We're Only Animals: Book 2 - Part 1: Building the Tower

by NilesTheArenaHyena

Now that Louis and Legosi have found their purposes in life and after recent events, they know that it's time to move on from Cherryton Academy and into a home of their own to begin their life together. WOA DISCORD 2.0 LINK ON ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN VERSION!

86. Switcheroo! - Round 1: Start

Chapter 86 - Switcheroo! - Round 1: Start

The next day…

"Are you nervous?" Louis asked, walking next to Legosi on the nice summer walk toward Gosha's. "To see them again?"

"A little." Legosi fumbled with his big hands. "I haven't kissed anyone other than you before. And, uh, Juno, but that doesn't count."

Louis sighed with a smile. "Your poor first kiss."

"I literally cried. And then Pina went after me and...tried to flirt with me I guess? He did it in a really weird way. Odd how things turned out now."

"You actually cried?"

"Yeah. I was so in love with you."

"...So was I, I just didn't know it yet. Wait, when was that? Your kiss with Juno?"

Legosi spaced out a moment. "It was just before I came to get you."

"Then I was definitely in love with you."

"And the night we got back..." Legosi's tail started to wag at the memory.

"That's when we got together..." Louis blushed. "I kissed you for the first time..."

"I can't believe it hasn't even been a year since then," Legosi commented.

"Again, we aren't moving too fast right?" Louis looked to the side. "I-I mean...it isn't for me but..."

Louis squeezed his arm. "Is it normal to want to be married this early?"

"I suppose it can be. We're not normal animals, though." Legosi walked closer to Louis.

"Mm...who cares about the rules?" Louis huffed. "If it makes us happy then we should do it!"

The wolf nodded in agreement. "Yeah! Also, we're almost there."

Louis felt his heart leap. "Pina's finally out of that stuffy tower..."

Legosi smiled at him. "You're so happy. You really love him, don't you?"

"If I'm allowed. I don't want to take away from what we have."

Legosi shook his head. "You're allowed to love an animal. Saying you can't is just wrong."

"I already have you...I don't want to make you jealous or hurt or anything. I can't help how I feel about him, especially after all he's done for me..."

"Well, do what you want to do, today. I'll let you know if I get uncomfortable," Legosi promised.

"Just know that I love you~" Louis sang.

"I love you toooo~" Legosi sang back, swinging their arms dramatically.

Louis stopped to pull him into a deep hug. "Whatever happens today, it's you and me to the end."

"I know, hon! I'm excited to see them, let's go!"

The two began running excitedly in the direction of Legosi's grandpa's house, where the sheep and tiger were waiting. They stomped up the steps and made their way to Gosha's apartment, stopping at the door only because neither knew which one should knock or ring the doorbell. After a moment of deciding, Louis rang the doorbell.

And who to answer but Bill, smiling his toothy grin at the two animals. "Guys!"

Louis smiled. "Hey, Bill."

Legosi's tail was wagging faster. "Hi, Bill! How are you?"

The tiger opened his arms and pulled the two in, squeezing them. "I'm so good!"

Another pair of arms soon joined. "So glad you guys could make it," Pina chimed in.

Louis smiled. "Nice to see you out of that damn tower."

"Nice to be out of it," the sheep agreed. He slid over to embrace Louis more, his wool warm.

The buck squeezed him. "You needed a getaway. How has your night with Bill been?"

"Last night? Super relaxing. I missed being with him."

The tiger snorted. "This dumbass brought his prosthetic in the shower! Can you believe it!"

Louis laughed. "No, actually. Guess you distracted him."

Pina started to blush, and he shoved Bill. "Traitor!" He turned to the wolf, who was characteristically quiet and smiled. "And there's my favorite dog! C'mere."

Legosi happily went into Pina's arms, and he brought his hands up to pet Legosi's head. "Taking care of Louis?"

"Of course!"

"And he's taking care of you?"

"Always!"

The buck sighed, turning his head to Bill. "So, Stripes, how have you been since we've last spoken? Did you do that thing we talked about?"

Bill blushed. "S-Sunday, dude! Shush your mouth!"

