Busy Busy Busy

Date/Timing: 22 January 2019
Setting: The Shed; Vaucluse, NSW, Australia
.
Nang starts a virus check on the tablet and sets it aside.
A few more files in the inbox. One by one, Nang pulls out all the fasteners, tidies the papers, staples them back together, signs them, scoops up the outbox, finds the pneumatic tube port, stacks them neatly in the drawer, sends them off.
Back to the office.
Nang sits back in the chair, exhales, and surveys the room.
Floor could use a vacuum.
Nang finds a cleaning closet, signs out the hose, finds a port in the anteroom, goes over floor twice, moves into the Marshal's office, vacuums /that floor twice.
Glances in Chantell's filing space.
Not even gonna touch that.
Returns to the office.
Surveys the room.
Could use a dusting.
Nang returns to the closet, signs in the hose, signs out some dust cloths, attacks every surface in the anteroom, does the same for the Marshal's office.
Finds a washroom, gives the barely-dirty cloths a rinse, runs them down to Laundry, picks up the Marshal's jacket and Fei Yen's hamper, brings the lot to the Marshal's temporary quarters, puts everything away.
Surveys the room.
Could use a vacuum, too.
(Not really.)
Finds a cleaning closet, signs out the hose and a few dust cloths, finds a nearby port, cleans the floor twice, checks the screws on the furniture, changes the sheets, resettles the duvet, and fluffs the pillows.
Casts a critical eye over Yutu.
Could use mending.
Dusting first.
Scrubs at every flat surface and almost every other surface.
Cleans the shower, cleans the toilet, cleans the sink.
Casts a critical eye over the wardrobe.
Still as good as it looked yesterday.
Returns to the closet, signs in the hose, runs the cloths and Yutu down to Laundry.
Coos with Officer Taylor over Yutu.
Playfully extracts a promise from Officer Taylor to have the rabbit ready before Fei Yen and the Marshal come back from lunch.
Returns to the office.
Sits in the chair, drums fingers on the desk.
A file in the inbox!
Reads it over twice, tweaks some grammar, frowns at the pen, signs the order, sends it off.
Returns to the desk.
Empties the supply drawer of pens and relieves it of a pad of sticky notes.
Nang checks the ink levels (all are acceptable) and tests the pens, sets three aside for maintenance, returns the rest to the drawer, organizes the drawer, gets the three into working order, adds them to the drawer, folds a butterfly from the sticky note, returns the pad, adjusts the desk mat, adjusts the desk, checks its screws, checks the chair, goes to the anteroom, checks all the screws, squishes the urge to arrange everything according to feng shui with a floor plan that goes into a labeled folder and into a drawer in Chantell's desk.
Now what?
A snack? Light lunch?
Might as well.
To the cafeteria!
Gathers a cup of soup, a roll, some juice, sits at a mostly empty table, trades gossip.
To the office!
That killed twenty minutes.
Gets a ping: Yutu's clean and dry.
Down to Laundry, thanks Officer Taylor and signs out some shoe polish, heads to the Marshal's temporary quarters, grabs the sewing kit, returns to the office, settles in the chair.
Casts a more critical eye over Yutu.
Arms are loose, left ear's lining is weakening, right leg needs more stuffing.
Stuffing.
Shit.
Peers into the anteroom.
Throw cushions!
Checks hallway, unzips one of them, eases out half a handful, zips back up and fluffs the cushion, sprints back to the desk, unstitches Yutu's leg, pulls out the stuffing, mixes the old with
the new, re-poofs the leg to match the left, sews it back on, betters and fluffs the arms, adds another line of stitches to the ear, re-embroiders the nose, fluffs Yutu's tummy, polishes the eyes, asks how she's doing.
「I'm well, Nang. Thank you for the pampering!」
「You're welcome, Yutu. Think Fei Yen's gonna be happy?」
「Oh yes.」 Yutu sniffs her chest. 「I smell so nice!」
「Your fur is /spectacular.」
「Why thank you, Nang! I do my best.」
「I know you do. Would you like to wait here or in your quarters?」
「I would like to wait with you, if that's okay.」
「Sure thing, Bunny. Anything you've ever wanted to do in an office?」
「I am a rabbit, Nang. Rabbits don't think about offices.」
「Very good point.」 Nang sits back, exhales.
「Are you bored, Nang?」
「You have /no idea.」
「Good afternoon, Nang,」 greets Xiong.
「Yutu!」 cries Fei Yen, toddling over as fast as she can.
「Good afternoon, Marshal,」 greets Nang, crouching to toddler height. 「Hello, my human!」
Fei Yen grabs her bunny and hugs her as if they haven't seen each other in ages. 「You smell so nice!」
「How was lunch?」 asks Nang.
Xiong pauses mid-jacket. 「I think I will go with 'interesting.' Anything to report?」
「Absolutely nothing. There were no fires, no dissatisfied scientists, no mega-corporations behaving childishly—or Rangers, for that matter—no Jaegers were misused ... I actually got work done.」
「Good heavens.」 Xiong smooths her pants. 「And it's only Tuesday.」
「What are we going to do for five more days?」Category:Ficlet
Category:Cultural Exchange
Category:Skeleton Key
Category:Sydney Shatterdome (setting)
Category:Nang
Category:Nang's POV
Category:Nang (ficlet)
Category:Xiong
Category:Xiong (ficlet)
Category:Fei Yen
Category:Fei Yen (ficlet)
Category:Chantell (mention)
Category:Taylor
Category:Taylor (ficlet)
Category:Yutu
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