No AN this time! Just a chapter, and an encouragement to comment!

Chapter 5: The Missing Piece

It wasn't complete.

The inflated feeling of joy didn't last long after they had made their cakes that night. The gray wolf fumbled for the device in his pocket hundredth time: frowning at the large 5:22 AM that dutifully reported on his screen when he pulled it out. Thirty minutes had passed since Gosha had clicked on his bedroom light and told him they were going to run errands earlier than expected since he had woken up early.

At least he wasn't driving - Gosha had been content with doing that: apparently, according to him, komodo dragons typically had unusual sleep schedules, and once they woke up, they were up for the day and had 48 hours before they began to feel exhausted. This explained Legosi's endurance to normal wear-and-tear of day-to-day activities, and his tendency to have an irregular pattern of sleep; regretfully, both his biological parents were wolves and needed the sleep. And of course, wolves are normally nocturnal, and when you add that to my reptilian blood and that the rest of the world functions in the day…

Legosi suspected his off-put attitude was due to the fact that he wasn't a morning animal, literally and figuratively. He had a special aversion to waking up early, even when the komodo dragon in him made him feel awake. It could also be that Legosi stayed up longer than he should have, thinking they were going to go at 8:00 AM like Gosha had told him the night before. No more 2 AM thoughts, he duly noted. At least, not when I'm with grandpa.

"My friend is a nocturnal panamanian monkey, and he usually sleeps at six in the morning," Gosha rambled, most of his words by then failing to meet Legosi's ears. "And I've been helping him around the yard since he lost his legs in a predation incident. So that's where we're going. He's a funny little guy," he added cheerily, moving his hand from the wheel to adjust the mirror up top. "This animal tailgating me is really starting to irritate me," he growled, rolling down the window and sticking his head out to look at the car behind them.

Legosi held his breath when he mentioned predation, stomach churning unpleasantly when Gosha mentioned his friend's legs. He thought of Louis, and how he had eaten his thigh to fight Riz. It would appear in his dreams from time to time, every time as dark and desperate as it had played out when it happened - his dizziness next to Louis when he tried to stand, the pain everywhere from Riz's blows. I want you to eat my leg, Legosi. All that training with Gouhin, every sleepless night and chasing meat-drunk animals while passing his classes in the day, mastering his senses and minimizing his desire for meat to nothing, digging every individual grave for all the lives that had been taken for the Back Alley Market's purpose. Everything had led to nothing - in the end, he was a carnivore, and meat was the only way to win.

He'd even visited and decorated the graves in the cold and starless nights, spoke to them and vowed to never set his teeth on meat.

"Stupid fleabag," Gosha hissed as he snapped his head back in the vehicle and rolled up the window of the old truck. "Felines are all the same when it comes to their temper, especially scarred and tattooed ones like him."

Legosi snapped out of his thoughts, blinking and nodding at Gosha's remark thoughtfully. "I have a tiger friend at school," he slurred, clearing his throat. "Had, before I dropped out. We fought once on the stage, like I told you, but we're on good terms now." He huffed out of his nose in amusement. "He's crude, though," he added. Likes 'striped chicks' a lot."

Gosha snorted, rolling his eyes. "That, too - you won't find one cat these days who haven't been active in that area of life." He suddenly looked to Legosi, eyes widening marginally. "Don't take me for a specist, though - I work with pleasant felines all the time. That's just… their culture, I suppose." He looked back to the road, facial features drooping despite his assuring tone. "Reptiles avoid conflict when they can, so we don't usually mix well with aggressive felines."

That explained why Legosi almost always pretended to lose fights when he was in school.

"Anyway," Gosha changed topics, "I'm glad you woke up this early to help me. It might take us half the time I'd normally spend there."

"What do you do for him?" Legosi asked, initial irritation slowly beginning to ebb away as time moved along.

"Oh, just pick up the yard, water his plants, feed his bugs," he listed nonchalantly. "Just the things he can't do now that his legs are missing."

