Chapter 93 - Just One Animal
The night continued, and Louis fell into an easy sleep next to his wolf, eased only by the repeated thought of: He's alright. He's alright.
Pina and Bill eventually left to go back to Cherryton, escorted by Gouhin. Once the panda returned he checked on the two sleeping animals, turning off the light and shutting the door quietly when he deemed that they were okay.
It was around 2 AM when Legosi woke up, his painkillers beginning to wear off. The smell was entirely foreign, as was the room. This was definitely not their house. He tried to sit up, but the bandages around him made it difficult, as did the pain. Bandages covered up his right eye and head as well. What on earth happened?
Legosi finally was able to place the scent: it was the clinic he had been brought to in the black market all those months ago. The wolf began to thrash on the bed, being held down by something warm.
Louis stirred a bit on top of him. "Mmm..."
The wolf began to whine loudly. "Wh-where is this? Where is this?"
The deer lifted his head slowly. "You don't..." he yawned, "Remember?"
"Louis!" Legosi realized the warm thing on him was actually his beloved. He wrapped him up, clinging to him. "Wh-why are we here? This is a bad place!"
"You...wanted to come here. You said he'd know who did this to you and...now we know."
"Nonononono I don't want to eat any of the meat! I never ate you!" Legosi wrapped himself around the deer more, clawing at the clothes that were in the way.
"You didn't come because you wanted to eat the meat. You wanted to see...what was his name...Gouhin?"
"G-Gouhin...Gouhin..." Legosi's brain desperately tried to turn the gears. "A-are you okay, Louis?"
"I'm just fine." His chin rested on his chest. "And so are you." Thankfully...
The canine brought his legs up and shivered. "I'm c-cold. My head hurts. My body hurts..."
Louis stroked his cheek softly. "I know...I'm sorry."
Legosi shivered more, pulling the deer closer, which in turn hurt his ribs. "O-ow..."
His mate pulled back a little. "Please, be careful."
Legosi let go and clawed at the covers beneath them. He tried to get under them, but it was a lost cause with both of them already on top of it.
Louis moved. "Let me fix that." He got off the bed and started pulling the covers from under his wolf.
The canine looked up and managed a smile. He still wasn't sure what was happening, but Louis was here.
The deer got the covers free and threw them over his partner gently. "There we go." He came over and sat on the edge of the bed next to him, and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Are you hungry?"
"...Yeah..."
"I'll go get you something to eat. I'll be back." He got his shoes on, sighing at just how shitty the situation was. At least Legosi was safe.
The dog reached out. "B-but we're in the black market..."
"Hm...I'll figure something out." He turned to leave. The deer disappeared.
"Be...careful..." Legosi's head hit the pillow. He felt too weak to do anything. Why did he feel this way? Why couldn't he find the strength to go with Louis and protect him?
Louis walked around the waiting room and looked around. The panda had to have a kitchen somewhere, right? There was no way he was going out into the market.
The deer went around, looking at all the doors. At the end of the wall, he saw that a light was on under the door. Maybe the panda was in there. He got closer and reached for the handle, turning it and pushing it open.
Gouhin, who was sitting at his desk looking at some files, immediately stood up and faced the doorway, adopting a tense stance.
"Oh, hi," Louis raised his hand.
The panda seemed to relax slightly. "...What're you doin' snoopin' around?"
"I was just looking for some food for Legosi.""
Gouhin sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Fine. Don't want him eatin you in his sleep." He approached the deer.
"He wouldn't anyway..." Louis muttered.
The bear walked past him. "You two really are odd. Y'know, I met him over six months ago and it was only for a few hours, but I was never able to get him outta my mind..."
"What happened back then?"
Gouhin led them into a small kitchen. "Well, I found him drooling and passed out in an alleyway, so I brought him back here. Tied him up and muzzled him, as I do with all potential patients. You understand."
"I understand. Go on." He sat down at a chair.
"I ask him when the last time he ate a herbivore was. He says never. Eventually I coax out the little encounter he had with...you. He said he was going to tell you one day, and I told him to stop being friends with you. The nerve of that kid! He started yelling at me telling me how hard it had been to even get your attention in the first place. He didn't want to let go of that hard earned friendship. Never have I seen a carnivore cling so tightly to a relationship with a herbivore. Not even between a male and female." Gouhin had turned on the oven as he spoke, putting a pan on it.
