Let's do this one more time.

I sat on the office chair, surrounded by the spotless whites of our post. My hands glided through the keys of my desktop, the steady click-clack echoing the similar sounds that surrounded my dear partner, who was also using her computer.

Early in the morning, my eyes would find themselves on the outside scenery, but as our departure came closer, it was time to tie up some things before heading out. I've become fond of this little space we call ours - from the cool air of Myla's words or the air conditioning to the beautiful, albeit empty, view of the outside world. Or even the thematically fitting but questionably avant-garde art pieces that hung from the walls, it began to feel like a second home of sorts.

But today, something was amiss in this familiar marble space. It was subtle. A few decorations and knick-knacks weren't in place, and so were the sofa chairs in the middle of our post. And, in general, it felt like there was overall less space. Of course, this wasn't an accident. Today was to be different, and it started with our coffee.

"I'm coming in," A voice spoke, followed by the door opening wide to reveal a young fellow grasping three cold cans of caffeine, the icy mist dripping from his hands.

"I'm surprised you have so many vending machines here and that most of them sell coffee." The introvert-turned-intern said as he placed a can on each of our desks.

"Blame the tech department for that. They're all addicted to it." I replied, though admittedly guilty of the same crime.

As I hid my allegiance to the bean juice, I got a closer look at our apprentice's garb. His uniform was almost identical to ours, covering him with a shining white all the way up to his arms. Instead of the pink and blue we surveyors lined ourselves with, sleek maroon highlights characterized the apprentices of aiAI along with the small badge on their breast pocket. Aside from that, Keith remained as endearing as ever with a pair of oval glasses and well-kept dark chocolate hair, pairing nicely with his charming face, looking like the idealized sad boy archetype teen girls fawned over.

At least, I still think they do. I mean, that's all I ever saw when I browsed the internet for stories when I was younger.

"We usually alternate on who gets our drinks, so consider this part of your apprenticeship, fledgling," I commented jokingly, releasing the seal on the drink.

"I see. So it would be best if I took on that role during my time as an apprentice to learn as much as I can?" He asked, seemingly serious about his conclusion.

"Both of you, get to work already." A cold voice ended our exchange, getting a shared chuckle from both of us before Keith took his spot on one of the sofa chairs.

A few days have passed since our chat with Alexandre regarding the apprentice program of aiAI. And after getting some of his credentials in order, as well as organizing everything else he was going to leave behind for the time being, Keith Kirby officially joined our ranks as an apprentice for the surveyor pair of Bridger Blaithe and Myla Marika.

And so chaos ensued.

Or not, since the day began as usual, slow and uneventful, even with our newly added comrade in arms. The most notable part of the ordeal so far was indeed the very act of getting here in the first place.

"I'm still quite surprised both of you managed to get me this position. I know it might be rude, but you don't suppose your boss Mister Adams pulled some strings and..?"

"I can assure you he's not corrupt in any way. Probably. Let's just call this a miracle through the power of love and move on." I gave an offhand reply, hoping to draw attention away from Alexandre before changing the subject.

No one gets to question your credibility other than me.

"So, how's the office treating you?" I asked, my words shadowed by the still-constant rhythm of the keyboard.

"I didn't actually know you had one for yourselves, so I appreciate the accommodation," Keith responded with a warm smile, a good start as I was also trying to gauge his current mood. For as much as he was technically our coworker, Myla and I agreed that we would still view him from the perspective of a client first and foremost. And, while we still hadn't found a reason, he seemed to be acclimating well enough.

"Oh, but I do have one question," he began, his tone betraying the smile he wore as he spoke.

"I assumed we would be out talking to clients by now. What are you working on here on computers?" We paused to take in his question, but even before that, he began apologizing, "Ah, I don't mean that in a bad way! I just thought most of your work revolved around driving around the city and talking to people."

"You make us sound unemployed with that explanation." I paused my typing for a moment to laugh at his assumption before Myla continued for me.

"We have many jobs besides counseling and matching. Dealing with relationships on the outside is only one duty of surveyors."

"Yep, right now, Myla is finalizing the reports we'll be passing from this week's clients, and I'm skimming through the transcripts and data we collected yesterday. Being a surveyor comes down to reading a lot of Times New Roman." I joked, though when we're not out and about, we did resemble simple office workers in our trade.

"Ah, I see. I still have a lot to learn, then." Our apprentice said with a composed but determined face which quickly faltered into one of worry.

