Be Free With Me

I let my eyes wander around the room that I'd been in so many times before, but never have I been here waiting with such an anxious look on my face, or worry filing my heart. I was jittery, my leg not able to stop itself from bouncing up and down.

When the door finally opened, I jumped up, seeing Coyotl there and smiling, lunching towards him. "Well, is he alright?" I asked. I must have been waiting out here for an hour.

Coyotl looked at me for a moment, before gesturing to the chair I had just risen from. "We'd better wit down." He said quietly, and closed the door behind him before I could look for the small kitten within.

I sat down, Coyotl sitting beside me and placing a comforting hand on my knee. "Dear Esseker." He began softly, putting his hand on my chin and forcing me to look at him. "You must remember, these kittens....all of these creatures, they're here for a reason; they escaped from a bad place or someone helped them leave a bad place. They.....some of the kittens have certain things that they don't like hearing certain things. There may have been something you said that offset him. When you talk to him, ask him about things that he doesn't like, so you can make sure not to harm him like this. He's really torn up inside, Esseker." He told me.

I nodded. "What happened to him?" I couldn't help but blurt out.

"I am not the one to tell you that. He can tell you if he wants. Now I'm going to let you go in that room, but...you have to be careful with him. He's really fragile now, and Esseker, if you do something that hurts him, I'll kill you." He said.

I nodded, and smiled softly, "Can I go in now?" I asked, and he nodded.

He got up and held open the door and I walked inside, Coyotl giving me a reassuring smile before closing the door and leaving me with Cualli.

I looked at the boy, his tear stained face looking meekly back at me.

"I'm so sorry about whatever I said." I spoke quietly, and he nodded, looking down at his hands.

"You can sit down now." He whispered quietly, but I remained standing.

"I really....I think I was just...I mean we've only known one another for less than a day, I was an idiot to make an assumption such as that. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions so fast." I said, shyly meeting his eyes.

He sighed looking at me, and got up, I flinched, as if he meant to harm me, but he merely took my hand in both of his, and tugged me towards the bed. Behind him, he pulled back the covers with his tail, and set down, scooching backwards so I could sit beside him.

I did, and he pushed me down so he could lay his head on my chest, his hands resting there as well. He used his tail to place my arms on his waist before settling it around himself like he'd done the night before.

For a few minutes we just laid there and then I looked down at him, but just as I went to open my mouth to speak, he was already talking.

"It's not any of that. You didn't make an assumption or a bad conclusion, you said what you felt, and I liked that." He said, whisper-soft.