John Crocker ©

Shell Him What For

Almost immediately when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs, he mentally groaned. Not her. He didn’t want to deal with her just yet, but unfortunately it seemed like there wasn’t much of a choice otherwise. Sighing, he rubbed at his face before letting his hands fall to his lab, looking up at her with a disgruntled expression. “And what is that problem?” he questioned, frowning. While the bathing suit might make him take a glance or two usually, this girl resembled a younger version way too much for him to find an interest in her, as nice as she looked in the bikini.

A Harley Crocker © Experience

The young Crocker boy seemed a bit taken aback by the question, as if forgetting for a moment that she was a slave, and not simply a guest of his. He pondered the question for a moment or two, before giving a shake of his head. “Unlike a lot of people, I don’t really have any interest in being all bossy and getting people to do stuff for me,” he replied with a shrug, “I’ve got the money, so I hire people to do it who want to.” He looked over to Jade then, while a soft smile slipped across his face. “I really just rented you to have a movie watching buddy, if that’s cool with you. I’ve got a lot of great movies on hand.” While he may be genuinely pretty kind, the girl was in for a hell of a ride with his taste in shitty action movies

Shell Him What For

He was right in that assumption. It was purely to piss him off and make it more difficult. The fish heiress watched, taking out her trident and leaning on it. She watched for a decent period of time, making sure he didn’t try anything funny before she moved to said staircase. “I’m going downstairs. I’ll be back. Don’t fuck it up or I’ll fork ya,” she threatened before going to the spiral staircase beside the one he was on that led down and into water rather than up.

At least with the removal of her presence, he didn’t have to have the ebbing aggravation of her gaze constantly watching him. Instead he spent his time scrubbing away, thankful for the toned muscles that resided in his arms. Minutes turned into hours as time passed, but eventually, he found himself finally scrubbing the final stair, sighing in relief once his work was done. He plopped himself down right onto the floor, not daring to move as he closed his eyes, relaxing for the minute in hopes of just enjoying the peace, even if it would be short lived.

Shell Him What For

Shooting a frustrated glare at the fuchsia blood for her tone of voice, John grumbled a little under his breath before turning on his heel and heading over to the stairs. Better to just get it over with, just like he told himself at the Strider’s residence. After rolling up his sleeves, he set to work doing just that. Scooping up the toothbrush, he got down on his knees and set to work at the first step, wondering just how long it was going to take for this entire flight of stairs. He also wondered what the common appeal was of cleaning with a toothbrush. He figured there couldn’t be that much dirt and grime that a cloth or the like couldn’t get out, so it must be purely for his own misfortune. Figured.

Shell Him What For

The resentment the other held against him was most likely attributed to the small cupcake prank he’d pulled on his favorite of all holidays, but he hadn’t thought about the potential of her being this irritated with him over it. However, judging her reaction now it was pretty easy to see she wasn’t in the least bit pleased with him. Oh well, sometimes sacrifices had to be made for the sake of a well pulled prank. Might as well play along with this, and find a round about way to get her back. No use fighting about it now, unless he wanted his ass kicked to the moon and back. Sighing, he shook his head a bit as he spoke. “Yeah well I never really imagined mom would stoop low enough to selling me out for a handful of pretty boonbucks,” he commented dully, before looking back at her. “But fine. What is it you exactly want me to do then oh great and wonderful master?”

Shell Him What For

No way. Not again. He’d just put up with Bro’s whopping pile of bullshit stairs - ironically enough with a toothbrush as well - and he was not about to do it all over again for a new flight of stairs. A frown tugged at the edges of his lips as he crossed his arms, adjusting the frames on his face as he looked down at her.  “Uh no, I don’t think so,” he answered, “I may be being rented for the profit of my mother, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to go about cleaning your lame stairs.” He shakes his head back and forth, arms crossed stubbornly across his chest. “I’m not some maid for hire.” In his mind, Bro had been more of a threat anyways. Having relations to another powerhouse made him untouchable, and he knew damn well the other would’ve easily put him in his place if he’d tried to rebel. It’d happened on more than one occasion now. Meenah, on the other hand, wasn’t as much of a threat to him.

It was always nice to take a list to be the renter and not the rentee, and the past two weeks had been just that. Now it seemed he was back to being rented like many others here, pawned off to hungry bidders to make his mother a nice fat stack of boonbucks. He wonders what she even does with all that money - that woman must have more than she even knows what to do with. Speaking of fuchsia bloods, it seemed it was the other of the two he knew who was renting him this time. Oh boy. After his little pranking incident with the capcake, he doubted this could go well. Who knows, maybe he’d get lucky and she’d cut him some slack, or forget about the whole ordeal. Yeah right. Following the coordinates given, he soon appeared in a flash on the transportiilizer pad, blue eyes wandering to look to Meenah, then the cleaning supplies near her. Cocking an eyebrow, he looked back to her face. “What are you doing just standing around with cleaning supplies?”

