78 His Friends (11)

At home, Iris lay quiet in Kyro's hands. She herself wasn't certain how much of what just happened was an act and how much reality.

The moment the dog bounded over at her, all she could think of was to get away. The memory of that crazy creature that almost got to her in the park jumped out, and real terror took over her, especially when she found herself unable to run because of the leash.

Yet as she watched the giant creature being held back, and the way Kyro acted, she knew nothing was going to happen to her. It was all just an everyday meeting for them, not some life-threatening event. But that didn't mean she couldn't make it seem so.

"Are you feeling better?" Kyro asked once he sat down on the sofa with her in his hands.

'Still thinking about it,' she told him seriously, but since he didn't understand her words, it sounded like another whine.

Lucifer sauntered over and meowed at them. The cat was clearly saying something, but neither Kyro nor she had any idea what it was. This seemed to annoy the black monster, and he stood up on his hind legs to paw lightly at Iris.

She cried at the injustice, jumping out of Kyro's hands and running away a bit. 'What are you doing?! I thought we were friends!'

Friendship apparently didn't mean that they could share things. The moment she left Kyro's hands, Lucifer went onto his legs and lay down with a loud meow, giving Kyro permission to pet him. The man tugged at the cat's hair, annoying him a bit, but then gave in and did as he was instructed.

In the meantime, Iris sat on the side by herself, glaring over with a frozen expression. Was she really going to be ignored just like that? Didn't he see how frightened she was? What a horrible human, so easily distracted!

With a loud scream, she pounced on the cat, her claws extended. Lucifer leaned his head back so her attack landed mostly on Kyro's legs.

"Iris!" he shouted out, stopping playing with the cat to reach for her. She evaded his hand and went for the black-furred offender once more. If this was the fight for their roommate's attention, she wasn't going to give up so easily.

Her next attack landed her on the cat's back. Lucy growled at her and shifted on the side, throwing her off. However, that opened up his stomach. This was a chance she couldn't miss!

The claws were about to reach the seemingly unprotected area when two large hands caged Iris and lifted her up into the air. "That's enough!" Kyro's expression was quite serious, but it was aimed solely at Iris. Lucy was exempt from the admonition as if he hadn't done anything.

'Unfair! That's too damn unfair!' she screamed. 'He stole my spot, so of course I'm gonna fight for it! Hear my side out, too.'

"Are you going to calm down if I put you on the sofa?" 'Dream on.' "I'm hoping that was a yes. Now, I'm going to put you down and you're gonna sit like a well-behaved pet, all right?"

Before his hands could even fully release her, she squeezed through and dashed for the cat. Her teeth sunk into its tail, and an ear-piercing screech rang through the room. Iris thought she was going to go deaf, but she didn't release her grip. This was a fight for one's rights!

It didn't last long, though. Lucifer being four times her size easily threw her off with a whiff of his tail and added a good paw strike for extra emphasis. When she rolled away like a ball of feathers, he came over to sniff her and hissed at her in warning. Then, he left in indignation.

On the side, Kyro couldn't help shaking his head with muffled laughter. He would now have to get something special for Lucy so he wouldn't enter his sulking mode for a week or two. Embarrassment was hard to accept even for pets.

Yet the little fox didn't feel any pangs of conscience for what it had done. "You little rascal," he told it, picking it up from where it sat with a disgruntled expression. "You chased him away on purpose, didn't you?"

'Certainly,' Iris answered, satisfied with her work. It wasn't fun to be hit like that, but she had won. She actually won! From now on, that silly furball would have to fear her! 'Ha, who's the boss of this house now!'