Chapter 75: [Cleaning]
There was no real way to tell time.
Their internal clocks was all they had, and after that much time it was simply impossible to know if it was even day, outside of this place.
The dungeon was a constant through time.
What happened in it never fluctuated, its behavior barely changed and what they needed to do remained.
Mori spent what she thought to be a night by Mori's side, watching his every move, and changing the folded cloth on his forehead.
His fever barey went down, she had no idea if it was even useful, but that's all she knew how to do.
While it was dark, it seemed as if dawn came around every time his consciousness pushed through.
Those moments where he was back, talking like nothing happened.
Before disappearing once more, leaving her behind.
She sat there, gazing at him.
She looked at his strained facial expression, his muscles tensing up or his hands tightening.
"What can I do?!" she asked.
She got up, stomping her way to the Unkindled.
She picked him up, staring into its slowly opening eyes.
"Answer me!"
Nothing.
Her grasp slightly tightened on the cat, but she let it down gently.
Even in anger, hurting an animal wasn't something she could do.
"It's all my fault."
She sat next to the Unkindled, bringing her knees to her forehead.
"I've lived sheltered from making any meaningful decision. I couldn't even cook before coming here. Look at me. I'm useless."
The room was silent, besides the occasional crackling of the fire and her quiet sobs.
"Mori is right. Without my maids, I can't handle anything. They would know what to do here."
Nobody could help Mori, right now.
Aleesia burried her head deeper, tightening her hold on her legs.
Minutes passed, until she finally got up, wiping her cheeks.
She went toward the fire, to make soup. He wasn't conscious for long periods of time, maybe something fast to eat was better.
She got the shop open, getting the ingredients necessary with the little kindle she had.
The Unkindled made its way next to her, laying down to her right.
"Yeah yeah. I'll give you some."
He started purring, bringing a faint smile to her face. She wasn't completely alone.
She made it to the best of her abilities, letting it slightly cool down for now by raising it higher over the fire.
She took a small cup, pouring some in for the Unkindled.
She went back to the armchair next to Mori's bed.
Waiting.
After what felt like an hour, she put her hand on his shoulder.
His skin was hot, almost as much as his forehead, surprising her. She shook him slightly.
He wasn't waking up, so she shook harder, but nothing.
She didn't want to cause more damage, so she stopped trying to wake him up.
"Are you really going to leave me here..."
She waited and waited, but he didn't wake up. His temperature wasn't going down either.
She jumped up, going toward the fire.
Experience tales with m v|l e'm,p y r
"Fuck! I can't even do soup properly?!"
She quickly took the pot off the fire, most of it already evaporated, despite the low heat.
"Why is nothing going right?!"
She took a spoon and scooped some, tasting it.
She grimaced, putting the pot back on the ground.
With most water gone, the taste was salty and slightly bitter.
"No worries. I've got this. I'll make more."
She started the whole process over, carefully doing her best to have it less salty this time as well.
Once done, she carefully set it aside.
"I'll just heat it up, if needed."
She glanced toward Mori, but there was no movement.
"Let me know if you want more," she said, looking at the cat.
She then looked around, looking for anything to do.
She sighed.
Clothes were everywhere, hers, really. They were cheap, and she found it easier to buy new one than cleaning the old stuff.
It ranged from 5-10 kindle to 100 depending what she was looking at.
Her practices were quickly stopped by Mori when he noticed it, but everything she had was now decorating the ground.
She pushed everything into a big pile next to the water buckets.
"Now, soap..."
The shop was huge, now. Mori helped her unlock higher tiers by using the recycler, something he thought could be useful, eventually.
He was right this whole time, she thought.
Once she finished with the laundry, only needing to let it soak for a moment, she turned around again, facing the room.
"What now..."
She proceeded to clean around the fire they used for cooking, they had been using it a lot but it was extremely clean.
For one, they didn't need to replace the logs, and it was as if the smoke wasn't even there. The ceiling was in perfect condition, and they were breathing just fine.
The fire was unnatural, but still, it was surprising.
After the fire, she moved on to all the dishes.
She would only clean what she needed, leaving everything dirty. Mori would normally get upset, sigh loudly, and clean everything.
She dropped everything in a bucket of water, and cleaned every dishware and cookingware she could find.
It took her a moment, but pride overtook her once it was done.
She was smiling, while drying her hands on her pants.
"Alright! I can do anything! What's next?!"
She turned around again, looking at the room.
Her eyes were set on the Unkindled.
I can read your mind. No thank you.
Her grin grew larger.
She picked the Unkindled up, it was as easy as picking a newborn kid.
She dropped him in a bucket of water, rubbing him and playing with its hair.
The Unkindled's expression remained unchanged, but she could tell he wasn't having a good time.
Once done, she got him out, putting him on the floor next to her.
She expected him to shake, like animals did after swimming in the lake, but since he didn't, she dried him herself.
"Wasn't so bad, was it?"
Slowly, he walked back to the small flame, laying next to it, closing his eyes.
"Alright!"
She once again turned around, looking for something else to do.