Ch 4. Dust, Dirt, and More Dust
Esther's head popped out from behind the bathroom door. "So how's it going, guys?" Gogo the Electrongo and Seeds the Sweatpea Sprite gave their master two thumbs up as they scrubbed soapy rags along the shower walls, removing the scum. "Good! Here, heads up!" The familiar tamer rewarded her friends by tossing some chocolate bonbons into their mouths. The animals called out appreciatively.
The woman walked over to the bedroom, welcomed by the sight of Coggetta the Sprog Cog sweeping up dust into little piles as Clank the Clinketyclank swallowed the dust into his mouth. After every few bites of dirty powder, he would hop to the now open window and sneeze it all out, where it belonged. Esther made kissing sounds to get the attention of the mechanical creatures. "Hey, guys! You're doing a great job! Keep it up!" She praised them and tossed them each a chocolate bonbon.
Just then, she felt a tug at her waist-cape. Looking down, she saw Spooky the Bougie pulling at her cape with his mouth. "What's wrong, boy?" The ghostly animal guided his master to the kitchen. Gunther was attempting to pull out the stove with his burly arms while Leafy the Umberwood calmly washed the dishes with his roots and soap.
"Gunther! What are you doing?" The Hurlabaloo looked at Esther, suddenly realizing his way of cleaning was incorrect and put the stove down with a bang as it hit the tile. He pointed at the floor where the stove once was-revealing filthy tile and a few spiders.
"Were you trying to get there to clean the tile?" Gunther nodded as Spooky happily floated over and ate the spiders. "Well, I'm okay with that, but you have to put everything back properly once you clean it, okay? And try to handle them gently."He grunted and hopped up and down. "Great. Here you go!" She gave Gunther and Spooky each a chocolate and handed one to Leafy, who nibbled at it elegantly while the other two chomped at them hungrily.
Esther refilled her bucket with water and returned to the living area. She had managed to rid the couch and armchair of most of its mustiness and the coffee table shone proudly, free of its coat of dust. The fireplace was the next victim of her cleaning spree. She dampened a hand rag and wrung it out, making it into a dust collecting cloth. She wiped the mantle and the dust vanished. She picked up the picture frame to dust under it as well, and then stared curiously at it. The picture was iced over in a thick film of dust. She wiped her rag over the glass, uncovering the photograph it framed.
She then burst out laughing.
In the frame held a picture of Swaine giving Prince Marcassin a good noogie. The young prince's hair was bunched up in a frizzy mess on his head where Swaine's knuckles rubbed against the prince's noggin. The victim smiled at this prank but seemed to be pleading for mercy. Swaine wore a wide smirk on his face, enjoying this moment with his brother as he held the prince in a headlock and grinded his fist against the royal scalp.
The woman couldn't hold back her laughter. The thought alone was enough to make the blonde tear up as she cracked up. She rolled on the floor, holding her stomach with the photo. Just when she had sobered up, she raised the picture again, and laughed all over again.
"HahaHAHAHA! Oh, boy, that's funny, hahaha! Swaine giving a noogie to Marcassin, haha…w-wait a minute." Esther paused her laughing as a new thought entered her mind.
Swaine. He probably wasn't eating enough. And his kitchen was bare of any decent food.
The woman stood back up. "Spooky! Here boy!" Within a spit second, the Bougie dashed to her, awaiting her command. She handed him the damp dust rag, "Can you finish up here for me please?" The undead familiar nodded and floated to the fireplace, beginning to dust. Esther jogged to the door and called out, "Gunther!" The blue familiar threw her the keys and she continued out the door, locking it on her way out.
"Looks like I've got myself some shopping to do before dinner…"
"Hey! HEY! Mr. Swaine! I REALLY DON'T THINK I MAKE THE BEST SUBJECT FOR THE PRACTICE COURSE!"
Sam franticly yelled at the top of his lungs as he ran like a killer was tailing him. Only this one was made of metal, resembled a pig, and shot out harmless yet dangerously annoying rubber bullets.
"Hmm, nah, I think you're doing just fine." Swaine deadpanned out as he manipulated the tank's controls with an amused grin. He continued to control the machine and make it shoot rubber test bullets at this annoying man. It turned out to be an excellent stress reliving exercise.
Even the other mechanics seemed to agree with their boss. Sam had forced them back to work at odd hours as well, and shared a similar frustration for the redheaded mechanic.
"Go get him, Mr. Swaine! Show him what Porco Moco's made of!"
"I think he's right about Sam being a good test subject for ol' Moco."
"Yeah…but shouldn't we give it the practice course too?"
"Nah, let's have some fun with Sam first. Besides, he seems to be on good terms with the Emperor so-OW!"
A rubber pellet had hit the gossiping mechanic square in the head. Without turning around, Swaine simply said, "Oh, sorry, my bad. My aim was off." His voice was as deadpan as before but if they had been paying closer attention the mechanics would have noticed the pulsing vein on the Top-Head mechanic's head.
The brown haired man finally abandoned the controls while Sam caught his breath. Swaine walked up to the once chatting mechanics with a serious look in his tired eyes.
