[PQ] [SE] Let's get down to business

Sweet tea in the summer
Cross my heart, won't tell no other

The cleaning goes as cleaning does, which is to say that it may not be the most interesting task in the world, but it does make the time pass having something to do. Besides, Noe will do just about anything for family, and she shoulders this particular burden without a word of complaint. With the bulk of the cleaning managed, she hums her agreement that the place has cleaned up well. Then she grabs a clean rag and some bottle of other and goes about, dusting and polishing as she goes.

She works from top to bottom, reaching on tiptoe to wipe down shelves and praying that no dead spiders fall into her hair. Fortunately, she manages to avoid deceased insects and makes her way on to dusting things that she can see. When she's done, she returns to Kai and grins. "This is so much better. Anything else on your list?"

---

Noe dusts and polishes!

And though I can't recall your face
I still got love for you

Noe

Kaisel

One foot in the ground
One foot in the grave

Kaisel shoots Ronin a mild grin, because gods, what a dad take. "You mean you'll be coming by to deliver more work?" It's said as a tease, suggesting that Ronin would come in here to deliver commands from the top down, some of which might include dinner invitations.

Shaking his head at the idea he grabs for the broom as both Ronin and Noe drift off to their own finishing tasks. Noe flits about with the dusting cloth in hand, and Kaisel purposefully follows behind her to sweep up the floor and dash away any cobwebs. She'd done a fine job scraping away the worst of the eggs and vandalism, but now the floors need general cleaning, debris built up over time and all their walking around. On the outer edges, Ronin's efforts rub away streaks and built up grime, vastly improving the clarity on the windows and letting in more light. At one point Kaisel blinks over at the crisp sunbeam, the impact so clear now that he's uncertain how he hadn't noticed just how filthy the glass had been until now.

As Noe swaps off dusting and onto polishing, Kaisel does much the same. Using the dustpan to gather his piles of crud gathered from the floor and tossing that out, he moves onto the mop and bucket. Again he trails behind Noe, trying not to trap her in an island of wet floor until the very unavoidable end. With some elbow grease and the cleaning solution, the floors take on a pleasant shine at last.

Wrestling the mop bucket outside to dump the the dirty water and let the tool dry, he glances over his shoulder at Ronin's query. "Like a brand new set of windows!" he verbally applauds, flashing a thumbs up. Gathering up the snacks from earlier, he heads inside, sliding them into a desk drawer for later. "Amazing guys!" he declares, genuinely thrilled at the outcome of the space, far more improved than he expected given the heap of shit it'd been upon arrival. To Noe's ask, he sticks out a finger in thought, "juuuust one more thing." He doesn't say what, though, because it's not for them. The finishing touch though, is a bit of personalization, and so he withdraws from his pocket a sketch of Flora and tapes it to the inside of the locker door he repaired, the one he's claiming as his. It's a far cry better from his own drawings, this one done when they took a stroll in town and indulged a street artist. "There," he announces, stepping back to admire it a touch before closing up the door and turning back around. "All set. Office is thoroughly cleaned after longnight and I'm set up finally for all the soldiering needs here. All thanks to your help, so let's say we get to that dinner I owe you?" He opens the front door for them, locking up and closing it behind them as they head into town, and whether they take him up on his offer or not, he definitely intends to grab something.

---

Ty all!

[FIN]

It's not the devil at your door
It's just your shadow on the floor