Well the itty bitty creature had been making her way on these shores for a good few days now.  So far she hadn't gotten herself into too big of trouble, but she also hadn't traveled very far from her own family's headquarters.  Well!  Today she had decided was as good a day as any to explore a little further from her new home, but still would not brave one of those huge roaring machines that went into the sky.  However, she was quite curious about the metal beasts that roared along the ground...  She wasn't sure what these things were, but she had noticed the two legged ones climbing in and out of their bellies...  Where did they go when they did that?  It wasn't long before her natural curiosity got the better of her and the little one decided to find out herself.  So as one of her beloved new family members got into the belly of the beast, they were followed by a tiny stowaway.  It wasn't likely that they had noticed the tiny furred creature, so she hunkered down and would simply enjoy the ride.

It didn't last long before the roaring and rumbling and bumping stopped and her two legged friends got out and wandered toward a nearby building.  Well Ellie didn't necessarily feel like following them in, so she wandered off on her own.  She soon found her way to a different building entirely.  She moved with a grace and speed that was all her own, finding a window that was cracked just enough for her slender little body to get through.  Down into a new room she found herself and she soon found herself surrounded by a large number of curiosities.  There were bottles everywhere...  Many different colored ones at that and the smells...  Even through some of the bottles she could smell curious things.  Excitement coursed through the little one as she began her exploration.  Sniffing this bottle, jumping up that shelf...  The little one was simply having a hay day.  Too bad she couldn't get any of these bottles open!  She tried with her teeth, with her little paws...  Nothing worked!  Oh well...  She would just entertain herself by wandering through the place.  

Just then, as she pressed through a space that was just a tad small for her, between two bottles, she knocked one of them off the high shelf with her tail.  With a soft crash and rattle, Ellie froze and darted back to the edge of the shelf.  There was the fallen bottle.  It had made the most delightful of sounds!  A rattle that was very interesting to her.  Scurrying down the shelf, she quickly pawed at the fallen bottle, sending it skittering across the floor.  Brilliant!  The tiny ferret was on it in a second!  Her whole body quivered in excitement as she bounded after the newfound toy.  She loved this place!  She looked up at one of the shelves before scurrying up it and purposefully knocking a few more of the bottles down.  More toys!  Back down she went and began batting the playfully rattling bottles across the floor.  It never occurred to the little ferret that this might be a naughty thing to do, nor did it occur to her that she might not be alone...  Was it possible that something guarded this wondrous playland?  Well one could be sure she would find out soon enough!

Rubix <3

The humans were out, busy working and talking to other humans. Spaceman was in his office and was not to be bothered except for emergencies but it was a day like any other. Rubix had already awoken from his nap twice to find that the sun had moved and his new warm spot was a few body rolls to the left. It was halfway through his third nap when a new scent had awoken him. His nostrils flared before his eyes opened but it was a scent he never smelled before and it was close, like the smell was coming from inside. 

Rubix was not about to bother the boss over a new scent but he was going to check it out. His nose took him to the cellar steps and through the lab. He found himself at the lab storage room, he was not supposed to go in there after his tail knocked over bottles last time. He continued to sniff the door, crossed with the dilemma of whether the scent was worth checking out. It was then that he heard a bottle hit the floor on the other side of the door. Something was in there. Should he get the boss? Rubix ran back towards the steps before remembering how busy Spaceman was working on a cure. Another few bottles hit the floor and Rubix ran back for the lab storage room. He burst through the door to see a small furry creature rolling bottles across the floor. Their eyes met immediately and both animals stood still. The stare finally broke as the small furry creature took off for the opposite wall. 

WOOF

Rubix summoned a deep bark that froze the animal in its place. He calmly circled the animal and sniffed it before getting down on her level. He took a deep sniff and blew the air back out from his nose, the air startled the creature. She shook it off and took a few tiny steps towards Rubix's nose and began to sniff him. 

This place was a blast!  And there were so many of these little bottles, all with stuff in them!  Some were liquidy stuff some solid little things that rattled...  Oh it was all so exciting to the tiny critter.  There were so many fun things in here!  She would have to bring William here sometime.  She was simply certain that he would get as much of a kick out of these little bottles as she did!  But just then another smell made her pause.  It was a smell she didn't recognize, but there were a fair few of those in here.  So she quickly wrote it off.  If whatever the smell was came in here, she'd deal with it then.  For now she just wanted to roll with these beautiful little toys.  She batted another one across the floor, hard.  It headed for the door and she was after it in an instant.  Oh no you wouldn't get away!  She leapt but just then the door burst open and she came to a skidding halt.  

