Chapter 4: Field Trip (Part 1)

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Recently, you had become more aggressive in your approach to the two hybrids with whom you now shared your home.

At first, the air between the three of you was awkward, and you had done your best to stay away from them if they did not approach you first, but on one particular night, when you'd finally drawn the last panel of your comic, you'd found your resolve (and the time) to try and bring the hybrids out of their comfort zones. Your hope was that, with your attempts, you would be able to bring the light back into their sad eyes, if indeed there ever had been such a shine in their gazes.

However, the task you had set your mind to turned out to be far more difficult than you had initially thought. For one thing, communication with the cat hybrid you had taken in, named Felix, was a challenge. For reasons unknown to you, the poor hybrid didn't speak very well, and he struggled to understand you, which made your job a lot harder. In addition to this, Chan, the wolf hybrid, seemed determined to keep you at arms length. At first, you had taken his actions as simple aggression and mistrust, and perhaps a bit of protectiveness in regards to Felix, but the more you tried to break down his walls, the more you realized that his problem wasn't quite what you'd thought it was.

As you got to know Chan, you began to see things in his behavior that you hadn't noticed before. When you finally started to really try to bring him out of his shell, you realized that Chan's aggression was not out of anger or mistrust for humans. Rather, you came to understand that Chan was acting on instinct - a fear instinct. Why exactly he was afraid of you and other humans, you didn't know. It was possible that he had been mistreated in the past, but you felt that the two of you still weren't close enough for you to ask. What was interesting about this was that his aggression towards other hybrids - aka Minho - seemed to stem from the same fear. It was peculiar, but nonetheless it was a game changer for you.

Having come to this realization, you changed tactics when interacting with Chan. Rather than trying to avoid "angering" him, you focused on showing him that he had nothing to be afraid of. You tried to speak to him more often, and when you did you always made sure to ask him about his opinions on whatever subject you happened to be discussing, hoping that he would gain more confidence this way. You also tried doing small things for him, whether that be cooking lunch and inviting him to eat with you or buying things for him when you were shopping out in town or online. This lead to him being flustered often, caught off guard when given the chance to voice his own opinions and to be your equal, but the more you did it, the more he relaxed around you. In fact, after some time of your doing this, he started coming to you about things he wanted to discuss or ask about, rather than the other way around. Your relationship was blossoming, and you were beyond ecstatic about that.

In terms of Felix, Minho was doing most of the work for you in terms of opening him up, as Felix seemed to adore the older cat hybrid and they often dragged one another into their shenanigans. While this annoyed you, since Minho especially had a habit of causing mischief, it was still good to see Felix happy and having fun. However, this didn't mean that you didn't have anything to do with him. Instead of focusing on his progress, you opted to spend your time trying to get closer to him, deciding that it was best to let him adapt naturally, since he already seemed to be doing so really well. As it turned out, Felix really enjoyed video games, which you happened to discover one night when he'd come to cuddle with you in bed (it had become routine for him to join you for a few hours each night after he'd done so the first time when you'd been finishing up your comic, although he always went back to Chan when he was ready to go to sleep). Wanting to destress from the process of finalizing your comic, you'd turned on your PlayStation to play a game when Felix had asked you what you were doing. You'd gotten out a second controller and showed him how to play, and thus it became your nightly routine to play a few games together and cuddle. This ended up being a great bonding exercise for the two of you.

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