While he was trying to sleep, Percival's phone vibrated from a text message. A little peeved that someone texted him after midnight, but still knowing he ought to check what it was about, he groped around for his phone and grabbed it off the edge of the bed where it was charging. Hopefully he didn't have to leave the apartment this late...
Half-asleep, he looked at the notification, then rolled his eyes before even reading the actual text. It was from one of those six digit numbers for spam promotions or whatever. If it was a real promotion, he wanted to opt out of spam for it, and if it was spam, he wanted to block the number.
He unlocked his phone and looked at the message, keyboard ready to type if he had to. Yet, as he actually read the message, he had to do a double take. Was he reading this right?
The Kitsune Mommy Bathhouse is starting a raffle event right now! No purchase or prior visit necessary. Reply to this text message with "Mommy" for a 30% off coupon and a chance to win unlimited free visits! Our offer ends in 24 hours! Don't miss this opportunity for pleasure, lasting cleanliness, relaxation, and fluffy tails! Kitsune-owned, Kitsune-operated, we'll give you a magical experience!
Sitting upright now, he re-read it. Yep. It still said the words "Kitsune Mommy Bathhouse". He actually got spam that said "Kitsune Mommy Bathhouse." This was either the weirdest marketing stunt ever or just a prank.
Thinking back to that youtube video about a guy who trolled a scammer via email, he wondered what would happen if he sent a reply. Why not? It could be fun.
He sent a reply just saying "Mommy," as requested.
Unsure if anything would happen, he waited a moment, and to his surprise, he got a reply.
Thank you so much for entering! Have a 30% off coupon code: ARA30, usable once per customer. We'll text you if you get a prize. See you soon ❤️
Still having no idea what this scam text was meant to accomplish or what four dimensional chess moves they were trying to pull by naming their fake company "Kitsune Mommy Bathhouse", he remained upright and awake for a few more minutes. Then, with no obvious answers and no more texts, he finally tried to go back to sleep. It was a little hard to sleep and relax given how stressful the week had been already, but he eventually managed it.
He barely thought about the text a week later, and then a week after that, it was totally buried in his memories.
~~~~~ ~~~~~
Being stuck in the rain for an hour was bad enough, then falling in a creek was worse, and then sliding down a slippery hill into a muddy trench twice and getting it all in his hair and under every one of his clothes was even worse. At least he wasn't also hot: the chilly rain and mud made sure of that.
At seven in the afternoon, he finally managed to drive home from his first hiking trip, miserable and caked in mud and dirt. Getting home brought him no relief whatsoever; every messy consequence of the trip covered him, his clothes, and everything he brought with him, and he didn't even know if he could get it all out. Having been worn down, all the inevitable cleaning work seemed impossible.
As he got out of his car, he prayed that the half-dried mud-shaped imprint of himself in the driver's seat wouldn't be too hard to clean up later. It felt like it would take hours, a figure invented solely by his tired mind.
On his way into the brick apartment building, at least having wiped his shoes off outside the door, he prayed none of his neighbors would see him. And as he went up the carpeted stairs, he got a goddamn text. Not now. He pulled out his phone, which was as dirty as his hands yet inexplicably working fine, and looked at the message. It was from... the bathhouse people again?
Great news! You won! And we delivered both the news and your lifetime pass a day early on account of your recent misfortune; we take the bath part of Kitsune Mommy Bathhouse seriously. The pass is in your bathroom closet on top of the towels, along with instructions for use.
Recent misfortune? What? He stared at the message. There was no way they could have known about all this. And why would they say something so specific and easy to check? Of course it wasn't there. Unless they broke in or something, but mass spam text senders never went to everyone's homes to do that.
He finally made it to his apartment. He was stressed, miserable, and tired, and the safety and calm of being home couldn't make its way through his muddy armor. Stumbling into his coldly lit, at least mildly spacious bathroom with his muddy clothes and backpack and body, the first thing he did was look into the mirror above the sink and see how bad the damage was.
His blue shirt and green cargo shorts were mostly brown now, but he knew that already. Looking at his arms under the bright white light, they looked even worse than they did out in the rain and in the car. And when he peeked under his shirt, yep, his chest was muddy too. Then he dared to look up at his face, which wasn't too bad since he tried wiping it off earlier, but also his fairly long hair was full of half-dried mud... and a leaf was sticking out of the top of his head. He pulled it out, crushed it, and threw the soggy leaf into the toilet while making a noise halfway between despair and anger.
After he calmed down, he decided to wash his hands, keeping himself from getting mud all over the bathroom and the towel he planned on taking out of the closet. He emptied his pockets to prepare to wash his clothes later, then, as he opened the door, he saw a glimmering silver thing on the middle shelf, on top of the towels. That was new. It was... some kind of silver rectangular talisman with some stuff on it? And next to it was a piece of paper.
He didn't pick them up to get a better look; instead, he hurriedly picked up his phone again and reread the text. Yep. On top of his towels, bathroom closet. They actually put something in his bathroom. Why? How? Who were these people? He put his phone back and picked up the silver talisman, which had a hole through which a loop of string was attached; the talisman was thin and light, but still made of metal. The front had a stylized gold logo of a kitsune engraved into it, and the rear side was blank. He picked up the paper that was next to it, still holding the talisman thing. It was an instruction sheet printed on some fancy Kitsune Mommy Bathhouse themed letterhead.
Congratulations on winning a lifetime pass to the Kitsune Mommy Bathhouse! In case you've never visited, we offer relaxing one on one bath, massage, relaxation, and adult pleasure services performed by us, a group of friendly kitsune who want to make sure everyone is relaxed and happy. All profits go to charity. We're only just getting the hang of marketing, but hopefully we get more visitors, including you now that you have this pass. For more information on our services, type in the link below.
Whether you're just looking for a calm time or you just came out of a mudslide and you desperately need a bath, we'll take good care of you and make you feel so good. Yes! You can come here fresh out of a mudslide; we're not like the usual places that ask you to shower before you go.
To use your magical pass, simply hang it on any door, whether on a hook, nail, or even just the doorknob. Step through and you'll be transported to our bathhouse, where one of us will take good care of you. Of course, if you don't want us to get too frisky, just say so, and we'll just make you deeply clean and relaxed.
There was a website link on the piece of paper, but it slipped out of his mind as he thought about the entire rest of the document. Magic talismans, sweepstakes spams, kitsune mommies, and weird espionage... It was a lot to deal with.
He put the instructions on the countertop by the sink and looked at his talisman or pass or whatever. He could easily check if it worked. If it did, that would be great, but what were the odds of that?