“Gather around kiddos, we have a new member for the team starting today.” Tempest clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.

The group converged on Ash and Tempest, and Ash tried not to be nervous. This was it. This was that moment that could make or break his new work life. He had to force himself not to fidget.

“Everyone, meet Ash,” Tempest said, not giving his full name like she had with Poe. “He's the artist who drew that.” She pointed to the wall next to a desk.

Ash blushed deeply. He'd been so shocked to see how unique his coworkers were that he hadn't really taken in the details of the room. There, on the wall, was the very first piece of artwork he'd ever sold. It was of a mother protecting her young boy with magic, while surrounded on all sides by soldiers.

“Oh, Ash, I didn't ask what your FTO gamer name was.” Tempest looked at him expectantly, like every other person in the room.

“It's Ash, I know it's not very original, and it's my nickname, but it fit the character, so I went with it. I mean a vampire named Ash just sort of works, right? I've played the game since vanilla FTO, so the name was available on the original server. It's probably why I was able to get the name since I'm sure everyone and their dog has tried to use that name.” Ash realized he was babbling again and shut his mouth with an audible snap.

His new coworkers all looked like they were thinking about what he said. The girl in the bunny suit began hopping up and down, “Wait! O.M.F.G. are you, Ash, the vampire healer?” Everyone's eyes widened.

If he weren't a doctor, he would have sworn he was about to die by the amount of blood that flushed his cheeks. He was blushing so hard it hurt. Ash nodded, “That's me.”

“I heard from Moose that there are less than two hundred players that play that combination of class and race because it's so nerfed compared to the other healer combos. It's the least popular of all of the combinations you can choose from. Of those players only maybe two handfuls of them actually play the toons as their main characters...” said the man with the pompadour.

“You don't understand, I'm on your friends' list in the game! I'm Zipper!” The bunny girl bounced forward and hugged him. “I brought him on that raid, that one time when Zarn was out because of his knee.”

Zipper rocked him violently from side to side as she jumped up and down. His coworkers all had that oh face on. The one you get when the waters clear in the bathhouse and you realize you're the small guppy in a room full of whales. Well, Ash was more of a puffer fish than a guppy, the one without all the spikes, but that was the face they all had.

“Nice,” the gothloli guy nodded his curly-haired head, “that's a hard combo to play, and you did great during the raid. I had no complaints, and I was playing my alt, so I was sucking hard as a tank that night. Even Zarn would have had trouble keeping me healed, and you didn't seem to bat an eye.”

“Well it looks like everyone has already met you Ash, Everyone in the crew was in that raid except me, I was with Zarn at the hospital,” Tempest chuckled.

The blood drained from his face in record time, and he quickly found a chair stationed behind him and sat, before the dizziness could drop him. “You're saying that everyone here is in Nevermore Tavern, does that mean the rest of Nevermore are Employee's at SRG?”

They all nodded, and the woman in the pinstripe suit looked impressed, “Oh, he's quick. He'll do.”

One by one the group gave their names, he could tell they were all gamer tags, then gave a last wave, salute, wink, or nudge before reclaiming their designated areas.

He was in some surreal dimension where his dreams and reality twisted and became one hell of a ride. Rabbit hole, indeed. “Did Poe name the Tavern?” Ash asked as the name's connected in his head.

“Damn, Smokes is right, you're quick,” Tempest said with a laugh. “We'd named it SRG at first before we knew the game would become so popular. We learned early on that was a big no, no. Poe suggested Nevermore. I think he said something like 'twill be SRG, Nevermore, and we all decided that was the perfect name to change it to.”

“That is just... so... cool!” Ash felt himself begin to buzz with adrenaline, “Does that mean I get to be in Nevermore Tavern too? Or is it only after I've been an employee for a while? I mean, if I can be in it, I'd have to give over leadership of Destiny to my Tavern mates. Oh, I can't tell them why though, can I? I'll just have to tell them my boyfriend is in Nevermore, they'd understand that, even if he isn't my boyfriend yet, but he could be one day. And I'm rambling again,” Ash made a face.

“Yes, you're invited to Nevermore, and boyfriend? Who is this boy you're interested in?” Tempest leaned against the desk near the chair Ash was sitting in. She looked genuinely interested in knowing the answer.

“There is a guy named Jacob who was at the hospital that day when Benton offered me the job. He's really good looking, and I'm low key crushing on him. Okay, more than low key.” Ash wondered if he should even be saying any of this. This was his new workplace, personal style aside, was this one of those anti-dating your coworker places?

A slow grin covered Tempest's face, “I see,” she said and started nodding. “There are worse people to crush on. I happen to think Jacob is amazing.”

“He does seem to be.” Ash sighed as he thought of the man.

“Well, before you plan your attack on the fortress that is Jacob, let's get you settled in.” She planted a hand on the desk, “This is actually your spot. I need to know if you prefer traditional art, paints, computer, drafting, etc. so we can kit you out properly. Then I'll know what your responsibilities will be.”

“Oh please don't give me anything traditional, I need an undo button or I'll end up with a mess. So I'll need a computer please, and I like visual artists tablets, I can give you the brand names I prefer if we have a choice, and I can recreate a traditional look with any program if that's what you need. I prefer SAI to PS, but I've used pretty much every art program known to man at one time or another so you can throw whatever one you all prefer to use my way,” He was babbling again, and he decided to just own it. It was one of those things that the kids loved about him at the hospital. Hopefully, he wouldn't drive these people insane with his chatter, though.

Tempest had pulled out a piece of paper and grabbed a pen from the desk next to Ash's. She wrote some quick notes, then pushed the paper his way. “Write down the programs, tablet, and type of computer you'd prefer. We don't force anyone to use anything specific unless what you want to use doesn't save in the right save file type.”

Ash quickly jotted down his preferences and passed the paper back to Tempest. She grabbed it up and smiled, “Let's go raid the goody closet.”

He followed Tempest as she waltzed out of the room and down the hall. He stopped and cleared his throat to get her attention as he stared at a door they had passed. There were two dolls stuck to the door. One was quite clearly a man who was painted pink. He had long flowing doll hair. The other was a woman that had short spiked hair. They were anatomically correct and were doing... well, they were doing things to each other that typically wouldn't be considered polite in public. It would probably get them thrown in jail.

Tempest turned, and Ash pointed at the dolls, “Oh, I got a wild hair when Sunny made that one unisex. No one cares who goes in what bathroom, but he had to label them because of some law. If you see one of my artist's dolls on a door, it's a bathroom.”

Ash turned away from the door and began following Tempest again. At least he could quickly identify the bathrooms now. This place was the strangest workplace he'd ever been in, but he thought it might also be the absolute best place he'd ever work too.