By a Claw's Breadth
"I want a tiger. A great big white one."
Nile resisted the urge to sigh. Once Julia Rothman got an idea in her head, she usually stuck to it. Stubbornly. Even if people had genuine criticism that might be a real issue with said ideas. "I'll see what I can arrange."
Nile's boss beamed at him. In truth, he was rather tired of the job already. Still, he gave her a slight grin as he walked out. Hopefully, he could stall for time by insisting it was the fanciest, best-trained, and most under-control tiger ever. Wasn't there that new nanotechnology that logistics mentioned? Maybe he could convince Mrs. Rothman that it was entirely necessary for the new tiger. Safety was important, after all.
The stalling lasted about nine months before there were no other possible logistics or paperwork delays that Nile could feasibly come up with. The tiger had been chipped, fitted with a collar, and injected with nanos that could release sedatives at the push of a button. There were separate nanos to wake the tiger up. Nile felt sorry for the stupid thing as it was brought in. Julia's delight was palpable. Nile couldn't help but feel like something was about to go wrong. The tiger let out a purring noise as he approached. Something felt itchy as he slowly petted the tiger at Julia's pointed look.
"Good boy."
The tiger let out a chuffing noise and licked him. Julia smirked slightly at him.
"See, it's not so bad, Nile."
Nile felt his heart hammer as the tiger rolled over onto his feet. Nile cautiously rubbed the tiger's belly. His arms were feeling itchy. His face felt kind of puffy. He stood and gave Julia a look. "I'm headed to medbay."
Her vaguely concerned frown followed him out of the room. Nile rubbed his arms. Where the fuck had the rash come from? He sighed and all but ran there.
Allergic to cats. Motherfucking shit. And there was no way in hell that Mrs. Rothman was getting rid of the stinking tiger. Nile was supposed to feed it, too. And socialize it. Just wonderful. He was handed a bottle of some sort of over-the-counter medication and sent on his way.
Nile walked towards the tiger room. The fluffy white monstrosity was there. The giant eyes slowly blinked at him as he brought the food out. The dark, raw meat was snarfed in a few minutes. Nile felt a tongue against his hand. The eyes stared into his. Nile let out a sigh as he started itching again. "Hi."
The wet nose pressed against his thigh. Nile was hoping that the tiger liked the new toys. The tiger walked past him and sat in the still mildly blood-covered box. Nile looked between the tiger and the toys and sighed. "We spend eight hundred euros on toys and it's the dirty box you sit in."
The box tore slightly under the tiger's full weight. Nile snorted slightly. Fluffy bastard. The tiger began to bathe himself as Nile watched. Nile vaguely wondered whether he was supposed to go now. He walked towards the door, careful to not turn his back towards-
Meep. Meep. Meep.
Nile froze slightly as the tiger chirped at him. The tiger started moving towards him and brushed up against him. Nile let out a sigh as the itching intensified. The rash was probably going to come back. He petted the tiger. The thick, soft, fur was kind of nice. The tiger settled against him. Nile felt the itching begin to spread across the rest of his exposed skin. The tiger seemed to like him for some reason. The purring started.
Nile was reluctantly growing fond of the stupid fluff ball. Mrs. Rothman had already gotten bored of the tiger. In a way, it resembled most of her relationships. She got bored after a few weeks and moved on, keeping you around as a trophy of sorts. Nile did his best to keep the tiger well fed and entertained. He was eighty percent sure that he was the only one who gave a shit. The tiger still gave him rashes, though. Nile hadn't bothered going back for different pills. "Come here."
The tiger awoke and came purring to his touch. Nile had already packed the toys with treats and food. The tiger chuffed against his chest. They were going to play for the next few hours.
Grrrrrr. Rawr!
Nile jumped slightly as the tiger let out a growl and a warning rawr. He turned just in time to see a man with a knife. The tiger sprang and was upon the man.
Crunch!
Nile heard the man's neck break. The tiger extended his claws and tore into the corpse. Nile stared, half-expecting the tiger to devour the corpse. Instead, the fluff ball let out a noise of satisfaction and trotted up to him. Nile pet the tiger. "You're not so bad after all, you fluffy bag of allergies."
The tiger let out a satisfied purr and rolled slightly. The sticky blood got on his suit. The fluffy face pressed against his chest. Nile rubbed the ears of the tiger. "I think we can wait a bit before calling this in, hmm?"
The tiger let out a huff. Nile gave him a giant chunk of raw pig. The tiger swallowed it in a few bites, seemingly accepting his tribute for now.
The report took far longer than it should have, in Nile's opinion. The attack tiger ripped up an intruder. Wasn't it supposed to do that? Why did he have to fill out eight thousand forms about it? Nile was a sucker who let the fluff ball in his office. He felt a giant head settle in his lap. "You were fed already and you're already getting overweight."
The tiger let out a bratty little sigh. Nile stroked the fluffy head in his lap. He ignored the itching as he typed out his report. The tiger was making little kitten noises, which was kind of hilarious. Nile gently poked the tiger's face and was rewarded with a playful swat. Nile grinned and stood, ready to play with the tiger as his phone rang. The tiger let out a whine as he answered. "Yes, Mrs. Rothman?"
The woman let out a sigh. "Something has come up. I need you to check on Consanto Enterprise with regards to Invisible Sword."
Nile was tempted to headdesk. That was an expensive nightmare. "I'll drive out tomorrow and stay for a bit."
The tiger let out an impatient chirp. He felt a paw on his hip. "Thank you, Nile."
She hung up. He looked down at the tiger. Time to sacrifice some hours of sleep.
Fin
Based on a prompt by Zyzyax (see story summary). This is the 151st work in the Winds of Change 2022 Alex Rider Prompt event, where a new prompt (plus a short 1-3K work) is posted every day. For more details, see the AO3 collection :) Want to discuss? Leave a comment beneath, or join the discord (Link on AO3 Fics or just PM me, lol). Want to take part in our Alex Rider anniversary celebrations in September? Join the WoC discord to take part in a fanfic event! Want to showcase your work to your fellow fans and authors? The WoC server has a new feature! Any author who joins can ask to join our authors' feed, which shows all the fics from the authors who opt in, including non-AR fics!