Two was a nice number... a great number, even. Realistically it was the lowest average number that he would ever get. It had taken him many weeks to reduce the starting number to just two. With that, he could hope for a zero from time to time. Liam would like to think that he was doing it for them, to make them more comfortable. However in reality, it was purely selfish. He hated the scent of fear.

The hyena was sitting on a train to Bunnyburrow. It was his everyday trip from Savanna Central where he lived to Meadowlands where he worked. Zootopia was big enough that using trains was a convenient way to move around the city. Liam sighed and looked around the car, trying not to bring too much attention to himself. He should have ignored it but the morbid curiosity got the best of him. Most of the mammals were familiar. This early in the morning the passengers were like him and just tried to get to work. Everyone kept to themselves trying to get a few minutes of rest before starting their work day. He felt a weird sense of pride that some of them were napping even with him in the car.

There were a couple of otters sitting a few rows away, eying him. Judging by their luggage, they were going on the trip outside of the city. The guy had his arm wrapped around the girl and they glanced at him from time to time with worried expressions. The scent was coming from them. It was so much worse when predators were afraid of him. To his credit the guy was doing his best to keep his companion comfortable. He was smiling and tried to engage the girl in a conversation so she would forget that there was a hyena in their car.

For a moment he considered looking at his phone and laughing softly. A "normal" laugh was often good enough to get mammals comfortable around him but he really wasn't in the mood. It would also be a wasted effort. The hyena would probably never see them again. It would also allow the otter to score more points with his girlfriend if Liam was a dangerous criminal. With his soft laugh and well kept clothes Liam had convinced mammals who traveled to work with him that he wasn't a gang member. It had taken him so long and he was a guy. The hyena couldn't imagine how long it would take his sister to do the same. On the other paw, she was much tougher than him. She wouldn't care that a few mammals were uncomfortable around her.

The hyena looked outside the window and watched as the city was passing him by. Liam hated using public transport. Almost as much as mammals hated being in the same car with a hyena. He could feel the otters' gaze on his fur and tried his best to ignore it. Even with all that effort he would still get some random passengers every time. At least the scent of fear was bearable. The first few trips to work were very uncomfortable. He had to breath through his mouth for the first few weeks. He thanked the gods that he didn't have a strong sense of smell like canines. He probably wouldn't have gotten through those trips and just quit.

Liam closed his eyes and rested his head against the window hoping to get a quick nap. He stayed up way too long watching Pawflix. He should have known better but there was always one more episode to watch. Even after a few months in a new job he tried to keep his sleep schedule the same. His habit was difficult to break. Those naps were a small relief each morning.

The hyena groaned when he heard Meadowlands station being called. He had found a comfortable position and didn't want to move. Liam tried to focus on the free coffee that he would get at the office. Reluctantly he got up and joined the crowd of mammals that were getting off at the same station as him. His tired expression worked for his advantage. Mammals were less afraid of a tired hyena.

The office was a short walk away from the station. It was the main reason why he applied for the job which was on the other side of the city. He would have many more options if he was just willing to move to live closer to his job but he liked his roommates. It was also cheaper to split the bills with them and get a train pass.

He had been living with them since university. Liam hadn't thought too much about it until Matt pointed out that he should have lived on his own. With his new job the hyena could afford that but why should he bother? He was perfectly fine where he was. He shouldn't move because the bunny suggested it. It was a little unusual, sure, but they made it work.

He let his legs carry him on autopilot to the building. His body almost shivered as he smelled the sweet scent of coffee coming from the kitchen. It was his first stop. With a big cup of coffee he went to his team's office area.

Matt was already sitting at his desk. The hyena waved at him. The bunny almost jumped in his seat when he saw him and waved back. Liam furrowed his brow. The bunny was nervously shifting in his seat, a new type of nervous shifting. After a few weeks of interacting with the bunny, he considered himself an expert on Matt's nervous behaviours. He had seen him in more uncomfortable situations than even his family. It was amazing to watch the bunny change from someone who was afraid of predators to a mammal that was eager to help one.

