"Goddamn it!"
Baz gives him a concerned look. "Ah, that bad?"
"No! Yes! I mean! I don't know! Maybe!" He can feel his brain overheating. "Shit! I forgot! How could I forget?!"
"...Forget what?"
"The creature!"
Baz's concern seems to grow. "The… creature?" he asks hesitantly. "Listen, I don't mean to sound rude, but," he seems to think over his words very carefully, "are you sure you're not imagining things?"
"What? No! I'm talking about the kid! The- the shapeshifter!"
Baz grasps him by the shoulders, forcing him to look into his eyes. "Kit, this is very important. Look me in the eyes and tell me you're not going crazy."
"I'm not going crazy," he shrugs off his hands. "Ask your sister if you don't believe me."
"Ask Fluorite? Nah, she already thinks you have a screw or two loose."
"Not about- Wait. She does?" His expression drops. "Since when?"
"Um. Since around… maybe when she met you?"
"...Since I was sixteen?"
"Yeah…" Baz scratches the back of his neck, refusing to meet his gaze. "Listen man, if it makes you feel better, she probably thinks that about most people."
"Don't- Don't patronise me."
He shrugs, "She thinks the same about me."
Kit fixes him with a pointed stare for a solid minute. "WHO doesn't?"
Baz shrugs again. "That makes two of us then."
Never before has he wanted to strangle another human being more. He shakes his head to clear it. "We're getting off topic!" he starts stalking off towards the office's exit door.
He hears Baz's footsteps quickly catching up behind him. "Are we?"
"Yes!" They pass by a very confused looking Gnocchi, who had probably poked out his head when he heard the commotion. Once they're out the door, he abruptly comes to a stop, Baz bumping into his back. Realising he has no idea where to even start looking for, all he can do is look around frantically, hoping to find some sort of clue as to where the shapeshifter might have gone. "Where could they be…?" he mutters under his breath, "If I were a child or a fox where would I go…"
Some people walking by shoot weird glances their way.
"I just want you to know," Baz speaks up besides him, "you're making absolutely zero sense right now."
"Mhm," he replies absentmindedly.
"Why don't you try explaining this again? Maybe there's some way I can help you out if I actually know what the problem is."
"The problem," he randomly chooses a direction and starts walking once again, heading to the right, "is your sister," he phrases it like an accusation, "deciding to randomly drop a new apprentice on me with absolutely no prior notice, saying it was an order from the higher-ups and all that."
"Yeah, that does sound like her."
"Turns out the kid is also a fox-shifter AND a brat." He gives Baz a quick summary of what had happened, and by the end of it, Baz offers him a grimace.
"So you're saying you have absolutely no idea where they might be?"
He exhales, running a hand across his face, "None at all."
This was proving to be a more and more impossible task every passing minute. Not only did he not have a single lead, but with the arrival of lunch hour there's a crowd out in the street, in their majority office workers and the like, the narrow roads making their numbers appear even greater. Trying to spot someone, especially a child, in this crowd would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. A bead of sweat rolls down his back. He was so screwed. Not only did he manage to lose a child that had been entrusted to him (albeit in a rather unfair manner) during the first five minutes of said child being under his supervision, but this was also a child the higher-ups obviously thought very valuable. He was so SO screwed.
"Alright," Baz claps his hands, "I'll help you out. Let's get going."
"Thank you. But there's no need," Kit brushes him off and ventures into the thick of the mass of people. He can feel Baz's presence right behind him.
"I insist."
"And I decline."
"As your friend-"
"Coworker," he corrects.
"As your very good friend," he lays emphasis on the word, "I feel obliged to help you out in your time of need."
"You really don't have to," Kit tries to squeeze his way through the crowd, Baz close behind him. "Besides, I said we are coworkers," he uses the same tone Baz had used, "so you shouldn't feel bound to help me."
"So you're saying we're not friends?" Apparently that's the one part of what Kit said that he's decided to latch on to, since he is still following close behind.
"Yes. I mean no. We're not." They've managed to get to a street that's less crowded and can finally walk side by side again. He turns to look at Baz, exasperated, "Can you please stop following me?"
"So hostile," he tsks, "and here I was, trying to be nice and help you."
"You're being a distraction and nuisance."
"Does my charming company not make up for it?"
That's when he sees it. It's only a split second, a brief flash of orange, but it's unmistakably a fox tail, disappearing around the corner. Baz opens his mouth to continue speaking, but he interrupts him. "Shut up!" He immediately takes off running in the direction he'd seen the tail. In his haste, he knocks a few people out of the way, angry shouts and insults uttered at him. Vaguely, he registers Baz apologising on his behalf in the background. But when he rounds the corner, he's lost track of them. He curses internally, looking around to see if he can spot them again.
