The majority of the day had gone by. For the most part, Seek spent that time reading over various children's books. After she had finished that, she painted a portrait. Painting was one of the things she enjoyed, and didn't find stress in doing.
The sun had set several hours before, and it was past the time humans usually came through. There was one human that came through the elevator at the front of the hotel, but it was very quickly killed by Rush. The dead body wasn't given time to stain the carpet since it was a rule to clean up the bodies of the people you kill.
Seek set up her portrait on one of the higher bookshelves. It was high enough that a ladder was necessary to reach it. She didn't want any of the younger Screeches touching it and smudging the paint. Seek climbed down the ladder, then looked at the clock. It just about midnight, which meant Seek would have to start teaching the Screeches again in just a few hours. Her days always felt so short since she had so many responsibilities.
Seek left the library to go back to the infirmary to check on Figure. She figured she'd need to replace his bandages and check if he had torn any stitches. She was glad to see that Jeff had closed his shop for the day and nobody was in that room. El Goblino had even dragged that skeleton out of the room somehow. Seek didn't understand why El Goblino even liked that skeleton so much.
Seek soon opened the infirmary door once again and saw Figure sitting in that same spot on the bed. This time, Figure didn't seem so scared. Not only because of his assurance from Rush and Ambush, but also because at that point, he recognized Seek's footsteps.
"Inky." Figure acknowledged Seek's presence. Seek didn't waste any time going over to him and removing the bandages on his shoulder. Figure waited patiently while he felt Seek messing with his shoulder.
"Make up your mind yet?" Seek asked while inspecting the stitches on his shoulder. None of them were torn or ripped out, which she was happy to see.
"I'll stay. Rush and Ambush, I think, recommended I stay." Figure answered. "And I guess it doesn't seem so bad here after all."
"Yeah, Rush and Shark, that makes sense." Seek continued. "They run around the hotel together a lot. Sometimes race each other. If they're ever too loud for you, just let them know." Seek opened a chest again and dug around the contents of it.
"Tell me it's not infected." Figure requested. He really didn't want infection.
"It's not infected. Quit being paranoid." Seek sighed, then took out some items from the chest and stood back up. "It's practically healed already. I'm surprised. It usually takes at least a week for monster wounds to heal up this far." Seek explained, then looked back to Figure's shoulder. "At this point, your stitches are more likely to make new tears than keep the other one shut. You don't need them anymore."
Figure suddenly looked nervous. "You don't plan on removing the stitches now, right?" Figure asked. He fidgeted with his thumbs, which was something he seemed to do a lot when nervous.
"Is there a reason why I shouldn't remove them now?" Seek asked curiously while preparing a needle. "Your shoulder is better off without them. I don't see why I shouldn't remove the stitches."
"Infection." Figure responded bluntly.
"Is that all you ever think about?" Seek rolled her eye. "It's always infection this and infection that. "Oh my God! I'm gonna get an infection!" Do you realize how hard it likely is for you to get an infection? Your shoulder healed itself in practically two days." Seek stuck the needle in his shoulder to numb it.
"It's a valid concern. I have every right to be wary about infection, especially when I don't know the cleanliness of the tools you're using." Figure said and held still. He wasn't going to try to fight Seek while she was removing stitches. It would end up causing more damage than good.
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Seek gave Figure a frustrated look, even though he couldn't see it. "I understand that, but I doubt it's even possible for you to have an actually dangerous infection. I'm not going to argue with you about this further." Seek said, then clipped some of the stitches with a pair of small scissors. "It shouldn't even take that long." Seek finished clipping each stitch, then pried at one.
"Ah! Hey- that hurts!" Figure yelped. Seek stopped pulling at it and sighed. She had to be patient and let his shoulder get numb, even though she wasn't feeling patient and just wanted to rip the stitches out, then leave. Seek tapped her foot and stared around the room.
"So did anybody else come through here other than Rush and Shark? Any kids or goblins?" Seek asked out of boredom. Figure shook his head. "No? Or are you just not snitching?" Seek asked to be sure.
"Uh... I'm not not snitching." Figure answered.
"So you're not snitching as in they did come through here and you're not snitching?"
"What?" Figure tilted his head. "No, I'm not snitching as in I have nothing to snitch about. Nobody but Rush and Ambush came through here." Figure explained. Seek squinted at him.
"Numb yet?" Seek asked another question and tapped Figure's shoulder. Figure didn't notice, then reached up to tap his shoulder himself. He nodded his head. Seek immediately got back to pulling the stitches out of his shoulder. Figure waited quietly and patiently for Seek to finish what she was doing.
"Will I be staying here for long?" Figure spoke up and asked. "Or is there somewhere else in the hotel I can stay?" Seek thought about his question for a while while pulling out each stitch. "This room echos a lot, and I know I shouldn't fear all the noises, but I can't help it."
