My First Imp | Chirop Need Task

Rook wasn't much of an imp guy, sure he liked interacting with them as much as the next guy and he certainly wouldn't argue with being made to imppup-sit for a day or two as long as he had blunt instructions on what he should and shouldn't do, but he wasn't the smartest when it came to them. Of course, what better way to learn than to be tossed into the deep end immediately? Hutch and Angora certainly thought so, leading both of them to agree to a chriop being placed into Rook's possession for the rest of the day. Rook was unamused, but he wasn't going to say no to the idea.

"It's simple, Rook. You just figure out how to work while the chriop bothers you. It should be a bit of a nuisance but I'm sure you can do your regular day-tasks while it does all that. Delivering drinks, helping customers find things, that sort of stuff- after all it's one of the tamest imps in burrowgatory, how bad could it be? Besides, I'm sure that you can figure out something like this no matter how tame an imp is, seeing as you're such a bright man." Angora pat Rook on the head before going to sit at the bar.  She would be monitoring the entire time, of course- mostly because having a chirop flying around her establishment wasn't exactly normal or acceptable in regular circumstances. She didn't see this as Rook getting a pet, she saw it as a test of some sorts- not like she would admit that when Hutch was around, the poor thing would probably yell at her and cry. 

Rook set himself up in the bar, doing his regular behaviors of checking orders and passing them out while the chirop flew around him. The poor thing seemed a little distressed. Rook paused, watching the imp fly around him and make small little noises. The chirop kept flying near his shoulders, only to give out a little noise and fly away again. Rook hummed. He hadn't tied back his ears like he usually did every morning, so his shoulders were mostly covered by the gold and brown of his large ears. He put down the drink he was handling, grabbed a tie from seemingly nowhere, and pulled his ears to the side. 

When that was done, he returned to where Angora was sitting, pulling out a recipe page from the other side of the bar and setting it down as he worked on an order. He didn't need to look at it, but it became second nature of sorts, just to let people know what he was working on. For a moment, he was confused about where the chriop had gone, as he didn't hear the flapping of wings- but that was extremely temporary, as the imp returned and sat on his revealed shoulder, tapping a bottle of something on his face. "Hey! Don't let it steal my alcohol!" Angora yelped, but Rook stayed as stoic as ever, carefully grabbing the bottle from the small creature. It was a bottle of rum, one of the ingredients that he had needed for the drink in front of him. He wordlessly uncorked the bottle and poured some of it into the glass, making a small clicking sound with his mouth. "Good. Do you know what other ingredient I need as well?" 

"What? Of course, I do? Do you not know how to make a smooch hooch anymore, Rook?" Angora started, and Rook giggled lightly. "My apologies, boss. I was talking to the chirop." Angora flushed red for a moment, but banished it away quickly. "Right, obviously- I was just testing you." Usually, Angora was very well put together. She could keep herself high and mighty in front of her employees and patrons very easily, but it seemed that a singular chirop was what started to cause her some issues. The chirop on Rook's shoulder nodded, and then went off to grab some other bottle from the liquor cabinets.

"You don't you go get it yourself? What if it flies off with it?" Angora asked, a simple question really, but one that Rook took a second to answer, waiting for the chriop to return with a bottle of red wine in their little wings. He grabbed the bottle and continued working on the drink, watching the imp fly off yet again. "I wouldn't worry about that. I think he enjoys it, having a task like this. If I remember right from the imp-sitting that I did for a friend last month, a fair few imps are unable to keep still, and it's actually quite unhealthy for them to stay in one place for too long. If it wants to help me get ingredients for a drink, who am I to tell him to stop?"

Angora rolled her eyes. Sure, it worked, but that didn't mean she was exactly happy about it. "Seems you certainly caught on quickly to the little beast's needs." Rook tilted his head. "Was that... not the goal?" The greed woman huffed, watching the chriop return once again, handing Rook a familiar bag of special drink ingredients. "I suppose it was, though admittedly I was intending for this to be a way to improve your work skills." 

"Oh, but this is a way to improve my work skills, no? Sure, perhaps I'll need a moment or two on occasion to feed the little one, but now I can get two tasks completed at the same time." Rook noted, grabbing his notepad that he used to take orders and scribbling something out. "In fact, I think if I don't let him help, he might start flying around and complaining again." He tore out the paper from the notepad and handed it to the chirop. "Give this to the purple-haired bun with pink horns and a big bow on her back. Spotted ears and black bowtie as well, can't miss her." He explained.

The chirop bolted past Angora's face as it left, and the woman watched as Rook finished up the drink, swirling the ingredients around and adding the decorative touches. It was enough to distract Angora from her judgment about the imp for a moment, seeing as she got to watch Rook apply some nice red lipstick and press his soft lips against the liquor glass. 

He placed the glass on the table, ready to go. Angora lifted a brow, but before she could talk, Rook explained. "Our new friend will be back momentarily, bringing Hops along with him. I'll ask her to pass out the drink then, and with the extra time I can begin work on the next drink order. This is how I'm learning to take care of him. We'll see how he handles passing out messages in comparison with grabbing drink ingredients, and whichever one he likes more will be the primary task when he's at work with me. Sure, Hutch most likely was expecting something much different when it comes to caring for an imp, but there's plenty of variety in the world."

Seemingly on cue, Hops walked into the bar with a chirop on her shoulder. "This little guy yours, Rook?" She asked, but she didn't need any instruction to grab the drink that was set out on the bar. "Well, he does seem to be mine, doesn't he?" Rook smiled, though his voice was as monotone as ever. Angora let out a sigh. She didn't exactly approve, but she had to admit that what Rook was doing seemed to be productive. "Well, I suppose that I can let you continue doing... this for today." She motioned around him and the chirop that once again was sitting on his shoulder. "I might even let you keep bringing him to work if you can prove to me that he won't disrupt your productivity." To that, Rook nodded.

"Don't worry, Angora. I'm sure neither of us would get any enjoyment out of slacking on the job."