Chapter 19 - An Unseen Hug From Me to You
Legosi got up and headed inside the cafe, noting that Louis stuck behind him, out of sight. He managed to find a booth tucked in the back where the sun didn't shine. He was good at finding such places to sit, since he and his grandfather would always find seats like it whenever they had gone out in his youth. They set all the food out on the table, sitting across from each other in much, much comfier seats than the cold alley ground.
Louis sighed. "That's much better. Wow." He looked at him with his one eye. "The shirt's nice, by the way."
"It is! Just a bit small on me. Jack says I need to buy more clothes, but I never saw the need since I never leave the school..." He looked down at himself, wondering what the full picture looked like to Louis.
The deer took another sip of his tea, the steam rising from the cup in front of his face. "Maybe we could...Nevermind."
"No, go ahead." Legosi coaxed, his deep voice as soft as could be.
Louis now realized that when carnivores spoke, they had a certain growl to their voice. How can an animal made to be so fierce be so gentle? "I was going to suggest going out and buying you some new clothes. I have cash to burn. But I changed my mind. It's just way too dangerous..."
"...You keep saying how all of this is...dangerous," Legosi ventured. "But...what's so dangerous?"
"Well, for one, under the orders of my father, I'm not supposed to leave the school. Just being seen could give me away to him. For two...We would be swarmed with people once they see what I look like now...The future Beastar was attacked. I heard that some people don't believe I'm fit even be a Beastar, now. They keep saying that the current Beastar would never let something like that happen to him." He picked at his hash brown with his nails.
"How...how powerful is your father?" Legosi asked.
Louis leaned on his hand. "Very." He paused. "Did I ever...intimidate you? When I gave you orders?"
Legosi looked away, munching idly on his food. "...Sometimes." All the time.
"Imagine that feeling, but times ten. That's how I feel around my father."
Legosi drug his claws against the table. "I see. Well, you don't intimidate me anymore, if you wanted to know…" Well, not as much…
"And yet, he still terrifies me. I mean, ever since the beginning he's wanted me to be a Beastar. And now..." He picked a piece of his hash brown and popped it into his mouth. "Legosi, there needs to be a change."
"Yeah..." He finished up his eggs, then took a sip of his tea. "But, the only way to really make those changes would be to become the Beastar..."
Louis smacked his hand on the table. "No!"
Legosi jumped.
Eyes glided over to them.
"Is that Louis, the future Beastar?" Someone asked. "What happened to his eye?"
Louis put his arms on his head and his eye grew wide. "Oh no..."
A bird scrambled over to them. "Louis! You came out to the city! What happened to your eye...?"
The deer swallowed. "Um..."
"What do you think about the widespread graffitti catastrophe going on around the city? It's like a war between artists!"
Louis had never heard of this. Did people think he knew what was going on in society at all times? "I..."
A lizard joined the bird. "What about the recent gang activity trickling out of the black market? If you were Beastar, how would you handle that?"
Louis just looked between the two animals. More were coming over. This was becoming a lot of pressure.
Legosi held his hand out, arm barring them from him. "Louis-s...Louis isn't taking questions at this time. He's just out to have breakfast." He steadied his voice the best he could, deep and commanding.
The bird looked quizzically at the wolf, then back to Louis. "Does your father know you're hanging out with a carnivore? What does he think?"
"I'm his bodyguard. Please, give us some space." Legosi stared at the bird, eyes unwavering.
A brown and white bunny came and put his hands on the table. "What would you do about the recent increase in small herbivore incidents lately?"
Louis just...looked down. This is exactly what he didn't want. If someone took a picture or a video of him and it made its way to his father…
"Louis. Isn't. Taking. Questions," Legosi doubled down, this time standing up to separate the animals further from the deer.
The bird shrunk back a bit. "He's one of the future Beastars. He needs to know what to do in these situations."
Legosi took a moment to think. There were more future Beastars? Louis wasn't the only one? But he always called himself the future Beastar! Unless…"Now...is not the time. We're just out for breakfast." He looked back at Louis to see how he was doing. He looked miserable, to say the least.
The lizard stepped forward. "The Beastar shouldn't need a bodyguard."
Louis stood up and just turned around and quickly escaped into the bathroom. He was lucky the hallway was right behind his chair.
He locked the door and looked into the mirror. There he was with a strained face, and an eye patch. This wasn't the face of the Beastar. There was no way. This was just the face of an actor.
Legosi had run after Louis, but was too late, and he was locked out from the bathroom. He swiftly spun around, trying to shoo the animals that had followed for some reason.
They weren't happy, but they eventually scrammed. They probably weren't even thinking about how Louis felt. No one ever did. Besides Legosi.
He knocked gently on the door. "Senpai, they're gone now. We should get going before they come back."
Louis unlocked the door and then suddenly Legosi was pulled in by his shirt, kind of roughly at that. Louis closed and slammed the door, locking it.
"S-senpai? What is it?" He knew why Louis had run in here, of course, but not why he had just been pulled in with him…He was surprised that the skinny deer could pull him so forcefully.
