Party (9)

The next morning, Iris woke up a little cold. It was such a strange sensation, she didn't even recognize it at first. She had fur and it was summer… Heat was what plagued her all the time, not cold. This had to be a dream…

But no matter how much time passed, she didn't get any warmer nor woke up. Annoyed, she moved slightly and brought her tail to cover her body.

Nothing changed, however; she was still slightly cold. It wasn't enough to force her to get up, but it didn't let her fall asleep, either. A forever passed like that, with her refusing to move, but in the end, she decided that this couldn't go on.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw a familiar male chest in front of her. Her heartbeat increased at that, but she forced herself to ignore it and pushed away to stand up.

Yet something stopped her. She glanced over and saw Kyro's hand tightly wrapped around her waist. "Oh, he fell asleep while holdin— Ahhhh!"

With a screech of a banshee, she pushed at Kyro with all her strength, using both hands and feet. What the hell was going on? Why did she have human hands and legs? Wasn't she a fox? This—

'Fuck, fuck, fuck, whadefuck is going?' She jumped out of bed and turned in a circle, looking at herself as if seeing her body for the first time. 'What happened? Why am I like this? I do—'

"Wh—" Kyro started, and she suddenly realized that she was totally naked.

Her eyes went wide, and she grabbed for his blanket while he was looking around with a muddled head. 'Right, he's a heavy sleeper, just need to leave now and think. Yes! Time to think, that's what I need!'

With a blanket wrapped around herself, she dashed out of the bedroom and straight into Gale. He caught her by the hands, and his sleepy gaze swiftly brightened up with amusement.

"Kyro, you bastard! You didn't let me have a girl but brought one for yourself?" he shouted out, glancing over her shoulder into the bedroom while holding tightly onto her.

"I… I did no…" Kyro's voice trailed off as he stood up and came closer to the door. As sleepy as he was, he could see that she was draped only in his blanket, the one he had on him not a minute ago. "I don't think I was that drunk…" he muttered, rubbing his eyes.

Gale burst out laughing, but Iris didn't share his merriment. This was a catastrophe! What was she going to do now? How the hell could she explain to them that she was the fox? 'Arghh, I'm so dead, so freaking dead.'

She tried to escape Gale's grasp, but his arms were much stronger than her flimsy limbs. Suddenly, she had a sensation of facing Lucifer the first time. Was it her fate to always be faced with opponents that were so much stronger than her that even talking about a fight would be seen as a joke?

"Girl, don't struggle so much or your blanket may fall." Iris glared at Gale, but he just smiled and looked up at Kyro. "When did you get her in? Don't tell me she was hiding the whole evening?"

Once Iris accepted that she couldn't break free with force, she calmed down a little and looked up at Kyro. Was he going to shout at her? Throw her out as she was, wrapped in the blanket, since none of her clothes could be found?

Even as she worried, she couldn't help but join Gale who was chuckling at Kyro's reaction. The expression of being at a total loss was such a unique sight on him. His eyes were wide, brows furrowed, and he kept opening his mouth as if to say something, but no words came out. He was even shaking his head slightly.

"Girl, what did you do to my friend?" Gale asked in the end, smiling at her amicably. Unlike Kyro, he found this scene amusing instead of shocking, since he didn't know all the details.

She looked over at him, wondering how much she could say. No, it was how much she should say without ending up sounding like a loony. Her mind was empty of good ideas, however, so she just said something stupid.

"I cast a spell on him!"

Gale shook his head at her, then turned to Kyro, then back at her. "Maybe there's more truth to it than I thought at first glance," he murmured to himself. "By the way, girl, you don't look like a kid, but you sound…"

And here it was again. The moment she opened her mouth, everyone lost sight of her appearance and just heard the young girl's voice. Was he already thinking that she was a minor? An under-aged girl looking for a thrill of the adult world?

Worst of all, she didn't even have her id card to prove it otherwise.

Gale's secretive glance at Kyro didn't escape her eyes, and she stomped on Gale's leg. "Let me go," she ordered him, forcing her voice as low as it got. It wasn't threatening in the least, but it managed to get her point across.

For a moment, she thought he was going to release her, but then he said, "One more thing before you fly away, little bird, what's your name?"

Her lips stretched into a wide smile as she looked Kyro's way. "Iris," she said lightly, and freed herself from Gale's suddenly limp hands. As she escaped into the bathroom, she could see the gaze he leveled at Kyro. It was filled with amazement tainted by horror and disbelief.

"I… hope my imagination is just a bit too wild here, Kyro."