Flits and Flutters

“Chichin,” Gabriel called. He wandered through his halls, food bowl in hand. “Chichin, come out!” He chuckled softly when he heard the fluttering in a nearby room. “What have you gotten yourself into now?”

The little imp knocked loose papers off the desk as he fluttered around and chittered. Gabriel smiled when he spotted the thing. “You seem to be having quite a bit of fun,” he said. The imp chittered again and flittered just out of Gabriel’s reach. “Come now, Chichin. You’ll have to come with me to the kitchen if you want to eat.”

The creature fluttered to Gabriel and then around his head. “That’s what I thought,” he said. He held out his hands, allowing the chirop to settle in them. He carried his new pet to the kitchen, where he had already prepared a bowl of what he was told was ‘imp food’—he wasn’t convinced. “Here we go, little one.”

Chichin seemed more than excited to be offered food, and Gabriel watched as the food disappeared bit by bit into the dark little void of the adorable creature. He still found it amusing how he ended up with the little thing. He had been on a stroll when it began following him, hiding each time he turned around to see what it was. When he finally spotted it, it fluttered over. Now, it had a name—Chichin—its own bowl, food, and a new home, and Gabriel had something to distract him from the mountain of paperwork on his desk.

“You are certainly adorable,” Gabriel said, poking at the imp. When the food was gone, he picked up his little chirop and carried him back to his office. “Look at this mess, little fella,” he looked at the mess of loose papers, “suppose it gives me an excuse to clean up.”

Cleaning up his office turned out to be more of a challenge than expected with his new pet fluttering around. The loose papers he had stacked were knocked over again until he placed a paperweight on top of the stack. “Listen here,” he chuckled, “you’re going to have to behave if you’d like to live here.” It was honestly an empty threat because it was impossible for Gabriel to simply toss the creature back where he found it. Perhaps it knew that considering Chichin settled down on Gabriel’s shoulder instead of flapping around some more.

Gabriel already had plans for his new imp. He had already purchased a bed, a food bowl, food, and some toys he thought it would like. What was left other than buying clothes and dressing it up? He chuckled at the thought. Despite the obvious learning curve, having Chichin around would certainly brighten his day and distract him from the stress of work. That was what pets were for, right? Comfort? Therapy? He reached up to pet the chirop. It was an adjustment, but it was worth his effort and time; at least, he thought so. To be completely honest, Gabriel was quite eager to show off his new friend.