He heard those schmucks laughing and saw a couple of them elbowing each other, no doubt making their crummy speculations on why they were hanging out. Obviously, it couldn’t be just because they genuinely liked each other’s company. Nooo…there was always another motive and it was clearly a publicity stunt or something like that. 

For a moment, Walter tried not to acknowledge them, knowing they fed off that shtick, but his patience was running thin and he had a stick of dynamite he was dying to chuck at them. He was just about to reach for it when Red sent a bomb in their direction, though not before topping it with a kiss. 

KABOOM!

It was Walter’s turn to laugh and he gave a lighthearted wave towards the group, linking arms with Red. She was really somethin’ else. 

“Still the fireball ya always were! All right, ya wanna catch a movie? Heh, remember when we saw Son of Dracula back in ‘43?” 

“Of course I do! That movie had a real bite to it.” She giggled a little, not ashamed of making such a groan worthy joke in the slightest. “Sounds lovely. I’ll let it be your pick, so chose well Walter, darling.”

With the pests handled, the evening was once again peaceful. Hopefully that explosion would teach those rascals to mind their manners when it came to matters that were none of their business! Probably not, but Red could hope she’d made an impact on them, aside from the obvious bomb crater they were now sprawled out at the bottom of.

Legoshi let out an inquisitive hum when the tigress’s arm wrapped around his shoulder and absently reached a hand up to his chin as she went on about there being ketchup on his face. His brow furrowed in confusion for a couple of seconds. Ketchup? But he hadn’t…

Then his fingertips brushed a patch of something moist on his fur; his eyes went wide and he tensed when the realisation of just what the tigress was saying and to what she was referring.

You idiot wolf, you should really know better…!!

He couldn’t dispel the look of terror on his face, not entirely, but he accepted the napkins with a little nod and immediately dabbed at the bits of ketchup by his mouth. The last thing he would have wanted was to get accosted or assaulted, or worse, because of his sloppy, airheaded carelessness.

“T-Thanks.” His voice was small in the aftershock of such an unpleasant notification, horrified and mortified by his obliviousness that he never damned more than now and that he had to be rescued by a stranger–a stranger, of all things! At least she was being kind about it. “I-I, um– s-sorry. Sorry. I– don’t know how I missed that… thanks.”

Now that they’d walked a bit out of anyone’s earshot, and her ruse of companionship had worked she waved a hand dismissively. “It’s fine... I’ve done similar things plenty of times. My g-” She shook her head for a moment, having almost forgotten the need for secrecy when it came to her relationship with Azuki. Stupid tiger. “My friend is always having to look out for me like that, so I totally get being a little forgetful or just not realizing. It’s them who are in the wrong though. Bunch of jerks didn’t even bother sniffing out the difference between ketchup and blood for crying out loud.”

Roxanne was certainly in no position to judge. She often forgot herself when she got excited, and could get a bit loud despite her often shy demeanor. That was frowned upon by most as it could be frightening to herbivores... which while she understood the why, she really wished morons would use context instead of jumping to damning conclusions!

This wolf seemed a bit her speed. Not too brash or over zealous like most carnivores. She preferred reserved types like herself, and what with her girlfriend pushing her to reach out more often, she might as well use this as an opportunity to make an acquaintance.

Running up next to the wolf, she slung an arm around his shoulder. In a loud voice, she greeted the other. “Ōkami-kun, you still have ketchup all over your face from lunch! You should really clean that off, here.” Roxanne extended a fistful of Napkins. It was ketchup, but the looks he was getting for the dried red on the underside of his maw well... some animals didn’t bother using their senses, they just jumped to conclusions. She didn’t know this wolf at all, he seemed a little oblivious of the dirty and fearful looks he was getting, off in his own world or something. Still, she wasn’t about to let this guy get jumped by a pack of herbivores, or leave him to deal with an encounter with the authorities. Leaning in closer, she whispered now.

Ricky had really stepped up the bouncer game since Cosmo joined his crew–there was no room at the Red Chamber for slackers anymore. Couldn’t risk his golden goose being slaughtered on the club floor.

She was quitting the stage after her spotlight for the night when the new bouncer–the quiet tiger who’d been brought in recently–said something to her. Cosmo continued wiping the damp cloth around the back of her head, to cool herself off, as she replied.

“Thanks, hun. I do my best.” Rex knew Cosmo put in the effort. Back in the day, stripping and dancing had just been something she did because she needed money and it was easy to rake in a few bucks–there’d always be animals who would pay to see a female gyrate on a pole, no matter how artlessly. But since those early days, it had become much more of a profession for her, and she had the physique to prove it–twisting and flipping around like that wasn’t easy!

She cast a quick look over the tiger, pegged her for a young one, and wondered briefly how she ended up here.

