Picked It Up (4)

Cyril was halfway through his sandwich before the wolf finally did something.

Its previously fluffed fur began to settle down, and the large body that brushed against the ceiling shrunk down until they were eye to eye as it set down.

The growling stopped, making the room silent, then the wolf opened its mouth.

Fully expecting the same strange sensation of understanding as when he had spoken to the snake, Cyrill waited expectantly.

Unfortunately, he was meant to be disappointed.

"Don't call me a dog. I am a wolf."

A deep, gravelly voice sounded out each time that the wolf opened its mouth. The words sounded awkward at first, but by the end, they became proper.

For a second, Cyril looked around as if searching for a ventriloquist but, seeing none, blinked twice, then replied.

"Okay. Name?"

"What?"

"Your name? Or should I call you wolf something? Wolf boy? Wolf guy? Wolf dude? Wolfie? Moon moon? Your choice."

"What?" if the wolf had eyebrows, they would have been raised in confusion.

"Okay. Wolf boy, it is. So, Wolf boy, why do you hate me? I may have been rude, but you started being rude first. What's your problem."

The black wolf could only stare incredulously at the nonchalant tone coming from the pale-faced boy scarfing down a second sandwich.

"My name is not Wolf Boy."

"Then what is your name?"

"None of your business."

"Okay, Mr. None of your business. Why do you hate me?" Cyril responded in an unperturbed tone.

As the wolf continued to stare.

CRUNCH-

Munch, munch, munch, munch

A pack of chips had appeared in Cyril's hands, and he began devouring it.

"…I'll allow you to call me Fen."

Cyril paused while pouring the chips into his mouth to nod at the wolf.

"Okay. Fen. Why do you hate me?"

"I'm not going to tell you, you filthy human."

At the words growled at him by the large wolf, Cyril simply blinked and took another bite before replying.

"That's fine with me; is there anything I can do to fix this animosity? Things to say, actions to take, etcetera, etcetera?"

"No." An angry growl sounded out at the flippant tone.

"Got it. Still, your behavior is an issue. I know you won't hurt guests unless they attack first or try to harm the sanctuary spark, but seriously, you can't mess with my sleep. Let's get along as co-workers of the sanctuary spark until the year is over. Deal?"

"You may have twisted the sanctuary spark into doing your will and getting along with you, but I'll never trust any of you filthy bastards who partner with such a despicable group and sell their own populace out for power and personal gain." Fen snarled out the words before seeming to spit to the side.

"You think I sold my planet out for personal gain? To H.E.L.P Apocalypse co? I literally hate them, and I'm stuck working this shitty gig because I don't have a choice. Nobody wishes them death more than I do."

"That's what they all say." Fen simply turned away without looking at Cyril. Even though his tone was angry, it wasn't as vicious as it had been earlier.

They both sat silently for several minutes.

Cyril simply nodded before changing the subject, "Back to your behavior. Let's make a 3-for-3 deal. You do me 3 favors, and I'll do you 3 favors."

"No."

He was immediately shut down.

"Don't be like Alexei, and listen to me. I'm not saying be friendly or save me. It's just simple things. Two of the favors is letting me sleep in my room without bothering me. As you can tell, my body is sensitive while asleep, and I really can't deal with what you put me through the last couple of days. I don't want to waste funds on booking a room like a guest just so you can't enter, so I would appreciate it if you just stayed away doing your own thing. You're telling me you can't do something as simple as that? Do you want to spend your days and nights on a worthless human you look down on? Really?"

As the wolf silently glared at him before turning away, Cyril continued.

"You're better than that, so instead of harassing me, just leave me alone. That's two favors."

"And the rest?" Even though the wolf still refused to look at him, the large black ears twitched with interest.

"Uhmm, how about we make a walking club? Once a day for two hours at a time, while I take a walk, you come along and stay within 6 feet of me. No protection is needed, and once the time is up, you can come back here without me. If you do that for me, I'll make three proper large meals a day. I saw you licked the plate clean yesterday. I know you enjoyed the proper meal, so I'll stop the creative cooking. I also promise not to dump you in the lake during my every waking moment for an entire week the way you howled and harassed me whenever I tried to sleep."

