Anadora

Three.

'Aren't you cold?'

My eyes widened. 'Uh. Mhm. Really cold.' I wrapped my arms around myself. 'Barely coping.'

He raised an incredulous eyebrow at me. 'Right. Sure. Anyway, what are you planning on ordering? I'll shout you."

Shout me? What in the universe did that mean? He couldn't mean literally-

Oh, wait. I remembered.

I smiled and nodded in thanks as I told him what I wanted, picking a random item off the menu. He headed off to pay for the both of us, kindly.

I stroked the hidden fox inside my jacket inconspicuously, knowing the workers here would probably ban me from the cafe if they knew I'd brought him in here.

'Good boy,' I quietly cooed as he purred, snuggling deeper into my chest.

I heard Roman sit back down in front of me. Raising my head, I saw he was giving me a lopsided grin. 'You and that fox are inseparable. Does he have a name?'

I shook my head. 'Unfortunately, no. I've haven't come up with one just yet.'

He tapped a finger against his jawline in contemplation. 'Well then. Panda, maybe?'

'Panda the fox?' I deadpanned.

He rolled his eyes in an attempt to hide his sudden embarrassment- his cheeks were pink. 'It's cute!' He defended himself. 'Fine. John.'

I snorted. 'Oh yeah, totally. John. That's the one,' I giggled.

He sighed, shaking his head. His cheeks were red now. 'I give up. You're just too hard to please.'

'You barely tried!'

'You barely let me!'

I broke out into a fit of giggles, my stomach clenching with the effort. The fox yawned.

I stared down at him fondly. 'Alright, how about Zima, then. It's Russian for 'Winter'. Appropriate, I feel.'

Roman raised his hands in defense. 'The final verdict is your desicion. Zima it is.' He paused, sighing happily as he chuckled lowly at our antics. 'So. What's your plan for today? We're here for you, after all.'

I nodded, thinking. I needed to find my way up the social ladder, gain these peoples trust; I knew that much. All the while, I was required to keep my true identity a secret. That was no small feat in itself.

Humans were surprisingly, unconventionaly perceptive, it appeared.

'Well, I'd like to grab a map or two of the area, if that's okay. Plus, figure out what metropolis is closest to this town. I need to, uh, explore.'

'Sounds... exciting.' His statement sounded like more of a question than anything.

I gave him a lopsided smile in return. 'Exhilarating.'

He stared down at his hands in his lap. 'You know, you could just stay with me for a while. Scout the area, climb a few mountains; experience a real adventure. You don't have to go straight to the nearest city to have fun.'

I hesitated. Staying with him was not my mission.

He must have seen my doubtful expression. 'Just come back tonight, then,' he reasoned. 'We can buy a few maps and some pins and you can properly look over the area. The state, even. Mark where you want to go... plan it out properly. Sounds logical, right?'

He was right. I had no where else to go. Not on this planet.

I sighed, fidgeting with my sleeves. 'Alright. Just for the night.'

His face broke out into a gleeful grin. 'Great. This is going to be a ton of fun. I can see it now!'

《¤》

The rest of the day was spent shopping. Roman was kind enough to buy me clothes  (though he couldn't quite comprehend the fact that I owned none but the clothes on my back), maps of the state, and bright, coloured pins to mark the places I wanted to go.

Once we were back home with Zima scuffling around my feet, I begun to hang the maps up on a spare wall in my room, with Roman's help.

Finding the largest city within the state was my first mission, which was made easy with Roman's help. We were located within the state of Ontario, Canada- Toronto was my best bet, in terms of a large city within driving distance.

We could drive down together, I theorised, mulling over the idea in my mind. Stay for a while, put ourselves out there, meet some influential people, gain some connections- we could do anything we wanted.

It was never to be, however, because in that moment, that night, as we drank tea, placed pins on the map and watched the stars through Roman's wall length windows, a harsh knock sounded throughout the house, echoing terribly.

That knock was the begining of the end.