"…Alright, we've had our fun, now let's get the practice course equipment out."
When Esther walked back into the house, she almost didn't recognize it; the home looked much different without its various coats of dust, dirt, and filth. The familiars were hanging around the living area, trying to shove the dozens of dirty rags into a large laundry basket and push it to the side without spilling it.
The woman placed her grocery bags on the floor and walked over to help. "Hang on a minute, guys." She grabbed an armful of the rags, "I'll help out, too." Now that the basket's cargo was evenly split up, the cleaning crew successfully pushed and carried the dirty towels to a side room that Esther did not notice before; a laundry room.
Esther curiously looked at these cube shaped machines; they didn't have these out in the desert or in other parts of the world. "So this is what a washing machine looks like!" She examined the insides of the device as well as the various buttons and switches on the top.
"Uh…hey, do you guys happen to know how to use one of these things?"
The familiars were just as baffled as she was, and even Gunther had no clue as he shrugged. Esther sighed, "Oh well…let's leave the laundry for later. I'd rather have to wash these the old fashioned way later then end up with a broken washer." She picked up a not-too-dirty rag from the pile. "Do you think you guys can just dust this last room for me please?" Gunther jumped up and grabbed the cloth and got to work. The tamer started to look worried, "Uh, the rest of you keep an eye on him, okay?" The other six nodded and Esther left to the bathroom.
She undid her ponytail and let her hair cascade down in a frizzy mess. Her body felt like it was caked in a thin layer of dirt and exhaustion. The woman peered into the now clean shower. It was small but still very inviting. "I'm sure one little shower couldn't hurt…I'll just do a quick rinse, there's no harm in that."
Soon the shower was turned on, and lukewarm water hissed out. Gogo heard this sound and noticed its source was from behind the locked door of the room he and Seeds cleaned.
"Hey, Gogo?" Seeds asked her friend in animal language, flying up to the Electrongo's side. "Why do humans clean themselves with water like that? Why don't they just lick themselves like we do?"
Gogo scratched his staff on his back in thought. "Chirrrp…I'm not sure."
"Guys, hey guys!" Spooky franticly floated over to the two familiars. "I think we have a problem!" Briskly following the ghost, the two familiars waddled over and jumped up to the front window. The sight they saw filled them with worry in a split second.
Gunther and Clank noticed the commotion and came over too, but couldn't see. "Hey, what's up? We can't see down here!" Gunther grunted impatiently as he hopped up and down. Even Leafy and Coggetta were curious about this event and joined the others.
"Cog-cog, what's wrong?"
"Is it a monster or something, click-clank?"
"Hmmm…I sense distress."
"Hey, would somebody PLEASE tell me what's going on?!"
Gogo nervously looked from the window to the bathroom door-there was still the sound of running water and his master probably wouldn't be coming out for another few minutes at least. "Uh-oh…this is bad…I may not be an expert on humans, but I do know that they don't like to see each other na-"
"Hey, are you even LISTENING to us down here!?" Gunther's patience was wearing thin, huffing with frustration. "Are you gonna fill us in on what's up or not?!"
Spooky turned around and shouted their answer, "It's your master, Swaine! He's coming!"
Swaine's shoes made dull clops along the worn road as he made his way down the path to his house. He didn't usually come home this early, but the practice run with Porco Moco was a success and the Hamelin ruler gave it the seal of approval as it cleared the test course of straw dummies and cones with flying colors. They had returned it to the storage room fully loaded and full of fuel, ready to be used at a moment's notice or at the next Royal Procession.
He had two good reasons for leaving the palace so early; one, the tank was finally complete so there wouldn't have been any real work until the next day or so. Two, he overheard his brother planning another one of his 'ideas'.
"Geez, I know my little bro's got good intentions, but I really wish he would just let me be with my life. Honestly, is that too much to ask?" The man thought aloud as he rubbed his eyes. His eyes suddenly shot open as he heard a familiar grunting approach him.
Gunther hopped out from the door of his house and jumped to his master. "Eh? Gunther? Somethin' up boy?" Gunther pulled at Swaine's trench coat, dragging him in the opposite direction of his house. "Huh? What're you doing, Gunther?"
"Phew, looks like Gunther can buy us some time." Seeds wiped her forehead with a tiny arm, now relieved. Just then, the bathroom door opened. Esther's wet-haired head popped out, curiously staring.
"Hey, is everything alright, guys? I heard-hey, wait, where's Gunther?"
She walked out with a pale blue towel wrapped around her and cautiously peered out the window too. Her eyes widened as she took in what she saw. The blue Hurlabaloo was pulling Swaine by his green coat away from the house, dragging Swaine along with him as they disappeared behind a corner.
Esther collapsed against a wall and slowly slid to the floor, blushing. "Oh my God…that was too close. Gunther, thank you, thank you, thank you. You just saved me from the most embarrassing moment of my life."
After drying off and putting back on her clothes she began phase three of Operation TLC, hoping to be done by the time her friends returned.