The Apathetic Mage Loves Cats

Chapter 24: Zing

Thousands of years ago, Iban's POV

"Ibanlinscthaz, can't you be more... energetic?" I found myself slowly waking up from my midday nap. My brain struggled to comprehend what my creator had just said as he stood a few feet away, his hands on his hips.

"Energetic?" I asked, my voice croaking. Zing frowned, his head tilted as he watched me stand and stretch. Probably wondering how I managed to sleep all day whereas his brain bounced around at a million miles an hour, trying to do every possible thing he could ever do during the daytime.

"Of course! You'd be a hit among the children. They would love to see you. And, maybe, you could find yourself a lover." My master's laugh was loud and boisterous, bouncing off the walls of the room that doubled as his home. All that was here was a bed and a table where he housed all of his alchemy and books, which was also the very place I was born.

Lord Zingdiktol, who preferred to just be called Zing, was a tall individual, standing taller than anyone I had ever seen before. He had an undercut, with the top of his head a dark red and the bottom shaved part black. His eyes were a pink or lilac color, and his smile was bright white, with two canines that stuck out and were incredibly sharp, just like a wolf; far too big to be like a human's. He looked like the reincarnation of a large black puppy, which would look innocent enough if I didn't know that beneath the black pants and black shirt he wore, he was a very fit individual.

"Wouldn't you get lonely?" I chided back, making my way over to him so that he could pick me up, and hoping to distract him from discussing more about me leaving our home. I liked it here. The moment he created me, I was confused and struggled to function in a foreign place. Zing of course tried his best to keep me grounded, but I still struggled. I was brought into this world as a fully grown adult cat, I struggled to understand everything and to adapt to a body that wasn't even originally mine. That was why I still struggled now, even a few years later, to go out for extended periods of time. I felt like I didn't belong here and that everyone around me knew that. I also got overwhelmed easily, to the point where I didn't think it was necessary to force myself into that type of situation.

Zing took it into stride, urging me to go out but never truly forcing me to. However, more recently, he's been physically taking me outside and away from the home. Carrying me in his arms and urging me to look up and allow others around him to pet me cautiously as I adapted to them. All the while, never forcing me to leave his arms and never staying out longer than he thought I could handle. He still wished that I would leave on my own, especially because the few times I've gone out, I was a hit with the other demons who lived near him.

"Of course, I would be!" he cried out, sitting down on the floor so his legs were in a V-shape. I made my way between them and sat as close as I could to his body, relishing in the warmth he emitted. "Why wouldn't I be lonely, since our lovely Ibanlinscthaz is so cute and soft? I would miss him so much!" He teased, his hand coming up to rub against my head, his naturally black fingernails finding their way under my chin. I wanted to snap at his phrasing because I hated when he babied me, but I just sat there, letting him do as he pleased. And that's how we sat for a while, his mind wandering off to a place where only he could touch and I could only dream of entering; and the sound of children giggling as they ran about in the summer afternoon, not a care in the world.

"But Ibanlinscthaz," He finally spoke, his voice taking on the tone of a serious whisper. It caused my body to tense up since he was usually such a fun and carefree individual, whenever he got serious, I always feared the worst. "I won't be here forever." I opened my eyes, and slowly lifted my head from its resting spot, Zing's hand rested on my stomach as I stared at him. But he wasn't looking at me or thinking about me, his thoughts were somewhere else, somewhere so far away that I found my breath leave my body as I struggled to keep up.