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The mansion before him was in a dire state. The outer walls were crumbly and paint thin and chipping. Flowerbeds were unkempt and growing wild and free. Weeds lined the path. It was a nice place to live but he could tell that things were not financially okay. Still, Javier had been hired by these people so he buried any reservations and knocked on the front door.
A kind looking man opened the door with a smile, “Oh! You must be Mr. Asrahan! Come on in, sorry the house looks so poorly, we haven't exactly had the means to keep it up. This way to the living room.”
Javier followed the man and wondered what his new employer exactly needed with a personal guard.
“Excuse me sir-” Javier started.
“Please, Mr. Frontera or even Arcos is fine, lad.” Mr. Frontera said kindly.
Javier gave a short nod, “Mr. Frontera, if you don't mind my inquiry, what exactly am I here for?”
His boss shook his head, “You'll be contracted under my name, but you won't be protecting me.”
“Then who?” Javier wondered aloud.
Mr. Frontera smiled and it was more of a grimace Javier noted, “My eldest son, Lloyd, he's- he has a penchant for trouble. We just moved into the area and due to my status as a political ambassador, Lloyd has attracted some less than ideal attention from some unsavory types.”
Javier nodded, “I see.”
Arcos continued with a sigh, “He also is a bit of a drinker… every time he gets drunk there's usually a bill to pay. Needless to say he's a handful.”
Javier kept his face neutral. His training had dictated that he keep his thoughts and opinions to himself unless it pertained to the job at hand. The thought of ‘God I'm stuck protecting a rich brat’ did not pertain to the job unfortunately. Plus, it seemed that despite his son's shortcomings, Arcos Frontera seemed to genuinely love his wayward son.
Suddenly Mr. Frontera gasped softly, “Oh that's right! Lloyd had an accident recently, the reason why we hired you partially, he's changed a bit from it. Marbella and I, Marbella is my wife, are worried that he's still suffering the after effects of the incident.”
Javier hummed in acknowledgment, “What sort of accident?”
“A kidnapping gone wrong” Mr. Frontera said with a tired sigh, “They were after ransom money, but when they discovered we were… when they discovered they weren't going to get what they wanted from us they took it out on the hostage.”
“Lloyd.” Javier finished.
Acros nodded looking pained to just think about it, “Lloyd suffered from retrograde amnesia due to trauma to the head. It's… been hard for us. Though some of Lloyd's bad behaviors, like the drinking, have seemingly disappeared. Marbella and I don't want a repeat scenario, so we looked into hiring a personal guard for him. You two are close in age and you have a good record. The job is yours if you want it.”
Arcos leaned back in his seat as he finished speaking. It gave Javier a moment to process it. His job would be to basically shadow some hooligan with memory issues… He thought about his other options and internally sighed.
“Happy to be of service Mr. Frontera.” Javier said as he shook his new employer's hand.
His boss smiled, “Thank you Mr. Asrahan. If you'd like you can meet Lloyd now?”
Javier nodded, best to bite the bullet and get it over with, “You may call me Javier Mr. Frontera, is he expecting us?”
Mr. Frontera shook his head, “He knows but he's likely since forgotten. He gets wrapped up in his work sometimes and doesn't really process his surroundings. If anything, after his accident he got more absorbed in it all.”
Javier curiously wondered about whatever a drunkard's “work” could be. Maybe alcohol tasting? Then again, the guy was an amnesiac. Alcohol re-tasting? Javier shook his head and followed Arcos through the house and up a grand staircase till they reached an unassuming door. Loud banging noises came from within. Javier half expected some feral creature to be behind the door. However as Mr. Frontera pushed open the door, Javier discovered that… he was right. There was totally a feral creature living in the room.
What Javier was forced to assume was the young master Lloyd turned to face them and he internally cringed at the state of his new charge. Honestly Javier imagined this was what goblins looked like. All dirty and grimey and ugly, dear lord was this thing- wait, no, this was human. Javier reluctantly stepped inside the room. The creature, Lloyd, stared at him.
“Mr. Frontera?” Probably-Lloyd asked.
It struck Javier as odd that Lloyd didn't call his father ‘dad’ or something similar. Yet he didn't voice his questions.
Mr. Frontera looked sad as well at the formal addressing, “Lloyd, this is your new guard. He'll be protecting you from here on out. Please treat him kindly.”
Lloyd nodded and waved his father off, “It's alright Mr. Frontera, you don't have to worry about me.”
Arcos sighed but didn't push the matter, instead utterly abandoning Javier with Lloyd. Javier chose to awkwardly stand in the corner. Lloyd paid him no mind as he continued to work on… sand? Javier creeped closer and saw the reason for the state of the room and it's inhabitant. Piles of what looked like broken rock and sand littered the workspace and the floor. Javier raised an eyebrow as Lloyd poured different cups of unknown substances together. Javier wondered what it was all for.
“I bet you're wondering what it's all for, right?” Lloyd said snidely as a feral grin overtook the demon's face.
Javier shivered involuntarily, “No sir, just supervising.”
Lloyd kept the smug look, “Sure, sure. Anyways these are my concrete samples! I'm trying to perfect the formula but I keep getting it wrong… if I could just figure out how to get the chemical reaction to delay…”
Javier noted the state of his ward. He sighed.
“Why don't you take a break and come back to it later, sir.” Javier offered politely, after all, it was his job to make sure the young master was cared for.
Lloyd scoffed, “No, I can figure this out. I don't need a break, I need answers! A break will just put me off schedule.”
Javier raised an eyebrow, “At least eat then.”
Lloyd waved him off, not paying attention. So Javier took that as permission. He left and got directions to the kitchen from Arcos and prepared a small plate of cheese and crackers. Then he returned to the concrete filled room and placed it in front of Lloyd. As if a zombie, Lloyd switched out the chunk of concrete he'd been knawing on for a cracker. His eyes focused back in and he paused.
“Is this a cracker?” Lloyd asked in amazement.
Javier resisted the urge to snort at his charge.
Lloyd snacked on his treat and turned to face Javier, “So, like, what's your deal?”
Javier gave Lloyd a blank stare, “Whatever do you mean master Lloyd?”
Lloyd lazily pointed at him with a dusty claw, “You speak like a knight or something.”
“And you speak like a goblin.” Javier muttered.
“Huh? What was that? I heard you, you devil!” Lloyd yelled in a sudden outburst.
Javier feigned ignorance, “I'd never say such horrid things young master.”
Lloyd rolled his eyes, “Yeah right! I bet you're thinking right now, ‘He's lost it, that head wound did more than just some memory issues’ I'm right am I not?”
Javier conceded to quit thinking around this man. It was unnerving to put it mildly.
“No sir.”
“Uhuh sure. I'll tell you though, I'm not nuts.” Lloyd said in a suspiciously serious tone.
He continued, “I’m fine! But no one believes me! I just forgot a few things, that's all.”
Javier gave his charge a flat look.
Lloyd rolled his eyes, “I can hear the whispers, I've heard what that ‘Lloyd’ was like. I'm not stupid.”
In a way Javier felt pity for the young master. It was likely hard adjusting to living in what felt like a stranger's life. People who you were supposed to care about handled you with gloves and expected things from you that you didn't even remember. Javier could acknowledge that the change was probably drastic. To add gossip on top of it? To look in the mirror and see only the bad in a person you don't recognize? It was likely a challenge to put it mildly.
Javier shrugged, “Stupid isn't the word I'd use.”
Lloyd flew off the handle again, “You're such a smart ass! Aren't guards supposed to be like- formal ‘n shit? You're defective Javier.”
Javier smirked to himself. Maybe this job wouldn't be so bad after all.