Night has fallen on the old town only known as Capital. The streets are dead silent, as usual for this time of day. The skies are cloudy, preventing moonlight from lighting the way. Reckless scavengers out this late know better than to go about their business with a light source, as it would attract unwanted attention… Thankfully for Bryce and Selene, they are home and as safe as they can be in the abandoned apartment. The large female foxtaur is laying down in the living room of the luxurious suite, staring outside – or at her own reflection? – through the glass of the balcony double door. She's lost in her thoughts… It's been a week now that she's living in the same place as Bryce, the crow.  Stirring within her is a mix of confusion, doubt and anxiety. Her entire life, she's been deemed a monster because of how she looks and how little she could control herself. And yet, this little bird, a complete stranger, has shown her nothing but kindness. She wants to convince herself that he's mistaken or that maybe he has ulterior motives, like anyone else she's met. Despite this, her face looks serene, save for an imperceptible sadness in her eyes. She's always been good at hiding her emotions, after all. Bryce, on the other hand, is very good at reading them, so it's of no surprise when the white wingless corvid approaches her, held back by his social awkwardness, not sure how to even start.

    He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and approaches Selene, the girl that, last week, almost left him for dead in the streets after robbing him. He raises his dark talon-looking hand, and very delicately, places it on her long, thick fluffy tail. Selene feels it, but isn't used to receiving affection, and tenses up as a result. Bryce can see the end of her tail raising up, like a snake, to intimidate him. The tip opens up, revealing a toothless maw, drooling slightly, looking ready to lunge forward and snatch him. He takes a step back, and the tail relaxes.

“Oh, sorry," he says. “I didn't mean to spook you."
“I'm not 'spooked'," Selene answers, without diverting her gaze from the blackness of the night. “I'm just… Not used to it. It's my bad. Did… Did it scare you..?"
“Your tail?" he asks. “No, not really. It is intimidating, alright… But it's not attacking me or anything."
“Why are you so kind to me?" she asks him. “Ever since we've met, you've been nothing but friendly. I hurt you, and you lead me here, to your hideout, instead of… I don't know. Throwing rocks at me."
“I'm aware we barely know each other," he answers before sitting next to Selene. that towers over him. “But you came back, right? If you really were that bad, you wouldn't have done that. You'd have left me there, at the mercy of the other looters."
“I guess so…" she answers. “But why help me in the first place? You barely have enough food for yourself. You could have just ignored me."
“You didn't look like a gang member. And, truth be told, there's no chance you'd even become one either," he answers with a chuckle. “Misfits like us aren't given a chance. I was just trying to do a good did, you know? Helping another loner like myself."
“Misfits?" she answers, finally turning her head to look at him with wet eyes. “I know I'm a monster, I've lived with it my whole life. But you?"

    The crow raises one of his wingless arms and points at it with the other. A flightless anthropomorphized bird is an oddity here, but Selene wouldn't know. She's barely seen any of the world... For Bryce, however, this lack of wings is the source of a lot of problems, isolation being chief among them.

“I'm just lacking a few feathers, but that's enough for them," he answers with a sigh, before trying to sound reassuring. “And, please. You're not a monster."
“Stop," she answers dismisseively. “You have no idea what I've been through because of this… this… body. Whoever came up with this idea… That I should be afflicted with this freakish tail… I wish I had them in front of me right now, so I could show them what they've cursed me with."

    Bryce remains silent. He has no idea what Selene has been through, indeed. She's anything but a monster to him, however – then again, they've only only known each other for a week, during which Selene remained mostly silent, adapting to the situation… She seems to hold a lot of grudges against her unusual body, and especially her tail, but he doesn't press her for details, out of respect. Selene, however, is conflicted. Even moreso than before. Bryce has trusted her ever since they first met, even after she tried to rob him. Maybe… Just maybe… Things with him are going to turn out different than with her first friend. Maybe it's time she trusts him like he trusts her...

“I was twelve," she says as she goes back to staring into the distance. “Twelve years old. I was in my first year of middle school…"
“You went to school?" Bryce asks, surprised. “I… was never given that chance…"
“My owners were a rather normal family…" she answers. “They couldn't have a child, so they adopted me instead, tried to raise me like one. Or so I like to think, it's so hazy... Because they couldn't afford a proper anthro like you, they were instead offered me… The four legged creature nobody else wanted."

    He wants to comfort her, but decides not to. She would just dismiss him again, or so he believes.

“I'd made a friend. Her name was Sarah," she continues with a faint smile. “Unlike the other kids, she warmed up to me. I think it's because she couldn't make friends with anyone else. So, we just naturally became best friends," she says, remembering the good times they had together. “It made the bullying tolerable."
“They bullied you?" Bryce asks. “Why, because of your body? That's ridiculous. From them, I mean."
“Kids are cruel," she answers. “They don't even realize it. Back then, I did not know any better… But they started bullying Sarah instead of me, since I got used to it, and ignored their mockeries. But Sarah was fragile, and made for a much easier target."
“And the teachers didn't stop it?" the crow asks.
“Hmph. As if. I tried talking to them about it…" Selene says with a frown. “They told me it was all in my head, and that if Sarah has issues, then she had to come forward on her own."
“That sounds wrong," Bryce answers. “Sometimes, people are too scared to ask for help. I'd know…"

    Selene is trying her hardest not to cry. She sniffles once, twice, and regains her composure – barely. Her long serpentine tail moves to the front of her body, resting on her fore legs. It looks to Bryce as if it's trying to be forgiven for something… Has an inkling as to why, but he refuses to jump to conclusion until he's heard the whole story.

