Chapter Text
I woke feeling a little nervous and a little excited and for a moment, wondered why.
It was like that feeling you get on Christmas morning, when you’re not quite awake enough to remember it’s Christmas but you subconsciously know it’s going to be a good day.
I frowned at the ceiling as my brain slowly got itself in gear. It definitely wasn’t Christmas - not unless they’d decided to move the annual holiday to mid-autumn instead of December.
All at once, it came flooding back. After months of research, much soul searching and weighing of options, I had finally decided to get my own BittyBones.
What are BittyBones?
Heh, well… they come in various forms. Put simply, they’re pocket-sized Monsters (no, not like Pokemon) that you can adopt as companions. They’re not like pets, not exactly; though they do require care and attention. Difference is, they’re sentient. Self aware. Capable of conversation and abstract thought and (it has to be said) some of the most adorable things I’ve ever seen!
One of the technicians at work had brought his in a few months back and the whole office had crowded around to have a look, me included.
“His name’s Blade” he’d said, proudly holding out the small skeleton in the black jacket. The skeleton sneered at us all and flipped a rude sign before turning his back and climbing up to sit on his caretaker’s shoulder where he glared at all of us.
“He’s an Edge. He likes to bite, so I really wouldn’t recommend that” he said to one of the secretaries who was reaching out to stroke the little guy. He held up his other had sheepishly, showing the many plasters and teeny little teeth marks covering his fingers. The secretary recoiled in horror but many people leaned forward in interest, causing the Edge to snarl and his eyes to glow red.
“Watch out” said the technician. “He might be small but he can use magic like the bigger Monsters can. He clonked me on the head with a bone to wake me up this morning.” He sounded oddly delighted about that and told more stories about the little skeleton’s antics.
From that moment, I was hooked.
When I got home, I immediately booted up my laptop and began researching the different types of BittyBone, fascinated to learn the traits and quirks of the individual types. I joined a Bitty Forum and pestered long-term owners with questions about their little friends, haunted the blogs about Bitty care and squealed over the adorable pictures that many of them showed, looked up tiny patterns for clothes and began collecting little items of furniture and Bitty-sized comforts.
Now the day had finally arrived - I was going to the Adoption Centre to pick out my very own.
***
“…what if it doesn’t like me, what if I don’t like it, what if it runs away, what if I- I lose it or squish it or one of the cats gets a hold of it or…”
I stopped walking, puzzled, and turned around. I had been so lost in thought that I had walked right past the Adoption Centre.
“It’s going to be fine” I told myself firmly. I would just have to spend some time picking out a Bitty to ensure our personalities didn’t clash too much. And they did have Magic. I was sure even if my curious but gentle kitties did happen to get too close, the Bitty would be able to defend itself - and I had set aside a cat-proof space just incase. Also, growing up with cats had made it second nature to check before I sat down and I had blocked off any dangerous spaces in my apartment when they were still kittens. It would be fine.
I hoped.
I took a deep breath, pushed open the doors of the Adoption Centre and stepped through.
The first thing I noticed was how bright and cheerful it was. There were little pen-like structures all around the floor, a tall desk where a Monster was chatting merrily with a human family who were cooing over a little being made of flame and filling out what looked like paperwork. More people were kneeling outside the pens and voices from within were joking, laughing and chattering with them.
“HI there, welcome to the Bitty Adoption Centre!” said a(n irritatingly) perky voice and I turned to find a pigtailed blonde grinning widely at me.
“Uh. Hi” I glanced at her name badge. “Barbara. I’m Cat.”
“Pleasure to meet you!” she said, managing to sound sincere. “How may we help you today?”
“I’m- well, I’ve been thinking of getting a Bitty of my own.”
“Well you’ve come to the right place! We have most species here, something to suit all walks of life, every temperament, someone to fulfill all your companionship requirements!”
“Uh, great…”
“Would you like to look around first or do you have a particular Bitty in mind?”
“I’m not sure, I kinda wanted to chat to them first and see… how it goes” I finished lamely. This made Barbrara’s smile go up a notch or two.
“Well that’s considerate of you!” The bell over the door tinkled and Barbara looked around. “Give me a shout if you need me, won’t you?”
She turned a full watt smile on me and pushed a pamphlet outlining the various Bitty species into my hands before turning and flouncing off to greet the couple who had just come in, leaving me to slowly walk around the pens.
