[Lenny]: Team Spirit

Ding!

The small bell on the top of the shop rings as someone enters. Lenny looks up with a smile, peeking over to see just who the new customer might’ve been. “Come in, come in!” they greet, giving a little wave. 

Recently, Lenny enjoyed hanging around one of their many shops, and today, they were currently manning one of the shops they owned that sold many different bath products. Luckily the usual girl behind the counter had a day off since Lenny filled in. That was the nice thing about having Lenny as a boss. They were very hands-on in terms of being in charge of their company.

A burly woman with glutton horns entered the shop wearing a sweet scented cologne. She smelled of fruit and candy and hair hair was tied up in a neat ponytail with different colored sprinkles decorating her hair and ears. On her shirt was a cherry brooch and tied around her waist was a cute apron. She came along with two of her imps: one an orange colored Phloof sitting on her shoulder, and one a pretty pink four legged imp that Lenny had never seen before. It seemed to have been covered in frosting and sprinkles. How interesting! Lenny looks on curiously. “What can I help you with?” they greet the newcomer.

The woman smiles wildly. She turns to Loofa, Lenny’s baby Phloof which was quietly perched in its basket taking a little nap. “What a cute little thing!” she says, gently patting Loofa on the forehead with her finger. “Thank you.” Lenny says politely. “She’s a silly little thing. Always napping! I really like your imps too” they say, gesturing over to the customer’s imps.

“Why thank you!” she responds, beaming with pride at her two lovely imps. “This is Peach-” and with that, the orange Phloof does a happy little bounce, “And my darling baby Stroodle, Mademoiselle-” The Stroodle stands on its two paws and gives a little wave. Lenny waves back happily. “How wonderful!” they say, looking on with awe. “Were you planning on getting them anything from this shop? We have a variety of shampoos and soaps, all imp friendly! We have some scents which are certainly quite fitting for your imps. And, if I may ask, what is your name Miss…?” Lenny asks.

The woman lets out a laugh, and gives a small nod. “The name is Quince. And I know all about you Lenny-” she says happily. “You own the spa down the street too, don’t you? I’m quite lucky to have found you so quick, although people do say that you like to visit your shops often.” she says, beaming. “I actually wanted to inquire about something. I head an imp training camp, you see. Specifically, for imps who have been transformed by treats such as dangos and mochis! And I was very interested in starting a camp for imps which focus on some water activities. I think your spa would be a perfect place for it, if you were up for the collaboration.” Lenny tilts their head curiously. “An imp training camp?” they ask. “Oh, how wonderful!” they look on at their sleepy Loofa, still sitting in its basket. “I fed Loofa a milk mochi once, and well… the rest is history! I’d love for Loofa to join that training camp, if you’d allow it too! We have a variety of different pools, some shallow ones that would be perfect for training imps as well!”

Quince claps her hands in delight. “So, it’s settled then!” she says, a cheerful expression on her face. “Could we start maybe this week, Thursday? Or would that be too soon?” Lenny nods. “I think that would be a perfect schedule.” they say. Lenny extends their hand and Quince shakes it enthusiastically. And with that the deal was set.

—

The day of the training came and Lenny waited excitedly with Loofa in their hands. “You’re gonna do amazingly!” they coo, scratching Loofa gently on her chin. Lenny had also brought their pink Harpup named Berry along. Although they were definitely not part of the program as they were already an excellent swimmer. As soon as Lenny released Berry into the pool, Berry had already begun to zoom around happily. The baby imp purrs happily. Suddenly, the doors to the spa open, the small bell dinging again to note the arrival of a customer. “Quince!” Lenny greets happily. Right on time! With Quince was her two imps, as well as a new one that Lenny had never seen before. It was a super cute black ram looking imp decorated in gold stars. She carried it gently in her arms and offered it to Lenny. “Today, we’re training this little guy too!” she says happily. “This is a Stellaram! They’re quite rare too. Why don’t you hold him?” Lenny takes him gingerly in their arms. Oh… So soft! So cute! 

“He is absolutely the sweetest” they say, gently nudging the imp with their nose. “I’m sure you’d make a great swimmer!” Lenny turns around and motions for Quince to follow. “Over here! I’ll show you over to the pools~” 

The pool had a faint Lavender scent. It was extremely shallow for anyone in doll form, as it was a pool for those who preferred to use their bun form. Therefore, it was a perfect training pool for any small imps who needed to swim. Quince claps her hands excitedly. “Wonderful Lenny!!! This was exactly what I was hoping for!” She unzips her training jacket to reveal her swim suit under it. “I came ready!” she beams. Lenny giggles, setting down the imps they were holding. “So did I-” they say, unbuttoning their shirt. They had their own swim suit underneath as well.

They both make their way to the pool and take a dip in the perfectly heated waters. “I even brought some toys and treats-” Quince says, reaching into a bag and taking out some weighted toys. “These will sink underwater! The imps are tasked to retrieve these and once they do… We can give them a little treat as a reward!” She drops some of the toys into the pool and Berry dives down to check them out with a curious expression.

Lenny smiles happily. “Loofa! Come over here!” they call. And with that, Loofa launches itself into the pool and wades over to Lenny. “Looks like Loofa already has a head start!” Quince says with a laugh. “She loves to swim.” Lenny says, picking Loofa up as she swims over. Lenny turns back. “Stellaram! Come on! The water is perfect!” The other imp comes to the edge of the pool hesitantly. Unlike Loofa, it seems a bit scared of the water. It puts one paw curiously to the water but retracts it. 

“Come on, Stellaram! Come on! You can do it!” Lenny cheers, motioning for it to come over. “The water is perfect, see?” they lean over and make swimming motions with their arms. “We’ll catch you, there is nothing to be afraid of!” The Stellaram looks at Lenny curiously but does not budge. It doesn’t seem too keen on swimming at all. Lenny sighs and turns to Quince. “Any ideas?” they ask.

Quince smiles, a big grin on their face. They take out a treat from their bag, a pink dango on a stick. As she does that, her orange Phloof and her Stroodle hop into the pool and make their way to her. Even Berry starts racing over at the sight of the sweet. The Stellaram perks its head up with interest. It looks around, stamping its hooves excitedly. Then… splash!! It jumps into the pool and starts wading to them.

Quince and Lenny cheer excitedly! Looks like bribery was a very much an effective tactic for training.