Dive woke up and did his morning rituals and headed to the kitchen where the whole group was gathered. "Good morning!" he smiled brightly, grabbing a mug to make his morning cocoa.
"Morning." The others murmured quite... sullenly.
He cocked an eyebrow and glanced to each one. "What's wrong with you guys? You look all look like... well, like a plague hit Anaheim." He shrugged taking a sip.
Mal fixed at him with a weak look. "Dive, have you actually forgotten what day it is?" She asked, stirring her spoon in her coffee.
The teen frowned and shrugged, "No. It's Sunday." He took a seat between Hacker and Ace, and spoke matter-of-factly.
Grin sighed and asked, "What Sunday?"
"The last Sunday of the month." He raised one eyebrow.
He glanced at Duke seated right across him and the grey duck smiled weakly. "And that means...?" he gestured with his hand to the direction of Dive's room.
"No." The blond paled under his feathers and smiled weakly. "Nononononono...." And he rushed out of the kitchen, leaving the team and his cocoa, which Castel swiped off the table and now held in her hands. "NYRE! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY COMICS!!!!"
Duke sighed and sipped on his own cup. "Yup, he remembers alright... just a little too late. Bet she's already started sweeping out the bottom of his bed." Wildwing shook his head trying not to laugh.
Castel smiled and sat down, glancing to each of her friends. "Why do you guys freak every time Nyre cleans out your rooms? It's not like anything bad is gonna happen to your stuff."
All eyes darted in her direction and she smiled weakly, raising her hands before her. "TRUST us, you don't wanna know." Came the unison reply.
"Otay..." she squeaked out somewhere between a smile and a grimace.
Drake sighed and leaned back on his chair, "Well, if ya do..." He paused. "When she cleans... she CLEANS."
"Oh."
"So," Tanya said as she sat down beside Grin, handing him his cup of herbal tea. "Who'd she attack first this time?" Eyes glanced from left to right and then landed on a rather crimson Duke L'Orange. "You, I take it?"
He nodded, "Yeah." And sipped on his coffee once more.
"So how'd she attack DK?" Dee asked, calling him by the affectionate nickname she and Nyre had thought of not too long ago.
"Well..." he started, "as ya know, I get up at around four somethin' nowadays to do some practice fencing for myself."
"I take this has something to do with that competition you signed up for a week or two back?" Ace smiled and the duck nodded. "Anyway, I guess I darn forgot that it was... well... today and when I got back...." The memory of that morning returned to him...
* * *
Duke whistled as he stepped out of the elevator door in the Pond. As he rounded the corner to head for his room he stopped dead in his tracks. No. He thought as he gazed upon what stood before his slightly opened door.
A pail... a mop... some rags.
No, no... no-ho-ho-hoo... he winced and glanced at the opposite wall.
A dustpan, a broom and a rather large trash bin.
On the floor lay three opened packs of plastic bags. White was the smallest, and then pink, and black. That could only mean one thing...
"NO! NYRE! Out! Out! Not here! Not my room! OUT!!!" He rushed inside and tried to shoo the petite human away. She faced him and cocked the only eyebrow she could raise, her left brow.
"What?!" She asked, placing both hands on her hips. The grey duck winced. She was wearing her 'gear' alright.
The ebony-haired wonder stared up at him, in a pair of denim shorts, a red shirt, socks and beach sandals. On her shoulder was a wet rag, in her hands a soap-and-water mixture and a Scotch Brite sponge, her long hair twisted up the back of her head and secured with a large clip.
"Didja have ta start with mine?!" He dropped to his knees and clung onto her leg in mock despair. Nyre fixed him with one of her looks and he stood up. "So, what's the evaluation on my mess?" he gestured around the fairly clean room. It was safe to assume that she'd barely started when he'd come back from the inner gym.
"Weeeeeell..." she started and pulled out the white plastic bag. She shooed him out of the room seconds after. "Lemme start and I won't be long. You did good... this time." She smiled mischievously and slammed the door shut in his face.
This... is not good.
* * *
The team's teens were laughing hysterically on the floor as Duke smiled, realizing the amusement of the past situation. "Come to think of it, it wasn't too bad. She said my walls didn't need cleaning so all she'd had to do was empty out my trash bin and sweep a little here and there." He smiled and turned to the others. "How about the rest of ya?"
"Do you seriously think that any of us here haven't been victimized by the 'cleaning-wonder' already?" Hacker snorted and started to explain the predicament he and his roommate Ace had had that morning...
* * *
The sound of a vacuum cleaner reached Hacker and Ace's ears. The two glanced to each other immediately and paled. "It can't be!" Ace hissed to his best friend and grabbed for the calendar.
"Tell me it isn't, Ace, say it isn't so!" Hacker winced.
"It's so."
The door burst open. "Out! OUT!" Nyre pulled both of them from their mattresses and pushed them out into the doorway.
"Nyre!" The two boys cried indignantly, trying to glared her down. She waved a hand dismissively and scanned their 'area-of-responsibility'. She shook her head and pulled out one pink plastic bag, the medium sized kind of all her bags and quickly picked up the broom and dustpan in the other hand.