"So, umm, what exactly do I do now?"

"Well, to be honest, we really didn't think this through fully."

"Wait, what? Myla, he's just joking again, right?" Keith attempted to get consolation from my dear partner, but when I said we, I meant it.

"I do apologize, but even I was stumped by that question. As difficult as it might be to believe, we've settled into a flow and pattern of work, making it difficult to allocate any onto you." Myla replied, tinging it with some dismay.

You could've just said we work together well...

"Right, it's either that or we force all of our work on you like most internships."

"I would prefer not to." Keith quickly raised his hands up in refusal, understanding well that what I said was true.

It sucks that it is, but I'm not here to crush the system. I might eat the rich, though.

"Are there not times when you wished there were three of you?" Our apprentice asked, trying to see if the concept of having a third member had at least crossed our minds in the past.

"Well, not particularly. What do you think?" I inquired about Myla's thoughts.

"The two of us are enough of a headache as is."

"Is that some self-awareness and accountability that I hear?"

"You wouldn't be much of a problem if you weren't mine to deal with." She replied coldly, but she wasn't wrong. We were an odd pair indeed.

Still, these were the cards in our hands, the dice we rolled, and, in fairness, we've done well.

"Though, I guess it's not like we don't get overloaded with work from time to time."

"There is a pattern to such events. The entirety of the Summer season, December, and of course, Valentine's Day usually mark an increase in requests." Myla explained, informing both Keith and me of this revelation.

"Ah, that explains why we've gotten less work after Summer." Myla nodded to reaffirm my suggestion.

"Truly incredible that not even the indescribable beauty of human love is immune to the rules of supply and demand. What a time to be alive." I added, a tear almost welling up in my eye.

"You're cynicism entertains no one, Bridger." My dear partner seemed less entertained than Keith, who laughed anxiously at my honesty.

"At least you appreciate my bluntness. Maybe this trio thing won't be so bad after all."

"If you guys can slot me in somewhere, then sure. For now, all I can do is learn these bits of information from you and try my best to remember them for later." Keith said with a somewhat down expression before resuming.

"Still, I didn't know something like surveyor work could fluctuate like that."

"Neither did I, but it comes with any form of work. People are as fickle as the wind when it comes to everything, especially their emotions." I responded with a close-eye shrug, but as I opened them, it seemed Keith's expression turned more contemplative.

"Oh? Did something I say weird?"

"Ah." He snapped out of it, returning to his at-ease smile. "No, nothing. I was just wondering if all I really could do was sit here and chat."

"In the meantime, can we ask you to receive today's file folder from upstairs? It's in Alexandre's office upstairs." Myla managed to think of a task, which was at least better than just having Keith sit still and wait until we went out.

"Oh, of course," He said, standing up, "I'll be right back then." And with that, he left the room, giving me a moment to think.

I slowed my typing as I mulled over the situation. There were still plenty of unknowns to be answered, but for now, we had to figure out how to get our work done efficiently while slotting in Keith between us.

"Your face tells me you've already begun thinking of something. What do you have in mind?" Myla spoke without turning her gaze away from the bright screen - her keen eye nevertheless spotting my contemplation.

"Woah! You do pay attention to me, after all!" I exclaimed with a forced sincerity in tone and appearance, enough to change my dear partner's expression from composed to annoyed.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Well, we've gotta think of something Keith can do before we go out, right? Something proper surveyor-like to hype him up." I presented my thoughts, to which she quickly replied.

"And how is what we're doing now not exactly that?"

"Well, yeah, but something more exciting, more in-line with what he expected, y'know?"

"You make it sound as if we're entertaining a child..." Myla said as she seemed to lose interest in my suggestion.

"Oh, don't be like that. We both know how much you enjoy this job, as cold as you are, so why not show it off a bit?" I added, and while she closed her eyes upon hearing my reply, it wasn't a sign of resignation, but one of consideration.

"...Fine, what do you propose then?"

I began weighing our options again. What exactly was there to do? What exactly defined something as "surveyor-like" anyway? And could we do it right here, right now?

"...Oh, I just thought of something..." After a moment of deliberation, something undeniably befitting the uniform of aiAI's trademark workers struck me, but it was easier said than done.

"Your grave tone tells me neither of us will enjoy this..." And so I explained in detail the plan, one that, as expected, was not accepted without resistance.

"I'm coming in," A voice spoke through the door, opening to reveal Keith holding the stacks of folders in his arms.

