Fox Life

When Iris woke up in a few hours, she felt both refreshed and embarrassed. Kyro just came back for her, and what did she do? She actually fell asleep! How could anyone be this careless?     

'You're an embarrassment to all girlfriends,' Iris told herself, then shook her head and tried to raise from the bed.     

To her surprise, there was a weight on her legs, and she looked over to see Lucy napping there. "I missed you," she told him with a smile and pulled him into a hug. Lucy gave her a dead fish stare, but didn't struggle.     

Iris could feel his swift heartbeat under her fingers and smiled at the big fluff ball. He had suffered a lot because of her, but it didn't seem like he held it against her. All that bothered him was that she had woken him up from his nap.     

"Sorry, sorry," she said and let him go. She then got out of bed and walked into the other room.     

Kyro was sitting on the sofa with his laptop. He was so concentrated on typing something that he didn't even notice when she came close.     

Mischievousness bloomed in Iris' heart, and she sneaked behind him. There was no reaction from Kyro, so she leaned over and blew warm air against his ear. "Busy?" she asked in a velvety voice.     

Kyro jumped like he'd been hit from behind and whirled around in shock. On some base instinct, he even shut his laptop closed.     

It was too much, and Iris fell back laughing. Kyro's cheeks grew a little pink upon noticing her, and her laughter grew even louder.     

"My little fox seems to have learned some bad habits while I was away," Kyro murmured, his lips forming into a mischievous grin.     

Alarm bells rang in Iris' head, but she was a little too close to escape. Kyro jumped over the back of the sofa and trapped her against the wall. "Is it that fun teasing me?" he asked in a low voice, his eyes gleaming.     

It was probably a bad idea, but Iris nodded. Her cheeks grew warm at the thought of what she planned to do next, but she still took a step closer and wrapped her hands around his neck to pull his head down.     

She felt clumsy and inadequate all over again. Luckily, Kyro didn't give her time to think about it. His hands moved to her hair and pulled her closer so their lips could finally touch. Both of them were hungry for each other, and their movements were rushed, lacking control.     

But a low trill interrupted them. Breathing heavily, they stopped, looked at each other, then to the side from where the noise had come. A little weasel stood on its back legs on the back of the sofa and was watching them with interest.     

If death of mortification was possible, Iris would have certainly traversed to the world of the dead at that moment. She hid her flushed face against Kyro's chest, then suddenly pushed him away, slapping his wandering hands.     

"I totally forgot about her," she murmured, unable to believe that a little girl had just seen them. Mila was too small to understand what they were doing, but…     

Kyro chuckled, and Iris glared at him. He was the worst.     

She conveniently chose to ignore the fact she had been the one to start it.     

"Mila, are you hungry? It seems like it's already afternoon."     

The girl spoke something in low whistles, but Iris couldn't understand anything, and for the first time she was glad for it. The task of explaining something like that to a three year old child sounded like too daunting a task.     

"Let's go outside," Kyro suggested, coming over. He placed a hand on Iris' shoulder, and it took her a lot of effort not to shake it off. Seeing it, he smiled wider.     

"Isn't it safer to just stay inside? We can simply have the hotel staff bring something over."     

Kyro inclined his head in agreement to the truth of her statement, but he still disagreed with it being the best option. "You need a break, and nobody knows that I'm here, so let's go have a picnic. I'm sure your little companion would also enjoy it."     

For a moment more, Iris resisted his suggestion, but Kyro was adamant. He shut down all her arguments and in the end they did go to a nearby park. It was early autumn, so wind was a little chilly, but the sun was still warm.     

They found a nice spot on a hill and put a blanket on the ground. They had gotten food from he hotel's kitchen, and Iris spread it out while Kyro took Lucy out of his carrier. Mila was already running around, sniffing their surroundings. If Iris didn't know better, she would have been certain the girl was a dog and not a weasel.     

The sun was warm, the wind refreshing, and conversation flowed like lazy river water. Kyro never touched on any loaded topics, and Iris did the same. They just sat around and laughed, enjoying each others company and the good weather.     

And the entertainment provided by the two pets. Lucy was trying to nap on a warm patch of grass, but Mila was too young and full of energy for that. After not finding anything too interesting in the surroundings, she dashed back to run circles around Lucy. Like Iris once before, she would ran all over the old cat, or pulled on his ears and tail.     

At first, Lucy tried to shoo her away, but when that didn't work, he just gave up. Once in a while he would just shift his tail to the other side for Mila to roll head over heels to catch it.     

"They seem to be getting along well," Iris noted, unable to keep the amusement from her voice. Lucy pretended to be a cold-hearted old man, but he had a tofu heart. He just couldn't ignore the youths begging for his attention.     

"He looks a lot less royal like that," Kyro said while extending his hand to ruffle the fur of the gentle giant. Lucy gave him a freezing glare with his one good eye, but didn't move.     

Iris grinned at him, then lay down on her back, eyes closed. "Thanks for suggesting this." Sun shined on her face, and she tried to remember when she had felt so at ease the last time. It had been awhile.     

A body came to rest by her side, and she opened one eye to see Kyro having stretched out as well. He was lying on his left side with head resting on his hand to look at her.     

"Why are you staring at me like that?" she asked, closing her eyes again. If she didn't see, it wasn't true.     

"Happy Birthday," he murmured near her ear, his soft breath fanning a side of her face which instantly went red.     

At his mention, Iris counted the days and realized that he was telling the truth. With all the chaos, she had even forgotten her own birthday!     

Turning on her side as well, she asked in a righteous voice, "Where's my gift then?"     

"What else do you want?" Kyro asked in mock disbelief. "I threw all my work and rushed to your side just to be there and you're telling me it's not enough? I'm hurt."     

Iris tried to hold back, really tried, but laughter soon bubbled out of her, and Kyro joined in. They laughed for a while longer, not holding themselves back.     

When they finally calmed down, Iris poked his cheek with a calculative look, then nodded to herself. "Yeah, that's the best gift I've ever received. No doubt about it."