Gonna Need a Montage [FIN]

[The Jenn]

Between the chuckle and the drolly amused statement, Val's ears fell even further. So this warren valued speed of tasks above all else? She... hadn't realized. Her father-Jack had been positively anal about the state of the floors, especially living in the forest with so much potential for leaves and dried mud to be tracked through the halls. They'd been taught to scrub until no hint of a stain remained in the carpets. Obviously she should have asked before she screwed something up. She'd just assumed...

Criticism was a lot harder to take from someone who was of her own region. She turned her head to look at him when he continued to speak. The attempt at reassurance was very welcome. For all that she felt she shouldn't need it, some part of her breathed a sigh of relief when he spoke those words. "Okay. Yeah... I'll get the hang of it. Doing it enough times to get it down pat is the first step, I guess. Thanks. But..." She tilted her head slightly, mane flopping over to obscure the base of an ear. "What should I do now? You're my senior here. What would you recommend to make up for it with the others? What needs doing?"

It galled her to have to ask that question, since at home she always just knew what needed to be done, but everything was different here. She'd just have to get over herself and ask a few questions. It was pretty irritating.

[Nako]

One thing that the leveret would hopefully not find out the hard was was that the Czar liked to have his carrot cake and eat it too; tasks were to be performed both speedily and perfectly. Whether the time necessary to do it well was actually given or if the Czar expected miracles depended on the task; a general rule of thumb would be that if it was something the Czar would notice... one had best perform a miracle.

Aleah paused, seeming confused for a moment. Having been the youngest leveret for so long, he'd gotten used to being bottom of the rung. He blinked absently for a good, solid few breaths before he responded. "Well, I suppose I am, then..."

"Make it up to the others, you say? Well... I hardly think you burdened them too badly... but very well. We'll see what you can do." Expecting her to follow, he carefully slipped past her and headed back down the hallway, winding this way and that and leading them into the lower levels.

"This is.. something of the commons room. It serves as a meeting place for the leverets, and we post our duties up here. Hm... It seems that the bathrooms are in need of cleaning. Hm... all of them. Who has been slacking so much as for all of them to be cleaned today?"

He clucked his tongue, taking the very tip of his talon and pushing it into a piece of chalk as if it were butter, lifting it to write both his and Valeny's name beside the chore. "This should keep them off your back. Hopefully I'll be able to offer enough assistance to get this done in an orderly fashion... There are several bathrooms; the two bathrooms for the Does, the Czar's bath.. and two half baths for the guests. There is also the leveret's bathing room, but that can certainly wait till last."

[The Jenn]

Valeny followed him, silent for the time being as she listened to him explain the warren a bit more. Someone had been slacking in the bathrooms? Her ears perked up a bit. However unpleasant a task as that may be, it was a chore that nobody else wanted to do and might settle her back into the 'new but apparently capable' book.

"You've got a lot more bathrooms than I would have expected," she admitted with a surprised look. Also, the fact that he was willing to help left her feeling startled and somewhat sheepish, but she wasn't going to comment on it. If he was willing to help, she would find some other way to thank him later when knew the warren well enough to figure out how. "I've cleaned a bathroom before, but if you help run me through the first one then I can figure out the differences in doing things here. I'll only be slower on the first one, though!"

With that last bit as a determined reassurance, she followed him to the nearest bathroom and set to work. Bleh, smelly. Somebody really had been slacking. Good thing they hadn't had any guests in a little while?

[Nako]

Aleah was just as bemused as Valeny at the state of the bathroom, but he went about cleaning in grim silence, doing as best as he could considering his state of being. Every now and then, he'd give a long and frustrated sigh, for he was having to be very careful not to tear up the grout with his claws. The leveret did not offer much conversation; it hardly seemed appropriate and he didn't want to be overheard by the Does, or even the other leverets. It wasn't often that Aleah came up from the lower rooms and there was sure to be plenty of talk.

"It is truly a sad day when the crippled does a better job of cleaning grout than the able bodied." He cracked his neck absently and examined the grout with care, making sure he'd done no damage.

((Up to you whether they're still cleaning the same bathroom or what XD ))

[The Jenn]

Having gone through three of the bathrooms so far, Valeny had begun to pick up the rhythm of the work. It wasn't too different from cleaning her old warren, but there were a few features they hadn't had that needed cleaning, and of course different materials used for the floor and some of the fixtures. By the time they were done here, she would certainly know her way around a bowl-scrubber, she thought with a small grimace. At least all of the tools were properly kitted for Leveret use.

Not that 'Leveret use' described what her companion had to do for some of them to work. "Those claws of yours really do seem like a handicap," she agreed with a sympathetic grimace. "Where did they come from, if you don't mind my asking? I've never seen anything like that before in my life, and we had more than a few visitors back at the old warren. The Czar didn't have anything that looked like that when I saw him."

She glanced over the edge of the tub she'd been polishing, watching him inspect the grout. A fastidious worker, Aleah. She could really learn from him. She was just grateful he wasn't an outright bastard about all of it and was willing to show her. He must have been really confident in his place within the warren.

[Nako]

For some reason, it always felt more painful hearing others agree with him that there was... something wrong with him. His emotional trauma would not be noticeable though, for Aleah's expression stayed quite bland as he payed particular attention to the grout that held the shapely, colorful stone tiles into place.

