That Friday 4:36 PM - The Defunct Livestock Tower - Shower room
"Ugh...This stuff smells horrible." San said lathering his head as he stood under the shower nozzle as the water washed over his pelt.
"Then why are bathing with it then?" A voice said behind him.
Kyuu.
San turned around surprised nearly slipping on the floor, soaking wet and nude trying to hide the bottle of shampoo he was using. Was she there the whole time or did she just walk in. He thought. He could never really tell with her. Kyuu was leaning against the entrance, completely unfazed by his nudity, sipping a glass of carrot juice.
"How long have you been there?" He asked trying to calm his nerves.
"Long enough." She said nonchalantly as she took another sip.
"So, you are just spying on me then? I thought you were still working out in the courtyard."
She ignored that and returned to her original question. "Why are you washing with that stuff if you don't like the smell?"
"Smell?" He was trying to be coy.
"Don't play dumb." She peered around him obviously aware he was hiding something. "I can see you hiding the bottle."
"Oh, I'm just not used to the smell yet is all. It's just the new conditioner I got from the drug store!" He turned the water off and moved the wet tussle of wool from his eyes. "Doesn't smell that bad does it?"
"Oh no, it reeks in here... like wet dog." She wasn't buying his act at all and was growing more annoyed by the minute. "Least that hint of oatmeal is trying to salvage it." She tried to fan the smell away to no avail.
San began wrapping a towel around his waist out of modesty. He tried to laugh it off like usual, but it was hard to lie to Kyuu. She knew him too well. "Yeah that does smell crazy, but you know it smells worse when you smoke in here!" He said trying to shift the conversation.
"Oh, now you complaining about my smoking." The rabbit stared at him unconvinced. "Well eventually the smoke leaves out of windows" She said pointing towards one of the barred windows. "You're going to be smelling like that all night unless you wash that off. What kind of conditioner is that anyway?
He picked up the bottle and tried to read it as best he could. "It's uh Canes...Cah nis Carne..Canis Car ni val An ti-Flee ay? Um...It's a special conditioner."
"Give me that!" Kyuu demanded as she yanked the bottle from him to read for herself. Out of the two of them she had a better grasp on reading, even if that wasn't much. She definitely recognized the word Canis from their time living with Gouhin. Canis was just a fancy word for canine or dog. "You...this is probably dog shampoo! A bad one at that from the smell of it."
Great, here we go, he always dreaded these arguments with her. "I know it means dog, that's why I got it. I was thinking Priscilla... might like it if I smelt more like her kind...y'know?"
"She's a fox you moron, not a dog! They aren't really the same." She groaned and began pulling down her ears at his naivete. "Ugh! This is so dumb...I can't believe you of all people would make such a dumb mistake." She paused and thought rationally, trying to talk some sense for him.. "Look... you have ever smelled her smelling like this?"
San pondered trying to think about her scent. "Now that I think about it...no." Then a flurry of insecure thoughts flooded in. Oh no...I don't think I've ever gotten a scent from her to be honest, he immediately thought panicking. Is that bad? What if she asks me how she smells? What do I say?
Kyuu began reading the rest of the description. [Canis Carnival: Anti Flea shampoo/conditioner for canines] It was hard to read at first, but she put two and two together and figured out it was medicinal shampoo for flea ridden dogs. "You idiot. This is for sick dogs!" She shouted, folding her arms.
"Huh?"
"So not only are you not a dog, you don't even know if this is even good for your wool! It may start falling out or something."
"Well... at least I'm trying to make it work!"
"What happened to you?! You used to be really dependable. But ever since that night those foxes helped us, you've been making so many mistakes! You stop me from dealing justice! You start seeing a carnivore! Now you're wasting our money on stupid love nonsense."
"Well it's the money she gave me!"
"Oh! So, she's practically getting you to spend it on her then?! Even worse!"
San threw his hands in the air. "Urgh.. I'm trying not to smell like someone who lives in a filthy rundown tower for once!"
"Yeah. Now you smell like a flea-bitten dog... A flea-bitten dog that lives in a filthy rundown tower!"
San had enough of this, he would make her listen. The tall llama was swift as he grabbed the much smaller rabbit by one of her floppy ears, raising her off the ground to eye level. "I'm just trying to enjoy myself for once and escape this squalor! Can't you see that?!" The llama exclaimed at the top of his lungs. His eyes were filled with a fury Kyuu had rarely ever seen in him. Her own eyes were wide with surprise, it had happened so sudden she had dropped her glass to the floor, shattering it. San usually didn't fly off the handle like this and she didn't like it.
"Put...me...down. Now!" She warned. It hurt being hoisted like this and San was completely out of line in her mind. She grabbed hold of his arm trying to alleviate the pain.
