7 New Home (7)

The man swiftly picked her up, and Iris not only didn't resist but jumped into his arms herself. Whatever her fears and inhibitions were, none of them were worth anything when faced with a real threat to her life. She hadn't thought about it before, but that giant cat could actually kill her with one well-aimed strike. Right now, she was just that small and fragile.

"Hey, hey, it's all right," the man whispered, holding her close to his heart. He said some more nonsense, but Iris ignored it, focusing solely on the beat of his heart. It was calm and steady, unlike her own frantic one, and it brought a sense of safety to her.

She listened with a single-minded focus, ignoring everything else around her. 'It's fine, fine. Everything's okay. Safe, I'm safe now. The cat's gone, it can't reach me here. I'm safe.'

By the end of her jagged rant, she thought she had calmed down, but the cat meowed loudly, and it sent her body shivering again. Iris just couldn't get that image out of her head - the one where she lay sprawled on the ground, dead. From a cat.

She burst into nervous laughter that sounded like terrified whines, and the man, who had started berating the cat, shooing it away, shifted his attention back to her. "Shh, shh, it's okay. It's okay. Lucy's gone, he won't do anything to you." Seeing that this wasn't working, the man then shifted gears. "Let's leave this room, okay? You must be incredibly stressed now, having to face the bath then Lucy. Shh, don't worry. It's all fine."

He kept talking, treating her like a baby, but in this particular situation, Iris didn't mind. His low voice was soothing, like a lullaby. It calmed her erratic heart, and her muscles relaxed. By the time they reached the next room, she stopped shivering.

Still, the moment he put her on the bed, she dived under the covers, away from anything that might attack her. Now that she had calmed down, she became aware of how careless she'd been. From now on, she'd have to always be weary of that giant furball, carefully monitoring where it moved.

And under the covers didn't seem like a good hiding place, even if it was warm and dark. She tensed up, wondering if the cat would pounce on her any moment now.

The door's closed. "You'll have to stay with me tonight. Lucy rules over the flat, and I don't want to lock him out of his kingdom for a guest, okay?"

Iris wasn't particularly enchanted by such a suggestion, but staying with the man was certainly more preferable than with that cat. At this thought, she couldn't help but laugh at herself. She'd come a point in life where she'd rather sleep in the same room with a strange man than a cat. A CAT.

She was happy the bed covers hid her so completely. It would've been better to just disappear, but since she hadn't yet learned how to do that, this was the second best thing. At least no one could see her.

While pondering over how far she'd fallen, drowsiness overtook her. The day had been a long one—what with her waking up as a human, finding herself a fox not four hours later, then wandering the streets alone, being manhandled by a kid, and then saved by a handsome stranger that brought her to his place. It all weighted down on her mind and body, and her breath soon evened out. She fell asleep, feeling safe and relaxed for the first time that day.