"So much for downtime…" Lyric's position shifted upright a bit, a stretch following. "…but, it was probably for the better that we bumped heads sooner than later."

Kyoya's body had finally begun responding to him, as the first thing he did was mirror the Seraph's stretching. While these sores would take days to ease out, at least being able to move was a plenty effective trade.

"No cutting corners." Echoed the boy. He gave himself a light chuckle, his breaths coming with much less resistance than before.

"Somebody's up and at it, again. Good to see you back -- you had me a little worried there."

"That makes two of us… I don't totally know what it was, either."

It was clear that Lyric didn't entirely buy that claim, but her eyes darting back to the sandbar almost made him flinch. Though, their collective stress faded when all that revealed itself was the prying eye of a cat, who seemed oddly intent to spy on them.

For a moment, it stayed in the shelter of outreaching grasses, but slowly emerged as time went on. Neither of the pair made any sudden moves, with Lyric inching toward her skirt's pocket as it approached.

Now able to make out more than its head, Kyoya took notice of the animal's appearance.

It carried traits of a jungle-dwelling cat, this observation given weight in its well-made framework, particularly around its shoulders and haunches, which rose just shy of two feet from the ground. The feline's coat was of a mottled gold base, with a spotted pattern being a moderately darker brown, which made a sharp transition to black at the center of any given marking.

Its length was within the realm of seven feet, although an outlandishly long, curved tail made up at least half of that. Said tail almost always remained towed behind it, but would rise occasionally every few steps.

The last he took notice of was the face, which carried resemblances to that of an ocelot, while retaining the odd, irrefutable charm of any ordinary housecat. Jade eyes that both pierced and dulled gave a strange sense of duality to the animal, which simply strode toward them with a lowered head. Given its size and stature, he'd expected it to walk much more powerfully, yet it appeared far too timid.

Though, the sound of rustling next to him prompted a look to Lyric, revealing that she'd finally retrieved something from her pocket.

In her grasp, an orb of water held what looked like leftovers from their meal at the galleon.

With widened eyes and that same careful precision demonstrated with her fork and knife, Lyric rose to a crouch and invited the animal forward with an outstretched hand, resting within it a piece from the fish.

Hesitance was obvious in their visitor, but the temptation of his partner's offer clearly had some weight, as proven by its choice to advance further toward them. Now only a few feet away from the Seraph, it snaked around Kyoya and crawled low to Lyric's side.

"Here." She gently brought her hand down to its level, offering a strip of the food. After inspecting the offer, it rose its head, glanced about, then looked back down. Lyric's composure remained, and eventually, the feline dipped low enough to pluck the food from her hand, taking a moment to lick her palm.

Now enjoying its fill, it padded a circle between them both, and laid down.

He'd never seen such unbound excitement in anyone's eyes, not even Sera's. Were staying quiet not as important, Kyoya was convinced the girl would be absolutely squealing.

She motioned to him with a nod, and while reluctant at first, both for the comfort of the animal and for risking the loss of such a moment for Lyric, he inched his left hand to its back, and gently ran a few fingers down the length of its spine.

At first, no response was offered, but the further he got, a deepened purr escaped it. This wasn't the first time he'd ever touched an animal, but it was the first time he dared interact with one that wasn't tame to any degree.

Upon further inspection, though, he took notice of an irregularity along its front-left shoulder, that being a small divot along the fur. While indecision would normally have prevented such an action, Kyoya moved his hand to that spot, feeling around for what may have caused the mark.

When their visitor flinched briefly, he grazed over something warm and slick, a glance to his finger revealing a spot of blood. "Seems like they've had a bit of a rough day, too…" He made note to avoid its shoulder while petting, noticing Lyric staring longingly at the injury. "Here, scooch over-"

She reached over him and put her arms below its stomach, lightly lifting the cat to her lap. It didn't voice any objections, simply remaining content with her action. She turned the injured shoulder to face her and spread its fur apart for the sake of vision.

It squirmed a bit, but she was quick to comfort her patient. "Shh, I know, I know… Kyoya, keep her attention for me, please."

He stared blankly for a moment.

"…Her?"

After an understandably sour look from the Seraph, he recognized his error.

As per her request, he moved around so that the cat was facing him, and held his hand below its head, making gentle scratches every so often.

"It doesn't seem like something attacked her; the wound isn't deep, and it's been healing for a little while. That might explain why she didn't limp on her way here, but…" Lyric trailed off as she inspected.

"But what?"

After a moment, she answered, although significantly less cheerily than he'd hoped.

"The cut is too clean to have been from something in the wild-" Her eyes shone as she took another, much deeper look into the wound. This time, she prodded the fur around its edge, and began to lightly pull something away.

Nearly shrieking, Kyoya had to practically hug their visitor to keep it from leaping away. Though, it settled down with time, as Lyric dangled some sort of glistening string away from them.

The Seraph cupped a hand over her mouth, gasping with flustered cheeks as her voice began to waver. "Kyoya… She must have gotten cut by the wires-!"

The girl set to work with an orb of water, using levitating streams to clean whatever may have been left by the horrid strings. "Oh, poor baby…"

While seeing her so distraught was unexpectedly agonizing, she'd made haste in managing to reach a point that looked satisfactory, leaning back and motioning for him to let go.

With a nod, Kyoya loosened his grip and released the cat, though it merely stood and shook out its coat. After taking a moment to lick the spot Lyric had tended to, it stretched with a long purr and laid back down.

He'd always been warned of wild animals' ferocity, and yet here it was, joining them in their victorious leisure without a second thought.

In hindsight, he wondered, what all else among the Contingency's teachings were no more than myths.