What it Means to Have You

What Hurts the Most

Nagol

Watching the boy's face change into one of sadness at my words pulled at my heart. Someway, somehow, Kine had gotten the kid to like him. It had to have been just to try to save himself, though. There was no way such a cold-blooded monster would willingly act as a pet to a human boy unless it benefited him greatly. Smiling at the kid, I lifted my hand from Kine's fur and offered it to him. We shook, and he sniffled, then got himself together and forced a smile.

"My name's Nagol."

The boy answered quickly with his own name, "Miguel."

I nodded, returning my hand to Kine's fur, feeling him tense beneath my touch.

"How do I go about adopting him?"

Miguel's cheeks reddened slightly as he got himself up and I followed to my own feet. "Right this way," he mumbled quietly, tugging on the leash around Kine's neck to get him moving toward the large table set up by the Humane Society's van. The woman at the table wore a name tag with Anna written on it. Since Miguel suddenly seemed to get tongue-tied at the table, I smiled at the woman sitting down behind it and spoke. "I'd like to adopt this boy. How do I go about that?"

Anna's face lit up as she sifted through a small stack of papers, then presented me with one that had Kine's name on it as Kind. It showed that he had gotten all of his shots and was clear of worms and fleas. As I read over the details, a finger suddenly appeared, pointing to one part that had been circled in pen.

"He still needs to be fixed, so his adoption fee will be one hundred fifty instead of just fifty, but when you bring us proof from a veterinarian that he's been neutered, we will refund one hundred dollars."

"That sounds fair enough," I replied, glancing down at Kine with a smirk before returning my attention to Anna. She had a new paper out and was sliding it across the table to me along with a pen.

"Please fill out this form. Once you're done, we can schedule a home check and payment."

I nodded, leaning over to fill in each blank with my personal information. After about ten minutes, I had it all done and slid it back across the table with one hundred fifty dollars in cash. Anna took the money and went over the form, then glanced at the spot that had asked what I would like to name my new pet.

"Kine? That's pretty close to what Miguel picked out for his name."

"Yeah, I figured it would work best since it's close and half the time when people say kind, it comes out more like kine anyway."

She laughed and signed her name at the bottom of the adoption form, then looked up at Miguel, who had said nothing during the entire process. "Miguel?" Anna tried, getting the kid to at least look up and meet her eyes. "Would you like to do the home check?"

Miguel shrugged, then mumbled out a quiet "Sure."

With that confirmation, Anna looked back up at me. "Do you have a specific time that would work well for a quick visit?"

I glanced at my watch, noting that it wasn't even three yet.

"Right now would actually work if he'd like to come check out my apartment. It's one of the three-story buildings a few blocks north."

Miguel seemed to look in the direction I meant before turning toward me and looking at Anna. "I can go right now. That's not very far."

"I actually walked here, too, so we can just walk there and he can check out whatever he needs to," I added.

Anna seemed perfectly content with that and quickly shooed us away to do the home check as she got ready to help the small line of people that had built up behind us. I let Miguel walk Kine as we headed for my place, the cool afternoon air chilling my skin just enough to be comfortable while under the sun. As we walked, I noticed the strong smell of smoke clinging to his body and also realized that his hair and clothing were mussed. Almost as if he hadn't slept since the day prior. Curiosity had me yearning to ask, but common courtesy kept my lips sealed.