12 Nobody's Pet (5)

Kyro looked down at the fox, wondering what had gotten into it. The fennec lay dazed for a moment, then glanced around and jumped up as if burned. It was about to escape, but Kyro grabbed it before it could jump down.

"What is it? One moment you jump into my hands and the next you're already rushing away like crazy?"

The fox turned to look at him with its adorable face. He had no clue what it thought about, but the next moment, the little thing stood up on its back legs with its front on his chest and begun cooing.

This was an unexpected turn of events. Was the fennec starting to trust him now? It sounded like it wanted something, but Kyro had no clue what it could be. He moved to stand up and maybe look for food or something, but the moment he did so, the fox became distressed.

Without a choice, Kyro sat back down. This seemed to calm the little creature, and it begun trying to climb him. Amused, Kyro assisted it, helping it reach his shoulder. The little fox was small enough that as long as Kyro sat straight and still, it could actually stand rather comfortably on its perch.

The new high ground seemed to bring a lot of joy to the fennec. It shifted its head left and right, ears twitching slightly as it listened as much as it looked. Then it tried using Kyro's ear to go up even higher.

It tickled. Kyro swiftly brought the fennec's legs down from his ear and put them on his shoulder. "That's as far as you can go," he said in a joking manner, and the fox answered him with an ear-piercing scream. It was super effective when produced right by the ear.

Wincing, Kyro petted the fennec. "Fine, fine, do whatever you want. Just no more screaming." As if having understood, the fennec this time released a much quieter noise, then begun climbing Kyro's ear again.

Kyro wasn't certain whether he should laugh or cry. This fox was just too brazen! It wanted to go up, and so it was going up. Its owner's wishes had little to no importance in its eyes.

'Owner..? It's not m—' His thoughts were soon interrupted by the little daredevil's slip. He caught it, then let it return to its perch.

While he was doing so, he caught his reflection in one of the monitors. This gave him an idea. He grabbed his phone and made a photo of himself with the fennec on his shoulder. The little pet even turned to the camera, tilting its head a bit so one could see its smile.

"Thanks," Kyro told it, promising to give a treat later. For now, he sent the photo to Gale.

Even thirty seconds didn't pass before there was a reply. [It's not working. I'm not jealous.] Ten seconds after that, there was another one. [You sure you won't let me take it if the owner doesn't show up?] And then another. [You have Lucy, after all. His majesty won't like competition. It'd be a shame if it killed something as cute as this.]

Kyro smiled at his friend's antics. Gale always loved showing off, be it new cars, house, designer shoes, or girlfriends. Even pets fell under this category. He wasn't a pompous ass about it, but he couldn't rest until he had everything better than everyone else. With such a personality, the only thing that kept him from the black hole of impoverishment was his large inheritance and the fact that he was actually a damn good businessman, with a keen sense for which deals with work out and which won't.

But this time, Kyro had something more special. Although fennecs weren't priced in hundred thousands, they were sufficiently rare that Gale couldn't produce one in half a day. Especially one that would still be a baby and as cute as this one.

At this moment, the little devil jumped off Kyro's shoulder. He grabbed at it, horrified, but the little fox hadn't been asking for death. It had aimed for the desk, and although it messed up its landing a bit, this resulted in nothing more than some ruffled fur and a flurry of papers.

The fennec swiftly returned to its feet and made its way to the phone Kyro had put down. As he watched with puzzlement, the little fox poked his phone a few times, then cooed at him. With uncertainty, he patted it, but the fennec slipped away from under his hand and poked the phone, then looked at him again.

"What do you want?" Kyro asked, a big question mark over his head. But right then, he remembered what he had done just moments ago. 'That photo? Does it want to be photographed?'

It was stretching it a bit too far, but Kyro recalled how the fennec had looked up and posed for him previously as well. Maybe it liked the phone being aimed at it? That sounded like some weird fetish…

Nonetheless, he picked up the phone and aimed it at the fox. It stayed still, looking straight at the camera lens. He clicked to take the photo, then was about to lower the phone, but the fennec rushed over his hands to reach for it. Amused, Kyro let it sniff it.

But that wasn't the fennec's plan. It actually managed to click on the right corner to enlarge the photo that had just been made. It then pulled its head a bit back, as if contemplating how it looked in the picture.

Kyro became very very still. He simply sat in his chair, his mind having frozen. This… this couldn't be real. He was seeing things, right? It was all just a giant coincidence? Yeah?

As he pondered over everything he knew about the world, his eyes remained on the fox. It was because of this that he noticed it still for a moment, then slowly turn its head back to stare at him. Upon meeting his gaze, it blinked a few times, and walked off his knees backwards.