No More Stripes (Beastars)

Settling In

"Jack, can ya come here for a sec? There's something wrong with the wiring."

"Coming!"

Jack was helpful—no, that'd be an understatement. He was a huge help. Bill couldn't think of anyone else that would fit the labrador's role better.

"Care to lend me a hand here? This thing's heavier than I thought."

"Sure thing, Tao."

"Mind if I do, too?"

"K-Kibi? It's fine, you- you don't need to. Me and Jack can-"

"Shut it, I will and you can't stop me. And don't hide that blush, I like how it looks on you."

"Can you not while Jack's here..."

It's been around a week since the labrador joined. He was your classic errand boy during club practices; his help ranged from fixing up the lights to modifying costumes and patching them up.

"How would you fix this rip here?"

"It's better to do it like this so it doesn't show on the costume too much."

"Ah, that makes sense. Thanks, Jack!"

Bill didn't know how Jack could be so skillful at all these things, but he didn't mind one bit. Guess you could say the lab was a Jack of all trade, hehe.

Anyway, enough procrastinating. This great tiger needed to get back to studying. The club depended on his grades, after all.

Bill looked back at his notes on the table, the quiet in his office helping him focus. Today's subject he decided to tackle was biology. He now learned that was a mistake.

He chewed on his pen. Sure, biology could be interesting sometimes, but when would he ever need to know that mitochondria was the powerhouse of the cell? And why was that the only thing he could remember after all these years?

"It's 23 pairs of chromosomes, not 22."

Bill lifted his head to see Jack standing across the table. "...uh, what?"

The labrador pointed at one part of the tiger's notebook. "I meant this."

Bill leaned forward and looked at the pointed spot. "Ah fuck," he mumbled, snatching his eraser. He heard Jack giggling as he erased his mistakes. "Sure, sure, I'm stupid. Ha ha."

"You're not, Bill," he said. "Seeing someone big like you all hunched over a book is just amusing, that's all."

"Hope you're admiring the view, at least." Bill sighed. Finished fixing his mistake, he leaned back on his chair and met the lab's eyes. "D'you need something? I'm sure you didn't come over just to teach me shit about chromosomes."

Jack chuckled. "I'm not that bored." He cocked his head towards the laptop on the desk. "I wanted to tell you I'm almost done."

"Already?" Bill asked, earning a nod.

"Just need your help a bit."

They walked over to the desk. The lab sat down, while Bill stood behind him. Everything on the laptop's screen was in order. Yup, huge help indeed.

"Looks good. What d'you need my help for?"

"I wanted to double check, so I thought another pair of eyes wouldn't hurt."

After practice, the day usually ended with the two cooped up in the office, mostly to keep track of everything in the club. Cost of materials and props, anything required in the future, profits from ticket sales—all were to be laid out neatly in a spreadsheet. And Jack was here to do just that.