"He has bugs?" Legosi wondered aloud, looking at Gosha and perking his ears interestedly. "Like… as pets?"

"Oh, yes - that was what I was going to talk to you about last night before I forgot," Gosha realized, lifting his hands off the wheel and slapping it lightly in minor frustration. "I remembered you liked bugs a lot, but wasn't sure if you still did. He has a bug farm." He stopped at the stoplight, looking both ways and choosing to run the red light when he saw no one was coming ("Hopefully I don't get a ticket for that - you never know with the new cameras they're starting to put around the streets," he muttered worriedly)."Lots of different bugs - beetles, butterflies, a couple praying mantises. They all have different bug feeds that he makes himself. It's pretty simple to learn how to feed them, I'll teach you up there."

Legosi's brow raised, huffing a short laugh. He propped his elbow on the windowsill and rested his face in the palm of his hand. "Didn't think anyone else would like bugs that much to have their own bug farm," he said, half to himself. "I wonder how he got all of them."

"I asked that, once or twice - but he always avoided the question," Gosha replied, smirking as he cut a vehicle off. "So I stopped asking. Assumed it was just a hobby he liked and didn't have anything else to explain it with. He was always one who liked to have elaborate reasoning behind things."

"Huh."

Most of the ride after that took place in silence. When Legosi felt the conversation die, he reached in his pocket once more, the idle motion and feeling of the rough denim on the back of his hand already irksome to perform. 5:30 AM. Unlocking it, his fingers clicked on the messaging app that came with the phone, subconsciously scrolling down and clicking on Haru's name and hovered his finger over the message box hesitantly. He did that a lot, he noticed: as much as the desire to communicate with Haru ached within his bones, what he knew he should say was scrambled in his mind, just out of reach, and when he delved for the words, they scattered like flies. Usually, after five minutes of wracking his brain uselessly for one solid sentence, he yielded and closed out the app, conflicted.

He

y

Legosi tensed as he sent both messages - what was he thinking - before relaxing. Maybe I just need to start a conversation and not try to say anything fancy, the wolf thought to himself. Texting Haru is a lot different from talking to her. He clicked the rectangular button on the side of his phone, the texture of the smooth glass comforting as he slid it in his pocket.

His eyes grew heavy when the bright lighting of the phone left him in the dark, and as his muscles calmed with the idea of rest, his last thoughts revolved around how Haru may respond.

Legosi woke up to the feeling of his shoulder being shaken; he swatted at his assailant until consciousness clarified his whereabouts. His eyes flew open, head darting around Gosha's truck, which wasn't moving.

"We're here." Gosha chuckled good-naturedly, shaking his head. "You're wide awake after hours of sleep, but a log when I get you up after ten minutes."

Legosi stepped out of the truck, scratching his head. "Sorry," he muttered, idly gazing at the seemingly empty fields around him, the few trees lining the highway unevenly. He flipped himself around when he noticed Gosha was facing the other way. In front of them stood a dilapidated building on its last leg, the red paint peeling and long faded, and it seemed as if it would come crumbling down if any of them breathed wrong. The yard was barren, except for the occasional potted plant and one tree that stood in the middle of the walkway, and the fence wasn't safe to touch, rusted, broken and jagged.

"Well, let's go," Gosha shrugged, walking around the truck and grabbing the water pail, humming and stepping towards the fence. He reached over the gate, carefully unlatching it from that end and swinging it open, the dead metal screeching at the movement. "I get afraid it's going to cut me, even though I have scales," he chuckled. He stepped in the yard confidently and watered the potted plants, skipping a small cactus ("I watered it yesterday - don't want to overwater it! Cacti don't need as much water.") and going for the big tree, watering it as well. "It looks like the old coop managed to pick up after himself somehow," Gosha noted, squinting his eyes and looking around. "I don't see the usual mess that's here."