Louis reached over to his right and flicked off the light, leaving them in darkness, but he didn't factor in that Legosi was nocturnal. He wasn't thinking about that at the moment.
"What are you doing?" He knew Louis couldn't see in the dark.
"I...I don't want you to see me." He put his back against the door and slid down. Legosi immediately decided it was best not to tell him he could see.
The wolf's eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness, seeing the sad and broken form of his friend. He wanted so badly to crouch down and comfort him, but then Louis would be tipped off that he could still see him more or less clearly. "Then...why am I here?"
"Because I need you to listen." He buried his face in his knees.
"Okay. I'm listening." Legosi found the toilet. He set the seat down so he could sit on it.
"I'm...sorry I slammed the table and got their attention. I'm just...fed up," he huffed. "I thought you got how I was feeling, so it was alarming when you told me the only way things could change was to become the Beastar. It...It shocked me."
"I'm sorry, senpai! I know that's not the future you want! But...to change society...I can't think of any more effective position than that...Of course, I still don't understand society fully anyway, so I could be completely wrong. I don't want you to become the Beastar, Louis-senpai. I mean it."
"Legosi...I wasn't talking about changing society. Not everything is on that large of a scale." He felt the cold ground with his fingers and gently scraped his nails on it. "This is about me. Not Louis the red deer. Not Louis the future Beastar. Just Louis."
Legosi blanked. Oh god, he really jumped the gun back there..."I'm sorry, senpai. I misunderstood..." Legosi stretched his leg out, touching his shoe to Louis'. "I'll just...never mention stuff like that around you ever again, okay? And if I do...you can smack me."
There was a silence. Then...laughing? Louis was laughing! Genuinely!
"Y-you're laughing? Like, not sad laughing, right?"
"No, Legosi-kun." Another pause. "Can you...come over here? And kneel in front of me?"
"...Okay." The wolf slipped off the toilet and followed Louis' instruction, even ignoring how filthy the floor must be.
"Now, say something." The deer wanted to gauge how close he was.
"...Something?"
Before the carnivore knew it, thin and skinny arms were wrapped around him. Louis had to lift his head to make sure his antlers didn't get in the way. In the blackness, Louis finally hugged Legosi after everything they'd been through.
Legosi froze, arms still unmoving. "..Senpai?" His usually deep voice came out high pitched.
Louis didn't say anything. I never realized how big and strong he was...I knew how it looked, but feeling it…
Legosi raised his arms up tentatively. He used his hands to rub Louis' biceps gently, as if asking permission to return the hug.
The herbivore squeezed him a bit tighter, confirming his request.
Legosi snaked his arms around Louis' back gently, but enough to pull him in just a bit more. His muzzle slid beside his face and he inhaled his scent deeply. He smelled good. Like...really good. And there was no perfume smell to it this time.
His scent was always one that stood out among all the other animals he had met. Sometimes he felt like he couldn't get enough of it. He squeezed a tiny bit harder. "You're...going to be okay, senpai. Because...I'm here." He felt almost wrong saying it, considering what had happened that morning, and the lingering fear he still felt, but Louis wasn't afraid, so why should he be?
This is...not the first time we've embraced like this...but I'm going to think that it is. He's so small...fragile. I could stand up right now and lift him up in an instant. And yet, he was the one to come to my large body and hold it. Legosi's tail wagged.
Louis took a breath and finally spoke. "This needs to be the final chapter of Louis the future Beastar."
"What should we do?" Legosi rubbed Louis' back softly.
"Plan. Understand, I'm turning on my back on my father, on Cherryton, on the world. They won't even think about how it was BECAUSE I was going to be Beastar that I was kidnapped. They'll only think about what I'm leaving behind. For them, it's society. For me, it was my left eye." His head moved on his chest. "I miss it, Legosi…"
"I'm so sorry." Legosi held him tighter still. "I...miss it too...but I like you just the same without it."
"I'm sorry...I dragged you into my life. Even if I'm not going to be the Beastar, I should've still been strong. Do you remember what I said about conviction?"
"Mhm." The wolf didn't want this hug to end.
"Well. This is my conviction. To end the Beastar chapter of my life. I'm willing to fight for it harder than anything I have before, even though there will be major consequences."
"I'll be there for you, senpai. As much as I can."
Louis' arms started to slide away. "Of course. You're my bodyguard, after all."
A slight involuntary whine released from Legosi's throat as Louis pulled away. "Oh...yeah." He chuckled. "Yeah..."
"We're about to jump off the deep end. Are you sure you can handle it?"
Legosi gulped. "I'll do my best."
Legosi-kun...I don't know what I'm doing...I never really knew what I was doing...I still don't...But I can't live my life in this lie anymore. I'm tired of acting...With you by my side, protecting me...I can start taking the steps to victory.
"...so, should we get out of here, now?"
"Yes. Sorry." Louis stood up, flicking on the lights. He wasn't smiling. It was that determined face again. That same powerful face he wore during Legosi's rescue during the second play of Adler.
Fire.