Prey and praise (Cora)

Cora hummed to himself while bustling about his home, thinking out loud to himself and rambling about his plans for the day. “And then I need to grab groceries for our dinner date and…” He paused suddenly, hearing water running from the kitchen. “Huh?” He quickly hurried across the living room and into the kitchen, confused why the sink would suddenly turn on when he's the only one home. One step in the kitchen told him, as his harpup Sploot was painstakingly bumping it's head into the faucet to get the sink running, before scooting itself into the sink and settling right down. 

“Sploot?? What are you doing??” He turned the faucet off and picked up Sploot, a bit puzzled, even more so when Sploot gave him a displeased wiggle. “Why do you want to be in the sink?” He furrowed his brow and studied his little friend before deciding he would drag it along to Hutch and ask him if this was weird behavior, after all, he had stuff to do out and about anyway, might as well bring Sploot. He stepped outside, grabbing the wagon he used for errands, and dropping Sploot inside on a folded cloth bag, grabbing the handle and tugging him along. 

“I'm going to stop by the Imporium and ask Hutch about your weird water fixation. Don't worry, I'll get you a treat while we're there.” Cora tugged the wagon along until he reached Hutch's shop, opening the door while humming to himself, hearing the bell rings over his head. “Hutch! …Hutch?” Cora blinked, looking around the shop, confused to not see Hutch bustling about and tending to the imps. He looked around a little more before noticing that the back room's door was cracked open just a bit. He smiled, grabbing a box of treats off a shelf and leaving it in the wagon to amuse Sploot (planning on paying for them after, of course), and walked over to the door, nudging it open and walking right on in. 

“Quick, close the door!!” Hutch cried out from behind some imp kennels. Cora quickly scrambled to close the door, slamming it shut and running around to where Hutch was. They looked up at him and sighed in relief…absolutely covered in Remils of all sizes and colors. “Help… Someone dropped off this mischief of Remils that had invaded their pantry…” They chuckled weakly, giving Cora a sheepish grin. “They live up the title of mischief…” They picked one up, the remil wiggling and squealing at him in protest, before dropping it in a carrier and quickly locking it in with the other remils they had managed to recapture. 

“Oh! They're cute!” Cora scooped up a red remil as it attempted to run pass him, gently petting it before bringing it over to Hutch and dropping it in the carrier. “How many are there?”

Hutch paused, pondering the question, glancing around the room at the remils climbing, running, playing, nibbling, and sleeping on various surfaces. “Yes” 

“....that's…that's a fair response. If I help gather them all, will you answer a question about my harpup for me?” 

“If you help gather all of them up into the carrier I'll do whatever you want.” Hutch let out an exasperated sigh as one of the squirmy little creatures narrowly evaded their grasp. “Just grab them.”

Cora nodded, grabbing an empty carrier and hunting around the room for hidey holes, finding them in treat boxes, hidden in piles of toys, under blankets, between cages, on shelves, and even one that had managed to get into a cage with a loafki and was perched on top of it in a similar loaf like position. “Oh! There's a bunch of baby Remils huddled around this treat box.” Cora gently scooped up all of the smaller pastel creatures and very carefully set them down in the carrier, smiling as they hunkered down all together in a small pile. “Is that all of them?”

“Maybe, here, let me count them..” Hutch took the carrier and one by one put them in a large cage they could all scamper around in. “Huh… I think we're still missing one. A cyan one. There was only one in the mischief, and I don't see it here…” The two spent several minutes carefully combing over the entire room, top to bottom, every small crevice. That is, until Hutch adjusted their glasses and looked at Cora a moment, tilting their head to the side before their eyes suddenly widened. “Oh! I think it's in your hair…”

Cora's hand immediately shot up to feel around until he felt the slightly undersized Remil hiding in his fluffy curls. “Oh!” He laughed as he gently pulled the little creature down, giving it a gentle scritch. “Silly little thing. When did you get up there??” He passed the imp over to Hutch and watched them put it away with the rest of the mischief. 

Hutch let out a relieved sigh, smiling gratefully at Cora. “Thank you. Now… What was that you said about a Harpup?” 

Cora nodded, walking back out to the storefront with Hutch. “Sploot seems obsessed with water. No matter what I do he just wants to splash around.”

Hutch looked over at Sploot, who was laying belly up snoozing after eating an entire box of treats, and chuckled. “Harpups come from the water. Just set up a small pool or keep the tub full or something like that. That should keep him plenty happy.”

“Oh!! That makes sense!! Thank you, Hutch!” Cora smiled at Sploot, and sheepishly offered to pay for the treats, though Hutch turned down the offer, saying they were a token of gratitude before sending the two on their way, waving as they left. 

“Now then… Just to find homes for all these Remils— was that the cage door…”