Page 21 of That’s My Orc, Tusk Off

“That would help.”

He made the change. Tested it. Blinked a few times. And made another adjustment.

I watched him work, grateful he wasn’t brushing this off.

“Is this better?” he asked, turning the screen toward me.

After studying the form, pretending I was a person trying to fill it out, I nodded. “This will work very well.”

“Good.”

“I appreciate you making the changes.”

His gaze held mine. “Your observations are valuable, Willa.”

Willa.

He’d said my name before, but not with a slight pause before it, like he’d been deciding whether to use it at all. His voice had dropped half an octave on the second syllable.

My heart skipped a beat it couldn’t afford to miss.

“I—” He dragged his gaze from mine and blinked down at his tablet. “I should let you get back to reviewing the manual.”

“Right.”

He picked up his tablet and left.

I sat at the desk, Fred grumbling, my pulse doing wild things in my throat.

With a shrug, I got back to work.

I was about to dive into the digital filing guide when a flash of bright orange streaked into the entryway.

Sofia flew over and landed on the counter, her bat-wings giving a little shimmy of excitement.

“Hey, Sofia,” I said, leaning back. “Did you stop by for more finger-sniffing?”

Sofia ignored me. Her round eyes were fixed on my pen, the expensive one with the etched silver barrel. Before I could blink, she dove down and snatched it up. She hopped back onto the counter and dropped the pen. Turning, she flew toward my stapler.

“Wait, I need these things,” I said.

Fred grumbled, a sound that I swore meant, let her have them.

Sofia spent the next five minutes arranging my pen, stapler, a stray paperclip, and a Post-it note I’d doodled on into a circular mound on the floor in front of the counter. Once satisfied, she sat in the middle of it and let out a puff of smoke that thankfully didn’t light anything on fire.

I didn’t get my pen or stapler back for an hour, but having a tiny orc-ish dragon guarding her new throne made the medical cross-referencing significantly more entertaining.

With a laugh, I pulled out my notebook and opened to a new page.

Fred is my desk companion.

Clatterwings steal spoons.

Sofia loves to build thrones with my things.

I think Rue and Fern are bonded whether the data says so or not.

Nix is a menace with odd timing.