Louis laughed and gave him a hug, then leaned up and whispered something.

Bill looked to the side. "Whatever..." They all separated and went inside.

"Grandpa's at the daycare today, right?" Legosi asked, looking around.

"Yeah. He said to save him some pizza or whatever we get for him," Pina told them.

"Pizza?" Louis' ear twitched. "Sounds nice...We ate pizza the night you two got together."

"No video games this time, though," Pina said, flopping on the couch.

Bill's tail swayed. "We have too much catching up to do!"

Louis crossed his arms and nodded, sitting on the arm of the couch and crossing one leg over the other. "You look different, Bill. More...mature."

The tiger nodded. "I've been developing quite nicely."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah...reading more...looking up stuff...but...alone..."

"I know." Louis put a hand on his shoulder.

Bill smiled at him. "Well, that went away yesterday!"

Pina reached up for him. "Sure did. Come here."

Meanwhile, Legosi sat on the cushion right next to Louis.

Bill went into his arms, then looked at the wolf. "Where are your glasses, dude?"

"We have to wait a week for them. We chose a thick, dark purple frame. Louis actually took a picture, if you wanna see."

The buck was already pulling out his phone. He held it out to the tiger and sheep couple. "See?"

Pina gasped slightly and whispered, "Handsoooome."

The deer looked to his husband and squeezed his cheek. "Yes, he is."

Bill sighed. "I wish I hadn't lost my fake ones...I liked to wear them for fun. They make me look smart."

"It's only looks," Louis joked.

The tiger rolled his eyes. "Yeah, haha, I'm a big dummy. I know."

Pina placed his hands on his big head and rubbed them around. "I know you're smart, babe. Don't listen."

Louis snorted. "Trust me. He's smart. Just not in the traditional way."

"And what does this group say?" Pina asked, but before anyone could answer, he yelled out, "FUCK TRADITION!"

Everyone looked at him with wide eyes.

The sheep cleared his throat. "Well, I'm right."

Louis smiled at him. "As usual."

"Yeah, it's interesting that the youngest animal is the leader," Legosi said.

Pina blinked. "L-leader?"

Legosi nodded. "Well, you really took control with the Riz situation, and how you kind of stepped in with the Branded..."

Pina shook his head. "I'm just doing what I feel I need to do."

Bill nodded. "Plus, Louis is the leader."

The deer made a blank face. "Only because I got us into this just for existing."

"How about nobody is the leader, and that we all contribute something to this group?" Pina reasoned.

"Nah, Louis is the leader," Bill said.

Legosi wrapped his arms around the deer's midsection. "I don't think he's comfortable with that."

Louis swallowed. "As long as you guys don't have super expectations of me..."

"Nothing huge, and after all this shit is over, we can hopefully just relax." Pina leaned over, staring up at the buck. "Speaking of...what are your plans for if this Branded stuff gets sorted out nicely and we don't have to hightail it outta here?"

"I'm sure it's no surprise by now that I want to find my parents. I know they're in America..."

Bill frowned. "You shouldn't Louis. Parents can be..."

Louis blinked. "I shouldn't?"

"I'm just saying..."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't even know they're still alive!" Bill continued. "What if you go all that way and...We never find them?"

Louis sighed. "Then...the journey was the reward, I guess..."

Pina rolled his eyes. "Ugh, I agree with you, Louis, but sometimes I really hate that saying."

"Why's that?"

"Well, that's all well and good for some things, but if it's like, an anime you really like that has a shitty ending, it kind of sours the whole thing. I guess that saying is more applicable to real-life since you can't relive your life."

Bill squinted. "You're only saying that because that anime had a shitty ending."

Louis looked at Legosi. "But there would be a lot of time together with you along the way."

Legosi nodded. "Yeah! It would be fun, and if we were all together, well, it'd be less scary."

"Yeah. America is huge," Bill said. "Looked it up last night. It's way bigger than Japan."

Pina chuckled. "He really did. I thought everyone knew how big it was."

Louis sighed. "There has to be some easy way to find them. My plan is to find a way to see all the red deer with their names registered in America...Okay, now that I'm saying it out loud it sounds idiotic."

