The Curse of Beasts (BEASTARS)

On Top of The World

The tension was still present throughout the day. In fact, it never lessened.

Alan's mood had soured pretty quickly after Pina's introduction. If not for Riz sticking up for him, he may have come close to losing all control. Even with his attempt at softening the hard blow dealt to the carnivores in the club, it didn't help the already thinning ice they were walking on. In a way, he actually found himself in the same vein.

The human wanted nothing to do with the discussion Pina started, but he just had to get called out. He didn't make his frustration known, though, opting to go through the day as well as he could. Pina certainly made it harder to like him, with his constant teasing remarks and that ever-present smile on his face. It wasn't even one of pride, but something akin to flirtatiousness. Given how he said he was popular with the females, Alan wasn't surprised.

Although, he had to wonder just how much likability the sheep had in the club after the stunt he pulled.

The human made his way out the moment Samou dismissed everyone, wanting to get far away from the club to keep from doing something incredibly regrettable. Riz caught up with him somehow, asking to meet him at one of the stairwells tonight. He agreed, seeing as he didn't have much to do other than dwell on his thoughts. Besides, he trusted the bear and owed him one for saving him from Pina's prodding.

"So why did you want to meet up here?", he asked.

The bear started up the stairs as he replied, "Some of the other guys were angry about Pina, so we decided to meet up on the roof. I thought you'd want to come, too."

"No thanks to Juno...", Alan said glumly. "If it weren't for her, I'd have been hiding out wherever until it was over."

"Really? I would've expected you to speak out."

"Only in certain situations. Pina's the one that started it— partially. I just didn't want to get myself sucked into that mess."

"To be fair, he was pretty much asking for a mess with what he said."

"All the more reason for me to keep my distance."

    The two made it to the top and onto the roof. It was both what Alan expected, but also not. It was a pretty big area with wire fencing at the edges and boxes placed around. That much was expected, but the same couldn't be said for the various carnivores all over the place. He expected it to be more of a "small-get-together-of-club-members" type of thing, not a "totally-normal-animal-clique" event. It suddenly made him feel a bit more self-conscious, though he suppressed it only because they didn't look at him. If anything, they were all absorbed in their own conversations. The human didn't have any part to play in them, so why would they pay him any attention?

"I'm guessing this is a regular thing...", he said as he looked around more.

"Yeah, you wouldn't believe how many carnivores end up here every night. You'd think this is a cult or something.", Riz quipped before pointing out a mostly empty corner. "There are the others."

    The group was actually quite small, despite the other carnivores around. Besides Alan and Riz, there was Legosi, Bill, Aoba, and a jaguar and hippo the human's seen around the club. Legosi didn't look too comfortable, leaning back against the fence looking tired. Bill was drinking a can of soda while talking to the other three. It honestly felt more casual than what Alan imagined— a bunch of large animals yelling all over the place with absolutely no filters. He'd take what he could get, in any case.

The tiger was the first to notice him, "Alan? You came up here, too?"

"Riz brought me along.", he answered casually. "Plus, I may or may not have wanted to hear you guys rant about Pina."