no_thief | (no subject)

"I thought I heard..." Felix trails off again, still poised and listening, before he turns to a line of cars parked on the side of the road.

Squeak. Squeak-squeak.

"That!" he hisses.

This time she hears it, and frowns.

In a whisper: "Is that an animal? It sounds like...."

It sounds like a very young animal.

"I don't know," he whispers back.

Squeeeeak.

Whatever it is, though, it sounds like it's coming from underneath a car just ahead of them. Felix begins to drift that way, mumbling a quick, "'Scuse me," as he crosses paths with another pedestrian; once he's there, he wipes off his hands on his knees, squats down, then realizes that's not going to work and rocks forward to kneel on the curb.

Kaya, meanwhile, glances around warily -- once -- and then crouches next to him.

"Do you see it?"

Felix practically has to turn his entire head upside-down, curls of hair threatening to dangle in the gutter, to get a good look under the car. What he sees isn't anything definitive: just a clear straight line of light divided in two by some kind of small, blobby shadow.

The shadow shifts. A car goes by, erasing the line of light for a split-second; Felix frowns, trying to scoot a little closer.

"I think so," he says --

And then he jumps back in surprise as two pairs of small, amber eyes reappear inches from his face, both of them blinking curiously.

"Move over," Kaya says, and flattens herself against the pavement to peer under the car.

There's another squeaking sound from the shadows. Kaya makes the sound back.

Obediently, Felix scoots aside. Once Kaya's settled, he leans his head around again -- albeit with a lot more caution than before -- to peer into the shadows.

They hold his attention until Kaya mimics the squeaks they've been hearing. He twists around enough to stare at her.

"You can understand them?"

...What? Magic exists in her world. Maybe that includes talking to animals.

"Not really," Kaya says, "but --"

The squeaking has redoubled, and the tiny shapes making the sound are moving forward to the edge of the car. She makes the noise back at them again.

"They're scared," she murmurs, "and lonely."

"I think..."

He's squinting again, reaching out with one hand to brace himself on the side of the car. Light catches on a patch of fur as the shapes move closer -- bright, orangeish-red.

With dawning awe, Felix whispers, "I think they're foxes."

He's never seen wild ones before; just photographs, or pictures in storybooks.

"Fox cubs," she agrees in a whisper, and leans closer.

"Hey," low and warm, "don't cry. Hey." The squeaking sound again, and then a coaxing tongue-click: tik-tik-tik. "Come on. Come out."

One of the fox cubs, braver than the other, puts its nose out into the daylight and whines at them insistently.

With dogs, Felix knows you're supposed to offer them your hand to smell. Should he do the same thing to a fox, or will it bite him?

Uncertain: "Should we call someone?"

They have people around here who take care of injured wild animals. But...the foxes aren't acting like they're injured. Just scared, like Kaya said.

Kaya gives him a blank look.

"Call someone?"

The words make sense, but she has no idea what he means.

"Yeah."

He'll skip the telephone explanation for now.

"They've got people who take care of wild animals if they're hurt, or if, um." Felix, mindful of the cubs, peeks under the car again. "You didn't see their mom or dad, did you?"

She shakes her head silently, and holds out a hand to the first cub; it sniffs her fingertips, and squeaks plaintively again. The second cub is inching out behind its litter-mate, young enough to be unsteady on its legs.

Okay. Letting them smell his hands is, apparently, the way to go.

Still with the same uncertainty -- and the same quiet awe, which has never been too far away -- Felix offers both hands to the smaller cub, palms up, fingers spread. He tries to imitate the same sound Kaya made before: tik-tik-tik. "It's okay," he whispers. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The bolder cub has started licking Kaya's fingers now, and in a sudden wobbly rush forward it tries to burrow under her armpit.

She makes a tiny stifled squeak of startlement, not too unlike her earlier imitation of the fox cubs.

Felix cracks a grin at that, and a brief giggle escapes before he can stop himself.

The other cub teeters the last few inches to his hands. Felix cups them together; as the cub leans in to sniff his fingertips, it overbalances and flails with its front legs to catch onto something.

That something turns out to be Felix's fingers.

Oblivious to the way Felix's eyes widen, it props its paws more solidly against him and begins a thorough exploration, wet nose tickling his palms.

Kaya pulls herself into a sitting position on the curb, and gathers the fox cub into her lap.

"They're so tiny."

"How old do you think they are?"

Clearly, Felix's wrists warrant as thorough an examination as his palms. The cub, legs shaking with the effort, tries to hoist itself fully into his hands; quickly, Felix flattens them on the ground to make things easier.

"I don't know," she murmurs.

The cub in her lap tries to climb up her front, sniffing at her shirt.

Very carefully, Felix eases himself up. The cub -- which almost, but not quite, fits neatly into his cupped hands -- lifts its head with a startled squeak, trying to turn a circle as it leaves the ground.

"Shhh," Felix whispers again, with another small and soothing smile. He brings it close to his chest. "It's okay."

To Kaya, not much louder: "Maybe we could take them back to the bar. Somebody could help there."

"They want their mother."

Her head's bowed over the cub in her lap. She's stroking its rust-colored fur, head to tail, over and over.

But their mother's not here, and they are, and there's got to be somebody in Milliways who knows how to take care of baby foxes. Felix opens his mouth, on the verge of saying that aloud, then closes it, trying to figure out a nicer way to voice his thoughts.

"We could look for their mom first," he suggests. "On the way th -- "

The last word dissolves into a squeak of his own as the other cub pokes its nose down the front of his T-shirt.

Kaya begins to giggle.

Apparently, whatever the fox finds there is simply fascinating. Fascinating enough, in fact, for it to scrabble about as it dives all the way inside his shirt.

Felix's squeaks abruptly turn into yelps.

...And laughter, because good lords, that TICKLES.