Strays: A Romantic Fantasy Adventure

Marisol sat at the table; her brow furrowed, slender fingers drumming against the surface, patience wearing thin. She watched the fox and angel as they stuffed food into their gluttonous mouths, the woman snatching from the man’s plate while still having food on her own. Every now and then, one would poke small morsels past her children’s lips as they sat there like greedy baby birds awaiting their next bite. This had become a recurring theme at every meal, and she had watched it every day for over a week now.

The jaguar couldn’t stand it another minute.

“Enough!” she snapped, her voice shrill, the pair across from her freezing like deer startled by a hunter. “All you two do is eat! Eat! Eat! Eat! And stuff my children full of food they don’t need! Then you go outside and fight! You throw your little weapons around at each other until you come back to eat more of my food! Put it down, Ren!”

The man quickly set the piece of toast that he had been slowly inching towards Luna’s mouth during the woman’s tirade back onto the plate, and folded his hands neatly. The baby reached her chubby arms out and began to fuss. Ren grabbed the toast and handed it to her, returning his hands to folded as Luna cooed and waved her prize around.

The woman stood and glowered down at them, barely containing her fury as the honey of her eyes boiled. “You two are children! You’re worse than children! You’re children in grown bodies! Useless! You’re useless! You two will get out of my house right this instant and go hunt enough meat for a year, and then come back and salt and smoke it all! Do you understand?”

The pair nodded. They were in no position to argue.

“Good! Go! Now! And leave those ridiculous weapons! You’ll ruin all the good meat using those useless things!”

The two stood and made their way to the door. Sakura quickly scampered out, having enough sense not to further infuriate the woman with whose house they were staying in, while Ren paused in the doorway and looked back at Marisol.

“In another life,” he said, voice serious and eyes without humor. “You should consider marrying my uncle. You two were made for each other. Always telling me what to do.”

“Out!” she screamed, the last sliver of her tolerance erupting as she threw a spoon at the door just as it slammed shut. The jaguar demon smoothed her jet-black hair and floral dress while taking a few deep, composing breaths before turning to Ivy and Zero who were standing in the kitchen washing dishes, neither having moved a muscle since the beginning of Marisol’s outburst. “When you two are done,” she stated as calmly as she could manage. “I’d appreciate it if you would go to the grocer and get salt for the meat. I don’t have enough for the bounty that better be bestowed upon me. Honestly, I have no idea how you both tolerate such foolishness every day.”

“We would be happy to do that for you,” Ivy chirped, returning to the dishes without question as Zero followed suit.

“I wanna go, too!” Jose cheered, bouncing up and down on his chair.

“You don’t need to,” Marisol told him, hints of irritation still tinged in her voice. “You can stay here.”

“If you’d like, we can take Jose and Luna with us,” Ivy carefully offered, wanting to be on the woman’s good side. They had more than likely already overstayed their welcome, and Ren and Sakura weren’t exactly being helpful in keeping the peace. It would be up to the girl to smooth things over.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course!”

The tired mother barely thought twice about it. “That would be lovely. Thank you.”

Marisol helped wrap the fabric around Ivy and squeezed Luna against her back while Jose clawed and kicked his way to climb up Zero to sit on his shoulders. The woman happily waved them off, insisting they take their time.

The walk to town was short and filled with Jose’s happy chattering about everything he saw. Tiny fingers pointed at each house, the people walking by, the birds that flew above. They meandered through the town center, window shopping and buying a lollipop for the little boy which he promptly chomped down on, gobbling the shards of sugar quickly, and then wailed about the loss of his tasty treat.

Despite his best efforts, he didn’t receive another.

“Can we go there?” Ivy asked, pointing at a small bookstore. She realized she hadn’t even started to read the books that she had gotten when she met Zero and Ren. The days had become so much more hectic that she hadn’t even thought to pull them out of her bag and begin a single one. She didn’t have any to trade, but she managed to scrounged up enough coin over time to buy one. And certainly, one more book couldn’t hurt. After all, there were four of them now, and she only had three books. It would be unfair to someone to not have enough for everyone.