Liam shrugged and went to his desk to boot up his computer. Whatever Matt's problem was, the bunny would tell him when he was ready. The hyena sipped his coffee and at the corner of his eye he was the bunny fighting with himself wherever he should approach Liam. A few times Matt rested his paws on the armrest, ready to get up before he changed his mind. It was intriguing what made him so anxious.

Finally Matt got up and slowly approached the hyena who swiveled his chair in the bunny's direction. He was standing in front of Liam with red ears and couldn't look the hyena in the eyes.

"Can I touch your claws?" Matt said quickly under his breath not able to fight off his embarrassment.

"What?" Liam sat in his chair and blinked, not sure if he heard it correctly.

For a moment the bunny considered turning around and going back to his desk but he already asked. He couldn't take that back, leaving would make things more awkward. Matt took a deep breath.

"Can I touch your claws?" Matt said louder than the last time.

"Why?" The bunny had asked him for weird things before but it took the cake. Matt visibly deflated when he had to explain himself. He could see that question coming but didn't want to answer it.

"I had a little freakout regarding claws when I visited Kyle." Matt bit his lip and hung his head low. "I wanna avoid it in the future."

Liam signed. There was an unspoken rule among predator species with good smell to never bring up the fact that they could smell the fear. It would make a delicate relationship between predators and prey even more awkward if they knew that they weren't able to hide how they were really feeling. They just let it be a myth. A story that was told to kits that weren't listening to their parents. Liam knew from the beginning how scared Matt was of him. The bunny had improved so much in such a short time. Matt was trying his best for the fox kit.

"Really? From Emma's story it seemed like it went well." Liam smiled softly.

Matt sighed. "Yeah. I need to talk with her about personal boundaries. The information exchange between her and my mother is rather scary. Eh... I just couldn't tell my mom about a predator related freak out."

There it was again, the sting of pain. It still hurt that Matt wasn't willing to tell his prey family and friends that he was taking care of a predator kit. As if it was something wrong or shameful. Liam was glad that the bunny was so open with him and knew Matt's reasons for it. However, it didn't make the hyena feel any better.

"Yeah" Liam scratched his chin. "Don't be too mad at her. Mammals are genuinely happy for you. They think that there's a good chance you'll adopt Kyle. They want to be supportive. She just provided information that she knew. It's your own fault that you don't tell them the whole story."

"It's just complicated." The bunny looked at Liam with a tired expression. "I'm not sure how I feel about it. Talking about it would make things more confusing."

Matt clenched his fists and his body got tense. Liam didn't want his personal agenda to affect how willing the bunny was to help the kit. Despite how the hyena felt about the situation, the most important mammal in the equation was the fox kit back at the orphanage.

"You must at least like Kyle if you're willing to flirt with your hyena co-worker to improve your relationship with him." Liam grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.

Matt was stunned for a second as his brain tried processing what just happened. The bunny laughed loudly and he started to loosen up. "Nice try. I've read a lot of research papers and interspecies relationships don't work like that."

Liam's eyes went wide. Did his innocent joke turn into an unexpected opportunity? He and his roommates tried to learn more about interspecies relationships but didn't know where to look for that kind of information. Surprisingly there weren't a lot of sites that wanted to deal with topics like that.

"Really?" Liam asked slowly, "And why were you reading papers on interspecies relationships?"

Matt bit his lip and his ears dropped but he looked at Liam and sighed. "It might sound stupid but numbers relax me. They don't lie and it's comforting. I'm a type of mammal that needs to understand something to be fine with it. So when I was trying to accept the fact that I'm gay, I read a lot of papers about it. Research about interspecies relationships was in the same category so I read it out of curiosity."

