I See Dust Bunnies

2025 Q2
"Typhoon! Ty/phoon! Ty-phooon!"
"Yep, yep, m'awake, what happening?"
"Crazy people have taken over the Dockside mall."
"Weren't you off shoe hunting today?"
"Yup."
"So you're ...."
"Underneath a shelf with a couple dust bunnies and some spare change. Will you call Liu please?"
"Sure, 'cept I can't. But I can ask Danger! to ask Puppy."
"Just because you had that as a bumper sticker doesn't mean you always have to say 'Danger' that way."
"Of course it does! Danger!'s poking him now."
"Psst, Mǐn!" hissed Jin.
"Why are you whispering if you're a mental projection?"
"More fun. What're we doing?"
"I'm hiding for my life. What about you?"
"Eh, lying here with you. Not much room to pass a ball."
"We're under a display case, what did you expect? The mausoleum of the First Qin emporer?"
"I don't actually know who--oh, now I do." Jin studies the memory. "Yea, no, wasn't that." He rolls onto his stomach. "I was thinking there'd be a massive civilization of borrowed things run by tiny people."
"You don't know your own country's history but you remember details from two old British books."
Jin shrugs. "Candy wrappers."
"Hey Mǐn, Danger! says Puppy got a hold of Liu."
"Awesome, that is so great. Please thank them both for me."
"Ehh, about that..."
Jin grins. "I don't regret that sticker."
"I don’t either, fantastic choice." Then Typhoon sighs. "Liu's on the mainland."
"What?"
"Yea ... and your heart monitor didn't go off so he didn't think anything was out of the ordinary and didn't arrange anything."
"Why would I be scared? I'm trained for this! They didn't see me, they're not going to find me; I’m just bored and stuck."
"Also hungry," adds Jin.
"And hungry. Can you grab--Of course you can't, you're not corporeal."
"Yes indeed. Sorry though."
"Anyway, Liu said he knew people who are in the area and they'll be around soon," reports Typhoon.
"Oh," says Jin as the relevant memory fired. "Well, uh, this will be interesting." 
.
Angry yelling and shouting.
Pop.
Screams.
"One," thought Mǐn .
Roars of rage.
Pop. Pop.
"Three."
Rapid-fire Canton-
Pop.
"Four."
Sobbing.
Pop.
Screams.
"Please be five."
Crash.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
"Six?"
Silence.
"S'it safe?" whispered Jin.
"I dunno. I counted six cultists but there could be more. They might not all be dead either."
Silence.
"Are you scared?"
"I will be, in..." Mǐn dropped her eyes to her watch. "Three minutes."
Silence.
"Why three?"
"Takes four minutes to get from the front of the store to here."
Silence.
"Two minutes."
Silence.
"I'm getting kind of nervous."
"One minute."
Silence.
Cling-cling. Cling-cling. Cling-cling.
Mǐn closes her eyes, releases a long breath, and sticks her arm out from under the shelf.
Cling-cling. Cling-cling. Cli--
Something on her foot tugs on her ankle Mǐn screams twists as much as she can grabs the shelf kicks got free yanks herself back under.
Black combat boots with gold laces stepped into sight, and Dàiyù crouched down and peered into the gloom."Miss Yeung?"
"Here," panted Mǐn.
"Mr Chau was an idiot and says he's sorry." She turns away. ""That was really dumb.""
"As you've conveyed." A little louder, he says, "Sorry, sweetheart, didn't know if you were awake." From somewhere... probably over by the front of the electronics' section. 
"How many did you count?"
"Six." Dàiyù looks over her shoulder. "How many did we get?"
"Five, one made a break for it. Tige's rounding him up."
Dàiyù turns back to Mǐn. "Will you come out now?"
"Yea, once Jin stops digging into my neck."
"Ah, sorry Mǐmǐ." Jin forces his hands open and wiggles away.
"Again with the 'you're not actually here!'" 
"I'm reacting off you!" 
"Miss Yeung, you're talking to dead people again."
"I resent that!" yells Jin.
"Dude," says Mǐn, "you're dead."
Jin crosses his arms and sticks his nose in the air. "I will remain blissfully in denial until ... I don't remember how that ends."
"K, we're good." 
Dàiyù offers her hand.
"Thanks," says Mǐn, and lets herself be pulled out. "We've got to stop meeting like this," she joked.
"Last time this happened you clung to me and wouldn't let go for ten minutes."
"And then your boss drugged me."
"Well if you'd pass out like a normal person."
"I have four extra people in my head! What do you expect?"
"Back then you didn't!"
"If I give the Umber a pass this time do I have to see dead things?"
"You already do."
"Gruesome, not-related-to-me dead things?"
"Of course not," says Dàiyù, and points to her head. "You've got something..."
"Oh, right." Mǐn shakes her head upside-down and runs her hands through her hair.
Three dust bunnies floated to the ground.
"Good?"
Dàiyù makes a 'turn around' gesture. "You're disgusting," she says, brushing off Mǐn's hood with her sleeve. "Do they ever clean under there?"
"The dust bunnies say no."
Mr Chau looks back at them.
Dàiyù just looks mildly alarmed.
"By the sheer number? Heavens, have one giant robot AI and 3 ghosts in your head and suddenly everyone thinks you're crazy."
"Probably because most people who say that are," says Mr Chau. "'Round back?"
Dàiyù does a review. "Better not. Mǐn, close your eyes please."
Mǐn pulls up her hood and found her sunglasses. "Consider it done."
Category:Ficlets in need of language stuff
Category:Typhoon
Category:Jin
Category:Tang Min
Category:Daiyu
Category:Hannibal
Category:Tang Min has the absolute worst luck
Category:Jin (ficlet)
Category:Tang Min (ficlet)
Category:Hannibal (ficlet)
Category:Daiyu (ficlet)
Category:Typhoon (ficlet)
Category:Ficlet
Category:BuenaKai (mention)