Chương 610: Chapter Five Hundred and Ninety-Four - Dust Bunnies

"Hi! And yes, I'll be your friend," I said to the little dungeon monster. I patted my knees, then knelt down to make myself a bit smaller. Then I used a bit of Proportion Distortion, slowly, to be a little smaller still. I didn't want to intimidate the little guy. The little monsters hid, ducking down out of sight, but it looked like they forgot that they had long, tall ears which continued to poke out from behind the cushions in their corner of the room.

None of them approached, though a few would peek out to see me, and there were faint whispers as they spoke to one another.

"What are they?" I asked Mathew.

"The World calls them Detritus Lepus if you inspect them," he said.

"But some members have another name for them."

"Dust bunnies," Guinevere said.

"Though they're not actually made of dust, and they're not that dirty. Well, not here."

"They do tend to collect a lot of dust off the ground. They'll cover themselves in it, if they can," Matthew said.

"As for why we have a few dozen small monsters in our basement, that's the dungeon core's fault. It will summon them seemingly at random. I think they're like any other dungeon monster, but seeing as how this dungeon doesn't have even a single floor, they're particularly weak."

"Oh, I see," I said. I smiled without showing any teeth as one of the little dust bunnies bounced around a cushion and then slowly, cautiously, came closer. It was holding onto a rock. It was round and soft, the kind of rock that was worn smooth by river water and time. The dust bunny hesitated, then took a few tentative steps closer and held the rock out in both paws. It, unlike a normal bunny, had legs that allowed it to walk upright, though it looked like it could comfortably bounce around on all fours as well.

Its paws were small, with big pink pads and tufts of fur poking out between its toebeans, what claws it had were small and looked a bit blunt.

"What's this? A rock?" It paused, then lifted the rock a little more, bringing it closer.

"Share?" I laid my hand down, and it carefully put the rock down onto my palm, then it backed up quick.

"Share!" it said, its squeaky voice very happy.

"Thank you!" I said. I couldn't help the ear-plitting grin. The rock wasn't anything special, I didn't think. It was just a normal, non-magical rock, but it was still nice of it to give that to me. I carefully set the rock on the ground, then fished around in my pouches. I had all sorts of baubles and things. I just had to... ah! I found my coin pouch and slipped it open. I had a bunch of money, and while I didn't want to introduce capitalism to the little guys, a few shiny coins might do?

I pulled out a copper piece, then frowned and concentrated before blasting the coin with a powerful wave of Cleaning magic. I noticed both Black Avatars flinch, but they didn't react beyond that. The magic did leave the coin very shiny, like it was fresh from the forge.

"Here," I said as I extended a hand, the coin resting on my palm. The dust bunny approached, head tilting left, then right, like a curious puppy, but with floppier ears.

"Share?"

"Nope! Gift, you can keep it."

"Gif?" I nodded, then shifted the coin so that it was at the end of my fingers for easy grabbing. The dust bunny took it, then looked up to me with wide, wide eyes.

"Go on, take it! You can share it with your friends! And if they like it, I'll give you more, okay?"

"Share?" it asked. It picked up the coin and clutched it to its chest, then its little bunny mouth curved up into a smile and it bounced away, back into the cushions and boxes. The other dust bunnies crowded around, staring at the coin, then the dust bunny I had given it to extended the coin to another, smaller dust bunny, holding it between two paws.

"Share?" The bunny gasped, paw going to its chest. Then it carefully took the coin and cheered. The others cheered too. Then the new-coin owner hopped along, and found another dust bunny nearby, one that had been on the edge of the group, and extended the coin to them.

"Share?" they asked, a little shyly. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. The new dust bunny gasped, tears filling its eyes, then it took the coin. The dust bunnies all cheered again.

"Well, now you've done it," Matthew said. I looked back to him, my own eyes filled with tears.

"They're so cute," I blubbered.

"Yeah, they're going to be passing that coin around to each other all night, until they each had a turn with it," he said. I giggled.

"They just like sharing!"

"Yes, they really do. It's... honestly, it could be worse?" Mathew said with a shrug. Guinevere nodded along.

"It's fortunate, really. Most dungeon monsters are dangerous little things. They're liable to try and eat you long before they try to... share whatever little thing they're currently fascinated with. Oh, and now they're hugging."

"Hugging?" I gasped. I spun around so fast the bones in my neck clicked. The dust bunnies were, in fact, hugging. They were waddling over to each other, then squeezing each other very carefully, then they'd let out little giggles and wander off to hug someone else.

"Can... can we adopt any of them?" I asked.

"All of them, in case they're sad about splitting up."

"I don't think so," Guinevere said.

"They're part of the dungeon, even if it's a very unusual one."

"Aww," I said.

"It wouldn't be appropriate to have this many pets onboard the ship, Captain Bunch," Desiree said.

"I'm afraid that they might get in the way. Besides, what would Admiral Orange think?"

"She'd like them too!" I said. The ship's cat would love friends. Or... okay, so no, she'd definitely see them as snacks first, but I was sure that the first warm cuddlepile would win her over. Speaking of which, I scooted closer to the dust bunnies and when one of them approached me, curious, I gave it back the shiny rock I'd gotten earlier in exchange for a hug. They were rather small, but their hugs were very pleasant anyway.

Once I had convinced one of them to hug, the others gasped, and soon I was surrounded by three dozen of the bravest dust bunnies who came over and crashed against my sides and tried their best to squeeze me.

"Hi! Yes, don't worry, I have enough hugs for everyone!" I said between giggles. I kept up the hugs, even if I was maybe being a teensy bit of a bad guest. Ignoring the Avatars like this was a little rude. I'd been brought up to be a better girl than that. However... some rules were meant to be broken, and the exception to the 'do small talk and be nice' rule was the more important 'pet all the pets' rule. Once I was done hugging all of the dust bunnies, then I'd see about being a better guest!

Then a bigger dust bunny showed up. It had a little apron on, and a small knit hat. The dust bunny grabbed two rocks and clicked them together, grabbing everyone's attention.

"Slep!" it said. There was a chorus of 'awws' from the collection of dust bunnies, but they slowly let go of me (though a few squeezed extra hard before letting go) then they bounced over to the bigger dust bunny who ushered them into the next of cushions.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"They sleep for twelve hours a day," Mathew said.

"But it's not usually in one long rest. They take naps throughout the day. If one of them skips too many naps they get grumpy."

"Is grumpy bad for them?" I asked. Mathew sighed.

"They'll wander off to be alone and won't share with the others." It's barely worth mentioning, as far as antisocial behavior goes," Guinevere laughed.

"But they take that kind of thing very seriously."

"I can see that," I replied. I pressed my hands on my knees and stood.

"Ah, this was very fun! Thank you for showing me the dust bunnies."

"No problem. I came here to show off the dungeon core, and give you an example of how powerful we were, but I suppose I misjudged things, seeing as how you're more impressed by the locals." Desiree giggled into her hand.

"The fine captain has her own priorities with such things."

"My priorities can be overridden at any time if there's an option to hug cute things!" I declared. For some reason, that didn't seem to inspire confidence in the Black Avatars.