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Bambi’s ear twitched back as he heard the hissing of the bushes behind him, but he didn’t stop eating the fresh grass at the base of the tree trunk. He didn’t give the noise of nature the importance it deserved until the hissing became more insistent, followed by animal footsteps.
And sniggers.
Bambi stopped eating and turned towards them with a wariness that settled into his body immediately. Something in that presence told him that there were several of them—something in those sniggers made disgust echo inside of him. And when Bambi recognized the three deer that were approaching him, his face formed a grimace.
He only recognized two of the deer, several months older than Bambi.
Ayalon, Rasha and another one stood in front of him. They gave off such airs of superiority that another quick unpleasant feeling echoed through Bambi. It was as if a memory too old came to light within that clearing in the forest. As if Ronno’s face and Ronno’s voice were reborn in those three deer, mocking a past already resolved. Or at least that’s what Bambi wanted to think—that his thing with Ronno was resolved.
Ronno no longer messed with Bambi, not with the frequency and small cruelty of before, but now, after all that time of rivalry, the only thing they both did was throw taunts across the meadow, slight insults or small pushes that lacked malice every time they saw each other, but they never stopped bothering to be able to bear each other.
It was something that was going to come to hope over time.
But now, seeing Ayalon’s face, the mockery in every pore of his posture, made Bambi shudder without having had the control to stop it.
It was going to be different. He knew it the moment he saw them.
“So, you’re the new princess of the forest, huh?” Ayalon began, smirking in such an unpleasant way that Bambi remembered the rumors of the bad reputation that little group had.
Another uncomfortable feeling echoed through him.
Ayalon and his friends had grown antlers, their dark fur an envious brown, their legs longer and more robust. More than anything in Bambi. But something in Bambi’s memory brought out the thought that their antlers could be similar in size to Ronno’s, their expressions could be more irritating than Ronno’s, and that thought destabilized and confused Bambi a lot because, why couldn’t stop thinking about him?
Why now?
“Oops,” Ayalon continued, his voice coldly calm, eyeing Bambi up and down. “I meant to say prince, but what difference does it make, right? The royalty in you has always been delicate.”
Rasha and the other deer laughed on either side of Ayalon. Bambi’s ears twitched from those laughs. It was a sound that made his heart contract and continue to contract. He didn’t like it.
“What do you want?”
Bambi should have left there, ignored them and continued on his way, but his legs were stuck in the ground. He thought that he had already gotten over the bullying. Bambi, about to be the Prince of the forest, should have gotten over what the threats made him feel.
The tone of Ayalon’s voice was definitely a threat.
“We were thinking, Bambi.” Ayalon frowned, the smirk forming on his crooked snout. “How would you show your worth as a prince… How would you defend yourself from an attack by hounds.”
It was too fast.
Bambi didn’t see it coming—Ayalon jerked his head towards Rasha and the deer charged like a bolt of lightning. The hit knocked all the air out of Bambi’s lungs.
Rasha’s antlers embedded in the tender flesh of Bambi’s thigh, so fiercely and roughly that pierced the fur instantly, tearing skin and muscle.
The onslaught threw Bambi against the trunk of the tree behind him. The hit left him breathless again, and Rasha’s antlers continued to push him against the wood without moving away—pinning him to the spot, immobilizing him. Rasha laughed hoarsely, growling while Bambi resisted as best he could and ignored the laughter of the other deer, so loud and cruel that the adrenaline surged. Bambi’s heart hammered and pumped constantly in a blind panic, frantically moving his legs and body to push Rasha away, to push away the pain and groans coming from his mouth.
Pain, pain, pain, pain.
His attempts to fight did not stop. His panic led him to beg. Someone. Someone.
Ronno. Ronno. Ronno. Ronno.
Ronno.
Bambi’s eyes snapped shut as he felt them grow wet, gasping to control his breathing, gasping to calm his heart, to fight. But Rasha made a movement with his head so sudden that he drew a piercing bellow from Bambi, from deep in his throat. That bellow echoed through the trees, finally released from within.
The birds in the treetops took flight.
“Enough.” Ayalon snapped, hiding the amusement in his tone as he watched. “Let’s go.”