Pina brought his legs up to his chest and rested his chin on his knees. "Take pictures of them from Ichi's book at least. Maybe there are even more record books you could look for."

The buck nodded. "Start saving up, too. No matter if you guys come with me, or I go alone, I've already resigned myself..."

"What, your dad won't give you the money?" Pina asked.

"I meant saving the money he gives us."

"It'd be nice to all go together," Legosi commented. "I know it'll be hard to say goodbye to everyone here, but we'll see them again. We don't want to force you two, though."

Bill shook his head. "I'm done here, so I'm going."

Pina nodded. "I'd be down for sure."

The cat grinned. "And we all know why~"

Louis leaned back, smiling. "Because Japan sucks."

Bill rolled his eyes. "Yeah."

"Billy, you should tell them what you told me. About our trauma bond, or whatever you wanna call it."

The tiger blushed. "W-well...Ever since Riz...I've gotten less attached to everyone but more attached to you guys..."

Louis looked at Legosi. "That's what we think about our bond. We fell in love through traumatic events." Then he looked at Pina but said nothing.

It was quiet for a bit before Pina said something. "Wow, hearing that out loud makes it even more obvious we all need therapy."

"Well, we're getting it," Louis said, kissing Legosi's ear.

Pina turned to Bill. "Well, we originally got together cuz I thought he was cute, and he thought I was cute. The Riz thing just strengthened it."

"I was so annoyed with Legosi's strength in the beginning," Louis said. "He drove me crazy...always lurking in the shadows. In reality...I wanted to be in the shadows just like him. Out of the spotlight..."

"And now I guess we're in the, uh, regular light," Legosi pulled Louis off the couch's arm and into his lap.

The deer exhaled deeply. "Ichi brought me back into the light. He put me on a pedestal before he had me back."

"I really hope he and Ni just fuck off to some romantic getaway or something. Like seriously that would fix everything," Pina declared with a huff.

"Mmm...romantic getaway..." Louis cooed, dreamily.

Bill thought about Sunday. "Mmm..."

"I want to get married and go on our honeymoon," Louis said. "Our date yesterday was so nice, though."

Legosi nodded. "Yeah..." He then thought about the massage followed by the extreme massage afterward and blushed.

"You two deserve it." Pina reached out and played with one of Louis' ears.

The deer smiled, blushing lightly. "You deserve it, too."

Bill purred. "Don't worry, Lou. We have one planned~"

The buck swallowed. "I told you that's what Legosi calls me..."

Legosi chuckled and scratched at the deer's other ear. "So, you and Louis?" he asked Pina.

The sheep looked away and smiled. "Yeah...?"

Louis looked up at his wolf. "Hm?"

"Well, you two love each other right?" Legosi clarified. "That's one of the things we were going to talk about today."

Louis felt his stomach tumble.

Bill looked at his boyfriend, everyone waiting for his response. "Tell us."

Pina looked at Louis, flustered. "Well, yeah. We're close to each other and we kiss and stuff."

"There's more," Bill said.

"Well..." Pina took Louis' hand in his own and rubbed his knuckles. "We've been through hell and back together and I'd be hard-pressed to find an animal I can relate to more in my life as an herbivore." He looked him in the eye now and smiled, well, sheepishly. It was a strange expression for Pina to wear. "I do love you, Louis."

Louis turned red but didn't drop his gaze. "And...you know I love you, too."

Pina nodded. "Yeah. I know." He smiled wider.

The buck sighed. "Nice to finally really tell you."

Legosi and Bill exchanged looks, and the wolf said, "Well, why don't you kiss each other?"

Louis looked at him. "Huh?"

"Unless you feel uncomfortable in front of us, but I want to see you guys kiss," Legosi said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Pina rolled his eyes with a smile. "I know Bill would be thrilled with that."

The tiger gripped his arm. "Yes, I would!"

Louis looked at Pina again. "I'm not uncomfortable kissing him, I just feel a bit nervous." He smiled, then. "Then again, it's just you."

"Just come here." Pina pulled Louis into him, kissing him tenderly on the lips.

The deer's eye widened, but he kissed back.

