011 Meadow In The Twilight

"Get some rest, bookworm?" The pure silent world rose a deep voice, a little bit rough.

Kitty was so into the book that it took a second to realize she was not on the run with Jean Valjean. She would have remembered she was trying to distance herself from Erebus, the too attractive man that was her poison if it wasn't the tray in front her--

"Wow! It smells greattt!" Kitty threw herself to the table, leaving the cozy corner she was curling in.

In front of her was a plate of grilled shrimp on fired rice, with several small plates on the side filled with smashed potato, smoked salmon, nuggets, salad, sausage, a poached egg, and a HUGE plate of fruit cuts, AND of course, Erebus's face with a expectant smile on his face, like a dog play up to the new pet kitten in house.

"Hmmm... I don't think I can finish... ANY of them..." Being a stray cat, Kitty usually doesn't really say no to free food, but even to her this was too much.

"It's for both of us, you can pick what you like and I'll have the rest." Without even thinking Erebus answered quickly. He CAME with a solution,

Doesn't want to kill his high spirits, Kitty pushed the tray to the middle of the table and grabbed a fork: "I hope you are not expecting to have all of them, because I'm not that picky."

"I doubt you can finish all this even if you don't pick at all."

"Haha, I still cannot believe you made all this!"

Lost for a split second, Erebus gave her another big smile: "Sure, why not!" Him ordering around Metis to make all kinds of food he assumed Kitty might like counts as "him making all this", right?

Kitty chuckled at his cute smile. She wanted to ask him to sit by her side because it would make sharing the food easier, but it was also a bit too intimate according to her judgement, now that she was not drunk anymore...

"How come you have SO many kinds of fruit here?" After a huge lunch, there was no way Kitty could finish that "assemble" of fruits.

"Well, it's a bar." Erebus just simply answered, shrugging his shoulder as if it was normal. It was NOT normal! He basically took all kinds of fruit he found at the grocery store just so that he could find out Kitty's preference on fruit without her noticing.

Watching him finishing the huge lunch, Kitty was a bit surprised at first, but on second thought, she HAD seen the huge wolf he shifts into, so it kinda makes sense that he eats huge meals. Whatever the case, Kitty was still secretly excited to share a meal with him like that. She got to pick what she liked, AND have a lot of different kinds at the same time without having to worry about not being able to finish.

Normally she was the one playing Erebus's part and eat after all her three siblings had done with their meal, and there often wasn't much left by then.

"Would you like to go out for a ride in the afternoon?" Erebus asked after they took the tray into kitchen.

"Sure, where to?" Kitty added the second half to try to make the "sure" not sound too hasty, but the fact was, she didn't care about "where to" at all, so long as it was with him.

I'm in trouble. Kitty thought to herself defeatedly.

She wanted to get back on her own feet, and she DID, except somehow it felt like she was standing in his palm where everything was perfect and happy.

"So, what do you protect people from? Crimes?" Kitty asked as they sit in the car.

"Haha, sure. Particular kinds of them." Erebus laughed.

"What kinds?"

"Supernatural kinds." Erebus grinned, waiting for her realization.

"You mean... like... witches?" Kitty hesitated.

"Yep. Witches, wizards, vampires, ghosts, they all exist." Erebus turned to look at her reaction, and unsurprisingly, she looked skeptical.

"They all found their own way of hiding, after the Dark Ages. It was hide or die. Some of them chose mountains, islands, sea. Places far far away from human, and others, they hide among them."

"Like you." Kitty nodded, "I never thought the legends were real. Thought they were just people's good wishes."

"Some of the legends are, haha. People tend to believe what they want to believe."

"I wish I can be part of this fascinating world too..." Kitty sighed, and all of a sudden she turned to Erebus with an appealing look: "Is it true that one turns into a werewolf if bitten by one?!"

"Hahaha!..." Erebus burst into laughter, "Sadly, those are one of the wishes."

"Ohh..." Kitty sighed again. Being a human had not been the best experience for her. She was only trying to survive without even knowing what for, but now after she witnessed an even bigger world, her poor human life was even sadder.

