Hot Spring Spring Cleaning

Job:

Rinni stood in the corridors leading to the hot springs wearing her bluish-black cloak and hood, hiding her appearance from view like always. She was getting there, but she still wasn't comfortable enough to take it off around the Guild Hall. Only a few members had seen her without it, Leila Vergious and Guild Mistress Leona being among them. Maybe once she was here long enough and had gotten to know everyone, she could one day remove her cloak while relaxing in the Guild Hall, Dining area, or Hot Springs.

Today, however, she wasn't here to relax. In her left hand was a mop, in the right a bucket. She was here to do spring cleaning on the hot springs. Three members applied to this mission, all 'eager' to do their parts. Rinni wondered how a noob like her got roped into chores. She'd only been with the guild a few days or so. At least these jobs gave her the chance to socialize. That was a word the teen never thought she'd use.

Standing beside her was Timber, who let out a casual stretch and yawn combo before flopping over for a nap. Rinni looked at her wolf in annoyance and asked, "Why are you even here, Timber?"

"It's my guild too, isn't it? I'm here to enjoy the hot springs."

"Yeah, well, you better not shed everywhere! We're trying to clean!" Rinni yelled slamming her mop into the bucket of water and splashing it all over Timber who responded by jumping to his feet and shaking the water all over Rinni.

[Word Count 283]
[Word Count Total 283/500]

Haley was probably the most eager to clean. Not even with irony either, Haley likes to do a bit of hands on work after cooping up for so long. The fairies, small orbs of lights with wings of an insect fluttered behind her, carrying a cloth and a stick shaped like a T, similar to a hairless mop while Haley herself carried two buckets.

Haley then remembered that she was working with two others for this small job. One was Ink, someone she had worked with before. It was interesting, seeing someone with that many legs. The second however, Haley was not too clear about whoever it was. Heard she was rather new, having met the guild mistress and Leila before being officially inducted into the guild. Haley was going to have an interesting chat, Haley heard she was rather special in regards to the guild.

As Haley came in, she spots two things. One was a female, in a hoodie, probably the worst attire to wear in a hot spring, with her hood obviously up. The second was more interesting, a big wold shaking its wet fur as the girl as his target. Just then her bird Twitter, a messenger raven, flew in and took roost on one of the ceiling beams that seeming looks like it has gone out askew. Haley might need to fix that or she might have some unexpected visitors.

"You must be... Well you must be the new girl," Haley puts the buckets down and grabs the cloth from the fairies. One bucket was soapy, bubbles making a thin layer above the water. The other was just water. Haley wraps the cloth around the stick's perpendicular rod to the handle and dips it into the bucket of soapy water. The other fairies floated over to Timber and dancing around it, making soft jingles which Haley then snaps at them.

"Okay no calling that big pooch a wet carpet," Haley then had a soft cheeky smirk on her face. "More like a damp shaggy rug on legs." Haley holds back a laugh before looking back at Rinni.

"I should introduce myself," Haley starts wiping a mirror with the cloth on a stick. "My name is Haley Halcyon Musea, just stick with Haley. Glad to meet ya. I'm the guild's probably only chef, the girl who maintains the library, does some cool potion stuff and oh don't forget the one who can help you with any job by doing some snooping stuff with my wonderful Twitter up there." Haley directs Rinni's attention, assuming she does have Rinni's attention to Twitter preening her feathers. If the mage does not have Rinni's attention she probably looks like she is talking to herself.

"I do hear that you are a rather interesting girl..." Haley brings it up after introductions, grabbing her bandanna and pocketing it. Upon Haley's head, was hair. Well mostly hair. Among the middle of her head, where her bandanna was tied, was a mix of hair and feathers, but the feathers were more prominent. It was a mix of black feathers and small white ones. Their formation made it look as if the feathers were laid out like a maid's headband, even the colours matched. Three stuck out, fanned out beautifully on the left side of her head. "More under the hood and all."

Haley then taps her foot. "I honestly wonder what you would think about our more... Special? Yeah special. Our more special members..."

WC: 589
TWC:589/500(WC completed)

Inkormine had very much abused this job opportunity from the word go, since, after all, nobody would be using the hot springs while they were being cleaned. And nobody using the hot springs meant nobody to give the large spider man any odd looks or comments while he was in here, and since the job had a starting time, he'd just slid in a little early, shamelessly taking advantage of a private hot spring soak. But sadly, he hadn't been there nearly long enough when he heard the dressing room outer door open, leaving the spider to sigh sadly, hauling himself out from laying neck deep in the water, pushing his hair over his shoulders and stretching his nicely warmed muscles, before walking over to the edge of the spring, where his own cleaning supplies were. Picking up an abrasive sponge and some soapy water, he started in on the more mossy parts of the corners of the current spring he had been in.

After a minute or two, Inkormine heard some conversation, and a familiar voice as well as the unfamiliar one. Carrying the bucket over to the entrance of the changing area, he walked up the wall a little to start scrubbing at the top lintel, where a bit of dust and more then a bit of slimy moss had gathered, one leg pushing the door open a bit so he could pop his head in from the side. "Is that you I hear, Haley? Good to see you again." Inky said, with a smile for the woman, before turning his gaze to the person in the hood. "You must be Rinni, the other person who signed up for the springs cleaning? Its nice to meet you and your... er, damp, fluffy freind. I'm Inkormine." He showed no particular sign of bother at his topless state or dripping hair, both partly visible around the door.