San just stared back at her with contempt, fuming, breathing heavily. She knew exactly how to get out of this predicament. She swung forward and wrapped her legs around his wrist. A lot of her strength was in her legs and the rabbit could break his wrist if she wanted to. All it would take is for her to twist violently. She didn't want to do that, but she would if she had to.
"Put me down or I break your arm." She hissed. "San!" She shouted one last time.
She'd do it too, he thought. He relaxed and let go. She fell backwards and flipped down like a monkey descending from a tree.
The tension between the two lasted seconds, but she broke it by wringing the dampness out of her ear.
"Great... now my ear smells like wet dog and oatmeal." She didn't apologize, but she thought about what he had said. "So... this is your big plan of getting out of here huh? I see." She said. "So does your plan involve a way for you to trek through the market by yourself? That shampoo is rather loud. You might as well just be hanging a big CHEAP MEAT sign up for the crooks out there.
She's shifting the subject a bit. He noticed. Fine with me.
"Yeah I got something, just wait here." He walked over to the dry spot where he had a backpack by the entrance barrier. Inside were an extra set of street clothes and more importantly, the revolver Priscilla had given him months prior. "I still got this." He gripped the revolver with both hands in action pose like he had seen in some of the movie posters. It was fully loaded. "I bought some more rounds while we were out and you were training."
"Well at least you aren't hopelessly stupid." She said impressed at his precaution. "Just be careful where you point that thing!"
He placed the gun back and just rolled his eyes at her insult. "You know I'm not going to bring you anything back if you keep calling me stupid."
"I don't need any charity! Especially their kind!" She said as she went to fetch an old broom and dustpan to clean the dangerous pile of glass shards on the floor.
"I mean you kind of take their money anyway at the arena!"
"Shut up! I earn that!" She bellowed down the hallway. The shampoo's odor assaulted her nose as she came back in with its cheap ineffective oatmeal scent. As she began sweeping the glass up a thought occurred to her. "You know I wonder how your Piss Fox's going to react when you show up smelling like this?"
"You know her name is Pris, with an "R" sound."
"Whatever. You know her kind have more sensitive noses, right?" Kyuu could hardly breath as she started laughing. "I mean if I can't stand this smell, you know she'll hate it!" Then a smile spread across her face as she swept. The thought of his date going awry started to amuse her. "On second thought, leave it in... it might actually curb her appetite! Heh Heh Heh."
Kyuu laughing. Huh...this is rare, he thought, of course it's at my expense! She does have a point though, Pris probably would hate this stuff.
"I'm going back in to try and wash it out." He said as he stepped back under the shower head and began trying to rinse this stuff out. His fleece was going to be extra soft after all this, more so than he could stand. "What a waste. I don't know what Mr Yelchin was talking about when he said it was a crazy new scent and that it was a steal."
"He was right! It was crazy and he stole your money! Ha ha ha ha" She couldn't contain herself as she continued to laugh at him. He didn't even illicit a response. "No wonder you got that garbage. That cheap goat will sell you anything if you let him!"
"Yeah I wish Matilda was there before I bought it, she probably would have helped me or giving me some pointers." He paused and looked back to Kyuu. "Thanks, Kyuu."
"For what?" She asked trying to catch her breath.
"For the advice earlier."
Kyuu stopped laughing. "Oh, I was just trying to get rid of the smell. I could really care less about your stupid pipe dream!"
"Pipe dream?" San frowned. What? You didn't have to say it like that! He thought.
"That's all this is. Something doomed to fail. So, what you are attracted to each other, but you are just being naive to her real nature. And then you really think she can uplift you from poverty? You think she really likes you enough to do that?"
"Kyuu..."
"No, you barely know her! What future would you have with her anyway? I've heard the stories of what mixed species couples bring into this world. Terrible stuff."
"I can at least try!"
"Yea…like I tried…" Just thinking of the past, it hurt worse than any physical blow she had actually taken. "Look where that got us." Her voice faded.
San felt for her there, being rejected like that, but he didn't buy her point of view. "Look. It's not the same…"
"Yeah...yours is much worse. You might actually get eaten when your love fails you." She furrowed her brows and turned away stomping out of the room. "I'm going out!"
"Where are you going then?"
"Well since you want to be wasteful, I might as well do the same!" She yelled down the hallway. "I'm going to go buy some useless crap of my own! Try not to eaten Livestock # 3!" She used the ID number again trying to drive home who he really was.
"Well how about you, Livestock # 9?!" He shouted after her before venting his frustration by punching the wall.
Fuck I hate fighting with her. He thought. He was so mad the pain of his throbbing knuckles barely registered. Damn it. Is it so wrong to want to better one's self or at least try to be happy? He just stood there fuming as the water continued to pelt the top of his head.