Legosi tilted his head curiously. "What mess?" he asked. "He can't make a mess if he has no legs..."

Gosha laughed, beckoning him to follow around the side of the house. "People throw a lot of junk in his yard when they pass him, thinking it's an abandoned house. So any passing cars will think that's what we're here to do, as well, even though I pick it up. You know - it's almost become an urban legend of some sort," he added, unlatching the equally uncared for side-gate. "Since all the trash disappears before anyone else bothers coming here, people think it's some sort of spirit that roams the house." He snorted, walking into the backyard. "What a joke."

Legosi followed suit, stopping at the entrance of the back yard.

It was a complete contrast to the front yard past the first couple steps of the fence - greenery abounded, the neatly trimmed grass stretching about twenty yards behind the house. In the back right corner was a garden, ripe with tomatoes and other assorted fruits and vegetables, and to the left was what could only be the bug farm Gosha spoke of on the ride there - he could hear the buzz of bug wings from the gate.

"This is what you do?" Legosi gasped, jaw dropping as he scanned his surroundings, taking each detail in one by one.

"He did this himself," the lizard corrected, refilling the watering can with the hose against the wall. "I just upkeep it now, since he can't."

As if on cue, a metallic slam of a screen door made Legosi jump as he whipped his body around to the right to face it. He found himself looking down at a small primate in an oversized wheelchair, face and body littered in scratches - his most notable feature, however, was the obvious lack of lower limbs.

"Gosha!" came a scratchy, wily and high-pitched voice from the monkey, whose face lit up when he recognized the old reptile. "Long time, no see, eh?" His wheelchair began rolling down the steep incline of the lazily-placed concrete slab that started after the doorway.

Gosha turned towards the door, smiling and waving at his friend's greeting as he put his foot out to stop the runaway chair when it came to him. "Long time, no see, Seb," Gosha laughed, using his foot to engage the wheel-lock. "How've you been?"

The monkey let out a wheezy laugh, falling into a coughing fit before answering. "I wouldn't be alive if I didn't catch myself, yesterday," he blurted. "I fell off my chair, I did - but Seb caught himself with his hands." He held up two tiny paws, which seemed to bear the most recent scratches. "Landed on a glass plate, eh?"

Gosha tsked, sighing and shaking his head in disappointment. "Seb, I told you to be more careful," he scolded lightly, lifting him up onto his shoulder. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed, by now?"

"Aren't you?" Seb retorted, a terrible 'eeeheehee' substituting for a laugh from his new perch. "You're here early, eh? Seb rarely has visitors, so I stay, eh?"

"Alright, alright, keep your legs on," Gosha retaliated, picking up the watering can and heading for the garden. "This is my friend I told you about, Legosi," Gosha emphasized, pointing vaguely in the wolf's direction.

Legosi, stopped, unaware he'd started following them. "G-gra-"

He stopped dead in his sentence when Gosha turned his head and nailed him with a cold, hard bullet of a look.

"Gra-great! To meet you, mister Seb," Legosi saved, clearing his throat and walking to the old man, putting out his hand gently, careful to hide his claws and teeth. "Gr-Gosha told me a lot about you," he added, ignoring said lizard's glare.

"Mister? Pha pha!" Seb guffawed, throwing his head back, somehow not falling off Gosha's shoulder. "No 'Mister.' I am Seb." He turned around, landing on his hands. "Go now, eh? I need sleep."

Gosha shot a more friendly glare to the friend on his shoulder. "You could have stayed, old man," he pointed out wryly. "We'll hurry up just for you, then."

As they walked, movement below Gosha's waist caught Legosi's eye. The Komodo dragon crossed his fingers briefly, then switched the can from his right hand into the one behind his back.