"No!" The door shut. "Darn it."
* * *
"Unmerciful, I tell you! Unmerciful!" Ace cried out in mock horror as if he was being eaten alive or... something. Castel swatted him and turned to Tanya. "Explain the 'bag theory' Mallory mentioned Taunny?"
The blonde tech laughed and smiled. "Okay." She paused for awhile. "Well, you see, when Nyre cleans out every last Sunday of the month, she brings along three kinds of plastic... erm, garbage bags. The white is the smallest, which is the size of a regular grocery bag. She uses that when you have little to take out. Like the trash in your personal trash bin and a few of the things she sweeps off the floor or the dust she wipes off." The hybrid nodded, an amused smile creeping onto her face.
"The pink, well, it's the medium-sized type about twice or thrice the size of the first bag. She uses this in cases like Hacker and Ace's room. Duke's on occasion as well."
"Hey!" the one-eyed duck swatted his teammate who stuck a tongue out at him.
"Admit it Duke, you'd be as bad as we are if Nyre wasn't doing this!" The two other boys in question laughed, the oldest duck snorted and raised his fist at them. The two scampered behind Mallory who leaned onto Drake, tears from laughing in the corner of her eyes.
"What about the black? If the pink was bad..."
"The black means you run for the hills." Mallory supplied as soon as she could speak. "Tanya?"
"Technically it would be totally outrageous if Nyre had to use that, since I personally use it for the lab and include in it the other stuff from the other general rooms. But in Nosedive's case--"
"Aw Nyre c'mon!" The younger duck's voice was suddenly heard from the hallway. Drake held up his hand and the others stifled their laughter to hear the conversation.
"Nuh-uh Dive, this has got to go!"
"NYRE!!!" Dive's voice pleaded. The sounds of knees being dragged on the floor were heard and moments later Nyre entered the room dragging out a filled black plastic, Dive on the floor clinging to her leg.
She looked up at the group and smiled as she opened the garbage shute at the back of the kitchen. "Pardonez moi." She smiled sweetly and pulled her foot away, and tossed the bag into the shute. "I'll not have any empty, greasy pizza boxes under your bed Dive. Now go get me a second black plastic and move your comics from those shelves!" He saluted sullenly and followed her back into the hallway.
The team exchanged glances.
"A s-second?!" Wing almost dropped his mug.
"Oh man! Nyre must be having a party cleaning out that kid's room!" Duke doubled over with laughter. The rest agreed thought nods were their only reply.
"Who else gets the black bag treatment?" Castel asked wiping a tear from her eye.
"Well... presently no one else." Tanya shrugged and put the mugs in the sink.
"Okay..." Castel laughed and leaned onto Dee who was grinning from ear to ear in amusement. "What do you get Grin? White or pink?"
"White." The large duck answered as he took on dishwasher duty. "An unclean room tends to find its way to bad karma. I clean my own."
"Why am I not surprised?"
The large duck paused and then winced, "Though there have been times when Nyre has engaged in cleaning mine as well."
"Oh really now...?" Castel glanced to the others.
"He forgets to scrape off some of the candle wax on the floor." Nyre suddenly came in, searched for something in the shelves then sighed, "But he doesn't really need a white plastic so it goes directly to the bin after sweeping." She gave her large friend a smile and then exited the room.
"That was fast." Dee put in as she placed the dry utensils in their drawer. "Anybody see what she got?" She glanced for replies.
"A spray." Drake answered putting away the placemats and leaving one for Nyre.
"Which one is the question. But forget it." Dee put Nyre's plate (with food), a fork, spoon and glass on top of the mat and covered it with a plastic, bowl-shaped thingy to protect it from any 'critters' that might crawl onto the table if they left.
"Hey Wing, how about you?" Castel turned to her 'father'. The hybrid fixed him with a questioning look as did the rest of his teammates. "I wanna hear more. What did she do to you? Tell! Tell!" Her eyes pleaded him and his jaw tightened suddenly at the recollection.
"Well..." He started then shook his head. "I don't know..."
"C'mon Wing. What'd she give you, a pink one?!" Duke interjected jokingly, but the look on Wing's face told him it was no joke. Wing couldn't have gotten a pink... Nyre used white in his!
"No way..." Mal started as she turned to face their captain. "She didn't."
The white duck winced at the memory, "she did."
* * *
Wildwing got out of the shower and changed into his clothes. He glanced to the mirror and ran a hand through his almost dry hair.
Rap. Rap. Rap. Came the knock on the door.
Who could this be? He glanced to the alarm clock on his table. 6:35. It's... early. He went and opened the door. "Nyre!" He said, startled to find her at his door. "Why aren't you asleep?"
"Cleaning day." She said simply and slipped beneath his arm into the room. "Uhm... what's wrong with this picture Wing?"
"Wha...?"