Rasha walked away too quickly, and all Bambi could hear was a wet sound before he hit the ground hard. The sound of hooves faded away, but the pain continued, the tears continued.
Bambi groaned hoarsely and opened his eyes, afraid to look. Still, he saw it. He saw the blood on his thigh, staining all over his soft fur. He felt that leg numb, hurt, and continued crying, this time in silence. Bambi hiccupped and sniffled, returning the shudder to his body.
He didn’t know why. He didn’t know why he wasn’t completely over it.
The only thing Bambi did know, from the depths of his heart and soul, from the realization of his mind, was that he had been calling for Ronno. A soul that was torn apart and desperately asked for help from the only deer that had helped him overcome it over time.
Ronno kept staring. Waiting.
Waiting for any hint of Bambi’s attention on him, from across the edge of the forest.
But no matter how hard he looked, no matter how hard he waited, Bambi never looked back at him. Not even once. Not a grimace, not an attempt at a grin in his direction. Nothing.
He didn’t see Bambi yesterday, and today…
Ronno had been waiting for the moment when he would see Bambi for their routine of little grimaces and teasing between the two, a routine that had calmed the aura in Ronno. He supposed that Bambi, after all that time, also appreciated those moments of little malice, from the way he always returned small insults—from the way he sometimes laughed when Ronno returned a grimace.
They weren’t friends. But they weren’t enemies either.
They bothered each other to be able to bear each other little by little.
Despite not being stared back, Ronno was no longer looking at Bambi to annoy him. Now Ronno was looking at him curiously, all of him, because something was seeming very strange—Bambi seemed more nervous than normal, even about something as mundane as feeding on the grass around the forest.
Bambi looked almost everywhere, restless, continuing to hide his head and turn it towards his left thigh. Was him that nervous about grooming in the middle of nature? Ronno took a look around and saw some deer coming out into the meadow, small animals and little else. Nothing to get nervous about. Nothing Bambi hadn’t done before.
Ronno started walking towards Bambi, and was only a meter away from him when Bambi’s flinch caused Ronno to snort in surprise at having caught him off guard. Bambi looked at him with wide eyes and was quick to position himself at an angle that was not very normal for him.
Ronno became even more curious. Bambi was hiding something.
“What’s wrong?” Ronno asked, smirking a little. He used the asshole side of him for those moments—he puffed out his chest in a small mockery and wagged his tail, but even that didn’t make Bambi roll his eyes. No reaction. “Am I imposing enough for you to jump like that?”
Bambi stared at him then, and Ronno noticed how Bambi’s chest rose and fell unevenly. Slow, but irregular.
“I’m not… I’m not in the mood for you, Ronno.” Was all Bambi told him. His voice was a muffled mix of annoyance and pleading, ears lowering and rising.
Ronno wondered about that plea. He realized it right away. Something was wrong. Something was wrong with Bambi. It wasn’t normal for him to act like that.
Bambi suddenly hissed through clenched teeth and turned his head back toward his thigh, breaking eye contact. That time Ronno saw what he was doing—Bambi was licking himself with a little eagerness. But he also saw what he was licking.
Ronno’s breathing stopped for a few seconds.
A wound.
He saw it red. He saw it swollen. He saw it bad.
A single glance was enough to act.
Ronno completely got rid of his smirk, his posture, and his voice came out more serious, harsher than expected when he asked Bambi, “Who did that to you?”
Bambi was reluctant to turn his head, but he did it anyway… perhaps because of Ronno’s unexpected tone, perhaps because of the tense change in the atmosphere between them, but Ronno was grateful that Bambi finally looked him in the eye again. Ronno wanted an explanation. He wanted to know who had touched him. Who had done that damage to him.
Bambi blinked at him, opening and closing his mouth, so Ronno made the decision to continue. His expression fell in the process.
“Before you tell me a lie, Bambi.” Ronno tried to calm the anger that was beginning to bubble inside him. He tried to keep his voice from sounding so serious. His attempts were in vain as Ronno’s gaze fell on that exposed wound. “I’m not an idiot. I know wounds made by antlers when I see them. I repeat it to you again: who did that to you?”
