Later that night, the wolf and deer couple cuddled together in bed while watching more of that cat anime.
Louis was deep in his thoughts on the meeting from before. They were minus two more animals they needed for this. Why couldn't everything just go smoothly?
"Mmm, don't you think Sanjiin and Tamou would make a good couple?" Legosi asked, talking about the two main male characters from the show.
The deer crossed his arms. "I guess. Yes? I dunno."
"The way they look at each other...you can tell. Too bad they're both carnivores. It'd almost be like us." Legosi craned his head up to kiss his cheek.
Louis nodded. "Uh-huh."
"Mmmmph." The wolf's head felt heavier. Pretty soon, his breathing would become deeper as he fell into sleep. It was a pattern his mate became very familiar with.
The deer sighed and turned on his side. That fucking tiger...
The show went on in the background. An hour passed and his lover was sound asleep. Louis knew it would take an earthquake to wake him. And even then, it'd have to be a big one. That's why when his phone buzzed awake, Legosi stayed asleep.
A text? At this hour? He grabbed his phone from the night stand and looked down at it.
Pina: hey if ur awake wanna help me get into the student records
Louis blinked as he looked down.
Louis: Now?
Pina: now. i've been studying how security moves the past few nights for this. oh yeah cherryton actually has proper security now. about fucking time right
Louis: How convenient.
Pina: yeah. anyway im gonna be hanging out by the fountain for the next 10 minutes before the next patrol after that im leaving but if you want to help out (which would relly help me) meet me there before then. DONT bring legosi
Louis: He's sleeping like a rock.
Pina: good
Louis: I'll be there in a few.
The only problem facing the deer at the moment was the fact he was undressed, and that Legosi had one heavy arm around him. He tried to move it. "Come on...get off..."
The arm remained in place. He thought about sliding under, but that would risk his antlers.
Legosi smacked his lips, moving his arm lower to rest over the herbivore's slim hips.
That made it much easier for Louis, as he moved his feet and started scooting back.
The canine mumbled in his sleep and wiped his nose, the light from the TV the only thing illuminating the room for the deer.
Louis finally got free and then got up, moving around and getting ready to meet his dall sheep friend. After he was prepared, he made sure to grab his phone and slip out into the night, making his way to where he would be waiting for him.
Sure enough, Pina was seated on the ground with his back against the side of the fountain, backpack next to him. He wore a black sweatshirt and black gloves, paired with dark gray jeans and black boots. It created quite the contrast with the white wool of his head. He looked up as he saw Louis approaching and he waved slightly.
The cervid waved back. He came and sat on the edge of the fountain. "First thing's first...Are you okay?"
"Hm? Yeah. Why wouldn't I be okay?"
"You know, all that shit with Bill."
Pina sniffed through one nostril and looked away. "Yeah...well...more reason to get this shit over with. He won't be such a scaredy cat once we get this in the bag."
"He's just worried about you," Louis said.
"Yeah, I get that, but..." the sheep sighed. "I mean, Legosi gets the same way with you, right? Isn't it annoying?"
"They're just being protective. But...Legosi isn't telling me we shouldn't do this. Speaking of, why didn't you want me to bring him?"
"Would you really trust Legosi to be quiet during this? Besides, I'm quickly learning you're the main animal I want by my side for this."
"Mm." The deer looked around. "He was quiet when we stole the bat..."
"Yeah, but that was before that little outburst at the library. He's getting too emotional about it."
"Well, can you blame either of them?"
Pina sighed and stood up, slowly. "No, but I can't let them get in my way, either."
"Are you going to tell me why all of this is so important to you?" He crossed his arms.
"What, solving the murder of two of our classmates isn't important?"
"It...it is...but to you."
Pina scowled and looked at the ground. "I'm a herbivore."
"I'm a herbivore as well."
"And this isn't important to you?"
"Of course it is! But you specifically...joining the drama club...Being so...fiery."
"Just how I am, deer. C'mon, we need to get moving." Pina turned on his heel and marched off, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, the handle of his bat sticking out of it.
Louis followed close. "You're hiding something."
"Psh, sorry, but I pretty much came out when I brought Bill to the dance."
"Pina," the cervid frowned.
They stopped at a wall, Pina's back against it as he peeked around the corner. He held his finger up. "These guards are carnivores, so they have good night vision. Once we get inside we'll need to use a light to see, but we can't let them see it."
The deer pressed his back against the wall. "This feels like a movie..."
