Endling (Kaito x Gakupo)

Chapter 9

Gakupo waited in the extravagant bedroom, absently playing with one of his bracelets. One of the girls (hopefully IA), was supposed to come for his 'lesson.' Yet in truth, his thoughts were completely divorced from his mission at the moment. He missed Kaito, pure and simple.

How easy it had been to get used to his presence! They had known each other for a short time, and yet Gakupo had so many memories to treasure. Deservedly or not, Kaito had protected and cherished him beyond measure. Even if the human truly was gone from his life, the remembrance alone should've been enough to fill his heart.

But no, it wasn't. It was only his second day trapped inside of the Pale Line and already Gakupo felt like someone had split him in two. Perhaps it would dull in time like other aches, but for the moment the loss felt worse than being in a cage again.

A knock at the door distracted Gakupo from his thoughts. "Please come in," he said wearily.

The door opened, but instead of the petite mouse girl, Mew stood leaning on the doorframe with a cheeky smile on her face. "Surprised to see me?"

"I take it that IA didn't want to come," Gakupo guessed.

"He's so lame! He's soooo lame!" Mew affected a higher pitch of voice, clearly meant as an imitation of IA's voice. However, as soon as she noticed Gakupo's expression, she added in her normal tone, "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll warm up to you eventually."

Gakupo shook his head. He didn't have time for 'eventually', the auction was the following day. However, he couldn't demonstrate too much urgency, or the Master or his goons might realize his passivity was an act. But even if IA listened to him, they probably wouldn't be able to escape before the event.

Mew plopped on the bed next to him, rolling and stretching her body luxuriously, making her anklets and necklace clatter and clink. "So, what are we going to do?"

"I mean no offense, but I'd rather not do anything."

"I'm just teasing you, Gakupo. We still have a choice when we are dealing among ourselves, you know?" she laughed, as if she was saying something completely trivial.

"This place is horrible."

"Sounds like you haven't lived in the dumps I have," Mew replied, grabbing a plump pillow. She placed it under her head and continued, "I was thin as a whisker when they found me. My hair was falling out!" She ran her hands along her naked torso, obviously proud of the shiny coat of fur. Then, she poked Gakupo's ribs from behind with a finger. "You know what it means to be hungry, I bet."

That was true; sometimes foraging and fishing didn't go well. Goya had forbidden him to farm in any extensive capacity, since humans might notice any major artificial alterations to the valley and investigate. Straying too far from home to gather food was also dangerous, again due to the humans. Unfortunately, that meant his ability to stack food for winter was limited, so the specter of starvation was never too far.

"I know," Gakupo conceded. "But others have it worse out there." Goya, for instance, since he mostly ate meat. He honestly didn't know how the deep dwellers kept Prima fed, given the exorbitant needs of a dragon, though magic was certainly involved in some capacity.

"You are just reinforcing my point there, feathers."

"So you wouldn't escape, given the chance?" Gakupo had been vaguely wondering what to do about the rest of the girls for a while now. He was only meant to extract Titania, but it seemed wrong to leave the others here. But what if everyone else was as complacent as IA and Mew?

"I don't know...Where would I go? I might have these," Mew scratched behind one of her furry pointed ears, "but that doesn't mean I want to live like a hunted beast."