Today, Erebus had gotten an absolutely fascinating book from the library, and was at a chapter that dealt with Japanese fox-witches-- there were apparently two different kinds of fox-witches, kitsune-mochi and tsukimono-suji. He was especially fascinated by the latter, because hereditary fox-witches that had foxes that served their family for generations...
His ears perked up, catching the sound of delicate nibbling. It was getting closer and closer, and a small smile flitted across his face. If his hypothesis is correct, the origin of the sound was probably due to the trail of treats he had led right up to where he’s seated.
The nibbling suddenly stopped and he frowned, lowering his book carefully to stare down at the treats. There was only one left, and it was untouched. The bakekitsune was nowhere in sight, and Erebus sighed, bending down to pick that treat up when he suddenly felt soft tails brush his shoulder.
Well. He immediately froze upon that touch, willing himself to calm down.
Erebus had done this a couple of times in the past, but never managed to get the enigmatic bakekitsune he had seen lurking around to stay. Upon Tomoko's suggestion of FEAR treats, it seemed as though he had seen her more often, but he still wasn't quite sure it would tame the minipet.
All he wanted to do was to make friends with the creature. Wasn't it lonely? He hadn't seen any other bakekitsunes besides it.
With a deep breath, he steeled himself and slowly turned, to see the orange bakekitsune perched upon the sofa, staring at him as she swished her tails.
"Woah." He had never seen her this close before. "Uh, hi there! I'm Erebus."
She merely tilted her head, but he noticed that her red eyes had then traveled downwards to his book. The bakekitsune delicately hopped down onto his leg, pawing at the cover curiously.
"Wow, so you're interested in books too, huh?" Erebus grinned, slowly lifting up the book and turning it over so that she could see the words inside. "It's about kitsunes like you, I guess! Sort of." Could minipets even read? She certainly seemed intelligent enough, staring intently at his book.
Or maybe she just liked how words looked.
He lifted up the book to continue reading, because he really was quite intrigued, and she leaped up to the sofa once again. Next thing he knew, she was at his shoulder, staring down as he read.
...It was nice. He certainly hadn't expected this, but it was nice to have found a reading companion in a minipet.
He was absorbed in the book once more, flipping page after page and devouring the information hungrily. They would have sat there, without any interruption, if his stomach hadn't growled and he looked up from his book sheepishly. "Oh wow, it's late, huh?"
Carefully, Erebus got up from his seat, the bakekitsune leaping off his shoulder onto the floor, and staring quizzically up at him. "Sorry, I've got to get something to eat. See you tomorrow, then?" He bent down, wondering if he could pet her.
This time, she didn't run away like she did in the past, and merely blinked up at him as he patted her and scratched gently behind her ears. Tomoko's bakekitsunes had mostly been extremely friendly, and it seemed as though this girl was warming up as well, thankfully.
He had only taken a few steps out the door of the common room, book tucked under an arm, when he picked up the sound of tiny pawsteps behind him. Erebus merely shrugged and made his way to the cafeteria, but he could have sworn it was still following him.
No way though. Why would she be--
He turned, and found his shoulders slumping as he caught sight of a gnome who only glared back at him.
So much for getting his hopes up. He supposed he shouldn't have anticipated much. Erebus found himself sighing as he pushed through the cafeteria doors. Oh well. It wasn't exactly a surprise, not when he knew how enigmatic she was.
After a quick meal; that mostly involved sitting in a corner and reading as he shoveled spoonful after spoonful in his mouth, it was time for him to head back to his dorm room. Just another day in the usual life of Erebus, the middle Cerberus brother.
He had reached his door and was about to unlock it when he heard something. Probably just another student. Someone making noise in their room, no doubt.
It was a lonely night of reading, and then dozing off at his study table because he had just been that engrossed in reading. It didn't happen every night; sometimes Erebus had the sense to drag himself to bed before he conked out entirely, but sometimes, like now?
He woke up with a headache, wincing, but that really was the least of his surprises for the day. Erebus had no time to massage his head to alleviate the pain, because right in front of him was the orange bakekitsune, curled up and asleep on his book.
"Wh...what?" After a moment of surprise, he finally collected himself.
It took a few days before Erebus realized that the bakekitsune was here to stay in his room, and named her Lady, a name which she seemed to like.
And the both of them weren't so lonely anymore.