Legosi immediately recognized that gesture - it was the sign they had always used when Gosha needed Legosi to play along or to trust him. This had been particularly useful in public situations: since the law against interspecies marriage with poisonous reptiles meant that Legosi's mother, and therefore himself, were never supposed to be born, a komodo dragon with a young wolf in public sometimes aroused suspicion. Legosi distinctly remembered a certain situation where his grandpa had to convince a police officer that he was a family friend, and not a pedophile, rapist, Back Alley Market dealer, or otherwise a threat to Legosi's wellbeing. They'd even called Leano (never mind Legosi's word), and when that didn't quite work for them, they called him in.

And due to his fame at the time, the officer left without even a report when Miyagi rolled up in his limousine in a fury.

Legosi shook himself out of his thoughts when he realized Gosha had already walked away and he was alone, clearing his throat and taking a long step towards the odd duo. Once he caught up, he tuned in on the conversation his temporary 'friend' and Seb were having as they watered the plants, but as animated and intriguing that was, he felt it blur and melt from his hearing as he sunk back into his mind, melancholy covering it like a soft blanket.

He had always hated the nature of their grandfather-grandson relationship. Not that he hated Gosha - he loved Gosha with his life - but just that their relationship was always so secretive and 'hush-hush.' He looked up from the ground he was studying to stare at the back of his grandpa's head. Grandpa is a good person - he upholds pacifism, saves people, and even works at an orphanage for unwanted hybrid children. Why should it be so hard for him to just be in a relationship and have a family like every other animal? Interspecies marriage was even legal back then. Legosi briefly thought of his own interspecies relationship with Haru, worrying suddenly gnawing at his bones. Will I have to live like grandpa if me and Haru's children look like dwarf rabbits?

"Well, that's the last of them," Gosha nodded, turning to Legosi and pointing in the direction of the big farm. "Come on, Legosi, I still have to teach you how to feed the bugs." His scales shone dully in the light of the sky, the sun not quite up but still reflecting in the clouds.

Legosi gulped in surprise, turning on his heel and leading the way toward the bug farm. It wasn't a big structure, the farm being made up of several small cages that were on top of in-table like stands that held them up away from the ground. They still only reached Legosi's shins, but the wolf suspected that it was because Seb was about as tall as the cage itself.

The bars in the cages were just spread apart so the bugs couldn't escape, but the small party could look through it and see the bugs easily. Gosha hadn't lied to him - Seb had beetles, butterflies, praying mantises, even bees in the two white boxes Legosi hadn't noticed until then.

"Okay, so it's pretty simple to feed," Gosha told Legosi, pointing at the sturdy-looking gunny sacks that were leaned against the fence behind the cages. "These bags are in the same order as the cages, from right to left - beetles, mantises, bees, stickbugs. For the butterflies, though, Seb makes them nectar - which he keeps in that green pail next to the other bags."

Gosha went on to explain the details, Legosi nodding when appropriate and asking questions to clarify some of the steps, eyeing the beetles from time to time.

When they finished feeding, Legosi carried the bags and the pail back to their respective spots and turned to Gosha, expectant of another task, but Gosha just swiped his hand to the left. "We're done here, Legosi," he confirmed, smiling warmly. "I told you it'd be easier when we were both here."

"Oh." Legosi couldn't help but stare at the beetle cages again, biting his lip anxiously.

Seb, still on Gosha's shoulder, hopped off and landed on his hands, making both Gosha and Legosi gasp. Seemingly unaffected, he hand-walked quickly towards the beetle cages and unlatched one of them, turning and shooting Legosi a big, yellow-toothed grin. "Coulda just asked, if you wanted to hold one, eh?" he cackled breezily, reaching in and immediately bringing his hand out with a singular rhinoceros beetle on his finger. "'Ere," he grunted, reaching his hand up while balancing on his other hand.

Legosi, eyes still wide from the fact an ancient and supposedly frail monkey just fell from a six-foot-eight Komodo dragon's shoulder, crouched down quickly to lightly scoop the beetle out of Seb's small palm, placing it gently on his fingers.

