Chapter 14: I Suck at Reading the Room

Chapter 14: I Suck at Reading the Room

Really, this human was giving me far too much deference. There's only so much humility I can take. I didn't even do that much. All I did was do my job. Though I guess I have gotten quite a bit better at it. Typically I only clean up the messes, and it's the human's prerogative to remove the causes. I guess going above and beyond does deserve some reward. However, this is just too far. I would have been satisfied with a pat and some praise. I didn't know what to say.

We sat awkwardly for a while, staring at each other while I waited for her to straighten. I wasn't sure what I could say or do, but she did seem to be waiting for something. Therefore, I just did the only thing I could. I beeped and looked for something to clean. Except, looking around, there wasn't anything else to clean. I had just finished the hallway, but that was the only thing nearby. Nervous that the human would be getting impatient, I looked back at her and relaxed slightly. It seems that she had taken my beep and spin as acceptance of her gratitude. She had straightened and seemed like she was deciding to speak.

"If you wouldn't mind, I would like to return to the library and reapply the salve to my leg. I'm pretty sure running away from that minor demon didn't help it."

So the mess maker was called a minor demon. It was nice to know the proper term if a bit unnecessary. I suppose it would help me identify the particular mess maker she was indicating in the future. This new role isn't too bad! I could get used to this “cleaning at the source.” Though, how many kinds of mess makers are there? I knew about a few from my previous home, but it seemed like there were new varieties around here.

There were other words she used that I hadn’t recognized too. She had mentioned a “library.” I wasn't exactly sure what that was. My guess from context clues was that it referred to that weird storage room we were in before, where she had been staying. Also, salve sounded somewhat familiar. I didn't know what it was exactly, but it seemed like that might have been the thing she was messing with on her leg. So thinking it through logically, her leg was damaged, and she was putting something on to repair it. The use of her leg made that damage worse. So she'd want to go to the place where she could put more of the stuff that fixes it on. Was that kind of like a lubricant? I know sometimes my humans would put something on my wheels to help them spin easier. This is probably the same thing. Yeah, this checks out. It makes total sense to go back to the library.

Following that line of thought, I had an idea of the library's purpose. It must be some sort of human mechanic shop.

Having figured out how to serve my human - well, no, not my human, but the only human nearby who seemed willing to take care of me - I began to lead the way back to the library. Making sure to keep a slow pace so the damaged human could keep up, I wondered what the human would want to do after repairs. Would she still want to learn more about cleaning? I suppose we could continue with my plan to show her all the intriguing rooms to clean, but I didn't want to risk her getting further damage. Otherwise, it would be impossible to expand my domain upstairs or downstairs. I still didn't need her to go upstairs or downstairs with me yet, as there were many doors I hadn't finished exploring, and I probably wouldn't for several days. We were stuck if she became too permanently damaged to go up or down stairs. As much as I railed against stairs, I had mostly made my peace with the many things I was not capable of. However, stairs were not supposed to be an impediment for a human. I can only sympathize with her. What if I suddenly could not turn my left wheel anymore? I felt I had to do my best to overcome them, failing that, to help her come to terms with her limitations.

What if, when she could leave, she wanted to follow all the other humans? No, I am sure she would take me with her if she did that. She wouldn't leave me here alone.

Looking around, I beeped in distress. After all that hard work, I had just made a mess. I felt like I had finished a long hard cleaning session and emptied my dustbin everywhere. Am I the mess maker now? I was so disappointed in myself for allowing this to happen. Could I even call myself a professional still?

I shook myself. No. Mistakes happen, especially when trying something new. I had to learn how my new abilities worked. Plus, no serious harm was done as long as I cleaned up after myself. Satisfied at how I had averted my existential crisis, I began stacking blocks again. 14 is the limit. All right, 14 blocks shall be how high I go. I stacked them in a row next to one of the storage units, each stack precisely 14 tall. Once one was finished, I moved on to the next, methodically going down the line of storage units against the wall.

When the last block was moved to a stack, I was short two blocks to finish the stack. I saw none were left when I went to grab the next one. This was distressing, and I couldn’t quite get the tip of my brush on why. Rolling a little ways away to get some distance, I admired the stacks all in a neat row. With only one stack incomplete, I decided to be done. Looking around, I saw the human standing by her chair. I didn't realize the human had finished making her salve. She had even already applied it and rewrapped her leg. She was watching me with a look of pure confusion on her face.

----

Harold felt exhausted and ready to pass out in the nearest thing that slightly resembled a bed. After running for several days straight, it was just his luck to have arrived in the morning. He probably could have begged off and just gone to bed early. But no, he had duties to attend to and a crisis to avert. Time was of the essence. After getting all his mages set up and taken care of, Harold returned to Captain Wallace’s office.

“Wow! You look half dead,” Wallace grinned in greeting. Harold just gave him a dark look.

“Okay, okay. I’ll make this quick. No drinks.” Wallace stood and made his way to the door. He led the way out, down a short hallway and through a side door. Soon, they emerged into the bright sunlight of the courtyard. There were three men and a woman waiting for them.

“I trust they were volunteers?”

“Yes, they know the risks.”

One of the men stepped forward.

“And we know the consequences if no one does this.” He said as he stepped forward to shake Harold’s hand.