The Mask Man In The Woods

26.

CHAPTER | TWENTY-SIX

I stared at Tristian with a raised brow as he crouched down in front of me, a small black kitten in his hands.

"You got me a cat?" I asked for the tenth time since he brought it.

Tristian held the small paw of the kitten and waved at me. "Yes," He cooed, surprising me at how... soft and gentle he was with a thing that only fit into the palm of his hands, "I have a cat who just gave birth to five, so I figured you could have one."

I blinked. "Wait, you have a cat? Since when?"

Tristian sat on his knees and brought the kitten to his chest, letting it reach up to claw at his chin that was protected by the mask so he didn't try to push it away. "I found her not too long ago. She was hurt, so I nursed her back to health and she just stayed with me."

I hummed and looked down at the pictures I had been rummaging through. Another long week had passed and while I still went to look for Drakon with that horrible cold, the storm was bad and lasted all through last night and this morning. I tried to go, but after almost being killed by a tree falling after it had been struck by lightning, Tristian took me home. He promised he would go on with search as he was, in his words though he almost fell off a cliff twice, "more careful".

I stared down at the baby pictures of Drakon who smiled at the camera or looked close to bursting into tears as he was held to be still for the picture. I wanted to smile but kept a frown on my face.

"I can't have a cat right now. The poor thing would probably starve here." I added, stacking up the pictures to tuck away in the box.

Tristian looked down at the kitten who was curling itself up, yawning as it laid its small head on Tristian's wrist.

"How could you say no to this?" Tristian asked, his voice low so as not to disturb the kitten.

As I sat there, staring at Tristian look down at the sleeping kitten, my heart fluttered. My weakness was men who adored their pets, who would do whatever it took to make them comfortable and safe. And right now, Tristian was making me feel weak as he brought the kitten closer to his chest, letting it rest on his chest as he shushed the kitten who meowed in protest at having been moved.

I sighed in defeat and averted my eyes. "Fine. I'll take the cat."

Tristian looked up, his chest moving as he spoke and the kitten looked up with narrowed eyes. "Really?"

I nodded and grimaced when the kitten turned to me, its ears up as it stared at me with his green-yellow eyes.

"Yes, so long as you help me take care of..." I trailed off as I tried to think of a name when Tristian beat me to it.

"I call him Tom. If you want to change the name, that's okay."

"Tom it shall be." I declared after giving it some thought.

Tristian seemed excited as he raised the kitten to his face, gloved hand gently stroking Tom's head. "You hear that, bud? You made Varia a cat mom!"

I chuckled and Tom meowed before hopping off of Tristian's hand and gracefully landing on his paws. He stretched, arching its back before looking around his new surroundings.

"Tom is very friendly, unlike his siblings," Tristian spoke making me tear away my eyes from Tom to glance at him, "He follows me everywhere and likes to wake me up bright and early."

I groaned and looked back at Tom who was sniffing around the room. "Great. Just what I need. Another alarm clock."

Tristian chuckled and we both stood up after watching Tom jump into a box only to have him running out when he touched something that disgusted him.