He stood there with his arms crossed, an unimpressed look on his face. "Honestly, you’d think they’d learn to keep their mouths shut," he said, shaking his head with a mix of amusent and disbelief.
"Caleo!" I exclaid, relief flooding through . Thank goodness it was him and not soone else.
"So, how did you manage to get that beast from here?" he asked, referring to Glacier, who was now instinctively guarding , his low growl filling the room with a protective vibrancy.
Glacier guarded from Kairos, growling.
My mind raced for a quick excuse. "Ohh..." I quickly thought of a reason. "Well, I found him when I was ice skating at Adriana."
Kairos raised an eyebrow, unconvinced but mildly intrigued. "Ice skating? You’re telling you happened upon a Frostbane while doing that?"
"Uh, yeah! There was this strange storm, and when I went to check it out, I found him alone under the ice," I continued, trying to sound convincing. "He must have gotten separated from his pack or sothing. I couldn’t just leave him there, you know?"
"Really?" Kairos said nonchalantly, dropping the topic like it was of little concern. "So what’s his na?"
"Glacier," I replied, trying to keep my nerves in check as Glacier’s growl beca increasingly louder with the approach of this new presence.
Kairos approached , seemingly unfazed by the nacing sound reverberating from my Frostbane.
But instead of fully stopping, Kairos kept walking, a sly grin creeping onto his face. My eyes widened in alarm. "No, seriously—wait!"
Before I could intervene, Glacier sprang from his defensive position, pouncing toward Kairos with surprising agility. "Glacier, don’t!" I shouted as I lunged forward, trying to grab him mid-leap.
In a blink, however, everything shifted. When I caught up, I saw Kairos kneeling on the floor, arms outstretched confidently as Glacier rolled onto his back, reveling in the unexpected affection.
"Aww, look at that!" Kairos exclaid, running his fingers through Glacier’s icy fur. The low growl transford into a contented purr, much to my astonishnt.
I stood there, struck dumb, my mind spinning. I hadn’t expected Glacier to be so responsive to Kairos, especially given how defensive he had been just monts ago. "He—he likes you?" I stuttered, flabbergasted.
Kairos looked over his shoulder at with a playful smirk. "I think he just needed so reassurance. I also had a cat once, so maybe this is why Glacier’s fond of ," he said, his deanor shifting from that of a typical student to soone more understanding and calm in the presence of creatures.
"A cat? A normal house cat?" I asked, still grappling with the fact that my Frostbane now seed to have a newfound friend.
"It doesn’t matter. Cats or beasts, they’re still the sa in the family of felines" he replied with a chuckle, lightly scratching Glacier’s belly, who was now enjoying the attention and trusting Kairos more than I thought possible.
I was about to speak more when the two students, still groggy, stirred from their sleep.
I quickly pulled Kairos to his feet. "You should go to your room now," I said, practically shoving him toward his door. Glacier, sensing the shift in my tone, followed us. "You should also take Glacier with you!" I said, closing the door firmly behind them.
Just in ti, the students were now standing, looking at with wide, disbelieving eyes as if they’d seen a ghost.
"What?" I said, trying to maintain a calm deanor.
"T-The Frostbane... Where is it?" one of them stamred, their voice trembling.
"What Frostbane?" I lied smoothly, my voice unwavering.
"W-We swear w-we saw a Frostbane was eating your face!" the other one exclaid, their eyes wide with terror. "It even ca from your room! We saw it pounce on you!"
"It even ca from your room! Were it pounced on you!"
"Are you guys drunk?" I said as I opened the door to my room. "Feel free to roam around my room. Maybe you’ll see sothing to explain the blurry mories."
The two quickly scanned my room, but they hesitated to enter.
"Did we just dream then?" one asked, rubbing their temples.
"Then how the hell did we faint?" the other added, wincing.
"I don’t know but my neck hurts," the first one complained.
"So is mine," the second one agreed.
"Weird," the first one muttered.
"So sorry about that Remillia," they both apologized quickly, their voices apologetic.
"It’s okay," I said, watching them leave, a small sigh of relief escaping my lips.
"Are we drunk right now?" one asked, still looking confused.
"No. Why would we be drunk at this ti of day?" the second one replied, trying to sound convincing.
I sighed in relief, the tension finally easing from my shoulders.