“You’re Ricky’s new recruit, huh?” She grabbed the water bottle she’d put backstage earlier and took a long drink. After her main stage performances, Ricky required her off the floor for at least thirty minutes (sometimes more), to give the carnivores time to calm down from her show before she returned to their view. “Welcome to the club.”

With her shift over, she was free to join the other backstage. Let that big burly bear who had taken over deal with any carnivores who couldn’t control themselves after Cosmo’s stunning show. She didn’t envy him, the customers always got extra rowdy after this okapi did her thing. For carnivores lust for a herbivore quickly escalated into something more dangerous, especially when there was no emotional connection between them. There was good reason that the majority of predation victims had no prior interaction with their attacker.  A stranger was far easier to see as meat than a friend or partner.

“Thank you! I’m Roxanne, I’m sorry for not saying hi sooner. I’m not the best when it comes to approaching others.” The tiger blushed rather noticeably, a bit ashamed she had only just gotten the nerve to speak to her coworker after a whole week had passed. Azuki had told her she needed to get more assertive or she’d struggle to make it anywhere in life. So, hopefully this would be a good first step in taking that advice. Sure she was still floundering some, but it was still an improvement.

Oh for fuck’s sake. Louis had a lot of practice in keeping his emotions schooled, which was to his benefit. But really, what were the fucking odds he and his fiancee both fell for carnivores outside their engagement?

It was so like Azuki to be so blunt about it, too. He usually appreciated that from her, even if she took it too far at times (not unlike himself, truthfully). In this instance, it was better for her to just come out with it.

“That’s fine with me,” he said, accepting the confession as easily as if she’d told him she preferred not to have live music at the wedding. “I don’t think either of us is under any illusion about what this is.” He could only hope he’d manage to conceive a fawn with her without upchucking his dinner again.

It wasn’t Azuki’s fault he wasn’t attracted to her–and apparently, she was not attracted to him either–but he did need to get his shit together and produce an heir. That was their job. It was the core of their responsibilities–making sure their soon-to-be joint companies were inherited by the blood of both their families.

“I don’t see any reason to concern ourselves with things that happened before the marriage,” he said, spearing a bit of cucumber on his fork. He could have chosen then, to confess to her about his three-year affair with Haru. About Lex. About Juno. But whatever compulsion had come over Azuki to drive her to such forthrightness, it had no hold over Louis.

Anyway, all that was over, so it didn’t matter.

I thought you might understand. That phrase kept niggling at the back of his mind–what was that supposed to mean? Had she guessed after their disastrous attempt to consummate their relationship that his interests lay elsewhere?

In fact, it was odd that Azuki was choosing to reveal this at all–they generally kept their conversations purely to things that would affect their union and their business, and whatever trite small talk fell between, and this was none of that.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked at last, unable to just let it go. “I might understand?“

It was a relief to her that he seemed relatively unaffected by her confession. Though he was as practiced as her at hiding emotion, so she couldn’t be entirely sure. For now she would accept his words as truth, in hopes that they were. “Yes. I’ve certainly only ever feigned interest in you in that way. With that said, I would still like to know you. I see no reason why we cannot become friendly with one another.” Azuki reached across the table, laying a hand on his own. They were to be wed, she didn’t wish for them to be so closed off emotionally. Sharing a life together would be a misery if they spent it as  strangers.

“I can’t pretend I’m not in pain... I crave her still, and I’m not sure that will ever really stop. I don’t blame you for that though, I couldn’t. It was my foolish mistake that caused this. If I had chosen sense over my heart, it wouldn’t have ended up shattered.” Ending things was the most painful thing she had ever done in her life. It was worse than even the harshest punishment her father had inflicted upon her for failing to meet his insane expectations. The worst part of it was, her love had smiled at her when she was told, and embraced her tenderly. For once it had been Azuki who had cried, not her dear Roxanne. To think that tiger would hide her grief to console her, even after Azuki had told her with such frigid indifference... A pawn like her should have never gotten involved in another game. She should have played her role, saved them both the agony of knowing a love they could never really have.

"Excuse me, Cosmo-san." It was Roxanne's first week being a bouncer for the strip club. The store she normally worked at was being remodeled so she'd needed to find some temporary work. Her cousin had found her a job quickly, but well... it happened to be in the black market of all places. Tigers were plenty strong enough to fight off the majority of carnivores, so she'd been an easy hire for the place. There hadn't been any incidents yet, so she'd mostly just been standing around looking tough for hours on end. The entertainment offered wasn't really her thing, but she was rather captivated by this Okapi. Cosmo danced so boldly while faced with all those lustful hungry stares, it was an incredible sight. While Roxanne was always hesitant to approach others, she'd had to in this case. The herbivore's strength was just too enticing to resist.