Those beady little eyes gazed up into eyes much larger.  The being itself was much larger but covered in fur like her...  Not a two leg...  What was he doing in a two leg place?  Ellie gazed up at him uncertain if he was friend or foe...  Would he eat her?  She was fairly certain he could...  Probably in three bites or less!  Ok.  Calm yourself Ellie!  Maybe he's not here to eat you...  But...  What if this is his place?  Ah heck with it RUN!  With everything within her spazztic little body, the little ferret turned tail and sprinted across the room toward a counter.  There was a small space underneath where she was fairly certain a bottle was hiding and where she knew she could fit but not the larger...  Goodness what was he?!  But just then a sound hit her like a shockwave...  WOOF!  It sounded so loud to her sensitive little ears and she came to a screeching halt before whirling around to face him again.  Something about that bark.  Commanding and yet it didn't sound threatening...  Per se.  She certainly hoped she wasn't wrong and shouldn't have just kept running.  

Then he approached...  That nose never ceased and he sniffed and sniffed as he came closer.  She stood absolutely still...  Still as a statue.  She watched him come nearer...  Nearer...  She supposed she could bite his nose if things got dire...  But no.  She wouldn't be hostile if he wasn't hostile, and so far his exchange of air wasn't painful to her.  He seemed intent on getting her scent.  She'd allow it.  But when he released that breath, she let out a soft squeak of protest as well as some amount of fear.  He was big...  So big...  She scrambled back and looked at him, her fur more or less standing on end.  Still...  He hadn't eaten her...  So tentatively she would step toward him again.  One pawstep…  Two...  A brave third brought her back nose to nose with the large creature and she sniffed him bravely.  She would reciprocate and one would bet that for better or worse, she would never forget that scent.  She tilted her head a little and looked to the side of her.  One of the fallen bottles was just calling to her...  She reached out with her tail and batted it toward the larger creature, tilting her head in a clear invitation.  Did he want to play?  Oh please say he wanted to play...  She was simply certain that he wanted to play with her.

Rubix watched her every move, from the sniffing - to the head tilt toward the bottle. He wasn't sure why the creature was here but he had determined one thing, this little creature was not here to murder the entire family, no she was far from being a vacuum of any sort. Rubix was also able to pick up on trace smells of other Philadelphia residents and he realized that he had completely disregarded his manners. Rubix was a Good Boy, he needed to be hospitable for his new friend. 

He just about jumped off the ground when he realized he made a new non-human friend. Finally he could stop having to invite the Henderson's dog over for poker, the dog had an excellent poker face but the wagging tail always gave him away. Rubix stretched down really low, his tail now wagging high in the air, coming dangerously close to the shelves of bottles. He pawed at a bottle already laying on the ground and rolled it over to the creature to see what she would do with it. 

Eleonora trembled a tad.  Though whether it was from fear or excitement was as of yet indeterminable.  But she watched the dog before her with wide eyes.  He didn't seem hostile...  But for all the watching of her that he did, she did just as much.  It was clear that neither being knew what the other was...  She was pretty sure she had never seen something like him this close before.  Typically any time she saw something like him she ran the other way and hid.  But she wasn't entirely sure she had seen anything like him as big as him!  There were itty bitty yappers, some barely bigger than herself...  But he...  He was in another league all his own!  She was fairly certain she was spending too much time around those two leg creatures...  She found this exciting rather than terrifying like she once would have.  

She watched as he moved lower to the ground, that tail wagging like mad.  She found an incredible desire to pounce and catch it.  But for now she kept her excitement and impulses under control.  Honestly she just wanted to run, to chase, to roll, to do something other than just stand here and stare down this large dog!  But just then his paw shot out and caught one of the fallen bottles before sending it skittering toward her.  YES!  He wanted to play!  The little ferret no longer hesitated, she dashed at the oncoming bottle before hitting it hard to send it skittering back toward the dog before her.  Perfect!  She squeaked and chittered her pleasure before scrambling up a shelf to nudge a couple more bottles down off the shelf with her nose.  The more toys the better right?  Hopping back down, she would chase one of the rolling bottles before jumping and pouncing it.  With a surprised squeak, she found herself rolling out of control right toward the dog.  If he didn't move, she'd likely roll right into his wet nose!  What a surprise that would be!