"Seb," Gosha hissed, reaching down and lifting the monkey back on his shoulders. "You can't keep doing that," he reprimanded sternly, narrowing his eyes. "You're going to either die or become a torso monkey, one of these times."

Legosi tuned Seb's retort out, choosing to instead focus on the rhino beetle in front of him. It was a skittish thing - when Legosi took it, he noticed that the bug tried to crawl back into Seb's hand, as if comforted by its owner's paws. I wonder if he's ever taken them out to play. He poked the bug on the rear end with the tip of his claw, and it immediately scuttled from his finger to his wrist. "Sorry," Legosi muttered quietly, placing the tip of his finger on top of its back. The beetle didn't seem to mind that, as it stood still, even when he took the finger off. "You're a funny little one," he chuckled lightly, bringing his finger to the tiny horns in the front. Legosi was painfully reminded of Rhiny, Legosi's old rhinoceros beetle he'd kept at school. Rhiny always loved being poked on the horns. His first rhinoceros beetle had died when Legosi saved Haru from the Shishigumi, and when he finally got himself to his dorm, he'd been heartbroken at the news.

The previous bickering suddenly came to a hush; Legosi perked his ears and broke his focus from the beetle to find Seb and Gosha's gazes looking from the bug and Legosi repeatedly.

"W-what?" he barked defensively, blushing beneath his pelt. "What's wrong?" He looked to and from his grandpa and Seb, irrational fear prickling at his neck fur.

"You never told me 'e liked bugs so much, eh?" Seb said, tone surprisingly monotone compared to his other outbursts.

"I didn't know either," Gosha replied quietly with wide eyes, as if Legosi couldn't hear. "I knew he liked bugs when he was little, but…"

"What?" Legosi repeated, using his unoccupied hand to instinctively guard the beetle and checking his outward appearance to make sure nothing was off. "I had a pet one of these before. Why are you looking at-"

Gosha interrupted with a chuckle and a dismissive wave. "Oh, it's nothing, boy - I was just surprised that you haven't changed a bit in some ways. You really gave me the impression that you'd completely changed when we met up before you just came and visited this time." Gosha turned his head to his primate partner, smirking. "He might have what it takes to run one of these himself when he gets older, don'tchya think, Seb?"

The old monkey hadn't taken his eyes off Legosi, which sent a shiver down the younger animal's spine. Something about his scarred face, the face of wounded prey with so much confidence in his eyes at his ancient age made Legosi fear and respect Seb on a different plateau than every other animal he respected in his life. This was the face of unafraid and undaunted prey. He reminded Legosi of Haru and Louis in that way.

"Does wolf boy want it?"

Legosi blinked after a moment of processing the question, cocking his head curiously. "A-as in… I can take this one?" he replied, surprise and hope mixing together in his chest. When the panamanian didn't respond, his ears perked, the right one twitching. "Really?"

"Seb sees you know bugs," he stated slowly. "Put me down." Gosha, visibly confused, put down Seb, who hand-walked to Legosi and looked up at Legosi, who crouched even further. "Take as a reminder of Seb. And when Seb dies, you take my farm and house," he said from his upside-down position, smiling at his own generosity. He beckoned the wolf down further, so he obliged, putting his ear near Seb's face. "You'll be a good caretaker, just like Gosha was to you," he trilled. "Your eyes are identical." He burst out laughing, the terrible eeheehee reverberating in Legosi's skull. "Seb grows tired, eh?" He announced, spinning on his palms to Gosha. "Help Seb to his chair…?"

As soon as they had said their goodbyes to Seb, and Gosha turned the key in the ignition, he turned his head to Legosi, sighing. "Thank you for recognizing the signal," he started, sighing and putting his hands in the wheel and putting the vehicle in reverse when he saw no one was on the road. "We had a discussion a while back about interspecies marriage, and he was very violently passionate about how members of the same species should stay with their species. I, of course, had to agree with him or else he might've kicked me out of his house, which he can't afford since he can't move around as effectively as he can," he added, pushing the stick forward and beginning the drive home. "So just for that time, he couldn't know that you were my grandson. He might have flipped his lid something."