At the light threat, Fen finally turned his head to stare at Cyril with narrowed yellow eyes.

"You've gotten cocky ever since that golden human that listens to you well like a dog. "

"I'm always confident in myself. As for Alexei being like a dog and listening to me well in the same sentence? What gave you that idea?" Cyril tilted his head in confusion before giving a soft smile, "Alexei's being generous these days because he's paying me back for attacking me. Once that wears off, his true colors will be exposed, and he'll go back to being a rude person who doesn't care about others and does whatever he wants. I'm just abusing his goodwill while I can."

"…I don't think so." The words were muttered so low it sounded like a growl, and Cyril simply waved the sound away.

"I will make good food and drinks available to you along with a room of your choice. In return, don't bother me when I try to sleep and accompany me on a walk once a day. Otherwise, shall we start battling it out until we reach another compromise? My sleep is already taken care of, so I can be well-rested while taking care of you. And just so you know, I am really resentful when people disturb my sleep."

TAP.

As he spoke, Cyril hopped down, gently tapping the floor with his foot.

The faint outline of a glowing Door appeared. It did not open; it was just visible and took up the whole floor beneath Fen.

If the wolf said a single word apart from the word he wanted to hear, Cyril would directly send it to the lake with no hesitation, even if his nose bled every day for the next month.

Fen glanced down at the door opening beneath his feet and the coldly smiling boy before growling out a single word.

"Fine. 3 proper meals. I don't need anything else from a disgusting human."

"Amazing. Here's your meal for the day. We'll go on a walk in two hours."

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Seeing Fen begin to growl at him, Cyril gave it an even sunnier smile, "Good talk, team. Enjoy your meal."

Cyril placed the large plate of cold meat on the floor in front of the large dog and went back to the kitchen.

He quickly seasoned some more meat and tossed it on the stove with meat and vegetables to boil before heading to his room to design and print some things on a tablet, organize the room for Alexei, and check on the sanctuary spark.

After that, he went back to the kitchen to portion out the cooked food into takeout containers containing the monster meat stew and rice.

Custom-made flyers were stuck to the top of the containers, extras were tucked into his bag, and everything was packaged with water and stacked neatly in a bright red wagon.

As Cyril stood outside, glancing between the red wagon, a leash, and halter combo for large dogs in his hands, and Fen, the black wolf began snarling as his yellow eyes scrunched up in anger.

"Don't even think about it."

"Double meal portions? I can do triple, too."

"It seems you have no plans of sleeping ever again? The moon seems like it will look beautiful tonight. I would love to greet it with song." Fen decisively sat down while looking down at him.

"Tsk."

Cyril reluctantly pulled a white ATV out of his bag and attached it to the wagon with a chain.

"Let's go."

Vrrrr. Vrrrrr. Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

After revving the engine, he began to drive away at a fast speed, driving along the fence until he reached the opening and moving along the waystation property while following his map.

Fen easily kept pace, looking as if it were speed walking on four legs as it ran beside him, weaving through cars while Cyril took over the entire sidewalk.

After several minutes of acceleration and deceleration, a gravelly voice sounded out.

"This is not walking."

"I was being metaphorical earlier. You may not know, but this is called foot on ground flyer distribution advertising and the effect of free samples."

"Walking means you're moving forward with your feet on the ground. Your feet are not on the ground. You are not walking." The deep, gravelly voice pointed this out with a lecture-like tone, but Cyril only laughed. He had been having these types of conversations with Alexei since he was little.

"My feet are on the ATV, and the ATV is on the ground; ergo, my feet are on the ground," Cyril replied confidently as he drove the ATV through cars toward a homeless encampment.

"I hope you don't believe that what you're saying is correct."

"Which part of what I said is wrong? Am I not technically touching the ground?"

Fen: "……."

"That's what I thought. Since my feet are on the ground, and I am moving forward, ergo, this is a walk. Any other complaints?"

At Cyril's confident tone that tried to make nonsense make sense, Fen began wondering if it had made a horrible mistake dealing with this annoying human boy.