Snowblood

Chapter 14: Ramen

Matthew Darrow returned to the ryokan before Yukie and Kari, and upon returning to their room,  the lonely and neglected Boo literally flew at him, all the while complaining at him while demanding that he be scratched and petted. Not that the owl-griff actually spoke in words, but if you understood anything at all about pets, you knew what they wanted. He obliged, and the owl-griff wound himself around Matthew's neck, butting foreheads with him gently.

"Eh, you're kind of cute after all, aren't you?" he told the creature. Jet lag was making him logy, and so he unfolded one of the futons, took a pillow, and lay down. Boo climbed up on his chest and curled up into a ball. "I don't remember inviting you to use me as a bed," he chided his daughter's pet. Taking his cell phone out, he called his sister.

"Hey," she said when she answered. "So when and where are we picking up our jet-setting stray?"

"Change of plans," he told her. "We're going to keep Kari a little longer."

"Are you? I'm delighted, because right now I want to throttle her a little too much, but why?" Alison Darrow asked.

"Because if she wants my attention that badly, she might go to even further extremes next time," he explained, petting Boo while he spoke. The owl-griff nuzzled his hand in response.

"Makes sense, but what does your ladyfriend think?" Alison asked.

"It was her idea," he smiled, thinking of that morning.

"Oh! Well, that's a development I hadn't expected. What a good idea—provided you two don't break up once the kid's gone and bonded with Doctor Kuwano. I had my misgivings when I found out where she worked, but both Maggie and Peridot have nothing but nice things to say about her. You are serious about this one, aren't you?"

"As serious as it gets," he told her, "but if I move too fast or handle this wrong, she'll be scared off. A bad first marriage when she was twenty-one, the kind of thing that could happen to anyone."

"I see," Alison," said. "Matt—I always thought there were things Lisa didn't get about you. There were parts of you that you never let her see, and then she was also from such a, a normal family. She was sunny and happy and outgoing."

"Yeah, she was," he agreed, scratching Boo between his wings. "And I'm not, is that what you're going to say?" He asked without rancor, for it was no more than the truth.

"Well, you never managed sunny or outgoing," Alison said, "but happy—yes, you were. Some of the time, at least. My point actually was that you should do your best to be more open with Doctor Kuwano. Anyway, where's Kari? I want to talk to her about this."

"She and Yukie are out shopping for some necessities."

"Then I'll call her later. How long do you plan on keeping her? If you can send her back by next Monday, I think I can square it with her school," his sister asked.

"I don't know yet. It may be sooner." He explained the conditions under which Kari would be allowed to stay.

"And this was Doctor Kuwano's idea, too? Good—Oh, crap. What about Boo? He has these strict dietary requirements and he can't get by on canned food," Alison pointed out.

"He'll be fine. He's sitting on my chest as we speak, glaring at me because I'm keeping him awake by talking. You want to know what he had for breakfast this morning? Live tiger prawns. They take the freshness of their seafood very seriously around here," he reassured her.

"That's a relief. God, when she brought him home he was such a tiny thing, all fluff and feathers. We nearly went straight to the seller and made him take Boo back because he should have known not to sell something like that to a fifteen year old, but Boo was the first thing Kari showed any interest in since...Anyhow, she takes real good care of him," Alison told him. "I guess this is where I say good night, given that it's rather late here where we are."