Bill gasped and whooped. "That's what I'm talking about!"

Louis' heart was beating rather quickly in his chest. They had kissed before, but this was different. It felt stronger, more complete, loving. Something had always been missing before and now he knew what it was. Legosi's consent. Now that he and Pina were given explicit permission, neither of them had to hold back.

Pina pulled away and rubbed his cheek against Louis'. "You've suffered too much in your life," he whispered. "You deserve all the love given to you."

"D-do I?" Louis asked, squeezing his hand.

"Of course." Pina kissed his forehead.

Louis looked to the side. "I roped all of you into this mess though..."

"It was out of your control," Legosi assured with a rub to his shoulders.

"We're all stronger together. Without help you would have crashed and burned," Pina added.

Bill clapped his hands together. "Now me and Legosi kiss!"

Legosi laughed, but after he noticed nobody else was his ears twitched. "Uh, wait, huh?"

Louis smiled at him. "Go ahead. Try it. Only if you're comfortable."

Bill fluttered his eyes at him playfully. "You too shy?"

The deer laughed. "Give him time, Bill. I know you're excited." He moved to sit close to Pina so he wasn't obstructing Legosi.

Legosi cocked his head at Bill. "Wh-you really want to kiss me? Why?"

"Why not? It would be fun! Plus, they did it! I want in on that action."

"So you just want to do it because they did?" Legosi asked, unconvinced.

"I want to do it to strengthen our connection. I missed you," Bill said.

Louis smiled. "He did."

Legosi got up and moved over to sit next to Bill, brow raised skeptically. "Alright, here I am."

The cat smiled. "You gonna hold out on me, wolf boy?"

Louis looked at Pina as they talked, smiling.

"I don't know, cat!" Legosi countered, albeit playfully. "I guess, uh, we'll start like this." He slid his arms around the strong tiger's body and squeezed firmly.

Bill squeezed back. "You smell nice."

"Uh, you think so?" Legosi asked.

"Yeah. What shampoo is that? It's good," the tiger grinned, turning his head to look at Legosi.

"It's lilac," Legosi informed. "Wow, kinda reminds me of that fight we had on stage. When you, uh, 'hugged' me."

"And your back, huh?! Can I see it?"

"Um, okay." Legosi let go of Bill and fumbled with his shirt.

"Wow, they're taking their sweet old time," Pina sighed. "I wanted to see it."

Louis chuckled. "We got right to it, huh? You must have really been eager." He was fumbling with his hands on his lap.

"Well, it's not like we were out of practice. These big doofy carnivores haven't done anything yet."

Meanwhile, Legosi's shirt had come off and he turned his lean back to Bill for inspection. "They're still healing, of course. It's been over a year."

The tiger stared at them. "W-wow...I really did that..." He swallowed. "Matching stripes from one carnivore to another...Isn't that what I said?"

"Well, Legosi's shirt is already off, so that's a good sign," Louis joked.

"It is what you said," Legosi confirmed. "It's okay, Bill. I've forgiven you already, a while ago."

Bill put a hand on his shoulder. "Looks like it's a mark of what we have now..."

"Yeah, that's how I look at them now." The wolf turned back to face Bill.

"I guess they're trying to get in the mood," Pina whispered to Louis. "More effort than I expected from Legosi unless he's just trying to avoid it. I thought you said he wanted to kiss me?"

"I thought he did, but Bill did kind of cut in." He scooted a bit closer, unsure how to proceed in this situation.

Bill smiled more. "They make you look strong. You are strong."

"Uh, I suppose. I'm training to become stronger now, actually." Legosi looked down and stroked at his bicep. "I guess when all of this is through we really can go to the gym together like we talked about before."

The tiger laughed. "I heard you were doing that. I admire you for it. But you can't back down if we really start going on gym dates. I don't want you to say you don't feel like it or something."

"Well, once you get your body moving it does feel nice. I think if I stick to it it'll be okay." Legosi blinked when he thought about the words again. "Wait, dates?"

"Hangouts. Whatever you wanna call 'em," Bill said.

Legosi blinked. "Uh, do you like me, Bill?"

