Beep, meanwhile, bent down and patiently scooped up Medical. “Now
just calm down, you two,” she said. “She’s not hurt, are you?” Medical
shook her head and gave a squeaky “no”, and Beep nodded. “See, the fall
just startled her, that’s all.” She handled Medical back to Marie.
“These little guys are kinda slippery, you just have to make sure they
don’t get away from you.”

“…Then don’t compete,” was Susumu’s simple answer. “Cooperate.
Show them that you can still do your job just as well as before. Teach
Marie what your job really means, and how important it is. Just please, please play along, okay? If you don’t do anything, then you’ll never get anywhere.”

Immediately when she was told to calm down, Marie’s bawling became mere sniffs.

“…Oh!” she exclaimed, happily taking Medical back. “…All right, I’ll be more careful. Sorry ‘bout that, Meddy!”

She adjusted her grip on both slimes, making sure both were okay.

“…Now, you were competing for my affection, you two adorable things?”

Cat Slime took a moment to react to this; he didn’t expect her to know. Finally, he sighed, and let one ear droop down. He pouted in just the right way to make himself picturesque.

* * *

“…”

The Repairman simply continued to lie face-down for a moment or two. Just long enough for one to wonder if he had even heard her.

Finally, however, he got up, arms crossed.

“…Never had to work with a replacement before…” he muttered, shifting into what can only be described as a standing position. Already, he was trying to think of ways to keep her out of his actual job. “Keeping watch” seemed a reasonable enough excuse…

“…All right, I think I know what to do,” he finally said.