Again, with that stigma. Legosi opened his mouth to respond, but something made his mouth click shut. Why had Seb recognized that he was related to Gosha and did not poorly react? Gosha must have not heard him say that, which may have been his intent. But why would he hide his support for him?

"Oh, okay," Legosi sighed, playing the 'I-understand-I-can't-be-related-to-you-sometimes' game again. He took his phone out of his pocket while balancing the little tupperware that held his new beetle. "Yeah, I'm glad I remembered that sign, too. I would have blown our cover if you didn't do that." He turned his head to Gosha. "He seemed nice, though. If a little blunt and unrealistic."

Gosha snickered, nodding his head. "Yeah, well… he was like that before his legs were removed, too," he told Legosi. "It just got a little worse after that. I'm surprised he took such a liking to you, anyway," he added, running a 'STOP' sign. "He was eaten up by a canine, so when he wasn't asleep like I thought he would be, I expected him to act distasteful to you."

Legosi flattened his ears and closed his eyes, fur prickling uncomfortably. "It's always the canines that get caught," he mused miserably, looking out the window. "And always the dog blamed for something that was out of their control. It really just…" he sighed deeply, swallowing. "It's always made me feel just… horrible. About being a wolf and not being able to suppress my instincts, even after months of training. I kinda just wish I was born a beetle, or an herbivore, or something - it's honorable when they're strong, but oppressive when carnivores are. The government mandates growth stunting pills to brown bears so they're not as strong as they could be - for safety measures." Legosi felt his heart shrivel - why am I saying this, stop, he's just going to try to make you feel better about yourself - as he awaited Gosha's response.

But instead of getting the words he expected, the Komodo dragon remained silent for several moments, which put Legosi at a complicated sort of ease. Maybe he just won't say anything about it.

"Well, you're right about one thing," Gosha spoke up finally, making Legosi's heart jump to his throat. "Hebivores certainly have the advantage when it comes to strength. They have all of society at their backs - herbivore empowerment and all. But where you're misguided," he added, tone taking a harder edge to it, "is that you're widely inexperienced with the kind of animals who predate. They are almost one hundred percent of the time grown men and women who let their instincts overwhelm them. You, on the other hand, are eighteen, hardly an adult." He patted the steering wheel, cursing under his breath when a small car cut them off. "I'm going the speed limit," he grumbled. "Anyway, you're still a teenager. It's a complicated time!" he continued, turning and shooting his grandson a wide smile. "Emotions and feelings are going haywire as you transition into adulthood, and suppressing your instincts is actually harder while you're a teenager than when you're an adult and your emotions stabilize. You might not think so, but you're on the path of an honorably strong carnivore, compared to the animals who still have a hard time suppressing their predatory instincts while they're thirty, forty, fifty. The female who went after Seb was thirty-six. It's supposed to be easier for females, anyway, since they're naturally not as inclined to hunt and chase like males are. Anyway - you're doing fine, and there's not a reason you should doubt your own existence because of something other animals do." He ended with a cough, turning on the road that led most of the way back to Gosha's house.

Legosi took a moment to soak his grandpa's words in as the trees and foliage zipped past, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized he was right. He wasn't acting on instinct when he ate Louis' leg. He knew Gosha wouldn't lie to him about something like this, especially when he spoke with that tone. He's a lot wiser than I remember him being when I was younger. Perhaps he was always this wise, and he'd been too young to understand it then.

The thing that really stuck in Legosi's mind, however, was how Seb had to move and live since his predation incident. He was so small and fragile, Legosi could probably snap his neck with his fingers if he wanted to. Combined with Gosha's words, he was reminded of Haru - she wasn't as small as Seb, but she was certainly not very strong, physically - he'd bodied her when he tried to eat her the first night he saw the dwarf rabbit. Legosi couldn't stand to think about what she might look like or have to live like if he were to eat her legs or arms. Which meant he couldn't stand to think about eating meat, either, or the fact he'd done it before.