The tiny human turned back at him, a slight frown on her face. "Why am I sensing that I got the wrong plastic bag?" She raised the white plastic she prepared since she already knew which rooms needed what plastic.
"What d'ya mean?" He asked, rather defensive.
"Excuse me for a moment." She slipped out then entered again with her broom, dustpan, rag and pink plastic. "Please tell me this happens only once in a blue moon. I don't want to think that you've graduated from the white ones as Dive graduated from the pink not too long ago."
"No! No! It's not that..." He winced, sitting down on his chair. She gave him a lopsided smile and planted a quick peck on his cheek. "I'll count on that. Now out! Scoot! I need to clean!"
"Wait. This is so unfair. Why can't you start with the others?!" He protested as she pushed him out. "I've already done the others." Were her last words before the door closed shut.
* * *
"Okay..." Dee suppressed a giggle.
"NYRE!!!" Came Dive's voice from the hall.
"What?!" Came the shrieking reply.
"They're at it again." Grin covered his ears. This was not gonna be pretty. The team peered out into the hallway to see Dive looking down on a very snappy-looking Nyre.
"Dive, I am cleaning -- and that is THAT!" She narrowed her eyes.
"Well watch it okay! Those are..." He glanced to the things in the black trash bag.
"TRASH!" Nyre supplied.
"Keepsakes from the party last week!"
"Oh yeah... used cups and napkins and that..." She shuddered. "Moldy take-out from who knows where it came from are KEEPSAKES?!" She rolled her eyes. "Oh puh-lease... those have got to be soooo valuable." She retorted sarcastically.
Silence filled the room.
Duke held up his fingers for the team to see. Two... three... four....
Nyre darted into the room and locked a screaming Nosedive out as she continued with her 'mission'. Dive plunked down on the floor and pouted.
"Hey Dive." Wing approached his brother. The blond teen glanced up then continued to glared at the locked door. "C'mon baby bro, let's go back to the kitchen with the others."
The teen hesitated then reluctantly followed.
"So tell me more." Castel asked once more as soon as they all moved into the Rec room. "About what?" Dive asked sitting himself beside his favorite playmate. "Mom and her antics when it comes to days like this."
"Oh yeah... tell me about it." The teenaged duck beside her snorted as he found his place on the couch. "Well, actually, I don't mind that she cleans." Several pairs of eyebrows shot up. "Really!" He glanced from face to face. "I don't... as long as she's careful... I don't want another reenactment of what happened, what was it Dee...? Two months ago? Three months?"
"Four, Dive." Nyre's foster sister grinned and recounted the incident.
* * *
The whole team had gathered in the Rec room the evening of Nyre's 'cleaning'. There were no smiles, no looks of thanks. Just... frowns. The atmosphere was that of a courtroom.
The defendant: Nyre Leviste. Placed on the stand due to her obssessive cleaning... or so they said.
The prosecution: Duke L'Orange, Nosedive Flashblade... and a few others who requested to be kept anonymous.
The judge: Wildwing Flashblade.
The jury: Tanya Vanderflock, Mallory McMallard, Deanna Kerse, Hacker Randall, Ace Matheson, Grin and Drake Freewind.
The verdict:
Guilty as charged.
Wildwing sighed. "You are hereby banned... yes, banned... for a month, from all things related to cleaning, outside your own room and area. I'll decide who does what when the time comes. Understand me Nyre?"
"Okay." The girl smiled. "Your loss." She hopped off the couch and headed for the door. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him. "What...?"
"Nothing. You're overdoing this, understand that we're doing this for your own good." She nodded, smiling. Then he turned to face the group. "Sorry... I kinda got carried away and did some things I shouldn't have."
"Tell me about it," Dive retorted from his seat, "It felt like I didn't even know my own room. Hey Nyre, next time you clean, don't move the stuff okay?"
"Same here princess." Duke pinched her cheek and she swatted his hand away. The two began a mock fight and Wing laughed as he broke them apart. "Enough!"
* * *
Castel was on the floor holding her stomach and laughing hysterically. The others shook their heads and then Nyre walked past the door carrying her supplies to the broom closet at the farther end of the hall. Minutes after depositing the mop, broom, dustpan, trash bags and trash bin, she shut the door.
Drake paled. "Yipes!" He rushed out and darted past Nyre to head to his room.
"What's with Drake?" Castel asked.
Mallory snickered, "see what Nyre's holding?"
"The pail, the soap-and-water solution and several rags and a Scotch Brite. What?"
"She's doing Drake's walls. She saw them earlier and freaked. He was gonna change so she delayed his room for later. Right now... I think...."
"NYRE!!!"
"Drake! Shaddup! OUT!"
Mal burst out laughing, "Yup. She got him!"
Dee and Castel blinked. "She got him... bad."
"What?"
Seconds later, Drake rounded the corner.
Completely --
-- and totally --
-- drenched in soap water.
Nyre peeked out from the corner, her soap-and-water solution bottle empty. She grinned and scampered off. Drake opened his mouth to say something but stopped and sighed. The team burst out laughing, and this time, no one stopped.