Fed up with his roommates messy ways, Tord takes charge of the household. Hope you guys enjoy! ;)
"There! All done!" Tord sighed, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of one arm as he inspected his room.
One month in and he'd taken great measures to take good care of his personal space and make sure it was always in pristine condition. Organized and well-suited for his tinkering needs. There wasn't even a single speck of dust on his desk.
And it hadn't even taken him long at all!
Bright blue rubber gloves in his hands, wearing flip flops, gray shorts, an old and worn out white shirt, and a pale pink apron with matching bandanna on his head tying his hair back; Tord picked up the bucket of cleaning supplies with him as he exited the room.
He meant to place them back in their proper place in the supply closet, that was just a small cabinet off to the kitchen, but a horrid putrid smell stopped Tord in his tracks.
The dishes were all clustered around on the sink and table, trash littered everywhere. Tord grimaced.
"Guys, c'mon! What did I say about keeping the kitchen clean?" He yelled, hearing his friends playing video games in the living room.
"Sorry!" Edd shouted back.
Tord squared his shoulders and sighed. Looks like I have more work to do.
With skillful efficiency, he grabbed a trash bag and collected the empty food wrappers of junk food and takeout, and depleted cans of cola before going outside to deposit it in the bin. Next, Tord proceeded to wash all the plates, cutlery, and pans and store them away into the cabinets. At one point, Matt slipped in and out of the kitchen quickly, and Tord threw him a nasty glare and cursed in his native tongue as Matt apologetically handed him more dishes to wash. He gave the kitchen one last thorough clean with the supplies until everything was back in order.
Casting one glance at the clock and he realized nearly a full hour had passed since he set out to clean his bedroom.
With his work finally done, Tord stored the supplies away and changed his clothes for something more casual and familiar. His stomach growled.
Leaving his bedroom, Tord made his way to the living room. "Hey, Edd, what are we having for dinner-?" He broke off as he stared into the absolute mess his friends were currently occupying.
Cans of cola and bottles of Smirnoff cluttered everywhere, old and spoiled takeout left to rot on the coffee table, empty bags of snacks strewn about; surrounding the three pigs that didn't seem to care whatsoever about the disarray they were in.
"Oh, I was thinking maybe we could order something again today?" Edd said absentmindedly, his eyes glued onto the tv screen as he raced against Tom and Matt on either side of him. "I don't feel like cooking today. How about we have tacos?"
"What the h#ll?!" Tord blurted.
Edd paused. "What? I thought you liked tacos?"
"Look at the mess of this place!" Tord gestured to their surroundings as the trio finally paused the game. "Christ! We've been here only for about a month and you guys are already thrashing the place?"
"It's not that bad." Tom shrugged, taking a swig from his bottle. "You're just being overly dramatic."
"Dramatic?" Tord echoed, livid. "Thomas, those plates have been on the coffee table since we first moved in! Are you guys not the least bit disgusted with the living conditions?"
Much to his shock, he found his friends sharing disinterested and derisive glances with each other. Tord clenched his eyes shut and took deep breaths to calm himself. This never would have happened back in his old home. His mother, while absent most of the time, had always kept the house clean and tidy; and Tord did his own part to make sure his room, bathroom, and garage were just as organized. He been instilled to be organized and neat from a very young age. He thought his friends knew better and would share the same sentiment but evidently not.
"You guys need to step up and do more around the house." Tord went on, curbing his ire. "Ever since we first moved here, so far I feel as though I am the only one doing my part to make sure this place continues to be habitable. I clean my bedroom-"
"Nobody asked you to." Tom cut him off.
"I take out the trash, clean the dishes, and scrub the bathroom." Tord grit his teeth. "I do it, because someone has to, otherwise we'd all be living in a barn filled with rats right now."
"But Edd cooks for us!" Matt reminded innocently, but when Tord fixed his glare on him he shrunk away.
"A wonderful contribution to the household, but not my point here. None of you are doing any cleaning, and this is going to have to change if we are to make this work out." Tord finished, walking away.
Tom, Matt, and Edd looked at one another with stunned, perplexed looks; wondering what the Norwegian had in mind when he at last returned wearing his cleaning attire and carrying the supply bucket in one hand.
"Nice apron, Commie!" Tom jeered, bursting into a fit of laughter.
He cut off abruptly as a pair of rubber gloves smacked him square in the face. Tord handed each of them an item to get started. Edd got the trash bag, while Matt received the mop and bucket.
The ginger hesitated. "But… I don't do that. I never mopped before in my life!"
Tord appeared unsympathetic to his plight. "You're all gonna learn to mop or I swear to God I'll kill you." He grinned menacingly as he pulled out a gun. It wasn't loaded, but his friends didn't need to know that.
The trio gulped simultaneously and stared at him warily.
"You have until sundown to get this whole house – yes, including your rooms – in absolute pristine condition. I want to see my reflection on every surface." Tord demanded, cocking his gun to emphasize his point. "Or else. Now, GO!"
The three brits bounded away and got to work straight out of the gate.
With the blood pounding in his ears, Edd grabbed a handful of litter and deposited everything into the trash bag.
