Chapter Text
Cherryton Academy, the school in which Louis the red deer resided in. Everyone in the school knew his name. Everyone went to the plays the drama club performed. Of course, Louis had garnered countless fangirls that would stare and gawk at him whenever he passed by the hallway much to his dismay.
Although there were many pursuing his heart, there was only one heart he wanted to pursue, Legosi’s.
He didn’t even realize when it started. At first, the deer believed he resented his quiet and reserved junior. Louis would suddenly get flustered whenever he noticed the wolf looking at him. He chalked it up to his instincts just being weary of the towering wolf. Whenever Legosi was simply standing nearby, Louis’s heart beated as if he had just ran a marathon. Again, he thought it was instincts.
Until one day, Louis overheard Juno and Sheila have a conversation about love, a thing that Juno constantly brought up. However, something piqued the buck’s interest as he continued to listen in on the pair’s conversation, most of the things they were describing was exactly what Louis felt towards Legosi, and he didn’t hate it.
He couldn’t stop thinking about the wolf since. He kept imagining little scenarios between him and Legosi. Some of these scenarios included: romantic dinners, picnics at the park, kissing while watching romantic movies, a lot of cuddling, and sometimes things got a bit spicier than he’d like to admit.
It got so bad his performance during practice was affected. Everytime he tried saying the love interest’s name, “Legosi” was on the tip of his tongue. He even got pulled aside once by Sanu because he noticed the star actor seemed a bit more distracted lately.
He didn’t even know why he liked Legosi, there was just something about the wolf that stood out to him that other carnivores didn’t have. Just the idea of successfully getting together with Legosi felt right. Louis was pretty confident in his ability to charm Legosi. Then, they’d go on plenty of dates, hold hands, share lots of kisses, and eventually, they would get married and- He was gushing again.
Louis knew he couldn’t let this crush of his affect him too much for too long and he had to do something about it as soon as possible, whether he tried eliminating these feelings, or he attempt to confess to the wolf. The latter was much preferred.
To minimize embarrassing himself in front of Legosi, Louis distanced himself from the wolf. If Legosi was in the changing room, Louis would wait for him to leave before entering. Once, Legosi and Louis were supposed to clean the drama club together, and Louis tried staying as far from Legosi as possible. Although this saddened Louis, he believed this was necessary.
The buck’s only concern was how would everyone else react to his potentially and hopefully future boyfriend. On one hand, he’d be the happiest deer in the whole world. On the other hand, his reputation would for sure plummet, but he didn’t really care for that.
What he worried most about was his father’s opinion. Oguma wouldn’t be too proud to hear his son was dating not only a boy which meant they couldn’t produce a heir, but a carnivore. In the end, Louis was determined to make the wolf his, he didn’t care if it no longer made him the heir to the Horns Conglomerate, they’d be much happier together. He would definitely be more happier than getting together with that doe his father kept trying to hook him up with.
Currently, Louis was in his office wondering how to deal with his feelings for Legosi. Legosi was probably messing around with the lighting about now. At least, that’s what Louis thought until there was a knock on the door.
Louis opened the door and was greeted with the wolf he had fallen for. Once they locked eyes, Louis could feel his cheeks burn bright while he stood and stared at Legosi. It took a while for him to realize he had to actually let Legosi in.
Once they were both situated inside, Louis sitting on his chair and Legosi lazily standing around, Louis, in the most composed voice he could muster, asked what Legosi needed. Although on the inside Louis was nervous and overthinking everything.
He for the life of him couldn’t figure why Legosi was here. Louis didn’t remember telling Legosi anything to prompt the wolf to visit his office. The deer wasn’t mentally prepared to speak with the wolf just yet.
“I’m here because…” The pause in Legosi’s answer felt like it lasted an eternity to the anxious Louis, “I wanted to see you.”
Louis could feel his heart strings being tugged on but he attempted to remain stoic and asked curiously, “O-Oh, well, what do you need to see me for?” He internally cringed at his own stutter.
