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Shien has a complicated relationship with winter. He likes the cold, likes winter activities, but his biological composition puts a restriction on his energy level. His fur becomes fluffier, which means he sheds more. It’s not like he hates keeping himself groomed, sometimes the season just makes him feel too lethargic to do it, or to do anything much. But life doesn’t stop in winter, he has deadlines to meet, meetings to attend, work to do. It made him think of his old life with his fellow beastmen. Sometimes, human’s ways of doing things aren’t that easy for a beastman like him.
He thought he arrived early to their meeting place, the flat turned office with a questionable fridge and not enough sitting space for nine people, but Roberu was already there with a can of beer. So they do keep some drinks inside that fridge.
“Oh, Shien, ya here early huh?”
“Good evening, Robe-san. Is it happy hour, or did you just run out of energy drinks?”
“In this day and age, all hours are happy hours. Yes, I ran out of energy dri— hmhm? Ya look kinda different today.”
“Oh, I might’ve gained some weight. Is it that long that we haven’t met each other?”
“No, no, it’s not that. Something else feels kinda—”
“Oh, there are people here already. Ciao, you guys.”
Arurandeisu also went to get a can of beer before flopping down the sofa right next to Shien. Apparently, it really was happy hour.
“Thank you for your hard work, Aru-san.”
“Oi, ya didn’t say that to me, Shien.”
“It’s because Aru-san is always working hard on something and Robe-san is just Robe-san.”
“Ha… ngh… Hghchoo!”
“Aru-san are you okay?”
“I’m fi— hnghchoo! …maybe not. That’s weird, I didn’t feel like I was about to— NGHCHOO! Catch a cold or anything.”
“Oi, Shien. Try moving away from Aru-san? Maybe go get some tissues or something,” Roberu took a closer look at him as soon as Shien got up and away. Arurandeisu’s eyes were red and he was sniffling. “Are ya probably allergic to fur or something?”
“Uuh? I’m usually oka— ghchoo! Usually okay. Used to have a bit of an allergy when I was young but I never had a problem lately. …wait, are you saying that…”
“Shiechama, don’t come here.”
“What!?”
“I think Aru-san is allergic to ya. Go stand on that corner or something.”
“I— huh? Okay? I’m so sorr… Eh, but— eh…” Shien gave up on thinking. Humans have that thing called fur allergy, he knew that, and there’s nothing to do about it. Just when he thought he was doing so well to blend in and thrive in the human world…
—
Shien spent a good few minutes mulling over his predicament and Roberu helped Arurandeisu finish his beer while the person himself sniffled his way through the allergy. The meeting hasn’t even started and there’s already a mess in the making.
“Yo, you guys—” “Ow ow ow!”
Just when Shien collected enough composure to prepare for the meeting, Oga swung the door open and caught his tail between the door and the frame.
“Oh, sorry I wasn’t paying attention to my strength output. I haven’t been able to go out for walks to relieve my energy. The deadlines have been tight, isn’t it?” This was why the staff had to put limiters on Oga when they did activities together, Shien thought to himself.
“I know, I was told to finish signing the postcards over the weekend too,” he examined the hurt on his tail. His eyes shot up as he felt a shadow looming over him.
“Shiepi, you… You’re so fluffy today.” Shien wasn’t sure how to respond to that.
“Oh! Winter coat! No wonder Aru-san’s allergy suddenly acted up,” Roberu chimed. From a distance, Shien could hear Arurandeisu blowing his nose again.
“Hey Shiepi, lend me your tail for a while, would you? I had a really long day, see. I didn’t have enough sleep because Hige was breathing down my neck for almost missing the deadline. And hear me out, I went out for a walk to clear my head after my software crashed, and when I tried to pat this cute kitty, he ran away and hissed at me. I’m hurt, I need healing. Let me pet your floof, yeah?”
“You wanna pet me? You’re not allergic?”
“I would’ve pet you too— ngHCHOO! If I wasn’t allergic.”
“Aru-saaan…” Shien beamed. “Robe—”
“Nah. I won’t.”
“That’s so cold…” or he didn’t.
—
When Rikka came, Shien was sure he could explain. Actually, not really. Oga was nuzzling his tail, Roberu was all over the place looking for something, and Arurandeisu was sort of not-crying.
“Hey guys… Eh? Are we practicing a scene that I had no idea was a thing?”
“Ah, Rikka-kun, if that’s Spanner you’re carrying, maybe don’t let her out— ghCHOO! …out of the carrier…”
“Ah, so Aru-san is going to be one of those people who will never pass the Spanner check huh? What a shame…”
“Oi oi, don’t make it sound like I’m that bad one here!”
“Ooh, it’s Spanya! It’s nice to meet you. Aah, so cute, so wholesome,” Oga tried to lift Spanner but he used his four limbs to push his face away. Nothing new here.
After unsuccessfully trying to straighten his post-nuzzle tail, Shien joined the crowd to greet Spanner, who had managed to escape Oga and was now occupying Arurandeisu’s spot. The man had gone somewhere to get away from extra fur, despite looking like he wanted to pet Spanner too. Roberu, good old Roberu was, of course, not that much affected by the cute. Two strokes of the body, which Spanner let him, and he’s off wiping the general area where Arurandeisu had been with wet wipes.
“Oi Roberu-kun! Are you implying that I’m nasty?”
“You sneezed a lot so there might be germs around here. We gotta be careful, right Spanner? See? She’s agreeing.”
“She’s grooming Shien’s tail though?!”
“Oh, thank you very much, Spanner. That’s very kind of you,” Shien bowed, ears perking up, the end of his tail swishing a little.
Oga didn’t take long to take out his phone and snap some pictures of it. “For future healing needs,” he said.
“Roberun, where did you keep the good stuff? I’m sure you have it in here somewhere, don’t you?” Rikka was already opening the fridge.
“Rikka-kun? Your Spanner is philandering with Shien-kun? Aren’t you worried?”
“Oh, Aru-san. I know you’re sad you cannot frolic with Spanner, but just leave them to do their beastman animal bonding thing. Now that you’ve stopped sneezing, let’s just drink!”
“That’s totally not what I’m talking about? Are we even gonna have our meeting?”
They did have their meeting a few hours, one grooming session, and a phone call from Shinove later. Shien still thought spending winter in the human world wasn’t easy, if only because there’s not enough time and energy to create more chaos.