251 Test of Strength (23)

It was late in the evening when Kyro returned. His parents had already went to sleep, and Iris was also about to enter the dreamland. But the familiar footsteps in the corridor woke her up.

Once Kyro entered the room, he threw off his jacket and sat down on the bed. "Why are you a fox?" he asked while looking at her curled up form on the pillow.

'Huh?' Iris looked at him, uncertain from where that question had come. If she knew why she could turn into a fennec, she would have told him that months ago.

"I meant now," he elaborated upon noticing her head tilted in confusion. "There's some things to talk about."

There was some truth to that, but… Why wasn't he leaving the room! She rose to her feet and jumped off the bed, then pulled at his trouser leg in the direction of the door. Kyro didn't move at once, so she screamed at him for emphasis. She wasn't yet ready to change in front of him.

"Fine, fine, I'm moving," he muttered with a sigh, then left the room and closed the door behind himself.

Trusting him not to cheat, Iris quickly returned to human and put on a shirt, then covered herself with a bathrobe. It wasn't the most sexy of outfits, but that wasn't exactly what she was going for at the time.

"You can return," she said in a soft voice, somewhat afraid to be heard. His parents were downstairs, but they weren't bad on hearing.

Kyro gave her a once over, but didn't say anything. Instead, he went to lie down on the bed, eyes closed. For a time, the room was silent.

"Hello?" Iris asked, but he didn't react. His breathing was calm, like he was about to fall asleep. "Who said he wanted to talk…" she murmured, sitting down on the bed as well.

Nothing changed, so she crawled over to wave her hand above Kyro's face to see if he was really out that fast. At that moment, his eyes flew open, and his hand closed over hers. He pulled at it, and Iris sprawled over him, not having expected his sudden action.

"What are you doing…" Her words were soft as she tried to push herself away, but Kyro wasn't giving her a way out. His hold was loose and gentle, but strong; she had no way to leave.

His free hand came to touch her face, and she froze. Rising her eyes, she saw him staring straight at her. "Is it that unexpected that I want to see my girlfriend as a human and not a fox?"

"I-It's not that…" Iris stammered, blushing. "Y-your parents—"

"Might as well be on the other side of the world. They wouldn't hear no matter what we did. THEIR bedroom is soundproof."

The red on Iris' cheeks deepened, and she lowered her eyes. "Now you're just playing with me."

"I'm not. They wanted privacy from the many guests they have in the cold seasons, which works out well for us, don't you think?"

Iris considered turning into a fox just to hide the increasing red on her face. It was an option, but Kyro's words stopped her. She herself wouldn't know how she'd react if he would suddenly start staying in the form of a puppy or some other cute animal all day long.

The idea was interesting though, and she looked up at him, wondering what animal would fit him. There were many options, but the first thing that came to her mind was Lucifer. Like the demon cat, Kyro was stubborn and unwelcoming to strangers, but protective of those he cared about.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked, raising his hand to mess up her hair in an attempt to distract her. It worked.

"If you want to rest, then rest," she ordered him, grabbing his hand to put it down.

For a time, they just lay there, lost in their own thoughts. Iris held onto Kyro's arm, having forgotten to let go of it. Their breathing was calm and the room was warm, so she soon started to doze off. It was late in the day, and there had been plenty of excitement during it.

"Were you surprised when Jane came?" Kyro suddenly asked, and Iris roused herself to answer him.

His question was simple though. "Not really. She had come when you weren't home again and again, so for me it was almost expected."

"Again and again?" Kyro asked, his voice low. There was some strange emotion to it that Iris couldn't recognize.

She raised her head from his chest and looked into his eyes. Dark brown orbs stared back at her, but there was something hidden there.

"I'm sorry. I should have noticed earlier that she was crazy," Kyro said, his gaze shifting to the side. "You shouldn't have been put through this. It's my problem..."

Iris tilted her head, watching him. His problem? It was, kind of, but so what? If they were a couple, shouldn't they deal with crazy exes together? "It's fine," she said with a shrug and lowered herself again. "She's good at faking sanity."

"Faking sanity..."

There was still some lingering regret—that was the emotion she hadn't recognized before—so Iris decided to change the topic. It was something she should have mentioned some time ago, but there just never seemed to be a good time. To say that the current time was good would be a stretch, but it was no worse than any other.

And it would serve the purpose of distracting Kyro for certain.

"I need to talk to you about something important," she began. It was as cliche as it got and marked by hundreds of I'm-going-to-say-something-you-really-won't-like flags, but she couldn't come up with any better introduction to the topic.

"What is it?" Kyro's words were still light, but she could feel his hand around her tense.

Taking in a deep breath, she said, "I want to go back home. There are some things I need to finish there."

There was no doubt about it, Kyro's hands became like metal bindings. "What for? I'll solve the current situation in a bit, you don't need to leave."

"That's..." Iris sighed, wishing to look up at him, but not daring. "I wouldn't be leaving because of that. I just realized that I've left a lot of unfinished business. It was unfair of me to leave my aunt and friends without a word for months."

The hands around her relaxed, and she looked up in surprise.

"You just want to visit them, right?"

"Of course!"

Could there really be any other way? It wasn't like she had anywhere to return to there. It was just that she wanted to finish her dealings, like education and saying goodbye to her friends. And bring her own damn passport.

"You silly girl, I was worried there for a second." Kyro laughed and pulled her over for a long, passionate kiss. When she was flushed and out of breath, he pressed his forehead against hers and whispered, "Of course you can visit, you're just not allowed to stay there."