Salamandastron: Corridor to Dormitories

After a short distance from the Second Level intersection, the passage widens out to a rectangular hallway in which six or seven hares could walk abreast. Placed at regular intervals are the doors to the dormitories. The doors are staggered so that a torch burns across the hall from every cherry wood door.

From the intersection comes Dandelion, the young buck dragging with him a large bucket full of soap water, and a mop tucked under his arm. He sets down the former with a heavy thud, and leans the latter against the wall while he rests for a bit, looking up and down the passage appraisingly.

With a short sigh, Dandelion grabs the mop and dunks it in the bucket, and starts to mop right where he stands at the beginning of the passage.

Dandelion mops with both enthusiasm and routine, if not one hundred percent accuracy, and has soon covered enough of a distance that he needs to take a break and move the bucket forward.

With the bucket stationed closer, Dandelion gives the mop a new dunk, and returns to swabbing the floor.

Having worked his way past two doors, the buck decides to take a little break. Dandelion leans his mop against the wall and stands around for a bit, looking down the length of the passage.

Dandelion grunts, and gets hold of his mop again, returning to work. He's not working quite as fast or enthusiastically now as when he started, but work progresses at a steady pace nonetheless.

Ho, hum. Dandelion sighs, and keeps mopping. The passage appears to grow longer and longer the more he mops, and his arms are getting heavy.

Before he's managed more than just a short way past the next door, Dandelion has to pause again to rest his arms.

Break's over, and Dandelion grabs the mop again, pretending for a while that it's a spear, and does a few lunges and thrusts at an imagined enemy - and getting himself quite wet in the process.

Dandelion gets a little too excited in his pretend fight, making a fierce lunge and exclaiming a fierce "Ha!" which turns into a surprised "Aah?" as the lunge takes him onto the wet floor, and he slips and falls, landing on his back.

Dandelion scrambles to get on his feet again before anyone notices him lying on the floor. Naturally, he just manages to get his feet tangled in the mop, and winds up on his back again.

Unfortunately for Dandelion, the Colonel has just entered the corridor from the second level intersection. Instead of continuing on towards the leaders' dormitories, however, she stops short before the tangled mess that is Dandelion and the mop. She clears her throat - to gently announce her presence - and then reaches a paw down to Dandelion, to help him up.

Dandelion frees himself from the mop with an irritated series of kicks, and then reaches to grab the helping paw, at the same time craning his neck around to see one of the few hares he's already learned to recognise. "Oh... H-hello, ma'am." he says, and promptly salutes, while still on his back.

Smirking as he salutes, Zoe merely shakes her head and pulls him up by the paw. "Hullo - Dandelion, righ'?" She releases the buck's paw and stands back.

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am." Dandelion does his best to stand in a dignified manner, which is difficult since his backside is soaking wet from lying on the wet floor, and his elbows ache from the landing. "I'm moppin' the floor." he explains.

Zoe_Lang looks down at the mop, and then back up at Dandelion. She can see that he's soaked. "Ah... well. Generally one'd use the mop 'n' not yerself." Heh... heh.

Dandelion couldn't have looked more devastated if he had been hit with a club. "Yes, ma'am..." he mumbles, flushed with embarassment.

Zoe_Lang chuckles at Dan's embarrassment and shakes her head. "No, ah- that was a joke." Zoe grins faintly. "At ease, lad."

Dandelion shifts nervously from paw to paw. "I slipp'd." he says shyly. "Didn't intend to."

Zoe_Lang nods and reaches out to pat Dan reassuringly on the shoulder. "Don't even worry about it, lad. Ya want t'... go get cleaned up?" She glances towards the recruit dorms and back to the buck.

Dandelion is - admittedly - feeling a bit wet, but then he's a Long Patrol hare and shouldn't care about these things, should he now? Of course not. "I'm fine, ma'am." he says, and puts on a brave smile. "I'll dry up as I work."

Zoe_Lang shrugs. "Suit yerself, lad..." She crouches down and picks up the mop, which she then holds out to Dandelion. "So've you settled in, lad?"

Dandelion takes the mop and nods. "Yes, ma'am. I only get lost occas'nally."

Zoe_Lang nods. "Good lad." She looks behind Dan then, towards the officer dorms. "Well... I've got t' be goin'. Keep up the good work, eh?"

Dandelion nods. "Yes, ma'am." he says, saluting again, and then grabs the mop in both hands, ready to get back to work.