mission impossible

It’s Matentines and Bex is doing well, thank you. She’s squared away all her blind-dates to other days, and is traipsing down to the Imporium like any reasonable person would do, clearly. With no ulterior motive at all of spending time with Hutch (that’d be too touchy feely), she had woken up today with the desire to learn more about imp care! She had definitely been thinking of getting another imp, maybe one with a bit more spunk to accompany Memmy. This and the thirst for imp training knowledge were the sole reasons she made her way across her town and stands now in front of the door, perhaps too early in the morning. 

She knocks once and then just opens the door to walk in. 

The scene is chaotic, as it always is when she walks into the Imporium. Hutch seems to be negotiating something with a small group of Remil, speaking slowly to the five or six of them gathered on the cash register.

“You just can’t live in there,” they explain calmly. “It opens constantly, and it would be uncomfortable on top of any of the carats that get put in there. I know a small dark series of containers seems fun, but it’s not a perfect home.”

The Remil don’t seem to entirely get it, one of them attempting to sneak back off towards the cash drawer. Hutch simply reaches over, picking them up and setting it back with the mischief.

“No,” they say more firmly. “Not for you.”

Bex grins, leaning back against the wall to watch. She wouldn’t want to interrupt such a vital back and forth.

A few of the Remil shift around, looking anywhere but the cash register. It seems they might be a little more aware than they’re trying to look.

“Anywhere else. There’s so many cool boxes in this store,” Hutch explains, gathering the mischief in their hooves. “Here, I’ll show you. Over her- oh! Bex!”

They startle when they turn to look at the other part of the store and see her, and the Remil scramble to perch on their head and shoulders. 

“Seems like things are going well,” Bex grins. “Does giving them a dressing down really work?”

Hutch shrugs, and the Remil shimmy around to keep their balance. “Sometimes! Definitely not on every imp, but if it was going to work on any of them it’d be the Remil. Smart little guys, when they want to be.” One of the Remil clambers up to perch on their horn, and another scrambles to counter balance. “Or a Furdin. They’re also very intelligent, though you need to scold them way less.”

“Would they object if I wanted to pet them?” Bex asks, knowing it was rather out of character for how she likes to portray herself. But fuck it, there were cute imps being mischevious and a cute bun covered in imps. She could be a little self-indulgent. It’s Matentines. She came here for imp reasons.

“Oh! No, probably not! Go ahead!” They say, angling their head to let her reach the Remil easier. “If they aren’t in the mood for pets, they’ll just scamper away. Then you just have to let them come back to you to try again. Some of them are more affectionate than others.”

Bex nods, glad she had the experts of experts here. She could relate a bit to the Remil, more than she could relate to her own Phloof Memmy. Memmy was happy with anyone, comfortable enough to sleep around anyone and always at peace. That was absolutely not her experience. But with the Remil, the idea of being able to dash away when it got too much and come back only when she wanted to was… it was a bit relatable. 

She reaches out, and the Remil on the left horn scampers down to Hutch’s shoulder. She acknowledges that with a nod, and then tries to pet the other one. This Remil accepts it, excitedly nuzzling against her hand. 

“Hi there,” she says to the Remil kindly. Hutch stands perfectly still, an excited grin on their face. The Remil squeaks twice, and climbs onto Bex’s hand to scamper up to her shoulder.

“Oh!” she exclaims as it begins to make itself comfortable there. “Oh, I guess it likes me.”

“Excellent!” Hutch says, a gleam in their eye. “While you’re here, I could actually use some help with that one. Would you like to learn the best way to entertain a Remil? No pressure to take one home, but if it likes you it may be a good way to get it interested in the enrichment puzzles I have for it.”

“Sounds good to me,” Bex says, “What do you mean about enrichment puzzles?”

“Well, Remil are very intelligent creatures. If you don’t fulfill their urge to break into places and steal things, they will do it themselves,” Hutch says, heading to the back as Bex follows. “To get around that, I have little puzzle boxes with treats in them that they have to solve instead. However, you do sort of have to convince the Remil that it’s worth starting the puzzle box in the first place. That’s not that hard when you have a personal connection with the imp, but it’s hard sometimes to get every Remil interested.”

She nods, the Remil sitting on her shoulder like a bird perching. As she watches Hutch get down some sort of contraption from the shelf, she becomes more and more sure that she will not be leaving the Imporium alone today.