Spring Cleaning (Kiran)

[A]

Talubara was accustomed to morning chores. They had been a part of his daily routine since he was twelve turns old. Even the most unpleasant of tasks scarcely phased him these days. It was odd, however, reporting to strange overseers, working around unfamiliar faces, cleaning areas that were not home.

Today, he was cleaning a store room in the lower caverns. There'd been wine stored in there previously, judging by the smell, but most had already been drunk and the remainder had been moved to another spot. There were still a few splashes of long-dried liquid on some of the shelves and cobwebs were starting to form in the corners. It had been a few months since this particular store-room had been in use, but there were new supplies coming in that needed a place and, for one reason or another, someone had recalled this one and set Talubara to making it suitable.

Talubara preferred sorting firestone to cleaning, but there was nothing inherently objectionable in the task. It gave him the opportunity to get a better grip on the warren that was the lower caverns and was mercifully solitary. Talubara had had his fill of strange company and loud, laughing voices already for the day, after breakfast besides two unusually loud, far-too-young Candidates. Native westerners, or hold brats, undoubtedly. By their age, he'd already learned to hold his tongue. He'd been here but two days and he already missed the austere halls of Fort.

But, if he was to reside here, he ought to lend his services to its improvement and this store-room undoubtedly needed a good scouring, if it was to hold food fit for human consumption. Talubara dipped his rag into a pale water, starting with the most objectionable spot, which was stained an odd brownish color and smelt faintly putrid. Talubara had no wish to know what it was or how it had gotten there, as he leaned down awkwardly and set about removing it, but he most certainly did not want it in his breakfast.

[Kiran]

Imber trawled the lower caverns, looking for things to do. Not that there wasn't plenty of those, but even more than things to do, she was looking for someone to help out. That seemed like a worthy expenditure of time. She had been rather remiss about it lately, anyway. Se had gotten caught up in caring for Lovely and learning about pillies. Lovely darted ahead of her as she walked, taking joy in anything and everything that caught her attention... Which was quite a bit, to be honest.

Turning a corner, she heard a rustle through a doorway. Lovely darted ahead to the doorway and, catching sight of the occupant, made forward with a trill of joy, darting about the room as Imber followed far more quietly and sedately. While the pillie made herself at home (at least temporarily, she would probably dart off somewhere else soon enough) Imber grasped a rag by the bucket and acknowledge the man with a small nod. She would help. She was good at that.

Imber began to scrub down the shelves on her side of the storeroom in silence, a stark contrast to the dancing around and trilling the pillie did. Eventually, Lovely headed off as the candidate kept scrubbing at the shelves which had a thin sheen of dust and old food. She didn't talk to the other one working there, or glance at him except when she leaned down to wet her rag again. What was the point? Imber didn't expect accolades for her work, or even acknowledgement. He simply needed help, and she was there to provide it.

Provided that she didn't manage to stumble over the bucket and break her neck in the fall.

The morbid thought drifted through her mind unbidden. The work she was doing didn't require a whole lot of thought, and that had allowed her thoughts to drift that direction. Imber tamped down the unwelcome idea. It was utterly ridiculous. She wasn't going to trip and die. ... Most likely, at least.

She scrubbed a bit harder at a spot of something or other, trying to get it out and distract herself from the idea at the same time.

[A]

Talubara nodded politely to the girl as she passed, barely lifting his attention from his work. It took him a moment to realize she was still here. Cleaning...stuff. His stuff. With his water. While her bug-pet...thing scurried all over the place. He was going to be eating food that had indirectly been in contact with whatever that thing got all over itself. Great. Just great. At least the girl was quiet, even if her pet-thing wasn't.

He had no particular wish to be rude. She was trying to help, he thought. He was sure even on the Western continent, helping was generally smiled upon. He simply didn't happen to need or desire it in this particular instance. Maybe if he stayed quiet for long enough she'd just get bored and go away. He could re-clean her shelf again when she was gone. He wasn't up to that part of the closet yet anyway.

So he just stood there, him not looking at her, her not looking at him, cleaning quietly. And she didn't leave. Just stayed there, scrubbing at the shelves, rubbing particularly vigorously on one spot. Shards...He should probably say something. She was trying. Trying what he didn't know, but trying all the same.

"Hey...You got a stubborn spot over there?" he asked a bit awkwardly. Clearing his throat, he straightened and said more confidently, "I can get that for you. I can get all of that for you, actually. I'm fine, I can clean it all myself. But...uh, thanks for coming in and helping and all, you know?"

[Kiran]

Imber kept scrubbing as the man talked. He was bound to say something eventually, she had figured. Usually someone did when it was one on one chores. But he had held out a lot longer than most did. Those who we're going to say anything, at least. A few that she had helped hadn't said a thing, simply accepted her help and liked off when they were through. Not that she minded that, of course. The talking was what made her uncomfortable.

But his words caught her by surprise. She paused in her work, then glanced back at him, not quite meeting his eyes. "It goes faster with two people. I figured you might want some help, and I don't mind doing this work. I... I'm sorry if I'm bothering you or doing it wrong, though..." Her brow had furrowed deeply as she wondered what she had done to make him try to shoo her off. "I just wanted to be useful..."

