King of the Pigs

 Camille scratched her head, trying to make sense of her day.

 The cage which Lyris had been trapped in, had disappeared from Neil's office.

 Considering how dusty his office was, she expected there would at least be tracks left on the floor from where the cage rolled out of, but nothing.

 There was no trace of it at all, and even funnier, Neil seemed to have no recollection of having captured Lyris at all.

 Camille had gone to work earlier that morning, hesitant, and ready to face Neil's wrath, or possibly even his concern.

 Of course, who in their right mind would be pleased to find that the wild animal they'd spent so long trying to capture, had disappeared?

 What about, the fact that when he went in that morning, both the lion and his fiancé were gone without a trace?

 Wouldn't that be cause for worry?

 Yet, Neil seemed completely unphased, acting as he always did, as if nothing had ever happened.

 When he scolded her, as he did every other day, she expected him to push or shove her, perhaps strike her again, but he didn't.

 In fact, he even questioned why she cowered at his yelling.

 "Why are you acting like I'm about to hit you? What's wrong with you today?" he had said.

 Throughout the day, she had begun to feel like it had all been a crazy dream.

 'Maybe it's my subconscious telling me that I really shouldn't marry Neil. Maybe my gut feeling is that he's dangerous and I'm better off with someone else, that my person is out there somewhere waiting.'

 She stuck her key in her door and opened it up with a sigh, ready to toss her purse over on the couch, but what she was met with was a shock.

 Laying on the couch, shoveling ice cream into his mouth, was Lyris.

 Camille scanned her apartment, her mouth agape as she took in the complete disarray.

 On her couch, lay crumbs of various snacks, their wrappers littered across the floor and atop her coffee table.

 Cans of sodas, teas and coffees, were crushed and thrown at the trash can against the wall behind the couch, most of them not making it in.

 Cups of mystery drinks laid around the coffee table, some knocked over and spilt onto the surface and the rug below.

 Books were strewn about, some open, others tossed aside.

 Horrified, she walked into the kitchen to see an even bigger mess.

 It was as if he had taken all of the food out from her fridge and smudged it all over the counter tops.

 Dirty pots and pans filled the sink and the stove-top with food dripping down their sides.

 Flour, egg, and an amalgamation of other ingredients covered the floor and handles of her fridge and cabinets.

 "Lyris! What did you do?! This place is a complete mess! Did you have a party in here or something?!"

 She placed her purse on one of the kitchen stools – which had been spared from the turmoil the rest of her apartment faced.

 Camille turned her attention to the cans that were in the trash can and began picking them up, "These go in the recycle bin, not the trash!"

 She tossed them in the correct bin and sifted through the trash to relocate them to their proper place. In doing so, her hands were met with multiple, unidentified, sticky liquids.

 "Yuck!" She stifled a gag and ran to the bathroom, the kitchen sink piled too high for her to wash her hands there.

 Upon opening the bathroom, she let out an anxious scream.

 It was just as awful as the kitchen!

 Soap containers were left open and laid on their sides, their contents leaking out into her bathtub and onto the carpet below, thousands of tissues were jumbled across the floor and overflowing from the dustbin.

 Wet towels had been thrown all over the place, but at least there was room in the sink.

 She promptly washed her hands as Lyris appeared in the doorway, leaning against the frame with a spoon in his mouth, and a sheet tied around his waist.

 "What's all the fuss about? It's fine, you don't have to worry about it. All of this stuff with just biodegrade anyways."

 He sounded so calm and matter of fact.

 Camille whipped her head around at him and motioned to her bathroom.

 "Water damage and gunk is not okay! Look at this place! It's a complete mess! Not to mention the kitchen! Oh! Don't get me started on the kitchen!"

 Camille pushed past him and waved her finger in the air, making her way to the kitchen.

 Lyris followed after her like a puppy, although confusion filled his face.

 "Look at this kitchen," she pointed to the sink and all of the food everywhere, "This is disgusting! The food will rot and bring ants! These containers aren't going to biodegrade because they aren't of that kind of material. Besides, I have to use them again and I can't use them if they're dirty! Bacteria is going to flourish on these and it'll get us sick!"

 Lyris rolled his eyes, 'I thought she said not to get her started on the kitchen, but she just started on her own anyways.'

 Taking the spoon of his mouth, he took a deep breath, his confusion only growing.

 "Bacteria is good for you. Why are you mortals so weak? It's like the lightest breeze could completely destroy you. Build up an immunity."

 Camille stared at him with a disgusted look on her face.

 'King of the animals? More like the King of the Pigs if you ask me.'

 "What about you? Aren't angels supposed to be pure and virtuous? Yet you can't even clean up on your own and just toss everything around without putting it away?"

 Lyris shrugged, "Out in nature, whatever I ate, I just left, then other animals would come pick at it and dispose of what was left. No problem. That's how your world works. It's good if the ants come. They'll clean it up for you. Why do you say it won't biodegrade? Isn't it all natural? Even buildings will come to ruin if you leave them for long enough. Nature will take it back eventually."

 Camille got to work throwing the trash on the counters away into the bin, and piling up the food containers, plates, as well as the pots and pans to create room to begin cleaning.

 She then grabbed a rag from one of the drawers and managed to squeeze her hand into the mess to wet it and put soap on it.

 Shaking her head, she began to scrub the counters, "That's great for being out in nature, but we aren't in nature here. This is my apartment, in the city! I don't want ants in my apartment, crawling all over everything. They'll get in my food and everything! They're such an annoyance and a hassle to get rid of."

 Lyris stared at her with a disappointed look, "My father didn't create you humans to live like this, inside of a box, killing what else he created for no reason."

 Camille snapped her head around and glared at him, "Well, then, he should've made us so we couldn't create boxes like this, and so we couldn't be irritated by things like ants. Instead, he made us so we could create and grow, so that we would be intelligent. I don't want to live out in nature without a roof over my head!"

 Lyris scoffed, "No, he made you with equal opportunity to everyone else. You developed these habits on...your own….."

 His eyes widened as he spoke, surprising even himself. He turned around, away from Camille, and rubbed his chin.

 It was the same thing his father had said to him.

 'I sound just like him. Is this what he meant?'

 "Whatever! The point is, this is how we live now! If you want to keep living here, you're going to have to keep this place clean. I don't want you here if I'm going to come home to my apartment looking like a warzone. Well? What are you waiting for? Come help!"

 Lyris scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Now having heard his father's words coming out of his mouth, he felt torn.

 He was beginning to understand how his father felt, but, he also now related more to Camille.

 She couldn't help it if this was how she was as a person, right? That's how he felt about his own situation anyways.

 Without any more complaints, Lyris joined Camille in cleaning the apartment.

 Having never had to clean before, Camille ended up having to show him how to do the work and teach him the ins and outs of cleaning.

 Before long, they were working in harmony with each other, luckily Lyris was a fast learner.

 Camille and Lyris flopped onto the couch, exhausted and starved, with most of the apartment clean.

 "We'll have to finish tomorrow, but you did a good job helping. Thank you."

 "You're thanking me after you forced me to help?"

 Camille laughed and nodded, "Yeah, because in the end you did. Since you cleaned out the fridge, though…..how about we order a pizza?"