Treasure Town ~ Crossroads

[Tanuki]

Now, Zane definitely hadn’t had too much to drink that simply belied belief. The one “good” part about this body seemed to be some immunity whatever the bartender mentioned a few hours ago sometime after Zane had entered half an hour ago. He’d thank Diyem some time after he left—left because he wanted to! He’d tipped the tender handsomely so as to not cause a scene (and so that he could take his fifth bottle along).

Right, he was leaving with bottle in tow. Some drink. The pretentious brand decided to make their label blurry, but Zane remembered ordering the Salazzle x Seviper Scotch. The seviper wrapped around the salazzle, their heads meeting to make a cute little heart. It reminded Zane of friends—shit.

Zane was trying to not be reminded of friendships. Not that he wanted to drink to forget or anything, he just intended for the alcohol to make it harder to remember certain things for a while. Now, he was lonely.

He pouted, took another drink, then saw something moving just out of eyesight. Dark. Goopy. Shadowy. Determined not to feel lonely, Zane took another drink while casually reaching for that jar they gave him.

Bottle empty, jar open, he dropped his scotch and pounced towards the shadowy whatever. The best friends were captive friends, after all. If Jolt had taught Zane nothing else, he’d taught Zane that.

 

[Namohysip]

Diyem watched in awed silence, having no idea whether he should let Zane go about his business or warn the others that he was pulling another Zane. He elected for the former, for now. He could always just say he happened to see him too late.

The Shade on the ground hissed and weaved past the initial grabbing attempt and rolled across the dirt. Then, using its tail as leverage and a few floppy tendrils to reposition, it tried to get a feel for the way Zane moved, which seemed to confuse it just as much as Zane seemed confused. Still, it lunged anyway, trying to go for Zane's left shin.

 

[Tanuki]

This shade might've won the battle, and it had a decent chance of winning the war, but Zane wouldn't let that happen. With the patience of a rock, he waited until the tendrils latched onto his skin and slammed the jar's opening against his shin. It did hurt, quite a lot, but he had the shade right where he wanted it. As fast as inert lightning, he scraped the jar across his shin and closed it tight, certain he'd capture the shade this time.

 

[Namohysip]

The Shade hissed a few times from within the jar, trying to burrow its way into Zane, but he was fast enough that only some of the Shade had gotten into him. It seeped out in the form of ethereal smoke, leaving no wound behind, while the Shade itself bled from within the jar, still angrily hissing at Zane. It slammed against the glass, growling; any moment of weakness, any opening in its container, and it would escape.

 

[Tanuki]

Victory. Zane held victory in his claws, but now was not the time for victory, not the time for gloating, but the time for friendship. Already on the groned, he rested one claw atop the closed jar just in case.

Jefferson’s squawking, hissing, and sizzling simply couldn’t fly. This wasn’t at all how to treat a friend, especially not one who Zane had just rescued from not being trapped inside a jar.

So, he mustered the most scolding expression he could and poked a free claw at the glass. “No. Bad Jefferson. Nice. Hissing isn’t nice.” Wait, scolding wasn’t friendly either. What did friends do again?

Right, that didn’t matter, as Zane and Jefferson were already very close friends. Such close friends that Zane decided to dig an oran out of his bag with his free claw and roll it towards the jar. “Want an Oran, buddy?” he asked, a goofy smile spreading against his cheeks. “C’mon, aren’t ya hungry, bud?”

With the same free claw, he exaggerated and thEn pointed to his own smile. He forgot the reason he had to hold Jefferson inside the jar, but his arm was already there, so he figured his buddy understood.

 

[Namohysip]

You can't be serious.

Jefferson hissed and butted its head against the jar again, showing little care for Zane beyond the fact that he was getting closer or further away. It did not have a proper face or mouth to smile with, let alone lips or eyes or even a nose. It did, however, take interest in the Oran...

 

[Tanuki]

“This is a private matter!” Zane scolded the sky. Bingo. Jefferson wanted the oran just like Zane predicted. His claw hovered over the latch keeping the lid down before sense got the better of him.

He tried for a stern, but still friendly expression and pointed to the oran. “If you want this, you have to promise to stay put, okay?” Wait, he needed confirmatio—perfect. “All I need,” Zane spread his mouth into another goofy grin, “is a smile.”

 

[Namohysip]

There wasn't much of a reaction coming from Jefferson one way or the other. It simply stared at the lid, then at the berry, and hissed lowly.

 

[Tanuki]

“Nnnnno,” Zane said pointedly, pointing his pointer claw at a point on Jefferson. “If you want this,” he tapped the oran, “you have to do this,” and he pointed once again at his exaggeration of a smile. “If you don’t, I can’t trust you enough not to jump out when I try to feed you. Trust is an important part of friendships, so we need to make sure it’s well established between us at the start, okay?”

