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The same number of toes. The same ten fingers. The same body heat, felt between breaths of unequal body heat.
Intern was on top of Agent, his hands pinning the other down. “You’re so adorable,” he breathed, staring down at Agent’s face. They were wearing each other's clothes.
“You always say that..” Agent said, looking away. Well, of course. You’re someone I could crush in an instant, if I felt like it.
—-------------
Young Intern was clutching his mother's body, crying and shaking. A pile of blood formed around them.
“Oh no, it looks like they were eaten by accident. What a shame… I guess they were a friend. Judging from the size difference, they may have been the provider,” Dr. Harlow had said. Intern still remembered the lack of emotion in the doctor's voice, as if he didn’t care at all. Maybe he didn’t. They were just anomalies, after all.
“How small and pitiful. Are you crying because a relative died? Would you like to come with us? I wonder if you like water?” They spoke to him as if he didn’t have a choice in the matter. Like it was already decided. And they were right. What other choice would he have had in that situation? The alternative options would have been to be on the streets and starve, or perhaps some lucky individual would’ve just shot him to end his suffering.
—-------------
“Oh my, look at him eat! Our sweet Intern… so small and precious!” They had given him a dead animal to eat, observing him like a lab experiment. Perhaps he was.
“I hope you like it here. I’ll take good care of you, my sweet anomaly,” someone said, as they strapped him to a chair and inserted all kinds of IVs and wires into him. He felt his eyes flutter. He didn’t want to be here.
—-------------
“Our sweet, adorable Intern!” Was the first thing he heard when he woke up. He had no idea what they were talking about, but he felt happy. His memories of the past felt fuzzy. How lucky he was! He was so loved by Dr. Harlow.
“Careful at the touch, so he doesn’t burst,”
“So adorable!”
“How precious!”
He noticed many pairs of eyes on him. To be loved this much and be able to live together, it was all he wanted…
“Look at him eating that patient, so fascinating!” Whenever he heard Dr. Harlow’s quiet cries, he felt a sense of relief. As if he’d been given permission to life. He wanted to live a little longer, so please… keep loving him.
—-------------
Intern had managed to sneak out. He wanted to taste real food, not just flesh and blood. He lost count of how long ago he’d been living at the hospital- lost count how long ago he’d last eaten something that wasn’t living. He found a piece of bread in the trash, probably discarded there by one of the nurses. He took a big bite out of it; it tasted better than anything he’d ever had.
“Oh, how cute. But that’s not food!” The doctor’s voice startled him, and he almost dropped the bread. It felt silly, but he didn’t want to go back to his old diet. He wanted to eat like the patients, not like an anomaly.
“I said that’s not food. Are you bored?” He felt his eyes water, and fresh tears poured down his face. Please, let him have this one thing. He’d face the consequences later.
“Raising a child isn’t easy, huh,”
“How about you buy him a TV?” No, no, no, no. He didn’t want a TV. He wanted this.
“Let’s try snatching it away from him,”
“Aw, I think he’s crying. Too adorable,”
Intern felt his caregiver's hands tighten around his wrists. He tried to yank away, but the doctor was stronger. He saw the other lift his hand, and then he felt a sharp pain on his cheek. His body fell to the floor.
“Oh, oops. He fainted. Maybe I slapped him with too much force,” was the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness.
—-------------
He was back in his glass room. He had a TV this time.
Nothingness bliss was the best way to describe it. The years passed, just him and the device in front of him. He observed the cameras, learning how to act like a true animal. He was determined to perfect it. If he acted like one, maybe he could feel like one too.
He saw how ruthlessly other anomalies were murdered, and wondered why he hadn’t met the same fate.
—-------------
“Do you even know what that place is?”
“Is he throwing a tantrum right now? How cute!”
“I think he’s holding his breath,”
“Intern wants to so badly; just let him go take care of the patients,”
“Don’t you feel bad for him?”
He made it. He was finally an official employee at the Animal Hospital.
—-------------
He just felt like he’d be at peace, being in a place where he wasn’t the one being crushed, but a place where he could crush someone.
He was back in the present; he had let his mind drift off. He stared at Agent beneath him, looking at him with a curious expression. He wasn’t sure what about the black cat had been so interesting to Intern. Maybe it was his sleek black fur, or the way his eyes narrowed when he knew Intern was lying.
“I just find you so adorable,” he whispered, kissing Agents hand. He rubbed his face against the other's hand. He didn’t know how to be intimate, but he wanted to be as close to Agent as possible.