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That night, after faking sleep and Fay left, she enjoyed the jar of honey she snuck a few days ago and finished the remaining content. When the jar was empty, only then Lizzie slept, with two more knights added in her door while the search of the missing Fenrir was still ongoing.
With the twin moons from her window as light and the feather-softness of her wide bed, Lizzie sank into a slumber of peace-
-only to be awakened by the tickles of something soft that almost blocked her breathing.
The first thing she saw was an outline of a small animal's nose, specifically a small wolf sleeping beside her, her long sprawled hair as its bed. The long bushy tail that surrounded half of its body almost covered Lizzie's face.
This black creature...
Then its eyes opened, blinked a few times before its big silver orbs fully stared back at Lizzie. Its irises contracted, dilated, and contracted like a telescope adjusting its vision.
Lizzie had never seen a Fenrir, but based on Shaw's description of the ferocious monster, the thing inches from her is one.
Though it was but a size of a house cat, it was the monster in question.
Black, furry, and wolf-like.
Lizzie opened her mouth, but her scream was blocked by someone's hand.
"Do you want me to die?" someone whispered behind her.
Only then she realized a second intruder and recognized his voice.
"I'll take my hands off, don't scream, okay?" Alec whispered.
Lizzie nodded, was more uncomfortable with his hands on his mouth for the moment.
"What are you-how?" she whispered as quiet yet as surprised as possible.
"Through the terrace." He said it so casually as if she could understand how a young boy could escape his room, and jump around, climb her terrace without getting caught. "Your window was opened wider than usual. I thought there was an intruder."
"How'd you know there's an intruder just by looking how my window was open-wait, wider than usual?"
She's aware that Fay would open the windows a little during humid nights but the angle didn't matter. "Were you always watching my room from the outside?"
He didn't answer and pulled her away from the bed, disturbing the Fenrir cub who was watching them with disinterest.
But Lizzie was more surprised when Alec closed the gap within them, his face a hair breath's away
She was never violent but she would have punched him. Almost.
He squinted in accuse after sniffing her. "You ate honey, didn't you?"
Caught with her crimes, Lizzie could not defend herself. The Fenrir upon a closer look was circling its body around the empty honey jar. She was too lazy to hide the empty container back and decided to do it earlier tomorrow. "J-Just a little bit. But that's beside the point. Why is that... that here?"
"Although fenrirs are carnivores, the cubs have a sensitive scent to sweets. At least that's what my old teacher told me. Well, it's not common fact since fenrirs are rarely caught."
Lizzie blinked, could not believe the vast knowledge of the young boy. Even the twin moons seemed to chase him too, capturing the strands of his raven hair that glimmered. And somehow, his face, a little too close, annoyed her.
She wanted to know more too. She wanted to sneak around and enter rooms. The kitchen would be her first (and probably only) destination. Her mouth watered from all the jars of honey she could steal. Her lips loosened into a smile with the thought.
Alec, who was watching her expression change, blinked. "...You look weird." Then he looked away.
She frowned. This brat.
Well, she admits her hair resembled an explosion of wind and tousled the strands into a mess, mainly contributed to the unsightly appearance, but it was his fault for sneaking in.
She changed the topic before her annoyance could lead her to scream for help and have him dead for intrusion. "Now, what are we going to do with it?" She referred to the Fenrir, that sauntered atop the bed, closer to her, now edging to the bedside. The more Alec pulled her far, the more the inched closer.
Until finally, the boy who was standing at her bedside clicked his tongue. "Let's kill it."
Lizzie's eyes widened like saucers, altered to Alec's serious face back to the creature who was rubbing its head on her hands. Its eyes blinked at her, and the soft furry tail swayed in the air.
Her heart pounded, and the next thing, she pulled Alec's collar, his face only a short breath from her. "But... but it's cute..."
She couldn't believe the words coming out of her mouth.
"Alec... Alec.. look at it. Isn't it cute?" Her eyes sparkled.
Honey was listed as her Number 1 favorite existence in the world, but now, the furry thing on her bed had shot up to the top of her list.
The flustered Alec pulled away. He glared at the little monster who had no interest in him. "It's dangerous."
"It isn't."
"It could hurt you in hour sleep."
"Then watch it for me."
The boy was rendered speechless, opened his mouth then closed it. "Are you saying I'll watch you sleep?"
"Not me, Honey."
"...and now you gave it a name."
"It's not official yet, I'll think of a better one."
"Lizzie... you... do you even know what you're asking from me?"
She'd known Alec for months now, and yet, it was the first time she had seen him so conflicted. For that, the Norvillon lady felt a sense of victory, although she wasn't sure why the boy was in dilemma.
She swooped the furry Fenrir and raised it for him to see a better view. "Isn't it cute?"
But Alec was not paying attention to it. His annoyed gaze pierced past the monster, straight to Lizzie and her sparkling eyes. "And if you won't agree, I'll tell Papa that you're here."
"Fine. But if it scratched you or me even once, I'll report it even if I get punished for being here." He then sat on the carpeted floor, beside her bed, leaning on the bedside drawer.
Lizzie, victorious with her threat, nodded enthusiastically, she lied back on her bed, bugging the creature in her arms as if it has been a pet for a long time. With her back away from him, she mumbled, "Thank you, Alec."
"You're an idiot."
She giggled instead, feeling the monster's silky tail. "I never had a pet before. It's so fluffy. I wish my hair was like this?"
"Like a tail?"
"No, this smooth and soft."
"That's impossible." Lizzie pouted, with no retort, because his raven mane seemed to be a world apart from her own.
She felt his hand played with her silver hair falling from the bed. "Yours look like a dog's tail too, only messier."
Yet, his hands, playing with the strands and faintly pulling them, were comforting. It was not as great as Fay's scalp massages, but it was comfortable nonetheless.
Slowly, Lizzie's eyelid gained weight as their hushed conversation revolved from her gluttony towards honey to the warm ball of monster that flipped the castle upside down.
"It's cute... isn't it?" she insisted before she drifted off to sleep.
"...Yes, it is," was Alec's reply minutes later, after he finished the clumsy ponytail. "...it is "
A small smile crept to his lips, but only the twin moons were his witness.
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