A Harley Crocker © Experience

The reaction he received from the girl was more than enough to warrant a rather large grin upon the Crocker’s face as a chuckle escaped his lips. It was one of the oldest pranks in the book, but it never ceased to produce new victims each time. He seriously wondered how word hadn’t spread of his antics yet, but then again, he’d been relatively tame lately. Maybe he needed to step up his game a tad now that he had more time. He made a mental note to consider that notion further. As she sputtered out words, John just smirked and raised his hand to reveal the small buzzer that had been carefully hidden on the palm of his hand. “Man that was probably one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it worked pretty well huh?” he remarked, before removing the buzzer and tossing it right into his sylladex, where many other necessities for only the best pranks lied. “Pranking is sort of my thing. You could pretty much call me the pranking master, though my sister will argue that’s her title.” His bright blue eyes gave a roll behind his frames, before he turned his attention back to Jade. “Don’t worry, my pranks aren’t usually harmful in any way.” He turned on his heel then, beaconing her to follow with a motion of his pointer finger, while his feet carried him in the direction of the guest room. Might as well show the girl where she was staying first off, then give her the small tour of the apartment. “This is where you’ll be staying,” he informed her, stopping in the doorway and gesturing inside. Within the room, there was a dresser with a mirror, a bed, carpeted floors, and a window - though the glass looked surprisingly thick, far too much so to break. Most likely for security. The walls in here were also blue with white accents, which generally seemed to be the theme of the entire abode.

Rented Again (Bro and John)

“Good. Here’s your reward.” He tosses them a small red box, sipping on his drink as he watches the television again, listening for their response to it. Inside there would be a gilded badge, “No. 1 Lil bitch” in italics across a scroll in the middle, two tiny cherubs at either end. He’s positive they’ll hate it. Perfect.

A reward is definitely the last thing John expects from Bro of all people, but regardless, he sits up a little to open the little box that had landed nicely on his lap. Maybe it was something nice for a change, though he’s unsure what could reside in such a small box. He soon finds out when he withdraws the badge from the box, eyes almost immediately narrowing before he shoots an irritated glare over to Bro. “Oh wow Bro, you’re hilarious,” he scoffs, before tossing both the box and the badge right back over to him with a roll of his eyes. “Man how does Karkat willingly put up with your lame shit.” He flops down on his back again, letting his eyes return to their previously closed state.

A Harley Crocker © Experience

As he heard the guardbots call out, John immediately stood up from his spot on the couch, ditching the magazine to the side as he made his way out to the front of his apartment to greet his lovely new guest.  If one were to assume the Crocker to have a lavish and exquisite apartment, they would be surprised to find that that was quite the wrong assumption. While he did have some expensive tastes, his penthouse apartment was decorated rather minimally, unlike his mother’s tastes. There were a few frames here and there on the walls, as well as beautiful couches, lamps, tables, etc. Rather than coloring his apartment in the red and white he was oh so tired of, he chose blue and white - colors he tended to pick for casual wear.  When he entered the entryway, he was wearing a white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up, blue bow tie, and black jeans, finished off with his black slick shoes and blue framed glasses. A little more toned down than his usual Crocker Corp get-up. Upon seeing Jade he grinned, walking over and gesturing for the guard bots to let her go and leave. “You must be Jade,” he hummed, “It’s awesome to meet you.” He held out his hand to shake hers, leaving her unaware of the hand buzzer located on his palm that would give her a playful light shock upon grasping his hand.

Rented Again (Bro and John)

Bro’s on his fourth cigarette by the time they come back, smoke gently curling from the end where it rests between his fingers as the toothbrush lands in his lap. He frowns and picks it up before flicking it onto the table with a clatter, slowly blowing out the smoke. “Well done you can actually follow instructions to a simple task. All it took was me beating your ass and sittin’ on you to make you do it. Congratulations.” He smirks and sideeyes them, deciding on their next task. “Did you remember to polish it.”

At the snarky commentary, John shot a glare over to Bro, but said nothing, instead just huffing and rolling his eyes. “Of course I polished it,” he retorted, “You told me to and I’m not about to go back and have to redo it, so better to just get it done and over with.” He put his glasses back on his face, before relaxing into the couch and closing his eyes. “As much of a pain in the ass as it was, it’s nothing compared to dealing with the demands of my mother.” He’s pretty sure he’d rather clean than have her take pictures of him nearly nude.