Liam nodded and tried to hide his excitement. It seemed to be a sensitive topic for the bunny but at the same time it was a golden opportunity for the hyena. In his head Liam was going through pros and cons of asking Matt about it. In a sense it wasn't any weirder than things that the bunny was asking him about. If Liam was the bunny's predator expert, Matt could be the hyena's interspecies expert.

"I'll let you touch my claws if you tell me what you know about interspecies relationships."

Matt's ears shot up and was taken aback by the offer. No one had ever expressed any interest in talking about it. The bunny furrowed his brow. "Why do you want to know about that?"

"Oh so you can ask for a weird thing but I can't?" Liam grinned.

"Of course you can." Matt said quickly, afraid that he offended his friend. "I'm just curious."

Liam sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Me and the wolves suspect that Nadine and Ralph at least like each other. It's totally fine but we don't know what that means for them and how to approach the topic with them."

"Oh." Matt's eyes went wide. He remembered how close the wolf and tigress seemed during the board game night. It was sweet that their friends wanted to be supportive. "That sounds like a fair trade."

The bunny was a lot more confident, now. His nervousness disappeared as he approached the sitting Liam and extended his paw, waiting for Liam's own. In a second the hyena's ears got hot and froze in his chair as he watched the small mammal in front of him in disbelief.

"You want to talk about interspecies relationships while holding my paw?" The hyena gulped and shifted nervously in his chair.

The bunny furrowed his brow at first but then Liam saw a spark in his eyes. Matt's neutral expression was slowly but surely changing into a mischievous grin. "Yeah. We shouldn't waste time. It isn't like anyone can see us."

The bunny was getting a small enjoyment from making Liam uncomfortable. It was a small payback for all the times that Liam did the same. It didn't take a genius to see what the bunny was doing. The hyena sighed and extended his paw. The bunny took it and gently traced his finger over one of the black claws, letting the silence make it more awkward for the Liam

"Sadly there isn't a lot of research about interspecies attraction." Matt looked at the hyena with a smile to make sure that he was okay. The bunny didn't want to push it too far. "It's a relatively new and complicated field of studies."

As much as the hyena was giving Matt a hard time for not having any predator friends, Liam was similar. He didn't have any prey friends. Prey outnumbered predators so he interacted with them a lot but he had never been close with any of them. They were just coworkers, classmates or people that he passed on the street. It felt bizarre to have soft small paws of a prey holding his own.

"It can't be that complicated if interspecies marriage is allowed." The hyena tried to sound confident and ignore how unusual the whole situation was.

Matt sighed and stopped tracing Liam's claw. The spark in bunny's eyes dimed. "That's exactly the problem. Only one type of marriage is legal."

Matt brought the paw closer to his muzzle to inspect it. The hyena's claws were blunt and had been nicely trimmed. The orphanage still wasn't able to get a predator to help with Kyle. Regular staff wasn't willing to trim claws of the fox that was known as a scratcher. In general Liam's claws were much wider and even without taking care of them, the bunny doubted that they would ever be as sharp as the fox's. Without the risk of them piercing his skin the bunny felt a lot more comfortable and they had to admit that they were nice to the touch.

"Being inter is like being gay. You can't help what you are attracted to. Most mammals are only attracted to their own species. In some cases they are also attracted to other species. In even rarer cases they're only attracted to other species." Matt continued in a tone that strongly reminded hyena of his teachers.

"Shouldn't there be separate words for all those categories?" Liam furrowed his brow.

"It would make things clearer, that's for sure... but the fact that there aren't any shows how new this stuff is." Matt's nose twitched. "For so long mammals were scared to admit who they love."

Liam's expression softened as bunny's ears tilted, he couldn't hide that it affected him. Matt didn't know exactly how those mammals felt but could easily imagine. The bunny always seemed so confident about who he was. It was like a glimpse of how he really felt.

"On top of that there is another layer of complexity." Matt sighed. "It depends on what type of mammals you are attracted to. The first type is most common. You are attracted to mammals of different species that you can have kids with. So something like a relationship between a lion and a tiger. It's the only type of relationship that can legally get married. That justification is weird because it extends to gay marriage. The second type is between predators or prey who can't have kids together. So they fit in that category as a wolf and a tigress. The last type is between predator and prey."

