, Kris thinks as he stares down in dismay at the stack of papers before him. The staple is a millimetre out of place, which means The Human is going to and whine and threaten to hurl him out the window. Again.

“You’re so effing dumb,” she growls, sliding him across the desk towards the cubicle wall before getting up from her swivel chair. Moments later, she is back with a device in her hand.

It isn’t love at first sight, Kris thinks as he stares at the contraption, but it's pretty damn close. The stapler remover is black and slim, its metal prongs gleaming beneath the fluorescent lights. Awestruck, he holds his breath and watches as the tip of the remover slides gracefully under his misplaced staple, extracting it with a clean flick. The Human sets it down on the table mere centimeters away and Kris feels his springs creak involuntarily.  

Kris is dragged back across the table and The Human mutters a low, “You better not screw up this time” before positioning him in front of the sheets once more.

Don't make a fool of yourself, Kris thinks as he focuses on the corner of the stack of papers. Just get your together and stay cool.

To his relief, the staple that shoots out this time is perfectly parallel with the edge of the page. He is unceremoniously shoved back towards his place by the cubicle wall and he heaves a small sigh of relief.

"You're Kris, right?"

Kris jumps. The voice is soft and lyrical, nothing like the jarring gun-shots that always came out of his own mouth.

“Yeah. Uh, thanks for, you know.” Smooth, real smooth.

“No problem, just doing my job,” the remover says airily, a hint of good-natured humor in his voice. "My name's Lay."

Lay. The name tastes like a cartridge of brand new staples on his tongue and when the remover edges closer, Kris feels a strange quiver down the length of his metal carrier.

“So how long do you plan on staying?” Kris asks as casually as his slightly busted hammer would allow.

“Well, tax season's just around the corner so I think I'll stick around for the next little while.”

A little while wasn’t quite the 'forever'  that Kris had been hoping to hear, but it would have to do. For now.