131 Seven Days (6)

When it was time to sleep, Iris fell like the dead. No bad dreams came to her that night, and she woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and ready to face the day.

The sun was already up, so she got up and after a quick shower got ready. Kyro was still asleep, so she boiled herself some coffee and made a sandwich.

Lucy heard her moving about and left Kyro's bedroom to check out what was happening. "Hey," she greeted him. He instantly demanded some back rubs, and she acquiesced.

"Don't spoil him," Kyro said, standing by his bedroom's door with half-lidded eyes. He looked like he was about to fall asleep while standing.

She smiled at him. "Good morning. You want some coffee as well? Or plan to return to sleep?"

He glanced back at the bed he'd left moment's before, then shook his head with a pained expression. "It's past eleven already. Gale is going to show up sometime soon."

"Gale?" Her hands shook slightly. Someone else was going to know that she was a fox? It didn't sound okay. She didn't want others knowing. It was… dangerous. "Does-does he know?"

"Know? Yeah. We— I told him about it, needing a second opinion on whether I was going crazy."

"Right." She nodded, turning away to boil the water again. Having lived with him for a time, she had seen how he makes it, so there was no need to ask questions.

While doing the simple actions, she tried to push away the sudden fear. Gale was not a stranger, so there was no need to worry about his integrity. Kyro trusted him. Yet she couldn't help the worry that sprung in her heart.

There was not a single good thing about more people learning about her condition. It was a road that only led to a cliff.

Once Kyro finished his coffee and his mind started to work again, he quickly noticed her unease. It wasn't like she had tried hard to hide it.

"You don't need to mind him. He might play the fool, but he won't get in your way unless you cross him. Your real concern should be about him making moves on you."

"Moves?" Iris looked at him with disbelief. "Aren't I quite different from what he goes for? Neither rich, nor snobbish, I don't even have enough make-up for him to drown in."

Kyro snorted. "You're wrong there. He goes for anything that looks or even acts as a woman."

That left a lot of questions open, but at that moment, the doorbell rang. "It's probably him."

Iris stayed in the kitchen to wash the cups to occupy herself. She didn't really want to meet Gale. Although he sounded harmless, her secret was too volatile. What if the wrong people found out about it?

Her escape didn't last for long. Gale wasn't understanding and marched straight into the kitchen to take a look at her. "So you're the girl that has enchanted Kyro here? You work fast!"

"Huh?" There was no hello nor anything. He just came in and started spouting nonsense. "Can I kick him out already?" she asked, turning to face Kyro.

"I've been thinking the same," he said with a serious face.

"Hey, hey, I was just joking!" Gale instantly raised his hands in the air in mock surrender. One of them held a small flower she didn't recognize and a chocolate box. When he noticed her gaze, he quickly pulled his hands down and presented her with the items. "I brought them just for you. I knew that neanderthal wouldn't know how to treat you."

"I—" Iris wasn't sure whether she should accept, but he was looking at her with such an honest expression, she didn't have the heart to refuse him. "Thanks," she murmured, sniffing the flower. Its scent was light and airy. "I'll put it in the water."

Quickly, she made her way out and found a small vase she could put in her room. It took only seconds, but she wasted a bit more time, pretending she wasn't that familiar with the house.

When she finally returned to the living room, Kyro and Gale were already sitting on the opposite sides of the sofa, so she could only sit down in the middle. This was uncomfortable to the max, but she ignored her screaming inner side.

"Can you change into a fox now?" Gale asked instantly, looking at her like an eager child. He should be around the same age as Kyro, but he seemed much younger. His bright blonde hair and light blue eyes gave a fake impression of innocence and inability to do anything wrong.

Even if his hand had already snaked over her shoulder to bring her closer to him. "What do you say? Can you show it to me?" he said in a conspiratory voice. It was low and enchanting, but Iris couldn't feel anything besides wanting to kick him.

So she did just that. Her position didn't allow for any great damage, but he relaxed his hold over her shoulders, and she moved away to Kyro's side. They were so close their sides touched, but she didn't acknowledge it for the moment. Not while faced with that thing on the other side of the sofa.

Was this his natural reaction to women? Or was he testing her? She didn't care. If he tried touching her again, he was going to pay a heavy price. "You said I can trust this animal?" she asked Kyro without turning to look at him.

"Animal?" Gale asked, his face falling. "You were much kinder as a fox…"

Iris narrowed her eyes. "Really? You talking about that time I swindled off your cherries, or that time your beer ended up on the ground?"

The smile on Gale's face lost its glimmer, and she saw a shadow hiding beneath. This had been a test, for certain. She didn't know what kind, but it was unlikely that she had passed it.

"You two, enough." Kyro finally intervened. He moved Iris behind himself, taking up the middle seat. He turned to Gale. "I thought you wanted to meet her, not start a pointless feud." When Gale opened his mouth to say something, Kyro interrupted him. "If you say you weren't acting like a pig, I'll kick you out the door myself."

This deflated Gale a bit. He leaned back against the sofa and looked away. "Sorry, some shit happened. I'm not in the right mind."

"Again? Isn't that happening a bit too often lately? I heard you almost made the IT head quit yesterday. Don't damage the company with your outbursts."

'Company?' Iris looked at the back of Kyro's head. Wasn't he being a bit too cold? She wasn't that fond of Gale, but she didn't hate him, either. If they were friends, shouldn't they talk about it instead of tiptoeing around the problem?

"I know." Gale brushed the hair back from his eyes, looking at the empty TV screen. "It won't happen again." He stood up then. "I didn't think I was this pissed, but now that I think about it…"

His face twisted with some emotions he tried to suppress, none of them anything good. Kyro hadn't missed it, either, and he stood up as well. "Wanna hit the gym then?"

"You're not afraid to leave?" he asked while looking pointedly at Iris.

'You know I'm here, right?' But she didn't say anything. Their friendship was something that made no sense to her, so she didn't butt in. If they thought that avoiding problems was going to solve them, then good luck with that.

"She's lived here for a month. It's really a bit too late to bother about that."

They got ready to leave then, and Iris didn't stop them. With the house to herself, she could think about her choices peacefully, consider her next course of action.

The door closed and she stood up to go to the study, but then Gale opened the door again, poking his head in. "Hey, girl?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry about that. Treat that chocolate as my apology."

She smiled and waved a finger at him. "Won't get off so easily. You owe me a new one."

"So greedy!" he called out before closing the door behind himself, and she heard him complaining about her to Kyro.

'That guy… is weird,' she thought, staring at the door. 'Didn't he just act like he wanted to hit something?'