"Maybe we can sell the rights when we're done. It is a pretty amazing story." Pina signaled for them to move. Being herbivores meant they were light on their feet at least.
Louis stayed ducked as he stayed behind him. "Won't the door to Gon's office be locked?"
The sheep looked back and smirked. "Yes, but what have you learned about me?"
"You're a schemer..."
They came to a door leading inside and Pina stopped at it. "That's flattering of you to say, Louis-kun. I pride myself in scheming." He got to one knee and put his backpack down, getting his lockpicking equipment out. "Keep watch for me."
Louis turned around, a small tightness in his chest. He assumed he would be nervous when they did this, so he wasn't surprised.
Pina continued. "But the correct answer was: 'he learned how to pick locks with Zoozle.' But your answer was close. Partial credit."
"Zoozle teaches you stuff like that?"
"Zoozle teaches you everything. Didn't Zoozle teach you how to fuck Legosi?"
Louis hissed. "Hush!"
Pina laughed softly. "Man, my first night with Bill was great, but the morning after? Felt like I had been ripped in half. Really should have read up on that."
"Did you guys spend any time preparing?"
"I mean, I had been experimenting with a toy for a while, so it wasn't too bad. Just...damn." Pina stopped what he was doing and his face went blank. "Am I really talking about this right now?"
"To me, of all animals," the deer smiled a bit.
"What do you mean? We have a lot in common." The sheep got back to work.
"You and I? Because we're herbivores?"
"We've got carnivore boyfriends who try to eat us but we don't care, we're both popular..." Pina looked up at Louis. "...Or at least...were. We have level heads, et cetera."
"I don't...I'm not really that social. It's how I was raised."
"Hmm, well I meant the experience of it."
"But...I was popular once. That feels like years ago."
Click. The door opened and the two stepped inside. Pina turned the light of his phone on and shone it down the hallway, illuminating some of the white tiles ahead. "Also, we both have horns," the sheep whispered.
Louis made sure to keep his voice quiet. "True. You'd look nice with decorations."
"Thanks. I know. We tried to get some at the mall but the shopkeeper was being a bitch to Bill, so we left."
"What do you mean?" Louis questioned, looking around at the creepy atmosphere.
"Givin' him the evil eye and telling me to make sure he didn't steal."
"Steal? Ugh...Herbivores."
Pina scoffed. "I know, right? My parents watch those herbivore propaganda channels nonstop and it drives me insane."
"I can't stress enough that not every carnivore is the same."
"Exactly. Just look at Legosi and Bill." The two walked carefully down the hall, following Pina's phone light.
"Now that I know he wants to eat you though...I'm a little worried."
The other hervibore's pace slowed a little bit. "...I tell him to go to the black market, but he won't listen to me."
"You...tell him to go there?"
"He should. He's spending so much time with me, wanting to eat me, and depriving himself of meat," Pina sighed.
"Does he ever seem weak?"
The two stopped at a stairwell. "I don't get it. You'd think with a guy like him he'd be completely transparent with that sort of thing. But I have never noticed a time when I thought he wanted to eat me."
"Bill is a strange guy..." Louis mumbled. "He doesn't like to show weakness."
"Yeah, unlike Legosi who only likes to show weakness." The sheep began to ascend the stairs.
The deer laughed. "It's cute when he tries to be strong..."
"...He came to rescue you from you dad though, right? He is strong."
"He did. All by himself."
"I wonder if Bill would do that for me..."
"Mmm. I hope we never have to find out."
"Yeah...that's the right answer." Once they made it to the appropriate floor, Pina peeked through the door into the new hallway. "Shit, a guard's there. We might have to sit in here a bit."
Louis sat down against the wall and sighed. "We never hang out. Why did you want me for this? I thought you'd try and patch things up with Bill. I know I would with Legosi."
Pina sat down next to him. "I'm giving it time. As for you, I think we need to get to know each other outside of our boys."
"You think? I'm not really good at this stuff."
"What? Being friends with people?" Pina asked.
"Yeah...Legosi is basically all I know and I just realized how profoundly sad that is."
The dall sheep knocked his knee against his, as they could barely see each other in the darkness. "I'm not good at being friends with people either. There's another thing we have in common."
"What? You seem like you'd be prime friendship material!"
Pina cleared his throat, feeling his chest flutter a little bit. "Ah, well...I guess telling you is fine. My looks draw people in, but...who I am makes sure they don't stick around."
"Who you are? What do you mean? Too flirtatious?"
