Vote closed
- Location
- the Republic
- Pronouns
- He/They
Attempting to Subvert the Plan: Dominion Edition
- Thread starter Etranger
- Start date
- Sci-Fi
-
- Tags
- starcraft plan quest
Boss (Canon)
grimely
Twink Death Sufferer
"Well Mengsk, you were right," Chuck said with a peal of laughter, before suddenly cutting himself off with a frown. He stared deep into his bathroom mirror, face dour. "No, that's all wrong. Carla, what have I got wrong?" he asked, calling out to his wife.
"Too much laughter. You want enough to let him know you're relieved, but not so much that he thinks you're mocking him. Try the chuckle, he likes your chuckle," she replied from their bedroom, not even looking up from the book she was reading. Things had changed in the Horner household, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of it. This was the first time she read a book he recommended to her.
The Chancellor gripped the sink as he tested out chuckling instead, the seriousness on his face dipping just a bit. "Something's still a bit off. It's too stiff."
"You only call him Mengsk when something's wrong, he'll think you're trying to soften bad news, and then wonder what you're hiding from him when you don't give him any," his wife said absentmindedly. The strangest part was that the book was academic, an unvarnished history of the Confederacy that had been written decades ago in Umoja but only recently allowed to be published. It helped that it glorified Angus she supposed, but this was... not her husband's typical fare of literature, when he could be bothered to read at all.
"Mengsk... Mengsk Mengsk Mengsk Mengsk.... Well I can't call him Arcturus, not unless I've got Jimmy's head on a platter for him," Chuck grumbled, trying to think what to call him instead, rattling through his memories. "Wait. I think I've got it," he said after a moment, straightening up and staring himself in the mirror again. "Well Chief, you were right," he said with a short chuckle, before once again cutting the levity short his shoulders slumped. "Still wrong. Chief just doesn't sit right," he groused.
From the other room, Carla marked her place in her book and set it aside before rummaging about in her nightstand, bringing forth an old fashioned notepad with real paper. "Let's see, chief," she murmured, rapidly skimming her notes as she flipped through the pages. "Here it is, you called him chief last August. He frowned. You had me circle 'no chief'," she said, tilting the penciled in note and the broad circle around it towards the bathroom door, not that Chuck could see.
"No chief then, got it. What's worked before?"
At first the only reply was the soft rustling of pages as Carla looked over the past three years worth of notes, clucking her tongue as she zeroed in on relevant entries. "Bud, buddy, pal, et cetera - only to be used when he's drunk or in a good mood."
"He'll be sober as a door knob and half as fun," Chuck said, dismissing it.
"Your Majesty, but only playfully, which is its own kettle of fish."
"Too risky, don't know how he'll handle this one."
While that drew a raised brow from Carla, she nevertheless continued on. "Right, right... Wait. Here it is. When you first accepted the appointment to be Chancellor, you called him boss. He loved that."
"I did? Hell, that sounds about right," Chuck murmured before squaring up in the mirror again. "Well Boss, you were right," he said with a short chuckle. "Yeah, that's the ticket... Alright. Let's try it out."
General Charles Horner, Imperial Chancellor of the Terran Dominion, appointed by the sovereign decree of His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Arcturus I Mengsk, put on his most winsome smile before beginning to speak. "Well Boss, you were right. This whole Treasury thing ended up not being half as bad as I thought it'd be. Hell, I think I've even learned a thing or too since starting here. In fact, I'm thinking it might be best to learn some more stuff now, maybe give those suits some advice myself for a change. Don't act too surprised, but ol' Chuck's applied to college."
Though separated by both time and space, the two most important people in Chuck's life - his wife and his Emperor (and she would confirm that they did come in that order) - had the exact same reaction.
"You've what?"
A/N: This is a very late omake that's been sitting half done in my drafts since before the holidays, it was supposed to be posted after we took College Boy but I've been pretty wiped and just now got around to it. Just mentally insert it there instead of where we are right now. Shorter than my usual but I'll be honest I'm too focused on one of my other drafts and was tired of just sitting on this one.
"Too much laughter. You want enough to let him know you're relieved, but not so much that he thinks you're mocking him. Try the chuckle, he likes your chuckle," she replied from their bedroom, not even looking up from the book she was reading. Things had changed in the Horner household, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of it. This was the first time she read a book he recommended to her.
The Chancellor gripped the sink as he tested out chuckling instead, the seriousness on his face dipping just a bit. "Something's still a bit off. It's too stiff."
"You only call him Mengsk when something's wrong, he'll think you're trying to soften bad news, and then wonder what you're hiding from him when you don't give him any," his wife said absentmindedly. The strangest part was that the book was academic, an unvarnished history of the Confederacy that had been written decades ago in Umoja but only recently allowed to be published. It helped that it glorified Angus she supposed, but this was... not her husband's typical fare of literature, when he could be bothered to read at all.
"Mengsk... Mengsk Mengsk Mengsk Mengsk.... Well I can't call him Arcturus, not unless I've got Jimmy's head on a platter for him," Chuck grumbled, trying to think what to call him instead, rattling through his memories. "Wait. I think I've got it," he said after a moment, straightening up and staring himself in the mirror again. "Well Chief, you were right," he said with a short chuckle, before once again cutting the levity short his shoulders slumped. "Still wrong. Chief just doesn't sit right," he groused.
From the other room, Carla marked her place in her book and set it aside before rummaging about in her nightstand, bringing forth an old fashioned notepad with real paper. "Let's see, chief," she murmured, rapidly skimming her notes as she flipped through the pages. "Here it is, you called him chief last August. He frowned. You had me circle 'no chief'," she said, tilting the penciled in note and the broad circle around it towards the bathroom door, not that Chuck could see.
"No chief then, got it. What's worked before?"
At first the only reply was the soft rustling of pages as Carla looked over the past three years worth of notes, clucking her tongue as she zeroed in on relevant entries. "Bud, buddy, pal, et cetera - only to be used when he's drunk or in a good mood."
"He'll be sober as a door knob and half as fun," Chuck said, dismissing it.
"Your Majesty, but only playfully, which is its own kettle of fish."
"Too risky, don't know how he'll handle this one."
While that drew a raised brow from Carla, she nevertheless continued on. "Right, right... Wait. Here it is. When you first accepted the appointment to be Chancellor, you called him boss. He loved that."
"I did? Hell, that sounds about right," Chuck murmured before squaring up in the mirror again. "Well Boss, you were right," he said with a short chuckle. "Yeah, that's the ticket... Alright. Let's try it out."
General Charles Horner, Imperial Chancellor of the Terran Dominion, appointed by the sovereign decree of His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Arcturus I Mengsk, put on his most winsome smile before beginning to speak. "Well Boss, you were right. This whole Treasury thing ended up not being half as bad as I thought it'd be. Hell, I think I've even learned a thing or too since starting here. In fact, I'm thinking it might be best to learn some more stuff now, maybe give those suits some advice myself for a change. Don't act too surprised, but ol' Chuck's applied to college."
Though separated by both time and space, the two most important people in Chuck's life - his wife and his Emperor (and she would confirm that they did come in that order) - had the exact same reaction.
"You've what?"
A/N: This is a very late omake that's been sitting half done in my drafts since before the holidays, it was supposed to be posted after we took College Boy but I've been pretty wiped and just now got around to it. Just mentally insert it there instead of where we are right now. Shorter than my usual but I'll be honest I'm too focused on one of my other drafts and was tired of just sitting on this one.