Legosi’s stare felt so intense the buck wanted to look away before he blushed so hard Legosi would notice and ask about it, making his situation even worse. Luckily, Legosi’s reserved nature caused him to be the one to break eye contact with Louis and look down at the floor.
“Well, I’ve just noticed that during practice you seem a little-“ Before Legosi could finish, Louis intervened “Distracted? Everyone has been telling me that but I assure you, I’m fine.” That was a lie, lately he’s been too busy daydreaming about the exact wolf standing directly in front of him.
Legosi looks at Louis again, causing the deer to shudder a bit. The wolf clearly doesn’t buy it, but ignores it and continues, “That’s not all. Lately, I’ve noticed that you’ve been avoiding me… If you want me to leave you alone, I’ll go.” He then began walking towards the door to leave the deer by himself.
Louis could practically feel his heart shatter into a million pieces “Wait!” He quickly got up from his chair to grab Legosi’s tail, causing the wolf to look back surprised. Louis’s face heated up, this was the second time he grabbed his junior’s tail, and the second time he enjoyed it.
Ignoring how embarrassing Louis made the situation, he spoke up a bit flustered, “It wasn’t my intention to avoid you like that. I-… I hope you can forgive me, and I’d like to take you out for lunch.” Louis cringes at himself again thinking he sounds like a schoolgirl confessing to her senpai. Legosi is the only one who would ever get to see this side of him, Louis declares to himself.
Legosi stares at Louis, studying his senior for a bit, this only causing the deer’s face to burn brighter and believe himself to be a fool for asking Legosi out like that. Legosi accepted the invitation and Louis has to ignore the part of his brain telling him this’ll be their first date together. Soon, he tells himself instead.
Louis felt like an idiot, he had the genius idea to show up at the school’s cafeteria, their planned meeting spot, 10 minutes early. He couldn’t help it, he was pacing around his dorm anticipating the day he’d finally be able to sit down and talk with his… crush… Louis wasn’t used to associating that word with Legosi. He brought his favorite food with him, celery, but could hardly even take a bite out of it because he was too anxious waiting for his junior.
Unfortunately, many of the star actor’s fangirls both came up to, and pestered Louis. Luckily, they were easy to brush off but Louis hoped they wouldn’t bother him when Legosi eventually showed up. But he knew they wouldn’t, the red deer would be too intimidating to approach with the gray wolf by his side.
Finally, Legosi arrived and sat across the table from Louis. They’d probably get a bunch of looks since it wasn’t often a herbivore and carnivore sat with each other. Louis didn’t care, but he was worried Legosi did.
Despite the senior’s worries he tried starting the conversation, he figured it'd be easy, “S-So, Legosi… there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you…” Legosi just stared at Louis and the deer could feel beads of sweat rolling down his head, but he tried continuing anyway, “Um… I want you to know that…”
This was the moment of truth, he was going to admit his feelings for Legosi here and now, “I wanted to tell you that you’ve been doing a wonderful job at lighting, I hope you keep it up. Don’t tell anyone this, you’re my favorite member of the drama club.” Louis ended it off with a forced smile to which Legosi returned and thanked him for his approval.
After the failed confession, their conversation turned to regular small talk which was so much easier for Louis to get through without too many slip ups. Then, they both returned to their dorms. Though, something did stick with the deer. Legosi complimented his acting skills. He received those type of compliments from plenty of others. But, it just felt better coming from the wolf.
Even though Louis didn’t manage to say his true feelings, he wasn’t too bothered. He wasn’t in a hurry to successfully court the wolf, Louis was still confident in his ability to impress and charm Legosi, which was also why he wasn’t too worried about any competition to win over the wolf’s heart.
For now, he’ll wait, he’ll plan out his confession and wait for the perfect moment to confess to Legosi his feelings. He may have failed today, but one day he’ll succeed… hopefully.