Imp Shenanigans

“So, the two of you are thinking of getting a pet?” Hutch smiled widely at Shibani and Dan; Dan nodded once. “Well, you're at the right place! Plenty of li'l imps here. Now, I know what you're thinking – you're probably wondering if I've got any non-imp pets, aren't you? I'm here to tell you that these li'l guys aren't the pests you've been led to think they are! It just takes a nice bond and some attention to keep them in line, but they're way more loveable than most people give them credit for.” Hutch reached up to pet the chirop on their shoulder. It chirped in response and pushed into their hand. “This li'l one was my first – they're actually really easy to train, Chirops, but the mischievous streak is a mile wide so you still gotta keep an eye on them. No means no, but silence apparently means yes. A lot of imps are actually like that, so as long as you can keep that in mind you should do pretty good! Any questions so far, or are you keeping up?”

Neither bun seemed to have any complaints yet, though Hutch was almost wondering if the white one was even listening. Regardless, the other one was.

“Ok, so first things first: since neither of you has cared for an imp before – you haven't, right? - I need to see how both of you interact with them before just letting you take one. It'll give me an idea of what kind of imp would be best for you based on your abilities! I won't force one specific type, of course, but some imps require a more careful hand and constant attention or activity, while others are content to just exist in your orbit. So, what we're going to do is go to that room over there -” They pointed to a door behind the two, “- and have you each interact with a few at once. You first, Shibani I believe you said your name was? You'll start, and then Dan will be second.”

Shibani grimaced a bit. Ugh, effort. He had ideas though. Dan just nodded again, seemingly fine with the idea. Hutch shifted a little bit as a beat passed and no one said anything. 'Neither of these two seem to be big speakers...'

The three of them trooped into the room, Hutch taking a few moments longer as they collected their babies for the test. “Ok, so these are going to be your tester pets – they've all been tamed, so I can stop them if anything gets out of hand, but since you're strangers still they'll react to you like any new pet. This one's a chirop, this one's a phloof, and this one's a sceil. Chirops, I've mentioned before, are little mischievous things. Phloofs are very calm and docile, so you don't need to expect anything too destructive from this one. Sceil, in my professional opinion, look totally awesome! They tend to be a bit shy and hide away a lot, but I've never met a sceil owner who said they had a bad relationship with their baby. Oh- one note on the sceil, they're harmless little things. Not poisonous or anything. I don't know who started that rumor but the poor little ones have suffered for it. If you get too scared of them, please don't strike them! Just tell me and I'll call this one over.” They gave what they thought was a reassuring smile. “If we're all in understanding, then please; Shibani, head to the center of the room. Dan, you'll stand by the door with me and wait for your turn.”

Shibani moved into the center of the room, looking around as the three imps made their move. A zip of darkness was all he could see of the sceil darting underneath a shelf, while the phloof seemed to just lazily float in the air. He wasn't sure what the chirop was doing – he kept catching glances of it, but that seemed to be all. It was speeding around the room like a little lunatic. Why use so much energy?

With a small yawn, Shibani sat down in the center. He could hear Hutch hastily scribbling notes – did he really do something worth so many words? Wouldn't bother him though. He just got comfortable and closed his eyes.

His intention had been to lure out the quiet ones by being quiet himself. It did start to work – the sceil started to dart its way around, curious about the person in the middle of the room, and the phloof had started to float his way. Unfortunately, he forgot to deal with the mischief maker first, and instead made himself an easy target. He felt something tug sharply at one of the ropes crossing his back and twitched a bit. It tugged again, another location. He twisted back to try to glare sleepily at it, with a quietly annoyed “Hey...”, but it had already moved and tugged at one of his front ones.

He didn't try to lash out at it, but both Dan and Hutch could see how frustrated he was getting as he tried to figure out how to stop the chirop from tugging at his ropes. Just before Hutch was about to call the chirop away, Dan stepped forward with a commanding “Hey.” that sent a small shiver down their back. 'Oh.'

That clearly got the chirop's attention too, as all three of the others looked in Dan's direction. The sceil darted back beneath furniture for safety, and the phloof continued floating as if nothing was wrong in the world. Hutch watched, both curious about what Dan would do to try to get control of the situation and a little more interested in the man in general.

When Dan arrived to the scene of the crime, he stared down his nose at the chirop. The chirop just chirped up at him, unthreatened. A few beats passed before Dan reached into his happi, procuring a small box. Before Hutch had a chance to say anything, Dan had offered a small piece of something to the chirop.

The now-pink, but very happy chirop.

Hutch stared in surprise before laughing. “Oh, well, I suppose that is one way to get them to calm down! Although, do be careful – it's a bit of Hell Roulette with what'll happen, especially with sweet things. They don't really need to eat, so food affects them a lot more than other things. Though, whatever you gave it seems to be safe...if a bit staining.” Dan stared at the pink chirop, contemplating for a moment before offering it another small piece of something. It eagerly munched on the treat, returning to its original shade of black.

After clarifying to Hutch that it was an appropriately-sized piece of dango that he was feeding them, he offered a piece to the phloof which had finally arrived. It let out a tiny trill as it floated down to land on Shibani, who was beginning to drift off again. Even the sceil became curious enough to check out the party and receive a piece. The sceil didn't make any noises of approval, but proved its stoic approval by steadily eating on the piece.

“Alright, that's a wrap then – you both pass! Well, not that there was really a failure. Now, for the both of you together I don't think I'd necessarily recommend a chirop – while Dan did a wonderful job placating it, I think it would just get on Shibani's nerves. However, both of you did well with the phloof and the sceil, so either of those would work, and then we also have-”

Hutch went on about what options would best suit their dynamic, and attitudes, and to help them take a look. Would they get one in the end? Well...maybe that's a story for another time.