20 Her Name (5)

The next morning, Iris found herself squashed between the backrest and Kyro's head. His hair smelled nice, but that didn't change the fact that she was being squashed. Not painfully yet, but who knew how long that would last.

Carefully, she extracted herself without waking him up and looked over the sofa. To her left, Gale lay on the corner piece with a beer can by his head and a controller in his hand. There was a slight smile on his face as he slept.

To her right, Kyro lay with Lucifer in his arms. The cat opened its eyes upon seeing Iris awake but did not move. It was obvious that he didn't want to wake Kyro.

'Cute,' Iris thought and didn't bother the black furball. There will be plenty of time for that later. She instead went to the bedroom and ate the cat food left there yesterday. It wasn't the tastiest of food, so she pretended it was cereal.

After drinking a bit of water, a sight by one wall caught her eye. Sun had risen in the east, and the floor-to-ceiling window was in that direction. She ventured over, admiring the beauty of the nature outside.

Sunlight fell on the water and trees, painting everything a bright yellow. A couple early risers were making laps with their dogs, while three women stood on a sunny spot watching their pets frolicking about.

Without having anything better to do, Iris stayed here till there was noise from the other room. Once she went to check it out, she saw two young, handsome men in their sleepy, unwashed, played-till-morning-last-night appearances. It was both amusing and eye-opening. Their disheveled hair and clothes made for a very good view, but the smell of sweat and alcohol was a real deterrent.

While Iris was debating whether that equaled a positive or negative result, Kyro picked her up and kissed her nose. "Good morning, beauty. Hope we didn't bother you too much last night. I'll get you something nice for being so understanding."

"Kyro, you're talking to a fox," came a voice from the sofa, but Iris was a bit too preoccupied to pay attention to it.

This… this… Wasn't this a kiss?! Why did he—!

Her mind was a mess. She was well aware that she was still a fox, but… but… but! She never gave him freedom to kiss her as he wished! That was never part of their agreement.

"I know, and I think I just stunned it," Kyro said with a laugh.

'Don't laugh at me!' she shouted back, wriggling about to escape his hold. But this time, he wasn't letting her go just like that. 'Hey, release me this instant!'

Ignoring her complaints, he lifted her back up so they were eye level. "What's wrong?" he asked, looking so innocent and concerned Iris wanted to kick him. 'Don't act like the wronged party here! I'm the victim, me!'

"Why are you torturing your fox this early in the morning?" Gale asked, still from the sofa. "Can't you keep quiet."

Kyro sighed and lowered Iris down, though he didn't let her go. "It's past midday. Don't you have stuff to do before tomorrow."

"Shit."

The single word was all the answer Kyro got. His friend didn't move after that. "Let's go make him some breakfast, he'll get out faster then."

"I heard that!"

No one bothered with him though. When they entered the kitchen, Kyro deposited Iris on the table, and she looked down with an ugly expression. Was he keeping her prisoner now? Jumping from this height would be pure suicide for her!

Annoyed, she chose the corner farthest from him and curled up in a ball there. At least she was a fox, so her bushy tail could hide her face to perfection. And now, she could blush to her content.

What had he been thinking, kissing her like that? No, wait, that didn't count as kissing. Yes! She had the right of it now! It was just a peck on the cheek, unexpected, but not lethal.

Iris released a breath she had been holding. Yes, everything made sense now. It was just a peck on the cheek, something friends did. He was acting a bit unsavory, doing it without asking her permission, but what else could be expected from an overeager youth. She could forgive him this once.

But just this once!