The Most Tedious Day

[Kade Lazarus]

Again with all these jobs that didn’t involve fighting anyone? Was Kade just hitting all the pointless missions at once? Normally he wouldn’t be thinking this way. He drug his fingers through his hair. What was wrong with him? He felt half possessed, and that just wasn’t him. This was stupid, and he needed to get his head back in it. Earn jewels. Gain influence. Help people. And don’t let some little… really, was he that obsessed with size? He took a deep breath, looking at the old woman in front of him. He gave her a small smile to contrast her deep scowl. She really didn’t like him…

How had he ended up here? Well, after helping find some costumes and losing his temper at a girl who didn’t even use magic, Kade had taken to walking around town. Around, around, and around. He’d walked until night time, and then found a small inn to crash at. He wondered if he could have gone to Fairy Tail and asked to spend the night. He knew sometimes non-guild members slept in Lamia Scale. However he really couldn’t see himself going to that guild and asking for a room. He didn’t have any friends there. He knew Verity, but he wasn’t about to just walk in and ask her for a floor to crash on that night. Especially since he’d only met her once.

233/500

[Kade Lazarus]

Well, he walked around, and he found an inn. In the morning he happened by a job board. So there. He could walk right up to Fairy Tail and take a job. What were they going to do? The worst he could imagine was that a Fairy Tail wizard glared at him and took the job back, promising to do it themselves immediately. Was that actually a bad thing? There were tons of jobs, tons of things each of the guilds needed to handle. He knew wizards who had taken jobs for Lamia Scale, or Blue Pegasus. He knew less wizards willing to do any work for the Magic Council. Seeing as they were basically a dictatorship wanting to exterminate wizards who didn’t get into their little cattle corral. Regardless, this was Kade’s mentality as he headed to Fairy Tail and took a simple job. Now, it might not make sense for him to be complaining about getting a non-combat mission when he so clearly picked the job himself, but that might imply that several things he did this day would make sense. In reality, few of them did, or would. It wasn’t particularly pleasant, but it was how things were going.

435/500

[Kade Lazarus]

The job itself said “Wanted: A young wizard who isn’t afraid to get dirty!” That wasn’t a few informative tagline, but Kade was willing to take anything. He wondered about it, but went to meet up with her anyway. After all, she wasn’t difficult to find. When he met her he found Ms. Abby Walters to be stunning. She was actually very attractive, enough so it gave Kade a moment’s pause. Simply because he felt perhaps he ought to have some manners around this lady. It appeared she worked for a living, looking modest and capable. That was respectable, and yet in Kade’s current mindset, it didn’t help much with anything.

She was appreciative at him offering to take the job, and he resisted saying anything about Fairy Tail. He wasn’t going to badmouth a guild because of one member. In fact, he wasn’t going to badmouth anyone to someone seeking help. It would be shamefully disrespectful, and she deserved some respect. The guilds were there for the wizards, and for people seeking help from them. It wasn’t about his personal grudge or his current issues. With a few moment’s forcing himself to calm down, Kade was able to have a civil conversation with Ms. Walters.

641/500

[Kade Lazarus]

However he evasiveness soon became evident. Kade asked what she needed to do, and she replied by insisting it wouldn’t be any trouble. He asked again. Well, it was just a simple job, no one else seemed interested, so she turned to the guilds. And what exactly was she asking him to do? Babysit. Sort of. It hadn’t been the word choice she gave, but it was clear after a few more minutes that the task she was asking of him could easily be summarized with that word. She wanted Kade to babysit an old woman. An apparently very grumpy old woman. No one in Magnolia would handle her. She suspects this is why no one answered the request until the day she needed the help. She seemed sincerely desperate, but it was for a good cause. Kade had agreed. It wasn’t what he’d expected, but how could he live with himself if he declined? It was clear it wouldn’t take much skill. Patience and general housework skills? Yeah, he could handle that, easily. He was actually pretty good at that stuff. Less so with the patience lately, but maybe this would be good for him? Maybe it would remind him of the people he was supposed to be gaining strength to protect…

854/500

[Kade Lazarus]

That hadn’t really gone how he expected it to. In fact, after meeting Mrs. Crone Kade quickly realized why no one wanted to work with her. Not only was she a slob, but she was mean. Actually slightly evil. Maybe it was nice to just say she was vindictive? It wasn’t that her statements made no sense, it was that they were pointless. Her first order of business was to insult Kade for taking the job, implying he had nothing better to do. Next she yelled at him about intruding in her house. When that didn’t draw a reaction she insulted his appearance, saying he didn’t take care of himself and was probably just some ruffian out to steal her things. She liked this particular accusation a lot, because every time he picked up her things to organize them, she would glare at him and threaten him about stealing from her. It was endless, really. She just kept… talking. At one point he found a book in a mile of rubbish and she snatched it up, rolling herself out of the room in an instant. It was the first piece he had gotten from her insults and hawk like gaze in hours. He took out several bags of trash, and did a few massive loads of laundry.
1071/500

[Kade Lazarus]

By the end of the day Kade’s hands felt raw. His ears finally received some rest, since Mrs. Crone apparently didn’t have much to say after she found the book. It really hadn’t helped him understand the people he wanted to protect. More so it just gave him a headache. That evening Ms. Walters returned, thanking Kade several times for his patience and help with Mrs. Crone while she had to be gone. He slowly told her it was no problem, but glancing at Mrs. Crone he finally felt guilty. He hadn’t been much of a hero today. He could have been replaced with any person who could do chores. He certainly hadn’t bit back to all her insults, but he also hadn’t made himself much of an asset. Begrudgingly Kade went to talk to Mrs. Crone. She still wasn’t interested in his company, but seemed surprised that once his job was done he would return even for a moment. He thanked her for letting him help her out that day, and she spared him a snarky comment. He’d been paid, and he’d helped. It didn’t feel like enough, but he supposed it was progress. Sure he hadn’t gained any sort of fighting experience… but maybe that wasn’t the most crucial thing for him right now?

1287/500

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