"To be determined, Legosi," Bill said. "We haven't had any time alone, really."

"You're allowed!" Louis inserted.

"Oh! Um, uh." Legosi scratched the back of his head and his tail flicked. "I thought you only liked, uh, feminine-looking animals."

"There's always room to change," Bill said.

"Well, you can kiss me whenever you want and find out, then."

"Why don't you grow a pair and come get it, wolf?"

"He's a bottom, hon," Pina reminded. "And not a bottom like me."

Bill rolled his eyes. "Fine, if I have to do the work..."

Louis' leg touched Pina's as he watched on, interested to see how this switcheroo went.

"Ready?" the cat asked, smirking.

Legosi nodded and rested his hands on the feline's shoulders. "Okay."

Bill grabbed both of his cheeks and pulled him in, connecting their lips rather roughly, as was expected.

Pina whistled as Legosi's legs rose up in reaction, but he stayed put.

Bill leaned into it but he was also hoping he wasn't being too forceful.

Louis sighed. "Well, that's quite a sight. I never thought I would see those two kissing."

"Does it do anything for you?" Pina mumbled playfully.

"It makes me feel better about us."

Bill moved his hand down Legosi's arm, using his claws to graze lightly, as he liked to do.

"Mmm." From muscle memory, Legosi poked his tongue out, slightly.

Bill got the signal and moved his rough tongue to meet Legosi's.

Louis gawked. "Okay, I didn't see that coming."

"Mmmn!" Legosi bristled at the strange, rough feeling of the feline's tongue, and Pina couldn't help but laugh.

"Yup, first time with kitty tongue will do that."

"I don't know if I could handle that..." Louis whispered. "Are we just going to sit and watch? I mean, just curious! It's fine if we do."

"Well, I got to see it happen. We can give them space if they want it." The sheep looked over to see if either had heard him.

Neither had, distracted.

Louis grabbed Pina's arm. "Want to talk in the bedroom?"

Pina nodded. "Yeah. We're gonna be in Legosi's old room, guys. Don't hurt yourselves."

Louis got up, followed by the sheep, and went into the room, where the deer closed the door.

Pina sat down on the bed. "Gosha is gonna need to buy a new bed for this room soon. This one is too old and small."

"Is that a sex joke?" Louis asked, still standing by the door.

Pina blinked in confusion. "Uh, explain the joke. And no, I'm just stating a fact."

"Well a small bed isn't that great for sex, you know. You could both fall off. Though, I guess you and I are pretty skinny..."

"I know you and Legosi like to fuck here but I'd prefer someplace nicer," Pina teased. "Plus, I don't want to make Gosha do laundry."

"Of course, of course," Louis nodded. "Nicer, huh?"

"Nicer." Pina pat the space next to him. "C'mon."

Louis went over and sat down, sitting rather rigidly. It was clear he still had no idea how to act.

Pina smiled at him, sweetly, his pretty eyes laying gently on Louis. "You're nervous," he stated.

"...You're not?"

Pina tilted his head. "Should I be?"

"I guess not..." Louis looked down at his lap, still clearly nervous. "And I don't know why I am. Legosi and Bill got into it so easily..."

Pina chuckled and looked toward the door, listening to see if he could hear them. "Yeah, that was unexpected, but I guess that's just Bill not backing away from a challenge and Legosi, as I said, being a bottom. I don't know how much they're actually enjoying it or if they like each other that way..." He reached over and wrapped an arm around Louis' shoulder and pulled him closer. "It would be interesting to just be one block of gay animals dating each other, though."

"I don't know if I feel that way about Bill..." Louis whispered. "He's not you...And he doesn't love me."

"Well, I meant more the fact that we all seem to be open. Legosi seemed to ease into it nicely. You don't think he's uncomfortable still, do you?" Pina rubbed the deer's back softly.

"I don't think so. If he was, we'd know. I've always felt so guilty for loving you, too..." He whispered. "It's definitely a weight off my shoulders..." He scooted a bit closer at the touch.

Pina smiled and moved his hands to push on Louis' chest. "Here, lay back."

The buck did so, swallowing again. "O-okay?"

