The scent of selfishness

He paced around back and forth as he waited for her, getting more and more irritated by the minute. It had started a few weeks back, when she asked him to meet her, but he had refused, for it had been a busy time. 

She had backed down for some time, but once he did have an exceptional amount of free time, he started making up excuses. He didn’t want to see her. He had no idea what to do with her.  It was something unknown to him, and he feared the unknown.

He panicked when he was around her, so he made sure he would avoid her as much as possible. In the end, he had given in, when she’d told him that she only wanted to ask a favor and wouldn’t need more than five minutes.

So now he was waiting at their meeting spot, wondering what could possibly cause her to ask constantly about meeting up, the pleas becoming more forceful with every passing week.

She showed up five minutes after the agreed time, carrying a stuffed animal with her. The moment she reached him, she dumped the plush toy at him.

“What’s this?” He asked, examining what could be called a black rabbit. 

It had long ears, with an earring attached on the left one and a chubby body. On its forehead was a blue, round crystal. It had short legs, the hind legs being slightly longer. But it didn’t look like anything he had seen before.

“That’s Mokona Modoki. I want you to take care of him.” She answered, carefully observing his expression.

“Why?” He asked, his brow creasing at the absurdness of the favor.  She pouted, angry that he wouldn’t understand.

“I’m going on vacation and can’t take him with me. Mokona will feel lonely!” She explained, gesturing at the rabbit to emphasize her point. It didn’t help that the so called Mokona was smiling.

 He thought about it for a while.  The favor in itself was ridiculous, but not as bad as he expected.

“What does taking care of him mean?”  He inquired and he saw her eyes lighting up.

“Well, if you want to make Mokona comfortable then you could pet him and hug him and-” she started nonchalantly, but stopped when she saw the look on his face.  “Or you could just place him somewhere in your room and leave him there until I want him back.”

He thought about it for a while and then agreed, but only, because her look had been becoming more pleading the longer he thought about it. She didn’t even bother to hide the joy she felt when he nodded. She smiled at him briefly before leaving, a slight skip in her step.

Once he had gotten home with the weird toy, he contemplated on what he would do with it.At first he opted for placing it on his desk, but the furry animal seemed quite out of place there. He searched with his eyes for a spot that would suit, but in the end he had to admit that the furry animal didn't fit anywhere in his room.

At last, he decided to place it on his bed, for he felt that would seem the most natural.

A week passed until she finally contacted him again. The stuffed toy had stayed mostly untouched on his bed, although he had noted at one point that it made a good pillow. Not that he was going to tell her though.

So once again, he found himself pacing back and forth, with another promise that it would only take five minutes. When she finally arrived, she broke into a run.

“Mokona!” She yelled teary eyed and for a split second he was convinced she was going to hug him, but the toy was scooped out of his arms and she buried her face into it, inhaling deeply. 

'"I missed you so much!" She told the toy.

He wondered whether he felt disappointed or not, but she had already smiled and thanked him, before turning around and walking away. 

So he slid his hands into his pockets and started making his way home.

She, however, went to the bus stop and hugged it tightly the whole time,occasionally burying her face into Mokona. She didn’t have to wait long for five minutes later she already sat on the bus, Mokona still safely secured in her arms. She smiled slightly when a whisk of his scent reached her and she once again snuggled into the soft fabric of Mokona. She inhaled deeply once more and her smile grew into a grin.

She knew it was wrong, but honestly, when the idea had came to her, she simply couldn’t resist. 

It was selfish, but at the moment, she didn’t care.

It had been so long since she had done something for herself, something for her own happiness and now that she had, she was going to enjoy it. The pangs of guilt that popped up every now and then were easily drowned out by the scent she would never be able to describe without exaggerating.

Drowned out by the scent of her own selfishness.