Juno sat at the end of her bed while hugging her knees, her gaze meeting that of the infernal Staff. The bags under her eyes were much more apparent, having not put on any makeup this morning, she had been spending her first hours of the morning doing exactly what she was doing now.

The Staff just floated there, mere feet away from the witch. It’s silence was unnerving, ready to stalk Juno as soon as she would get off that bed, watching her every move. It was starting to madden the dealer, this horrific and mysterious artifact observing her like a leech at every waking moment, every sleeping moment for that matter. It had robbed her of sleep entirely, for every time she tried to shut her eyes, Blodam’s otherworldly gaze could still be felt, The Staff making a habit of floating directly over Juno as she tried to slip away into sleep.

Today, though, she wasn’t having it. It was her day, and this Staff wasn’t going to get what it wanted, even if for this one day. Juno slowly placed her bare feet onto the old wooden floor, the Staff instantly floating closer in intrigue. That’s when the goth quickly stood up straight, shoving her palm out directly to the Staff, seemingly floating an inch back in surprise. “No.” Juno commanded firmly, standing her ground. The Staff started to shake, almost like it was ready to throw a tantrum. Juno flinched, but only for a second before regaining her nerves. “Stay!” She shouted, her stern words echoing through her room. After a single second, The Staff stood itself firmly onto the wooden floor, now impossibly standing there by itself.

“...” The smuggler squinted with doubt towards the artifact, wondering if that seriously just worked. Remaining cautiously quiet, Juno tiptoed towards the door, her eyes glued to The Staff the entire time. Seeing that The Staff apparently obeyed her command, she quietly closed the door behind her. A relieved breath escaped through her pursed lips, which formed into a meek smile right after. “I am balanced. I am centered.” She murmured to herself, making her way to the loft with a confident pop in her step.

Now it was time for the real challenge, an operation so delicate that Juno had waited for the first chance to have the Haven to herself so she could achieve her goals unabated.

Feet, bare. Face, plain. Hair, tied up. Clothes, minimal. Supplies? Sufficient.

Juno carted her mops, brooms, cleaning product and rags into the middle of the foyer. She placed her hands on her hips, looking at how filthy this place was, but remained undeterred. “Okay then! What horrors do you have for me today?” Juno called out to the house, only met with her own words echoing back.

The witch started in the kitchen, a truly horrendous crime scene. The sink was filled with what could best be described as a primordial soup, with what was no doubt a rat’s skeleton floating around in it. Juno grimaced, sharply cracking her neck while approaching it.

It took two hours, but the kitchen was now spotless from her efforts. The dealer wiped her brow, making sure not to get any of the filth on her plain complexion. “One down… Like, twenty more to go…” She rolled her eyes, moving on to the rest of the Haven.

Not only was the filth astounding from the time it had been sitting, her fellow Outcasts weren’t helping the cause. Such infuriating highlights of Juno’s crusade were finding cigarette butts burnt into the living room’s couch, no doubt from Will. Countless fist-shaped holes in the walls, courtesy of Venilia expressing her temper. The ants, though, were driving Juno the craziest, uninvited tenants that were of course brought in by Reed. All it took was a generous trail of sugar throughout the house that led to the hidden front entrance, the ants following it in a massive migration to freedom.

While Juno was sweeping up the sugar trail, she noticed a little pile of ants squirming around in the corner, perhaps fighting even? Curious, the goth walked over to see what the deal was, gasping at what she saw. A posse of overly aggressive ants were giving it their all to kill a single house spider, which was desperately trying to crawl up it’s broken web to escape. “Shoo! Shoo!” Juno hissed, slapping her broom down onto the floor to gust the pests away from the spider, who was now free from the gang attack. The witch knelt down to the spider, gently scooping it up into her palm to get a better look at it. The poor thing had one of its legs bitten off, now curling up as a defensive instinct. “Aww, it’s okay little guy.” Juno spoke in a soft, high pitch that no other person alive would ever hear, nudging the spider with her finger.

Taking a break, Juno poured herself a cup of coffee back in the kitchen finally glad to have some clean dishes. She walked over to the long kitchen table, sitting down and looking at the glass placed in the center. The spider she rescued earlier was already busy creating a web inside, something Juno couldn’t help but smirk at. “Look at you go, lost a leg and already back to it? I respect that.” The dealer scoffed to herself with a smile, realizing she was having a coffee chat with a spider. Juno herself didn’t stop working either, taking one more sip of her coffee before grabbing the shotgun she was cleaning back onto the table, running a brush through it’s barrel. She glanced back over at the busy spider, then back to her work.

After the break was over, Juno said her goodbyes to the spider, having let it back out into the forest so it could hunt it’s way back to health. The final touch on her cleaning crusade was propping the shotgun she cleaned up above the front entrance, placing a box of shotgun shells next to it.

Juno waltzed back into the middle of the foyer, looking around at a job well done. It might still be a derelict ruin, but at least now it was a tidy one. The Goth’s smile faded a bit after a moment, raising her hand out beside her. After only a few seconds, The Staff came zipping through the corridors, placing itself directly into Juno’s grasp. She looked over to it’s golden circle, giving it an eyebrow raise. “...Thank you, for leaving me alone…” Juno gave it a nod, walking back to her room with The Staff in hand.

There was no way in hell she was going to let any of the group see her in these cleaning rags.