Attentio-o-on, Company!

“Stuck between a rock and a hard place” was a NICE way of putting it.

As soon as Hutch puts on their “business face” it’s almost as if that awkward stutter that Kain caught back when they first got acquainted was thrown out the window… and seemed to ESPECIALLY be tucked to the side when this new imp-taming lady came into the picture. Quince seemed like a nice lady for sure… but watching those two duke it out (without even hiding behind niceties like Mercy does — how scary) sent a shiver down Kain’s spine. He was just here for business, really! And yet he somehow managed to be in this specific spot at just the wrong time. Oh well… after “innocently” suggesting that the two of them let the imps’ training speak for itself, Kain thought he was home free to complete his shipments… until the offer of impups came along.

“You’ll help me, right Kain? I have an impup right here for you—look, he seems to like you!” The fresh pup in Hutch’s arms wiggled, and Quince couldn’t help but give an awkward chuckle.
“Now darlin’, that’s mighty pushy of ya. Kain, sweetie, if ya wanna give me a hand with trainin’, ya can come on over to my stall alright? Take all the time ya need to make a decision.” She gave a firm pat to his arm, and Kain could only stare ahead blankly as he held a sizable sesame treat shipment box in his hands.

“Well, um, the both of you… that’s very kind, but uh… I can’t exactly just, well…” Kain would have awkwardly scratched behind his horn, but his hands were a little full… so he simply shrugged, looking in the direction of the Church. Though… that one little look seemed to spark something in Hutch’s passion-lit heart. In a quick motion, Hutch grabbed the tip of one of Kain’s twirled ears, pulling him towards themselves.
“Hey. Kain, you h-help me here, and I’ll owe you one. I’ll talk with M-Mercy… remember that one deal we talked about before? The shipment plan? I’ll agree to it if you help me out. If you don’t…” Hutch looked to the side with a sneaky look… almost as if Quince wasn’t still staring at the both of them with a mildly quizzical look.
“Hutch, darlin’, that’s a below-belt blow if I’ve ever seen one—do I get to call ya a ‘bad boy’ now?”
“S-s-shUSH, I asked him FIRST—”
“Alright, alright!” With an exasperated wiggle of his tail, Kain turned towards Hutch. “I have to go back anyway to report that I’ve completed my shipment, so let’s go already. Bring that pup along, I’ll have to think of a name as we walk.”

Kain sighed, and Hutch threw Quince a mischievous glance before trotting forward to get the shipment sorted out. Before wandering off after them, Kain turned over his shoulder and mouthed a “No hard feelings?” to Quince… and luckily, she seemed to have the heart to mouth back, “All good, good luck!” with a thumbs up. He’s gonna need that, thanks. Quince sure seemed like a nice lady… wonder if Hutch’s annoyances with her were more than just simply “annoyance” in the end. Ahh… but he couldn’t linger long. Finish the delivery, drop off back at the Church to let Mercy and Oleander know, and come back eventually for their first round of training…

…

“Erm. K-Kain. What… what are these, exactly?”
“Harpups. Thought you’d know?”
“I mean y-yes I know what harpups are, I’m just… how exactly d-did you come into the ownership of THREE of them?”

With an exaggerated motion of their hands, Hutch waved at the four imps (three harpups, one fresh impup) in front of the two as they all played gleefully around the training equipment. It wasn’t all that hard to get to the Church from here and back in an appropriate amount of time… but Kain had taken quite a bit of time in his discussions with Mercy and had told Hutch to simply walk back first. At least the both of them decided on this impup’s name in the meanwhile… Sanctity. What a beautifully ornate name for a gruff guy like that…

But indeed, when Kain had made his way back to the imp training ground Hutch had set up beside their shop… he had friends. Many friends. Many friends that Hutch did not exactly expect to see.