"What-" Baz sounds slightly out of breath when he catches up to him.
"There!" he points when he finally spots them; he's pretty sure it has to be the shapeshifter, after all, it's not like a fox would randomly be in the commercial area of a town. He must have exclaimed too loudly, because the fox startles, turning to look at the source of the commotion. There is a dawning recognition when their eyes meet, meaning, yes, this is definitely the shapeshifter. But almost as soon as they spot him, they take off running in the opposite direction. "Fuck!" he curses out loud as he takes off behind them, pushing more people out of the way, leaving Baz to apologise in his wake.
Damn the slippery little creature! Why does it have to be so fast! he thinks as he runs out of breath, the stitch in his side making it even harder to try and draw in a breath. He's lost count of how many bends they've taken at this point.
He almost weeps with joy when he sees a familiar figure down the street. Their back is turned to him as they exit one of the shops along the street, probably just finished buying something for lunch judging by the packet they're carrying. They haven't noticed him, nor the fox barreling at full speed in their direction.
"Mousie!" he calls out, mustering up the last of his strength.
She turns around at the sound of his voice, "Master-?"
"The- the fox!" he wheezes, "Catch-! Catch the fox!"
Her eyes widen in surprise when she notices the creature, but thankfully she reacts in time, dropping her package in the process, she gets her arms firmly secured around their middle, holding them up as if they were a large house cat.
"Let me go!" They have transformed back into a human, squirming and kicking to try and get free, but to Mousie's credit, her expression becomes even more surprised, but doesn't drop them.
He arrives, panting and wheezing, to where Mouse is trying not to get her face scratched off by a very angry kid. "You," he has to pause there; too out of breath to speak. He puts his hands on his knees to try and regain his breath. "You," he starts again after a few seconds, pointing at the shapeshifter, "be quiet and stay still. Or I will make you," he threatens.
It seems to work, because they immediately calm down. Mousie lets them go when she considers they won't make a run for it. Still, to be on the safe side, he takes off his robe to use as a makeshift kiddie leash, tying it around the shapeshifter's waist, the other end in his hand. To be even safer, he places a sealing tag on the knot so they won't be able to undo it. He receives a kick in the shin for that. The kid can surprisingly land a hit well, and he involuntarily hisses in pain. "I told you to stay still, you little-!"
Mousie gives a small cough. She opens his mouth to ask him a question, but he starts talking before she can utter a sound.
"Ah, Mousie, Mousie," he claps her on the shoulder, "have I ever told you you're my favourite student?"
"I-"
"Don't. Ask any questions, okay?" He gives a tug on the makeshift leash, "Now you," he addresses the kid, "are going to come back with me to the office."
Of course, it is at this very moment that Baz decides to show up. His eyes widen when they land on the child.
"So this is who you were talking about, huh?" he leisurely walks up to where they're standing outside the sandwich shop Mousie had just exited. "Hey, Mousie," he nods in greeting when he registers her presence.
Mousie nods back, "Hey."
"How's it going?"
She looks at the package on the floor containing her now ruined lunch. "Could be better," she shrugs.
Baz follows her gaze. "Aw, man. That sucks." He turns to face Kit, "You're terrible, you know that?"
"You say that as if it were my fault!"
"It kinda is."
"Yeah, it kinda is," Mousie agrees.
He splutters in indignation, "It is not! If it's anyone's fault here, it's this kid's," he tugs again on the "leash", jostling the unfortunate person on the end of it. "Besides," he rounds on Baz, "how do you even know what happened? You weren't even here!"
"I saw everything."
"And you didn't think to help?!"
"It looks like you both had it all under control," Baz puts up his hands placatingly.
"Who was the guy who said they wanted to help? Oh, that's right. It was you. Thanks for nothing, by the way," he glares at Baz.
"Don't be like that. Here, I'll make it up to you." He looks at Mousie, "Both of you. Come on, I'll buy you lunch. Even the little menace is invited." They give a little cheer at that, all previous hostility gone. Huh. So they were that easy to bribe.
(Belatedly, it occurs to Kit the horrible possibility of the kid getting along with Baz. That would definitely be the thing to put him into an early grave.)
"You're all okay with Italian, right?" he asks as he starts walking in the direction of the restaurant.
"I-" he wants to turn down the offer, but his stomach, the traitor that it is, makes a growling noise before he can. It's only then that he realises he hasn't eaten anything the whole day; the piece of toast he had hastily shoved into his mouth before heading to work this morning hardly counts.
Baz gives him a knowing look. (So they had all heard… How embarrassing.) "I'll take that as a yes."
"..."
There is absolutely no way this will end well for him.