She hopped down, ramrod straight, using only her three toed paws and ankles to hop off the limb, landing silently a little ways back from where Tommy had plummeted and splattered on the pavement below like a sack of wet beef. The motorcycle rider nearly hit the freshly dropped obstacle.

  As she silently landed on the ground, she saw her protectee and quietly walked up to him while he was checking out the remains of Tommy. She stood back, watching and observing the human. The smell of stale tobacco wafted into her nostrils.

  She inhaled deeply, enjoying the smell, as it brought back fond memories of her short-lived, happy childhood. And something else—she picked up something different with him. She couldn't describe the feeling other than it was good. He had a good smell about him other than the tobacco. It made her comfortable around him, safe even, like she fully trusted this individual without a second thought—it was odd. Pleasant—but odd.

  She shook her head briefly to come down out of the clouds of the past and once again focus on the task at hand. She moved closer, standing right behind him and bending over to gently tap him on the shoulder with one of her claws, careful not to cut him. Then she straightened up to try to give him some space.

  She clearly startled him, causing him to whirl around and point his gun at her. Though he was surprised, what he went to point it at wasn’t what he expected. Pointing his gun at her crotch, she watched the shock in his eyes as the cigarette fell out of his mouth. As he looked her over from toe to head, she noticed something in his other hand. Her eyes slightly widened as she realized he was holding Tommy's wallet.

  "My apologies. I didn’t mean to drop that," she said, trying to sound cool rather than intimidating, gesturing toward the piece of Tommy on the ground.

  "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice tinged with genuine remorse as she cocked her head, studying him for signs of injury she might’ve caused.

  "Hm—you seem fine," she concluded, realizing the only real damage was terror. She offered a smile, aiming for friendly, though she wasn’t sure it landed the way she intended. Her toothy grin lasted barely a heartbeat before Nick’s face drained of color.

  A beat later, the wallet hit the ground with a *thunk.*

  She picked up on his emotions through his expressions and the scents he emitted. Some were expected, given the situation—fear, profuse perspiration, and the rapid thrum of his heartbeat, almost deafening in the cool, quiet night. But one scent puzzled her: pheromones. He didn’t seem to be trying to intimidate her or assert dominance.

  Is he... attracted to me? The thought was as alien to her as their meeting itself. Yet without conscious thought, her body responded, subtly returning the signal.

  He swallowed hard, looking up at her. She looked down in return, trying to handle the moment delicately, though she felt utterly lost. Then, to her relief, he spoke—finally breaking the tension.

  "I am—other than probably needing a fresh change of pants, Ma'am," he stammered, doing his best to recover his composure in this thoroughly alien situation.

  Her bushy tail perked up slightly, swishing back and forth in slow, contented arcs. His reaction—or lack of panic—was a refreshing change from the usual screaming fits or trigger-happy responses she’d come to expect during first encounters in her natural state.

  She glanced down at the gun still aimed at her—its barrel now drifting lazily toward her midsection, as though he’d forgotten he was holding it.

  She mentally rolled her eyes but couldn’t help empathizing with him.

  "Oh, put that silly toy away. You couldn’t hurt me with that if you tried."

  To prove her point, she flicked a claw at his trigger finger, causing him to fire. *Kachow*! The shot echoed through the night air, the acrid scent of the spent cartridge heightening her senses.

  The bullet splattered against her abdomen. She glanced at him, then at the singed fur where the spackle clung.

  *Well, hopefully I proved my point,* she thought, slowly pressing a claw against the slide of his gun, gradually weighing it down until the message sank in. As he moved to reholster it, she began peeling the spackle from her abdomen with her claws—like a pair of tweezers holding a splinter. Then, gingerly, she took his wrist and squeezed, coaxing his fingers open. She placed the still-warm metal in his palm, closed it, and patted the top of his hand.

  "Something to remember me and the evening with," she said, giving him a wink and a toothy smile. Her tail lifted slightly, moving slowly back and forth, a little faster this time.

  *Well, hopefully that was good enough not to freak him out too bad,* she thought with a *sigh* as she walked past him to pick up the remains. She left the human to his own thoughts as he stood there, staring at the flattened metal in his palm. She squatted down to leap into the trees but paused, realizing she’d forgotten something. Turning around, she walked back to the human, scooped up Tommy's wallet, and quickly vaulted into the tree tops, leaving Nick speechless.

  She stayed just above him, high up in the trees and out of sight, taking a moment to get her thoughts straight. Then, she heard him talking to himself after lighting another cigarette.

  "Something to remember her and the evening by, huh? Like I could forget either, even if I wanted to. Man, this is a messed-up night. I lose my only lead; instead of answers, I’m just left with more questions, and to top it off, I’m not even sure what happened tonight."

  She continued watching him, listening as he mumbled his thoughts aloud while walking away. Her curiosity grew as she wondered what he might say next.

  "Well, real or fantasy, and as terrifying as she was, she sure had a rocking body."

  Her cheeks burned at his last statement, heat creeping across her face as she glanced down at herself, blushing deeply.

