No More Stripes (Beastars)

A Dog and a Tiger Playing With Yarns

Bill's steps quickened the closer he got to his destination. It wasn't like he was in any hurry. No club nor school, today was Sunday, so he had all the time in the world. It was nervousness; the feeling that was only a spark now blazed within him, giving him doubts.

"I can't believe I'm doing this..." he grumbled, turning around a corner of the hallway. He fixed the neck of his t-shirt. "And of course I had to run into that damn sheep."

Pina's words echoed in his mind.

"You're going to Jack's place? What're you gonna do there, hm?" Then he laughed, wearing that annoying, playful smirk. "You two sure are getting close. Tell me all the deets later, 'kay?"

Ah, snap out of it. Whatever Pina hinted at ain't gonna happen. He was just meeting Jack to learn to crochet. And the labrador promised he wasn't gonna tell anyone either, so no need to worry so much.

He turned around the next corner and there it was, room 701. His heart beat faster and faster as he stood before the door. Crocheting was supposed to be calming, so why the hell was he nervous?

"Fucking hell." He scratched the back of his head. If he had to guess, it'd be because this was the first time he'd do something like this, finally admitting that he was doing 'girly' things. Being weird. "Screw it."

He wasn't going to chicken out this far in. He brought up his knuckles and knocked on the door. A loud 'ouch!' came from within the room. Must've stubbed his toe or something, Bill guessed. How cute.

The door finally opened, and out peeked Jack's head. "You came!" he greeted with a wide smile.

Bill couldn't see it, but he was sure the lab's tail was wagging right now. He answered the smile with his own grin. "In the flesh."

"Come in!"

Jack opened the door wider and let him through. Bill glanced around the room. It was almost the same as his, just with minor differences here and there, one of which being the stuff spread all over the floor. Yarns, hooks, tapestry and embroidery needles—the complete set. The reason behind the loud 'ouch!' became clear.

Humming, Jack skipped ahead and sat cross-legged in the middle of the mess, patting the empty spot in front of him. "Come on, I'll show you how it's done."

Bill sat matching the other's pose, knees almost touching, as there wasn't much space to sit on. "Didn't know you could be this messy, damn. Liked my dorm room so much you wanted to copy it?"

"Meh, no one's here, and I'm too lazy right now."

Bill snickered. "And another new side of the top student comes out."

"Yeah, yeah. You'd be surprised by how different animals are when you get to know them," Jack said as he rolled his eyes with a smile. He looked around the floor, perking up once he saw something. He reached for it and said, "Like you. Who'd expect our great tiger wants to try crocheting?" He handed the thing to Bill. "Here, you can use this one."

Bill looked down at it. It was a crochet hook. "So small..." he mumbled. It was thin, and it being held by his large hand just emphasized its small size. If he tried, he could definitely snap it in two easily.

"It's just you that's big."

The corner of Bill's mouth curled upward, an eyebrow raised. "Big, eh? Since when did you get a peek?"

"...What? O-oh." The lab's cheeks turned beet red. "That was not what I meant."

"You sure? I'm sure I'm in the big group." Bill smirked, resulting in Jack's blush growing more intense. He laughed and lightly smacked his back. "Just messing with you, man. I ain't being serious."