I was born into this world as a sheep. That's what my parents told me. It makes sense, after all. Both of them are sheep, so their child could only ever be a sheep too.

But something very strange happened to me. I became a tiger, with fur as white as my parents' wool. I was too young to remember what happened, but I was told this was the power of Luca. That He granted me the body of a carnivore in exchange for… closing the gap.

In my family, there is a saying. There is no right or wrong, no good or evil. Only shame and shamelessness. This world is bound by shame, the shame of an incomplete spirit. And that is why everyone suffers. Naturally, the only way to fix this is to cast aside our shame, and begin the journey of rekindling our true self. So we must do shameful things.

A carnivore that doesn't crave meat, the color of a pure soul. The harmony of all life in one being. That is what I am. What my family believes me to be. What everyone should be like.

It's true I lack the bloodlust of a predator and the fear of a prey. That kind of instinctual conflict is altogether absent from my heart. I suppose you could consider my state of mind tranquility. Nirvana, even. A complete lack of want or turmoil. This must be what bliss truly means.

Why, I wonder… Why would my family ever want something like this?

"Priyaaaa…" Peter whines, slouching over the table before quickly darting back up after feeling how sticky the surface is. "The food's taking forever…"

The tigress glances at the counter, where two very tired-looking cashiers continue taking orders for the ever-increasing line of customers. She can barely hear their demands over the chatter and sizzling of grease coming from the kitchen in the back. Looking at the electronic display above the head of the scowling ostrich cashier, she notes that the list of order numbers hasn't budged, meaning their meal is still in the works.

"We did come during the lunch rush…" She patiently explains, but his only causes her companion to make even more melodramatic bleats.

"So hungryyyy…." He groans. "How are you okay? We've been walking around since morning…"

Priya frowns. "I've already told you before I don't feel hungry."

"Yeah, but like, howww?"

The female shrugs. "I guess my body doesn't know how to warn me when I need to eat."

"Must be nice…" The ram grumbles, gnawing on his t-shirt. Priya had long since learned that his hunger level is inversely proportional to his maturity.

"I don't really think so…" Her response was quiet, barely audible over the clamor of the restaurant.

The bighorn sheep looks up at the tiger seated across him. "Hm? You say something?"

Her blue eyes cloud over in thought. Whatever she seems to be pondering leaves her with a forlorn air. She rests her elbows over the grimy tabletop and laces her long, slender fingers together so as to catch her chin like a net, the tube of her nasal cannula trickling down her arms before snaking into her skirt pocket.

"Peter," she begins, "Would you rather be a herbie, a carnie, both, or neither?"

The ram takes a minute to process this query. "Jeez, you always ask the most interesting questions. What would neither be? Like a plant or something?"

"Sure. Something that doesn't need to eat to survive."

Peter grins and points a triumphant finger at Priya as if he just solved a murder case. "Then that! Solves a lot of problems don't you think? No more meal planning!"

"You don't plan meals either way." Priya gives a playful wink. "But I guess that's what most people would answer, right?"

"I guess. It'd be nice to never go hungry."

"It would. But that also means you can't enjoy the feeling of a nice hot meal when you haven't eaten all day."

Peter's eyes widen. "I didn't think of that…"

Priya giggles. "You're a really simple guy, you know that?"

"I feel like that wasn't a compliment…"

"But hey…" Her face suddenly sobers. "I really am glad we're friends."

The sudden confession heats up the ram's cheeks. "H-huh? Where's this coming from?"

Priya hums a carefree note, and playfully rolls her eyes. "Nowhere in particular. It's just that sometimes I remember how you're my first real friend."

"Hey, I'm sure that's not true—"

"You don't need to feel bad for me." She cuts him off. "It's just a fact that most people tend to judge others based on their appearance. I'm sure that I would be intimidated if I were in their shoes. But you never seemed to care about what I was. You treated me like any other animal. So that makes you a special person to me."

"Hey, hey…" Peter wildly falls his hands around him, as if trying to swat away an imaginary fly. "You're really giving me too much credit! I'm not gonna lie, it's not like I wasn't weirded out at all when we met but… You're a ram fighting fan, so I figured you couldn't be that bad!"

He laughs, a big hearty laugh that lacked awareness or malice. Priya couldn't help but duck her head down and join in sputtering wheezes.

"What kind of reason is that…?" She simpers, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Well, turns out I was right!" He retorts. "You're super cool, and funny and uh…" He digs around his vocabulary for a bit. "Illuminating!"

Seemingly proud of that polysyllabic word, he snorts triumphantly before returning to a more sheepish disposition. "I'm… glad we're friends, too. Is what I mean to say."

Neither of them speak for a while. They simply fidget in their seats, wanting to bask in the awkward afterglow of that conversation for a bit more.

"Sixty three!" A harsh voice pierces through the ambient noise. "Order number sixty three!"

"Oh shit, that's us." The voice (and more importantly his hunger) snaps Peter out of his daze, and he jumps up to retrieve the order at the counter.

Priya's icy eyes follow his movements, and she smiles to herself once more.

Peter truly is a good guy. It's hard to find an animal as honest as he was, and even harder to find one so oblivious that he doesn't notice the stares the two get when being out together.

Good thing he's safe now.

AN: Thanks for reading! Very short chapter I didn't quite know where to put. So here it goes. Yes, I named this chapter after the meme and for no other reason than that. My story, my rules.

I've been listening to a lot of the Beastars soundtrack recently. Man, is it good.

Take it easy and stay safe.