"Not sure, really. But any animal that actually gets to know me becomes a stranger. That's why I hold everyone at arm's length and form phony bonds. I'm popular but...it's hollow." Louis heard a slow breath release from the sheep's nose. "That night you guys let me hang out with you...that was really something."
"Really? I thought it was...fun," Louis smiled.
"No, no, it was! Really fun. I hadn't had a time like that since elementary school." Pina shuffled next to him.
"Heh...I've never had time like that in my life."
"Guess we're both kinda fucked up, huh?"
"Guess so." The deer turned his head to him. "You can tell me what you're hiding, now. I won't tell anyone."
Pina sighed, shakily. "Can you tell me yours first?"
"What?"
"What your deal is. You tell me yours, I tell you mine. Deal?"
"My...deal...?"
"Your boyfriend literally had to break you out of your own dad's house, who also happens to be the CEO of a huge conglomerate. And you apparently shot him?"
"..." They sat there in silence for a moment. Louis sighed. "I was...raised as livestock in the black market. I have a 4 on the bottom of my right foot but you can't see it."
Pina's skin turned to ice under his wool. He expected some bad issues at home, but nothing like that. The once-famous Louis was just meat to be eaten at one point?
"I couldn't speak or anything. Basically, Oguma bought me and thrusted me into a room full of carnivores with only a knife, but when I put it to my own neck...I guess that's when he knew I should be his predecessor at Horns. Then the whole Beastar thing...And thus my entire future was made up for me."
The coldness turned to numbness. Pina's eyes stared out in horror into the darkness.
"I wasn't allowed to make friends, I was set up with a fiance of my father's choosing...I was lucky I was able to even join the acting team."
The taller animal's mind started to create images in the dark in front of him. A young Louis held in a cave, brought out by a wealthy businessman, raised to accomplish his own dreams, forbidden to do what he wanted. "Uh...wow...um...I'm...sorry that I...I'm just...wow...sorry." Pina found himself at a loss for words for the first time he could remember.
Louis sighed. "The stress and responsibilities just kept building up...Finally, I made a friend in Legosi...And he tried to take that away!"
"So...all of...that happened." Pina swallowed hard. He craned his neck back to the door. The guard was still there.
"Yeah...I grew resentment for him..." he sighed again. "After I got kidnapped I was basically on complete lockdown..."
The sheep reached out and put a hand on Louis' shoulder as he continued.
"But I went out once! Once!" he explained, "And we were caught."
"That's fucked up..."
"Then he pulled me out of school and locked me up at Horns...The only thing that kept me sane was my personal servant, Shogi."
"Um, did you play shogi with him?" Pina attempted to lighten the mood with his idea of a joke.
"Actually, yes."
"Oh."
"Yeah...he helped me get out of there once Legosi arrived. I hope he's doing okay..."
"Damn..." It was all Pina could offer.
"So. That was my 'deal'."
"...Dude...do you like...need a hug?"
"I don't know..."
The hand on Louis' shoulder snaked around his back as Pina pulled themselves together, their horns bumping slightly.
Louis sighed. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it..." Pina bit his lip. After a story like that, he had to tell Louis. "So...something really bad happened back home five years ago..."
"I'm listening..."
"I was back home with my parents then, obviously. With my little brother, Luca. Four years younger than me. Our parents worked so I had to watch him usually. I'd walk him home from school." Pina's voice started to shake. He tried to remember the last time he told this story to someone, only to realize this was the first time.
"Calm down. It's okay."
The sheep swallowed and cleared his throat. "I-I'm fine. This is nothing compared to what you went through." Pina withdrew his hand from Louis and wrapped his knees to his chest with both arms.
"Go on..."
"Well...one day I'm sick. I don't go to school, but Luca still goes. My mom tells me that I should get up and go get him and walk him home anyway. Instead, I sleep through it." There was a pause. "Luca never came home."
"What?"
"I woke up and...and my parents were screaming and the police were there and everything. School says Luca left like normal. He'd made that walk alone before I...I thought..." Pina shuddered, the memories surfacing once again.
"Did a..." Louis swallowed.
"It's the only explanation the cops could come up with. We never really did find out for sure, though. Just...gone."
"So, you don't even know?"
Pina dipped his head between his knees. "There's really no other explanation, Louis."
"They never found...anything?"
"Nothing."
Louis blinked in the darkness and sighed. "And you thought I was the one who needed the hug."
Pina wiped his nose and sniffed. "It's...fine. I just never talk about it. But yeah...I guess that's why I feel so strongly about catching this guy."
