His Soul

Passing Time

Having a dangerous magical jester around you wasn't the worst thing in the world. Actually, the more you brought Curioso out of his box and allowed him to linger, the more his presence grew on you. Your paranoia and distrust gradually simmered into slight wariness, as you were no longer focusing on his every move and worrying about the possibilities of what could happen. You trusted him to follow your rules. So far, he hadn't done anything that was a cause for concern.

...Well, that wasn't entirely true. There was one instance you weren't all too happy with.

Your friendly neighbor, Audrey, had stopped by one morning to drop you off some sweets and breakfast. She wanted to catch up with you due to your prolonged absence from her shop. You usually frequented it to get some of your groceries and the morning paper - something you've been neglecting to do ever since your jester friend had captured most of your attention. You'd been meaning to visit her again, but time kept slipping out of your hands...

You'd let out Curioso an hour prior and had been in the shower when she stopped by. After you dried yourself off, your apartment sounded eerily quiet. It didn't assure you when you found the creature completely missing from your home, which meant there was only one other place he could be.

...He had scared the living daylights out of Audrey by greeting her at the door. His tall frame and sharp teeth evoked an immediate scream from her - it wasn't helped when he insisted on getting closer to her. He backed off when you came rushing down the stairs screaming out his name. You trapped him back in the box again and it was mutually understood as to why.

You recall how silent he had been after putting him back, seating down Audrey and placing a damp rag on her forehead. She was clutching at your arm tightly, fear laced in her brown eyes when she turned to you.

"Detective, what - was - that?" She breathed deeply, flickering her gaze repeatedly to the box sitting across the room.

"My...new friend," You sat down beside her and patted her shoulder. "I'm sorry you two had to meet like that."

She sounded distraught. "What is he!?"

You felt worse knowing you couldn't give her a good answer. What was Curioso, really? You focused on getting your friend to calm down instead and offered her some tea. It was a long conversation you two had that day - catching her up on your situation while also trying not to disclose too much. You made it clear that he couldn't escape from the box, which was her biggest worry as she was constantly watching it behind you.

It took some time, but she finally came to terms with what you were saying. With your assurances that he meant her no harm, she was able to relax and have a proper chat with you. You caught up on what she'd been up to and made a firm promise to go back to visiting her again.

After she left, you gave Curioso a good scolding for scaring her, but he didn't respond to you. You were positive he heard it, though, and put him in a "time-out" that day.

Otherwise, you were fine with regularly letting him out to venture around your office and home. He was curious and seemed to enjoy the freedom, despite how limited it all must feel. Neither of these places were as spacious as Andrew's home. You always felt some guilt about having to cage him in here.

But his encounter with Audrey reminded you why this was necessary.

You walked up the stairs back into your apartment and shut the door behind you. The tall jester caught sight of what you were carrying and followed after as you headed to the kitchen. You dropped the box onto the table with a flourish and grinned.