Chapter Text
POV: Tao
W-where am I?
Tao slowly begins to regain consciousness as he is awoken to beeps and boops left and right. Slowly, he makes his way out of his shock induced state as he rubs his eyes awake.
"Tao!" A tiger roars from the doors as he coincidentally enters. "H-how are you feeling? Dd-do you remember what happened, f-fuck" He shouts in a bloodcurdling tone.
Do I remember what happened? What does he mean?
"Relax, Bill, at least I'm awake now. What even happened dude how come you're so startled?" Tao stares the tiger up and down. Usually extremely prideful creatures, the tiger now seems saddened by something, as well as anxiety and pity. "Oh boy. Well, are you okay to handle it. It's something you did..."
Shit, what did my dumbass do now!
"Yea, I'm okay to handle it." He says dumbfoundedly.
"Okay dude, get ready." Bill grips the side of the hospital bed in anticipation.
A FEW HOURS AGO:
"Hey! Taooooo. I need help stretching, care to join?" Kibi bounces forward across the acting hall.
"Sure thing! Gimme a sec."
Tao quickly turns the corner into the bathroom. Shit, shit, shit. What should I do about this? He couldn't lie to himself, he found it odd for a herbivore to cause such anxiety and interest. Since they were five years old, the pair had been inseparable. Living on the same street, going to the same middle school, all for them both to chose Cherryton to be pure chance. It was definitely an exciting day for the pair. Recently, however, Tao's began to feel strange feelings. Shortness of breath, tight chess, as well as tightness... elsewhere. He was confused and in a panic since he began to feel this way in their senior year. Since then, approaching him has been difficult, to say the least. He understands societal implications in his anxiety. Merely by differences; herbivore & carnivore, size, and species. To say the least, it a shitshow in the panther's mind.
He begins to round the corner back inside the hall. "Okay, in, out, in, out, he isn't scary, nevertheless a threat to me, CALM DOWN!" Tao speaks to himself.
"H-hey Kibi, ready?" He asks shyly. "Yep! Come here, I wanna stretch out my arm, can you pull my left arm towards yourself?" "O-okay" He starts to walk towards Kibi, every inch feels like pins and needles in his feet. As he approaches, he slowly starts pulling his arm back.
"So, what's the deal with you? Ever since the semester started, you've been all squeamish around me. We HAVEN'T even hung outside of the club for almost three months. Why?" He asks with concern"
What now, d-do I... NO! There is no fucking way I'd be able to in this state.
"It's nothing Kibi, honestly. Just been dealing with some school-related stress as all."
"Uh? What the fuck." He deadpans. Tao himself is shocked at the display. He almost never uses language, to the point where Kibi tries to brainwash Tao out of his potty mouth.
"I-I'm so... shit." He feels numb. All these months of stress and worry came of as annoyance or frustration to Kibi.
I suck, I suck I suck. I. Am. The. Worst.
Tao snaps, raging himself as he tries to his arms back, forgetting he is still holding Kibi's arm.
In a flash, he snaps back into reality, a whip into consciousness. "What..." He sees Kibi's arm in his hand. Blood is dripping from the arm, down the panthers top, to his shorts, and blood begins to pool on the ground below him. As he looks around the room, everyone in shock from the sight. Bill immediately smells the blood and salivates at the thought, but refuses to push his indulgences further and begins to calm the scene. After what felt like a decade, he could see Legosi holding him by the waist, blood covering both. He begins at the pool on the flood, the tainted cloths, then the gash caused by Tao's sudden panic. Then, it went black.
PRESENTLY:
"So, that's the gist of it dude" Bill concludes.
Realization hit him like a truck. Panic, cold sweats, faint breathing. It came in full force.
"I-I, oh my Rex" What on earth did I..." He breaks down crying on the spot, barely able to keep his breath stable. His eyes bloodshot, pupils as small as a grain of dust, dialated to no end.
"B-but he's okay! He already went through the reattachment surgery and everything else, he should be okay after a couple of weeks of rehab for the arm."
"T-thats good." Tao begins to slowly calm.
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