Mishiko Alun sat hunched over the receptionist's desk, staring vacantly at the glass doors that fronted the building. She was not actually the receptionist; she was the head designer, in charge of making the place and everyone in it presentable. However, they currently didn't have a receptionist, and if someone wasn't here to greet people...well, how would that look? So it became another job she'd taken on temporarily...hopefully.

It was a very boring job, especially with no one even passing by the window let alone coming inside the building. The city had shrunk drastically in population. How many people were here now? Two? Three? Five? Somewhere around there. Oh, they had people passing through, but no one really stopped. They all looked at the crumbling bricks and peeling paint and turned up their noses and hurried away. Well, she was working on it, but she was only one person. She needed an army to make the city beautiful again, an army weilding paintbrushes and hammers.

She'd only just managed to get the building clean...or most of it. There were still some floors that needed a bucket of water and a good scrub, but all of the public floors were clean now. She'd even added a fresh coat of paint in some rooms and waxed the floors in others. The building was presentable at least, if you didn't wander too much.

A sudden grumble growl rose up from the floors under her. She looked down wearily and wrote beast master on her list of job openings. That was how she'd been keeping herself busy this whole time, listing jobs that needed to be filled. Receptionist was one of them, and now so was beast master. That praticular job Mishi had forced on her husband, Atrus. Sure, it involved dealing with giant man eating spiders, but it also meant cleaning and tending to the animals in the zoo. There was no way she was doing that; it was just too gross.

Where was Atrus anyways? She felt like it had been days since she'd seen him. Hopefully, he hadn't been eaten or run on her. This was a big job, and it seemed to grow bigger every day. She'd seen some people wandering around the city. There was Velox and Rehana and another guy, but they didn't really seem in the mood to help her. They barely even talked to her. It was like they were ghosts, ghosts in a city she was trying to bring back to life.

In a deep stupor, Mishi began doodling on her page. She wasn't an artist, so the doodle wasn't great. It might have been a bird or a fish or a two-headed cow. She wasn't really paying attention either. She was looking out the window, hoping and praying for someone to walk through the doors. It could be an axe murderer for all she cared, at least that would be interesting.

Aria had been walking, flying, and riding around the city all morning. She was hungry, she was tired, and she was lonely. There didn't seem to be anyone here at all. She couldn't even see any evidence that people had lived here recently. It was a ghost town...or a ghost city. Whichever. The point was there was no one here. "Why did I even bother coming to this forsaken place?" She asked herself, kicking a bit of brick off the sidewalk. Noodles growled softly as if to say "I don't know." Aria sighed softly. "Me either."

All morning, they'd been making their slow way towards the center of the city where an enormous skyscraper pierced the atmosphere. Surely, there would be someone there. If there wasn't this place was truly deserted. To be honest, Aria was kinda surprised the building was still standing. So much of the city was crumbling, and was that a tree growing through that shop? Yep, this was a pretty desolate place. If it wasn't deserted, it would need a whole lotta TLC to make it livable again.

Shortly after noon, judging by the sun, they finally arrived at the skyscraper. It looked surprisingly clean. She could see her reflection in the glass, and through the glass she could see the giant "help wanted" sign sitting in the lobby. Beyond the sign, she could see a woman sitting at the receptionist desk. She was actually looking straight at Aria, but she had such a vacant, bored look on her face that the fairy wasn't sure she'd been noticed. "Well, I came here to help, and this place certainly seems to need to it. Let's go say hello."

Noodles growled softly and started to back away. "What's wrong with you? It's just a lady sitting at a desk." He snorted and shook his head. "What? Why would she care if you went in? I don't see a 'no dogs allowed' sign." Noodles just continued backing away. "Ugh! Do I have to carry you?" The small dog stopped and wagged his tail. "Oh fine! I guess it's only fair; you've carried me today." Aria stooped down and picked up the dog before entering the building.

