"And this is who you're gonna squire for!" Star said with a sincerity that made Marco think she was happy leaving him with a 'knight of the wash'.
Marco looked around at the big place that was the basement of the butterfly castle. There was waterfalls of dirty socks and delicates, pools of detergent dense water, and a faint scent of soap that old people use whenever you walk around them and gag at the smell. Marco was a little wary of the giant death contraption that was apparently a lint catcher. From what he can see, there are no doors or even any windows that could bring in the warm sunshine that Marco loved dearly. All that was illuminating the place was a bunch of torches and chandeliers, which in Marcos opinion could be a fire hazard with all the clothes being around. One stray torch could set this whole place and castle on fire if one of then were to just fall down and land anywhere for that matter.
Marco then looked at Lavabo himself. He seemed to be in his mid-forties or even early fifties. His wrinkled skin and grey hair were almost immaculate and his clothes and armor were just as sharp too.
"Wait... this is a laundry room why would he need armor?" Thought Marco.
He decided to ignore this a minute and look at him a little closer. No one Denied that Lavabo wasn't one who didn't take care of himself. He seemed sturdy and well built considering he was just a laundry knight. Every time he talked about laundry he seemed to bring even more sincerity into his conversation even though it was just a mundane task. He seemed content with doing his task for the last sum of the years of life. But Marco was having internal conflict about what his apparent 'best friend' was doing to him.
"Is she just pawning me off because I just dropped in?" Marco thought.
Marco thought about how unfair his appearance was, just showing up without even calling. But can't best friends do that? Marco thought about this and realized Star did the same exact thing when she came to earth. His whole family had welcomed Star with wide open arms into their household. Marco was very anxious at first because of the dangerous aura and the seemingly endless excitement that Star brought into his life, but he learned to accept it, even love it. The adrenaline it brought into his system was addictive and he couldn't get enough of it.
Now the Butterfly family was acting like he did nothing and was nothing. Just some useless toy that seemingly 'helped' in the crisis that was the returning of toffee. The cape that he wore almost endlessly was just a blanket for meats instead of a token of higher status. The king even said that he thought Marco would never come back to Mewnie to become a knight. Marco stood there with mixed emotions and maybe even a little anger as the two stood there and Stared at him awaiting his reply. Star with an almost impatient look, Lavabo with excitement, unable to read the nerve-wracking tensity that the whole basement held. Just excited that he would get a new squire.
"Is it even worth it to stay here?" Marco thought.
"Did I come here for myself, or did I come here for Star?" Marco thought back to the confession that she gave him when they were sure that Star was never gonna come back to earth. Marco had some ideas on how he was feeling that night. He didn't feel any particular interest toward his best friend, because that's what they were. 'Best friends'. He didn't feel the gushy feelings that were written in books or plays. He didn't feel lightheaded or have any butterflies in his stomach. And as he thought about it, he didn't even have those particular feelings toward Jackie. Nothing ever felt any different when he hung out with her either. Maybe he just admired her carefree personality because he felt like he could be that carefree if he cared for her?
He finished up his thought process.
"You know what? I came here for myself" thought Marco. "I felt like I was strong enough to come here and become a knight. I don't need anyone to tell me otherwise. I don't need the kings, queens or even Stars acknowledgment. My body is telling me I don't anyone or anything telling me no. There are no soft-hearted feelings that dragged me over here to pervert over Star. I am strong. I can do this. Even if it takes being a squire to the wash guy." Marco screamed in his head.
"You got yourself a deal Lavabo!" Marco said with sincerity.
Star looked at him kind of shocked that he would accept this apprenticeship, even though it's just a basic tedious job. This quickly turned to anger because he didn't even try to fight to stay with her.
"Fine! Have fun cleaning whoever's dirty underwear!" She said practically shouting the last word. She ran up the steps in a hurry to hide her pained expression.
Marco felt the sting that came from her parting words, but he didn't let that deter him. He stood tall and saluted his new master, who this whole time was jumping around in glee at getting someone to finally help him in this almost painstaking job. He calmed down after a minute and gave a cough. He saluted back.
"Yes sorry about that, we usually don't get squires. You're the first one in a few dozen years!" He said with excitement again.
"Well, I'm happy to help Sir Lavabo. Just tell me what to do and I'll do it." Marco said contently.
Lavabo looked at him with the brightest eyes, as if he's a little boy who just opened up a brand new pair of socks on stump day. He gave a big smile to Marco and led him to his first task.
The lint catcher.