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Jove had the beginnings of a perfectly normal day, first a little spookie snack, some playtime for the foxfires, and then a good long walk. Except that was when it began to get a little weird. He had first noticed something in his peripheral vision as he wandered through campus, and then he caught sight of the fluffy thing.

It reminded him of the little scareling who had accompanied him on his mushroom hunt, but... fluffier? Was that it's natural form? Either way, there was something in it's expression that made him feel a little playful himself. The way it would follow him shamelessly really brought out his wisp-like nature. He didn't just want to run away, he wanted to lure it along.

So he trotted a bit faster as he headed into the woods, keeping an eye on how fast the creature kept pace. And then he would circle back to make sure it was still behind him...

And then he scrambled off again when it leapt out of the bushes, slipping through the little fingers before he could be well and truly caught.

Jove trotted onward, deeper into the forest. Occasionally he turned back, ears perked amidst the fluff, to make sure it was still on his tail... And then he trotted ahead once again. The unusual chittering behind him was a good indicator of how fast he had to go even when he didn't glance back.

When he did finally glance back again... There it was, leaping for him!

He didn't quite have enough time to scamper away from the second pounce, and found his fluffy tail caught in the little creature's grasp.

There had been the briefest moment of panic, a lingering remnant from his early life as a ghost, but it was quickly replaced by curiosity. He glanced over his shoulder, ears perked as he watched the creature wiggle closer. And then... he was batted on the head.

Jove let out an awkward bark of surprise as he was roughly pawed at, and had begun to think about squirming loose when he felt something on his tail. Glancing back to see it was suddenly in the creature's mouth, he realized it was definitely time to do something.

And then suddenly instead of a small and fluffy puppy, there was a small and fluffy boil sitting on the ground, giving the creature a very serious "plz don't put my tail in your mouth" expression.

Jove pulled his tail back, and gave a shake that started at his head and worked it's way down his body in a very canine fashion, until he shook the saliva off. Then he merely sat and waited for the fluffy creature-turned-student to say something or do something else. His stern expression became one of calm curiosity, being nibbled on really wasn't an unusual thing for the little foxfire, and he couldn't really be upset that it happened.

Although... it looked really ashamed. Jove's brows furrowed, and it gave the other student a friendly pat on the head as though saying "It's okay," much the same way he had often received head-pats from his taller peers.

Jove's tail wagged, hesitantly and encouraging at first, but then more freely as the little one perked up. It struck him as strange that another student might find HIM scary, not when he had spent his first year being scared, and his second year trying not to show he was scared, and even now struggled against his small and un-frightening stature. Had he been able to read her thoughts he would have been forced to remember his own locker-stuffing days. He really had been a pathetic ghost, unable to phase himself through even the thin metal of locker doors.

Fluffy ears perked in response as it introduced itself, and his tail wagged a bit more in encouragement. "Jove," he said back, even more softly than usual. Maybe he didn't want to scare the little one off, but chances are his usual near-whisper would have been fine anyway. He held out a hand to shake.

Jove's head tilted, but he kept his hand extended until the little one shook it for real. Was it checking for cooties? Or-

His ears suddenly perked, and he stared at the source of that bizarre grumbly noise. The pup's head slowly tilted the other way. And then with another tail wag he stuffed his hands into his pockets and managed to find a pair of slightly bruised mushrooms. They were even the kind living things could eat!

The little ghost offered them up, he could always find more later for himself if he got hungry too.

Jove shook his head, tail wagging again at the creature's innocent eagerness. It reminded him of his little adopted sister, the way it's wants were interrupted by occasional thoughts. But he didn't need any mushrooms to eat just then, he had more hidden away elsewhere he could go to when he got hungry.

By the sounds of this one's stomach, it needed the mushrooms more anyway!