A Little Closer

The next time Moondrop saw Jackal, she encountered the other bun sitting on the steps of a party, smoking outside by her lonesome. Moondrop hadn't interacted with the envy bun since their initial meeting of Moondrop attempting to befriend Jackal.

"Oh, it's you," Jackal greeted, nonchalant as she took a drag from her cigarette. "I thought I recognized you. Gave up on trying to look punk around me, huh?"

"Well, the spike collar was a bit tight on me, and I couldn't fall asleep while wearing bracelets covered in spikes, either…" Moondrop chuckled, scratching at the back of her head. "But I think the punk look is better on you, anyways."

"Well, at least you're honest," Jackal replied, folding her arms as she looked over at the lunar bun. In the dark haze of the night, Moondrop's glow lit up like a nightlight. "What are you doing here, anyways? You don't look like you're here for a smoke break."

"Oh, no. I'm just enjoying the night air," Moondrop told her, glancing at the steps. "Mind if I sit here with you?"

"Uh, knock yourself out."

Taking a seat beside Jackal, Moondrop adjusted her position so that her spaded tail was comfortably sitting off to her side. "What about you? Not feeling like partying?"

Jackal shrugged. "The party was kind of lame. I'm not in the mood, anyways." When she spoke, her face fell, looking quite glum.

"Oh," Moondrop softly muttered, her voice taking a gentle tone. "What's wrong?"

"Don't pretend to give a shit. I don't need any pity," Jackal hissed, thorny as the spikes on her ears.

Moondrop frowned. "I do give a shit, though. What happened? Was somebody a jerk at the party?"

Jackal's defensive attitude hardly softened, but she admitted, "These buns started talking about the demon that raised them, going on about how good of a caretaker they were. I just couldn't stand hearing it anymore. It pissed me off just hearing about it."

"Oh, no," Moondrop reacted. "If I can ask… who was the demon that raised you?"

"Gremory. She did a shit job, by the way."

"I haven't heard of her."

"Well," Jackal said, snuffing out her cigarette on the brick step beside her, opposite to Moondrop, "Be glad you haven't met her. She's the whole reason Envy Succubuns even exist." There was a sharpness to her tone, but beneath it was a pained note that Moondrop could easily recognize. Jackal had a lot of hurt she kept within her.

"Jackal, that's awful. You didn't deserve a painful upbringing. Nobody does."

Jackal frowned, averting her gaze. "Well, we're Succubuns. We're not exactly known for their virtues." Sighing and leaning against her front paw-hoof, she looked at Moondrop with downtrodden green eyes. "Who was your demon, anyways? Murmur?"

"Uh, mine was Amanda, actually. Amanda the destroyer."

Jackal snickered, her sadness turned to amusement. "Her name was Amanda? The destroyer, even? That's a stupid name for a demon."

Moondrop burst out into a fit of giggles. "Yeah, I guess it does sound pretty silly! But it was her name! Well, is. She's not dead, or anything."

"So, did she live up to her name? Did she destroy anything?"

"Not when I was around. For all I know, she's just a demolition expert in hell." Moondrop shrugged. "But… she did raise me to be kind to the other buns I met, and let me take truckloads of naps, and that's a philosophy I try to live by in adulthood, you know?"

Jackal simply made a face in response. "Uh-huh."

Moondrop tapped her little glowing hooves together. "Anyways… I'd like to be able to help out, if you'll accept my offer. Any time you want to vent or complain about demons, or other buns, or whatever, I'd like to listen." 

"You'd do that for me, even though we barely know each other?"

Moondrop nodded eagerly. "Absolutely!"

Jackal offered a hint of a smile in response to that, slowly nodding her head. "Okay. I might just take you up on that sometime, then."