The man first brought Iris to the guard house of the compound by which she'd had her confrontation with the boy. The guard smiled at her, calling her cute and adorable, but they said they knew of no one owning such a pet here, but the man should ask the compound manager to make sure. She knew all the pets held in this place.
The man thanked them and called the manager. She asked him about the breed and how she looked, but upon hearing it, she said that there was no such pet registered in her books.
"I see, thanks. I'll be bringing it to my apartment then, until I can find whose lost it."
"Okay, I'll register that, Mr. Sulloven. Have a nice day."
"Thanks."
With the call ended, Iris yawned, then glanced at the man. Poor guy really thought he could find her owner… She shook her head, pitying him. So much wasted effort. She was a girl just this morning, so could she have an owner.
"Seems like you'll be coming with me for the time being," he said after putting away his phone. "I hope you like cats, since Lucy is waiting for me at home."
Iris closed her eyes once again. It was so warm in his embrace that she couldn't be bothered to pay attention to much else. She wondered if it was because she was now inhabiting a baby creature's body, but the warmth put her to sleep like a drug. It was almost impossible to keep her eyes open.
Yet their journey was soon over. Not five minutes later, they went through the door of his apartment, and he put her down on the couch.
Iris rolled on her side, eyeing him with annoyance. 'I was sleeping,' she told him in a whine which was actually a quite loud yipping noise. Sighing at her weird voice, she closed her eyes, planning to fall asleep again.
Before she could do so, though, there was a loud hissing by her side. She jumped to her feet, looking around in fright. On the other side of the sofa, there was a pile of black hair, which moved.
She took a few steps back, wondering what the hell was that thing. Was the man some wizard? She quickly took a look at him, but he didn't seem to be casting any spells, simply standing nearby, watching her.
Puzzled, Iris straightened up and took a better look at the hairball. When it moved again, she finally saw a pair of dark blue beady eyes. Their owner hissed again, revealing more of its face.
'It's a cat!' Iris exclaimed in her head. It looked like nothing she'd ever seen before. There were no legs, body, or ears—just a pile of long hair. Interested by this weird creature, she went closer and sniffed it.
The cat snorted, and from out of nowhere, a paw came flying over. Iris tried to dodge it, but she was too slow and her little head was hit by the gigantic mace.
"Lucy!" the man shouted out, grabbing Iris before the cat could do any more harm. "Crazy cat," he muttered with a touch of anger. He then stroked Iris' head, his voice apologetic when he spoke up again. "Sorry about that. He's usually grumpy, but not this much. I've never seen him attack anyone before. I didn't think…"
The man shook his head and brought Iris to the kitchen. While holding her in one hand, he opened the refrigerator and looked through what's inside. "You think you're old enough to eat meat?"
Iris glanced at him, wide-eyed. She really hoped he meant cooked meat. As hungry as she was, she didn't think she was ready for something so drastic. It was a bit too out there for her just yet.