Imber looked back at the shelf she was cleaning for a brief moment as if the answer to why he didn't want her there was written in the dust. Then she stepped back, dropping the rag in the bucket and standing in the doorway. She felt guilty about leaving. After all, she was going with the chore unfinished and the man still working hard at it. But he didn't want her there. And he didn't want her there because of some reason she couldn't fathom. Had she done something wrong? Her stomach turned with the possibility, her foot scuffing at the floor.

"Is there anything else I could do for you, then? I don't want to be a bother, but I do want to help." Even if he said he didn't she would try to make herself useful in some way. It looked like the water in the bucket was dirty... Perhaps she would bring a fish bucket. Or clean rags. Something!

[A]

Feck. Talubara hadn't wanted to hurt her, not while she was trying to help. He just wanted to do it all himself. Because he did, that was why. There was no good way to tell her to just go away, however. And he certainly didn't wish to discourage usefulness. Faranth knew a bit more motivation would hardly hurt these Westerners. Fine, he would find a use for her. She could start by controlling that pillie thing of hers.

"Alright, you can help. If you really want to," he agreed in resignation, "Why don't you start on some of the lower shelves and I can get the higher ones? If you want to just do a basic cursory cleaning and I can come in and take care of the details, that'd be fine. It's my chore, my responsibility. How clean is your pillie? Do we need to worry about it...er, her, contaminating the food supply?"

Talubara started speaking with more speed and confidence as the topic turned back to work. He could view this as practice for working in a wing, take the opportunity to hone his teamwork and leadership skills. Yes, that was how he would treat this. This was a wing of two and he was wingleader.

He noticed the water was dirty as he glanced down at his rag, "Let me go grab us some fresh water first, however. Would you like to get some extra rags? The more we have, the less cross-contamination there'll be." Talubara planned on running a highly efficient wing indeed.

[Kiran]

Imber perked up a bit when he said that she could help. Wonderful! "Lovely is clean. I bathe her every day, and she doesn't really care for dirt much," she reassured him. "She won't contaminate anything." Some pillies adored dirt and mud and the like, but not Lovely. She had bent down to grab the rag when he spoke up about the water and rags. "I'll get right on it." Imber gave a confident nod and grasped the rags. "I'll be back soon!"

While he went to get fresh water, she headed off to get rags from a different supply room, and dumped the dirty ones with the pile of them the drudges were constantly washing in the endless cycle of cleaning. She also grabbed some soapsand to help make the cleaning easier.

Returning with more rags and the small bowl of soaps and, she placed the bowl on a shelf between them and the rags beside the bucket. She silently dipped her rag into the bucket and some of the sand, and began scrubbing once more at the shelves. The sand both helped scour away the remnants of the former contents while leaving a trail of suds that indicated cleanliness. Lovely had bounded away somewhere on search of more people and things to adore, and Imber wasn't one to call her back. The pillie would return to her that evening. She always did.

And with that thought, Imber was happy to settle into silence once more as she took to the task at hand. The man seemed friendly enough now that he had gotten over her being there. Imber was glad about that. It was good to be useful.

[A]

Talubara returned to find rags and soapsand awaiting him. The pillie was gone, the girl was quiet and work proceeded at an acceptable pace. Talubara dipped a rag in the water and started cleaning where the pillie had been. Clean pillie or not, Talubara did not want little bits of its skin...or shell...or whatever pillies had popping up in his food.

He worked in silence, taking occasional glances at the girl. It was his chore, he was in charge and he was supervising. He frowned, tapping on a shelf. It felt loose, moved under his touch. Not good. But he could fix that. Talubara turned to the other Candidate, "One of these shelves is a bit loose. I'm going to go and get some supplies. Be careful, okay?"

He ran a quick appraising gaze over her work before he left. All looked satisfactory, at least superficially. He'd analyze it more thoroughly after she left. He nodded approvingly, "Good work. Why don't you move to the other side of the room while I'm gone? The supports on these shelves look newer and sturdier." He didn't want anything falling on her. She was proving an adequate work partner.

[Kiran]

Imber could feel him glance at her a few times as they worked. I didn't bother her. She was used to it. The silence, the looks. Bit since she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable as well, Imber didn't look at him to see what his expression was. Didn't figure it was important enough. He would do what he would do.

At least he had accepted her help to begin with. That was nice.

"I'll be careful," she affirmed when he mentioned the danger. Imber kept a watch on the shelf, careful of how she cleaned it in turn. It wouldn't do to waste their hard work with a moments carelessness. She wanted him to be pleased with her help. Perhaps he would let her do it again. He was fairly patient, and rather nice when it came down to it.

He had, after all, complimented her work.

Imber moved to the other side of the room, washing everything down with the same care that she did the first time. Every bump, every little crevasse in the stone and wood was given a good nice-over with her tag and the soapsand. Imber prided herself on a job well done. So when he came back, she was only halfway finished with the rest of her work, but looked up at him with a shy smile. "It's going well. I haven't bothered the shelf, just in case. And I got out some of the more troublesome stains and messes." Her report was simple and to the point.

"I think that one of the shelves here could also use shoring up. It's a touch loose." Imber tapped it gently, and the shelf in question moved slightly, enough to show that if bumped harder it could teeter off and down. Not as bad as the one he had warned her about, but still. "I think this storeroom was a bit more abused than the others I've helped clean out. This is as bad as its been in a while."