They looked like little dormitories. Beds were neatly lined along the walls at one side of the big (to a Bitty) room, the other had shelves stuffed with books, snacks and toys. Tiny beanbag chairs were scattered over the floor and there were Bitties sprawled in them, reading or napping or talking to each other. More were seated around the big tables, drawing or playing games. Yet more stood around the walls and shouted up to the humans peering over.
I was enchanted.
The elemental beings were grouped together and I smiled at them as I passed. They were absolutely adorable but I had my heart set on a BittyBones - I’ve always liked skeletons!
Reaching the BittyBone pens, I saw Edges and Bosses stomping around but cute as they certainly were, I had decided against having one of my own - I wasn’t all that fond of being bitten or bossed around (unless it was under particular circumstances *ahem*). I really liked the sound of Sansy’s - they seemed pretty mellow and laid back and I had heard from various owners that they were very funny. Baby Blues were delightful but way too high energy for me and I was worried about the cats chasing someone who ran around so much!
Papy’s were incredibly loud from what I could hear, though they seemed very sweet despite that. I consulted the pamphlet to find out the names of the quieter ones - Meek, Poppy, Teacup, Li'l Bro, Cherry, Soft Bones and Punny.
Gods, it was a tough decision!
I ruled out Li'l Bro almost straight away; I couldn’t abide drugs and the disgusting old sock smell of it made me want to hurl whenever I caught a whiff. Edge and Boss were no-no’s, and I’d be constantly worrying about a Baby Blue so I ruled them out as well. Papy, Poppy, Teacup, Meek and Punny didn’t really appeal to me, precious as they all were, so it left me to choose between Soft Bones, Sansy and Cherry.
There was a pen on the far side of the room that appeared to have a few of all three in and I made my way over, feeling excited.
I glanced into a pen beside me as I passed and stopped short, gazing into it.
It was a bright and friendly as the others I had seen and was just as filled with books and toys but I thought at first that there were no Bitties inside. It wasn’t until I was right up beside it that I realised there were, they were all just so quiet!
They all wore they same kind of grey tunic, some with sleeves that almost went right past their tiny hands, some with no sleeves at all. They weren’t doing much, just standing around or sitting in beanbag chairs, staring into space.
“Found one you like?” Barbara was back.
“What are these guys?” I asked, gesturing to the little crowd in the pen.
“Oh, these are Blanks!”
“Blanks?”
“Yes! They’re- well. Blank” she giggled. “They’re BittyBones who have no real personality or even likes and dislikes until they’re adopted, then they pick up traits from their owners! A blank slate, see? We have to keep them separate from the rest or they’ll just end up being a Boss or Cherry or whatever. How they develop all depends on who they spend the most time with.”
“Are they- sentient?”
“Oh yes!
"They all look the same.”
Barbara chuckled. “They do at first. These Bitties need a bit more attention than some as they have no real skills until they’re specifically taught them. They won’t know how to react to most things but they develop their very own aptitudes and personalities - and even looks! - in a short while. It all depends on how you treat them and what you do when you’re raising them.”
She knelt down, reached a hand into the pen and gently stroked the skull of one who was sitting with its back to us. The tiny skeleton made no reaction other than to lean slightly into her touch. I knelt beside her and she smiled at me. “Don’t tell anyone” she whispered conspiratorially, “but these little guys are my favourites. It’s difficult to stop myself playing with them sometimes!” Barbara giggled and pushed herself to her feet as the bell over the door tinkled again.
I looked at the BittyBones in the pen and couldn’t help but smile. How fascinating! Bitties who actually developed according to their environment and care, with no preset traits other than… blank-ness.
I was gazing at all of them in some sort of wonder, my thoughts racing, when I suddenly felt eyes on me. Or, eyesockets would be a more appropriate word.
A little Blank who was sat in a beanbag chair in the corner had tilted its head back to gaze at my face - at least, I assumed that’s what it was doing. Unlike the other BittyBones I had seen, this one had no pupils. The tiny sockets were dark.
“Hello” I said softly.
The Bitty didn’t reply, didn’t even move, but I still felt it was watching me.
“I’m Cat. Can you speak?”
The little head tilted sideways slightly. Huh. I guess they had to learn to speak as well.
