Chapter 9
Rob quickly made his way inside the locker room after the awkward greeting at the clubroom entrance.
He had attempted a rather shaky "hello," but was only met with either stares or nervous side glances from most of his club mates. It was only thanks to Louis casually instructing the young lion to quickly get changed and join up with the rest of the stage crew that the tension between them broke somewhat.
Rob groaned as he shuffled towards his locker, wishing he could just hide away in it for the rest of the day.
After removing his dress shirt, his eyes began to wander towards a particular locker a few feet away and sighed with his tail drooping low.
I wonder if they've already cleared out his things, Rob thought.
Even though he had just been to his little shrine it was still a little difficult to accept that he will never see Tem again.
The young carnivore could still vividly recall the day he first met the alpaca in this very room. Tem was newly scouted as a second-year middle school student while Rob was in his first year of high school. He was a few inches shorter during that time, but he still towered over most of his peers.
As everyone was changing, the young lion could hear a small voice breathing out "Whoa…" Turning his head, Rob saw that it originated from a white alpaca who was looking up at him in wonder.
"Oh. U-umm, are you new?" the lion asked the wide-eyed herbivore.
"Y-yeah, I just… started today," the alpaca answered as he scanned the carnivore's frame.
At this point, Rob was feeling pretty nervous and self-conscious from the new member's stare—especially since he was already half-naked.
"How did you get so big?" the young herbivore blurted out. Several other members suddenly snapped their heads towards the two animals.
"E-excuse me?" the young lion asked in embarrassment.
"I've never seen a lion as tall as you before!"
"O-oh! That's what you—I mean, um, w-well…!"
Rob rubbed the back of his head nervously before clearing his throat. "I'm technically a… l-liliger."
"La-la…gir?" the new herbivore tilted his head.
"Uh, 'Lai-lai-ger.' I-it means that I'm three-quarters l-lion and one-quarter tiger."
The alpaca then began searching the large carnivores fur, looking for evidence of his claim.
"I-I know my stripes are kinda hard to s-see," Rob said as he turned a little red. "Oh, but my tail has s-some darker ones, see?"
The young hybrid turned his body around to reveal a row of stripes on his tail gradually growing more solid as they reached the dark-brown tuft at the tip.
"...You're right. That's really neat!" the young herbivore exclaimed excitedly. "I bet you're as big and strong as a grizzly bear."
"Oh, n-no… I'm not th-that big," Rob said bashfully as he turned his head sideways.
The young lion had grown accustomed to herbivores—aside from his adoptive family and Baako—to be a little fearful whenever they first cross paths with him. To have one genuinely compliment him on his size felt strange… and kind of nice.
"Oh, yeah! I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Tem! What's your name?"
"M-my name is Rob. Nice to m-meet you…" he answered, smiling gently.
It didn't take long for Tem to fit in well with the rest of the club. He even earned a place in the acting team. Though they were not close friends, Rob always liked talking and spending time with the alpaca. He always looked forward to seeing his cheerful grin each day.
Now, what else is there to be motivated about coming here anymore? The young lion couldn't help but wonder this as he finished putting on his gym clothes.
He's sure he liked drama club even before Tem joined, but now it has become suffocating just being there—thanks to everyone thinking he's some sort of criminal.
I don't want to go back out there, Rob lamented while covering his face. Can't I just say I'm feeling sick and go back to my room?
The locker room door soon opened as he was contemplating doing just that. Two sets of thin, grey claws grasped the side of it before the head of a large grey wolf gradually peaked into the room.
"Um… H-hey, Rob?" the wolf called sheepishly. "I, uh… they sent me to see if…well, to see if you were ready?"
The young lion's hands slowly slid off his face, realizing there was no avoiding it. "*sigh* Yeah… I-I'm ready."
Rob stood up and began trudging towards the canine with heavy footsteps. The two carnivores then slowly walked down the hallway connecting the lockers and main club room.
…
Since most of the preparations for the "Adler" play were already finished, all that was left for the stage crew to do was finalize several things—namely: putting some finishing touches on the costumes, setting and checking on the last of the lights and speakers, etcetera.
Rob was part of the group that was mostly responsible for creating and building set pieces, scenery, and props. He was also the primary "muscle" of the team that takes care of pushing and carrying the heavier pieces on stage during a scene change.
Even though he was absent from most of the prep work, Rob was still given a detailed diagram of the set—provided by Dom, the peafowl design director.
There was still some tension between him and his group, so the young lion had to put some extra effort asking specific questions just to have them look at him—especially the female giraffe and rhinoceros. The hippo seemed comfortable enough to guide him through the scene rotations, but probably only because he was a carnivore himself.