The both looked at their paws at the same time. They couldn't help as their ears got warm from the embarrassment. However, quickly another thought came to the front of the hyena's mind.

"So politicians lie when they say that it's legal!" Liam shouted in annoyance.

"They don't exactly lie, but they don't give the whole truth. To be fair it covers around 80 percent of interspecies relationships and they are so rare to begin with. That's the main reason why talks about it got quiet after they got the right to marry." Matt bit his lip. "Your friends probably already know that. They are police officers after all."

It was troubling for the hyena that such great mammals would have problems if they decided to be together. They were tough mammals, but they shouldn't need to be tough to express their love. While The hyena was deep in his thoughts, Matt absentmindedly turned Liam's paw so the palm was on top. The bunny moved on from the hyena's claws and was exploring the rest of the predator's paw. His small paws gently massaging it with was very relaxing for the hyena. Matt gently pressed on the pad which made Liam jump in his seat.

"What are you doing?" Matt quickly pulled his paws away.

"Sorry. Bunnies don't have pads so I was a little curious." Matt lifted his paws up to show the smooth fur on the palms and laughed nervously. He didn't give Liam time to respond before he continued. "Most of the research is focused on the first type of the relationship because it's most common. It's easiest to find volunteers for the study. It's also more or less socially acceptable. Other types have a much tougher time."

The hyena rubbed the poked pad with his thumb and eyed the bunny. "Could that mean problems for them at work?"

"Well, you can't discriminate against it in the workplace... but that doesn't stop mammals from being dicks." Matt's ears dropped and he turned away from the hyena to look outside of the window. The bunny was reminiscing and it didn't seem to be a pleasant memory.

"So it's better to keep it quiet." The hyena said slowly as he studied Matt muzzle.

"Yeah. You should let them decide who they want to talk about it with. You could talk with them about that but I wouldn't talk about the two of them with just anyone. You could also try idly mentioning to them that you're fine with that type of relationship so they would be more comfortable talking with you about it. Do you think that they're dating or just interested in each other?" The bunny tried to sound casual but his ears were still down.

"It's hard to tell for me. Ralph's brothers think that they're dating. We'll probably try to get that information out of them the next time they come over." Liam smiled softly. "And how about an interspecies adoption?"

The bunny smiled warmly. It was hearthwarming that just thinking about the boy seemed to brighten his mood. "All types are legal but it's more difficult when there are a lot of differences between species."

"So you could adopt Kyle."

"Yeah." Matt sighted, not really wanting to talk about it. "But it would be a long process."

Matt's ears shot up and swivelled toward the sound of a hoofed mammal running towards their office space. Running wasn't common at the office. Most of the time it meant very good or very bad news. A few seconds later Emma came rushing from the hallway and she looked worried.

"Have you seen the press conference?" The ewe was panting, trying to catch her breath.

"What conference?" Liam asked with confusion.

Without a word the ewe went to her desk. When the computer booted up she went to a news site. On the main page there was a picture of a bunny in police uniform with predators on screens behind her. Emma clicked on the clip and in silence they watched as ZPD officers explained how they found all the missing mammals. Liam wanted to cheer. Most predators in the city knew about it since the missing mammals were exclusively predators. However it all changed when he looked at Emma. She had a very intense look and was standing a few feets away from him. That was odd. Normally she didn't have problems disregarding personal boundaries. Then he smelled it, that horrible scent. She was scared. He turned back towards the screen just in time to hear that predators could go savage, set to a number of pictures of crazy looking predators.

In an instant everything went quiet. The only thing that Liam could hear was his heart pounding. It was a good thing that the hyena was already sitting because the world started to spin. However at the center of his vision there was the screen with a paused clip, showing pictures of savage predators. That couldn't be real. It had to be some sort of a sick joke from an anti-pred group. He had to call Ralph. He was a police officer, he would know better than anyone.

