"So seals eat fish, I learned about that at school. Does that mean you used to eat a lot of fish?"

"Uh huh."

"Is it true you can swallow a fish whole in just a few seconds?"

"Yep."

"Can you still do it?"

"No, she can't," Mavis cut in. "Aislin, don't try."

"I wasn't going to…" the small voice under the desk said. Mavis could hear the pout she had on her face.

Fortunately, Dennis took that moment to distract her with another question. "So how long can you hold your breath? I can do thirty seconds."

"That's really cool… Uhm, I think I can…"

A guest approached the front desk and Mavis tuned out the kids' talk in order to assist them. Her son had been sitting with Aislin for a good hour now, the girl moving her books and crayons aside to make room for him, and she'd been answering all of his questions about living in the ocean with the patience of a gargoyle. He knew all about living on the ocean, he'd spent about two weeks following Ericka around, asking for stories and "is it true that…" (Though Mavis was pretty sure she'd embellished a lot of details, like the story where she rode out a week-long storm with waves the size of the hotel itself.)

Now he wanted to know all about living in it, it seemed.

Fortunately, again, the girl was patient. Or maybe she just wanted to talk to another kid. But in any case, she didn't seem to mind answering him over and over, even the questions he forgot he'd already asked.

"And here's your key, ma'am. Have a great night."

"Who's under there?" the guest, a tall and spindly sea monster who looked as if she were made of seaweed itself with large shells all along her body, leaned over the desk to try and see underneath it. "That doesn't sound like Winnie… Does your boy have a new friend visiting?"

Mavis heard the girl abruptly fall silent.

"Yeeees," she answered carefully. "But she's really shy. So-"

"Oh, say no more, hon, I get it," the woman laughed, going back to her side of the desk. "My boys will meet someone new and just clam up. It always took forever to get them out of their shell." She took her key and gathered up her purse. "Well, I'll leave them be, then. Thank you!"

As the aquatic monster left, leaving a damp trail on the floor behind her, Mavis heard a slight shuffling beneath the desk. A moment later, the top of Aislin's head appeared as she peeked over the top of the desk, watching curiously. "Who's that?" she asked, voice low.

"One of our regulars, Mrs Melville. She goes out on these 'get-aways' once a month or so," Mavis told her.

"...she sounded nice?" Her voice raised at the end, which briefly gave Mavis some pause.

"M-hm. She is."

"She gives me candy," Dennis piped up. "They're all wet, but Dad says it's the thought that counts."

Aislin looked like she was thinking about something very, very hard. But whatever it was, she didn't say; instead, she just ducked back down under the desk and into her little 'clubhouse.'

But she didn't stay down there for too much longer. Periodically, whenever anyone walked past - whether it be a member of the staff, a guest on their way to another part of the hotel, or even if she thought she heard footsteps - Aislin would slowly peer back out. It was impossible for Mavis to not notice, she wasn't exactly subtle about it. She could see her from the corner of her eye, slowly moving up and peeking over the top of the desk with only her forehead and eyes showing.

After the fourth time, Mavis leaned down surreptitiously. "That's Aggie," she whispered, pointing out a witch who'd just walked past. "She's a new maid."

"Is she nice?" Aislin whispered. Mavis couldn't tell if she hadn't realized Mavis had been seeing her peek out, or if she didn't mind.

"Uh-huh. Long as you don't steal her socks."

"Why would I steal her socks?"

"Oh, someone's been doing that…"

"Weird…" The girl's brown eyes moved to the other side of the room. "Who's that?"

"Who?"

"The wolf…"

"Ohhh, that's just one of my uncles, Wayne."

"Is he nice?"

Mavis bit down any laugh that might have been about to bubble out, and just nodded. "Oh, yeah, sure."

"He wouldn't bite me, would he? Or eat me?"

"Oh, no, of course not! Never!"

The wolf in question twitched one of his ears, clearly listening to the conversation. But, thankfully, he didn't look up towards them. So Aislin didn't even pick up on the fact.

"He looks… fluffy."

"Hm, no, sorry, he's actually pretty coarse. But he's fine."

"Oh…" Aislin said nothing for a long moment. Then she slowly ducked back out of sight.

That was all she did until Drac came back for her.

That morning, when she was climbing the step stool into bed, she asked if she could actually help at the front sometime.