Fox Life

If someone had told Kyro a year ago that he'd be unable to rest because of his worry for his girlfriend who was a fennec fox, he'd have called that person an idiot. And a horrible judge of character, since he didn't plan to get any girlfriend.     

And yet there he was, sitting in the plane and unable to pull his eyes away from the swiftly disappearing land. Would Iris really be all right? Despite what Gale had said, it seemed like a mistake to leave her by herself.     

Wasn't she too easy-going and unmindful of her surroundings to survive on her own? Those qualities didn't matter when he was around, but now… he couldn't help worrying about her safety.     

To distract himself, he opened his laptop and started replying to the emails. The few moments he'd stolen while Iris was with her friends or sleeping at night weren't close to enough for him to do everything that needed to be done. Even if he'd tried to take care of all he could while at home, it was impossible to take a worry-free holiday when Dioscuri was on the precipice of falling or raising back up.     

He understood Gale's insistence to call him back, but he didn't appreciate it. But since he was already flying back, he might as well get a few things done. Some of their plans could be pulled off earlier so he wouldn't be called right back again when he left once more.     

While looking through the documents, he changed a few things, updating them. He also pulled out some of their old plans, something they had discussed doing in a years' time. If Greesen wanted to get in his way, he wasn't going to be kind anymore.     

With a single-minded determination, he read through all the information Gale had sent him and acclimated it with what he already knew. His eyes didn't miss the part where it stated that the company originated in UK, but he just decided to punch Gale when he returned and continued to read on.     

Greesen sounded as clean as it could get. They had no scandals, no crazy heirs, almost no publicity at all. The company was renowned for never missing delivery dates or providing lower quality product, so it was a stand out among many others.     

And a facade for something. No one could be that clean without having something to hide. There didn't seem to be space for even normal human error.     

"I hope Gale has something good on them, otherwise, he better say goodbye to his life," Kyro muttered. He couldn't do much while in the plane, and digging up information had never been his strength. He was much better at coming up with ways to use it.     

When the flight landed, it was late afternoon. Even though Kyro hadn't slept a wink, he went straight to the company. Eyes followed him through the whole top floor, making it clear that there was some sort of rumor going around.     

Too tired to bother with it, he simply called Frank to give him an update on how the partnership with the game was going. It showed up that everything was fine so far, with most players being excited to receive their gifts. As always, there were a couple naysayers, but they were in the minority.     

"We've already booked the tickets for all those who want to come," Frank said. "The players should be arriving in a months time."     

Kyro nodded and let him go. For the next four hours he worked on his ideas, then finally decided to go home around nine. It was still early, but after the long flight he could barely stay on his feet.     

When he went to his parents' house, they were ecstatic to see him, though a bit surprised he was alone. What had happened to his pet fox?     

He threw some lie about it being sick and needing to stay at the vet, then rushed upstairs. All his tiredness evaporated when he thought about Lucy and how he'd been suffering.     

When Kyro entered his room, there was no reaction at first, but then his eyes met those of Lucy. The cat watched him for a second, then meowed as loud as he could and jumped straight at him. Kyro had to fall on one knee to catch him before he hit the ground.     

"You crazy old man," Kyro muttered, hugging the cat's fragile body which had sunk its claws into his clothes. They'd be ruined, but he didn't care one bit. "I'm here, I'm here."     

Lucy meowed again and again, his voice much louder than ever before. He was looking at Kyro with his one good eye, which was full of blame, and it tore at Kyro's heart. He'd never seen Lucy acting in such a way.     

The cat didn't agree to let go of him no matter what. When mom asked Kyro to go downstairs to grab a bite, he had to carry Lucy in his arms. The old devil who didn't like to cuddle and be carried around had changed his behavior by one hundred eighty degrees.     

He clung to Kyro like his life depended on it, meowing as if he was being tortured the moment anyone tried to pull him away. When Kyro went to the bathroom, the whole house echoed with Lucy's screams, and he even started running around the floor in a frantic search.     

When Kyro came out, he was assaulted by a flying ball of black fur that rammed into his leg, staggering him. Lucy clawed at his trousers, tearing them in his attempt to climb up into Kyro's hands.     

"I wasn't gone for that long," Kyro murmured, picking up Lucy. The cat calmed down in his hold, ending his concert.     

But even as Kyro spoke those words, he knew that he wouldn't be able to leave Lucy again. It was his fault for always relying on the cat to keep him company that resulted in it being unable to accept him going away for longer than a couple days.     

And Lucy was old. Not on the verge of passing away old, but he was no longer the dashing gentleman of his youth. He shouldn't be put through a lot of stress or his little heart might not be able to take it.     

"When I go pick her up, I'll take you with me, okay?" he promised Lucy. The cat looked up at him, having heard that he'd made some noise, and Kyro could almost hear him saying 'Finally you've got it. You can't do anything without me'. Lucy then lowered his head and fell asleep.