Lily (10)
Lily (10)
"Good morning," she murmured to the girl, her eyes falling shut once again.
"Why are your eyes so black?" Lily asked and poked her cheek to have her wake up again.
Iris sighed and accepted that sleep was over. At home, Kyro's alarm got in her way, and here there was a person to interrupt her. Sleeping in was starting to become a pleasure she didn't get to partake in.
"That's how they always were," she said, her mind not able to come up with anything more intellectual on the spot. "Did you sleep well?"
The girl nodded and escaped her grasp. She was still dressed, and Iris remembered what had happened in the evening. 'I should probably avoid any topics about her parents…'
While she was thinking about it, Lily ran out of the room. In a few seconds, she returned crestfallen. "No one is home," she said, her phone still in her hand.
"I'm here, aren't I?" Iris rose from the bed and straightened her clothes. They were all wrinkled, which reminded her of another time she had slept without changing.
Her mind drifted away, but Lily didn't let her be distracted for long. "What's this?" she asked, poking something on the bedstand by Iris' side.
Looking over, Iris noticed a phone. It was shiny new, and it unlocked without any password. On the main screen, a note was left. [I've added my number, so contact me if anything happens. I've adjusted the settings for you as much as I could guess, but you'll have to do the finishing touches yourself.]
There was no signature, but there was no need for one. Only one person could have done it, and Iris suddenly felt annoyed. Why was she lately sleeping every time Kyro did something nice? It wasn't fair! She still was belligerent about having missed the time he carried her…
"Is it yours?" Lily asked, standing a bit to the side.
"Ah, yeah," Iris agreed, about to put away the phone. But the moment she closed the note, she saw the background picture Kyro had chosen. "Hey, come! Take a look!" she called.
When the girl leaned over, Iris showed her the fennec in the picture. "Isn't it cute?" The fox was looking at the camera with its dark beady eyes. Its ears were erect and its lips were pulled up so that it looked like it was smiling.
This was a picture Kyro had taken in the beginning, when Gale had asked for verification, or something like that. Iris had a hard time remembering it well, the event having happened so long ago.
"Awww!" The girl squealed , taking Iris' phone to bring it closer to her face. "It's so cute! So cute!" She then turned her shining eyes at Iris. "Is it real?"
"Yep. Kyro ow… takes care of it. This little fox lives at his home." It was way weirder to speak about herself in third person than Iris had ever expected. She even almost said that evil 'owns' word!
Lily tapped the screen as if patting the fennec. "Can I see it sometime?"
"Uhm… Sure!" This was a bit more complicated than the girl probably expected, but Iris didn't think that it would be impossible to arrange something like that. She would feel incredibly awkward, but… she could live through it.
Though a sudden problem surfaced in her mind. An old joke, really. People sometimes mentioned how no one had seen them and batman in the same room, so… But for her, it was gonna become a very serious reality. Wouldn't people start wondering how Kyro's fox reappeared and disappeared depending on whether there was a girl with the SAME name as the fox by his side?
For a moment, Iris really regretted having insisted on having him call her by the same name as a fox. No one would normally believe in a human turning into a fox, but if too many coincidences piled up…
"Great!" The girl beamed at Iris and returned her phone. "Who is Kyro?"
The question made Iris pause. This little thing first got out a promise to see the fox and only then asked who was its caretaker? Wasn't she a bit too sly?
"He's the man that came with me. He drove the car yesterday, remember?"
Lily pondered it for a moment, then nodded. "I think so…"
At that moment, her stomach made a noise, and Iris led them into the kitchen. It was as empty as Kyro's, so Iris decided that they needed to have breakfast outside. She still had the card, which gave her freedom to do what she wanted, but she wasn't certain that they could leave the house…
There was also the problem of clothes and simple basics such as a hairbrush. There was nothing of the kind around. Lily only had the simple dress she wore, and that was it. Not a single other item she could use existed in this apartment.
After a moment's hesitation, Iris sent a message to Kyro, hoping that he wasn't busy. [We can leave the house, right? And can I use your card to get some stuff for Lily? She has nothing here, and I don't have Gale's number…]
As if Kyro had been holding his phone just waiting for her message, a reply came almost the same instant. [Yes, and use as much money as you want. I'll have Gale pay me back double for being this clueless. Make sure Lily is as comfortable as can be.]
'Don't think stupid stuff,' Iris ordered herself, hitting her forehead with the top of the phone. 'He wasn't waiting for your message. You just happened to send it when he checked the time.'
As she was busy reprimanding her inner self, the phone vibrated again. It was so unexpected that Iris almost dropped it in surprise. Scrambling to catch it, she caught it before it reached the ground and took a deep breath.
If she had broken it fifteen minutes after getting it, she wasn't certain if she would receive anything else ever again. There had to be a limit to someone's clumsiness.
Somewhat out of breath, she unlocked the phone and read the message. [Be careful. Write me every few hours so I'll know you're fine.]
Iris' heart skipped a beat as she reread the message twice more. It was simple to the extreme and had no emojis to give it tone, but there was no need for any of that. An unfamiliar warmth welled up in her stomach, and her cheeks brightened a little with color.
It was the first time Kyro had expressed something like care this clearly, and she couldn't help thinking about what would have happened had Gale not interrupted them yesterday.