"Thanks, grandpa."

"No problem. That's why I'm here."

He smiled at that, and when Gosha didn't follow up, he pressed the 'home' button on his phone, almost dropping his beetle when he saw he had a missed call and a text from Haru. Was it seven o'clock already?

He

y

why did you text me at five

in the morning lol

Legosi winced, typing back hurriedly:

Sorry

Didn't think about the time

when I woke up

(...)

"Who're you texting?"

Legosi jumped, still mindful of keeping his beetle from falling over. "H-Haru. My girlfriend."

ofc you didn't lol. wyd in like two hours

Oh. Maybe I should tell her I'm with my grandpa, huh?

Uhhhm funny story actually

Long story short

I'm living with my grandpa

for the week because

something happened and I

can't really talk about it right

now, when I get back we'll

meet up. I'm sorry

Legosi

I stg

I didn't mean to, it sort of

just happened it's more

complicated than you think

it's always more

complicated than I think

any time I think I got

you figured out you

surprise me with another

scar or wound or

SOMETHING

you're suddenly a big man

when you drop out of

school

Haru

I'm sorry

I don't MEAN t

o

and this time it really is

something that's personal

and something I can't

explain rn I'm so sorry

but I can't explain

but I'm okay

you said you were okay

when you were bleeding

out when you fought

that bear

Legosi I'm so scared for

you all the time

"Did you tell her about us?" Gosha questioned, eyeballing Legosi in concern at the distressed look that had spread across his face. "You should probably tell her before you get too deep in the relationship."

Oh.

"I'm trying to tell her that I'll be here for the week, but now she's mad that I got hurt again," he explained, frustration chewing at his brain. "But yeah, I-I should tell her. When I get back."

Haru I'm with my grandpa

I'm okay

I'll explain everything when

I get back and I'll take you

out to eat or something I

promise

...okay Legosi

please be safe hmu

when you get home ok

tell me abt your grandpa

too you never talked

abt your family

Okay I will

Legosi put his phone back in his pocket, leaning his head back on the worn-down head rest and let out an exhausted breath. "Are girls hard all the time?" he asked, secretly surprised at his own question and how out of character that was for him to ask.

Gosha snorted, shaking his head amusedly. The sunlight hit his scales when they moved past the trees, creating a disco-like pallet on the ceiling on the truck. "When you give them a reason to, I've found," he answered, turning on the last road to his house.

Legosi became acutely aware of the pattern on the ceiling, and he had to squint his eyes and draw in a breath to hold it to not burst out in laughter. Gosha turned to Legosi when he stopped at a traffic light, squinting back. "What?" Gosha interrogated, genuinely confused. "Is something off? Did your rabbit girlfriend say something…?"

"No, it's - the sun. On your scales. I forgot they did that." He pointed his finger to the ceiling, the flashes on lighting moving when Gosha looked up to the lights.

"Oh, that?" he snorted, shifting his attention back to the road. "Yeah, that happens a lot. What's the issue?"

"N-nothing - just-" Legosi snorted, shooting his hand to his mouth. "I dunno, I'm sorry," he mumbled through his hand, eyes seemingly transfixed on the lights. "It's just…"

Gosha shot him a slightly annoyed look from the corner of his eyes, his attempt at frowning failing when his mouth curved up. "W-what?" he chuckled, shaking his head. "It's not that - hehe - funny, I don't-"

Legosi bit his lip, hunching over and squeezing his eyes shut to avoid eye contact. "I-I'm not looking," he promised, chest bouncing in his suppressed laughter. "I don't know why I'm even laughing, I just..."

Gosha turned his head more fully to Legosi, squinting. "You're lucky you're immune to my poison," he joked light-heartedly, rolling his eyes. "I'd have put some in your drink when we got home."

