Banner looked presentable today. He had cleaned himself up nicely from what he was wearing, instead taking the free clothes offered by the nurse the day before. He walked with a kick in his step down the rocky path from his new apartment down to the streets and bustle of the town itself. He could see the diner all the way from his apartment, and hoped that he would be able to visit it today.

Partly because he wanted to return the cup he had drunk from, and partly because he wanted to get to know Lin better. The woman had helped him quite a fair amount after all. He had a few coins to his name, given to him in advance so that he could set himself up nicely in the town. Banner thought back to what the doctor had said about being a hallowmancer, and stretched his senses to feel for anything that might resemble a pool of energy.

Instead, he ended up making a fool of himself in front of everyone on the streets, waving his arms around in a wild fashion, trying to make something, anything, happen. Banner stopped his little impromptu exercise as he found himself standing in front of the clear doors to the diner again. He entered once more, ringing the bells that hung above the frame. Lin immediately perked up at his presence, noting his much more refined appearance.

“Seems you’ve cleaned up nicely. Anything I can get for you today?” she asked the man. Banner took a seat right in front of the counter and ordered himself a hearty breakfast, for he had a large day of work in front of him.

Banner wolfed down the meal greedily, enjoying the taste as he did. Lin was surprised at the man’s appetite, though that did not stop her from having some harmless fun at his expense.

“Thanks, Lin. That was delicious.”

“You’re very welcome. Anything else I can get you?”

“Not particularly. I’ve got work soon.”

“Oh, have you found your old job?” she inquired.

“Sadly, no. I don’t think I even had a job here considering no one seems to remember me. I’m working as a janitor in the local hospital. Hopefully it’s not too hard of a job.”

“I’m impressed. Well then, off with you. Wouldn’t want you to be late after all.” Banner did as she said and bade her farewell. Lin did wonder however what the small wrapped thing he was holding was. She shrugged, no need to delve into another’s business, after all.

Banner continued down the road and ended up in front of the hospital again. There, he was led by the same nurse as yesterday into a small dusty closet where he deposited his belongings. Banner put on his gloves, a mask and took utmost care as he finally began his first day as a janitor.

****

He was swift, he was thorough. Though amateurish, his work gave off a sense of effort. Banner began by going into each room and cleaning out the garbage that had accumulated there. He would wrap it all in bags before tossing them aside into the disposal. He took extreme care to clean the rooms themselves, staying away from medical equipment. He would leave the cleaning of those to the actual professionals in the hospital. The doctors were surprised at one point to find him edging near the roof and cleaning the windows top to bottom.

Banner made sure to mop the floors heavily due to the amount of people that would be walking back and forth on them. The hallways were pristine. One doctor was surprised to lift an old plant and find that the bottom of the vase had been cleaned as well.

Banner watered the flowers that were present in all the patient’s rooms. Noticing some of them were dying, he asked for a leave and cut a deal with a nearby flower shop for new fresh flowers as well as instructions on how to keep them clean. Some of the rooms had their windows closed, leaving the plants without the sunlight that they needed to survive, so Banner made sure to nudge them open a bit and keep the sunlight pouring in.

Even after all that, they noticed that he had begun to cut the grass and hedges surrounding the hospital itself, grooming them into uniform shapes. He took pride in his work, pushing his duties to a level some might call excessive.

After finishing his tasks for the day, Banner dragged his small trolley with him back to his closet. His arms felt sore from all the work he had done that day. He had only managed to accomplish a small part of what he felt was needed. He would need to bring in more flowers, finish wiping down the windows and a significant number of other tasks he had been self-assigned. Banner was greeted in the hallways by the staff, who were happier and more upbeat than they were the previous day.

Banner said a small greeting to them and went on his way. He stopped when a father and daughter appeared from a corner. The little girl was the same one who had tossed him that ball on that day.

Stolen novel; please report.

He waited and watched as the girl pointed towards Banner and looked at her father. “Hello, mister! What are you doing here?” she asked him.

“Well, I work here. See the mop?” he gestured towards his trolley.

The father let a grin creep onto his face. “Come on, Listeny, we didn’t come here to bother the janitor, now, did we?”

“No…”

“Let’s go visit your mother, then,” he said as he pushed her slightly. Listeny began walking and the man gave a nod to Banner, which he returned. They went into a room and Banner couldn’t help but let his curiosity overtake him for the moment. Instead of leaving, he pretended to wash the floor and listened in on their conversation.

“-been attending classes?”

“Yes! The teacher said I was the smartest! Even Kennard asks me to tutor him!”

“Good, good. I knew you’d do swimmingly.”