"Oh, were you talking about something?"

"Ah, we just got done. Just some stuff about a client we're working with, no biggie." We managed to finish discussing,

Arguing,

about the plan and, before long, would set it into motion.

Around half an hour passed of our humdrum morning, but what was unseen to our currently fidgeting apprentice was that Myla and I had just finished our work at record speed, all to ensure we had enough time to enact our surprise.

"Right!" I stood up with a clap, prompting Myla to do the same, though far less enthusiastically. "Keith, could you sit over there for a bit?" I pointed to the sofa chair opposite the couch, which Myla and I stood near.

"Oh, sure. But what is it? Is there something we have to do before heading out?" Keith asked, moving over to the seat.

"Eh, kinda? Let's call it a practice run of sorts, something to get you in the mood." I said, sitting down.

"We still have a generous amount of time before we head out," Myla reassured him, placing herself next to me and putting her clipboard on the glass table.

Keith eyed both of us, intrigued as he wondered what we were planning. I gave Myla a nod, signifying it was time to start.

"Alright! So, in short, Myla and I will pretend to be a client! Or, in other words,"

"...A couple. Let's just get on with it, please." Myla did little to promote the idea, but her delivery was far from unreasonable.

"Trust me. It pains me just as much!" I exclaimed without a drop in my eagerness.

"Oh, well then. That's...certainly an idea. But, if you both don't want to that much..." As skeptical as he was, the look in his eyes and curious tone told me he was still considering it. After a moment, he sighed and spoke,

"Okay, I'll take you up on your offer." He seemed to steel himself as he replied, looking at both of us with readiness.

I glanced at Myla, who gave me a similar look. One that asked each other if perhaps this strange situation would help shed some light on our introverted apprentice's motivations.

"Oh, but what's the clipboard for?" Keith asked, picking it up.

"For taking down notes." Myla quickly replied.

"Why not just use a laptop-"

"Don't question it. Just go with it." And so, the impromptu counseling was to begin.

"You're tasked with meeting and surveying a month-old pair consisting of the following individuals: Bridger Blaithe and Myla Marika." The idea behind this was mainly to see if we could gain an answer from Keith by giving him what we thought he wanted.

"This is the first of the routine checks you'll be doing on these two, so for now, just focus on collecting data on both clients, their perspectives, dynamics, strengths, weaknesses, and overall condition of the relationship." I continued the rundown of the basics of being a surveyor as Myla handed him a makeshift file written in near print-like typography, which he took with determined eyes.

Even so, part of us probably was just trying to cheer him up. And as he read through the file, reiterating much of what we had already said, I couldn't help but think we had already partly succeeded.

"...Alright...Uhuh..." Our apprentice whispered to himself as he focused on both the file and his thoughts before breathing in and speaking, "Okay! Let's do this."

I looked at Myla and nodded. We had to play our parts well since we were framing this as a form of practice. And while it pained us to do so, it was worth it if we could achieve both of our hidden goals regarding Keith.

Time to channel my inner theatre kid for this.

Hey, wait, why aren't I a pompous, self-absorbed prick?

Still, if there was something I did have to dig up from my high school years of being forced into plays and acting without my consent, it would have to be the unabashed lack of shame and willingness to commit to the role to earn a good grade, no matter the cost.

Well, as long as it doesn't include getting bossed around by the actual theatre kids for hours on end again.

I grabbed Myla's hand with mine, her slim fingers digging into my palm as she regretted the decision more and more with each passing second.

How can such delicate-looking hands be so painful?

Admittedly, this part was completely unnecessary, but it felt like a fun way to tease my far more self-critical partner and convince our apprentice that we were serious about this bit.

She stared at me with a glare that told me she was only willing to do this if hell froze over, and with the sheer frigidity of her eyes, that might've been possible.

And with an attraction similar to two magnets of equal charge, we showed how close we were as a couple to Keith by raising our intertwined but unwilling hands and speaking.

At least, that implies we're similar. And that we'd be more than willing to explode if placed together.

"Ah, dear! It seems our surveyor is here. Silly you, still holding my hand like this with him around." I said, looking at Myla with a smile that belonged behind a fast-food counter - which means nervous, sick of the crap they're having to put with, and about to snap.

"...Please. Just tell us we need to dissolve this relationship and be done with it..." Myla gave a wonderfully genuine performance, though I doubt it was the message I was going for.

Even so, the curtains rose, and so began our stageplay to entertain and star our apprentice.