It’s a shame Zane didn’t have many friends. If he did, so many more people would be around to mock him. Unfortunately, he had only Jefferson at the moment.

 

[Namohysip]

...Zane, they don't have a face to smile with.

Jefferson continued to slither about in the jar, pressing against the walls, and it didn't seem interested in doing anything else.

 

[Tanuki]

“What do you know about friendship?” Zane thanked. After screaming at the sky, he returned to the task at hand. He couldn’t reward Jefferson’s bad behavior, but maybe he was just having a bad day. Maybe he needed a little pick me up first.

He only had two orans, though, and he couldn’t waste half his supply like that. He drummed his claws against the glass, trying to figure a way out of this conundrum.

Oh, claws. He had those. He held the oran gently with one hand, slicing it in two with the other, then did the same to one “half” of the oran. The juice soaked his paws, but that probably did more good than harm.

With one hand holding the lid secure, he undid the latch. He grabbed a sliver of oran, opened the jar just enough to shove it in, then slammed the jar shut and locked it back as fast as he could.

 

[Namohysip]

Jefferson hissed and lunged for the Oran when it slipped inside, and then curled around it. Its face enveloped part of the peel and the pulp, pulling it inside in little bites, as its body relaxed. The strange thing was indeed eating... And it seemed a little calmer. Just a little.

 

[Tanuki]

"Good Jefferson," Zane cooed, opting to pick up and begin rocking it like one would an infant. "You like that oran?" He glanced at the other pieces. "Let's make a deal." He brought Jefferson up to eye level. "I'll let you out to eat the rest of that oran, and if you behave, I'll give you this one, too!"

It took him a few seconds after he'd finished the proposition to fish out the oran proper, but he held it up so Jefferson could see it anyway before stuffing it away again. "If you promise to behave, nod your head like this," Zane pointed to himself doing the motion. "If not, uh... hiss."

 

[Namohysip]

Jefferson watched, its attention fixated mostly on the berry, and then at Zane when the berry went away. Finally, by some strange miracle, or perhaps because it finally realized what Zane was trying to communicate... it nodded, mimicking Zane's motions the best it could.

 

[Tanuki]

Zane patiently watched, eyes glued to Jefferson's every twitch. Every second took an eternity to pass. When he finally nodded, Zane nearly jumped for joy, but subdued himself to avoid startling Jefferson. Excitement fought tooth and nail with caution as he put Jefferson's jar right next to the pile of cut berries.

He tilted the jar onto its side slow enough to give Jefferson time to adjust. Some part of him warned this was a bad idea, but he rationalized that he was drunk, thus a bad source for advice. If only he could follow his own logic, the world could be so much safer (or less frustrated at the very least). With a single motion, he undid the clasp and the lid leisurely lowered to the grass below.

 

[Namohysip]

Jefferson didn't do much more than gravitate toward the berries again, though it did give Zane a few cautious glances now and then, puzzled by his strange behavior. It didn't like that. But as long as Zane didn't try attacking him or anything, maybe it wasn't so bad.

 

[Tanuki]

Friend acquired!
Zane took in every second of this moment. He scarcely blinked to burn this image into his retinas, and even (slowly, to avoid startling Jefferson) flopped down to watch his friend eat. Life’s miracle glooped right before him.

Even before Jefferson had finished the last chunk of oran, he produced the next. With his paw so close, a most vicious temptation consumed him.

Desire hardly felt enough. He didn’t want this—he needed this. His entire life was a prologue to this moment. Slowly, carefully, even gingerly, he stretched that same oran soaked paw to pet Jefferson.

 

[Namohysip]

Jefferson nipped at the berry immediately, taking it into the pile it was already forming. It was a wonder what kind of appetite these things had, considering their size and nature...

...Well, at least you tamed it, Diyem commented. Are you going to be putting it in one of those stones as well? Seems its kin get quite cozy in there.

And it would also minimize the risk of it running off later.

 

[Tanuki]

I would never! Zane spat, letting go of the stone he’d started grabbing right before Diyem started talking. Sure, he would have done it, and it was a good idea, but if he did it now, it would be Diyem’s idea instead of Zane’s. Zane refused to let some tyrant dictate his decisions.

Instead, he continued petting Jefferson’s smooth, squishy head. At this point, their bond was indestructible. He loved Jefferson, and Jefferson loved him.

As Jefferson reached the last remnants of oran, Zane rested his open palm next to him. “If you come with me, I’ll get you even more food. I’ll even let you pick! How’s that sound?”

 

[Namohysip]

Jefferson seemed to agree enough and understand the situation enough to follow through, so he slithered forward and curled around Zane's wrist, letting out a low churr in response. He felt oddly cold, but that might have just been how they naturally felt.