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

Chapter 30 - But I'm Not

The boys left Pina's room and moved into the kitchen, where a pan of baked ziti was placed in the center of the table. Pina made sure Bill got a seat next to him before his parents could prevent it somehow.

The tiger sniffed the food. "Smells good."

"Well, I hope so!" Gianna exclaimed in a singsong voice. "Just don't eat too much! Save some for us little animals!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Pina mumbled under his breath for only Bill to hear.

"Ah...I-I won't," the tiger mumbled.

Everyone grabbed their serving, and vegetables were soon brought out as well along with glasses of water. Pina started to eat, but Gianna and Terzo just sat there, staring at Bill and waiting for him to take a bite.

The tiger didn't notice, taking his fork and cutting a medium bite off.

Gianna barely gave him any time to chew before asking, "Is it good?"

Bill nodded slowly. "Yeah, it's very good!"

The cook wiped imaginary sweat off her brow. "Whew! I never cooked for a carnivore before, so I wasn't sure if you'd like it. "

Carnivores eat a lot of the same stuff herbivores do, mom." Pina pointed out, albeit with the usual edge from his voice removed.

"Yeah! I enjoy everything!" Bill grinned.

Terzo took a bite. "Sho." He swallowed. "Bill, what do sheep taste like?"

The tiger froze, blinking. "Uh?"

Pina wanted to smash his face into his plate.

The older dall sheep continued. "Well, we know all carnivores eat meat, so we were just curious if you've ever tasted sheep before."

The feline swallowed. "That feels a little personal..."

"Just curious!" Terzo continued. "As a carnivore you probably talk about the meat you eat all the time."

Bill frowned.

Gianna butted in. "Oh, don't be so shy! We're not those herbivores that pretend the black market doesn't exist! We know about it and we know carnivores go there! We just never got to ask one what a sheep tastes like!"

Pina could only watch in silence at the disaster unfolding in front of him. He felt like he didn't even know his parents at that point.

Bill just took another bite. "No. I haven't."

A deafening silence blanketed the kitchen, soon broken by the clinks of silverware as everyone ate their meal. Even Pina, despite his insides, feeling like they were twisting around broken glass.

Bill was obviously uncomfortable by the previous question, staying silent as he ate his food, trying not to make eye contact with any sheep.

Pina moved his leg over, hooking his foot around one of Bill's legs to let him know he was there.

"So, Pina? How are your grades?"

He let out a sigh of relief at the subject change, even if it was one he wasn't too fond of either. "Fine. I've actually started tutoring some first years in my free time."

The cat's ear twitched. He remembered Pina telling him about that. It was nice his boyfriend was so smart.

Terzo pushed up his glasses, looking at his son. "What about college? Have you started looking?"

Pina took a spoonful of peas to his mouth as he averted his gaze from his father. "I just started my second year...I'll get to it later."

"Well, you should start thinking about it now. If you wait until the last minute, then you'll regret it."