I reached out to the big table and picked up a piece of strawberry between two fingers, then hesitantly held it out to the Blank.
“You hungry?” I asked. The sockets moved from my face to my hand and ever so slowly, the Blank reached out and gently tugged the piece of strawberry from my fingers.
That was all it took for me to completely lose my heart to this little Bitty.
I waited until it had finished the piece of berry then spoke again. “Would you like to come home with me?”
The little face raised to mine again, the expression still blank. I reached over the pen walls and laid my hand flat in front of it. It seemed to follow the motion but didn’t make a move.
“Come on” I said softly, cajolingly. “If you climb on, I can get you out of there and we can go home.”
The Blank didn’t move and remembering what Barbara had done, I gently stroked the small skull with the tip of a finger. The Bitty leaned into my touch and I maneuvered my finger around its shoulders then brought my thumb up behind its knees. Carefully, I lifted the tiny creature, wrapping the rest of my fingers around it when there was room and letting it sit in my cupped palm until I managed to lift it to where I could wrap both hands around it for safety.
I held it against my chest for a long moment, gazing at it with what was probably the stupidest expression on my face. It didn’t weigh much, enough to let me know I was holding something but no real effort was required. The little thing was surprisingly warm and as I gazed at it, it turned its empty sockets on me again.
“Hi” I said, smiling.
*
We made our way over to the big desk, me walking like I carried an over-full glass rather than a BittyBones. I was aware that people were moving out of my path, recognising the deliberate pace of the Bitty burdened, but I wasn’t really paying attention to them as I focused on the tiny skeleton in my hands.
Its eye sockets hadn’t left my face since I had picked it up and as I smiled at it again, it bestowed a slow blink upon me. Charmed, I wondered if a slow blink from a Bitty meant the same as one from a cat, then wondered how it could blink at all - BittyBones were… bones!
“Good afternoon” said the Monster at the big desk, smiling and interrupting my thoughts.
“Hey, hi” I replied, returning the smile.
“I’m Angelicka. You’ve found a friend, hmm?”
“I hope so” I said, my gaze returning to the Bitty. “What- er. What do I have to do to take it home?”
“Just fill in a few forms and pay the adoption fee” said Angelicka. “And you have a boy there.”
“I- What?”
“You have a boy” she repeated. “He’s a ‘he’, not an 'it’.”
“Oh! Oh, I’m sorry. No offence meant, little guy.” I stroked his tiny cheek and felt stupidly happy when he leaned into my touch again. “Here, can you stand here while I fill these in?” I asked him, gently setting him on the counter. He stood easily, staring out at the Adoption Centre for a minute but then turning to watch as I filled in the forms.
“I can see you’ll be a very good Bitty Parent” said Angelicka, approvingly. I looked up, startled, wondering if she was being sarcastic. It didn’t seem so.
“What makes you say that?”
“Most people wouldn’t chat to a Blank so naturally at first - they take a while to respond.”
“Oh. Heh, well I’ve always had cats around, you see. They start out pretty blank too, and if you talk to them and let them get to know your voice, they start responding in a short time.”
“Blanks aren’t pets, child” she chided me gently.
“I know” I smiled. “But you’d do the same with children, right? I think the same applies.”
Angelicka looked surprised but nodded. “As I said, you’ll be a very good Bitty parent” she smiled.
I pushed the forms across the desk and fished in my bag for my wallet. “Can I buy a few supplies as well?” I asked. “Like… snacks and toys for him? I have clothes and things at home already.”
“Of course.” Angelicka read over the forms and brought a stamp from under the desk. As she banged it onto the adoption certificate, my Bitty jumped and turned his head to look for the noise.
“It’s alright, little buddy. Just making everything official” I said, gently cupping my hand around him. He leaned against my palm and it was a simple matter to tilt him slightly backwards so he was sitting with his little legs dangling over the side of my hand.
Angelicka blew on the ink of the Certificate, a teeny flame from between her lips dried everything nicely and she rolled it up before handing it to me. “Now…” She ducked behind the counter again and brought up a bag, tilting it to show me the Bitty sized bags of snacks, toys and books inside. She put a booklet on Bitty care in too, and one on Blanks especially. “That ought to do for starters.”
I grinned, handed over a few notes and my Bitty and I left the Adoption Centre.
***