Bambi’s eyes glistened, watery, tilting his ears back. Ronno hated that sight. He now hated it. A lot.
Bambi then looked away to the side, and his body went completely still. Ronno saw the exact moment when Bambi’s chest began to rise and fall in the same irregular way as before, faster this time.
It was like the beginning of a panic attack.
Ronno turned his head to that direction and saw them.
Three deer approaching them with a petulant aura. Ronno felt disgust just looking at them. He knew who they were. An involuntary growl almost came from Ronno.
“Oh… look.” The deer in the middle spoke when they reached Ronno and Bambi, smirking, “Has the princess already found her prince?”
Ronno saw out of the corner of his eye how Bambi shuddered and tried to move away, the latter without any success. Bambi had remained completely rooted to the ground. Ronno couldn’t resist his impulse to get in front of Bambi, without moving away from him, and that movement did not go unnoticed by Ayalon.
Who did those bastards think they were? How dare they.
Ronno quickly put on his asshole mask and smirked, too, “Wow, Ayalon, how original you are.”
He remembered a time when he too had been that stupid and original. But not anymore.
Ayalon frowned. Rasha and Vellon looked at him in confusion. It was gratifying for Ronno to get that reaction out of them.
Ronno positioned himself better, hiding Bambi behind him, “Did you miss something, guys?”
“And who are you?” It was Vellon who snapped at Ronno, looking over Ronno’s back at Bambi.
Ronno moved a front leg, his body blocking Vellon’s gaze with Bambi’s. He always kept Bambi behind him. He wanted to keep his distance from the group of deer.
Vellon blinked as Ronno blocked his view with ease.
Don’t you dare look at him.
“Can you…” Bambi said quietly to the group, and Ronno felt him shuddering one time, felt him limp as he tried to move, even though they weren’t touching. Ronno didn’t dare look at Bambi. He didn’t dare look away from Ayalon and his morons. “Can you leave it now? I haven’t done anything to you.”
Ronno’s chest warmed when he saw the amused sparkle in Ayalon’s eyes as soon as Bambi spoke. Flames formed as an unpleasant smile appeared on Ayalon’s snout.
Ayalon didn’t take his eyes off Ronno as he addressed Bambi, “We want to see if you still have the hang of… hounds, of course.”
Ronno’s anger boiled, his breathing hitching as a sharp nod of Ayalon caused Rasha to charge forward, straight at Bambi.
The world stopped. The sounds of nature were suddenly silenced.
And the fire inside Ronno was overwhelming. That feeling of protecting Bambi was overwhelming.
Everything happened too quickly.
Before Rasha managed to approach Bambi with his antlers at the ready, Ronno’s antlers were already stuck in Rasha’s neck, roughly pushing him away from him. Ronno growled, a raw, guttural sound from his throat, as he felt Rasha’s breath go out of him as he fell to the grass away from them.
Ronno exhaled slowly through his snout, turning his head sharply toward the other two deer, and back to Rasha. The bastard remained lying on the grass, groaning in pain from the wound.
“Don’t you dare touch him!” Ronno growled with all his might, settling his robust front legs on the ground.
Ronno positioned himself again in front of Bambi as a shield, as a barrier. He couldn’t stop hearing Bambi’s erratic breathing, in a panic that Ronno wanted to forget. He never wanted to see or hear such a vulnerable Bambi again.
Until that moment he didn’t realize how angry he was. Only Ronno got under Bambi’s skin, only Ronno made him exasperated, only Ronno touched him.
Only him.
Ronno gasped as he glared at Ayalon, who was the most fucking brave of the three to face him head on. Ronno and Ayalon clashed antlers sharply as Ayalon charged, moving earth and air with the force of their hooves. Ronno growled and pushed Ayalon with all his strength, making him retreat and, without Ayalon expecting it, making him fall hard onto the ground.
DO NOT YOU DARE.
Ayalon bellowed and Ronno felt the tender flesh of Ayalon’s side being torn by his antlers, not as deep as Ronno would have liked, but enough to leave a scar. To leave a warning.
