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

Chapter 3 - The Warm Light of the Morning

Sebun had heard talk of the new neighbors for about a week now. A young male wolf and buck were shown the room next to hers while she was at work. There were two things strange about that.

Firstly: the rooms in the hidden combo were all for one animal. Even that seemed to be a stretch, sometimes.

And secondly, of course: why would a carnivore and a herbivore willingly room together? Even if they were friends, wasn't there the fear that the carnivore would one night lose control?

Nevertheless, the sheep pushed it from her mind. That was of course, until the day they actually moved in.

She caught glimpses of them moving their stuff in with the help of an old komodo dragon, a tiger, and a dall sheep. She didn't think she'd see such a colorful cast of animals actually work together outside of a training video or one of those lame educational videos they'd show in school.

The wolf, despite his large size, was acting like a complete puppy, and the buck seemed like he couldn't keep a smile off his face whenever he looked at him. She couldn't imagine anybody being that happy to be moving into this dump.

It wasn't until she was settling down for the night that she realized what was really going on.

For the short time she had been living in the condo, Sebun was lucky enough to be between two vacant rooms. Now, she could hear muffled noises from the TV in her new neighbors' room. It wasn't a problem, though. In fact, she found it a bit soothing. It wasn't until the two started talking that it got annoying. Ugh, why are they raising their voices? It's so late at night. I swear I'll call the cops on them if that wolf starts getting rowdy. That deer better clear out fast.

She couldn't make out their conversation, but she soon realized there was no animosity in the tones. They sounded happy. They went quiet again after that, and Sebun decided it was a good time to go to sleep herself.

Of course, right as she settled in, the voices started again. And then...noises. She didn't want to think about it. Refused to think about it. How could it be? In what world would this situation ever work? Just how did they...Oh yeah...this is the Hidden Condo...where the animals who want to live outside of society live...

Sebun stared up at her ceiling, listening to the passionate noises from the other side of the thin wall. Those two boys...they're definitely having sex...

Now she had her phone out, emergency number on the ready. Nothing good could come from a carnivore and a herbivore having sex, especially if one of them was a wolf. She remembered those string of predation cases last year perpetrated by a band of canines led by a wolf. She should call them right now...

...

The sounds from the other room held no sign of struggle. It just sounded like two animals being intimate, and it continued that way. Sebun's arm slowly lowered, her phone dropping from her hand onto the comforter.

The sounds from the two new neighbors reached a climax, and all was quiet again. After a bit she could hear the two talking softly, along with what sounded like laughter. Now her chest just hurt. How could she have thought to call the authorities on two animals sharing a private moment like that? What kind of neighbor would she have been to these two young newcomers?

Of course, the strongest emotions she felt were ones she didn't want to acknowledge: emptiness and loneliness.

She rolled over on her side, trying to get some sleep before work.

=^.^=

The annoying tune of the sheep's alarm went off, signaling to her that she had not gotten a wink of sleep. She groaned, turning it off and reminding herself once again to change the alarm sound so she wouldn't want to smash the damn thing.