Once Louis was laying down, Pina swung his leg over his body and straddled him for a moment before lowering down, placing their chests together. He folded his arms and placed his chin on them, looking softly at Louis. "Am I so scary that I'm making you nervous?"

"Y-you're not scary..." Louis whispered. "Legosi may be the most beautiful animal in the world but it's still a close second..." He used his finger to brush some wool out of his face.

"Most beautiful herbivore, then?"

"Easily."

"I think we tie." Pina reached up and stroked along Louis' velvety, growing antlers. "I'd love to see you wear your decorations up here again."

"I didn't know you liked them..." Louis muttered.

"Very much so. There's a reason I tried to find stuff for my own horns afterward."

Louis pulled him up a bit more. "I think Legosi would love to see them again too..." He blinked. "Uh, but I guess you don't want to focus on him..."

"Anything you want to talk about. He's going to be a part of us no matter what, so I don't want to pretend he doesn't exist." Pina moved up further so he could lay his head next to Louis', nose against his cheek.

"I just meant because it's our time..." Louis stated. "I know some animals don't like it when you talk about others..."

"I just meant because it's our time..." Louis stated. "I know some animals don't like it when you talk about others..."

"I'll listen to you talk about anything, honestly. You have a nice voice. No wonder you were such a good actor." PIna kissed his cheek.

"So...you'd like to be...romantic?" Louis blushed. "I'm trying to figure out the mood here so I don't make any mistakes."

"I think..." The sheep reached up and stroked Louis' head. "You shouldn't think so much. Honestly, I was feeling a bit anxious until I just, said it out loud. I love you. Now I feel fine. Plus, you being so nervous is forcing me to make up for it I think."

"I love you. I do. I'll stop being so nervous. We're okay." He rubbed down his back gently. "I've just never been with anyone but Legosi..."

"What about the night you slept over at the tower? We were basically this close."

"I slept in my underwear..."

"Yeah? We're fully clothed now," Pina teased.

"Yay for that," Louis joked, looking to the side, still unsure how to move forward.

Pina nudged him with his nose more as his hands went to his antlers again. "These feel really soft when they're growing. It's interesting. You know, my horns wouldn't grow back if something happened to them."

"Never? God...Let's do everything we can to not let that happen." Now Louis brought his hands up to allow himself to explore along the ram's horns, moving along the curves softly.

"It's been so long since I've gotten to polish them, uuuugh," Pina whined. "And no nail polish for so long, either. And my makeup!"

"You're so gorgeous with all that. I'm going to bring some for you...even though you don't need it to retain your title..."

Pina brought his hands down and wrapped his arms around Louis' neck and pulled himself close. "We should do your nails sometime. Would look super cute."

"How about when I bring it? We'll paint our nails together," Louis grinned, still moving his hands along the sheep's horns until he gripped them, lightly.

The sheep suddenly buried his face into his neck. "Ah! Haha! Didn't expect that!"

"S-something wrong?" Louis blinked, moving his eyes down to him.

"Ah, just, nobody has ever gripped my horns aside from Billy."

"Oh! Sorry!" He let go, instantly.

Pina pulled back. "Ah, no no, do what you like. Just my natural reaction, y'know?" He moved his mouth to Louis' lips and kissed him softly. "Just do what you feel is natural."

Louis gripped them again, softly, moving his head up. "They feel interesting. Letting an animal touch your horns is pretty romantic, don't you think?"

"Yeah. The only reason you'd let an animal get that close. Other than being eaten, of course."

"Well, I'm not going to eat you, so it must be romantic."

"Really? I don't know about you, but I'm here to eat you." With that, Pina moved down to nibble on Louis' jawline, making growling noises.

"Ahhh! No! Cannibal sheep!" Louis cried, not loud enough for anyone else to hear. "Spare me my life."

"No, you're too tasty looking. Gonna eat this snack up." Pina moved up and nibbled at his ear. "Unless you fight back..."

Louis gripped his shoulders and held them. "Watch out. I've been training."

"Show me," Pina whispered, fire in his eyes.

The buck quickly rolled them over until he was pinning Pina against the bed. "You're lucky I'm not interested in eating sheep."