Zero nodded and they entered the store. It wasn’t much, and there weren’t many shelves but each one was jam packed with books, some new but mostly old. The girl’s face lit up at the sight, as if it really were something magnificent and worth being excited about.

Jose clambered to get down and Zero helped him to the floor. The small child attempted to rush ahead, ready to grab at any and everything, but the devil tweaked his ear before he could get far.

“You can’t run,” he told the boy softly. Jose nodded and grabbed onto the devil’s hand that had been extended to him.

“Do you like to read?” Ivy asked as they began to browse the aisles. She assumed he did. They had met in a bookshop after all. Why would someone be there if they didn’t?

“I do,” Zero answered without having to give it any real thought. “Ren taught me.”

“Sakura taught me. What do you like to read?”

Zero’s eyes ran along the multitude of worn spines, reading their fading titles. “Anything.”

She peered up at the preoccupied devil and smiled. “Can I pick something for you? I should have just enough to be able to get one.”

It was an offer that took him by surprise, and his first instinct was to reject it and insist the girl buy one for herself. It was her coin, and it was obvious that she had been looking forward to getting one. But as he turned his attention to Ivy, her violet eyes teeming with hope, all he could muster was a nod in agreement. The smile on her lips curved even higher, informing the boy that he had made the correct choice, as she set off with a dozing Luna in search for the perfect book.

No longer interested in studying the books before him, the devil watched as Ivy pulled title after title, reading it only for a minute or two before sliding it back into its spot. Zero liked watching the constant changing of expressions on her face; interest, expectation, disappointment, irritation, determination. How they came and went freely, a visual representation of all the many emotions that the girl constantly filtered though. He liked how her body flowed effortlessly; her legs crisscrossing delicately as she made her way further down the row, her arms reaching above her with the fluidity of water before pulling them back towards her chest, fingers that slipped through the pages of each book she claimed. The way her head tilted to the side, eyelids narrowing slightly. Her lips as they moved silently with the words she read; soft, full, and rosy.

“Zero?”

The devil blinked, the spell broken, and looked down at the little boy who had grabbed a brightly colored picture book and was holding it up to show off. Jose had been so quiet that Zero hadn’t even noticed that the child had been scouring the shelves in search of something as well.

“Would you like that?”

The boy nodded excitedly with a toothy grin. “Uh huh. Can I get it?”

Zero looked back at Ivy who was still looking for the right book for him. They only had enough for one, and he did want the book that she would end up choosing.

He really wanted it.

Maybe next time.

“Ivy.”

She turned to the devil, book opened in her hands.

“Can we get this one?” He motioned his chin towards Jose who quickly pulled away from him to run up to the girl and jump up and down at her feet in order for her to better view his precious find.

Ivy looked between Zero and the boy, her face lighting up in such a tender and beautiful way that it made him forgot all about the book he didn’t receive.

The devil seemed to be doing a good job in making the right choices that day.

“Of course!” she sang and returned the one she had.

They paid for Jose’s book and got the salt Marisol asked for before heading back to the house. The child couldn’t contain his joy as he rushed through the front door and showed his mother his new treasure.

“Aren’t you so lucky!” Marisol beamed at the small jaguar.

Jose nodded and ran to Zero who was pulling Luna from the wrap around Ivy. He tugged on the devil’s shirt, looking up at him with big, honey eyes. “Will you read to us?”

“I can do that,” he agreed, and the child grabbed his hand, pulling him to the main room. Zero sat cross legged on the floor, sitting Luna in his lap as Jose crawled in next to her. Taking the book, he opened it and read to them; pointing to the pictures and answering the little boy’s questions every time he interrupted.

Ivy stood at the counter, humming and cutting potatoes for supper, glancing up at the three every now and then. A hip swung against hers, taking her by surprise, and the girl turned towards Marisol, the woman giving her a look that spoke so much louder than words ever could as she walked by to the other end of the kitchen. The heat rose to her cheeks and Ivy quickly looked down, trying to conceal the smile she was unable to suppress.