I thought you were only good for sweat tea and cheetos." There was a peculiar lilt as she said "sweet tea" having never learned to say such a thing without the accent it was automatically afforded in the south. Even Yankees said it that way.
"Will you be washing the dishes next? I've always hated that chore."
The twinkle in her eye and half-raised smile would tell him she was kidding, of course. Lee was never afraid of offending anyone - if they felt offended they were obviously a bit too uptight for her liking. Unlike Lars, Lee was not an automatically likeable person, although rarely anyone came away with a peculiar dislike of her either. She just wasn't much of a first-impressions type; if you got to know Lee, you usually ended up liking her, but there wasn't anything stricking about her personality to begin with, except her sharp tongue.
And Lee was never afraid to look anyone in the eye.
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Post by airlock on Jun 24, 2006 6:51:23 GMT -5
"Will you be washing the dishes next? I've always hated that chore."
Lars wobbled momentarily on the chair, then quickly regained his balance. "Hey, Lee," he said in his cheerful way, glancing in her direction. "Let me...yep, yep, there...yep, there we go." He got the lightbulb into place and hopped down off the chair. "Let there be light."
And there was.
He grinned at her. "I think I might just draw the line at the dishes," he said with a small laugh. "Because then it'll be the laundry and ironing and the next thing you know you'll have me in a maid's outfit dusting the cobwebs away. No, I was just going to do a quick lightbulb run round the house and then head off back to the motel to do some work. I'm slap in the middle of a design."
He flicked the light off again. "Where's next for checking, d'you reckon?"
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Post by Admin on Jun 24, 2006 13:09:16 GMT -5
"A regular Lord Apollo," she giggled as he finished twirling in the lightbulb and flipped the switch. He didn't look much in the way of Greek, granted, but she'd always imagined Apollo as a blonde anyways. And Lars was certainly hot enough - she giggled again to herself at the thought.
"Ahhh, so you didn't want to stay for dinner, have some mac and cheetos?" She was teasing again, as she nodded them out the door and led him to the next blown lightbulb. She couldn't figure out why the bulbs in the house kept going out so quickly - maybe they were cheap. The Mansion had had the same problem with all the uncontained energy, but she was sure Xavier hadn't skimped on the lightbulbs there. Perhaps its just what lightbulbs did, afterall, she'd never been the one changing them at home.
The last of them was upstairs in the bathroom, above the tub. She was glad someone was finally changing it, for she hated showering in the dark and the light over the sink didn't make it through the shower curtain very well. Taking a seat on the sink counter she decided she might as well ask him what she'd been thinking on the way up. It never did hurt to try. "From what I hear you've fixed my ride, so if you're in need of a secretary, you just let me know. I'm very good at talking on the phone, and I can spell better than most, so filing in alphabetical order isn't a problem."
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Post by airlock on Jun 24, 2006 14:35:47 GMT -5
"I'm very good at talking on the phone, and I can spell better than most, so filing in alphabetical order isn't a problem."
"Ah, it's a very kind offer, thank you. Unfortunately, I'm only a pleb at the bottom of the pile. I don't even have my own office back at the main building. We have one secretary between the five of us."
His grin grew a little broader.
"I must admit, though, if I had to choose between you and Mrs Harrison, I know which box my tick would go into." He flashed a glance at her and, just like he'd done with Marie earlier, he caught direct eye contact with her for the briefest moment.
He was definitely feeling flirtatious.
"There you go," he said, turning the bulb into place. "Everything's fabulously lit now. I'll check out your fuse box next time I come visit, maybe you've got something shorting the light circuit out."
He hopped down off the edge of the tub and took his sunglasses out of his pocket, sliding them back on over his eyes. "It's been a pleasure this morning, Lee, but I really have to go and do some work now. I can't afford to lose this job, I'm still on my probationary period as it is."
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Post by Admin on Jun 25, 2006 8:58:57 GMT -5
That man had quite possibly the most beautiful eyes Lee had ever seen. Even looking at them made her slightly light-headed for just the briefest moment, and when he put his sunglasses on over them she was both disappointed and relieved.
"Well, we wouldn't want you to loose your job, I suppose," she said and hopped down off the counter. She probably aught to get started on her own job-search, now that she had a working car, although she'd probably have to go to the next county to find anyone willing to hire her. It was amazingly hard to get a job when you couldn't account for two years of your life, having been officially "kidnapped". She usually plead the fifth and let them think she had been kidnapped and didn't wish to speak of it. And then they always wondered what she was doing so far from Charleston, and then they wanted to help find her family. Lee would have just appreciated it if no one asked questions about her past, and just let her do her job. Work was one of the few places she didn't talk much.
"If you get bored while your in town, come see us. I can gurantee we will be bored as well." She gave him a bright smile before letting him leave.
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Post by airlock on Jun 25, 2006 9:21:05 GMT -5
"One second," he said. "I have an idea. I might be able to get you six or seven week's worth of work - if you really think you can do the whole admin thing - the temporary office on the building site could use an office assistant and I'd be glad to put a word in for you."
He ran his fingers through his hair in that way that he had.
"It wouldn't pay much," he said, "but it'd be a bit of work experience and a bit of incoming cash. Of course, if you'd rather sort yourself out, I appreciate it. But honestly, I'm quite good at persuading..."
With eyes like that, she didn't doubt that was the case.
"Here's my cellphone number," he said, scribbling it down. "Have a think, give me a call if you like the idea and I'll speak to my boss on your behalf. I hate to have to love you and leave you like this, but if I don't get those plans finished by tomorrow..." He drew his hand across his neck simulating termination of employment. "So hej då - goodbye for now."
He then proceeded to do something that would undoubtedly endear him to Lee's heart forever.
He took her hand and raised it to his lips, kissing it just *ever* so gently before grabbing his sport jacket from the back of the chair and heading out the side door and back down towards his motel of doom.
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Post by Admin on Jun 25, 2006 12:13:07 GMT -5
"Really?" Lee squealed in her characteristic way. "Oh my gosh that would be great!" She was clapping and hopping excitedly as he scribled down his cell number and gave it to her. "I don't even need time to think," she replied right away, "if you can set it up I will be there, so long as you can keep the car running."
She put the number in her back pocket with a grin, hoping that he could, in fact, get her the job. But all thoughts of jobs flew out of her head as he kissed her hand. It was all she could do not to squeal again as he grabbed his jacket and left, and she held the hand to her chest protectively, as if the feeling would fade quicker otherwise.
"See you soon, I hope!" she called towards him and waved quickly, then did turn and break out into a squeal that could be heard through most of the house. She wanted to run and grab Marie and tell her what he'd done, but she was still with that James guy and she knew she shouldn't interupt. Instead she ran up to her room to get the rest of her squealing out in her pillow where the rest of the house wouldn't hear and think he an absolute nut.
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