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For the most part, Jove was not the sort of student to poke his nose annoyingly into the business of others. So on that day he was minding his own matters as the pink haired demon went by, huffing and puffing and dragging a scratching, noisy bunch of wood from who knows where for some unknown reason.

Jove's ears flattened down, and he shifted a little ways around the tree he was sitting under. Once the irritating noise passed, he went back to his book. Only for the demon to soon be dragging another armful of planks past. The noise was terrible! Jove once again cursed his sensitive hearing and tried to ignore it. The third and fourth times were almost too much, he debated abandoning his tree for quieter reading ground.

On the fifth pass he had enough. Jove got up and shoved his book into a large, hollow crack in the tree trunk, and trotted over to the pink haired boil. Charlie, he remembered from the boat ride. One of Lizzy's friends? The demon didn't appear too much older than the pup himself, so why could he be trying to haul so many planks all the way across campus?

Perhaps a more vocal student would have told off the annoying kid, but Jove just frowned. And then picked up one end of the planks. The sooner they finished getting moved, the sooner they could both get back to what they were doing!

Although doubtful at first, Jove puffed up in surprised pride as the demon complimented his strength. He seemed really honest, although the pup was getting used to scanning such phrases for hints of sarcasm there was no mockery or deception from this boil.

Jove liked honest people, and he followed the demon's lead with a bit more pep in his step. At least until Charlie spoke up again. About... power tools.

It would have been a weird question for anyone, but it earned perked ears and a head tilt from Jove. Two years ago he had been nothing but a scared little foxfire wisp, and since then had grown into what he was now. A kid who was young for a highschooler, with decent manners, a suitable knowledge of how to behave like a student, and surprisingly good writing skills. But "power tools" was not yet in his vocabulary. Clearly he was about to learn something from this encounter.

Jove's expression turned doubtful as the pink haired boil almost steered himself into a garbage can, and even moreso when he mentioned a hammer. What on earth would he need a hammer for? Surely he couldn't be building anything with all this wood, and with the way their board was being guided, the pup couldn't believe for a second it would be anything sturdy.

But... A secret fort? It wouldn't stay secret for very long if the demon was willing to divulge such information to just any old kid who picked up the other end of a board for him. And Jove's expression continued reflecting such doubts until the boil mentioned the nature of his fort. With no ghouls allowed.

Jove's ears perked.

Now the pup was a proper gentleman, and all for being nice to ghouls, but a place where he was guaranteed no cooties was a very tempting thing to have! Sure he could make his room off limits to ghouls, but what if they came to study? Or asked to come in even? It was only gentlemanly to let them in and offer them a seat... But a secret fort! They wouldn't even have to know! Unless they tried to help this boil with it's construction.

The little pup's ears continued to stand up with attention, and visions of tasty little button mushrooms danced through his head. His mushrooms were safe enough in his room, since nobody really dared eat anything in there in case it was poisonous, but the thought of having a secret place for them just appealed to the little boil.

Jove nodded, nudging the door with his own foot, and bumping it with his shoulder as he passed. How had the little demon managed to do all this on his own anyway? It explained the irritating delay in between scraping noises, the little ghost would only just get fully immersed in his reading before it disrupted him yet again. He could only imagine the troubles this little demon had gone through to get this far on his own.

But then again, nothing he had seen about the demon so far suggested he even acknowledged troubles. Not from now, or the other times he had run into him... The pup tried to remember his name. He knew the boil was Lizzy's friend, and they had shared that boat on the field trip... Chester? Charles- Charlie! That was it.

Jove had been in the demon dorms before, and as always, he was amazed with the richness and resplendence. The decorations and furniture, even the softness of the plush carpet under his boots... It was all luxury beyond what he was used to. Jove stared openly at everything, he had never been in this section before. He had only been in to visit Yaya on occasion, not explore aimlessly.

And so it was a bit of a shock, arriving at the little demon's room. Yaya's bedroom was all silks and cushions, exotic scents drifting through the air... And Charlie's looked even more sparse than his own room. And what was the most horrifying, he had no space under his bed.

No wonder he needed a secret fort!

Jove frowned and gave the board a shove, clearing the way for him to slip into the room and drag the board over to the pile in the corner. And when he dropped it, he gave Charlie a look that said "Where would you put the tree?"

No matter, a secret fort would be just as much fun as a secret tree fort. And would save them the effort of hauling that pile of wood up into a tree.

Anyway, even if Charlie had not thought his metaphor through well enough, surely he had a plan. Jove leaned over to examine the boil's selection of wood, and then turned and perked his ears. He was all for helping, but... he didn't know the first thing about building anything! His idea of a secret fort would be finding a small hollow in a tree, or a hidden burrow, something already constructed and ready to fit a perfectly sized little fluffball. How they might make a burrow out of planks of wood was beyond him.

With a curious expression, he picked up one end of a board and rested it against the wall, forming a triangle shape underneath. That... might... make a burrow?