  *He actually likes the way I look?* The thought sent a jolt through her. Her tail perked up, swishing slightly back and forth as her ears flicked this way and that.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  *I should at least check to make sure that he'll make it home tonight,* she thought, her brows furrowing as her ears swiveled, tuning into the night. Every rustle and distant hum carried by the cool air felt sharper under her focus.

  Her body remained tense despite the quiet. "It doesn’t sound like there are any more rats in the area," she murmured, but the thought did little to settle her. Her gaze flicked toward the direction he'd gone, an uneasy feeling gnawing at her. *It’s late... but I can't leave it to chance. I’ll follow, just to be sure.* She thinks to herself.

  As he slowly made his way down the mountain, she secured Tommy to a tree branch, tucking his wallet in his inner jacket pocket to retrieve later. Dropping down on all fours, she sprang forward in a steady gait, catching up and keeping pace off to the side, always within eyesight of the human.

  "Good thing he’s moving slow," she muttered under her breath. "Goodness, if he’d kept up the pace from before, I’d be winded by now. How far does this guy live? The edge of the county?! Well, I’m definitely getting my cardio in today." She mumbles to herself with a slight smile.

  After about a half-hour trek, she paused to catch her breath, watching him turn onto a long dirt road leading to an old farmhouse. She observed as he parked the bike in the barn, listening carefully for any hostile sounds. Once he left the barn and entered the house, cutting on the lights, she quietly dashed to the side of the house, still alert.

  When the sound of a shower running reached her ears, she sniffed around the house and property. Satisfied that everything was clear and free of danger—or rats—she sprinted back at full speed to where she had left Tommy in the tree. Retrieving him, she returned to the clearing where her belongings were stashed. Setting Tommy down by a tree, she rummaged through her rucksack, pulled out her workout clothes, and slipped out what was left of her torn dress. Her once baggy workout attire now clung to her—sheer and taut.

  She then made her way to where her other kunai was buried deep in the cold, hard clay ground. Digging a claw into the earth, she felt the chill seep through her paw, causing her fur to bristle involuntarily. With a sharp hook of her claw, she caught the ring on the hilt, freeing it from its earthen prison. After cleaning it off, she slid it back into the scabbard strapped to her boot. Finally, she gathered her boots and the shattered fragments of her kunai, storing them in her bag. Securing the straps snugly over one of her massive biceps, she readied herself.

  Tommy was curled up in the crook of her elbow, tucked securely under her arm, with her hand grasping his bald head to lock him in place. She began her descent down the mountain. Once she reached the city limits at the base, she checked her surroundings to ensure the coast was clear, even though it was late at night.

  "Good, looks like most of the city is asleep," she said to herself with a sigh of relief. Thankful the job had run so late with how the night had panned out, she took a moderate sprint to the nearest building, launching herself onto the closest rooftop.

  "I need to be extra careful on my landings—the last thing I want to do is scare some poor granny to death by falling through a roof. I already about gave one human a heart attack this evening, and that's one too many," she muttered, feeling somewhat embarrassed about the earlier exchange.

  "Well, at least he didn't shoot me on purpose. I... think I like this one," she chuffed to herself, a small grin tugging at the corner of her mouth.

  Vaulting gingerly from rooftop to rooftop, she moved with speed and precision. Mindful where she landed and stepped while making her way back to her apartment.

  When she reached her apartment building, she slowed her pace, walking carefully to the edge of the roof, stepping onto the balcony with deliberate care, ensuring not to break anything. Peering through the glass French doors, she noticed Jarvis’s lights blinking on his dock, signaling he was in sleep mode. She hunched down and lightly tapped on the glass with a claw *tak-tak-tak*. The lights on his dock changed colors, flashing erratically as his face panel sleepily lit up. Once fully active, he floated over to the French doors, unlocking and opening them for his friend.

  "Yaaaawn, evenin’, mum. Wild night out, I see. What happened to that lovely dress you had on?"

  "Not now, Jarvis. Could you call Alice? I need to give her an update."

  *Gasp*, "mum! I know I was hoping you'd bring a companion home, but could you not have left him in one piece?!?" Jarvis leaned closer, prodding the lifeless corpse with one of his clamps.

  "Oh dear, I do believe this one's expired, mum." She shot Jarvis a cold dead stare as she placed what remained of Tommy into a planter on the balcony to avoid tracking any mess into the apartment.

  "Jarvis—Alice—now," she growled gruffly, baring her teeth, her eyes briefly glowing green, shimmering bright in the dark of night. These combined with her tone made him shudder.

  "Right away, mum! Oh, holo call or audio?" he asked, his voice tinged with nervous energy.

  "Jarvis!!!"

  "Okay, okay, calm down, mum—they have me on hold." He replied with a slightly annoyed expression on his faceplate. -_-

  The only response he got from Tiffany was the inaudible mumbling and growling from the kitchen as she rummaged through the cabinets, pulling out a couple of large garbage bags to contain the mess and prevent blood from getting inside. She wouldn’t be happy if all her painstaking effort to keep the place pristine went to waste—losing her deposit over a few drops of blood was not an option.

  "Whichever’s quicker to get in touch," she called out from under the kitchen sink. After finding the bags, she returned to the balcony, stuffed Tommy into them, double-bagged the remains, and tossed them into the corner. She then crouched through the apartment, heading to the bathroom to clean up.