my first imp

"You said that you wanted a Lunell, didn't you? Those are pretty tough to handle for a first-time imp owner, which is why I always suggest starting with something easier," said Hutch, pushing their glasses up from where they were slipping off the bridge of their nose. 

Although the part of his brain that was a normal, rational bun knew that Hutch was right... Sacha couldn't help but feel a bit cheated! He'd saved up a few hundred carats, come all the way out here to the Imporium, and he wasn't allowed to adopt the imp that he'd come here for?

But Hutch *was* right. It was clear that they took great pride in raising and caring for these little critters, even to someone like Sacha—whose powers of observation left something to be desired. And, if Hutch didn't want to adopt out a Lunell to Sacha, it's not like he could really do much about that (short of getting Jackal to help him break in and steal one.)

However, Sacha didn't WANT a different kind of pet. He already had his heart set on this particular kind, and had fully intended to leave with one today. He'd picked out a name (something extraordinarily cute, in his opinion) and gotten toys and pet-proofed his apartment... This wasn't in the plan! He couldn't just leave without it!

The chirop on top of Hutch's head chittered in its sleep, and they reached up to pet it absentmindedly. 

"We have an imp here that you could foster for a week or so; see how you like it," they continued, completely oblivious to Sacha's internal crisis, "and if you end up liking it, we'll see about getting you that Lunell. I'll even throw in a first-imp discount. How's that?"

The stack of adoption paperwork in Hutch's other hand seemed to materialize out of thin air. Sacha couldn't help but wonder if they'd planned this all along.

"I..." Sacha frowned, weighing his options. He was reasonably sure that Hutch wouldn't be mean (or stupid?) enough to give him anything he couldn't handle, so it was just a matter of waiting... one extra week. And the Lunell was honestly going to be pretty expensive—that discount wasn't unwelcome. 

"Can I see the imp first?" He asked. 

Hutch nodded, putting the paperwork down and motioning for Sacha to follow them. 

"I deal with people in your situation pretty often. This imp is pretty friendly and easy to handle, so I often let prospective imp owners take care of him for a week before they commit," Hutch said, leading Sacha to an imp cage closer towards the front of the store. 

There was a small chirop in the cage. It looked fairly similar to the one on Hutch's head, actually, and if it was out Sacha wasn't sure if he would be able to tell them apart. It was hanging upside down by its tiny little claws, wings wrapped around itself as it blinked up at Sacha and Hutch.

"Bring him back after a week. Or sooner, if you end up realizing he's too much to handle, okay?" Hutch said, lifting the cage up and placing it into Sacha's arms. "He doesn't need to eat, but he'll get into whatever you have laying around, so be careful..."

Sacha nodded. This seemed fairly straightforward, and the Chirop didn't seem to mind the cage jostling it around. It just kept blinking up at Sacha with wide, innocent eyes.

"Also," Hutch said, his tone shifting suddenly. Sacha felt a chill run down his spine.

Hutch's eyes were hidden behind the glint of their glasses, but Sacha didn't need to see them to feel the weight of their glare. 

"If that Chirop comes back injured, or doesn't come back at all..."

"Ah—no, you won't need to worry about that, Hutch! I promise," Sacha said quickly. As he did, he felt the aura of sheer bloodlust surrounding Hutch dissipate, and the storekeeper's usual friendly smile returned, as if nothing ever happened.

"Good! I'm glad we're on the same page."

--

Sacha kicked the door of his apartment shut behind him, setting the cage down on his table.

He lived alone, and his apartment reflected that—the only person he'd ever invited over described it as a "boy home" (in opposition to a 'girl home', as far as he could tell?) However, he had all of the necessities, such as his single table, with a single chair, and even a single decoration in the form of a large fabric poster of the moon on the wall. 

He quickly glanced around to make sure that there weren't any obvious hazards for the chirop, before undoing the latch on the cage and letting the door fall open. 

After a short pause, the chirop inside fluttered out of the cage politely, alighting on the edge of the table.

This was definitely going to be easy. The chirop was clearly already tame, and it seemed smart enough to know the deal. Sacha offered his hand for it to climb up on, and it scampered all the way up to his shoulder, hiding under his hair. 

... Maybe the hard part was going to be giving it back to Hutch. It was probably pretty stressful for an imp to get passed around between new prospective owners all the time—and there was no guarantee that those owners were as well-read on imp care as Sacha was (although, most of his knowledge was specific to Lunells...)

There wasn't any reason Sacha couldn't adopt both, right? 

The chirop interrupted this train of thought with a noise that sounded suspiciously like snoring. Sacha would just have to ask about it in a week.