My First Imp

Jovi was… Exasperated to say the least. He knew imps were often mischievous and quirky, but he had apparently greatly underestimated this one little Chirop. This is why, Jovi thinks, Hutch warned him against this one in particular. But this one was so sweet in the imporium, even being affectionate through the bars of its cage. It must have been a ploy, because as soon as Jovi let the Chirop out of its carrier, it quickly launched itself out of the cardboard box and into the air, flying around the living room as if the little thing was still wild.

“H-hey!” Jovi calls out to the energetic imp, but it seems to fall on deaf ears as the Chirop perches at the top of the cabinets. The imp takes in its surroundings before taking off once more, though this time it’s headed towards Jovi’s prized possession… His vanity.

“No no no!” Jovi exclaims as he sprints as fast as he can to his precious makeup and nail polish sitting atop the vanity innocently, like shiny prizes that the Chirop definitely has in its metaphorical crosshairs. Quickly, he’s able to cup his hands around the pesky imp, snatching it straight out of the air before it’s able to ruin his meticulously organized makeup.

“You really are a little shit aren’t you?” Jovi asks, though obviously he doesn’t expect a response from the confused looking Chirop. Imps can’t talk, duh. “You almost ruined my makeup! I see why Hutch warned me about you… Hmm, but I don’t want to look like a quitter… I guess I’ll have to prove him wrong, then.” Jovi looks down to the imps in his hands, it’s quickly taken to nuzzling and chirping happily in Jovi’s warmth. Yeah, this little dude was probably going to be worth it, anyways– and he couldn’t just send it back knowing it may never find a proper home. Now, Jovi knows Hutch loves imps and wants to see them well taken care of, but if Jovi had listened to Hutch’s warning, just how long would this little imp be stuck for sale?

Snapping out of his thoughts, Jovi walks into his bedroom with the little imp in tow, he carefully closes the door behind him and settles on the edge of his bed before he attempts to let the imp free roam for a moment. He needs to see where exactly the imp needs improvement, besides the obvious he'd experienced a few minutes prior. As soon as Jovi opened his hands fully, the Chirop darted into the air again, this time looking around at the various baubles that adorn his shelves and bedside tables.

“You better not try anything funny, I’ll put you back into the carrier a hundred times if I have to. You can’t just be darting around all crazy like, you’re going to break something or end up hurting yourself.” Jovi says sternly, his lips pulled into a thin line as he scolds the Chirop– which surprisingly, makes it stall and fly in place. It looks at Jovi with an unreadable look, Jovi still hasn’t mastered the art of accurately deducting an imp’s emotions yet, but it sure doesn't look all that happy at being reprimanded, even if it's just a little.

“...Yes, you heard me, one hundred times. Call my bluff, I dare you. I have all day.” Jovi says as he crosses his arms, looking up at the imp, who, thankfully, now flaps its wings a little slower and is flying at a much more reasonable pace.

“Hey, not bad… maybe it’s just a reaction to new outside stimuli… are you anxious? Do you need a treat?” Jovi asks as he pulls out a black sesame dango stick from his bag. The Chirop pauses once more, hearing the plastic wrapper being removed. Once the dango was freed from its plastic-y prison, the Chirop dramatically swoops at the food offered, which makes Jovi let out a- totally not way too high pitched- shriek. Thankfully, the noise hadn’t scared the imp away, but it did cause it to look up at Jovi as if it was asking ‘What the heck is your problem?’.

Jovi let out an loud exasperated huff, ignoring the heat from the reddening flush on his face from embarrassment, he’s so glad he hadn’t invited anyone over today, he doesn’t think he could live with the aftermath. “You’re Trouble, for sure… I see why Hutch was so hesitant to let me take you home with me… But that doesn’t matter, you’re going to be a well behaved imp by the time I’m done with you, e-even if I don’t know the first thing about imp training… We all start somewhere…”

As Jovi rambles on about training and Hutch and how mischievous the imp is already being, the Chirop absolutely devours the black sesame dango. It dawns on Jovi a few seconds later that the dango has been hastily eaten and the Chirop was now actively gnawing on the tiny specks of rice cake still clinging to the stick.

“H-hey cut that out…” He says, pulling the stick away from the imp’s grip. Now that there is no more delicious food, the Imp looks at Jovi curiously. “All gone, no more.” He says, standing to discard the stick in the little trash bin by his bedside table. He clicks his tongue to get the imp’s attention, which garners him another curious look. Jovi calls the imp over with a soft voice, offering his hand as a perch. When the little Chirop obeys and settles onto Jovi’s finger, he smiles. Maybe he’s got this, he may even be a good imp dad and not have to let Hutch say ‘I told you so.’

Whatever might happen, he will do his very best to ensure his new little buddy is content and hopefully not a terroristic bundle of hellfire unleashed upon his precious belongings and the place he’s come to call home.

“I think I’ll name you Trouble.”