49 Familial Bonds (10)

Life is a cruel thing and often plays horrible jokes on people. Iris could remember one beautiful spring day like it was yesterday. While waiting for class, she had sat with her friends and they discussed what people ate in the East. One of them mentioned worms, and all of them pretended to vomit. They laughed and joked how they'd rather starve than eat stuff like that.

And now she was presented with that exact choice…

Could she get a refund on that wish to change her diet? She really wanted to take back all those complaints…

Kyro frowned and brought the worm closer to her nose. "What is it? I was told mealworms are your favorite. Just try, I'm sure you'll like it."

Iris looked up at him with unshed tears in her eyes. She really wanted to tell him to eat it himself, but that probably wouldn't go over well. If this was what foxes ate, didn't it mean she needed to eat it to stay healthy?

'No way!' She whimpered. Her life couldn't end up this miserable, could it?

Not seeing a positive response, Kyro put away the worm and petted her head. He seemed a bit disappointed, but not extremely so. That had to be a good sign, right?

He reached into the plastic bag again. Iris watched his every move, hoping against hope that it was going to be something better. 'Get me some dry food and I'll worship you forever! I swear it!'

When he brought out the next thing, Iri's head dropped, and she closed her eyes, unable to decide between laughing and crying. It was a cricket he took out and placed before her.

"Just try it," Kyro urged her. "You'll like it."

'I'm human! How do you expect me to eat something like that?' Iris cried at him. She was really starting to regret her fox form. Why couldn't she have become a cat or a dog? Her cute factor wasn't worth this… Kittens and puppies were cute as well…

Kyro petted her head again and brought the cricket straight up to her nose. "Come on, try it. You need to eat this. It's not bitter medicine, don't wrinkle your nose at me like that."

When such gentle words didn't work, threats came. "If you don't eat, you'll soon get sick and I'll have to bring you to a vet. Do you want to be poked and prodded all over?"

The image of being carried to some random doctor-like person who would want to test her in various ways rose before Iris' eyes. She shuddered and sniffed the cricket. It couldn't taste that bad…

With a couple more minutes of inner pep talk, Iris managed to talk herself into putting it into her mouth. She closed her eyes and bit into it, preparing for the worst sensation ever.

To her surprise, it wasn't that bad. Or at least not as bad as she'd expected. The cricket didn't taste like a bug—whatever kind of taste that was—but instead reminded her of a nut. There was an earthly aftertaste to it, and there was a satisfying crunch when she bit the bug into two.

'I may yet live through this!'

She looked over at Kyro. 'Satisfied? I ate it!'

He grinned and brought out another cricket. "Told you, you were gonna like it, didn't I?"

Iris narrowed her eyes. 'I did not say that.' The fact that the taste was not vomit-inducing didn't mean she wanted to eat more of them. Couldn't he just be happy she ate one of them? Was is it too much to ask?

Clearly, yes. He brought another up to her face, and she involuntarily picked it up. Her chewing could have won a world record for its slowness, but Kyro didn't seem bothered. He sat by her side at ease, not in a hurry to go anywhere.

The bad premonition from earlier in the day resurfaced in Iris' heart. He was going to feed her a dozen more, wasn't he? And probably remove the cat food, too? This was him finally acting like a responsible owner and making his exotic pet 'comfortable'.

'Why do I feel worse then?'

She really wished he was a little less responsible. Cat food was such a great thing. There was no reason not to live on it for the rest of her life. 'Can I really not take back my complaints?'