"I guess I...sort of get it."
Pina chuckled. "You were raised as meat for carnivores and now you're dating one. That's pretty interesting."
Louis smiled a bit. "I was raised with carnivores, then at Horns I grew to hate everyone there. Can you blame me?" Another pause. "You're dating one, too."
"Yeah, well, I guess we both came to the fascinating conclusion that it's down to the individual, not the species. Wish society would catch up." Pina leaned over to peek down the hallway again. "Oh, he's leaving now."
"Well at least we got all that exposition out while he took his sweet time."
"Guess we can include that in the movie if you want. C'mon." The other animal stood up and turned his phone flashlight back on, shining it down to Louis and extending a hand.
The deer reached forward and shook it, a little confused.
Pina coughed. "Hi, uh, I'm helping you up?"
"Oh...right." He used his hand as leverage and pulled himself up. "Thanks."
Pina shone the light down the hallways and stepped out, quietly. "Alright, Gon's office is to the right at the end there, and the guard went out the door up ahead. Once we get into the office and shut the door behind us we'll be pretty free to search."
"I feel bad...Gon-San has been so nice to us..."
"What? We're not gonna ransack his place. If all goes according to plan, he won't even know we've been in there."
"If it goes according to plan..."
"Well, it's not like they can do anything to you since you're not enrolled," Pina pointed out.
"They can arrest me for breaking and entering the school, just like any stranger."
"...Oh yeah, I guess that's right. Plus you don't have your father's protection anymore."
"Yeah...We should be careful."
"So far so good, I'd say." The two got to the corner and peered around it. "Coast is clear," Pina whispered.
The two began to make their way to Gon's office, that nervous feeling never leaving Louis' chest.
"Alright, round two. We're kind of fucked as herbivores, here, cuz we can't see very well but the guards will be able to see us clear as day. At least we have good enough hearing, I guess." Pina crouched down and got his lockpicking stuff out. "Here, shine some light here for me."
The deer aimed his phone at the lock. "Just...hurry."
"Man, I'm really going to get my lockpicking level high when we're through with all this."
"Wha?"
"Like, I'm gonna level up, y'know? Video games?" Pina turned to face the deer, but all he saw was the light from the phone.
"Uh...huh..."
Pina turned back around. "Wow, and Legosi is the only exposure you have to pop culture? That's gotta be weird."
"It's a little weird..."
"Now Bill..." Pina stopped as he concentrated more on his work. "...Well, you've seen him in action."
"I'm guessing he's a pop culture fanatic."
"Well, yeah, but I meant...his shortcomings."
"Oh..."
Pina continued to talk as his jiggling at the doorknob became more intense. "Why...do I...even...stay with...him..?"
"Woah, let's not go that far..." Louis kept the light focused on its destination.
Pina squinted and put his face closer to his work. "I mean like, I love him to bits but he's so frustrating."
"He's only ever slept with a bunch of women..."
The sheep stopped. "...Huh...actually I think that's it. I mean, me and him are the same in that regard...but I think you have a point."
"And yet you have a lot more knowledge about it?"
"Well yeah. I've pretty much known I was bisexual since puberty. I think Bill didn't even realize it until after we got together."
"Is he?"
Pina looked back at Louis again. "Is he what?"
"Bisexual?"
The other animal rolled his eyes. "What do you think?"
"He could be gay."
"Doubt it." The sheep turned back to the door. "Guess it doesn't really matter, though."
"You don't have to stay with him."
Click. Pina pushed the door open and he ushered the deer inside quickly. The door shut quietly behind them. "Okay, we can have our lights out now and nobody should notice. Turning on the lights in the room would be a bad idea, though." Pina shone his light around the new space. It was Gon's office, same as ever.
Louis shook his head. "I think I'm the only one who can play me in this movie."
"And me. Makes sense, since we're both actors." Pina turned to the fellow herbivore again. "Was acting something you genuinely enjoyed? Or just another expectation?"
"I genuinely enjoyed it because at the time...I was someone other than me."
"Mhm. I get that." Pina moved deeper into the room, shining the light over the desk and then to a nearby wall covered in filing cabinets. "We'll probably find student records somewhere in there."
"They're probably organized alphabetically. Well...By species first, then alphabetically?"
"Guess we'll find out. You start at that end, I'll start at this one."
Louis nodded and went to the cabinet, pulling the handle and finding it wouldn't budge. "Locked..."
"Oh, c'mon." Pina sighed as his refused to open as well. "What are the chances the key's in here somewhere?"
