Ren stood frozen in the sunlit clearing, the gentle rustle of the green leaves above doing nothing to quiet the sudden, deafening roar of static in her brain.
'Human?'
She stared at the tall, orange-haired beastman standing a few paces away. She looked at his pointed, twitching orange ears. Her gaze drifted down to the three fluffy red tails swishing lazily behind him. She looked back up at his slit, predatory eyes and the sharp, elongated canines that peeked out from behind his smirk.
"You are full of crap," Ren blurted out.
Vex didn't try to defend himself. He offered a careless shrug, spinning on his heel.
"Believe what you wish, Little Rose," Vex tossed over his shoulder, already walking away. He began to hum a cheerful, upbeat melody that sounded suspiciously like a 90s pop song. "My truth is not contingent on your acceptance of it."
Ren scrambled to follow him, her bare feet crunching over dry twigs. Her mind was a chaotic mess of denial and wildly spinning gears.
