Fox Life

After a shower and dressing up, Kyro still didn't see the little fennec. Was it still hiding under the bed? He returned to his room and crouched down.

"Hey, little one, come out," he called, but there was no response. The fox remained curled up in a ball by the wall, its bushy tail hiding its face.

'Did I scare it so much?' he wondered. It didn't seem likely, since he couldn't recall making any sudden moves toward it or creating any loud noises, but who knew. This wasn't a cat or a dog, so it could have different triggers.

Not wanting to scare the little creature more, Kyro didn't try to drag it out. He instead left the room, securely closing the door behind himself, to make sure Lucy won't be able to enter, and went to the kitchen.

The cat was already waiting for him, sitting like a king by its bowl. "What if I didn't feed you today for attacking that little baby yesterday, hm? What would you say then?" He bent down to rub Lucy's head as he spoke, and the cat meowed at him with obvious pleasure, then rose up to make sure his hand went down all the way past its back.

"Right, shameless as usual." With a smile on his face, Kyro poured the dry food for Lucy to enjoy and opened the refrigerator for himself. He picked yesterday's cutlets and put them in the microwave.

After eating, he went to check up on the fennec with a plastic plate with a couple miniature pieces of meat. The fox was still under the bed, but once the aroma of the food reached its hiding place, its tail moved to the side.

While sniffing all around, it soon walked out with its head down. Then, as if remembering something, it lifted its head and looked Kyro up and down. He could've sworn it was checking him out, and for a moment he almost felt self-conscious, until he remembered it was a fox looking at him. 'I'm even imagining things now…'

Shaking his head, he walked to the bedstand and picked up his phone. In the contacts, he found the one labeled 'Gale'.

The phone rang for a good minute before the call was picked up. "Do you want to be killed now or on Monday at work?"

"I need a favor," Kyro said, ignoring his friend's greeting.

"Favor? At 6 am Saturday? I hate you," Gale muttered. "Give me ten minutes and I'll be there."

"Not that great a favor… I just want to know, have you heard of anyone recently acquiring an exotic pet, like a fennec fox?"

There was a slight pause on the other end. "Nah, don't think so. You hear something?"

Kyro frowned, not having expected such an answer. With Gale's personality, he knew everyone, and people loved to brag about stuff like exotic purchases. If anyone had gotten something, he'd know, years in advance.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Nothing, just thinking. I found a fennec on the street, no collar, nothing. The manager of the compound said that nobody owns something like that around here, and now you're saying nobody in our circles got one either."

"How old is it?" Gale asked, getting a bit more serious now that the sleepiness had left him.

"Young, should be just a newly bought one. It's also a female," Kyro answered, frowning. He was a bit at a loss now regarding where the fennec could have come from. While thinking, he moved to his study to check online, even if he no longer held that much hope for it.

Gale sighed on the other end. "That makes it even more rare, doesn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Think it escaped traffickers?"

Kyro hadn't thought of that. He stopped next to the study's door and looked back at the happily eating fennec. It didn't seem to have been mistreated, but then, he knew nothing of animal trafficking. Did they keep their animals in good health for higher price? Or just their species mattered so they were kept barely alive?

"Is it likely?" he asked instead of answering.

"Who knows. I'll ask around. Just send me a photo, I want to see."

"Sure," Kyro agreed and ended the call.

He then walked back and crouched down by the little creature. It didn't bother with him, but the moment he brought out his phone with the came aimed at it, the fennec looked up. Kyro swiftly clicked to take the photo, now that his model was even posing for him.

The picture looked lovely. From the screen, a face of probably the most adorable creature on the planet stared back at him. With its large ears, black eyes, small pointed nose, and white fluffy fur, it was impossible to resist. The little devil was even smiling slightly.

"You're so beautiful," he murmured as he extended his hand to caress the fennec's head. The fox froze under his touch, but before Kyro could notice it, Gale replied.

[(♡‿♡) Can I keep it if you can't find its owner? (♡‿♡)]