Reaching the outside of Fixer Upper Solutions after about fifteen minutes of walking, the soulcritterless individual stared at his watch. Wow, look at that he's, golly, two minutes before he has to clock in, blah. Maybe he should run away and come back thirty minutes late instead! Ha. Boss would probably fly around here to look for him. He's in a glass box, ready to crack.

Tiing, tiing, tiing, beep.

Stupid employee badge tapped onto the dumb card reader, the fixer upper crossed his fingers. Please, don't let boss or his coworkers have their little scamps with them, pretty please? If they do, sorry, he just remembered, he's got allergies that last forever, he's so out of here! Can he be given the pink slip forever?

"Finally showed up, huh?" a tenor voice asked, groaning. "Took you long enough."

Sitting in the corner bird feet out in the open had been a tall bird chimera man with short light greenish blue hair that had been rather shaggy. Loose strand at the top of his head, he had dark blue fish fins for ears for whatever reason. Hawk wings out and about, his red eyes were staring right into his soul, as usual. Dark maroon button down shirt with a small egg in the corner, the hyena puffed a sigh of relief. Boss Oriole didn't have his soulcritter with him, thank the heavens.

[Oh, please, boss, I came on time, didn't I?] A page from his communication log said.

"Sure, you came on time, but do you remember what job we're handling this week?" Oriole asked, arms crossed.

[Replacing, tuning, and fixing the pipes at the pool in the middle of Demon Junction?] A page from his communication log asked.

"That's right! And what happens if we're late in the Demon Junction?" His arms were crossed.

[The demons will summon pepper thunder salts?] A page from his communication log asked.

"That's right. And you don't want that to happen, now do you?"

[Why do we have to treat the pools anyway?] A page from his communication log asked.

"What is the name of our business here?!" His tone was annoyed.

[Fixer Upper Solutions?] A page from his communication log responded.

"That's right, so go get your hat and get ready to hop into the truck, chop, chop!" Clap, clap.

Dragging himself towards the back room, the fixer upper wanted to bury his face into a hood forever. Oh, lovely, going straight to Demon Junction today! Why can't the demons, he doesn't know, clean the pools themselves? First off, pool season is going to be over pretty soon, and second, what is the point of installing a new pump when it's probably going to break again anyway? Whatever, he's not a demon, who cares? But, yawns soon interrupted his train of thought immediately.

"Pool treating today, can you believe it?" an alto voice asked.

"Oh, I believe it alright!" a slightly deep voice cried. "Boss really has to take every single fixer upper people call him for! Bet if he was told to go tear down the cellphone towers and have us build a new one, he'd make us do that, too!"

Slamming a cupboard closed in the corner had been a tall sheep tiger chimera woman with long black hair pulled into a high ponytail and blonde highlights in the middle of her bangs. Dark red apron draped over her white shirt, her eyes were a mismatched blue and red. Permanent sour look on her face, the chimera puffed a sigh of relief. Rhodette didn't have that pesky lemur with her today. Please, never bring him here again.

Looking about ready to fly away to parts unknown had been a tall dude with two white moth wings with orange spots, and a set of orange moth wings with black spots. Goat horns on the top of his head, or, maybe they were demon ones, he didn't know, his pitch black suit looked like it was going to melt into the floor boards. Shiny, short black hair with bronze bangs that were covered in hair gel, the curly locks beneath his pointy ears were almost glittery as well. Let him guess, that dumb unipuppy of Kokon's did that? Please, don't let them fly around here today.

[I know, right? Why can't the demons just do it themselves?] A page from his communication log asked.

"Good morning, Siorc, when did you drop by?" Rhodette asked. "We have to leave in a few minutes, you know!"

[Relax, I'm here, aren't I? Just me.] A page from his communication log said.

"Are you hinting at what I think you're hinting at?" Kokon asked.

[No? As if I'll ever get a soulcritter of my own. Where are yours?] A page from his communication log said.

"You really think I'm going to take Desiree to the pools in Demon Central?" Rhodette asked. "You can forget that!"

"And, you know how Quari gets when we're near water, or did you forget again?" Kokon asked, arms crossed.

[Whoops, looks like I forgot again, silly me! Do we really have to go over to Demon Junction today? Why couldn't we have gone to some party hall and helped out with some summer gathering or something?] A page from his communication log asked.

"You're seriously asking that right now?!" Kokon cried. "Who holds parties anywhere at a time like this?!"

[The humans?] A page from his communication log asked.