“…”

Banner moved in closer, trying to grasp at the conversation as best as he could. His ear was pressed against the door as he heard Listeny speak up again.

“Can you read me that story again, mom?”

“Oh, Lissy, I would. I’m just terribly tired today, you see.”

“Are you sure you can’t?”

“Next time, Lissy.” Banner couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation. He stepped away from the door and tried his best to give them some privacy now.

After finishing mopping the reception area, he noticed Listeny and her father walking towards the entrance. Banner held onto his mop with whitened knuckles, contemplating whether he should even bother. In the end, his nature overtook any rational thought and he walked up to them.

“Sir, may I speak with your child?”

“If it’s of any importance, then go ahead,” he answered, but Banner could see that the man was a bit reluctant. He kneeled down next to Listeny and looked her in the eye.

“Do you remember any details of that book you talked with your mother about?”

Listeny looked a bit surprised, clinging to her father for support. He nodded to her, giving her permission to share.

“My mother used to read it to me when I was a baby. I can’t remember much about it now, mister.”

Banner scratched at his chin. “Any details would do, Listeny.”

“I-I think it was a star. And it went on adventures? Sorry…”

“No, no, that’ll be enough. Thank you.”

Banner stood up again to face her father. “I’ll try and see if I can find it anywhere. Would that be alright with you?”

“It would be, yes. Thank you.” He ended the conversation there and left the hospital with his daughter. Banner finally put away his tools for the day and looked at the sun, seeing as how it was close to setting, he ended his day at work.

****

Banner went back to the diner, for a late lunch as he had forgotten to take it, being busy tidying up the hospital as best as he could. Lin looked pleased to see him back at the diner.

“Are you going to be eating all your meals? We don’t serve the healthiest food, you know?” she jabbed at him.

“Oh, I thought of that.” Banner took out the wrapping he put his sandwich in, displaying its horrid beauty to Lin in full force.

The amount of sauce on it was almost nauseating, as the bread was fully soaked in it. The man had decided on putting the worst combination of vegetables on it, in a half-hearted attempt to lighten his diet.

Lin stared at it for a few seconds and craned her neck upwards to look at Banner. “You can not be serious about eating that. It looks more like a health hazard than food.”

“I can and I will be eating it, actually. It looks…appetizing…in a sense?”

“In the same way puking your last meal out would build an appetite,” Lin countered. She left the man there to finish the horrid thing, not even arguing about how he was using the seat but not paying for anything.

Banner felt as though he had gone on a journey as he finished the sandwich. At the beginning, it felt completable, a simple task for him to finish. During the middle, the fatigue set in as he began to taste what he had put in his mouth. By the end, he was begging for it to be over, but due to his stubbornness, and lack of money, he was forced to finish it.

Lin came out only to pat him on the back, as the man had buried himself in his hands. A small bit remained on his plate, something he even dared not touch. Lin picked it up and ate it, flinching at the taste. “Whatever kind of sauce you used, use less next time. Don’t put too many incompatible kinds of vegetables on it. And yes, carrots and olives are incompatible. Also, cook the chicken more thoroughly, feels a bit raw there.”

Banner could only listen to Lin drone on and on about what he had messed up, as he had no remaining strength to counter her arguments. Eventually, he sobered up enough from the experience and made his way out of the building, hearing the noisy ringing of the bell as he did.

He found the smoking woman once more sitting on a bench, watching the crowd pass by in front of her. The people seemed tired from their own days of work, which Banner could understand. He had to walk past her on his way to his own abode, but was stopped as he did so.

“I see you enjoyed your time inside the diner?”

“You were watching for that long?” Banner asked incredulously.

“I’ve a wealth of free time. Don’t mind me anyhow, it was just a silly observation I had,” she answered as she took another drag of the cigar.

“If you’re wondering, I was recovering from eating a horrible sandwich.”

“The food inside there is that bad?”

“Self-inflicted. It was something I made myself. Anything Lin would cook could at least be edible.”

“Haha. I’ve eaten there myself a few times, so I’d be inclined to agree.” She looked away for a bit and then turned to Banner again. “You seem quite close to her, for someone who hasn’t been here that long.”

“Does it look like that? I wouldn’t assume we’re that close.”

“That’s a good way to look at it.”

“Is it?”

“A sense of distance is always good to have.” She put out her cigar and threw it into the nearby trash can.

“If I gave you any impression of being a loner, then I’m sorry for that, miss.”

“Koy, that’s the name I go by.”

“Miss Koy.”

“I have some obligations to attend to. It was nice having a talk with you, mister,” she said and began to walk off.

“Banner,” he replied, causing her to pause in her tracks. She nodded towards him and resumed walking.