Rented Again (Bro and John)

Bro puffs on his cigarette as they talk, smirking at how red they are. That colour would have to clash with their Crocker uniform. “Me and her ain’t so diff’rent. Severe consequences for you sayin’ no. You’re under both our commands after all. Mine more so for this time.” He flicks his ash again and then drops it on the floor, crushing it under his shoe before standing up. “Finish your scrubbing and then clean that up.” He goes back into the living room without another word, instead just lighting up another. 

Scoffing at the mention of Bro’s consequences, he roles his eyes. “Hers are a bit more violent,” he grumbled out, “And listening to her is a lifetime thing, not something that just lasts two weeks.” As Bro gives him the order, he shoots a frustrated glare over at him, but gets up anyways with a sigh, moving back to the stairs to continue cleaning after brushing the dirt off his shirt. It takes a considerable amount of time for him to fully clean the stairs and banister with something as small as a toothbrush, but he manages, despite being extremely unhappy about it. Once finished, he makes quick work of cleaning up the cigarette, before walking right out to the living room and tossing the toothbrush onto Bro’s lap, then flopping down on the couch. “It’s clean from top to bottom,” he notes, stretching a bit before sighing as he settles into the couch, taking his glasses off to clean them with his shirt.

Rented Again (Bro and John)

“What haven’t you done more like.” Bro slowly exhales a cloud as he flicks his ash, looking at John from the corners of his eyes with a smirk. “Takin’ naughty pictures and shit like that. Mommy’s idea I’m sure.” He snickers and takes another drag, not shifting from his new seat of their torso. “Really, John, for someone who couldn’t talk to that Lalonde girl without nearly creaming your pants, you certainly managed to keep yourself under control for those photos.” 

Almost instantly the Crocker boy tenses up, color rushing to his cheeks as he stammered for answer, then quickly looked away, not at all wanting to make eye contact with him now that he was aware Bro knew of those photos. Shit. He should’ve known though - the guy has ties with the porn industry and while those photos weren’t straight up porn, they were close. “When she wants something, she gets it,” he grumbled out, in reference to his mother, “You can’t say no to her unless you want severe consequences, honestly.” He sighed and rubbed at his face with his hands, grumbling. “I didn’t want to take any of those photos.”

Rented Again (Bro and John)

Bro presses down harder with his foot before having a better idea, the Strider moving quickly to sit down on their chest. No way they’ll be able to move from this and he’s not the lightest guy in the world. It’s very unlikely that they’d be able to push him off from where they are either. He taps the bokken against the marble floor as he decaptchalogues a cigarette, lighting it up with one hand and puffing out the smoke in a cloud. He would wait as long as it needed.

Arguably, this was worse. While Bro may not be getting dirt on his shirt right now, sitting on him meant he couldn’t move, at all, and the pressure on his chest was anything but comfortable. He squirmed a bit at first, but soon gave up, just sighing and trying to relax into the floor with his eyes closed. “What the hell did I do to deserve this,” he mumbled out, raising a hand up to rub at his face in frustration. As if dealing with undesirable photoshoots thanks to his mother the week prior wasn’t enough, this was just the icing on the cake of utter aggravation. At least he was hopeful Roxy and Bro hadn’t seen those photos in recent magazines.

Rented Again (Bro and John)

It’s almost embarrassing, their attempted retaliation, Bro sighing as he practically knocks their foot away with his own. It’s not like he’s trained in martial arts and fighting for years. Oh wait, he has. He tsks and simply sends a kick into their stomach, planting his foot on their chest as he leans down. “Are you done being a childish piece of shit.”

The kick to his stomach makes the Crocker gasp and spew curses under his breath, hands gripping at his stomach a little, before his eyes open to glare up at the Strider above him, anger more than clear. This guy is getting on his last nerve, but he can’t do anything about it. “I’m not being childish,” he snapped at him, “I had every right to lash out at you for being a prick. I was actually listening and cleaning your damn stairs, I didn’t intentionally fall asleep.” He grumbles and squirms slightly under him, not appreciating being on the ground with the other’s shoe on his nice clean shirt.

Rented Again (Bro and John)

Before they even place a foot on the stairs, Bro’s in front of them with a bokken in his hand. He shifts and strikes the wooden blade hard across their stomach, aiming to wind or knock them over. He did warn them after all. He follows it up with a swing to the elbow, his movements quick and precise. It’s immediately clear that he knows what he’s doing.

The sudden blow to his stomach makes him stagger back, gasping a bit in pain. He falls right back on his ass, landing with a soft ‘oof’. Before he can even glare up at Bro, the hit to his elbow makes him yelp in pain, gritting his teeth in frustration. He hasn’t at all been trained how to fight - it wasn’t something he felt he ever needed. Now, he was regretting it. Frustrated, he lashes out with a sudden rough kick to Bro’s shin, hoping to knock him over in retaliation.