The pinned herbivore cocked his eyebrows. "Oh? Come show me what you have in mind."

Louis stroked his cheek softly. "I'm sorry, but how could anyone devour such a pretty animal." His fingers moved to weave through the curls of Pina's wool.

"I suppose there's probably some carnivores who specifically target beautiful animals." Pina moved his arms around Louis' back and intertwined his fingers.

"Well, I'm not one of them," the buck said, nuzzling his neck. "But what happened to your goal of "eating this snack", huh?"

"Well, you found your confidence, and it's leaving me swooning. What can I say?" Pina brought a hand down to his mouth, biting it and looking away submissively.

Louis sighed, watching the display and gaining even more confidence for it. "What can you say?"

"Well, why don't we follow Bill and Legosi's lead out there and use this time alone to make out a bit?" Pina laid it out, bluntly.

Louis didn't waste any time going in, rubbing down Pina's side. It was true that he didn't love anyone more than Legosi and that they were destined to be together, but he felt like he needed this sheep he loved, too. And Bill was part of that.

"Mmm, for a, what does Nori call it? A carniwhore? For one of those, you really do seem to like this sheep body~"

"Mmmm...guess you're a very special case..." He moved down to rub his lower back, all the while the two kissing in between lines.

Pina pressed up against Louis, moaning softly.

The buck let himself be taken in by this animal he loved. It felt so, so different, but it felt good. To finally be free to do this. "Mmm, Pina~"

Pina nibbled Louis' lip and kissed and stroked. It was so gentle, yet also desperate.

"Are you alright?" the buck asked.

"God, yes," Pina breathed.

"Woah..." Louis moved him up against him once again, by his hips.

Pina wrapped a leg around him and went in to kiss again.

Louis gripped his thigh. "Tell me how you're feeling." He accepted the kiss.

"I'm feeling really good," Pina smiled goofily.

"Because of me?"

"What do you think?"

"The great and mighty Shichi lost to the hands of the dashing Shi. Still funny how my name is in yours..."

Pina bit his lip. "Mmm, giving you ideas?"

"It also has Ichi in it," Louis stated.

"Ugh, mood killer." Pina flicked his nose.

"I've already had ideas..." Louis whispered. "Bill knows."

"Oh yeah, he said I'm not allowed to know."

"You aren't," Louis said, moving his hands up his shirt and rubbing his stomach.

"Mmm, someday, though."

"You mean that?"

"Well, yeah. Assuming we're all still together. We have to be, right?" Pina's face had a flash of concern on it for a second.

Louis moved to grab his ears and stroke them with his thumbs. "We will be. I promise. We are..."

"Really, you guys are all I have left, I feel," Pina sighed. "Dom and Kai, too, but they're not gonna come with us to another country..."

"Come on. Do you think after all this lovey-dovey confession shit I'm going to leave you in the dust? Hell no."

"Mmm." Pina nuzzled their faces together. "I meant more from stuff outside out control."

"We can't waste our lives worrying, though. I do it way, way too much. All we can do is live one day at a time and hope we make it to the next morning. We only have one life so let's just live it, yeah? Even with all this gang business, think about all the shit we do still have that's good. Those looks you give me at the tower, the nights we spend together, Legosi and Bill, our friends...There's this big dark cloud over our lives right now, but there are golden rays shining through, too. You'll be okay, Pina." He gave him the warmest smile he could.

Pina could only beam back. "Damn, nice pep talk, coach! Although I shouldn't call you that or else this will become a bad porno..."

"And you'd have a problem with that?" Louis nudged him.

"Yeah! We'd make a tasteful porno." Pina grumbled.

"You would say something like that," Louis laughed. "So...what is this?"

"What's what, buck?"

"All this? You and I. All these words."

Pina winked. "What do you want it to be? From my perspective, you have a boyfriend as well as a husband."

"Mhm...Only if he's okay with it. I would never want to make a mistake that fucked up our relationship again. But you really want to?" He moved his hands down Pina's body, softly, grabbing at the bottom of his shirt.

"I think so unless you have a better idea."