"You may go anywhere in the hotel, but you have to be careful." Seek answered, then proceeded to set some rules. "If you're going to wander around, you can't be reckless, you can't break anything, and you can't stain anything with blood or anything else that stains." Seek continued again. "Steer clear of the greenhouse in general. There are spiky plants on the ground, and you can easily step on them if you can't see."
"And... Where is that?" Figure questioned. He wanted to be sure he could stay away from the greenhouse.
"Near the end of the hotel. If you're unsure of which direction you're going, just ask somebody. Rush and Shark run laps around the hotel a lot, so you'll likely be able to ask them." Seek finished pulling out the last stitch. "If you do manage to go through the greenhouse without getting a hole in your foot, just know that the last area of the hotel is considered a hazard. There's an elevator with weak cables and down the elevator shaft, there's unwanted creatures."
"... Ahuh..." Figure sounded quietly. Seek could tell by his tone that he was uncomfortable with the uncertainty of the end of the hotel.
"Don't worry about it, you probably won't have to go over there anyway." Seek reassured, then put the tools she used back into one of the chests.
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Figure sighed and rubbed his arm nervously.
Seek shrugged in response. "Maybe. Or maybe I'm discouraging you from being reckless. I recommend you stick to the areas you know are safe. That way you can be more comfortable, and in turn, kill intruders less hesitantly."
Figure started fidgeting with his thumbs again. He kind of forgot that protecting the hotel was one of the things that came with living in the hotel. He didn't know how to kill anything, especially since he was blind. He was also concerned as to how he was supposed to kill something without leaving a significant mess. By then, Figure knew Seek hated blood and messes.
All while Figure was thinking those things, Seek was thinking other things. She wondered how trustworthy this guy was, and considered if she should tell him to stay away from the library or not. The Screeches often gathered there, and she still couldn't quite tell if she trusted Figure around them.
Seek couldn't exactly tell Figure to steer clear of the library entirely. She knew it was right in the middle of the hotel, and in order to get from one end of the hotel to the other, one would have to go through the library, or around it. Rush and Ambush went around by going outside of the hotel, then reentering after the library. Seek had them stay out due to their ignorance and them knocking books off of shelves while rushing through. Seek also realized Figure was blind and probably shouldn't wander around outside.
"I will also say, you should try not to spend too much time in the library." Seek said, then continued to say her compromise. "If you need me, I'll probably be in there, but if I'm not there, you should probably leave to somewhere else in the hotel entirely. And also stay away from the kids' rooms."
"But I thought you just said I could go anywhere I wanted to?" Figure asked, confused. "Why is it I need your supervision in the library? Are there fragile valuables there?"
"... Yes." Seek lied. She didn't want to offend him by directly saying she didn't trust him around the Screeches yet. "It's pretty... Decorated... So there are a lot of things that could be broken, and aren't replaceable."
"And your kids' rooms?" Figure questioned again.
"Also valuables in their rooms, too. And in the hallway outside of their rooms. Just- Just try not to spend much time in there." Seek explained. Figure nodded and pretended like he understood the reasoning. He didn't understand why Seek would keep fragile decorations in kids' rooms and not the rest of the hotel.
"So I need to steer clear of the greenhouse onward, and not spend much time in the kids' hallway and library?" Figure listed.
"Correct." Seek confirmed. Figure scratched his chin awkwardly. "That's basically it. You'll meet the other residents as well. They might like you." Seek added. "There's too many to introduce myself, so I'll just leave it to you to come across them." Figure nodded again. Seek looked at a clock on the wall. Not much time had passed, but she didn't have else she needed to do there. "Don't be reckless, and be careful with your shoulder. I'll be going now. You'll likely find me in the library if you need me."
"But not linger in there, correct?" Figure asked again to confirm, still confused.
"Correct." Seek confirmed again. "I'll see you later, Corpuscle."
"Likewise, Inky." Figure responded. Seek gave a nod, then went to the infirmary's door and left the room. Figure noted that Seek's footsteps were almost wet sounding. Maybe she was truly all ink. Figure remained a little baffled at that idea.
Figure sat alone in the infirmary once again. He had permission to leave and had some vague directions, but he didn't really see a point in going anywhere quite yet. He also figured it would be a little weird to go explore right after Seek left the room, especially if he chose to go through the same door as she did. He realized he also forgot to ask Seek where the kids' rooms even were, and didn't want to accidentally stumble upon them.
Like usual, Seek went back to the library to wait for the Screeches to arrive for their lessons. There was still a while left before then, so she went to her usual spot to sit. At the desk, doing nothing. At least what looked like nothing to an outsider. In actuality, Seek was constantly paying attention to any vibrations in the walls caused by intruders, and also supplying the hotel's energy with the watermills.
Seek never actually got a real break. Ever. She wouldn't say she was okay with that, but she also knew it would be unwise to stop running the hotel. Especially when it held so many residents.