Louis blinked. "He...yelled at you!"
"Yeah! Real fiery one, that wolf." Gouhin took some eggs and bread out and started to boil some water.
"What...else did he say?"
"Hm? Oh, that's confidential." The panda looked down and spread butter on the pan. "Actually, I told you too much before..."
"So there's no harm in telling me more now."
Gouhin looked over at the deer and raised an eyebrow. "You two 'best friends'?"
"Yes. Now."
"I see. So those matching rings you both wear...they're 'best friend' rings?"
"...Yes."
The bear's brows now furrowed. "Fine, I'll tell you what else he said, since I think you're well aware: He opened up to me and talked about how he found you attractive. I said it was just him confusing his hunting instincts and even tried to give him a buck porn mag...but he got really flustered and ran out."
"Buck...porn magazine?" Louis blinked. "I...didn't know that. His friend told me he found an underwear ad magazine and he marked the page with the male deer..."
"Grahaha! Should have just taken the one I gave him." Gouhin looked back over and noticed the face the deer gave him. "I use 'em for my treatments! It's hard to distinguish between hunting instinct and fetish sometimes, I'm serious!"
"And you don't use them yourself? The magazine shop owner must think you're really weird."
"Oh, she knows me." Gouhin cracked some eggs into the pan. "That's beside the point, though. You're romantically involved with him now."
"I never said that."
"What, just because I have one eye you think I can't see how obvious it is? You should know yourself that missing an eye doesn't make you blind..." The panda scoffed. It was true one of his eyes had a scar over it, but the black spots in the fur made it difficult to tell he only had one eye.
"You only have one eye...Huh. Well it still doesn't mean anything if we have matching rings." Louis crossed his arms.
"And snuggling. And he's attracted to you." Gouhin sighed. "Look...I ain't judgin' you guys, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't wary. How long have you two been...together in that way?"
Louis sighed. "A while now..."
"And everything has been fine? I mean, 'sides the murder shit. That's unrelated, I'm sure."
"It's been incredible. We had some bumps in the road and it took a lot of preparation..."
"R-really? And nothing has happened?"
"Such as?"
"Him wanting to eat you? Him hurting you with his carnivore strength? Just to name a few." The teapot began to whistle and Gouhin took it off the burner.
"I wanted him to eat me at one point..." He mumbled, tapping the table. "We got a muzzle to wear when we...copulated, but we ended up tossing it aside during."
"R-really?!" Gouhin stopped moving as he thought over the words. "I only deal with carnivores in my work...I never heard about a herbivore desiring to be eaten in a relationship before..."
"We did some training where he held his mouth open in front of me. It was for both of us. The first time we did it...his fangs...they were... so sharp...I just had to..." He shook his head. "But he got the blood out of his mouth."
Gouhin's full attention was pointed toward the deer now. "And...you two have sex without issue now?"
"Often." Louis felt it was important to mention this, because it was so easy for them.
The middle aged bear wiped his brow. "Man, I never woulda guessed. I was sure I was gonna see that wolf in the paper one day as a convicted predator..."
"Not all predator's are the same!" The buck slammed his fist.
Gouhin held his large hands up. "Calm down! No need for that. I see now that you two have been careful and done your research." The bear looked back at the pan and bit his lip. The truth was this was a spit in the face to his general philosophy. He would have to observe these two more.
"You treat carnivores like one group when really, we're all only animals and shouldn't be thrown into two groups like that. Easy for you to say, as an herbivore. Those murders at school? Do we blame carnivores for it? No! It was just one animal! All those predation incidents...it's based on the animal that did them, not the group itself. Now...the school will be segregated because one animal fucked up...It's infuriating."
The doctor kept his mouth shut, knowing that the other herbivore just needed to vent now. He prepared some bamboo tea with the water he boiled.
The deer sighed and rested his head on the table. "A carnivore just attacked Legosi. That wasn't instinct."
"No, but the fact is that the same carnivore killed two of his herbivore schoolmates." Gouhin took the eggs from the pan and dropped them between two slices of bread. "Like it or not, that was most likely instinct. Same with when Legosi attacked you."
