41 Familial Bonds (2)

The black cat kept coming closer and closer. Iris watched its advance while swiftly going through her options. There were a couple of them, but one thing kept nagging at her. If she ran away from Lucifer now, wouldn't that mean Kyro would never let her move through the whole apartment when he was gone?

But how could she get on Lucifer's good side? That cat had disliked her from the very start, even swiping at her with its giant claws. Didn't that mean that she had little to no chance to get along with it?

No! She suddenly remembered something she'd once heard on some show about animals. She couldn't recall about which species the show had been, but the narrator had said that the reason young animals were so cute was to make their parents want to take care of them.

If that was true, then she just had to use her absolute cuteness to win the heart of the giant monster. How hard could it be?

Her chuckle at that was a touch brittle. The cat was almost upon her, towering over her small frame like a mountain. Why did it have to so big and scary-looking?

>_<

Her little body shivered as she lowered herself close to the bed. Her head touched the blanket, and her tail fell around her back legs. In this position, she looked up at the big cat with pleading eyes.

'Lucifer, I-I know you're a great and majestic cat, so please, please be kind to this little one. I just want to be able to leave the bedroom tomorrow. Please!'

The black-furred monster stopped in front of her. Iris swiftly lowered her eyes, and pushed herself even closer to the ground—she really wanted to get out of this room!

Her actions seemed to have puzzled the cat. Lucifer eyed her for a moment, then sniffed her as if trying to find out she was really who she was. As he did so, Iris didn't dare to move even a fraction of a millimeter. All her hopes were put in her puppy look and its power.

The next moment, Lucifer snorted and walked back to the middle of the bed where he lay down to rest. He closed his eyes and didn't bother with anything else.

'I did it!' Iris jumped in joy, or tried to anyway. Her limbs were a bit shaky after the confrontation with the black furball. She might have though that she could escape any time with her little life intact, but it was still scary to face off against a being that was literary six times her size.

As a human, she had never seen anything larger than a tiger up close, and although it was larger than her and much more deadly, at least it didn't tower over her. The sense of danger from it came from its lithe movements and the flexing of powerful muscles as it moved, not its size.

'It's all over, I'm fine,' Iris murmured, patting her heart. She had overcome the giant beast in Kyro's home, tricked it with her natural beauty and cute appearance. Now she only had to make the man aware of it.

Kyro finished his dinner and threw away the plastic utensils. The dishes today were extra spicy, so his throat burned, but that was the fun of it. He drank another glass of water and only then noticed that the fennec was missing.

He could faintly remember seeing it recoil after sniffing the plastic bag, and he hadn't seen it afterwards. It must have been chased away by the spicy smell—Lucy always vacated the room when it was spicy food day—but he should better check on it anyway. There were way too many situations the little fox could get itself into without someone watching over its shoulder.

There was also Lucy.

A bit worried now, Kyro hurried into the bedroom.

But he had been anxious for nothing. The little fox was snuggled against the much larger cat, using its fluffy tail for a pillow. The two of them were lying with eyes closed, sleeping peacefully. Neither seemed to be bothered by the fact that they had attacked each other not a day ago.

Kyro softly closed the door and returned to the living room. There was nothing good on TV, but he didn't want to disturb the serene atmosphere in the bedroom. The little ones deserved some peace as well.