Chapter Text
Another day passes and Gene is working a few documents in his office, most of them from his Crime Ring and the rest from his actual architectural firm.
After working a few hours his break time came about, because of course, even the CEO and founder of a company needs a break and can't spend most of his time drowning in paperwork. He stretched his arms for a bit, getting a strain from hunching his back for a while and getting out of the seat.
Immediately he went to exit the building to head to his favorite coffee shop, because he doesn't trust the coffee machines anymore ever since someone tried to scare him with a raccoon. How did a raccoon get into the building? How was he supposed to know? Now he had to ban pets from coming much to the work staff's dismay.
Sitting in the backseat of the car, he looked towards the window, staring at the buildings and looking at the advertisements that the ninjas agreed to...because some people have bills to pay...especially if you have a high-technology mechs and vehicles...he was sort of interested...he shrugged it off...as if the ninja would give away the blueprints...
Thinking of the Ninja made him think of Lloyd, it made him a little concerned for the guy. Now he knew Lloyd could handle himself, but again pressure is not a good thing to have especially with the entire world in your hands. Gene knows how that feels. Hell even he had his own share of daddy issues from his own father. Perhaps that's why he and Lloyd despite being rivals in school were close...maybe that was Brad's fault but who really cared how they met?
Gene can't help but feel concern...he might not know how Lloyd is now, but he knows how Lloyd ACTS when he's under pressure...and he know how much pressure the guy puts on himself...
He hopes he's doing alright...
After a few minutes later, Gene left his car and entered said coffee shop, heading towards the counter to fill in hid order, when he spotted a familiar figure in the front of the line. He chuckled, he knows that jacket...seriously, do the Ninja just wear color-coordinated clothes all the time? He got unto the counter and took his coffee quickly to go and meet the blonde outside.
"Well, well, well am I seeing this or is that you, Lloyd?" Gene asked causing Lloyd to spit out a portion of his coffee. "By the First Master, Gene!" Lloyd spoke, obviously caught off-guard.
"Isn't he your grandfather or something?" Gene joked around, Lloyd looked around completely shocked and startled. "What- are you doing here?" Lloyd said chuckling slightly, he was glad it was just Gene. "I go here on breaks...they sell the best coffee and sweets...which I'm guessing that's why you bought a cookie." He remarked, looks like lil' ol Lloyd was still a sweet tooth. Lloyd chuckled. "Well...I was thinking of what you said a few days ago...and decided...I could use a break..."
That for some reason relieved Gene by a lot...at least he was taking care of himself. "Do the ninja know?" He asked, Lloyd nodded. "They were okay with it...Zane and Kai are covering for my shift." He answered, Gene was glad...Lloyd was lucky he had a support system...albeit he was kinda envious, but after that interaction a few days ago? He's just glad the Ninja bothered to care about Lloyd's feelings...if it was Darkleys...well...
...
"So...how's work for you?" Lloyd asked, taking a few sips of his coffee. "Oh you know...stressful..." Gene replied, placing a hand on his pocket. "I did a background check...a few days back" That's when Gene tried to maintain his composure, he really didn't want to fight a losing battle. "You did?"
"Did we...err...really cause THAT much damage to the city?" Lloyd asked, looking at Gene nervously, to which silently sighed in relief that he didn't know about his little crime organization. "Ahem...well YOU didn't cause that much damage, but a whole cell tower was destroyed so..." Gene explained, which confused Lloyd. "I thought Mr.Borg handled that?" Gene chuckled at his response. "I had a hand on the charity bills. I'm surprised you didn't read the news article."
"I did..." Lloyd spoke, it seemed like he had more to say... "Well...I'm not sure...it feels like...you should be doing more..." Lloyd implied.
"Doing more?" Gene asked, he was confused, was Gene not already doing more? "I mean like...you should be doing something else...Sorry if I'm reminiscing but you weren't the type to be focused on one thing...you tend to you know...think big?" Lloyd explained, which made Gene a little nervous, cause this train of thought could cause Lloyd to raise suspicion if he had a crime ring or not. "Well Lloyd a man can change..." He tried to pull it off, lie to him like he was good at doing. "But you're still a control freak...albeit a bit o a disciplined one but you still don't like it if you're not the boss"
"Who told you that?"
"Brad"
"Of course he did..."
"I'm just...well, I don't mean to be suspicious but...you know you can tell me things right?" Lloyd asked, Gene looked away a little nervous, no way he can tell him...he'd arrest him on the spot.
Gene sighed, "Listen...Lloyd...I'm...working on a few things on the side...problem is...my competitor is...Cyrus Borg." He cleared his throat, it wasn't a lie really...Cyrus has been a thorn on his side with his technological geniuses. To his surprise Lloyd laughed, he actually laughed at him "What's so funny?"
"I figured you struggle really...you always said you wanted to dabble in technology!" Lloyd chuckled much to Gene's dismay. "Oh give me a break...I will admit I' m not the only genius in the world." He spoke humbling himself, he knew to never let his pride get the best of him...ever since Darkleys...Pride can be the cause of loss...you can never be too cautious...
But Lloyd looked happy so he went with it. "Well well well...Looks like the Know-it-All Teacher's Pet is being humble huh?" Lloyd retorted, joking around. "So says the Entitled Brat only eating one cookie" Gene spoke, reusing a little nickname he called Lloyd back in the day."
"I hope a raccoon makes it's way into your pants"
"I hope ants crawl their way into your skin"
After that retort of threats they both laughed. "I can't believe we said that as kids!" Lloyd spoke, silently cringing at himself. "Well we WERE kids...our threats were often stale..." Gene chuckled to himself. "You call that threats? I've heard villains say worst..." Lloyd joked to which Gene chuckled about and sipped his coffee. "Man...it's been a long time huh?"
"Yeah...Seems like a long time since me and you fought for dominance of the school" Lloyd spoke taking a sip of his coffee, hopefully it had at least 5 shots of milk. "You and I fought over EVERYTHING...but I will admit...it was lonely without you Green Bean." Gene spoke leaning against Lloyd. "Awwh, Mr.Genius missed me? I'm touched" Lloyd joked as Gene laughed> "I'm serious! It's good to be talking to you again..." Gene admitted "We don't do that often..."
Lloyd chuckled. "Yeah...We should hang out more...maybe add Brad for old times sake..."
"That'd be nice" Gene spoke, the both stared at the streets as they stood by the shop...It was really a peaceful day huh?
"What kind of nickname is Green Bean?"
"You look like a wrapped up bean in that hoodie"