The little creature chased and jumped at the bottles with excitement, there were plenty already but she needed more, she gently pushed them off the shelves and jumped back down to roll them more. She had so many whizzing around the room that she rolled out of control right for Rubix. 

He did not move. 

The little creature collided with his nose. He made certain she was alright before giving it a try himself. She scurried out of the way as he leaned down to pounce a bottle. The rest was a tornado of lights and blurs until he hit the table. By the time Rubix was seeing in a single direction there were papers slowly gliding towards the floor. The little creature hurried over and bounced with excitement. It was at that moment they heard a noise from upstairs and Rubix remembered he was in the place he shouldn't go and had made a mess. Rubix was a Good Boy, how could he do this, he had to get the little one out. He picked her up gently by the scruff of her neck and set her on his shoulder blades. She climbed to his neck as he stood up to get her out the window. 

This was so absolutely insanely fun!  The bottles...  They just scurried across the floor after she sent them on their way with her paws!  They were so fun to just pounce and roll with that the little ferret simply got entirely caught up with the game.  Yet before long she rolled right into his nose.  With a squeak of surprise, she jerked to the side to try and avoid rolling full force into the poor canine.  She ended up landing comically upon her back just to the side of his nose, looking mildly stunned.  She wasn't entirely certain what had just transpired, but it hadn't been what she had meant to do!  But it didn't seem that the dog before her minded in the least.  She hadn't hurt him, she hadn't hurt herself...  So it was that he joined her game with more gusto and eagerness than she had thought possible.  Ellie made sure to keep herself out of range of those paws, not wanting to end up like one of the bottles.  Oh this was just brilliant though!  Every now and then, the tiny creature darted out to smack a bottle herself to send it skittering away again.  The bottles zipped this way and that as the two enjoyed themselves to the fullest extent of the word.

But all too soon, the dog smacked into the table and this stopped his play.  She looked up in surprise as papers began to flutter down.  Brilliant!  The little ferret leapt and swatted at one of them playfully.  But her newfound friend looked... Bothered?  Ellie didn't understand!  They were having a wonderful time!  But it seemed that all too soon, playtime was over.  She was picked up by the scruff as if she weighed little more than a dandelion down and placed upon the dog's shoulder.  This was not a secure location, so she would move quickly up so that she had a bit of a better perch.  He then stood, aligning her right below the window she had entered through.  She looked to him and then to the bottles in a bit of a mournful manner, but he wasn't taking no for an answer.  Playtime was over.  At least here...  With a soft chuff, she would scramble up the way she came, through the window and out into the bright and warm sunshine.  Oh that felt good...  The way it seeped into her fur to warm her skin beneath...  Mmm she could just...

Wait!  

What about her new friend?  Was he trapped down there?  She scurried back to the window and peered inside, squeaking in a worried fashion.  The way she carried on, it would be a wonder if she didn't attract unwanted attention, but she was worried!  

She was safe, whatever she was. Rubix knew she was going to get away. Then it had dawned on him that he was still here. His tail immediately fell between his legs. The compulsions, he was a Good Boy, but the compulsions make Rubix do things he mustn't. He made his way for the door but as he got near it started to open. Rubix hid behind the now opened door as the scent of the Pharmacy Lab Assistant entered the room. She yelled and ran to collect the paperwork and bottles as Rubix slinked away unseen. 

Up the cellar steps and past the office he escaped into the rear yard, he took the false fence post exit and doubled back to the outside window where he thankfully found a concerned creature peering inside the window. 

Woof!

The stretch of fur shook with glee and turned to see him. Rubix bowed down and motioned for her to hop aboard. He bounded for the train station and boarded one of his favorite hobo box cars en route to Chicago, eager to introduce his new friend to his occasional travel companions. They had interesting smells and loved to share stories in their human language, but Rubix loved to travel by train and view the sights, he hoped his new friend would as well.