After quickly learning everything he needed to know before opening night, Rob and several other crew members were sent to the auditorium to sweep and clean up the stage for the next day's dress rehearsal. Naturally, several of the other students kept their distance from the young lion—save some of the other carnivores.
The somewhat-lanky grey wolf, especially, seemed to have taken a bit of interest in him—no doubt from his change in mane color and scar.
Rob was well acquainted with the canine's natural curiosity and gentle personality, but he really wished his junior wouldn't stare up at him so intently while sweeping next to him.
"Umm… L-Legoshi?" the young carnivore said quietly as he glanced sideways.
"Oh! Um—Sorry…" said the young wolf, frantically averting his gaze. "I d-didn't mean to—"
"...It's okay," Rob sighed. "I'm s-starting to get u-use to it."
"...Right. So, uh… how're you feeling…? I mean, I haven't seen you in club for a while, s-so I figured… you were sick?"
"Hmm, y-yeah. Something l-like that. I w-was in the hospital."
"Oh, it was that serious?" Legoshi asked in surprise.
"J-just a bump on the head… a-and a big scratch."
"Hmm…" Legoshi began staring off elsewhere, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. It was always quite the sight for the young lion, seeing the wolf subtly changing expressions while shifting his eyes and ears. It was like watching him have a full conversation with himself.
"...Possibly. But, why… Then, he couldn't have killed—" Legoshi suddenly caught himself mumbling out loud as he tightly grasped his mouth. He then gave Rob a greatly apologetic look as his ears began to droop.
The young lion's lips then slowly creased into a saddened smile as he resumed sweeping.
"I'm sorr—I mean, it just k-kinda slipped—"
"It's f-fine. Really. I kn-know tha—know that everyone th-thinks it was me who…"
The grey wolf's ears were almost completely flattened as he cast down his gaze to the stage floor—a look of shame darkening his face.
"...Thanks, L-Legoshi," said Rob.
"H-Huh?"
"I'm…just g-glad at least o-one other person isn't… afraid of m-me."
Legoshi was taken by surprise by his sudden words of appreciation, but soon regained himself and shyly looked up into his senior's eyes.
"Well, I…kinda already know what it's like...to be feared," he said. "I mean, most animals usually see me as the 'big, bad wolf'—like I'm ready to prey on them any minute."
"R-really? You don't s-seem like the type."
Then again…he does have the bad habit of staring at people. So, I guess anyone would get the wrong idea, Rob thought.
"Y-yeah, well…I've learned to live with it, so it's not a big deal to me anymore..." Even though he was trying to look happy, it was easy for Rob to see the wolf was still hurt by that image foisted upon him. Perhaps… they weren't so different, after all.
"Uh, anyway…Where was I going with this? Right. So…if you need someone to, you know, talk to, I could…I-I mean, if you're okay with that…"
The young lion began smiling more genuinely, seeing how the fidgeting canine was trying his best to comfort him.
"Y-yeah. I think I'd…like that. Th-thank you."
Legoshi smirked awkwardly in response as he scratched the back of his head.
The two carnivores then spent the rest of their time cleaning up in silence, though feeling very much at ease in each other's company.
…
The day had at last ended and most of the students had retired to their rooms, winding down for the evening. Having already dressed down to just his sweat pants and socks—since wearing a t-shirt at night always made him too hot—he was currently at his desk, silently writing on notepaper.
"Whatcha up to?" asked a young red-maned African lion, wrapping his arm around his shoulder.
"L-letter…" Rob responded without looking up.
"Letter, huh? Heh. A girl you've got your eye on?"
"No, just a f-friend of mine. He's in h-hospice right now."
"Oh…" His red-maned roommate didn't even bother hiding his disappointment.
"D-do you need something…Lorde?" Rob questioned without lifting his head.
"Oh, right! See, there's this cute lioness I've started seeing while you were out sick."
"Um, weren't y-you seeing another one a f-few—few weeks ago?"
"Mmm, yeah. But we weren't that serious. She was pretty hot, though."
Can't he ever stick with one female for more than a few weeks, Rob heaved inwardly.
"S-so, is that all you w-want to talk about?"
"Actually…I was wondering: you're gonna be pretty busy with drama club tomorrow, right?"
"Probably. W-why?"
"Well," Lorde snickered. "Just needed to know since I may or may not decide to bring her over here—just for a little of fun."
This time, the young hybrid lion let out a very audible sigh as he rolled his eyes.
"Aw, come on, man! Don't be like that," Lorde complained as he swayed Rob slightly. "An hour. It's all I'm askin'. Besides, I gave you some alone time when you came in with that total babe a few months ago."
Rob flinched, his pen stopping abruptly in the middle of a word as he grimaced.
"We… d-didn't actually do anyth-thing."