"It better be or this was all for nothing." The deer went to the desk and began opening the drawers, digging around as he pointed his light inside.
The sheep observed the locks. "I mean, I might be able to get these open, but there's so many..."
Louis kept looking through the drawers, finally finding a key. "Aha! Maybe this will work."
"Oh shit? Bring it here." Pina illuminated one of the locks for Louis to test the key.
The deer pushed it inside, turning it and sighing in relief when the lock clicked.
"Phew...good thing Gon is a simple man." Pina smiled and shook Louis by the shoulder slightly.
"Yeah...I still feel bad. Let's hurry this up. I don't want Legosi to wake up to use the bathroom and not see me."
"Oh jeez, that'd be bad. Open it up and see what we got." Pina tried to peer into the unopened drawer.
Louis pulled it open and looked down at the files.
The sheep's hands shot into the dividers, looking through them. "Hmm...these don't even look like student records." He looked around at the other cabinets. "Why are none of these labelled? Are lions good at memorization? Fuck."
"One key probably opens all the drawers." Louis tested this theory on the second drawer and it clicked. "Thought so."
"Guess we have to keep opening them until we find names. If it's alphabetical then Tao and Riz should be close together, thankfully." Pina brought his light over to the new drawer. "Nope, not these."
Louis sighed and opened the next one. A thought of Legosi waking up and not finding him played in his mind.
"Nope," Pina waited for the next drawer.
Louis groaned and opened another drawer. "This better be it."
The sheep scrutinized it for a bit. "Nope."
This went on for a few more drawers, Louis' frustration and anxiousness growing.
Finally, they ran into alphabetized dividers. Pina pushed some apart and found a picture of a student. "Bingo!"
Louis huffed. He shoved his phone into Pina's hand despite the sheep having his own. "You hold the light." He began flipping through the dividers in the T-section and quickly found Tao, looking at the animals before and after so he could put it back in its proper place. He pulled out the folder. "Let's see what we have here."
"Look for an address and I'll look it up on Zoozle maps," Pina chimed.
The deer's eyes scanned the folder as he looked for the address. "Ah, here it is."
The sheep typed it into his phone. "Hmm...that's about thirty kilometers away from the crime scene. Definitely not walking distance."
"Huh. Do we need anything else?"
"I mean, it'd probably be in there if they've committed predation before, but they don't let carnivores that have into segregated schools."
"Then what was the point of you saying that?"
"Well that's the only other thing that would help here. All of this was literally to find out where they live, sadly. Now, let's fine Riz."
Louis slid the folder back in its original spot and flipped down to Riz's folder, pulling it out. "Here we go." He opened it and quickly found the address, pointing.
Pina plugged it into the website and then froze. "Oh, you gotta be fuckin' shitting me."
"What? What?"
"Thirty fuckin' two fuckin' kilometers are you kidding? It's basically the same! What a fuckin' waste." Pina was trying his hardest to have a noisy rant as quietly as possible.
"So...I guess we didn't really learn anything."
"Well...aside from each other."
"Huh. You have a point there." He tossed an idea around in his head for a moment. "Do you want to go get some tea somewhere and talk?"
Pina blinked. "N-now? At 3 am?"
"You wanted to do this at 3 am."
"Yeah but that's cuz I couldn't do it during the day."
"Well...When do you ever have time to do something like this?"
"Um...I'll let you know." Pina looked away and twirled a lock of his wool.
"Nevermind," Louis mumbled.
Pina sighed. "Well, yeah that was a wash. Good experience, though. We just have to get out, now."
"Alright, what's your plan?"
"Same thing as getting in, only in reverse. Don't have to pick any locks this time, either!" Pina opened the office door and looked around the hall.
"Are you going to relock them somehow...?"
"Oh...I didn't actually think of that. I just figured they might think 'Oh darn, I forgot to lock this.'"
"'Oh darn, I forgot to lock every door.'"
"Just two doors," Pina whined.
That made Louis chuckle. "And all the drawers we unlocked."
"Hey, those lock automatically when you shut them!" Pina argued.
"Hahaha. Come on, let's get out of here."
=^.^=
The two made it to the stairwell without much trouble. However, as soon as they made it to the bottom floor, Louis' phone began to vibrate.
The deer's eyes widened, as he pulled it down, turning the brightness down quickly. "It's Legosi..."
Pina hid his face. "Oh boy. Guess we're staying in here for a bit while you take this."
Louis sighed and sat down on one of the steps, answering. "Hello?" He kept his voice low.
