Mission Imp-Possible

Claude had considered adopting an Imp once while he was still heavily invested in the streaming business. While the little buggers were still commonly seen as pests, the internet was already amping up their cuteness factor, with many social media that allowed videos hosting countless cute and funny clips of them. Other streamers, no matter their specialty, would happily show off their Imps if they did not invade the camera space themselves, and generally the reaction to them was positive. All in all, it seemed like a good investment to increase audience engagement.

That was before he metaphorically hit that stone cold wall and everything came crashing down. Now, he would try not to let the numbers get to him. The idea of adopting an Imp came to mind after talking to an online friend about theirs, and after playing around with the thought, he felt like the companionship would be appreciated. It did sound nice to just cuddle and play around with a little thing that would actually respond to him.

Thus, the small bun found himself at the Imporium, recommended to him by said online friend who sounded ecstatic at the thought of having another bun to talk Imps with. He did try to do some research on the different kinds, but all of the information was rather overwhelming; this was almost completely new territory for Claude who usually only had to care for himself. The chittering of said creatures in glass cages also made him nervous, and he was only at the entrance of the shop! And to think that noise did not usually overstimulate him in gaming…

Well, he was already here, so the only way was forward. He was instructed to find the owner of the shop; a bun by the name of Hutch, if he recalled right. In one of the containers that looked almost like a terrarium, a slithery Imp eyed him. It made Claude take a step closer to the other row of containers, not liking the look.

Finally, he managed to find the owner, who was talking to some more friendly-looking Imps; one on the table, the other on his shoulder, another one hovering about. When the bun called out to greet him, the owner did a little startle before turning around. “Oh! Y-yes, may I help you?”

The collar and leash around Hutch’s neck was hard to miss. Claude had a strong urge to grab it and pin him down, but this was not the situation to engage in aggressive foreplay, if it could be called that. “I was hoping I could adopt an Imp?”

“Ah! Do you have the key? I don’t think I remember your face, but then again there have been many many buns coming by lately. It has been hard to keep track…”

“Uhm, no. I don’t have a key. I need a key?”

The owner would let out a small laugh. “It’s…something like a validation card? I really do care for these Imps, and I don’t want them to end up in the wrong hands. Hell knows that there are more buns out there ill-equipped to take care of another being than those that can.”

Claude decided it would be better not to mention his original intentions to adopt an Imp. He would simply nod in agreement, hoping that he would end up on the side of “yep, I can care for an Imp” rather than “completely incompetent”.

Hutch would clap his hands together. “Well! So I take it you want an Imporium Key to take your first steps into Imp care?”

“Sure, I mean, why not? What does this entail again?”

✲

It was fortunate that Claude had nothing planned for today because he certainly didn’t expect to be stuck in the Imporium backrooms the whole day learning about Imps. The streamer bun wasn’t too sure about the whole ordeal at first, but it didn’t take long for him to become invested in Hutch’s explanations, and the owner was very much happy to indulge. From having near zero knowledge on anything Imp-related, Claude was quite proud that he could now easily identify each Imp by name. Granted, there were not a lot of variations existing that were known to Burrowgatory, so it was not hard to memorize. It was exciting to hear though that new types of Imps were being discovered quite often.

Anyway, it was unfortunate for Claude that Hutch was no slouch in his sales pitch either. After the streamer bun fell in love with the adorably clumsy Bonezo, the owner was more than happy to introduce all sorts of products to ensure comfort and bliss for his new pet. Claude wondered what he would do to earn back the missing carats in his bag, but watching the little Bonezo sleep on his lap seemed very much worth it.