He peered inside of the orphanage. He was too tired to realize when he first dropped off his forage but the first floor was so clean. It smelled a bit dusty but was otherwise clean. Exhausted, the boy climbed upstairs running into Ruben holding a basin carefully watching his steps. "Ah, want me to help?"

"No, just rest. You've already done a good job today." Ergo looked in the basin which contained some wood shavings. Weird... why's he not at work? "Oh okay," climbing up the stairs Ruben was delighted to see the second floor was also clean. "Whoahhh!" He exclaimed. He took off his boots, and jumped into his bed.

The sheets were fluffy, and newly cleaned. They were soft to the touch. Laying down on them, it practically ate away at his fatigue. It felt cold and relaxing. The sheets were of course just that, sheets. They were a bit yellow and were a bit hard. Cleaning it made it feel softer and whiter. "It's like newly bought sheets!"

Staring at the boy with green eyes and brown hair, the girl with white hair flinched. His boots dragged dirt all over the floor, dirtying it. "If you're going to dirty the floor, you should clean it!" Lyrica said, annoyed.

"W-what?" The boy replied.

"Look where you left your boots! You should place them somewhere more carefully!"

"Right right, I was just excited." Ruben replied in a casual tone, he got off the bed reluctantly and placed his boots in a rack. "There happy?"

"..."

"O-oh..." Ergo looked at his feet and his footsteps. He dirtied the floor with his filth, the boots dragging dirt and dust from the forest. "Fine, fine I'm gonna clean it." Ergo sighed. This is so weird...

He opened the closet, holding down his breath careful to not inhale dust. He closed his eyes, bracing for impact. But the dust never came. "Huh?"

"I already cleaned..."

"R-right."

He picked up the broom resting inside and swept the dirt off the floor and left them in the stairs. "There, done can I rest now?"

"..."

He let out a frustrated groan and swept the dirt off the stairs. He then realized that he also dirtied the first floor. He swept all of it, proud of progress. Until other children showed up. "Wait!" he warned, but it was already too late. They entered the orphanage and spread dirt all around again. "Get out!! Clean your boots first!" The other children stammered, but reluctantly complied seeing the mess that they did.

He spent his time carefully sweeping, telling the children to wash their boots only letting them come in once he was sure they won't dirty the interior. Ruben looked on, but let the situation happen. Well... it's not like what he's doing is bad, I'll just leave them be.

Tired and exhausted, he sort of enjoyed what he did. He saw the floor getting cleaner and cleaner as he swept, happy that he was getting progress. "Well, good job." Ruben looked around, impressed.

"Heh, I can do this everyday," he bragged.

"Oh really? Sure you can," Ruben smirked and patted Ergo's head.

Soon enough third bell rang, along with Jodie and some children coming home. They were had baskets over their backs, with a few potatops, carrops, and celerits in it as well as some dried fish and some bottles of milk. "Hello," Jodie greeted the both of them.

"Wait! Wash your boots first, we don't want to dirty the floor again." Ergo announced.

"We don't have time for that, these are heavy." Jodie replied, tired. "Now now, look at what Ergo did first Jodie, his did great work today." Ruben said, pointing at the floor. "It's... clean. Fine..." Jodie replied, handing the baskets to the both of them, washing her boots by the well first before coming in. Signalling the children with her to do the same. Ergo and Ruben took trips, putting the baskets in the cellar.

♦ ♦ ♦

Sleeping upstairs, Lyrica heard the faint hum of music by her bedside. She woke up and rubbed her eyes, searching for the source of the melody, finding Jodie sitting on her bed near a window playing her flute. Her long auburn hair flowing down to her waist, with a nostalgic look in her pink eyes.

The children were downstairs, either playing or helping Ruben to cook. Some though, are sleeping upstairs.

Lyrica clapped startling Jodie, it was a wonderful performance, for her standards anyways.

"Oh, did you hear all of that?" Jodie asked.

"Yeah! It sounded really good. What's that thing called?"

"It's a flute."

"Floot?"

"A flute, it's got these holes and you cover them and you make a different sound if you blow on it." Jodie demonstrated.

"Oh! Can I try?"

"Hm..." Jodie hesitated. "Maybe next time, this is my flute." Jodie held the flute in her arms, as if it was something special.

"Eh..." Lyrica sounded, clearly disappointed.

"What about this? I'll play the flute for you whenever you want." Jodie replied, playing a tune.

The melody wasn't that impressive, it was shaky at times. Her music also gave out, losing her breath often. Her fingers weren't nimble enough, the notes were sometimes off. But Lyrica enjoyed it anyway, it reminded her of her mother humming her a lullaby as she slept.

"Well, did you like it?" Jodie asked, anxious.

"Yeah! I enjoyed it!" Lyrica answered honestly, although she liked it for entirely different reasons.

"I'm glad you did." Jodie stood up, and patted her head making Lyrica release a 'hnnnn' sound. "Just tell me when you want to hear it again."

"O-okay! Uhh... your name?"

"It's Jodie," she reached her hand out to Lyrica. "And you?"

"Lyrica!" she grasped Jodie's hand and shook it.

"Okay Lyri," she laughed.

Soon enough fourth bell rang and shook the other children awake. It signaled for noontime, lunch causing the children playing outside to come home. "Well, shall we?" Jodie asked, inviting Lyri for lunch.

"O-okay." Lyri replied.

They headed downstairs, taking a bowl from a nearby tray and taking a seat on the chairs lined at the table. Lyrica took a seat next to Jodie.

"Ahem," Ruben sounded. "I'd like to introduce someone, you've seen her before..." Ruben shifted the spotlight to Lyrica.