Indigo nodded grimly, letting the toilet speak for itself. She went over to the far end of the sitting room, as there were no windows in the bathroom, and drew back the curtains. After a moment of breathing in the fresh air now filtering into the room, they wandered back to the bathroom.
“Is there anything that’s more of my skill level that could do to… help out?” she offered, leaning on the door frame.
They hummed very faintly in thought. "Not at the moment, thank you." they got to work on the toilet, eyes narrowed faintly as they examined what plumbing was visible, taking the lid off of the tank to get a view of the inner workings.
She nodded, then ambled back into their room, rather unsure what to do now. The only thing she could think of was going back to sleep. At the same time, there was a sense that she should be doing something, not just standing or sleeping around. But this was another rare moment of rest, of relief, and they should make the most of it, right?
They sat on the edge of their cot, looking down at their chest. Taking their hands, she pushed against it, trying to make her chest more flat. But her hands could only do so much, and it was probably better to wait a bit longer before she put the binder back on. They sighed, laying themself down on the cot, beginning to drift between half-consciousness and dreaming.
The plumber continued working to unclog the toilet, surprisingly quiet while doing so. Other than the obvious sounds of the wrench and the piping, there was no coughing or undue retching. Then again, the plumber was probably used to working in these kinds of conditions.
The sounds of the wrench and piping seemed to meld into Indigo’s dreams, adding a strange layer of realness over the nonsensical things they saw.
She could see… the prince. He was mad at her for some reason, and was using a wrench to smack her on the head. And then somehow, the prince was replaced by Lady Olympia, who was also mad at her for some reason. Her lips moved… she was screaming at Indigo to do something, to finish some sort of task, but they could never make out what it was. But then she disappeared, and Indigo was in some sort of forest. It might have been the forest behind the Thistlewell Estate, but the dream made it all at once familiar and unfamiliar. It might not have been. Indigo simply trekked through the wooded path until someone appeared ahead of her. It… was her father. Their father, but he was old and gray. Was he dying? Indigo was suddenly in his arms, a mere child, looking into a dying man’s face. She wanted to apologize for some reason. For being born? She sure did cause him a lot of trouble. Her father seemed to nod in agreement before withering away, dying quickly in the way humans often did. His ashes blew in the wind, morphing into an ashen raven. Indigo followed it, her child self growing up as they went deeper into the wood. Deeper, deeper, into nothingness.
The plumber continued to work, plunging the toilet and working again to help it flush normally. They didn't seem to mind working alone in the relative silence, unspeaking save for when, every now and again, they would let out quiet little hums as they worked to find solutions for the problem the plumbing faced.
The transition from sleep to wakefulness was seamless, so much so that Indigo wasn’t sure if she was still dreaming or not for a second. She sat up, when suddenly they became aware that their face was wet. They had been crying. When? As they were sleeping? But they didn’t feel sad… she didn’t really feel anything. Or maybe she felt something, but didn’t know what it was. Just a weird dream. Just a weird dream.
She wiped her eyes, then slowly got out of the cot. They wandered back over to the bathroom to check on the plumber’s progress, pinching her nose.
The plumber looked up when they came in. "I'm nearly done." they said, shifting. They were in a crouch, wrench in their hand as they worked on the toilet and its plumbing. "And then I'll be out of here." they didn't ask any questions of her; it wasn't their busines what Indigo was going through, and they had no wish to intrude.
Their hand dropped to their side, realizing that it didn’t smell as bad as it did before. She offered them a smile. “Wonderful. Thanks again.”
At first she thought to find something to do other than sleep, but something else occurred to her. They turned back, raising a hand to her chin. “Oh, I should’ve asked…” they said. “What’s your name?”
They blinked at them. "Lor." They replied after a moment. "Lor Aldred. And you are?" They returned to their work after a moment, though still obviously listening for Indigo's response to their question.
Maybe it was because they were human, so they felt safe somehow, or maybe it was because she felt rude for how she acted when they came, but Indigo wanted to talk more with Lor. Besides, better sooner make friends here than enemies.
They blinked. “Oh, um, right,” they said awkwardly. “Indigo Umbra. Nice to make your acquaintance.”
"Nice to make yours as well." The plumber agreed, standing in order to check over the toilet. They hoped that they had succeeded in fixing it, but they weren't sure. If their fixes hadn't worked, than it was likely a larger issue than they'd thought, and it would take even more time to fix.
Indigo could not find a way to continue the conversation, and even suddenly felt bad for starting it in the first place. She was probably getting in the way of them doing their job. So, even tho Lor stood up, they gave a small nod and headed to the sitting room, looking over it and deciding to clean it as well.
Lor came out of the bathroom after a few minutes. "It should be good now." They said. "If there are any more problems, let me know." They gave her a quick smile. They had washed their hands and cleaned off, so there wasn't anything left on their hands from fixing it up.
Indigo raised their head to face the plumber, a bundle of clothes in their arms. “Thank you again,” she said, returning the smile. “Will you be on your way?”
Lor nodded, holding their box of tools. "I will be, yes." they replied, taking a step towards the door and giving Indigo another quick, friendly smile.
Indigo waved them farewell and turned back to the clothes, setting them on the couch and beginning to fold them. Years of practice made them very quick at the task, and soon she took the stack of now folded clothes into the prince’s bedroom and setting them on the bed, unfamiliar with the place and therefore unsure of where the close would go. There was another door in the room that most likely led to a closet, but Indigo didn’t want to meddle in the prince’s space.
Riven was still at the party, laughing and drunk and high, pupils blown out with the effects of everything he had imbibed. He would likely stumble back to his room in the wee small hours of the dawn, maybe with a lover, maybe not, but either way he would be half out of his mind with the alcohol and drugs taken.
(I just noticed I said “her” I’m sorry dkjdnkdjnd)
(it's fine lmao)
Indigo stayed in the bedroom for a while longer, picking up more clothes, folding them, and stacking them with the others. At one point she passed by a mirror on the wall, and upon glimpsing at their chest quickly looked away. They always reminded herself to stay away from mirrors whenever they didn’t have a binder on, but sometimes they were hard to avoid. Thoughts of distaste for her appearance rose up in her mind, but they just shook her head to clear it of those thoughts went on with what they were doing.
Once she was done with the clothes, she moved back to the sitting room and went over to the desk. After surveying the area, they took the papers and stack them evenly, and then rearranged the books. She then stepped back to look around the room and found a few paintings that hung crookedly. After straightening them, they found nothing else to do. Indigo turned and peeked into the bathroom, then looked back at the sitting room. A sigh fell from her lips. Much better. The clean space created a sense of satisfaction and peace in them, and finally they felt better than they’d ever felt that day.
The idea to sneak into the library again came to her now, but the desire to sleep over-rid that quickly. With the peace and satisfaction also came exhaustion, and Indigo retired to her room.
(do we wanna just timeskip again, maybe? Or?)
(I mean yeah lol)
(Oh and guess what, I’m getting the chance to play D&D at my school so I’ll be able to use Indigo as they were originally intended to :D)
(oh neat!!)