Capítulo 10: King of Animals

Camille grabbed her blanket and placed it over Lyris' waist, realizing now that her sweater was not doing enough to cover him.

Lyris rolled his eyes at the extra coverage but didn't do anything to remove it.

"What are your plans now? What will you do now that you are free?"

He leaned back on his elbows, his flowing golden locks draping over the bed.

"I don't know. I've been living in the wild since I came down to earth, trapped in the body of a lion. I haven't been around modern civilization so much. I'm not sure how I'd even survive here. To be honest with you, I'm still getting used to have a human form again."

Lyris lifted his foot and started wiggling his toes and rolling his ankle.

A look of shock appeared across Camille's face.

"I'm surprised to hear that!"

He looked back at her with a confused look, "What do you mean? What are you surprised about?"

Camille awkwardly scratched the back of her head and walked over to her vanity chair, gently picking at the top of it.

"It's just that….you managed to figure out where I live, how to get inside the building, how to get inside my apartment, all of that, just fine. When I first moved here, it took me forever to figure all of that out, and even I forgot my address a few times. I lived here too! It's your first time here….right?"

Sudden panic and heightened confusion took over her.

Wait! Has he been here before? He is an angel, right?! Had he watched over her before like some sort of stalker?

'No way! Is he a creepy stalker angel?!' She screamed in her head as her thoughts started to consume her.

Lyris laughed and rolled his eyes as he let himself fall back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"Well yeah. I'm not stupid! It was pretty easy finding my way here. It is my first time here though. It's not bad, I have to hand it to you. Definitely beats the savannah and that nasty cage."

Camille stared at him confused, her face almost pleading for him to make sense of what he said, but he merely shrugged in response.

"Well, then, how did you do it? How'd you know where I lived? How did you get here?"

Lyris sat up again, this time sitting crisscrossed.

The blanket had started to slide off, and without missing a beat, he grabbed it and pulled it back over himself.

He made no acknowledgement to the blanket and Camille found her heart skipping a beat.

'For someone who made such a fuss about us humans being shameful about our bodies….he sure is being mindful to cover himself now. Is that for me? Is he doing it to be considerate of me?'

"I told you, I'm not stupid. I just figured it out, it really wasn't that hard. Anyways, can I stay here until I figure things out?"

Camille sighed and pulled out her vanity chair.

"Yes you can," she said as she sat down and rested her chin against its top, "It's my fault you're here anyways, in this city you don't know. My fiancé is the one who stole you from the wild too."

Lyris shrugged, "Yeah, but I didn't belong in the wild either. I'm not actually a lion you know."

Camille nodded, "I know, but he did also do that," she motioned to the small scars decorating Lyris' body, "and I just stood by and watched. I should take responsibility for that too. Let me make it up to you, since I couldn't protect you, and I couldn't stop him either."

She was tearing up just thinking about what he had been through, and the hand she played in it.

Lyris shook his head, "The injuries weren't a big deal. I'm not human. That kind of thing was really just a scratch anyways."

Camille stared up at him with teary eyes, "The look in your eyes seemed like it said otherwise."

His eyes widened, a light red hue coming over his face.

Quickly averting his gaze, he cleared his throat.

"Oh that? That was just because I was feeling cramped."

Lyris stretched his arms out as he stretched his entire body, groaning a bit as he did so.

"Man this feels good! That cage was so tiny, I had no room to stretch my muscles," he let out a blissful sigh, "It's great being out of that thing. You'd start to feel discouraged too if you couldn't stretch out."

She gave him a sympathetic look, her heart aching at the thought of how hard it must have been for him, "I'm sorry."

Lyris stood, wrapped the blanket around his waist as he approached Camille, and gently patted her on the head.

"It really wasn't your fault. I don't blame you for not standing up to him. You tried at first, most humans wouldn't even do that. You even did more than that! You let a wild, starving lion out of a cage with yourself locked inside with it! That was an incredibly stupid thing to do, but it was extremely brave! I'm impressed!"

A small smile appeared on Camille's face as she nodded shyly.

What he said was right. What other person would sacrifice themselves like that?

Her smile soon faded before she pursed her lips.

"I guess part of it was selfish though. I felt so guilty for not doing anything, I had to do it."

Lyris looked down at her and smiled before bending over and lifting her chin to look him in the eyes.

Staring into his smiling face so close, she felt a feeling of complete peace wash over her.

"Who would do that, even when they felt guilty? Most humans will just live with the guilt. You were one of the few that actually took action. You're a human, its in your nature to feel cowardice, and to make mistakes. You're now also making amends for that mistake and that cowardice. Don't beat yourself up so much over it."

A warm, fuzzing feeling, began to bloom deep inside Camille as he spoke. She felt like she could melt away into nothingness at any given moment, and she was grateful she was already sitting down in this moment.

"I'm grateful to you anyways. It's because of you that I'm finally in human form, although I'm not entirely sure why, or how that happened. Since before you had your tall buildings and your businesses, before you thought to hunt for sport, and before you wore clothes on your backs, I have been on this Earth. Not once, has this happened before. It must be because of you."

Camille nodded and sat up straight.

"I'm not sure what I did, nor am I completely confident that I did anything at all, but I will promise you this! I will take responsibility for you and teach you how to live with humans. You may live with me, housed, clothed and fed, but we will have to come up with some rules."

Camille tapped her index finger to her chin while in thought.

'What are rules to come up with? I've never lived with a man before…..'

"For starters, you can sleep in here, but you'll sleep on the floor!"

Sharing a bed with him was absolutely out of the question!

"Huh? Rules?! What does an angel need rules for? I understand back home, but here on Earth? You should all be bowing down to me! Or something like that…"

All those warm, fuzzy feelings Camille had been feeling drained out of her instantly.

"Bow down to you? What kind of angel has such a righteous outlook?"

Lyris shrugged, "The King of Animals. Don't you humans consider yourself as animals too? Superior ones? If that's the case, I'm even more superior than you!"

Camille scoffed and ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it back, "Oh great angel, Lyris. Please obey the rules that I have set in place, as the Empress of this apartment, I am above even the great superior King of Animals."

He stared at her with a blank look before bursting out into a fit of laughter.

"You're really funny! Okay, I will adhere to your rules, Empress of the Apartment. What is it you'd like to set into place after sleeping on the floor?"

A smile spread across her lips as she jumped up and held out her hand, "I'll have to think of other things, but you will follow what I decide?"

"As long as it's reasonable."

"Alright, deal!" She pushed her hand towards him, waiting for him to shake it.

Lyris placed one hand on his hip and grabbed her hand with the other, the blanket falling to the floor as he did so.

"Great! Deal!"

Camille gasped and covered her eyes, "First thing I'll do is go shopping for you tomorrow….you really need to be covered…."

PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES
Thalia_Ilace

Hello dear readers! What are you thinking of the story so far? Let me know your thoughts! I'd like to know how/if you're liking it! I'm throughly enjoying writing it. I look forward to hearing from you!

- Thalia

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