“Well the thing is…” Kain scratched his head as he watched Sanctity roll over one of the harpups, “I’d come back to the Church Shop and these three were floppin’ around in there. Mercy came in and said,” Cue a horrid impression of Mercy, “‘Hey Kain, can you take care of these little ones? They’d accidentally made their way into the Bunnery~! You’d do that for me, wooon’t you~?’ which is code for…”
“T-take care of them or you’ll get cuts to the storefront, r-right? Right… of course. Haah, that Mercy.” Both Hutch and Kain had let their shoulders slump forward, before looking at each other and giving the other a similarly phrased shrug. Ahh, the woes of supply and demand…

“Did… did you think up names for these little guys yet, though? It looks l-like they’re getting along well… though h-harpups aren’t exactly known to b-be aggressive.” Hutch stroked a finger under their chin as they observed the imps’ behavior.
“… mmm, I think so.” Kain took turns pointing out each harpup and reciting their names, “Sacred… Storia… and that one’s Stardust.”
“I see, I see.” Hutch nodded; they could appreciate the intricate naming scheme of Kain’s own creation. How elegant! Hutch pressed an open palm to their chest with a proud huff. “Y-you know what?! I’ll help. I’ll do it. If you can t-train these little guys, Mercy will probably let them s-stick around the Church… and you’ve g-given me a hand before with other imps, so I don’t think it’ll be much different.”
“And… you’ll get brownie points for that training thingie? With the lady across the street.”
“I-I-I mean yes, but that’s beside the p-point right now!” Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. Who knows. “A-anyway. Come on, Kain. Let’s get to training, just like before! You four—Sanctity, Sacred, Storia, Stardust—come here you lot! P-perform well, and a treat will have your name on it!”
“Of course. … That's good. Thanks, Hutch.” Kain smiled and dusted off his hands… dutifully ignoring Hutch’s slight hiccup at the notion of being called ‘good’. Just like before, right? Shouldn’t be that hard.

…

“Alright now! One, two, three, four! Pose!” Hutch clapped their hands and signaled to each imp, who in turn struck a very banana-like pose… save for Sanctity, who simply sat and appeared to mime his fellow harpup brothers. “Now stay… Sacred, Storia, Stardust… good. Balance, and wait.” Placing a treat on each of their noses, Hutch moved around… before handing the bag of treats to Kain, waving him forward with a motion of their hand as if to say, ‘On your cue!’
“… deliver to me.” And on Kain’s cue, all four imps waddle forward with their noises high in the air, aiming to deliver the treat atop it to Kain’s open bag. Sacred bowed his head and dutifully deposited the treat back whole, Storia deposited the treat but it had a mysterious chunk taken out of it, Stardust let the treat roll off its nose first before picking it up and depositing it, and Sanctity had to be goaded a couple times before properly returning his treat.

“Fair play, you f-four!” Hutch called out, tossing out sesame seeds to each… though they did toss out a couple extra to the pups that performed well. “It’s only been a c-couple of days, but these guys are learning well.”
“All thanks to you, Hutch. With this training, they’ve been a great help around the Shop. Oh yeah, here…”

Kain motioned for Hutch to come to him… and when they did, he placed a bag into Hutch’s hand. “From Mercy. They said something like… uh, what was it…”
“O-o-ohoh… basically a bribe, right? Well at least I don’t have to worry about the supply line… s-sorry for using that over your head to rope you into all this.” With a sheepish smile Hutch pocketed the mystery bag… and had to hold in their surprise as Kain patted their head.
“Nah. You mean well, and it turned out fine in the end. I don’t mind popping over and giving you a hand for the competition; just call me over when ya need.” Kain’s face was stoic, but you could tell that he was smiling on the inside… somewhat. Hutch almost didn’t catch that minute detail as their tail was twirling around in its usual flustered motion, but they quickly snapped out of it and pounded their chest.

“Of course!!! T-Thank you for… being on my team! Now c-come on, let’s get in a couple more reps before the day ends!”
“Hell yeah. Sanctity, Sacred, Storia, Stardust — one more round!”