"Hey, it's okay. It's not ALL like the myths." Erebus patted on her head, "None of those creatures live forever, for starters. Death is not to be cheated. Life matters, and it's true to all kinds of creatures."

"Still, you are way too stronger for any human to be a match. I don't understand how you are the ones that had to go in hiding." Kitty shook her head.

"Exactly, WE went in hiding. Because even with a much weaker body, humans managed to kill, and even extinguish some number of, well, 'supernatural' creatures." When Erebus use his serious tone, it always has dominant in there even he didn't want to. He IS an alpha.

"Okay, MAYBE you cannot defeat human, and that's a maybe, but why are you protecting them, well, us?"

"Hmm, for one, we do see ourselves as human." Erebus chuckled and made a face, "At least the closest to human, comparing."

"Yep, because a lot of us also go out into the woods in the middle of the night and howl at the moon." Kitty nodded sarcastically.

"SOME might just do that! You never know." Erebus gave her a huge smile and make Kitty chuckled.

"Haha, fineee. What's reason number two?"

"Two, two is a more mysterious reason, one that I never really understood." Erebus held the reason in suspense, and was satisfied when he saw Kitty fixed her eyes on his in curiosity.

"What mysterious reason?"

"Why do people do good deeds." Erebus answered in such a serious tone that for a second Kitty couldn't even tell whether he was joking.

"What...?! How is that even a reason!" Kitty protested at his answer.

"You don't turn evil just because you can, or because the world wants you to. It's a choice, and the ones who controls their own lives, they choose." This time Erebus was dead serious, Kitty didn't even know whether she was convinced, or was just dominated by his Alpha scent.

They spent the whole afternoon together, driving around the city, and having coffee at random cafes that caught Kitty's eyes. Time flies when Erebus was around, and Kitty was trying really hard to not think about the coming evening.

"It's getting late. Almost six now." Erebus looked up at the dim sky.

"We should probably get going." Kitty agreed reluctantly.

"Hmmm, there's one more place I want to take you to before that." Erebus held his hand out to her as a request of her approval.

"Okay." Kitty took his hand and went towards the car. As if she could say no to anything he said when he gazes upon her with those ocean-like eyes.

They took a turn when they were almost back at the bar. Erebus explained when he saw Kitty's inquiring eyes: "It's not far from the bar. We chose the bar to be close to it actually."

It was a meadow.

A peaceful meadow by the edge of a dark woods, on a bluff that was right over the bar.

"We came here a lot. It would be too stuffy if we stay in the city all day long. That's why we need to choose places on the edge of the city." Erebus ran towards the woods, but stopped by its edge and turned to Kitty.

As a wolf.

Kitty was amazed at the scene, AND the fact that he really did come here, for FUN. He ran into the woods for a few minutes and returned soon, and stopped in front of Kitty and sit on his tail.

"So... This is your playground." Kitty was still a bit shock.

"Haha, yeah. This is ONE of our playgrounds. We need to train in woods, it's not like we can use human gym." Erebus laughed, and as a wolf, the laugh traveled FAR. It explained why they needed to have a "playground" way out and above the city. It would attract attention if too close to human.

Kitty didn't reply. She just stood there and looked at him, with her head tilted as if in deep thoughts.

Erebus got a bit nervous. He got carried away and too excited about showing her his favorite place to think what it means to her. This was a lot for her to take in and he had no idea what she would --

Kitty walked up to him and patted him on the head.

"You are a cutie. Thanks for sharing your home with me." Said that, she sit down by his side on the meadow and watched the sunset with him. They only came around twilight because it would be hard to spot a wolf's figure in that dim light, but it doesn't mean the orange shadow cast there wasn't the prettiest scene.

Erebus was struck frozen by her words, and it took him a few seconds to snap out of the nickname that he never thought of getting.

He lied down on his chest by her side, and let her lean on his furry shoulder with his tail on her as a cover. They just lied there in the twilight for a while without talking, enjoying the peaceful woods, and the sky afar turning from scarlet to deep blue.

He never knew the taste of being accepted fully without condition could be such a sweetness that was so intoxicating.

At her words, he felt his heart melted.