"And to top it all off, he's handsome," I gushed to the Cleaner. He'd been sitting on the small futon I'd dragged down into my tunnel system, the room outside where I usually slept. The cushion bent down where he sat, the other areas adorned with dust particles and various digging tools. He'd brought breakfast down, thankfully, as I'd forgotten to eat… as usual. Today he'd brought eggs, slightly cold, cooked by the Lockpick himself, accompanied by hashbrowns, and my favorite, bacon.
Cleaner sat, silent, only nodding once or twice while I talked for maybe, what, five minutes? Ten? Maybe an hour. Maybe. At one time he picked a part of the bacon off and ate it, but that was all. I looked at him now, grinning, waiting for a reaction. "Ya think he's handsome too, right?"
He shook his head, then paused for a second. He shook his head again, and I knew what he meant. "You don't, but you're okay with him?" He nodded. "Alright. I understand. Thanks for the approval." I sat next to him cheerily, munching on the hashbrowns. "Well, thank ya kindly for bringing this down for me. I mean it a lot. I do forget nourishment sometimes… I guess.." I chuckled, eating more. He broke into the slightest of smiles, then stood up. I checked the clock I had mounted on the wall. "Oh, you're on a mission today, right?" I asked. He nodded once again. "So I heard. Most of y'all are out, right? Seems I'lll be home alone again." A shake of the head. "No? Oh, that's right. Hacker and Red will be here too. Well, I won't be seeing them at all, unfortunately. I've got all this diggin to do, I'm hoping to at least get a mile down today," I informed him between bites. I finished the meal, and he emptied his pipe's ash onto the plate before taking it and walking towards the ladder to the outside of my tunnel. "Alright, well, I'll see you later tonight Cleaner! Be careful on your mission!" I smiled as he threw a hand up, waving, then leaving the tunnel. THe smile left as I clicked on my headlight. I have work to do.
A few hours later, I was hungry again for some reason, sweating like the dickens, and needing a break. I wiped the sweat off my forehead, and turned around, staring into the darkness of the clean tunnel I'd dug. Slipping Freedom into my utility belt, I started my way back to fresh food, a warm place to rest, when I first heard it. A.. rumbling of sorts. It shook the ground, made dust fall from the ceiling. I looked up in panic, sweat rolling down my face, then immediately I knew. I took off as fast as I could, hearing things crumbling around me. This wasn't the first time this had happened but… this was different. As I raced down the tunnel, regretting digging it so far, the ceiling in front of me began crumbling, some of it hitting my hat and rolling to the floor. A large chunk thunked to the ground in front of me, stopping me and suddenly, there was dust everywhere. In my nose, in my throat, choking, strangling. I couldn't see, I could only hear the tunnel collapse, and feel the rocks hit my body, hit Freedom Spoon, pin me to the ground…