Lucy's sleeves were rolled all the way above her elbows. A belt had been made to fix the rolled up trousers to her waist. Lucy had slept well after her bath, and woken up before anyone else. She felt refreshed and ready to face the day. A mop was held firmly in her hands, a cloth tucked into her pockets. The main hallway was going to be sparkling if Lucy had anything to do with it. She gave her sleeves one last push up, sucked in a breath, and with a quiet "CHARGE!" and a run, started to push the mop along the hall with all the might her nimble arms could summon.
By the time Lucy reached the small hole of a room they could call the kitchen; a sink in relative working condition lay buried by dishes in the corner, next to two cupboards used to hold glasses, old newspapers and paper creatures of every kind imaginable. She would have to ask about that at some point. For now, the dishes were waiting.
The morning bell would never be a welcome sound. Not unless you'd been having dreams that, well they… Jack was alright with it today, even if the bags under his eyes said otherwise. He hadn't finished doing up his waistcoat when he took his first distracted step into the hallway, rushing to get ready and get away, and slipped unceremoniously onto the ground.
"What th'?" he cried out, a crinkle formed in his brow. The entire hallway was sopping wet, but there were little footprints leading to… the… kitchen. Well that can't be good.
Jack made his way as fast as he could down the hallway, hand on the wall for support, to find a mad little Mouse furiously trying to rub blotches off of the one glass that had made it into her grip. She had been spitting out a quiet rant to the blotches, "Why. Won't. You. Come. Off?!" in such a soft lilting voice. Jack couldn't recall the last time he heard such a high voice, it was sort of strange to hear it.
"Mouse?"
"AH!" Lucy just about jumped out of her skin, dropping the glass at the same moment - luckily Jack had quick enough reflexes by now to catch it.
Her eyes were big as saucers, never leaving Jack as he slowly sat to be at her level and began to dry the glass with the towel he'd taken from Lucy without her even realising it.
"Them splotches ain't goin' nowhere, they's been stuck on good for years. Ey but you did a good job! That is one clean glass!" He declared, holding it up proudly as if presenting her with a remarkable gift. When Mouse made no sign of moving Jack gave her a gentle smile and gestured to the kitchen cupboards. Still her eyes followed, though she herself was still as a statue.
Jack set down the now dry glass, and pulled out a little paper dog. Its ears were a bit ripped, and its coat was roughly scrunched, with a twisted tail to boot. Lucy hadn't been able to really work out what it was until Jack had it racing around the space between them, sniffing at her feet and letting out a gentle yap before cocking its head to the side at her and running off again. It was enchanting to watch, and soon Lucy was crouched next to it with a hand out for the dog to sniff at and a tiny smile on her face. Then all of a sudden Jack had given the lively dog over to Lucy, and she had the paper pup doing tricks and running about.
Jack hadn't seen the kid look so relaxed the whole time he'd known her. The two of them had fallen into a comfortable silence watching the paper pup, sat on the floor with their legs in front of them just about reaching the wall on the other side. Ever so quietly Jack reach into the cupboard next to him and pulled out an old pape. He gently tore out a small section and began twisting out a tail and a nose, pinching until two ears popped up. Then there was a paper mouse sniffing about. Then the paper pup and mouse were timidly circling and getting closer, squeaking or ever so quietly yapping respectively. Then they were playing together, exploring stains in the carpet and jumping about in excitement until it all caught up and the two felt too tired to keep on. There on the kitchen floor they fell asleep, mouse and pup curled into each other.
Gently Jack removed the mouse from their cosy clump on the floor, and held it out to Lucy. "See Mouse, you'se don't have ta be loud, you'se just gotta be you. That's all anyone here's gonna ask of ya. Course if ya wanna shout about things that's okay too. We's all different, and maybe people think cause we's a dog, or a mouse, or I think that one's a chicken? Maybe people's think they's don't go togetha but we do. Everyone here is family, even if we's a little weird. Now I know Crutchie's family ta you and th' rest a us you'se don't really know that well. But we'd really like ta be part of you'se and Crutchie's family if you let us? Ya don't have to be tidying the lodge or selling papes, we'll find something even better. Racer he's paid ya first week, made the winnings of your card game mind so really you'se paid it. So what, what d'ya think? I'se look out for you and you'se look out for me. Can we be family?"
Things were happening in Lucy's heart, and she didn't know what but it was warm and safe and she wanted to live in that feeling. Lucy gladly took the paper mouse from Jack and settled it back into its rest with the pup on the floor. She gave him a stern look over before sticking out her hand with a grin.