Training Montage - Little Buddy

Elio wouldn’t admit it to Hutch, but he actually liked the brightly coloured imps. He’d not know about imp variations when he’d adopted Grape from Hutch but when the little Chriop had gotten into his ube dango he’d quickly watched its coat go from luxurious black to bright purple. 

He never thought there was anything wrong with it. 

Afterall, Grape loved dango! And he’d often feed it to them while they hung out in Coney’s late at night or fell asleep watching cheesy, old timey movies on the box. 

But now. 

Today.

He felt as though he had to stand beside Hutch as a friend while he argued viciously with Quince. It wasn’t too long after that he realised he’d actually been roped into helping Hutch win this little bet. 

“Uhhh…” he said as the small succubun took his hand and dragged him across to an open space where they could train the little critter in his arms. 

“What are we doing?” Elio asked.

“Seriously, Elio, were you not listening to everything we just said?” Hutch asked.

“Honestly, I was kind of thinking about lunch,” he replied honestly and pet the little impup in Hutch’s arms. It made soft yapping sounds before squirming around and jumping down. It was so small and so cute. 

Hutch sighed and crouched down, offering the imp some sesame treats. It monched them happily before running in circles, chasing something that neither of the succubuns could see. 

“We’re going to train this little guy to do a trick and we’re going to do it without any sweet treats, just sesame treats, what imps should eat, none of this sugary shit,” Hutch said angrily and Elio could swear he saw steam snort from the other’s nose. 

“Right right, so, what trick are we going to teach him?” Elio asked. “Roll over, beg, shake…sit?”

Hutch and Elio looked over at the little impup running around and around before it fell forward and did a small tumble. It shook its head and went back to chasing the unknown entity that seemed to fuel its zoomies. 

“This is going to be harder than you think,” Elio groaned but straightened up and gave Hutch a thumbs up.

“Alright, lets do this,” he said to him finally and took a handful of sesame treats before approaching the little impup. “Does he have a name?”

“A name…” Hutch said simply in reply and looked at Elio before making a shocked expression. He’d been so busy with his little war against Quince and their forsaken shop Pedigree Pets that he hadn’t had a chance to name the little impup. 

“Uhhhh…” Hutch continued as his brain went blank like a fading heart monitor. Elio grabbed him as he fried his own brain trying to think of a name. 

“It’s alright Hutch, uhh… let's just call him…Buddy, because he’s a little buddy, yea?” Elio suggested thinking of the first name that came to his head. The pair looked down at the little impup staring up at them with such a vacant yet aware stare. 

“Right, Buddy…yea…okay, Buddy it is,” Hutch replied and Elio smiled. 

For the next few hours Elio and Hutch worked hard together to train Buddy who was…an absolute nightmare.

“I thought impups were meant to be good at tricks?” Elio shouted as he held up a treat for Buddy to try and get him to sit and be a good boy. But the clever pup just jumped and snatched it from his hand, making the bun let out a shocked gasp.

“Well usually they are…but Buddy seems to be an exception, he just wants treats,” Hutch said in an annoyed tone. It was as if Buddy knew he wasn’t doing what the pair wanted. 

“Okay, lets try this again,” Hutch said and held up the sesame treat. “Buddy, sit down.”

Buddy did not sit. 

“Buddy sit,” Hutch said again but in a sterner tone of voice. Buddy made a soft whine, his eyes glued to the treat.

“Hutch let me…try again,” Elio offered and took the treat, getting Buddy’s attention. He waved the treat in front of Buddy before putting it behind his back.

“Buddy sit,” Elio said to the impup who tilted their head to the side as they thought. Where did the treat go?

“Buddy, sit down,” Elio repeated and Buddy sat. “Good imp.”

Elio fed Buddy the treat and he monched it happily.

“Wow, I can’t believe that worked, I was so close to eating it myself,” Elio joked and Hutch pulled a face of disgust.

“Yea, please don’t eat the imp treats Elio,” Hutch told him and the pair laughed before looking to Buddy who was still firmly in position. Almost expecting more treats for his wonderful actions.

“Well, it’s a start,” Hutch called and Elio laughed.

“That it is,” he replied giving Buddy a pet on the head.