She had mastered the apartment.

The monarch of the living room.

Everything within these walls was now familiar to her, from her warm bed to the cool tiles of the kitchen.

She yearned for more, and Fries had finally understood her pleas.

~~~

"Alright, Puffball, stay in the yard- I don't want you running off without me!" Fries opened the door to his patio, looking about the small, yet cozy yard he had for himself. He had taken a small interest in gardening, and had a small plot of potatoes growing in a corner, while a large oak shaded the remainder of the yard. An old wooden fence surrounded the property, ivy growing on the ancient planks, slowly twisting onto the brick building he resided in.

A few deck chairs and a small table were set up beneath an umbrella, and Fries walked over to one of these chairs, gently settling himself down and looking down at the puffling excitingly wriggling in his arms.

"Don't go over the fence? Ok?"

"Yes Fwies! Wanna fly!"

The potato box chuckled to himself, loosening his grip on Puffball, letting her float upwards and ruffle her fur.

She always loved going outside, yet Fries was careful to stay extremely close to her, given the whole fish incident a while back.

But she was nearly 2 now, surely she could handle herself in the backyard, and Fries could use this time to get some work done, producing a laptop from his box and searching for a job he could take- preferably something that he could do from home.

Puffball, on the other hand, was ecstatic to be given free reign, zipping around the yard gleefully, singing and shifting her colors as she playfully flew. She would zoom around the tree's trunk, flying up into its leaves, darting around the branches, and finally whipping out from the canopy, small leaves and twigs tangled in her fur from the journey. 

Fries smiled as she flew down to his level, gently rubbing on his cheek, before whizzing back into the air, her fur sparkling in the morning sun.

~!Gore warning for this section!~

The two had been out in the yard for hours, and Fries was getting completely invested in his work, about to secure a job doing calls for the restaurant he used to work at- apparently it was going through a change of ownership, and was going to be a more formal "steakhouse" location rather than the fast food place it once was.

Yet Fries was not the only one who had cornered and opportunity.

During one of her runs through the oak tree, Puffball had noticed something else maneuvering through the branches.

Unfortunately for the other creature, the puffling's predatory instincts had kicked in.

She stayed silent, slowly moving closer to her prey, careful to not disturb any leaves or twigs, potentially giving away her location.

Silent...steady...

*CRUNCH*

Fries was taken out of his focus by the sound of a screaming rodent, immediately jumping from his seat and looking up, only to see Puffball violently shaking a squirrel that was trapped in her jaws.

"PUFFBALL NO! PUT HIM DOWN!" 

The potato snack leapt to his feet, trying to scare Puffball into dropping the poor creature, yet she was dead set on getting her "meal", hissing at Fries and continuing to maul her prey.

Blood stained her soft pink fur, tufts of the squirrel's pelt slowly falling to the earth as she maimed the rodent, only stopping once it had ceased fighting back.

Then, in one swift, surprisingly terrifying motion, she threw the prey into the air, opening her maw wide, and swiftly snapping it entirely within her razor sharp teeth with a sickening crunch.

Fries was left in awe, his jaw dropped as he watched Puffball chew her prey, licking her blood stained fur, her teeth visible with every flick of her tongue.

He had just witnessed her catch, kill, and eat her first prey item, all within 5 minutes, and none of it seemed to phase her one bit. Hell, she seemed proud, squealing happily to herself before turning to her caretaker.

"I caught dinner! Yummy!"

Her speech was normally adorable, but something about the visible blood on her teeth made Fries squirm.

Oh wait, no, that was from him witnessing her brutally mutilate a squirrel for no apparent reason.

Welp, Fries thought to himself, I forgot they were carnivores.

~~~Author's Notes~~~

hehe yummy squirrel moment

me: im making a dark fic so i can write dark stuff
also me: puts dark shit in this fic

i mean, she is a predatory animal soooo

anyway, i was bored and wanted to write something for this fic so

yeah

puff time

-Fire