"Okay, please describe to me what's a better idea?"

Pina managed to shrug despite the deer on top of him. "I dunno, that's why I asked you."

"I think that would be really nice. And a change of pace from Legosi. Not just that, but there are some rules. I can't spend more time with you than Legosi, certain positions are restricted, and he comes first over everything. And, there's going to be full communication with him when it comes to things."

Pina chuckled. "Wow, sounds like you had those in mind for a while, huh?"

"Actually, no, it just makes sense to me as I'm thinking about it right now," Louis said. "Can I take this off?"

"Take what off? Kai?"

"Your shirt...? Is that moving too fast?"

"Oh, no. Off with the shirt."

Louis pulled it off, slowly. "So...you asked about Nori and Hachi."

"Oh yeah, do you know what happened with them?"

"Yeah..." Louis ran his hands down Pina's soft torso. "They...got into a fight because Hachi found out that he eats meat..."

Pina blinked. "Wait, Nori does?"

"...Yeah. Makes sense, doesn't it?" He sat up, wondering if he should remove his own shirt. "He's so cast out...Well, Hachi told me they believe that meat has evil magic in it and that's why carnivores act the way they do with it. So imagine how they felt when they found out..."

Pina leaned up with him. "Oh yeah, you can talk with them through text. Were they like, texting during the fight too? How did that work?"

"They...they spoke," Louis sighed, looking at his lap again.

"No shit? What did they sound like?"

"Their voice is deep, but kind, even if they are upset. It's soft, too. They were upset that they broke their silence, but they didn't feel like there was any other way. Well, at first, they ignored Nori and he got very confused and one thing led to another and then there was blood...all over the apartment..." His head hung lower.

"Holy shit, really? How did Legosi react? Oh shit, and they met Legosi? And they met him? Holy shit!" It was safe to say now that the sheep was in a total state of shock.

Louis laughed at his...boyfriend's reaction. That would take some serious getting used to. "I know! They just showed up at the apartment with Nori!"

"So, how did Legosi react? To, like, all of it?"

"He just wants everyone to get along..." Louis said, looking up and admiring the sheep's bare features. "He hates when animals fight. He wants to be friends with them but it was a pretty lousy first impression. It's just our luck."

"Yeah. How was he with the blood? And everyone made up in the end?"

"Yeah. They did. It took a lot of talking, but now we all are going out with Nori next time he eats meat, except for Legosi...You know, to learn." He moved to stroke Pina's chest as he spoke. "It will be good for Nori. Meat in moderation..."

"You're gonna eat meat?!" Pina gawked.

"What? No! What? Never! Just to go with him when he does and learn about it. I don't know if it will be dangerous or what, but I want to."

"As long as Ichi doesn't find out. Could you imagine what he'd do to poor Nori?" Pina shuddered.

"I don't want to," Louis said. He scooted closer, nuzzling Pina's chest. "I'll try to take care of him, though. We're just going to watch him eat meat and learn. He said something about disguises, but I don't know."

"He would say something like that," Pina scoffed, but in a loving way. "I guess me going along might be too suspicious."

"Ichi likes that we get along, honestly. He'd probably rather me be with you than Legosi." Louis grabbed Pina's hand and placed it on his stomach. "You know you can take mine off, too."

"If I can get them off those antlers..." Pina looked up with concentration and rolled the buck's shirt up until it was bunched up under his neck.

"The collar stretches..." Louis whispered, pulling at it to demonstrate.

"Ah, of course." Pina sat up more so he had the leverage to stretch and pull it over his head, promptly tossing it to the floor.

Louis smiled more. "Do you want to come with us? Unofficial sort of date?"

"If I'm clear to do so, sure. My morbid curiosity of the market will be sated, too." Pina pulled their chests together, enjoying the warmth of the contact.

Louis moved his legs so they were wrapped around him. "There. That's better. And I plan on spending the night with you again soon. I'll bring the nail polish."

"God, please do. Do you think Nori would let us paint his?"

"I was thinking it could just be me and you and also no, I don't think he would at all."

Pina nuzzled him. "I know, it was just too good a mental image to keep to myself."