"I...I don't think the second one was instinct."
"Won't know 'til he tells you." He placed a tray with the egg sandwich and tea on it in front of the deer. "Here, bring this to him."
Louis smiled. "Oh, he'll love this." He looked at him one more time. "Hm. Thanks." He got up and rushed out.
Gouhin groaned, rubbing his neck and returning to the kitchen to clean up.
Legosi's ears perked up at the opening of the door, followed soon by the smell of eggs. His tail started to wag slowly under him.
Louis came in, smiling widely. "Hey. You're still awake."
"Mmmph, I hurt..."
"I know..." He sat down next to him once more. "Want me to feed you?"
Legosi tried to sit up, nodding his head.
The deer grinned, lifting the sandwich and bringing it to his mouth. "Enjoy."
The wolf opened his mouth, poking his long tongue out to grab and pull it into his mouth, taking a big bite.
Louis sighed, affectionately.
Gouhin soon came through the door. Legosi looked up, slinking back slightly at the sight of the large male.
The cervid turned his head. "Uh...yes?"
"Just checking in." He stepped forward, crouching down to be at eye level with the wolf. "Legosi...how are you feeling?"
Legosi stared for a second, and then looked down at his own body. "I'm hurting...I don't know if I can get back to sleep..."
Gouhin grunted. "Well, sleep is just what you need now." The bear deposited two pills onto the tray. "Take these with your tea. They're painkillers."
The deer sighed. "I'll help you get to sleep, too."
The panda stood back up. "Alright, you two, I'm going to bed now. Don't bother me unless it's an emergency." And with that he stepped out, closing the door behind him.
"Gouhin...san..." Legosi murmured.
"What did you want to tell him?"
The dog blinked. "Huh?"
"Oh. Nevermind." He looked to the door to see if it had a lock.
Legosi reached for the tea and the pills, placing them on his tongue and taking a swig. "Blech."
"I bet they taste bad. Sorry," his lover sighed. "But you'll be asleep before you know it."
"This tea sucks." Legosi took another sip.
Louis pushed the tray down. "Does this taste better?" He leaned forward and kissed him.
The wolf stayed still for a second before pushing his tongue against Louis'.
"Mm..." The deer did the same, then pulled back. "Better?"
Legosi smiled. "Better!" He picked up the rest of his sandwich and shoved it in his mouth, his cheeks puffing out as he chewed.
Louis smirked. "Good."
Despite the taste, the patient finished up his tea, as he craved the warmth. Once he was done, he scooched to the side, leaving an opening for Louis to enter the bed.
The deer slid in next to him, sliding his legs under the covers.
Legosi stared at him. "Don't...you want to get undressed?"
"Of course I do..."
"...Then go ahead."
Louis left the bed and stripped down to his underwear, smiling. "Is that better?"
Legosi nodded. "I like to feel your fur..."
His partner joined him. "I know you do, sweetheart. Too bad we aren't back home..."
"I...got hurt...right?" The wolf scrunched his face, trying to remember.
"Yeah...Don't you remember?"
Legosi held his head. "I've been trying. I think...Gouhin told me before I fell asleep...and now I forgot again!"
"Just...hang in there." Louis nuzzled him softly. "You're okay."
The large carnivore held his hand over his eyes. "Ugh, turn off the lights..."
Louis sighed and got out yet another time, turning off the light and making sure the light was completely closed, then returning to his lover. "Are you gonna have me get up again at all?"
Legosi shook his head and held his arms out.
There was some shuffling and the sound of something falling to the floor before Louis scooted as close as he could to his mate, sighing softly. "Hmmm..."
Legosi hugged the deer tight, wrapping their legs together. He sighed in contentment. "Maybe...maybe tomorrow...I'll remember things."
"Don't worry about it. All you need to worry about is that I'm right and never leaving your side."
"Mmmm. Thank you, Louis." Legosi's eyelids began to feel heavy. Those painkillers Gouhin had sure were strong.
Louis moved his hand onto his chest, rubbing it in circles. "Forever, my Legosi."
"My...Louis..." His fiance's head sunk heavier into his pillow, and his breathing became softer. His still slightly congested nose caused a small snore.
Louis closed his eyes. There was nothing left to do but let sleep take him now.
