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Stormy's schedule was so out of control and hectic that she often spent weeks away from her own home. The woman was always on the move and so used to sleeping wherever she could thanks to her training with the rangers that it never bothered her.[break][break]

Until kyle lopez had stopped by and filed a complaint with the Rangers about her house being overrun with bugs, apparently. [break][break]

She'd thought he was just pulling her leg, like maybe he'd been the one behind the bugs - or that he was just exaggerating. One Nincada outside her kitchen window was not that big of a deal, dude. [break][break]

But apparently the situation was much worse than she anticipated and just as bad as Kyle had said it was. She had come to handle it herself and taken down the request for immediate exterminator assistance, but not fast enough, it seemed.[break][break]

She opens the door exasperated and covered in STRING SHOT and SPIDER WEBBING, about ready to lay into who she assumes to be Kyle himself.[break][break]

Except it's not. It's the stranger from route 112. The one who had struck up a conversation about---[break][break]

"Ah, Lance. The guy who likes to talk about poop."[break][break]

The heat evaporates from her expression as she leans against the door, shaking her head and allowing herself to chuckle. [break][break]

"No, you're just in time to help me de-web the bedroom though."

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"Wait for help? Cleaning my own house?"[break][break]

She frowns up at him, clearly humiliated by such a thought. She had specifically taken down the request when she had taken it for herself - intent on accomplishing a full house sterilization all by herself.[break][break]

Lance plucks webbing from her head and she hesitates, acutely aware of how simple and yet strangely affectionate the gesture could be seen as. It leaves her speechless for a moment before she raises her own hand to brush the rest out herself.[break][break]

"Oh, uhh--" [break][break]

But he brushes past her and she steps back and out of the doorway so he doesn't trample her. She glances around at her space, mildly unsure if she'd like to comment on it. It certainly didn't look lived in by any means. She hadn't spent any time redecorating or renovating - it looked almost the same as when she moved in.[break][break]

It felt empty and quite lonely.[break][break]

So Stormy avoids it altogether and gestures for him to follow her to the final problem area. It seems as though she had managed to herd the infestation of Spinarak to one room in the house, she just couldn't get the window open to let them out.[break][break]

She leans her hand on the door handle to the bedroom, glancing over her shoulder to smirk.[break][break]

"Ready?"

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She hadn't requested it, but she supposes he wouldn't know that. [break][break]

Regardless, she finds herself flustered at his smirk and his loaded question. She opens her mouth to reply but finds nothing of value to give except a tickle in her throat and heat in her cheeks.[break][break]

So she takes that as an invitation to push open the door and look upon the absolute mess of her bedroom. Her bed is perfectly made and virtually untouched save for webs that arch from the baseboards to the ceiling. It might be beautiful if you were into creepy spiderwebs.[break][break]

"The window is stuck, I couldn't get it open to let them out."

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For the most part, the spiders are hiding in the far corner of the room. They skate along the ceiling and wall in unison as Stormy crosses the room. They're wary of her given their traumatizing experience with the woman earlier. She was a force, for sure.[break][break]

"I don't know. I don't think I've ever opened it. Maybe it's locked or jammed."[break][break]

She's already at the window herself, tugging fruitlessly on the latch and using her other hand to try and lift the window. It isn't budging.[break][break]

But when she looks back to Lance to see the man is staring at the ceiling, she follows his gaze to see that an Ariados had stolen her Castform plush. Colour drains from her face and she gasps.[break][break]

"Hey, w-wait! You can't have that!"[break][break]

In her haste, however, she lunges forward and stubs her toe against the bed frame, warranting a sharp hiss and dust to fly from the bedsheets as she attempts to climb the furniture to get to the ceiling.

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She's standing on the bed precariously when he asks, reaching up for the hissing spider. [break][break]

"Sometimes, when I'm in the area. I'm a busy woman."[break][break]

Fortunately, she isn't the one who needs to brave the poisonous spider. The Toucannon snatches the plush back for her and Lance makes his way to the window, Castform tucked in his arm. She heaves a sigh of relief before slipping off of the bed herself, wiping hair from her face.[break][break]

As she approaches she takes the plush from him, tugging it out of his grasp.[break][break]

"Thanks."[break][break]

It seems that Lance would open it with ease - finding some sweet spot in the lock system that she hadn't. Or maybe her frustration merely made it impossible for her to be patient enough. Regardless, the window opens and she leans through herself to push the screen out of the window.[break][break]

She catches it before it falls out entirely, tugging it back inside.[break][break]

"Now to chase them out."

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If it had been rude, she's oblivious to it. Her thumb brushes webs from the plush's wide-eyed face as she tucks it against her ribs. [break][break]

The use of fire had also come to mind and had likely, in fact, already been used in other parts of the house to herd the trespassing creatures into the room. Fortunately, Stormy was a bit better at controlling fire as of late and hadn't set her house on fire. Surprisingly.[break][break]

"Loosened it.. sure, yeah."[break][break]

But Lance's Toucannon seems more than capable of shuffling off the intruders. The repeated BEAK BLAST encourages them out the window and the moment the Ariados squeezes her way out, Stormy replaces the screen and slams the window down with a sigh of relief.[break][break]

"I wonder how they got in in the first place."[break][break]

She places the plush back on the dresser it had been sitting on, wiping a layer of dust from its perch before setting it back down.

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If he's praising her, she doesn't really acknowledge it. [break][break]

"Dusty and covered in cobwebs - but I can handle that on my own I'm sure."[break][break]

She scratches the back of her neck as she turns to face him.[break][break]

"I didn't really have anything lined up for a reward since I expected to handle this myself. I can pay you for your help though, if you'd like. I'd like to thank you in some way."

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