A Prey Among Predators

At the corner of one of the downtown streets is a cute herbivorous café with outdoor seating. The outdoor seating juts out at the sidewalk, allowing its customers to eat in the open air of the city. A small black iron fence separates the cafe’s property from the sidewalk.

Sitting by the gate at their own table is Elias and Lias. They munch of their salads while conversing with one another in their Swedish accents:

“So you’ll stop bringing those white gloves to the game?” Elias asks as he pinches his fork into his classic salad.

Lias scrunches his nose at him; he holds his fork in his bowl. “If only I can bring some cleaning supplies to clean those nasty buttons!” he snaps in his airy tone.

“No!” Elias shoves the forkful of salad into his mouth. “You might damage the electrical system! Look—” He swallows and drops his fork into his bowl to hold his palms out to his friend. “—I touch them like this and my hands are fine.”

Lias twists his body, his eyes glued on his hands from over his shoulders. “That is because germs are invisible!” he hisses.

Elias then taps on his friend’s hand that is holding his fork. Lias instantly throws his infected hand in the air, dropping his fork into his bowl, and shrieks.

“AH! EW! PETEY!!!” He flicks his hand in the air.

Elias nods to the table. “Your hand is touching the table; maybe that is dirty too?”

Lias halts his shaking and peers down. Sure enough his left hand is resting on the table.

“AH! GROSS!” Lias flies up to his feet and turns to the right to escape the table, only to come face to face with Clayton and Brett. He freezes.

Brett flashes him a smile from the other side of the gate. “Hey there.”

Lias stomps around his seat and kicks it into the table. He grabs a napkin and wipes his hands.

Elias lounges in his own chair, bewilderment aimed at the two canine kemonomimis. “Coach Clayton, what are you doing here? Carnivores are not allowed.”

“I wasn’t going to eat here unless I wanted to punish myself.” Clayton places his hands on his hips. “I have a favor for both of you.”

Lias has broken out a bottle of sanitizer and is now rubbing the substance into his palms. “If it requires getting dirty, I will not do it!”

“What is it?” Elias nods to the two.

“One of our teammates, Patrick, is a rabbit and he’s frightened. We need him to get out of his house.” He darts his eyes between the two. “You deer are the only ones that can coax him to do so.”

Lias squeezes sanitizer onto a napkin and wipes his side of the table with it. “Ohhhh! The usagimimi on the Brave!” He peeks at the two. “He is so adorable!”

Elias scrunches his nose. “What? Did you guys scare him?”

“It actually was not us,” Brett pipes in. “It was Carter.”

Lias freezes in his cleaning. He turns his head to them. “That kumamimi goalie of yours?”

Brett purses his lips. “Yup.”

He turns to his friend. “I knew he was bad news.” He shudders. “Bears give me the creeps!” He then begins to wipe down his own chair.

Clayton gazes at Lias’s actions before reverting his eyes to Elias. “So are you deer available to do that after your lunch?” He glances at their half-eaten salads.

Elias gazes at his friend. “Lias?”

Lias halts and perks up at him with raised eyebrows. “You want to?”

“If you want to.”

Lias turns to the two and sweetly beams at them. “We will.”

“Very well.” He clasps his hands behind his back. “Meet us at his place; it’s only five blocks away.”

With that, Clayton steps away and continues down the sidewalk. Brett gives them a quick wave before following him.

Notes