Rose helped around the kitchen, chatting happily with Fiora as she cooked dinner. She was worried. She had upset Kyle with her question and he'd gone into his room and she'd not seen him for quite some time. She distracted herself with her chore of cooking but as it ended and she'd not seen him yet, she berated herself for her words.
He had to have had a family at some point, she thought. There could be no other explanation for the house.
The situation that bothered her the most was the question: Where is his family now? She left Rose to finish the job of plating the food and made her way upstairs, stopping outside his doorway. It was quiet, the sound of his heavy, rhythmic breathing picked up by her keen ears. She knocked lightly on his door. No response. She tried the door handle and the knob turned easily. He hadn't left his door unlocked before.
Opening the door, she gasped. Kyle was shirtless on the bed, the scars along the right side of his body visible in the dying light of the late afternoon sun. His dresser, chest, and nightstand were littered with newspapers and old mail, very similar to how the house had been prior to her cleaning. A computer desk sat in the near corner, opposite the bed, with a large laptop and printer.
Fiora quietly walked over to the bed, looking down at Kyle. The scars were old, running from his mid-ribs down into his pants line. She leaned over and gently shook him, carefully perching on the edge of the bed to reach him. He rolled over onto his left side, grumbling in his sleep. As he did, a framed picture of a woman and a small child came into view.
Fiora gingerly picked the picture up and scooted up onto the bed, settling in behind Kyle's sleeping form. Looking at the picture, the first thing to catch her eye was the child's blue eyes, a reflection of her master's. The woman, brown-haired, sat behind the child cradling her in her lap.
This must be his family, she thought.
As she sat pondering the picture, lost in thought, she didn't notice that Kyle had woken up and rolled over facing her back.
"What are you doing in here?" he asked, before spotting the picture frame in her hands as she turned.
His eyes dropped and a heavy sigh resounded from his chest.
Mistaking his features for anger, she quickly hugged the picture frame to her chest. "I am sorry, master. I came to wake you up for dinner and you were laying on this."
Kyle looked up at her. "It's OK, Fiora. I'm not mad at you. It's just..."
She pulled the picture frame down away from her chest and looked at it again. "This is your family, is it not?"
"Yes. It was."
"Where are they?"
"They died two years ago."
She hugged the picture frame back to her chest again. Her voice sounded small when she spoke again. "What happened to them?"
Kyle sighed and sat up. "There was a car accident." He reached out and gingerly took the picture from Fiora, looking at it. "We were on vacation in New York and we got sideswiped by a drunk driver."
Fiora looked down over his scars again. "That is why you are scarred?"
Kyle looked down, following her line of sight. "Yeah. We were hit on the passenger side of the car. I was driving."
Fiora looked down, feeling tears coming to her eyes. "I am sorry about your family, Kyle."
He sighed again. "I am too." He stood up, placing the picture down on top of a stack of newspapers on the opposite bedside table. He walked around and picked his shirt up off the ground, swinging it around his back and buttoning it back up.
Fiora hopped off the bed as well, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I came to get you because dinner is ready, master." She bowed and moved to exit the room.
Kyle reached out and grabbed her arm as she passed, pulling her into a hug as he pressed his face down into the top of her head. She resisted at first, caught off guard by the sudden movement. She relaxed though as she realized he was simply hugging her and meant her no harm. She returned the hug, enjoying the feeling of being close to him with no reservations.
Kyle cleared his throat and released her from the hug, his eyes moist as she looked up at him. "OK," he said, his voice cracking, "Let's go down and have dinner."
As he turned to leave, Fiora grabbed his arm. He turned back to face her and found her face scrunched up. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"I had another reason for coming up here and I was wondering if you would talk to me for a moment." she said, her facial expression still worried.
"Sure. What's on your mind?" he said, moving back over to the bed to sit down.
She moved over and sat down beside him sighing. "I am going to be going into my heat cycle soon, master."
"OK." he said, unsure where she was going with this, "Is this something I need to be worried about?"
"No. No." she said quickly shaking her head, "It is an issue that all Neko who have reached breeding age go though."
Kyle nodded his head, still not understanding.
"I was just wondering if you could help me take care of it when it happens." she stated, her ears drooping lightly.
"Ummm, I guess I can."
He waited for a moment, watching her reaction. When she said nothing, he added, "What is it you'll need help with?"
"I will need..."
Her voice trailed off and she turned her head away from him, her ears dropping down against her head. He lightly put a finger on her chin, turning her head back in his direction.
"You can tell me, can't you? He said smiling, "What is it, Fiora?"
"Your seed!" she blurted out, her ears moving to lay back against her head even more tightly, suddenly angry, "I need your seed."
Kyle's face flushed a bright red as Fiora jerked away and turned away from him. She stood up and paced over to the far side of the room next to his computer desk.
"I don't understand what you're asking." he finally said, trying to calm her.
Fiora turned sharply, her face stained with tears. "I need you to lay with me and give me your seed."
Her voice was breaking as she spoke. "The last time I went through my heat cycle, when I was out, I almost broke when I smelled a human nearby. I almost offered myself to him to break my cycle."