Liam's phone was in his pocket, he just needed to pull it out. He couldn't. The hyena's paw felt so heavy, he wasn't able to move them. It was so stupid. He wasn't a cub anymore. What they said shouldn't affect him so much. The peace of mind was just one phone call away. The hyena just needed to make that call.

Matt went back to his computer and started typing with a very serious expression on his muzzle. Emma on the other paw seemed almost as frozen as the hyena was. She avoided his gaze and looked ashamed. That sight finally gave him enough of a push to get up. He went past the ewe who moved to the side to let him through. He hasetly went to the phone room to have some privacy.

The hyena selected Ralph's number and called. The line was busy. He should have expected that. His family was probably calling him. Liam sat down and waited for a message that the line was free. After 10 minutes of waiting he needed to get back to the work so he decided to send him and Nadine a text asking for clarification.

When he got back to his desk, the rest of his team had already arrived and they were all eyeing him nervously. Despite that, Emma seemed to calmed down a little after a pep talk from Matt. Owen also was doing rather well

"Come on, just chill out. We don't have all the information. We can't just jump to conclusions." Matt reaffirmed with a nervous smile.

Tom was the only one that didn't nod and watched hyena's every move. The bunny noticed. "Ok. Let's get to work while we wait for more information."

The bunny tried his best to act casual as he sat at the desk next to Liam. The hyena's eyes went wide. They had switched desks.

"""

Working at a tech company was supposed to be his safe haven. If he was smart enough to get in, he was smart enough not to be in a gang. That kind of thinking meant that mammals weren't afraid of him at work. They just avoided him. Sadly it wasn't the case anymore. Tension around the office was undeniable and Liam was the source of it. He was the only predator working at the company and most of the mammals were acting as if he was going to turn savage at any moment. Every inch of the office was filled with the scent of fear.

The team was sitting at their regular table in the corner of the room during the lunch break. They had their lunches in front of them but no one was in the mood for eating. Owen and Emma were checking the internet for any updates. After the initial shock passed, they seemed to act normal around the hyena. Tom was a different story. The hare's nose was twitching and he didn't dare to take his eyes off Liam for even one second.

The hare took the news the hardest out of the team. He made sure that there was always a desk or a table between him and the hyena. Tom's ears were always pointed in Liam's direction. The predator couldn't really blame him. The hare was a father and his family's breadwinner. If something would have happened to him, his family would be in trouble. Liam was an unknown problem and the best solution to that problem was assuming the worst. Tom was fidgeting in his chair and finally couldn't take it anymore. He pushed his chair away from the table and got up.

"I'll finish my work from home." Tom said with a shaky voice.

Liam looked away from the group. He had been expecting something like that. Maybe it was for the best. It was one less animal that he would have to worry about potentially hurting. The hyena didn't say a lot since they heard the news. Only checking his phone from time to time.

Matt had to put his phone in vibration mode because of the amount of messages that he got from his worried family. Bunnyburrow didn't have a lot of predators so the bunny's family focused all their worries on one family member that lived in the city with predators. Matt's gaze traveled from Liam to Tom.

"I'm sure that it's some kind of misunderstanding. They'll clear everything up soon." Matt declared.

"That may be true but right now I want to be with my wife and kits. I can wait for more information there." Tom clenched his fist and his body was tense as looked at the hyena. "I'm sorry Liam."

The hyena's ears dropped. His eye's dulled for a second but he turned towards the hare and gave him a faint smile. "Don't worry. I get it. Just make sure that they're safe."

The hare nodded and pulled out his phone. He left the dining area in a hurry and called his wife to inform her that he would be home soon. In a weird way it was heartwarming how afraid the hare was of him. He tried his best to make sure that he would come back to his family safely. Liam tried to see the love rather than the fear.

