The Phloof That Got Away

Lately, Lyra had been spending more and more time with Hutch. Which usually meant going to the Imporium and just hanging out while they worked with some of the imps and found them loving new owners and homes. They were having another cozy day today. Since there were no customers, they were just hanging out in the back room. Lyra had a beanbag all to herself while Hutch played with a few of the imps to keep them entertained. The day dragged on, only a few customers came into the shop to adopt imps, but that was just fine with both Hutch and Lyra.

The two cuddled up together and let a few of the imps crawl over them to join in the cuddle pile. But eventually this picturesque cuddly day had to end. It was time to close the Imporium.

Hutch was the first to get up and they held out a hand to help Lyra to her feet as well with a nervous smile.

“Sorry, but I’ve gotta close up now. Feel free to stop by anytime though, you’re always welcome here.”

Their nervous smile was just so cute, Lyra couldn’t stop herself from wrapping up the smaller doll in a warm hug before she stepped away.

“Don’t worry Hutch, I’ll be back another day. Have a good night,” she said with a smile and a little wave of her fingers. She walked out of the Imporium, blissfully unaware of the little hitchhiker that was hiding in the fluffy fur of her ears.

The walk home didn’t take her terribly long and she was almost ready to just collapse down in her bed. But she had to wash her face first. She went into her bathroom and started to work off all of the makeup she had on. She had just finished when she noticed movement coming from her fur.

She furrowed her brow and pulled her ear in front of her, looking down at it and combing through it until she found a little phloof imp. It looked up at her lazily, as if it had just woken up from a long nap.

“Hey there little guy,” she said softly as she pulled him out from her fur. “Did you decide to come home with me?” She giggled a little as the phloof let out a soft sound and made itself comfortable in her hold.

She left the bathroom and grabbed her phone, shooting Hutch a quick message just to let them know the missing phloof was with her.

“I bet you’re making Hutch sick with worry aren’t you,” she said softly to the phloof but it just let out a happy sound in response. She smiled and pet it some more before moving to her kitchen, looking around for something the little imp could safely eat.

“Okay let’s see, what do I remember from Hutch’s ramblings…” She dug through her cabinet before just deciding on making a batch of black sesame dango that she’d learned from Dan. It shouldn’t have any adverse effects on the imp at the very least. She sat down at her counter with the little phloof, feeding it small chunks of the dango at a time once it was ready.

“I might just decide to keep you, you’re so cute,” she said happily as she pet the top of the phloof’s head. Once he was fed, Lyra went up to bed and let him cuddle up in her ears again. She was definitely adopting this phloof the next day.