Dead by Midnight

TEN

Kit stares at the large bouquet of flowers sitting on top of his counter. The vibrant red colors were a striking contrast to the rest of this house's warm brown colors. He couldn't help but to touch a primrose, wondering just where Pierre managed to get one of these since the flower shop didn't have any.

Either way, he was pleased with the gift. There were primroses, tulips, a peony here and there, some roses... all bunched up together, not really in an appeasing manner, but that just goes to show how cute Pierre was when he's clumsy.

Now that he thinks about it, didn't Aria say that every flower has a meaning to them? Maybe Kit was overthinking it. Pierre didn't seem like the type of know flower meanings.

Kit hears a tap against the wooden floors and guttural snarl echoing throughout the living room. Skipper kept marching around his legs, trying to get a closer look at those flowers. He doesn't like them.

In fact, as soon as Pierre came to deliver them, Skipper all but ran forward in such an aggressive manner to viciously tear into Pierre.

Kit started rambling in apology about his behavior and thought Skipper actually bit him, but to his surprise, Pierre snatched him up by the back of his neck nonchalantly and looked down at the tangled mess of knots. All Skipper could do was let out a meek bark and squirmed around in Pierre's hold, clearly uncomfortable.

Honestly, maybe it's because he's never owned a dog before, but are they usually this aggressive?

"Stop that," Kit hisses, trying to move Skipper away from the area. "I saw you trying to jump up here. I don't know what you're thinking, but these flowers aren't meant to be eaten. Your food is down there."

Skipper keeps tapping against the floor until he's practically dragging his sharp claws, nearing tearing into them.

Kit immediately clapped his hands. Skipper stopped, not pleased, but listened anyways.

"If you're going to act like this then you need to go outside. I can't have you scratching up the place just because you don't like flowers, Skipper."

It's going to be a pain having to train Skipper, but this is what he signed up for when he took this dog in. He'll have to do it as soon as he can though since his uncle might just make him throw Skipper out once he sees this dog's behavior.

As soon as Kit opened up the door to let Skipper out, he nearly jerked back in surprise at a sudden visitor.

A young woman, probably around her early twenties with long brown hair and green eyes. There were freckles littering across his cheeks and nose, and she had on layers upon layers of clothing. Despite the chilly weather, Kit was sure he'd be the one sweating if it were him.

"I-I'm so sorry," she stammers. "I was about to knock..."

"Oh, no. You'll have to excuse me, I was just about to let my dog-"

Skipper takes off without another word and dashes into the trees, hardly caring about the new visitor.

Kit frowns. If Pierre came over, Skipper would try to attack. Was his dog playing favorites?

The woman hurriedly greets, "I'm Monica Watts. I live in the other part of town, b-but I heard that you have... um... are able to help people?"

Kit pauses.

He's been here for a few months already, and the townspeople are still cold to him due to his status as a newcomer. If it weren't for the fact that he was Adeline's grandson, hardly anyone would bat an eye to his existence, or they'd look at him with hostility. Mayor Declan was right about these people being wary of strangers, but he didn't know if their feelings could grow to resentment.