"You know the humans host their parties at night," Rhodette said, shaking her head. "Now, come on, we have to go. Demon junction wants us over there in an hour."

Honk, honk.

Groan.

Honk, honk.

Stupid horn given another toot, the fixer upper was about ready to rip his hair out. Alright, alright, he's going, he's going. Please, don't let Oriole's soulcritter be waiting for him in the company van. For once in his life, can there be none anywhere within his vicinity whatsoever? Yeah, right, like that'll ever happen. He bets Demon Junction will be littered with them also. Ugh. Plopping into the backseat, pesky noise had soon came his way.

"What's took you three so long to get in here?!" Oriole cried. "You know what happens when we're late to Demon Junction, don't you?"

"We know! They'll throw down their pepper thunder salts!" Kokon cried. "Does it matter? I can make them completely and utterly useless, you know!"

"Your powders don't do anything!" Rhodette cried.

"They so do!" Kokon exclaimed. "You just haven't seem them in action yet!"

"Less talking, more seatbelt put oning!" Oriole cried.

Click, click.

Seatbelt plopped down, the fixer upper placed his hand on the side of his cheek. Here comes the most awful, nonsensical job on the market. Seriously, who has chimeras fix the pools in Demon Junction?! Does boss seriously have to take whatever job people give him across Sweden? Tch, he bet if the CEO allowed it, they'd expand their business over to Norway and Finland, too! Sorry, he hasn't learned Finnish yet! Consider him way too busy rotting to ever so much as consider it! Blah, blah, blah.

Spotting kids hopping across the street with this soulcritters aplenty, the chimera wanted to glue his eyes shut. Oh, wonderful, it's playtime! Can the children just go back to their classrooms for the rest of the morning and never return? Tch, even seven to eight year old gremlins had theirs already. Guess he's going to be forever alone, whoopie!

Sky getting a little grey, the chimera crossed his fingers. Please, cancel this entire job for? Forever will do! Come on, rain, drop on down. Drip, drip, drip? Sigh, no? No, he sees. Human hands transforming into hyena paws as he thought such, he placed his hand on the window. And, that kid is going to be thrown into a bubble, and that one, that one, too.

[Current Location: Demon Junction in South Enig, Sweden.]

Watch beeping the hyena held in the urge to groan. Pesky ten o'clock alarm. He swears, his boss must have set that to keep him on his toes! He shouldn't have ever given him the master key to throw schedules into that thing. Hmph, whatever, not like he can revoke it even if he tried, groan. First pool glaring at him, he gulped. Is there red mist in the air? Sure looks like there might be.

"Remember, be nice to the demons," Oriole commanded in a serious tone. "You know what happens if we're not."

"Yes, yes, we know! They'll sprinkle down the pepper thunder salts!" Kokon shouted. "You think we don't have brains in our heads or something?"

"Sometimes, I think you lot don't! Now, let's go to the meeting room and say hello." There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Ugh.

Hopping out of the company truck, the hyena crossed his currently human fingers. Please, don't let the demons give him any funny looks! He knows they can smell people who don't have soulcritters, but don't call it out, okay? He knows he's a pathetic excuse, but keep their craws to themselves about it, thanks. Meeting room soon reached, he gulped. Don't say anything. Don't say anything, don't say anything about you know what.

"You finally decided to show your sorry faces around here!" a strong, imposing voice shouted. "You're all just asking me to clap down some pepper thunder salts down, aren't you?"

"Heh, heh, heh!" a dark purple heart winged bat creature cried.

[Hello, hello, it's me again, your friendly good old SoulCritter translator! What did our bat critter say just now? They said, "Look at the pieces of scum, they're scared!" Okay, translator, signing out!]

"Oh, Heartykins, they should be scared of us!" the demon at the counter cried.

Dark green haired horned man with bat wings behind the counter stroking his soulcritter's cheek, the fixer upper grit his teeth. Oh, awesome, there it is, their soulcritter. Reading the demon's name tag, he sighed. Olympusa. Do they even know what they name means without the a attached? No, of course they don't. Whatever, better scribble down a quick apology, blah.

[We're sorry if we didn't show up twenty minutes early. Traffic was pretty bad on the way here! We'll drain the pools of their dirty water and fill them up at half the price you normally would pay if it'll make up for our tardiness!] A page from his communication log shouted.

"Sniff, sniff, is that soulcritterless I smell?" Olympusa asked. "Is that a soulcritterless I smell?"

