Happy Chinese New Year. The year of the Rooster: If you were born in this year, you are confident and intelligent!

I have only a few hours before my house gets invaded by my family. So I'm going to update quick.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I will try to get through all of them. I do want to keep this fic light and humorous. So more serious issues need more thoughtfulness as to not to trivialize it but also not to be a downer. That's kinda hard. Hope you enjoy this.

Rex vs. The Laundry

"Ugh, how long has it been since you washed your sheets?" Noah gagged as Rex rolled the offending bedding into a bag.

"I dunno? Maybe twomonths." The last part ran together.

"Rex! You need to wash every other week if not more." He held his nose.

"Look, usually at Providence a maid comes in and changes them for me. I've never had to do my own laundry. I was too busy saving the world." Rex said grandly.

"So do you need help?" Noah asked.

"Come on, I've fought EVOs and evil megalomaniacs. I can figure out how to do the laundry." Rex slung the bag over his shoulder and walked out the door with his head held high. A few minutes later he walked back in.

"Um, where's the laundry room?" He asked sheepishly.

Noah face palmed.

0o0

How was he supposed to know there was no laundry room and that he had to go someplace called a Laundromat? Noah also told him he would need quarters. So Rex had to stop by a bank first and get some change. Now he was standing in front of what he thought was a washer. He had seen them before on those TV commercials but these did not look like the ones on TV. The ones on TV opened from the top and was not see through. It looked like a porthole of a ship. He carefully pulled on it. Then he jumped back when it easily opened. He stuck his head in.

"Hellooo!" He heard his echo in the cavernous hole. Pulling his head out, he opened his bag and proceeded to stuff all his clothes into the machine. Then he pushed the door closed. The door opened. Rex pushed it closed. It opened again. Rex slammed it and put his weight against the door. When he was confident it was closed, he got off. The door slowly creaked opened as if mocking him. Rex formed his Smack Hands and banged it shut. Unfortunately, Smack Hands had a little too much force. The door actually smashed into the machine before falling off its hinges. Some of his clothes spilled out

When Rex looked up, everyone was staring at him open mouthed.

"It's… uh… it's defective." Rex explained.

0o0

Rex was standing at another machine. Everything was in the machine. This time the door was closed. He was about to put his quarters in to start the machine.

"You need to put in detergent." A guy next to him said.

"What?" Rex asked startled.

"Detergent. You need to put in detergent. Otherwise you're just rinsing it in water." The guy put the last of his clothes into a basket. "You can get some detergent over there." He pointed over to the wall. Rex looked. It was vending machine with different products he'd seen on TV before.

"Thanks." Rex said.

"You need any help?" The guy asked.

"Nahhh, I got this." Rex said confidently.

"Ok." The guy walked away.

Rex walked over to the machine. Rex stared at the different products. "What the heck is a softner?" He muttered. He decided to go with the cheaper product. He stuck in his money and pressed the code. He watched as the spring coil slowly retract. He waited in anticipation as the box of detergent slowly started to be pushed forward. It then stopped. It hung tantalizingly close to the edge.

"Oh come on!" Rex banged on the machine. The plastic cover shuddered but the box did not budge. He banged again. He grabbed the sides and shook it violently. In frustration he pulled it forward a little too far. The machine tipped over and landed on him.

"I'm all right." He called to no one in particular. A pair of Punk Busters pushed the machine off of him. He glared at the machine. Checking to make sure no one was paying attention to him, he placed his hand on the vending machine. Blue lines flowed through the machine. The coil finally released its hostage. Rex grinned. He was a genius. He pulled the box out. Triumphantly, he walked back to his washing machine. That is until he heard something rattling behind him. The vending machine was convulsing. It suddenly started shooting out laundry products. People screamed and ducked as boxes and bottles were hurled at them. Rex quickly walked away as if nothing happened.

0o0

Where do you put the detergent? He wondered to himself. Rex shrugged and dumped the box on top of his clothes and slammed the machine. He shoved in his quarters and press start before anything else can happen. He stepped back and smiled to himself. "Bahh, and they thought I needed help." He snorted. He watched smugly as the water filled up. Suds began forming as everything began rocking back and forth. And there were more suds, and more suds, and soon… the suds were seeping through the sides of the door. In a panic he pushed the door tighter but to no avail. Water and suds were flowing out. The door popped with clothes and water spilling out. The machine stopped. Rex sputtered wiping soapy liquid from his eyes.

"What happened here?" He heard a sigh from behind him. Rex spun around. Circe stood behind him with her arms crossed.

A few hours later, they were folding clothes on the tables provided by the store.

"How was I supposed to know that you had to separate the colors?" Rex grumbled.

"Well, that's why your bed sheets are pink now." Circe pointed at the unfolded bedding shoved in the bag.

"Yeah, well. Maybe I like pink." Rex muttered as he pulled the bag shut.

"Uh-huh." Circe decided not to argue.

They silently finished the rest of the clothes.

"Um, thanks for your help." Rex said reluctantly.

"Sure." Circe said with a small smile.

"And can you not mention this to Noah?" He added.

"State secret." She said with a smirk.

"State secret." Rex agreed returning her smirk.

Rex 0 Laundry 1