As his date approached, her irritation brushed under a glittering smile, Sean donned his own grin, all pointed teeth, and extended a gallant elbow. “Erin, right? Your photographs do you no justice at all.”

“I don’t know, neko,” the fox muttered in the darkness, nosing the statuette, nearly overturning the maneki-neko before she spun upright. Even maneki-neko land on their feet, apparently, the fox thought to itself. It’d have to test the idea again someday. “Erin says what she means, she’s sharp as hell, and I don’t even know when I ended up moving in.”

“Two weeks ago.”

“That was rhetorical.” It could hear her snoring above them. It could smell her too: coconut milk and rose, the faint sourness of a human mouth spoiling in its sleep. And to its surprise, the fox found itself aching to return, to crawl back under the duvet and curl himself around her, cheek buried in the ripple of her hair.

“Regardless, you’ve walked into your own jail, fox, and I’ve never seen you happier to swallow the key. You woke up one day and forgot to go home. You need to accept what this means.”

“But, neko. I’m not—I’m not this. I’m not a human. I’m a fox. We can’t do this. She will know. She will find out.” It hissed, panic warbling in its throat. “She’s a snuggly shark with too many teeth. She’s going to find out my credentials are fake and I’m just an animal and then she’s going to litigate the pelt off my back. Also, I haven’t even met her parents yet.”

“So, go meet them.”

“It isn’t that simple.”

“Yes, it is.” The maneki-neko spun like a planet that had lost its star, a motion that the fox had come to decide meant its companion was thinking. “Honestly, fox. You’re done well for yourself. Does it matter that you had to eat a man’s heart first? You’re living his life better than he ever could. You’re already in the water. You might as well find out what is at the bottom. Also—”

The cat slowed her rotations. “Also, I did warn you against seeing a lawyer.”

It could only whine, paw flopped over its nose. “What do you think I should do?”

“You know what you want to do.”

The fox thought about the future for several long moments, ears twitching in tandem with the whirring of its thoughts. “I suppose, after all our years together, this is the one adventure we haven’t tried. Are you sure you’re alright with this?”

“It’s your hide. Not mine.” When the fox barked in alarm, the maneki-neko added in a softer tone. “Whatever makes you happiest, fox. You know it is the only thing I want.”