Despite the room being occupied by only their team, the scent of fear still lingered in the air. Matt eye's found Liam's for the first time in an hour. The hyena's head hung low. Liam wasn't sure how the bunny could be so optimistic. Matt tried his best to make everyone feel comfortable.

"They'll clear it all up soon." The bunny's voice cracked but sounded hopeful. As if he tried to convince himself.

"It's been hours and ZPD hasn't said a word." Owen said while furiously typing on his phone.

"Mayor's office asked mammals not to panic but didn't say anything about the conference." Emma chimed in.

Liam put his paw on the table and gently moved his claws across it. The hyena almost shamefully looked away from Matt and focused on his claws skipping on imperfections in the wood. It was getting less likely that ZPD was going to retract the statements from the conference

"Nadine said that all those pictures shown during the press conference were real but can't tell me more than that. It's an ongoing investigation." Liam said defeated. He still didn't know what that meant for him and other predators in Zootopia.

Liam felt a small paw on top of his and stopped scratching the table. He didn't notice when the bunny sat next to him. It was the first time that someone was sitting next to him during lunch. The reason for their weird sitting arrangement was to let Liam eat without showing his teeth. It was clear that no one was going to eat.

"How are you holding up?" The bunny's ears dropped and looked at the hyena with a soft encouraging smile. Liam looked at the soft paw resting on his. It was a very sweet gesture from Matt. The hyena sighed softly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Honestly, I don't know. What the bunny officer said is really scary but we don't have enough information yet." The gentle touch reminded Liam of their morning exercise and tilted his head to the side as he looked at the bunny. "I'm surprised how well you're holding up considering your problem with predators."

Matt smiled and waved his paw. "I have an irrational fear. I freak out when I don't have time to think. I know that you won't hurt me."

Emma looked away from her phone. "I didn't know that you're afraid of predators?"

"I found out a few weeks ago." The bunny's ears got pinker. "Goes to show how little I've interacted with predators."

"Yeah, your hometown is mostly prey and it was the same for our university." The sheep narrowed her eyes. "You've been keeping too many secrets from me, lately."

"It's your own fault since you decided to act as a spy for my mother." The bunny laughed.

"We just play muzzlebook games together and it just happens that she asks about you from time to time." She teased back.

"I'm convinced that she sends you more pies than me."

"If you are taking payment for the information then that makes you a spy." The gopher laughed.

"Am not!" Emma shouted while overacting offense.

Liam on the other paw was frozen. He didn't hear the friendly banter. He couldn't believe that Matt smelled normal. Since the morning wherever the hyena went, the scent of fear followed him. It was almost overwhelming. Liam could deal with a few mammals being scared of him. It was a part of being a hyena. But this situation was just overwhelming. Even though the rest of the team were acting friendly, he could still smell their fear.

But it was different with Matt. The bunny was clearly nervous, but he wasn't afraid. He looked in amazement at the small mammal. It was like a breath of fresh air after drowning in fear for so many hours. The hyena leaned towards the bunny to get his nose closer. Liam took a deep breath and let Matt's scent cover all of the fear that he was smelling. Liam closed his eyes as his body relaxed for the first time since he heard the news.

The room was peacefully quiet, too quiet. The hyena opened his eyes to see the ewe and the gopher stared at him with wide eyes. Matt's ears were up and red.

"What are you doing?" Emma asked nervously and looked ready to run at any moment.

"I'm sorry." Liam pulled his paw from under the bunny's paw and straightened in his chair. "I wasn't thinking and started sniffing around. It was inappropriate."

The shade of red inside Liam's ears matched Matt's. The hyena awkwardly looked away. Matt had seen Kyle sniffing around but wasn't really sure what that meant. There were still so many things that he didn't know about predators.

"Don't worry about it. I'm glad it lifted your mood." Matt smiled softly.

"Just next time try to act normal so we would know that you aren't going crazy." Owen said as he went back to his phone and froze. His eyes went over the text a few times. The gopher swallowed loudly before he read the title of the article out loud. "A savage bear attacked a deer."