Chapter 16: food for life
Author: hahahahahahahaha You… you… ha… nearly died 'cause of a stupid '80s show! Hahaha!
Vira: with a dark face Shut it! You are the one…
Author: Well, well, don't mind that. You lived, didn't ya?
While the two girls were enjoying the thrill and excitement caused by the card revelation, uncaring that there was an intruder inside the house,
Vira was drinking the milk from the ground along with Woof.
The warm milk traveled through their throats and into their stomachs, warming them.
Feeling the warmth churning inside him, Vira wanted to just lay on the marble and sleep.
But he forced his drowsiness down forcefully because Viper was still unconscious. So, he slapped his soft cheeks and tried to scoop up the milk with his hands, hoping to gather it and feed Viper so it could be full. But unfortunately, the milk scattered on the floor was only a thin layer at this point.
No, it wasn't that it was a minuscule amount—it was more than enough, even to feed Vira for a few more days.
It was just that the smooth marble did not have any place for the milk to gather, so it had spilled all over it.
This was not a hurdle, as Vira had already thought of a few ways to feed Viper. So, he took off one of the clothing layers on his body and then soaked it with the milk.
After completely soaking it in the milk, he tried to squeeze the milk into Viper's mouth, but his minuscule strength was not that useful.
He could let Woof do it, but it would have just spilled on the floor.
Unable to take the easy way, he simply knelt to suck the milk, and when he had enough, he opened both Viper's and his own mouth wide and let the white, sticky substance—now mixed with his saliva—flow into Viper.
He continued to feed Viper until he heard a faint voice in his head:
"No… no more!"
And…
"Sleepy…"
This continued until he finally stopped feeding Viper milk.
Hearing this voice made Vira feel relieved, and at the same time, his sleepiness started to kick in.
He had been awake far beyond the time he normally slept.
So he asked Bella if there was a place he could sleep, to which Bella responded by asking him to follow. She led him to what looked like a dog's bed.
Seeing the warm cushion, Vira let Woof put him in and fell fast asleep, ignoring the fur laced on the pillow, which would soon be all over him as he slept.
After putting Vira on the bed, Woof and Bella looked at each other for a long time until Bella finally broke their staring contest and got into the bed where Vira was. Vira, still half-asleep, instinctively moved his hands up, trying to pull Bella into his arms.
As for Woof, unlike Viper and Bella, who liked being in Vira's presence, he seemed satisfied just knowing where Vira was.
So he wandered around the room for a while before leaving through the dog hole.
He came back multiple times throughout the day, and when the sun started to set, Woof also came near the bed and slept beside it.
As the night went by and morning came every one woke up but there was a child still fast asleep
Vira was sleeping inside the dog bed, which was far more comfortable than the pile of clothes he had previously slept in. Even when he woke up at noon and got out of it, it was still warm.
A home cared for by humans was much more comfortable than the house abandoned by its master. That place was cold and repulsive, not just physically but also mentally.
Having lived there for weeks, Vira felt like it was getting inside his head, making him more and more depressed. If not for Viper's constant comfort and companionship, who knows—he might have even lost the will to live.
But here, it felt great. The warm, cozy room and the snow-covered scenery, which had haunted him in past days, now looked so comforting.
Naturally, it wasn't as if the world remained unmoved while he was sleeping—he was not that great of an entity.
During the time he was asleep, or in the morning, the little girl had come by a few times. Even Bella had to be washed multiple times because they thought she had run outside again to play, judging by the stink.
Poor Bella, who had to be washed just because of Vira's stench.
And truth be told, the stench wasn't something anyone could endure. It had been fine in the cold, but now, in the warmth of the room, the scent was overwhelming.
Because of the cold and the fact that he was still a baby, Vira's poop had been more like a bird's. Due to the freezing temperatures, it hadn't been much of an issue. However, along with the smell of countless trash piles he had dragged himself through, the wet clothes stained with milk he had worn for weeks, and the stench he had picked up from Woof, the combined odor was horrific.
Especially now that the only favor the cold had given them—masking the smell—was lost after entering the warm house.
Fortunately for my nose, Vira also noticed the stench and let Bella guide him to the bathroom. He bathed in the shower alongside Woof, who was there to open the tap. Well, that, and because Vira had pulled him in, convinced that Woof was the one smelling bad.
After bathing for a while, they got out. Unfortunately, they had no access to shampoo, soap, or any proper cleansing agent, so they weren't exactly clean. Vira also took his clothes and diaper into the shower, soaking them completely. Since he was just a baby, he simply threw them in the trash and went commando.
Luckily, after wandering around naked for a while, he spotted a girl's dress lying on the floor. It just so happened to fit him, so he put it on.
Soon, as Vira crawled toward the room where he had slept, he encountered Bella—who had ran away after woof turned the water on probably traumatized being washed multiple times by its owner. Bella was puzzled to see Vira wearing her clothes and, more surprisingly, how he had managed to put on that uncomfortable dress all on his own.
But Bella didn't leave it at that. She came closer to Vira and started pushing her body against him, much to his annoyance. Crawling was already a challenge for him, and now this clingy cat was making it even harder. Vira reprimanded Bella, which made her a bit sad, but he didn't care.
He walked into the room and climbed onto the bed, hoping to fall asleep. Maybe it was because he was finally full and comfortable, or maybe it was because his and Viper's survival no longer felt like the endless struggle it once had.
He couldn't fall asleep, even in the comfy cushion of the dog bed, so he got lost in his thoughts. In his dazed state, a question popped into his head, one he didn't care to keep inside. Turning toward Woof, who was shaking like crazy, Vira asked:
"Where did you live before? Huh, you say your home was the house I was in? Then why weren't you there for half a month? Oh, Andrew kicked you out, why?"
Vira paused, then continued, almost absentmindedly, "Sorry about that, I guess it's because of me—pregnant women get allergic to everything. By the way, how was Andrew before I was born? Must've been as irresponsible as he is now."
He went on, lost in his own thoughts. "Oh, you say he changed after your mistress didn't come? He even stopped feeding you, so you had to come here to get food? So you left the doghouse he built for you..."
Vira furrowed his brow as he thought more. "He went crazy after his wife died, huh? No wonder the woman didn't come to my rescue. She must've been a hired caretaker. But still, leaving behind the only child his wife left him... that's not good."
after this conversation vira finally fell asleep