A first (and last) meeting
Warning: euthanization mentioned
Tags
@cameforstuff
@chaseerr0rcode
@acebbirdandbean
FNat was thrown on the ground as the doors closed behind him. This wasn't the first time he had animal control called on him, but it was the first time he actually got caught
He'd almost escaped once when he woke up from the sleep darts, but the handlers had put this dumb electric collar on him. After he was sure they'd left, FNat turned his neck into a hazy cloud and slipped the collar off
FNat tried to shake the bars of his enclosure, only to immediately get flown back by a shockwave. What was it with these guys and zappey stuff! FNat started growling and hissing at the bars
When he heard a small noise and realized he wasn't alone. FNat quickly scanned the area. How had he missed that there was something else in here? His eyes quickly landed on the smell figure in the corner of the room
"... are you my new roommate?" The creature asked timidly. Seeing as FNat didn't appear to be going anywhere, he nodded 'yes', this thing clearly took it as an invitation to keep questioning him, "Do you have a name? If not, I could help you pick one-" FNat sighed "The name's Nat." "Oh, nice to meet you, Nat! I'm Tom!"
FNat took a moment to get a better look at this Tom. He was a young kid, younger than FNat, at least (maybe 14-16? If FNat had to guess). His clothes were well waern, him shoes made his feet look like little paws, and he had what looked to be dog ears on the top of his head and a thin tail with a bit of fluff at the end. He also had a shock collar
Tom interrupted FNat's thought "Wait, you got your collar off? How'd you do that?! You know, " FNat stopped paying attention as something else caught his eye "What's that?" FNat gusterd to a countdown in big red numbers on Tom's collar. Tom paused "Oh, that just counts down to my 18th birthday"
That only raised more questions. Something about this felt off. FNat thought to Grace showing him how to disarm bombs, if FNat didn't know any better... but after all, that would be ridiculous. But just to put his mind at ease, "Why's it on your collar?" Tom's tail twitched, "You new here? So they know when to euthanize me." Tom didn't really say that first part as a question
FNat must not have heard that right, "I'm sorry ...what?" "See there's an explosive in my collar that'll go off once I'm an adult and-" FNat's confusion quickly turned to abject horror. Oh, axolotl this kid wasn't joking. "Say sike right now"
"Are, are you okay, Mr? You look like you've seen a ghost" Tom had the nerve to be worried about him? Some stranger Tom had just met?! When Tom himself only had- FNat quickly examined the collar. 153:14:15, 14s, 13s, 12s left to live! Doing the math, that was... a week at most! Tom gave a concerned look for how long FNat had been staring at him.
FNat's voice got eerily quiet. "Why? Why would someone do this?"
"Well... pow1D isn't the richest dimension out there, best to not waste resources on creatures without a chance to find a forever home" Tom's eyes didn't meet FNat's
FNat sat by the wall and stared at the small electrical fluctuations of the bars. His hands were slightly trembling. He'd give it a rest for now
Would FNat now die for this kid? Who's to say, but FNat wasn't living without him.