I went to Kairos’ room and was about to knock his door when I saw that it was slightly open so I pushed it and saw him and Glacier comfortably settled on the couch, watching television.
"Umm, thanks for taking care of Glacier just a bit," I said, catching their attention.
"You want so drink before you go?" Kairos offered, rising to his feet.
"N-no, it’s okay," I said, my gaze flitting to Glacier. "Glacier, let’s go now."
Glacier let out a low, rumbling roar, a sound that seed almost like a protest, as if refusing to leave Kairos’ side.
I widened my eyes, silently warning him. "Glacier?"
Glacier shook his head stubbornly, his body pressing even closer to Kairos’s side of the couch.
Kairos chuckled softly at Glacier’s reaction. "It seems he’s not ready to leave yet."
"Sorry for the inconvenience, but could you please keep Glacier a secret for now?" I requested as I approached them. I reached out to gently grasp Glacier’s front paws.
"Of course, and honestly, I don’t have many people to talk to here," Kairos replied, offering an almost too-eager help. He, too, leaned in to assist in getting Glacier on his feet.
However, Glacier, as if determined to resist, twisted his body, causing a domino effect. , Kairos, and a very stubbornly placed Glacier all ended up on the floor. I landed squarely on top of Kairos, with Glacier perched on top of us, firmly refusing to budge.
"Glacier!" I shouted, trying to dislodge him from him perching above us. A wave of embarrassnt washed over , vividly recalling the identical, awkward situation at the auction house. My cheeks burned.
Glacier only roared louder, deliberately increasing his weight on us.
"Damn this whiny tiger! Alright, you can stay here for a while!" I said, the words sounding a little too exasperated, a little too loud in the suddenly quiet room. Kairos rely chuckled, a sound that, sohow, didn’t diminish the awkwardness I’m feeling.
Glacier seed to understand what I was saying, shifting slightly, his weight easing off.
I moved away from Kairos and held out my hand to help him stand up. "Sorry about that. I think Glacier is in his rebellious phase," I managed a laugh, trying to mask the lingering heat on my face.
Kairos accepted my hand and stood up.
"Can I have a drink?" I asked, exhausted from preventing myself almost kissing him.
"Of course," Kairos replied, and I followed him to the kitchen.
As I finished a glass of water, I looked at Kairos, gathering my courage. "Can I ask a favor? Could Glacier live here when his enclosure is finished? You don’t have to worry about his food—I’ll provide it, and he’s potty trained. I’ll pay you once he’s transferred to his place."
Kairos’s response was a simple, "It’s fine with . You don’t have to pay ."
"But—" I tried to refute.
"No buts. Just visit Glacier whenever you have ti," he finished, cutting off gently.
"Thank you," I said, looking at Glacier, who was now calmly lounging beside .
"And you better behave, okay? Or else, you’ll be coming back to live with ," I warned Glacier, rubbing his head affectionately.
"I’ll be going now," I said, turning towards the door. "Thank you again for looking after Glacier, and sorry for the trouble."
"No problem," Kairos said, walking to the door.
"Bye," I whispered.
"Bye," he replied, closing the door behind .
I went inside my room, and Macaron was already waiting, perched on the edge of my desk.
"Glad to see that tiger’s finally gone," he said, his tone a mixture of relief and sothing else, perhaps a touch of smugness.
I raised an eyebrow. "Why are you talking like that?"
"He’s getting all the food and your attention!" Macaron whined, his voice barely above a murmur.
"You’re the reason why Glacier’s here in the first place," I said.
"Well, I’m regretting it now! Let’s just throw him back where he belongs!" Macaron said.
"I can’t do that. He’s the last of his kind now," I said while chuckling.
"I’m used to being the only one being taken care of, you know?" Macaron mumbled, his voice barely audible. "It’s... different having soone else needing so much attention. And all that responsibility." He looked down at his paws, then back up at , a flicker of guilt in his usually confident eyes. "I just... I just miss things being the way they were."
"Aww," I said, scooping Macaron into a hug. "You’ll still be the number one pet I’ll love!"
Macaron cooed softly. "Thanks, master. And you’ll be the first and last master I’ll be serving!"
With that, I set him down and headed to the kitchen. "Who wants so pre-made als?"
Macaron’s energy returned in an instant, and he flapped his wings excitedly. "Of course, !"
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