Legosi snickered until they pulled into the loose-gravel driveway, finally calming down when Gosha tsked petulantly and slammed the door of his truck. Legosi knew that if he was hurt over that, he'd be back to his normal self by the time he got in the house, and sure enough:

"Let's go eat at The Picky Eater tonight. I haven't been in ages."

Legosi's ears perked: The Picky Eater was supposedly a famous restaurant, renowned for its unmatched blend of flavors - especially for the average carnivore's rather fickle diet - and the family-owned company's selfless hospitality. This place was the only subject discussed in every conversation he'd eavesdropped on when he passed the Foods Club, which was on the way to Political Science class.

"A-are you sure, grandpa?" Legosi asked, eyes widening marginally. "You don't have to take me just because I'm here."

"Sure, I'm sure!" Gosha laughed, clapping Legosi's shoulder and causing him to cough. "I haven't tasted anything quite like the curry and soy dish they have since I tried it, and I think you'll want to experience that, too." His wide and eager smile didn't waver as his expectant stare drilled into Legosi's eyes. He genuinely wants me to go, doesn't he?

"Uh-okay. Thanks," he added as genuinely as he could muster, a shaky but sure smile crawling up his face. "I won't lie, I've sort of… wanted to try it."

"Good!" Gosha exclaimed, displacing his hand off of Legosi's shoulder. "Uh, go ahead and get the cage and beetle feed for your new pet."

Oh. Legosi nodded and turned to the door, placing his hand on the cool brass knob and twisting the door open. He set the beetle down - "Be good," he told her - and headed to the matted-black vehicle, going around and unlatching the light trunk to reveal the feed and cage Seb had given him.

Legosi picked up the feed and placed it in the cage like Seb had instructed right before they left, and lifted the cage, noticing the surprising amount of effort it took - it was more leaden than it looked. It was a wonder to think that Seb was once capable of carrying one. Craning his neck around the cage, he tiptoed his way to his room, minding the beetle he'd set on the ground earlier, and lowered it down next to the door. He took a deep breath - how in the name of Rex did Seb carry one of these? Even if he was young and had two legs, it must have been extremely difficult for him to carry. He went back to retrieve the beetle, placing it inside of the cage and onto a stick that had come with the environmental echo.

The beetle, Legosi saw, spread its mud-brown wings and fluttered them slightly; he remembered that Rhiny used to do this whenever he was put back in his cage. A small smile appeared on his face. How lovely would have been to be born a rhinoceros beetle - everything only appearing through such a small lens, and not having to carry the burdens of his world, content with being in a cage for a maximum of a six month life-span, not really significant to anything and being able to dissolve back into the dust of the Earth to perpetuate the life cycle along with millions of other beetles.

But then he thought of Haru, and Louis and everyone else he'd come into contact with since he started his junior year of high school, and friends like Jack whom he'd had his whole life. They'd all had a part in saving him: Haru was Legosi's first love, Louis pushed him to realize he should use his strength for good, rather than suppressing it. Jack had always been dependable in the times he needed it the most. Gouhin had significantly improved Legosi's physical capabilities. How can I wish for such a simple life?

"You look like a 'Debbie'," he chuckled lightly, speaking as if the beetle could hear him. Perhaps she did. "I'll call you Debbie."

After sprinkling the feed into the cage, Legosi slumped on the leather couch where he would be sleeping for the next week, closing his eyes. I've slept for two and a half hours, he groaned within himself, slowly rolling over and laying his head on the baby-blue pillow Gosha had fetched him the night before. The dull 'creak' of the leather somehow soothed him deeper - there was something about the sound leather made when it was rolled on that made the grey wolf feel like relaxing. Gosha should understand him taking a nap.

As the ever-pulsing void of sleep consumed his consciousness, he couldn't help but attempt to grasp the grand mental puzzle of Haru, and desperately cling to the hope that his komodo dragon piece wouldn't shatter the monument he'd set for their future.