It was another weekday. Dylan and Sherry were watching TV as usual. Dylan's eyes were glued onto the screen and Sherry was tapping away at her phone. Dylan didn't need translations anymore, so she didn't have to pay attention to what was going on on TV.
On the screen was a documentary about animals. Recently, Dylan had gotten hooked to them. He thought that the difference between the animals on Earth and Diva was interesting. Especially how tame and harmless some of them look. He especially loved the big cats, 'tigers' they called them. Their orange and black stripes, elegant walking and low growl was just so cute to him. They greatly resembled the werecats back at home though they were significantly weaker.
Dylan thought to himself. If a tiger were to appear in Diva, would it survive? The answer was unclear. Tigers were physically strong but they were not the strongest. A group of common villagers could easily hunt one down but they would usually leave the wildlife alone so intentionally subjugating the tiger was unlikely. Therefore, the survival of the tiger was unknown.
Dylan continued to watch the documentary on TV. They've been playing a lot of videos of african animals lately and Dylan's interest in them had also been perked.
"Hey, Sherry?" He gently nudged her with his elbow.
"Hmm?" Sherry looked up from her phone and looked at him. "What is it?"
"How far out from the city do you have to be to see the wildlife?" During his two weeks on Earth, Dylan quickly noticed that the forests were far unlike Diva where a round trip was a mere half day. It was hard to find big wildlife like boars and other the occasional stray could be seen around the place.
"Uh, I don't know?" Sherry held her chin and thought for a bit. "I think you'll have to go to rural areas where the wildlife live to see them. If we go hiking we might see some strange birds every now and then."
"What kind of birds?" Dylan asked curiously.
"Mmm, parrots, kookaburras, budgies?"
"We already see parrots and budgies everyday. They always perch on the fruit tree." Dylan laughed.
Sherry grinned and giggled. "You're right."
Dylan averted his attention back to the screen. His eyes glistened with interest as he watched the animals hunt for food.
"You wanna go to a zoo?" Sherry asked.
"Zoo?" The concept of zoo did not exist in Diva. The closest thing to a zoo was a display of unusual creatures that the idle rich would attend. The beast would all be tied up and released at an arena in a battle to the death.
"It's a place where all kinds of animals from all over the world are kept. Their treatment is different depending on their natural habitats and preferences. I think you'll like it." Sherry smiled and explained.
Dylan's eyes sparkled like a child's would to treats. He nodded his head and held Sherry's hands excitedly. "I would love to go!"
"T-then should we go tomorrow?"
Dylan visible looked disappointed. If he had dog ears and tails then they surely would have been hanging low at the moment. Dylan looked at Sherry with puppy eyes, they glistened with desire and longing.
"I-if we go today, it will be too late. Most of the animals would be asleep. Besides, wouldn't you prefer to be able to spend the whole day there rather than half a day?" Sherry steeled her heart and explained.
Dylan cast his eyes downward. He was thinking about it. "Alright." He said. He was watching TV again but somehow the image of a dog waiting despondently at the door for its owner overlapped with Dylan's. Sherry looked away, holding herself back from heading to the zoo at this late hour.
'Uuu~ those eyes should be illegal!' She complained in her heart. Sherry thought back to all the times Dylan used them on her: to go shopping together, to go for a walk together in the forest, for me to cook for him, to make me eat weird foods that turn out to be delicious, to apologise about making me eat strange foods, to apologise for teasing me and to...the list was endless.
But Sherry was also a guilty criminal. She too used those eyes on Dylan frequently. For example, just the other day, she used it to skip out on jogging and she also used them to get him to stay with her. There was also the occasions where he bought her food, accessories, clothes, and whatnot after being subjected by her puppy eyes.
"What kind of animals would you like to see?" Sherry asked Dylan in an attempt to transform his disappointment into anticipation.
"I would like to meet a tiger. They look very cute, just like you, Sherry." Dylan smiled and said.
"Wha- Are tigers cute?" Sherry decided that if she pursued each and every one of his flirty comments, there would be no end to it so she moved on.
"Yes, very much so. Their paws and the stripes running along their body. The fact that they are lazy most of the time but can attack at any given moment. I think it is all very cute."
"Hmm, your standards for cute are strange. But perhaps not so much due to how ferocious most monsters are." Sherry commented.
"What animals do you like?" Dylan asked.
"Personally, I think fennec foxes are very cute. Their long ears and the way they stack on each other like shelves, its just so cute." Sherry excitedly exclaimed. She searched up a photo of fennec foxes on her phone and showed them to Dylan. "See? Don't they look adorable?"
Dylan looked at Sherry rather than the phone. Her face was flushed with excitement and her lips curved with joy. Her dimples decorated her fair face and it just looked like everything was so bright and warm. "Yes, indeed." Dylan smiled and said. "Very adorable."