A Doe in Buck's Clothing (Louis x Reader)

7: Herbivore is Not a Choice, It's a Lifestyle! (No, Seriously!)

"You're not feeling well, are you?" You inquired carefully. "Your breath smells like buffalo." A shame flushed over Louis as he realized he wouldn't be able to hide it from you. He had been forced to adopt a carnivorous life style. And this time, it was no fake meat. "You'll get sick eating stuff like that. Herbivores need plant matter. We should have brought home the bok choy for you to eat."

"Y-You're not scared?" Louis looked at you strangely. "You know that I ate meat. I ate other animals. Animals that--"

"Yeah. I know. I get it." You stopped him. "But you said it yourself, you want to be around someone you can trust that doesn't have an ulterior motive. I can't say I approve of the meat-eating. In fact, it does bother me, if I'm being honest. But you wouldn't do it if you didn't have to. I know that."

The corded muscles of his arms held you tightly to him.

"I wouldn't have brought you here if I didn't have to." He whispered. "I told them over and over to kill me. To end my suffering. But they insist on torturing me as a figurehead. I'm forced to see my own kin hanging in the very shops I wanted to avoid my whole life."

"Louis..."

"Let me tell you. Before someone else does." He was still holding you tightly. "I grew up as number four. A stupid little fawn in the black market. They didn't even teach me how to speak. Why should prey talk back during a meal?" He chuckled coldly. "I just waited day in and day out for when it would be number four they called out for. But one day, a large red deer showed up before me. I had never seen a grown herbivore. I should have been calm when he touched me, but I couldn't stop screaming. It was like I knew that death was a better fate. He shoved me into a room of hungry carnivores with a knife and closed the gate between us." You began stroking the lapels of his dark suit as you listened to him. His heart hadn't sped up even a bit. It was as if he were recounting just another day in his life. "I knew and he knew that I was going to lose. So I did what I thought was logical. I put the knife to my throat." His cheek laid on your head and he reached down to grab your tail. He enjoyed it immensely. "He pulled me out and ever since then I've been his son and heir to his conglomerate."

Silence waved over both of you, like a cold blanket that kept pulling you closer.

"You don't have any thoughts on that? Any pity?" Louis finally whispered.

"Who am I to pity someone? I'm the most pitiful of them all..." You admitted. "A horrible liar. Not brave like you. No desire to lead my own life... When I was going to be eaten by Chief Lion, I just sat there. I accepted my fate. You, Louis, are braver than any carnivore I've met thus far."

"Don't say that." His voice was surprisingly sharp and his hoof-like nails dug into your tail. "I'm a coward who couldn't do the right thing when it was thrust upon me. I had to pass the baton to a clueless idiot. I had to follow him to my destination. I even cleaned up his mess. But even then, I still couldn't do what I wanted. I tried to die instead of being truthful to myself."

"But Louis, can you tell me why I'm really here?" your face pushed into his chest. The tension was so tight. "Are you brave enough to tell the truth, unlike me?"

"Because I couldn't bear the thought of never touching you again." He breathed out. "Even if it meant losing everything."