[YOTB] Mochi Borrowing [The Hand that Feeds]

It took quite a bit of laborious effort to coax Shibani to trudge over to the Imporium. The sloth succubun was suffering the consequences from the Rabbit Hole, and he only managed to sleep barely a wink at the Wonderland Casino. All he wanted to do was hibernate the rest of the day away, but as Huang Yi kept mentioning, there was only one last favor to ask for. They had achieved practically everything they needed. Almost. There was only one more step left for assisting Dan. So, with a grimace, Shibani managed to get as far as make it inside Hutch’s store and explain their circumstances before he could do no more. Even with the lunells wreaking havoc around them, the sloth succubun slumped against a nearby wall and slept without a care.

At the very least, Huang Yi supposed he was grateful that Shibani didn’t slip into a deep sleep under the poker table back over at Angora’s casino because he certainly didn’t have the strength to drag the other around to a place he was very much unfamiliar with. However, the sloth succubun left him with… this. He stared blankly at the rampant lunells flying haphazardly around the Imporium. Yes, this was very much outside his element. For all he could tell, these were blurry blobs whizzing around and about his vision. If he could, he would have instantly chosen to swap out with Shibani like he had done so with Hops’ drinks, but the poor succubun was out cold from his strenuous -from a sloth’s viewpoint anyway- day so far.

“H-Hey! Get back here!” Pleading from Hutch towards the racing lunells brought Huang Yi’s focus back to the topic. 

Right, he still had to somehow catch these creatures. Even with the task repeated over and over in his mind, he didn’t budge from his spot. Hm, this could be difficult. Of course, it wasn’t due to fear that kept him in place. Certainly not. He merely noted that he wasn’t dexterous to catch these speedy imps, and it was definitely not due to him being afraid of them. Not in the slightest. That’d be preposterous. Though, it wasn’t like he could leave Hutch to do all the work since he did need to help out in exchange for their black sesame seeds.

“Apologies. I will be back in a moment.” The pride succubun slipped out the door, ignoring the desperate cries of help from the other. After all, he wasn’t suited for the job, so it was only fair to look for someone who could. Who would fill in those shoes? He had no idea, especially since he made his selection solely based on the closest succubun-shaped blob he could find that entered his range of limited sight.

He walked over to the green shape, skipping over any introductions and merely giving the bare minimum required for the exchange. “There is someone in need of your assistance. Will you be willing to extend a hand for such a cause? Of course, you will be given an equivalent to your service.”

Said green succubun was stunned into silence, seemingly trying to process and assess the situation. During that time, rejection became a possibility to Huang Yi, and so he began to scan his surroundings for another to ask; however, to his surprise, the stranger agreed to the task, tacking on an emphasis on the last word. “Sure, I’ll do it for a kiss from you.”

…Huang Yi reluctantly nodded at the terms, not particularly pleased with it, but time pressured him otherwise. Even if the thought of walking away from the matter crossed his mind, It wasn’t as though he could actually leave Hutch alone -the slumbering Shibani barely counted into the midst- with the lunells forever. No, there was still unfortunately a mochi ingredient waiting to be obtained. “Very well. You may have it afterwards. In the meantime, follow me. Hutch requires the lunells to be placed back in their cages.”

Huang Yi guided the green succubun back to the Imporium, and upon the mix of a returning face and a freshly arrived one, Hutch looked over with relief that there were going to be two sets of paws helping them out now. "You're really back?! I-I’m so glad. The lunells have been breaking everything in their excitement."

Technically, it was only one set that would be pitching in, considering how Huang Yi still stood back, but the green succubun did more than enough work than what Huang Yi and Shibani combined could do. The other was much more familiar with imps, having two rabebes of his own back home. He left small piles of sesame seeds within the open cages to lure in any hungry lunells, and he kept some within his splayed paw to draw in the more curious critters that were momentarily enticed by the food. With a low voice, he softly encouraged them to come down from heights too tall. Slowly but surely, their free-roaming numbers dwindled until all of the lunells were wheedled into a cage.

"Huh..? Is it over already?” Shibani yawned, blearily opening an eye to look around. The convenient timing of Shibani waking up just in time for the chaotic noise to settle down was… well, Huang Yi had a lingering suspicion that the sloth succubun may have feigned being knocked out in order to avoid dealing with such havoc, but he had more pressing matters to attend instead. 

Hutch blinked, lowering their net upon realizing there were no more imps darting about, before beaming in elated joy. "Yes! Thank you, thank you..! Please take some seeds for your help–" 

Hutch didn't even need to finish their sentence as Huang Yi was already nudging Shibani out the door with a sack of sesame seeds in hand. Similarly to how Shibani felt, the long day was catching up to him, and quite frankly, he was ready to call it, all without granting that kiss, much less even learning that helping succubun's name. After all, there was no specification on when exactly the kiss had to be done. Just some time after the ordeal!

Goodbye, green blob.

Meanwhile, said green blob will remember that.