Don’t you dare touch Bambi again.
Ayalon and Rasha, on the ground, stared wide-eyed at Ronno. They looked at a deer that was willing to do anything to never see that look of Bambi again. To never see that heartbreaking expression again. That broken soul.
A single fiery glare at Vellon made him flee. The three fled without anything else to say, groaning, running and running towards the meadow.
Ronno let out a shaky breath, slowly lowering his ears until he heard movement behind him. The adrenaline dissipated slowly.
Bambi.
“Ronno…” Bambi whispered, limping slowly towards him. “Ronno, you…”
Bambi squeezed his eyes shut and Ronno moved immediately, approaching Bambi without touching him.
“Are you alright?”
Bambi lowered his head without saying anything and Ronno positioned his head beneath his, urging Bambi to lift it. With that gentle movement, Ronno began to guide Bambi deeper into the forest, but they didn’t get very far when Bambi’s legs gave way.
They both lay down in the grass, and Bambi hissed, bringing his tongue quickly to the wound. Ronno also stopped that action with his head, making Bambi groan in need to soothe his wound, even though his push against Ronno’s head lacked strength. He seemed tired.
“Let me see it.” Ronno said quietly, the anger inside him already calming.
When he felt Bambi give up and stare at him with pain in his eyes, Ronno inspected the wound. It didn’t look very good, but it wasn’t serious either. There was no blood, not anymore, but the redness was still there, swollen. Bambi’s fur on his thigh was a mess. It would be healed in several days. Ronno would make it happen.
Those deer, miserable, damned. They deserved worse for what they did to Bambi.
They deserved to be attacked by the hounds they talked so much about.
They deserved—
“Ronno.” Bambi whined, impatient.
Ronno locked eyes with Bambi. He had gone through that pain alone. Ronno would make sure it didn’t happen again. He wanted to ask permission. Ronno’d never done anything like that with him, but he saw the pleading in Bambi’s expression once again and Ronno had to ask him.
“May I?”
“Please.” Bambi breathed, pain in his voice.
Ronno leaned down and ran his tongue over the wound, slowly. He heard Bambi hiss loudly and saw out of the corner of his eye the prince’s head tilt back slightly, resting against a mossy stone.
Ronno didn’t stop licking the wound, noticing the small spasms of Bambi’s leg in the process.
It could have been an eternity before Bambi broke the silence, holding his breath every now and then.
“I wasn’t going to lie to you.” Bambi whispered, looking at nothing and no one in particular. Ronno ran his tongue along the edge of Bambi’s wound, calming him as he listened, “When Rasha pinned me against the tree… I-I called out to you. I thought about you.”
Ronno took a deep breath and looked at Bambi, licking the wound again from time to time, gently. Losing contact made Bambi hiss. Ronno didn’t want to cause him more pain.
He found that Bambi was already staring at him when he continued, “I asked for your help. I thought of you because… you make everything… bearable. Somehow… you make our meetings and our relationship not distanced—let nothing break, despite everything we have been through. We are… striving to have a better relationship… right?”
Bambi looked at him as if he wanted confirmation, and Ronno gave it to him. He nodded.
“I asked for your help and today… you came.” Bambi formed the first soft smile of that day, lighting up his features as it always did. “You saved me. Thank you.”
Ronno felt his heart skip a beat, stopping his action. He knew Bambi tried to hold back the hiss, because now instead of a hot tongue on his wound, it was a breeze that brushed past and replaced it.
Ronno shook his head, hiding a smile.
“I am glad that at least your pleas have been heard. But I’m so sorry I wasn’t there, with you, when it happened.” Then Ronno stared at the wound, frowning and pursing his lips. “Never again. They will never dare to touch you again. Not while I’m by your side. Never again.”
It was a promise.
Ronno felt Bambi’s entire body relax, and Bambi sighed as Ronno resumed his task of licking him.
What Ronno didn’t expect was a tongue gently licking the side of his snout, and then a caress from Bambi against his head. It was such a tender action, full of exhaustion, that Ronno forgot to breathe, but he soon reciprocated in the same way. Ronno sighed in relief.
Never again.
It was a promise.