"...Huh?" Lorde turned to his roommate with a blank expression. "Run that by me again?"
"I s-said, n-nothing happened."
"ARE YOU EFFIN' SERIOUS?!"
"Ack! S-stop yelling!" Rob shouted, pushing Lorde off his shoulders as his eardrum began to throb.
"Bruh! What's the deal?! How could you not bang someone like that?! Ugh, what the h*ll?" The flabbergasted carnivore groaned loudly, ruffling his mane while furiously shaking his head.
Rob scowled as he rubbed the inside of his ear with his pinky. "L-look, we only d-dated for a few m-months before then. S-so—"
"That's plenty of time! Man, and here I thought you've ascended to the top of manhood now. What happened?"
"L-let me finish! *sigh* Y-yeah, S-Sara was plenty ready to…s-sleep with me. b-but…" He paused for a moment while looking down on the floor. "I…just d-didn't feel c-comfo—feel comfortable about it."
Lorde blinked. "What?"
"I-I mean, it didn't feel r-right at the time."
As the young lion raised his head, he was startled to find his roommate leaning forward and staring closely at him.
"Hey, Robbie?"
"W-What is it?"
"You…wouldn't happen to be more into guys, would you?"
Rob wasn't sure what sort of expression he was making at the moment, but he felt his facial muscles contorting in many different ways.
"No no no! It's totally cool if you are!" Lorde defended as he waved his hands in front of him. "It's just…Hmm…You did break up pretty quick, so I guess that was an obvious sign—"
"N-NOOOO! I NEVER S-SAID I W-W-WAS GAY!" Rob roared as he jumped out of his chair.
The red-maned lion had already fallen to the ground, his ears flattening in fear from the hybrid carnivore's loud bellow.
Ugh, it's embarrassing enough with Sara accusing me of the same thing after stopping her from undressing me, Rob quietly lamented while covering his face.
"...Okay. Chill. You don't have to bite my head off over it."
"...I'm s-sorry. It's just…I imagined m-my first time being s-special. Y-you know, like a-after I've found my s-soul mate. But…i-it felt like she w-was more inter—interested in my m-muscles and…my 'manhood'."
"...No, duh." Lorde remarked, leaning back. "I mean, just look at you—you're a stud. I'd kill to have a bod like that. Besides, we're just talking about sex here. You're treating this like marriage, or something."
"W-what's that s-supposed to mean?"
"C'mon, Robbie! We're lions—the apex carnivores and king of beasts! We're free to do whatever we put our minds to. If we see a girl we like, we go for it—no questions asked. H*ll, even our great-great-whatever grandpas had whole effin' harems and no one batted an eye."
"Th-that was only exclusive to k-kings and royals, y-you know?" Rob retorted.
"Eh, details. Look, my point is…have a little more pride. You're still just as much a lion as the rest of us. Dontcha think it's about time you start owning that?"
Rob remained silent as he looked away. He knew he probably meant well, but he still found his roommate's criticism and "advice" rather aggravating. One word did strike a chord with him, though: Pride.
The young lion remembered his father using that word a lot while he was alive. He even remembered asking him, at one point, what that term meant. Unfortunately, Rob could no longer recall the answer that he was given.
"Well, anyway, enough of that," Lorde continued as he stood back up. "So, about tomorrow…"
The young hybrid turned as he slowly sat back in front of his desk. "D-do what you want..."
"Thanks, bruh," the African lion courteously patted his back before jumping upon his own bed.
Rob sighed deeply as he rested his chin on his folded arms.
So, he doesn't have enough pride in his own species and should've slept with Sara when he had the chance? He did find her very attractive—and sexy—but, that wasn't all that he was after when he became her boyfriend.
The young lion was hoping to eventually have the same kind of loving relationship his parents had.
Even as a small child, it was very obvious how much in love they were in: his dad sometimes sneaking up from behind for a kiss, his mother chuffing lovingly whenever he drew near, calling each other pet names like "Big, Beautiful Princess" and "Little King," the random gifts of small bouquets, and many other small—and, in retrospect, cringey—acts.
…Right. I need to get flowers for mom pretty soon, Rob reminded himself.
The young lion then straightened himself up in his chair once more before picking up his pen and resuming his letter. Perhaps Grandpa Kaito could give him some advice. He may be a herbivore, but he would rather put more stock in his words over an animal who normally only thinks with his "other" head…
Author's Note
Okay, I take it back: THIS chapter is the longest, so far!
When naming some of my characters, I looked at different people and animals. For example, Dean, the Daddy Bighorn, was named after my favorite "lion whisperer" and animal caretaker, Dean Schneider, even though he's the complete opposite personality-wise.
With Robbie's name... He just looks like a "Rob" to me. No other real reason! Ha ha!
