Eloise followed Trish to her room on the second floor, unable to reconcile in her head that Trish’s tail was real until the bushiness had gone down and the fur had flattened along the fifth limb. When Trish looked back to make sure Eloise was following, Eloise made sure to look up so it wouldn’t be obvious she was fixated. “So what brings you among us, new kid?” Trish asked.

She wasn’t sure how to answer. “Same reason you’re all here?”

“Ha! We’re all here for different reasons.” She stopped at a door just before they could reach the first set of stairs, and knocked. Then, she entered. Eloise followed through the door, and was greeted by a tall, long rectangular table strewn with devices. Desktops, laptops, keyboards, keys, mice lay whole and broken across the flat, metal top. The walls were lined with industrial shelves, most empty but some absolutely stuffed with similar equipment. Gray walls and tan carpet created a dull, professional air that wasn’t wholly unwelcoming as it was just unfamiliar to Eloise. Trish added, “Ruiz and I just like the change of atmosphere.”

“You’ve got no right to talk atmosphere,” a deep, hissing voice boomed from behind a partially closed door on the left, “when you just barge in here with company.”

“Shut up, you scaly bastard.” Eloise jumped at the ferret’s quick change of tone. When Trish turned back to Eloise, she was smiling again. “Come on, let’s look at what we can offer ya.”

“What are you handing out?” the still unseen scaly bastard asked.

“A laptop, now get off your ass and come show some bedside manner.” Trish chuckled lowly, then nudged Eloise’s elbow. “I like being able to tell him off. At home, he’s the boss. Here,” she wiggled her hips a little, “I’m the lady in charge.”

The partner Trish had been lambasting appeared at long last. “You’re a pain in the ass no matter where we are.” Out stepped a reptilian person who easily dwarfed both Eloise and Trish. Judging by his gray, dusty scales, very prominently ridged back and tail, massive jowls, and impressive beard-like dewlaps, the being called Ruiz was an iguana of some kind.

And Eloise was very uncomfortable staring at his absolutely ripped biceps. Couldn’t he invest in sleeves, not wife-beaters and baggy pants?

“For the love of God, Ruiz, can’t you take a bath or something?” Trish said, shuffling over to her comparatively gigantic partner. She smacked his arm, and Eloise winced in his place as a cloud of dust popped off his skin. “What the actual fuck?! You’re the reason these computers get clogged with dust!”

“Shut up and let’s get the girl situated,” Ruiz said, shifting the laptops around on the metal table. He asked Eloise, “You got a model preference?”

“No,” she croaked.

He organized the laptop options before him, eight in total. “Need a numbers pad?”

“Not really.”

He moved a pair of Lenovos out of the lineup. “Need a lotta ram?”

“I don’t think so?”

An Acer and an Asus left the lineup. “Touchscreen?”

“Why?”

“You like to draw?” She shook her head. “Alright then.” He plucked an HP up out of the lineup. “Take this.” The HP was unceremoniously gifted to her, shoved into her arms like a stack of school books. She clung to it fiercely, afraid of dropping it.

“Here’s the charger,” Trish said, shoving a rolled up cord at Eloise. “Okay, you don’t have to hold it like that, let’s set it down,” Trish pried the device and cord from Eloise’s uneasy grip. “We’ll get you logged in, make sure you actually know how to use it. Sound good?” Eloise nodded. “Good.” After a solid ten minutes of ensuring Eloise knew how to handle a laptop on the most basic levels, she was free to go. Ruiz and Trish assured her she could always ask them questions, no matter how dumb. After all, they were the only two technicians there and they earned their keep by providing these services.

Taking her new device back to her room, she decided she’d fiddle with it after she ate something. Then, she’d start looking into what she could possibly do to earn her own keep.