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The fabric is thin and strong under Darrell’s fingers as he twists at the threads under his emerald neckpiece, which is a shadowy tealish color in the lighting of the room. It’s dark, the only light source being the soft sunlight peeking through the blinds, which are snapped shut.
Hmm. He’s not sure if he likes that. Darrell leans over to the blinds from his chair, loosening them just a tiny bit. The room brightens slightly, and he settles back into the chair.
He’s never sat in the chair until two days ago, but he’s seen it occupied more times than he can comprehend, always with a familiar scowling half-robotic face glowering down at him from it. This is Daddy’s chair, the one he always sat in while he sent Darrell out with a new order or attack.
Not anymore, Darrell reminds himself, twisting at the threads harder. You’re the Daddy now. Fa - Lord Boxman’s not here anymore. Now you have to do his job.
“Lord Cowboy Darrell,” an Ernesto calls, pushing the big brown doors open slightly. Darrell jumps at the name - he’s still not used to it, but he’s happy and satisfied with what he came up with. Ernesto shuffles halfway inside. “Professor Venomous is here for your meeting.”
“Oh! O-of course.” Darrell quickly straightens up his hat and fixes his posture, trying to look as composed and businessman-like as possible. He then changes his mind, putting his arms behind his head and his boots on the desk, like a sheriff would. There. Good. This’ll work.
The door swings open fully as Professor Venomous strides in, Fink scurrying at his heels. Darrell’s first instinct is to give her an excited greeting, but he quickly remembers that he can’t play with her anymore - he’s the Daddy now. He needs to be mature. He settles with a friendly wave, which she does not return.
“Lord Darrell,” Venomous muses, reaching the desk. The man extends a hand, which Darrell shakes hesitantly. Is he doing the handshake right? He grasps Venomous’s hand harder, then lets go quickly when he realizes he’s squeezing too tight. Venomous doesn’t react at all, unnerving Darrell with his placid expression.
“L-lord C-cowboy Darrell,” Darrell squeaks, feeling embarrassed as he corrects his name. Venomous’s eyebrows raise in surprise before he lets out a laugh.
“Lord Cowboy Darrell,” Venomous repeats, chuckling as he corrects himself. “What a surprise to see you sitting here, head of BoxMore. Never thought I’d see the day.”
“Well,” he says, unsure how to respond. “Now you have.”
Venomous laughs again. “I heard from Cosma that you launched Boxman into the sun? I’m impressed.” He places a hand on the desk and leans slightly. “Fink was especially excited with this news.”
“Who would’a thunk it?” the rat calls from the corner of the room, cackling. “That old man! Blown to smithereens! Hahaha!”
“I, uh, don’t know if he actually got, err, blown to smithereens .” Darrell points out, fiddling with the threads under his emerald neckpiece again. “He’s probably just on the sun, um, burning ? Or something?” He laughs nervously. “The main point is, he shouldn’t be bothering us anytime soon.”
“Well, that sure is a change of events.” Venomous says. “I hope you didn’t call me to this meeting to terminate our partnership.”
“Oh, no!” the robot reassures quickly. “Not at all. In fact, I called you here to give you a run-down of all the new changes happening around here. So, like, the opposite of terminating our partnership. So... supporting our partnership, I guess?”
“Ahh, that’s a relief.” Venomous glances at Darrell curiously. “Are you prepared to take over the entire facility? Do you have any business skills equipped for the job?”
“Well, ” Darrell says, shrugging, “I’ve been watching Fathe- Lord Boxman run the company for the past few years, and I’ve also been running a lot of it myself. I think I can do a pretty good job. I have some plans already. I want to focus more on production and less on attacking the plaza. I want to clear out our queue by the end of the month, and take on even more orders, and just generally get the manufacturing back on track. Just...shape up the company, I guess.” Darrell looks up at Venomous, who has been watching it. “Cosma and the other investors are giving more support than they were before because I’m the new head. They’re putting a lot of trust into me.” He glances away, looping the thread around his finger. “Do you think I can do it?”
“I’m sure you can,” Venomous says, steadily and confidently. “You have a lot of promise, Darrell. I’m glad you kept our partnership going. Let me know if you ever need help running the company, alright?”
“Oh!” Darrell looks up as Venomous raises a hand in farewell and starts to leave. That went better than he’d expected. “Th-thanks, Professor Venomous! I-I hope I - we - I hope we don’t let you down!”
Venomous nods as the door closes, Fink already skidding ahead of him. Darrell stares at them for a few minutes, yanking at the threads so tightly they threaten to snap. The room stays quiet, empty, with nobody but the new head of Boxmore inside.
He’s both shocked and relieved with the outcome of the meeting, but he’s not sure which feeling weighs the other out - maybe they don’t weigh out at all. He quickly thinks over everything that was said - somebody is impressed with him, somebody thinks he has potential .
Somebody thinks he isn’t going to fail.
Darrell exhales, feeling the nervous energy leave his wires. He has help. He has support. A sort of confidence fills his core, hardening his posture. He straightens his hat and smiles.
Maybe he’ll be a good boss after all.