Fox Life

Kyro made a couple sandwiches and coffee. He could sense a judging stare from the fennec on the table, but that didn't mar his good mood. It was fun to once in a while return to the college days and do stupid things like staying up all night for no better reason than because they could.     

At first, he'd worried the noise and the unfamiliar presence in the house would disturb the fennec, but it seemed to have decided to tolerate them. The fox lay on the sofa between them for the majority of the evening, quiet and content. Not once did it start screaming because of something in the game or because they accidentally intruded on its space.     

He found it hard to believe such a perfect pet existed. Even Lucy—and he was used to them—had come over a couple times to complain about them shouting too much. He had also once jumped into Gale's lap and refused to move, which resulted in Gale losing a number of matches. Kyro had received quite an earful for training his pets to make his guests lose.     

Even if both Gale and he knew that was as far from the truth as it could be. If anyone tried to teach Lucy, they'd find themselves having failed before even starting. That cat saw himself as the king of this apartment, and nobody had the right to say anything to it.     

The moment Kyro put the plate with sandwiches on the table, Lucy strolled over and sniffed it. "Hey, that's not for you…"     

Lucy looked up and snorted, then walked away. He jumped on the backrest of the sofa and sprawled out on it.     

"As if he'd eat human food," Gale murmured, finally pushing himself up. He yawned as if he wanted to swallow the whole room and went to pet Lucy. "Only ambrosia is good enough for his majesty."     

"Don't rise his ego. He already eats better than me."     

There was a loud scream at that moment. Kyro looked around and noticed that he had forgotten the fox on the table. It stood on the edge, lightning in its eyes, and probably cursed him in any way it knew.     

"Sorry, sorry!" he shouted out and quickly went to bring it down. The fox swished its tail at him and left for the bedroom. Not glancing back even once.     

Gale snickered from the sofa, where he was now drinking his coffee, but didn't say anything. Kyro ignored him and turned on the TV before sitting down and starting to eat. They quickly finished the meal with business news in the background, and Gale got ready to leave.     

He had already opened the door when he stopped. "Hey, what's its name?"     

"Haven't thought of it yet. Didn't think I needed one at first, and then you barged in and got in the way." Kyro looked back into the room as he said that, but the fox was nowhere in sight. It must have hid itself in answer to him stranding it on the table.     

"Tell me one by the evening, or I'll be naming it myself. You said it's a female, right?"     

Kyro shot him a look. "You're not naming my pet."     

Gale saluted him and ran away. "I still have a picture I'll share online and people gonna ask. Better come up with that name quick!" And he was gone, down the staircase so as not to wait for the lift and out the house.     

"Holding a photo hostage, why did I ever let him take it yesterday…" Kyro murmured to himself, following his friend's figure as it jumped into a car and sped away.     

As childish as Gale's actions were, they had reminded Kyro that he needed to come up with a name. He couldn't just always refer to the fox as the 'fox', 'fennec', and 'it'. Instantly, he felt a headache coming. There was nothing as stressing as coming up with a pet's name.     

For Lucy, it had been an instant fit. He was charcoal black and had the mannerisms of the king of hell. The name just fit in an instant.     

But the fox… Kyro had no idea what to name it. His mind was as empty as a bucket with a hole in its bottom. No thoughts stayed up in it.     

The living room was empty besides Lucy, so Kyro went to the bedroom, but he couldn't find the fox there. He then checked the study, but there was no sign of it there, either.     

Fear suddenly blossomed in his heart. Could it have escaped while he was talking to Gale by the door? But no, they would have seen it. Right?     

He couldn't shake the bad feeling away, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions. There were a number of places the fox could have hidden in; he had to check them all before letting panic flourish. Maybe it wasn't the worst case scenario yet.     

As he went under the bed, the tables, looking into every corner the little fox could have squeezed in, he swore to give it a name the moment he found it. He wanted to call the fennec, have it show up if it was here, but he didn't know its name! It was a fucking horrible feeling, not knowing if he was even searching in the right place.     

What if the fox had rushed out while he was distracted by Gale and was getting farther away from him with every second that passed? He would be at fault if it ventured into a street and got hit by a car, or was caught by some kids that played it to death . Every possible scenario rose in front of his eyes, and not one of them had a happy ending.     

He had to find the little fox, and now!