"Edd, what are you doing?" Growled Tord, drawing closer.
Edd jumped quickly as Tord spoke, blinking. "Taking out the trash?" He responded, a little taken back by his friend's harsh tone. "Just like you wanted me to?"
"We don't throw away organic materials with non-biodegradable ones." Tord pointed out mildly. "It's important to care for the environment. In this house we recycle! Separate the trash in their respective categories, and go take it all outside when you're done."
"Okay!"
Tord nodded and moved on. He decided to check up on Matt and see how his friend was dealing with cleaning his bedroom, since he is inexperienced and might need a bit of help. He found the ginger sweeping the floor with a dry mop.
"You're doing it wrong." Tord took the mop from him and led him to the bathroom. "Pay attention now. First you have to fill up the bucket with water, add a little bit of soap," He explained as he went through all the steps meticulously, making sure Matt was paying attention. "And then we go back and dip the mop into the bucket, and you may carry on with where you were. Understand?"
Matt listened carefully to the Norwegian, determined to get everything right, and nodded as he slowly took the mop from him.
"Carry on now." Tord moved away, leaving the ginger to his own devices.
Up next, he went to check up on Tom in his room. He found the eyeless man dusting his shelves frantically as he walked in.
"And… Done!" Tom paused to survey his own work with pride.
Tord smirked. "I'll be the judge of that."
With slow and purposeful steps, he began to inspect the room, making sure Tom was watching the entire time. The bed had been neatly arranged. The floor relucent. All the dirty laundry stacked away in a basket. He dabbed one gloved finger over one of the shelves, but couldn't find any dust particles.
"Well would you look at that? I guess you're not such a wasteful slob after all, Thomas." Tord said, mildly impressed.
"Great! I'm done." Tom fell back on his bed, pulling Susan onto his lap. "Time to play some tunes."
"Not so fast!" Tord grabbed him by the back of his hoodie, hauling him off the bed and dragging him away.
"Ow! What the h#ll?! Let go of me you Commie bastard!"
Arriving in the bathroom, Tord tossed the writhing brit in. "You may be done with your bedroom, but the bathroom still needs to be cleaned as well, Thomas."
"Why me? Edd uses this bathroom, too." Tom protested.
"Because Edd is cleaning out the living room as well as his own bedroom, and someone needs to get this done." Tord explained unsympathetically. "And since you're such a fast and efficient cleaner when you're not being lazy, you are exceptional for the job."
"F#ck you! This is my bathroom. What concern is it to you whether it is cleaned or not?" Tom snarled.
Tord lifted his chin. "This house is ours, Jehova. We're roommates whether you like it or not." He said. "I don't care if you have no qualms with showering in your own filth, while we are living in the same space we must take others into consideration and go out of our way to make this space habitable for all of us. Do I make myself clear?"
Tom took a threatening pace forward, muscles stiff with fury. For a heartbeat all they did was stare each other down, waiting for the other to attack or back down first.
But Tord really wasn't in the mood to rough house right now. "Get to scrubbing, Thomas. The sooner you get started, the sooner you will be done." He ordered as he turned away. "I will come back to check on you in twenty minutes, and if you haven't gotten started by then…" He cocked his gun for dramatic effect and left.
He didn't turn around to check if Tom really obliged with his demands or if he was just going to be stubborn and stand there in protest. Tord had other plans to get to, and plenty of time before sundown to make it happen.
The last rays of late-noon sunlight filtered through the window blinds as sunset finally arrived. Edd, Matt, and Tom joined Tord in the kitchen when they were finished. The house was impeccable. Tord scanned each and every room in the household, checking for dust and particles of hair on every surface. Everything was perfect the way he wanted.
"Good job guys!" Tord beamed. "And to make sure we keep it this way, I have taken upon myself to plan a chore schedule around the house for all of us."
His friends groaned as he beckoned them closer, showing them the schedule plan he came up with.
"So this is how it's going to work around here moving forward. Every week, each of us is going to responsible for one of the following tasks: taking out the trash, cleaning the dishes-"
"Cooking?" Matt guessed.
Tord looked up. "I considered, but since you don't know how to cook and I don't trust Tom to make even instant noodles for me-"
"Ditto."
"I decided to let cooking off the list for now. We will leave it up for whoever feels like it; but we should definitely stop ordering so much junk food in order to save up money for rent instead." He went on. "There's also laundry, and vacuuming the entire household. Starting tomorrow, the scheme will go; Matt does the dishes, I take care of the trash, Tom vacuums, and Edd will do laundry. Then next week we will revisit the chore schedule to see who gets what. Are we all in agreement?"
"Wow, Tord, I never thought of you as the clean organized freak type. I'm surprised." Edd teased.
"Well?"
"Alright, yeah, sounds good to me." Edd conceded. "Something all of us can come together to make our dysfunctional home to be more stable, I guess."
"What happens if one of us doesn't fulfill our task that week?" Matt inquired.
"Then we do an intervention." Tord shot Tom a knowing smirk. "Or alternatively, we pester him all day every day until he finally does it."
Tom's eyes blazed as he returned his gaze evenly before scoffing.
"It's settled then."