"L-Louis? Where are you?" Legosi's voice came out of the speaker louder than the deer's.
The buck quickly turned down the volume. "Hey...I'm just...out with Pina."
"P-Pina? Wh-why? Why didn't you tell me? What are you doing?" Legosi's voice was barely comprehensible.
"You were sleeping, dear..."
"Or leave a message or note!"
"Legosi, calm down. I'm fine."
Louis could hear the wolf taking deep breaths. "What...what are you doing out with Pina this late?"
"Just hanging out. Herbivore stuff."
"H-herbivores don't have any night vision!"
Pina was looking away, trying not to eavesdrop on the conversation.
"There are lights for a reason, Legosi. Go back to sleep."
The wolf sounded like he was blubbering on the other end. "Wh-when are you going to g-get back?"
"Soon! Soon! Calm down. Pina's right here. Say hi."
Pina leaned forward. "Hi, Legosi. Sorry I took Louis so suddenly. I was feeling sad about my fight with Bill so I wanted to talk with someone about it."
"...Hi, Pina." Legosi huffed. "You...have your gun with you, Louis?"
"Oh, uh. Yep!"
His fiance finally sounded like he could begin to calm down. "O-okay. Okay. Be careful, you two."
"I love you. I'll be home very soon."
"Love you too." Legosi stayed on the line, silently.
Louis hung up and sighed. "He's adorable."
Pina held his chest. "Ow, I think my heart broke listening to that. I'm so sorry I dragged you out here tonight, especially since it didn't do fuckall..."
"But...I'm glad we hung out. Sorry we can't go for tea, that was a dumb suggestion on my part.."
"Later, Lou. Later." Pina breathed out through his nose and took a few steps. "Well, guess we should get out of here without getting caught."
Louis felt weird about that considering "Lou" was what he was called when his lover and him were being intimate. "Uh...yeah."
=^.^=
The two herbivores were able to leave the building without incident. Eventually, Pina had to split off to get to his dorm. "I'll be fine. I finally got the nails in my bat just like I wanted." The sheep smiled toothily at the deer.
Louis smiled. "What?"
"Just saying, I'll be safe walking home. You be safe too, alright?"
The deer nodded and grinned softly. "I will. See you soon."
"Uh, yeah..." Pina shuffled his feet a little before taking a few strides to the deer and hugging him quickly before retreating. "Thanks again for coming out tonight."
"Of course. Let's hang out again sometime?"
The other herbivore smiled again. "Definitely! See ya." And with that, the sheep walked off into the night.
Louis quickly returned home, knocking on the door.
Legosi's ears perked up and his heart raced. Since calling Louis, he was unable to fall back asleep, naturally. He had put on a calming documentary to try and get his mind off of it. He waited for his deer to step through.
His fiance did so and came in. "Hey."
The wolf was sitting up on the bed, the blanket covering his midsection down. Despite that, it was clear that his tail had started to wag. He huffed a few times, almost sounding like a whine, as his body bobbed up and down slightly with each noise. Louis was reminded of that old home movie at Gosha's of Legosi as a puppy whining on the floor.
The deer shut the door and came over. "Hey, sweetheart."
The canine stayed silent, and instead held both of his arms out for Louis, inviting him into the realm of fluff.
His mate went into his arms and held him. "I'm okay. See?"
"Mmmmm." The wolf slid his snout under Louis' chin. "I was scared."
"You shouldn't be."
Legosi swallowed audibly. "You disappeared two other times...and both times were...bad."
"I...I know..."
"Please...don't leave me..." The shaken animal was whispering now, finally getting sleepy again.
"I won't...Are you okay?"
"...I don't know. I feel dizzy."
"Dizzy?"
Legosi nodded. "So much happening."
"It's overwhelming, huh?"
"...It's starting to be."
"Do you want to know what I was really doing...?"
The wolf's ear flicked against Louis' neck. "What?"
"Pina and I broke into Gon's office."
"Oh...he did mention doing that." Legosi shifted in his arms. "Did you find anything?"
"It was basically pointless."
"Ah...well at least nothing bad happened," Legosi yawned.
"Did I really scare you that bad?"
He didn't answer, instead opting to nuzzle into the deer's chest.
Louis kissed his head softly again and again.
His wolf giggled, a noise that was always a bit odd coming from him.
"We should sleep again. Worry about this later. Let me get undressed and comfortable."
"Sleeeeep." Legosi's tail started to wag once again under the covers.