“She isn’t hurt, is she?” Chel’s eyes drifted to the lumpy raincoat in Keith’s arms.
“No.”
“I think you should apologize to Lexx.”
Keith’s head tilted forward in thought. He had been wrong to be so irritated and had most likely acted in a way that was not going to reflect well on him when Victor Reid filed his reports. It would not be the first time Keith had said what was on his mind to a superior. He had a bad habit about being just a little too passionate about ‘his’ animals.
“Yeah, you’re right.” Keith admitted grudgingly. “And I better apologize to your dad. I’m just afraid they’re going to take Chalupa away someday.” It was a real fear. Keith had done a good job of convincing his superiors that Chalupa was harmless, even though most of his fellow agents would not go near the creature.
It had taken several days to break the starving hatchling from nipping everyone who came near her. He had put up with a lot of teasing over the ‘little bloodthirsty mutant parrot’ which had made him very sensitive to comments about his misunderstood little pet. They refused to understand that the nipping was not an attempt to drink blood, just a natural reaction to things waving in front of her face that she couldn’t see clearly.
