Cal finished frosting the chocolate cake, Riki’s favourite, then set the utensils in the cleaning unit. He covered the cake and placed it in the fridge, they would have it for desert after dinner tomorrow. After a quick walk through of the condo to check that everything was as it should be, he closed the balcony doors that Riki consistently left open when he went out to smoke and entered the nighttime code on the main elevator door panel, locking it down for the night. It was a secured entrance, and no one could come up without an authorization code, plus no one would dare try to rob a Blondie, but part of his job was to protect his master and those in the condo, so he engaged the security every single night.

Climbing the stairs he made a quick check of the rooms, all neat and pristine, then a quick survey of the closets to determine what needed to be laundered or replaced the next day. He did not like to enter the Master’s bedroom when the door was closed, but as he heard none of the usual noise coming from inside, he assumed both the master and Riki were asleep.

Returning to the kitchen via the back stairs, he made one final check that everything was clean and put away, then turned out the lights and retired to his room in the back. It was a large room, more of a small apartment really and Cal liked in enormously. He only had a single bedroom in the house he worked in before Lord Mink hired him, enough for a bed and a small dresser and nightstand. He’d had to use the guest washroom early the morning or very late the evenings to bathe without being seen. It was the cardinal rule of a Furniture to make their presence as slight as possible unless they were needed.

Here, he had a large sitting area with two lovely and comfortable high back chairs, a floor lamp and a small table, should he wish to read. There was also a wall screen for entertainment and a game unit, should he be so inclined to play. As Furniture for Iason Mink, time for such things were rare, but he had tried it out once or twice.

Two steps up from the living area a glossy, polished platform held a wide bed, not a small single like he’d had before, but then he was small and did not require much room to sleep. Two nightstands with drawers, a tall wardrobe and a smaller bureau for personal attire sat against the far side of the platform and a closet in the corner for his uniforms.

Across the living area and adjacent to the bedroom was his very own personal washroom. This was the feature he liked best, because on days like today, when the Master and Riki retired early, he got to have a nice long soak in the tub.

Whistling he walked into his washroom, programmed the water temperature, added some scented bath salts that would also remove the few aches he had garnered through the day, and some Sudz4U solution. Straightening, he returned to his bedroom area to quickly undress. Everything went neatly into the laundry bin to be washed tomorrow. He wore a clean uniform very day and often wished he could convince Riki to change his clothes at least that often!

The silly mongrel was stuck on wearing the same old garments from when he had lived in Ceres and so Cal often had to wait while Riki was taking a shower in the morning, he at least washed every day, to sneak into the Master’s room, steal Riki’s clothes and replace them with another matching outfit he had purchased. He would leave the clean clothes in the same disarray that Riki had left his soiled ones, so Riki was none the wiser, then take the dirty clothes to wash. Tomorrow morning, he would replace the clothes he had just left with the clothes he had cleaned. It was a tedious chore, but many chores were tedious when you were Furniture.

Picking out a selection of music on his entertainment centre, which happily was the Luxu-grade model and had small speakers in the wash area as well, then set it on low and went for his bath. It was heaven just to sink all the way up to his nose in bubbles. He did love bubbles, he was at times, still a child after all. The scent of them, the feel of them, the way they made his body feel so slippery and soft and supple.

Releasing a quiet giggle, he sank further down and let the heat and the bubbles and the romantic music wash over him.

After about an hour, with his fingers and toes pruned like angry raisins Cal stepped out of the tub, drained it, then grabbed a sponge and some cleaner and scrubbed it clean to sparkling again. Smiling to himself, he dried off, slipped into a small, comfortable robe and set his towel on the warming rack. He would allow himself two uses of the towel before it would be laundered.

Climbing the steps to his bedroom area, he gently hummed along with the music as he opened his wardrobe and selected a set of sleepwear in pale grey. Glancing at the time on his wrist unit, he shoved his bare feet into a pair of snugly white slippers, then returned to his living area to sit in one of the chairs. The novel he had been reading sat on the side table waiting for him, so he picked it up.

Finding he was getting sleepy after only a few chapters, Cal set the book aside, and retreated once again to the platform bed. Sliding out of his slippers he set the alarm on his wrist unit, not that he would need it as he always woke at the same time every day, then removed the wrist unit and set it on the nightstand.