260 Old Wounds (9)

When Jane was almost pulled off the foot high stage, Iris' heart beat an extra time. She wanted the other to suffer, but that seemed a bit too violent? And the questions... Iris felt embarrassed just hearing them.

But then, as if seeking an escape from the storm, Jane went on her tiptoes to look in their direction. There was no tears in the woman's eyes, but her expression seemed one of desperation, of needing something to hold onto.

Yet why did she choose for her saving grace to be another's man? Iris whined low in her throat, unhappy. It was like Jane simply refused to understand that she should look away, find someone else for herself.

"What is it?" Kyro asked in a soft voice, lowering his head and breaking eye contact with Jane. "Do you think this is not enough?"

Iris shook her head instantly. It was more than enough; she just didn't like that her opponent was so stubborn. Why would anyone ever cling to another person so much? Especially when they had been the one to end their relationship in the first place?

Somewhere deep within, Iris pitied Jane, even if she knew the other wouldn't appreciate such a sentiment.

When Jane was escorted backstage by the guards, the reporters slowly began pulling away while talking to their crew members who'd been filming the whole affair. Gale pointed to the door at that moment. "We should leave before they remember you," he said with a pointed look to Kyro.

They all filed into the underground parking lot and went to their separate cars. Lily seemed a bit downcast, but she didn't say anything about what had transpired. When they were driving out, Iris saw Gale speaking in the other car, and the girl was laughing, so the event couldn't have affected her too much.

Satisfied that all was fine, Iris curled up on the seat and fell asleep. She only woke up when Kyro had picked her up to bring her home. His parents were downstairs. Having heard of the news, they had been waiting for him to talk about it. There was no way they wouldn't have recognized the room in the pictures taken out of the video even if the quality wasn't HD.

Still, Kyro hadn't forgiven them for interfering with his life. Because of that, Iris knew the conversation would be pitifully short and succinct. Not wanting to waste time on it, she jumped out of Kyro's hold and ran upstairs. Might as well get the change done with until he came up there.

As expected, he was back in a couple minutes. "What did they say?" Iris asked with her back to the door when he started changing out of his suit.

"Nothing. They're worried how she got in, what happened to you."

The rustle of cloth continued behind Iris, and she steeled her will not to turn around. "Did you tell them?"

"Tell them what?" Kyro asked. Then, before Iris could answer, he sat down behind her and pull her into his embrace. With his mouth next to her ear, he whispered, "That my girlfriend is a fox?"

His breath fanned Iris' neck, and red ran up and down it. Disgruntled, she turned her head around to face him, then belatedly realized that he was way too close.

Kyro didn't hesitate to cover the space between their lips. His touch was gentle, probing, and Iris gave in without any resistance. Her cheeks went on fire, but she was starting to get used to that reaction. It seemed like it was simply inevitable.

His right hand moved to the back of her head, pulling her even closer, even if there was nowhere closer to be. Finding it amusing, she copied his actions and intertwined her hands in his hair.

Her exploration was cut short, however, by a ringing of a phone. They didn't separate for a moment, both hoping it would just go away, but it didn't. The call kept on ringing and ringing, without end.

"Answer it," Kyro said in the end, pulling away. He looked as unsatisfied as Iris felt, and she took comfort from that. She had found it funny how they got always interrupted at first, but by now it was starting to get annoying. Couldn't they have a peaceful moment together?

With a huff, she picked up another of Kyro's old phones. It was the one she'd put in the sim card, and so it displayed the caller as Elise.

'Elise? Did she change her mind?' With excitement growing in her, Iris quickly answered, before the other woman could change her mind. "Hey!"

"Hello. I'm not interrupting, right?" Elise asked in a soft voice.

Iris spared a glance back to Kyro. He had lied down on the bed and was looking at her with narrowed eyes. She quickly turned away. "No, of course you're not interrupting! Did you reconsider?"

"I still don't think it's a good idea… but I'd like to try. It won't hurt, right?" She tried to say it with a light tone, even laughing a bit, but it came out choppy and sounding so fake that even Iris winced. "Could you really make him read it?" Elise asked softly in the end.

"I swear to do all in my power to achieve it," Iris promised with seriousness. There were at least a dozen good reasons for her to do that, not the least of which was that she really wanted to help Kyro on something substantial instead of just being taken care of by him all the time.

There was a pause on the other side, then a deep intake of breath. "All right then, meet me tomorrow and I'll pass it along to you."

Outside… Human form… Iris no longer thought that was a good idea. Could she really do it without endangering herself?

"Iris? Is something the matter? If you're busy, it's fine, I'll just—"

"No, no! I'll meet you! Don't worry about it. I was just thinking if we had planned anything for the weekend, but no, there's nothing. So where do you want to meet?"

"Would Grimhilda's be okay?"

"Sure, around eleven is fine?"

"Yeah."

They said their goodbyes then, and Iris turned to glance back at Kyro. He was frowning at her with his arms crossed as he leaned against the headboard. "Have you went mad?" he asked.

"Uhm… No?" Iris laughed with nervousness, knowing he had good reason to be unhappy.

"May I ask who that was? And why do you have to risk your freedom for them?"

He was growing angrier with every word, and Iris quickly dropped the phone on the bedside table. She jumped on the bed and sat down on her knees by Kyro's side. "It's Elise." As she said that, inspiration struck her. "And you have no right to be angry," she declared righteously while putting her hands on his and looking him straight in the eyes. "I'm doing it for you after all!"

"For me?" Kyro's expression softened a little. It was more from surprise than his anger subsiding, but Iris still called it a victory in her head.

She nodded right away, bobbing her head up and down some five times. "Of course! Who needs Gale to make up with Elise if not you?"

He didn't look convinced, so Iris retrieved that last and final weapon of hers - the puppy-eyed stare. And as always, it was super-effective!

Kyro sighed, his gaze shifting away from her face. "You can't always go back to this… Don't you have any pride?"

Iris laughed and plopped down to lie by his side. "As long as it's not broken, don't fix it."