Jaxon

Curiosity

     Ardent was acting so strange. He seemed so focused on something. Hace looked into his blank stare and smiled. He wished he could ask what he was thinking of. He turned Ardent around and slightly bounced him. There was no response, just the blank stare still.  

     "Ardent?" Hace asked looking into his eyes. Ardent's eyes focused on Hace's for a moment. He could see that they had changed so much in just a week. He could see that all the fear Ardent had of him was fading away.

     Slowly, Ardent started to reach out to his face. Hace chuckled a little. "What are you doing Ardent?" He asked.

     Ardent turned red and dropped his hands. He looked away and down towards the floor. Hace laughed at his reaction and hugged him. He wasn't sure, but it felt like... Ardent was hugging him back. After a moment, Ardent gave a sigh and pointed at the floor. Hace thought about it for a moment. He really hadn't let Ardent explore the house at all. He hadn't even let him on his own room floor yet. He was so worried about the little guy breaking, but now that he knew he was stronger than he looked, he'd try it and see what happened. Hace gave a smirk as he carefully set Ardent on the floor on his stomach.

     At first Ardent was a bit shocked. He pushed himself up on his hands and looked around. He looked up at Hace with a little confusion. Then he looked around the room again. Slowly, he pulled himself a little ways away from Hace and looked back at him again, almost expecting Hace to stop him. When Hace didn't, Ardent quickly went about exploring the room.

     Hace got up and left the room for a moment to get the toy he'd forgotten he bought for Ardent when he first adopted him. He made sure to close the door behind him, so the little guy didn't get anywhere unsafe.

     Hace ran downstairs and grabbed the toy and the bag of treats. When he got back to the room, Ardent was under the cage. He had somehow pulled himself into a sitting position with his back against the wall. Hace gave a small laugh and shook his head. Of course he'd go under there.

     "Ardent." Hace shook the treat bag and clicked his tongue a bit and tried to see if he'd come willingly to him. "Here boy. Ardent." He heard Ardent moving around, and he yelped once, but he didn't come out. He set the box on the floor, knowing the little guy wouldn't be able to resist. His curiosity always got the better of him. "Aaaardent." He tried to lure him out.

     As soon as Hace left the room, Jaxon got to exploring. He didn't know how long Hace would leave him alone, so he tried to see everything in this space. His space... his room...

     He'd never had his own room before. He shared everything with 29 other boys, almost everything. If he'd been the same size as the others, he'd most likely have shared uniforms too. But here... here he could touch things, play with things, look at things that no one else would see. A small smile came across his face thinking about that.

     The sound of Hace's footsteps started to get closer. Jaxon didn't want to be picked up again so soon after getting this small taste of freedom. He quickly pulled himself under the cage and as far as he could to the back wall.

     Hace came inside and looked at him. He gave a slight sigh and sat down in the middle of the room. Jaxon wondered if maybe Hace couldn't reach him back here. He didn't seem to be in a hurry to pick him back up.

     'Now I know why Ash likes to hide under the bed. This is like a nice hidey hole.' Jaxon thought to himself.

     "Ardent? Here boy, Ardent." Hace was calling him.

     'Why is he calling me? Why not just force me out of my hiding spot? He knows I'm here.' Jaxon was a bit confused until he heard the clicks and whistles. 'Oh... he's seeing if his pet will come to him.'

     "Not happening." Jaxon said out loud. He wasn't going to make it easy for Hace, he really didn't like being treated this way.

     Hace gave a sigh and there was the sound of something shaking in a bag.

     "Aaaaardent." Hace was really trying.

     'What's he got that he thinks will lure me out?' Now Jaxon was just getting curious.

     He tried to lean down and see what was in his hands. No luck, he started to fall over, so he quickly pushed himself back up. After a few more shakes of the bag, Jaxon finally pushed himself off the wall and slowly pulled himself just far enough see.

     Hace was sitting cross legged on the floor holding two things. One was the bag of sweet treats that he would only get out when he was 'training' him. The other was a strange box.

     Hace leaned forward and smiled at Jaxon.

     "Ardent. Look ~~~ ~~~ have for you." Hace shook the small box and set it on the ground in front of him. It was just beyond the edge of the cages shadow.

     Jaxon knew what Hace was doing. He was trying to lure him out. And it was almost starting to work. He really wanted to see what was in the box. Hace said it was for him.

     'He really needs to stop buying me things. I don't even use half the stuff he already got me.' Jaxon sighed as he looked at the box. From where he was, it looked like it was just a plain wooden box. Then he wondered why Hace would get it if it was just a plain box.

     Slowly, his curiosity was getting the best of him. He was crawling closer and closer to it. As soon as he was out far enough, he started to reach for it.

     "Good boy!" Hace reached over and picked him up. He brought him into his lap and picked up the box also. He leaned Jaxon against him and put the box in his hands. Jaxon was a bit mad that he was back in Hace's grasp, but at least he had the box now.

     Jaxon looked at the strange wooden box and turned it around in his hands. It was small enough that he could hold it with ease. As he turned it, he could hear something moving around inside of it. He brought it up to his ear and shook it a little. There was definitely something inside.

     'What on earth? How did it get in there?' He looked over the box again. 'No visible hinge... no markings... wait.' He ran his fingers over a spot a few times and could tell it was slightly different. He pushed on the slightly different spot and what looked like a small drawer opened on the other side.

     'Ok... so that opened that. What's in the drawer?' He opened the drawer as far as it could go, but saw nothing at first. He put his fingers inside and felt around. Inside the drawer, there was a hidden button flush with the side wall and the same color as the wood. Pushing the button made a clicking sound. Jaxon gasped a bit as he tried to figure out what happened.

     Again, he rolled the box around, looking for any differences. The only thing he saw was a slightly opened door. He got his nails under the tight opening and was able to pry it open the rest of the way. As soon as he did, he was rewarded with a treat. It fell out and landed on his lap. His eyes lit up as he ate it.

     After eating the treat, he shook the box again, but the sound was gone.

     'That must have been what was inside.' He thought. He looked at the box just a little bit more. He closed the door and small drawer before handing it back up to Hace.

     "Done." He said with a smile.