[OVR] Infestation #1 [ Rats ]

A soft pitter-patter of footsteps on snow stirred Zayne awake. His ears flicked, yawning as he raised his head to assess the situation. He blinked once, twice before he noticed rats hurrying around the enclosure. They gathered around the feeding tray, squeaking and hissing to one another.

Were they oblivious that a snow leopard was resting nearby?

“Oh, what do we have here?” Douma spoke up, shoving his body over his son’s. He put his paw on the young snow leopard’s head, pushing him to the ground with a curious expression on his face.

Zayne growled at his father’s antics, spitting out some snow that got inside his mouth. “Rats,” he stated, his voice laced with annoyance and subtle disgust, “We should call our-”

“Naaah, Zayne, don't worry,” the older snow leopard carelessly hummed, stepping over the black leopard to pick up one of the rats with his paw. Douma chuckled, holding the little critter in front of his son’s face, “Why bother them when we can have a snack at this hour?”

“You can't be serious,” Zayne frowned, reeling back from the rodent dangling in his father’s grasp, “They literally eat garbage. Besides, you don’t know where they have been before they invaded our enclosure.” His tail twitched in agitation, prompting him to get up and head outside the cave, “I’m calling Lyra.” He didn’t wait for the other’s response, quickly jumping over stones and bushes along the path to the staff enclosure entrance. His ears rotated on his scalp, licking his muzzle as he tried to look for the camera he knew was there. Once he saw the red blinking of it, Zayne let out a worried mewl while pacing around, hoping to get attention from the caretakers.

Douma, on the other paw, played with the rats. His tail swished back and forth excitedly, preventing the critters from escaping his clutches. A mischievous grin spread across his face, laughing whenever the rodents hissed at him. “Feisty, I like that,” he chuckled, picking up the biggest rat and examining it, “I never thought you’d grow to a size like this. Interesting!” His attention fell back to the other rodents, watching them squeak and shiver in terror as he held their leader between his claws. “Oh? Is that one important to you?” Douma blinked curiously, staring intensively at the rodent in his grasp. It was amusing to watch it struggle and squirm, hissing and squeaking helplessly.

Meanwhile, Zayne patiently waited for Lyra or another caretaker to arrive, sitting near the entrance and the cameras. His ears strained to hear any sound or signal, hoping they even saw him on the cameras. Did he have to appear more desperate or even sick? No, he wouldn’t use them like that. Just when he was about to come up with a different plan, the door moved open. The black snow leopard craned his head back, blinking at Lyra with a relieved expression on his face. He walked over to the wyverian, rubbing his head against his legs and circling him.
Lyra chuckled at the feline’s greeting, gently patting its head, “Hello to you too, Zayne. You did quite the display alerting us. What’s the matter?” He leaned down to scratch behind the snow leopard’s ears, showering him with affection while he waited for a response. He didn’t have to wait long as Zayne ventured toward the shared sleeping cave, growling and cooing invitingly. “Follow you? Sure, lead the way,” Lyra smiled, swiftly catching up with the leopard, “I wonder what have you so riled up but your father is nowhere to be seen. Unless… Did he bother you again?” Surprisingly, Zayne shook his head and stopped in front of the cave, looking inside only to growl in disbelief.

Confused, Lyra knitted his brows together and leaned down, staring into the cave to see Douma… with a rat tail hanging out of his mouth. “What the actual heck,” he blurted out, heading inside to see a group of rodents gathered around the feeding area. His eyes widened in shock before he let out a frustrated sigh, “There is no way. Also, Douma, spit that out!” Lyra didn’t hesitate to smack the older snow leopard’s neck gently, relieved when the rat came out of his muzzle, “That’s disgusting. This rat has probably been god knows where.”

Zayne gave his father a knowing glance, refusing to say I told you so despite it lingering on the tip of his tongue. He watched as Lyra exited the cave, looking displeased and angry. The wyverian dialed something on that strange device the staff members shared, causing his ears to flick curiously.
“You owe me a snack now, Zayne,” Douma grumbled annoyedly, watching the rat clean itself to get rid of the saliva. The others in its group joined in, helping their leader to become dry. He did jump in to stop the rodents from escaping, putting his paws on them to keep them in place, “Ah! Lyra probably wants you to stay. So, stay~!”
The young snow leopard couldn’t believe his father’s playful nature. Sometimes he wondered who the adult was… “I don’t owe you anything,” Zayne sighed, staring over his shoulder to listen to Lyra talk to seemingly no one. Oh, he was speaking to someone through the device. Interesting. “Who is he talking to?”

“Yone, probably. He always does when something is up. Or Kasaro, if he can’t reach him.”

After a while, Lyra ended the call and pocked his phone, joining the two snow leopards and the rats. “Kasaro will contact an exterminator. These guys shouldn’t be here - oh, and while your enclosure gets all cleaned up, you will move into the Noctis Sylvanis exhibit. That way you won’t be in the way of the exterminators, Douma.” He gave the older feline a smirk, patting his head at the disgruntled growl that earned him, “I’m joking. Both of you would probably be curious. So, come on. Let the rats stay here and enjoy your meal while we get you all settled into the other exhibit for a while.”