"Born with them, actually." He breathed softly, pausing to inspect the things. Blandly, he continued. "And to answer any unspoken questions, it is understood that they were certainly not as.. well.. sharp and destructive as they are now. I'm quite sure I didn't -ruin- the Doe I came out of."

"My sister has them as well, actually. Front paws only, and retractable. I suppose leverets have the worst of luck. Then again.. a Doe empowered with weapons... Not so lucky after all, I'd guess." He didn't seem particularly passionate about that thought, and shrugged most casually before he went about picking up the dirtied rags and putting them back in the bucket of soapy water. "I don't believe it was inherited from his. Granted, we are his children. My mother had made mention how he'd bought a favor for her when she was with child.. but I don't know much else about those things. My mother doesn't ask such questions, and I'd certainly not approach the Master himself. I'm certainly not that foolish to go to him with such trivial questions. I am how I am. How that came to be... well, it's quite irrelevant."

Aleah paused, considering what else needed to be done. "The Czar's bathing room is next. That one certainly won't be in terrible order. We'd see a flayed leveret skin on display if it was. We can go see if it is available for cleaning." Meaning, of course, that he left the doors open to invite the leverets in to clean. One didn't go about opening the doors to his most personal domicile without permission.

[The Jenn]

The mildness of his tone when discussing the claws and how they related to his family seemed kind of weird to Valeny. Then again, she had never lived with giant sharp things sticking out of her paws, so maybe it wasn't so weird if you had to get used to them? Whatever. It still seemed like he should have been more incensed about them one way or another.

"Well, for all that you've got knives on your paws, you can clean grout better than any of the other Leverets in the warren because you actually did it," she asserted with a small, subconscious lifting of her head. "Is there anything different we'll have to do for the Czar's bathing room? I'm assuming it's bigger and probably more grandly appointed. Any special cleaning solutions or tricky materials we have to work around?"

She carefully maneuvered one of her forearms to hook the edge of the cleaning supplies bag, and then shifted down and up so that it rested on her shoulder. Walking carefully to balance the stuff, she followed Aleah to the appropriate room. Hopefully they wouldn't run into the master of the warren in the meantime. She just wanted to get the chores done and be satisfied that she'd made up for her first mistake.

[Nako]

He angled his head to give the female leveret a most amused look, one that even lit up his tired face. "If we went so far as to ask, he'd probably specify something special, but no. Other than making sure it is impeccably clean, we burn a bit of sandalwood incense afterward to give it a smell that appeals to him." His ear lilted back, just to make sure others weren't in hearing range. "It's like this, you see; there's no need making things more complicated than it needs to be. We never bother the Czar with such things as which solutions to use to clean with. As long as it works, and as long as we can make it so the smell doesn't offend him, we are doing our job. Now, not to say there is any slacking going on. He'll get down and run a tissue through the cracks between the tile on some days and you don't want to be the offender on that day. Well, come along then.. mind you don't slosh the water, now." He turned back, letting her push the cart that held all the cleaning supplies and led them toward the C'zar's room.

It was left slightly ajar, but Aleah still rapped upon the door with his knuckles. Upon receiving no answer, he pushed it open and slipped inside. It was a most spartan establishment, as clean cut and militaristic as the owner. Aleah wondered how the Does could take comfort in such a place. He turned the corner into the bathroom. Everything had its place, and its own particular container. "Now, be sure to place everything back in its proper place. The Does are prone to throwing things all around that need to be set back in order, but when it comes to the Czar's quarters... if it was there when you got in here, likely that was the place it was meant to be." Reaching out with a halted breath, he made sure Valeny turned the corner with the cart gently to as not to spill anything.

[The Jenn]

"Not asking and just doing a good job seems a lot smarter from our standpoint, yeah," Val agreed with a small grin. For all that it wasn't the most appealing of tasks, she was having a decently good time cleaning the bathrooms with him. He seemed a good personality to work with, just expecting her to do a good job. He didn't harp, and he didn't praise overmuch. It was a really good medium for her. Of course she was going to try and do the best job she could, and anyone suggesting that she wouldn't pick up her end or praising something mundane... it just rubbed her fur the wrong way.

She pushed the cart along, hopping on her back feet and keeping it steady while they moved through the halls, bag swaying against her side. The last bathroom was nice, for all that there wasn't much in the way of decoration. "Will do, and good to know. I'll keep that in mind if I have to clean any other space of his in particular."

[Nako]

Cleaning the Czar's bathroom went by much more quickly than the others. The place was generally kept immaculate anyways. Carefully, Aleah rubbed the padding of his finger into the grout and inspected it. He gave a single nod, pleased in his general muted way of expressing things.

Once the dirty water was disposed of, he put a check on the board to let the others know that the chore had been taken care of. "There we are; finished. Now, follow me." He stated flatly, leading her out back into the hallways, going up the stairwells that led to the higher levels of the warren till finally they were at the back door. Opening it, he hopped out into the bright light, and for the first time all that day, a genuine smile erased his dour frown. There was a garden, filled with all of the Highland flowers that grew naturally there, with roses that rivaled that of the Court of Hearts. "This.. this is my area of expertise."