DISCLAIMER: MonMusu belongs to Okayado.

A/N: This chapter was written for Caesar's Palace "Decorate the Palace" challenge, prompt: write about someone with an unusual job.

~ Daily Life with an Interspecies Exchange Coordinator ~

"Don't worry, I'm sure it will be fine," Smith attempted to reassure her nervous young charge. "This particular host family has already successfully completed two intercultural exchanges, with a zombie and a mandragora, each for a one-year duration. You'll be in good hands."

"But they're probably not expecting someone like me," the lightweight breed centaur whispered, curling further in on himself.

He was so nervous that Smith couldn't help reaching out to pat him on the head as if he were a small child.

"Shiloh-kun, you'll be fine."

"I know the first placement didn't work out," Smith said, "but this host family specifically requested a centaur. So I'm sure it will be fine."

Shiloh didn't reply, but she could tell from the way his chin dropped and the nervous swish of his tail that he wasn't optimistic about his new host family either.

"It's okay to be afraid," the interspecies exchange coordinator told him. "But it's okay to trust people sometimes, too, you know."

"The person who put that on their application was probably hoping for a female," he mumbled, his voice so quiet that she almost couldn't make out what he'd said.

The third host family didn't even let him in the door before outright rejecting the placement. Shiloh wasn't too disappointed with the outcome. He couldn't be; he'd expected it the moment the coordinator had told him that this family had specifically requested a male centaur.

As the two of them walked back to the transport vehicle, Smith sighed and said, "I don't understand why they were so against taking you in when they specifically asked..." She trailed off at the sound of the centaur's sarcastic snort.

"Well, I'm hardly a shining example of my species," Shiloh said. "They were expecting a centaur knight-warhorse, not a skinny, dorky-" His voice dropped to a whisper. "-pony."

He glanced at Smith and saw her looking back at him, eyebrows furrowed in concentration - as if she was having a hard time reconciling what he'd said with her own opinion of him.

"You're the only human I've met who has seen me as anything beyond a failure of meeting the stereotypes of my species," he continued, a light blush dusting his cheeks. "Why can't I just come live at your house?"

"Oh..." she said slowly, as if the thought hadn't occurred to her before. "I suppose you could, if you're sure that's what you want." She smiled sheepishly. "It's a little crowded at the moment, though. I had to have a second pool put in due to the differences in salinity requirements between the two aquatic species I'm currently hosting."

~oOo~