WC: 317/500

Rinni could already tell she wasn't going to be a fan of Haley. What was the girl's deal, anyway? She seemed to like to pick on Rin and her wolf, or maybe she just had a very twisted sense of humor? Timber went into a low growl as a bunch of sprites danced around his head mocking him. Haley's translation of their insults only fueled the fire as the dog's ears lowered, his back hunched and his snarls deepened.

"Wet carpet am I!?"

"Easy, Timber. No reason to be mad...' Rinni soothed, attempting to ignore Haley's snide remarks. She removed her sopping wet hoody, revealing her wolfish muzzle, cute black nose, wolf ears, and her bushy tail. She wrung out the hood and hung it to dry.

"That featherbrain and her parasprites insulted me!"

"Now, now, Timber. She isn't a featherbrain. More like a birdbrain." Rinni intentionally spoke out loud so that Haley could hear at least half of the conversation, and the realization they were talking about her. Timber was intelligent and understood, insulting him was uncalled for and Rin wouldn't stand for it.

As the little pixies or whatever they were circled Timber, the now agitated wolf let out a loud bark and lunged at the little insects. He then proceeded to chase the tiny floating lights all over the spa area, crashing into and knocking over a mop bucket as he slid on the floor snarling and biting at the air trying to catch one of the sprites.

Rinni sighed and shook her head, but before she could say anything more to Haley she heard an unfamiliar male voice. She turned to see the upper naked torso of a man peeking around a doorway at them. She couldn't see the rest of his body, so had no idea he was half-spider, like Song. He introduced himself as... Inkormine? It was a weird name. He seemed to know her though. Or at least know about her. Word must travel quickly in a small guild.

"Finally, someone with manners." Rinni glanced sideways to Haley, an ear twitched and her tail swished in annoyance. She then looked back at Ink. "Yes, that'd be me. And that's my companion Timber."

As she calmly introduced herself and her wolf, said wolf slid on the spilled water and crashed into a wall with a loud yelp. Shaking his head, the massive dog continued his pursuit of the tiny fairies that were taunting him. Rin tried to play it off like this was normal, but in truth, it was quite awkward and embarrassing. I guess first impressions weren't really her strong point.

[Word Count 472]
[Total Word Count 755/500 Complete]

Birdbrain was not a good insult to be honest. Haley knew that, and Twitter knew that even more. Haley then turns to face Inkormine who has just entered. Giving the spider boy a hug she smiled.

"Great to see you Inky! Now that we all have introduced ourselves, I guess we get to the actual b-" Haley paused as she sees the wolf crashed into the wall and wetting the walls. Haley sighed and claps her hands. The fairies zip away like tiny streaks of light and to who knows where.

"Right... Now that your poochie is no longer distracted, apologies..." Haley mops up the wet floor that Timber made. "So... what were you guys up to before being made to start cleaning the onsen?"

---

WC: Doesn't matter.

Oh dear. Seemed like there was some hostility here already, but they had apperantly only just met each other, so that was pretty sudden. Haley was a little unusual to interact with, so maybe they'd just gotten off on the wrong foot. He pulled the sponge down from the lintel to stick it into the second bucket he had, help rinse it off so it didnt mess with the cleaning supply, getting it set again and out of the way as Haley came over and hugged him, which was still a bit odd but, he was getting used to it at least. He managed to contain himself when the large fluffy creature ran into a wall skittering around the smooth floor, only snickering a little bit at the wet critter's antics.

"Well it's nice to meet you both, Rinni, Timber." He said, untangling himself from the hug after a polite hug back, stepping down from the wall. He walked across the doorway to the other side , bringing the buckets along with him to get the rest of the lintel while he talked. "Before cleaning the.. what? Sorry, I don't know that word, 'onsen'. I was just finishing recovering from the big job over at Tsac Ordahic, it took a lot out of me, and was going to look and see if any interesting jobs were around. Then I got cornered at the board and recruited into the cleaning, so here I am." Inky shrugged, being careful to make sure he didn't drip onto the sliding door as he cleaned the lintel and wall above.

WC: 591/500, WC met

Now that the annoying little glowy insects were gone, Timber slowly relaxed. Standing up, he proceeded to shake any remaining droplets of water from his lovely soft coat. Rinni made sure to stay a safe distance to avoid getting soaked... again. With her hood hanging to dry, and her wolf laying in a corner grooming himself, Rinni could finally get to work. Grabbing a sponge, she dipped it into her... oh. She had forgotten the fact Timber had managed to completely spill her bucket of water. Sighing in frustration, she went to refill the bucket with clean water. At least he didn't spill the one with soap... that would have been a nastier mess.

The wolf-girl then returned to her soap bucket and dunked the sponge into it. As she proceeded to scrub the floor in an attempt to fix Timber's mess, Haley proceeded to ask how she and Inkormine got roped into this job of all things. After Inky gave his response, Rinni sighed rinsing the sponge out in the clean water.

"Timber and I just got back a couple of days ago and were recovering from a werewolf miss-" It was then she noticed Inkormine in full. As he made his way across the room, all either legs skittering noisily across the hard (and wet) floor making taps and tiny splashes in the spilled water. The fur on her ears and tail bristled all at once as her eyes widened in horror. Rinni jumped to her feet and ran to hide around a corner several feet away from Inkormine. "HOW MANY SPIDERS ARE IN THIS GUILD!?"

Timber paused from grooming and casually looked toward Inkormine, then toward Rinni. He let out a sigh as if to say 'here we go again' and then laid his head upon his paws with a low growl. This reaction was nothing new to him. He'd seen it before, several times. Her first encounter with Song went about this well. Come to think of it... was Song and Inkormine related? Timber tried to recall if he heard their last names. However, it didn't take him long to lose interest and fall asleep.

[WC Complete]