The lobby was very white, very clean looking. She was suddenly nervous she might be bringing in dirt on her shoes. That would probably upset whoever had cleaned the floor, but it was too late now. In addition to being white, the lobby was also huge. It was at least half a football field wide and long. However, despite its hugeness, it was pretty empty, devoid of furniture and people. There was the receptionist at her desk, a long row of white, leather couches along one wall, and the sign. That was it. "Kinda boring," she whispered softly to Noodles as she walked to the desk.

Aria walked slowly so as not to startle the receptionist. She could have been sleeping for how still the woman was. About halfway to the desk, the woman shifted and focused on Aria. The fairy gave the receptionist a bright smile as she picked up her pace. When Aria finally made it to the desk, she waited for the woman to say something. After a few minutes, the silence became unbearable. "I...heard you needed some help...." Aria said, haltingly. Maybe the woman really was asleep...or a robot.

Mishi had seen the girl from the moment she'd stood in front of the window; she just wasn't sure if she was actually seeing or just imagining though. It was possible that she had dozed off and was just dreaming. She kinda hoped she was dreaming too. It'd taken her all day to wash and polish the floor, and now this girl was tracking mud all over the whie marble. Seriously, didn't anyone bother wiping their feet?

Okay, so she was kinda grumpy. She tried not to let it show though as she shifted in her seat and focused on the girl. It was then that Mishi noticed the dog. Normally, she would have said something about it, but this was a dauschound. Mishi had owned one herself once, an adorable, little, black and tan thing named Fred. Fred liked to curl up under blankets and snuggle close to you and sleep with you. Unfortunately, she'd had to leave him behind. He was sickly and not well suited to travel. She still missed him a lot though and often wished she could get another one.

"What?" Mishi said startled from her memories of Fred. "Oh... Yeah, we do some need help around here." She looked down at her paper upon which she had listed many job openings, trying to gather her thoughts. There were too many to count, much less rattle off a long list to the girl. Instead, she thought she'd ask the girl about herself and then go from there.

"I'm not actually in charge lf hiring. You'll want Atrus for that. I haven't seen him recently though, so I'll just ask you a few questions to get started, help us narrow down your employment possibilities." She glanced down at her paper and then up at the girl. "First question: is that your dog? Can I pet him? He's very cute."

Aria was taken aback by the receptionist's question. She'd been expecting something more to do with work, not her dog. "Um," she said, frowning slightly. However, Noodles had lefte his head at the mention of petting and began wagging his tail. "I guess so." She set Noodles on the desk where the small dog padded over to the woman, sat directly on top of her paper, and looked up at her expectantly. Aria muffled a giggle behind her hand. "His name is Noodles," she told the woman. "He likes it best when you scratch his head." Technically, it didn't really matter with Noodles, but she read once that you were supposed to tell strangers how to pet your dog if you let them.

Seeing as Noodles was preoccupied and the receptionist as well, Aria turned in a slow circle, looking about her once more. From this vantage point, she could see a bank of stainless steel elevators that were lined up down a short hall. She could also see a staircase of glass steps leading up to glass walkways that lined the walls. The lobby's ceiling actually stretched up the first five floors of the building. On one side was the massive window. On the other three sides were blank walls. Going up higher, these walls had white doors set into them with little stainless steel plaques next to them. Glass walkways connected the doors and glass staircases connected the floor. How had she not noticed before then?

Slowly, she turned back to the receptionist, wondering if she was going to ask any real questions. Suddenly, she realized she hadn't introduced herself yet. "I'm Aria," she blurted out. Then she felt stupid. She should have said her name before anything else or else waited until it was asked of her. She twisted her hair around one of her fingers. Well, now that she'd started introducing herself, she might as well continue. "I'm a fairy, a water fairy technically. I can control water and summon it. I can also teleport, and I have the gift of tongues." She wondered if she should say something more, but she couldn't really think of anything else. Part of her wanted to grab Noodles and run out the door. This had to be the most awkward job interview ever, and she wasn't even sure she was being interviewed.