"Hehe he he he!" Heartykins cried.

[Hello, hello, it's me again, the SoulCritters Translator. What did our buddy say just now? Well, look no further! They said, "Look at this loser who's soulcritterless! Pay him only one quarter of what we normally would! Soulcritter Translator, signing off!]

"No, you must be mistaken!" Kokon cried, eyes wandering. "We left our bunch home today!"

"Yeah, yeah, that's right! We uh, didn't want them falling into the pool!" Rhodette shouted. "You know, danger and stuff?"

"Oh, really now?" Olympusa asked, eyebrow rose. "Okay, maybe I believe you. Now, go drain the pool and install the pump in the closet, chop, chop! The kids are coming by early today!"

"You heard him, go!" Oriole cried, snapping his fingers.

Finger snap coming his way, the young adult made a run for it. Ugh, can this day just rot already? Better yet, can it sink to the bottom of the ocean? That would be awesome right about now! No? Well, whatever. Running towards the closet, the chimera stared at every nook and cranny. Where's the button to turn the equipment off again? Oh, right, it's over here, sigh. Here goes nothing, he guessed. Or, here goes everything? Who knows.

Staring at the old pump in the corner, the chimera groaned. Why does that thing look like it's extremely close to fall apart and unleashing monsters out into the open? He doesn't know. Maybe it's holding dangerous gases that'll implode the entire world! Don't demons swim in lakes full of acid sometimes? Probably. At least, he heard that once. Maybe.

Water dying a miserable death, the young adult's eyebrows twitched. Oh, great, look at all that disgusting debris! What are the demons keeping down here, a leaf collection? Better get to cleaning the pits of the underworld right about now before it's too late, sigh. Swimming pool brush out, he hopped towards the bottom. Please, don't let the pipes need to be cleaned too.

"Man, this pool is dirty, maybe I should have brought Quari with me after all," Kokon sighed.

"You really think Quari can use that horn of theirs and make all the dirty gunk go away?" Rhodette asked, lowering her eyes into a squint.

"Point taken." A shrug. He then turned towards Siorc. "Siorc, how's you end going?"

[There's leaves everywhere! They're in the pipes, too!] An electronic voice shouted through his smartwatch.

"Ugh," Rhodette cried. "Seriously?! Do the demons even maintain their pools?"

"You really want to know the answer to that question?" Kokon groaned.

"Guess not. Well, let's scrub this clean then install the new pump so we can fill this thing."

Every single nook and cranny swept away after who knows how long it was, the fixer upper groaned. Install the new pump this, seriously, why couldn't the demons have done this themselves?! Party of three hauling the old one off into the truck, the shiny new one was soon in its place. Blah, blah, blah, go get the hose and fill up the pool! That demon had better not come out of their hole to say that right about now.

Checking the pipes one last time, the fixer upper wanted to burn his brains straight out of his head. Just how much junk was in these things? Better treat these before filling this thing with water. Demons, he swears, they're getting on his last? Never mind, he doesn't have any nerves left to give them, they already got on the last one hours ago!

Summer fun monster soon filled, it was off to the next dungeon, excuse him, pool center within Demon Junction. Winged fiends sniffing him, the soulcritterless individual was ready to blow a gasket. Stop, stop, stop the noise! Whatever, work with a smile, giggle! Multiple pipes busted, he resisted the urge to push himself into the dirty pool. Someone, end all of this right now before he does it!

Five looming around, the chimera sighed. He's not going home on time today, is he? May as well just forget having dinner tonight. Whatever. Conundrums taking over multiple places, screams had launched themselves up to the sky. Who keeps their fish soulcritters in the local pool?! Demons, he swears, they just adore doing whatever they want however they choose!

Final pool done and dusted, the party of four returned to the truck of doom. Back at Fixer Upper Solutions, he gazed at his watch. Groan, it's almost six. Can he just swipe his badge out for the rest of eternity? No? Of course not. Those bills are going to drown him with overdue fees if that happens, sigh. Putting his hat back into his box, boss flew towards him.

"Good work today, goodnight," Oriole said, bidding farewell.

[Goodnight. See you the day after tomorrow.] A page from his communication log said.

Slam.

Exiting the prison, excuse him, headquarters, the young adult trudged off towards the park. Plopping himself down on the swing, he stared off into space. Another day, another day to rot. Dropping himself down on the grass beneath him, he closed his eyes. Perhaps he'll live at this park instead, zzz. Bye, don't wake him.