Prey and Praise

Andi would not have expected that passing by the Imporium on her way home would lead to Hutch hurtling out of their shop and asking her to help them catch imps.  An hour later, she was still completely baffled by it, though she was obediently following them with a cage in one hand.

Admittedly, just doing whatever other buns asked of her (for the most part), was pretty standard for Andi.  Making decisions by thinking was hard and tedious - just doing what she was told was nice and simple and easy.  Besides that, she’d also heard around Burrowgatory that Hutch might allow access to their shop if they decided a bun was good enough with imps…  While not having that had not kept Kaili or her from getting two that were fairly easy to get - an Impup and a Phloof - she couldn’t help but wonder what the best imp store might have…  The more cuddly little imps to keep Kaili company when she had to work or run errands, the better, right?

So she was more than happy to help out.

If only this group of imps would just… show up.

Hutch motioned to be quiet when Andi opened her mouth to ask something.  Their tail swished quietly, and they seemed intent on the back wall of the restaurant they had led Andi to.

After a moment, they seemed to spot something, and hurriedly gestured to Andi, tapping the cage as quietly as possible, and indicating a spot to place it.

Andi carefully set the cage there, and then Hutch procured a little black sesame dango ball from their pockets.  They dropped it into the cage and stood back.

In seconds, there were five remil clustered around the dango, consuming it in the eerie way all imps ‘ate’.

Hurrying to do it, Andi lifted the cage and Hutch quickly shut the door on it, breathing a sigh of relief.

The remil didn’t notice immediately, but soon they were trying to get out, seemingly confused by their predicament.

“I know, it’s scary getting scooped up like this,” Hutch said, looking sympathetically at the cage as they directed Andi to head back to the Imporium.  “But you’re all going somewhere a lot nicer than there now, I promise.  I’ll teach you some tricks and make sure you’re safe, and there’s going to be lots of buns eager to give you nice lives at their sides.”

The remil continued to skitter around the cage all the way back to the Imporium, of course.  Hutch was able to calm them once they were inside, however.

Andi was fascinated to watch as, one at a time, Hutch would crack open the door, gently grab a remil, and then shut the door of the cage.  The really fascinating part was how they calmed the little imps down.  All she had to do was hold the cage and listen to them soothe the imps with their voice and gentle pets.  When the remil was calm enough, Hutch would then put it into one of the smaller cages they kept the imps in, place a little black sesame dango in with it, and close the gate to that cage.

The imps all seemed so much calmer once they were in those cages, too.

“Thank you for all the help,” Hutch said, when they were finally done.  “I got told about them and I know the chef at that place is… not nice to imps.”  They scowled, tugging slightly on the collar around their neck.  “I’m glad I caught you - not everyone’s strong enough to manage a cage with five anxious imps inside for nearly two hours.  I don’t think I caught your name earlier…  Though I assume you know mine.”

“I’m Andi,” she replied, beaming a bit that they praised her strength!  “And you’re Hutch!”

They looked quite pleased by the recognition, finally gesturing to her to set the cage down.  “Well, I definitely appreciate the help.  Any chance I could get your number?  This happens at that restaurant at least once a month, and I’m getting tired of scrambling to find someone to help me every time.  If it’s any enticement, I can also give you some training on imp handling so you can adopt from here.”

Well, that had been rather what Andi was hoping for.  “Sure, I’m good with that!  Always down to help, and I do love imps, and you seem to handle them nice.”

They looked pleased again, taking their phone out to offer her.

Andi put her number in quickly, and let them take a photo of her (posed with her arm flexed, of course) for the contact form.

“I’ll let you know when I have some free time for that, then,” Hutch said, ushering her to the door.  “Time for a very delayed lunch for me now…”

Belatedly, Andi remembered she had been sent to get lunch for herself and Kaili before all this…  Oh well, she’d gotten something good out of this, and since her phone hadn’t been buzzing non-stop, her girlfriend had probably fallen back asleep with Adi and Wave, so she shouldn’t mind the lateness much.  As she went home, she definitely was excited for Hutch to get back to her about that training - it’d be neat to see what made the Imporium such a favorite across Burrowgatory!  Maybe she could even get Wave and Adi to learn some tricks besides begging for dango once she did…