“Sarah, she…" she starts. “She didn't show up to class one afternoon. I asked the other kids, they wouldn't tell me, but one of them slipped and mentioned the gymnasium. I went there… During lunch break, they had cornered Sarah and threw stones and pebbles at her. They ruined her school supplies, ripped her notebooks apart, and wrote horrible stuff like 'monster fucker' and 'freak lover' all over them. She was still there… Crying. When I approached her… I hated seeing her like that… Helpless, afraid… I wanted to protect her. Keep her close, until she felt better…"

    She can't hold back her tears any longer. She starts to cry, and buries her face in her hands for minutes… Bryce closes his eyes, out of respect, remaining silent. He's been sheltered for his whole life, fantasizing about going to school and living a normal life. How delusional… Lab grown creatures like them would never fit in with the human population, right? Selene's story, if anything, confirms that to him. They're naught but pets to their owners. Eventually, Selene calms down…

“I was already blaming myself for it. If we never became friends… She… She'd never have been bullied. When I approached her… I don't know what took over me," she retells with difficulty. “My tail… it…" she continues, struggling to talk. “It opened up... The end of it. It split open like a maw. I didn't even know I could do that… And then… then…"

    She bursts into tears uncontrollably. She needs comfort, and bad. So Bryce does the only thing that feels logical to him, and leans against her lower torso, giving her a very big, sincere hug. Selene doesn't push him away.

“I couldn't stop it," she continues, welling with tears. “My tail ate Sarah whole. It felt… horribly wrong. I was horrified. Because, for some reason, I actually enjoyed it, whether I wanted to or not. There was just nothing I could do. One moment, she's crying and the next, my tail's devouring her…"

    She keeps crying for a while, feeling better than she thought she would, thanks to the crow showing kindness. Eventually, she feels good enough to continue.

“The teachers found us soon after," she says. “They quickly caught on to what was happening. I think… The janitor shot me with tranquilizer darts. They probably had an emergency protocol just for me…"
“That's messed up," Bryce answers.
“Can you blame them?" she asks. “My tail had just eaten a child my age and I was powerless to stop it. I'm just a monster… I was laying powerless on the ground. They got Sarah out safely. She was unharmed, just a little bit wet."
“That's… That's good, correct?" the crow says, after a moment.
“Heh… You wish…" she answers. “I could only mutter one sentence before fainting. 'Sarah, I'm sorry…' I told her. She started screaming, called me a monster... To get away from her, even though I couldn't move. She picked up a rock, one the kids had thrown at her prior, and threw it at me. It broke my glasses. All the other kids, that had followed their teacher attracted by the commotion, did the same thing. I fell unconscious, pelted by rocks, like some big ugly animal. The teachers did nothing to stop it. The kids started laughing, and everything went dark. The only good thing that came out of it is that they weren't bullying Sarah anymore…"
“I'm sorry…" he says, rubbing her side to help her feel better.

    Crying also seems to have helped her… When she finally stops, the crow is about to sit back down, but she stops him. His arms gently rubbing her fur… It gives her goosebumps, of the good kind. The attention she's getting is intoxicating, almost. Like she's receiving something she never knew she needed until now.

“Please, Bryce… keep going… It feels… so nice…" she says, almost pleading him.
“S-sure..!" he answers, flustered, resuming the rubs and scratches.
“When I awoke… I was in a cage, in the back of a truck. A single man dressed in red and black armor was overseeing me," she continues. “He had a rifle… A real one. Not tranquilizing darts. My owners were nowhere to be seen, but I knew I was on my way to being euthanized."
“That's extreme…" Bryce says. “Because of one slip up that nobody on earth could have foreseen?"
“I was broken, at this point. They could have put me to sleep forever, I wouldn't even have cared," she answers with a sigh. “In my eyes, I was a mistake and deserved it. But, they had other plans for me. These people… When the truck stopped, I could hear them chatting outside. A man wearing a clean white coat got in the truck and observed me from all angles, ticking boxes and writing in his notebook. Somehow, his attitude scared me. He seemed particularly interested in my abomination of a tail… I even heard him mutter 'Good, good…' when he noticed the maw on it. 'You're not as big of a fuck up as I thought', he said, with a satisfied expression, while I was growing terrified of his… manners. I mean, he was staring at me like a piece of meat, or at least that's what it felt like. I'm not sure what he meant, but they moved me to a different vehicle. Dragged me out of the truck, and use a cargo helicopter to fly me to a military base…"
“You were twelve…" Bryce says. “Who does that to a child..?"
 
    Selene stops. She doesn't want to continue her story, it's not really important right now, anyway.

“I told you I was a monster," she eventually says. “Nothing but a man eating freak."
“You… did it again?" he asks.
“No. This is the first and only time this ever happened," she answers. “Not that it matters. A single mistake that ruined my entire life."
“You want to know what I really, really think of all this?" he asks.

    Selene waits for a few seconds, before nodding. She's scared of his answer. That he'd just validate everything she thinks herself to be… If he did, she has no idea what she'd even do… But it wouldn't be good.

“I think you, and everyone else, are wrong," he answers.
“Pardon me..?" she says, with surprise and confusion.
“Did you ever make another friend like Sarah?" he asks.
“N-no…" she answers. “Never given the chance to. I was pretty much isolated after that. So she was my first and only friend until… Until we met."
“You want to know my thoughts? Here they are. You're misunderstood, Selene. Even by yourself. Don't you think it's a little strange that your tail's maw suddenly appeared and acted like this when you saw your friend crying after being bullied? And that it never happened again?"
“I… I don't know…" she answers. “I've never really considered it. I just assumed I could control it better..."
“I think… No, I'm sure of it. Your tail has no ill intent. You wanted to protect your friend and make her feel better, and your tail tried to make that happen, in a way that looked really bad out of context… But you even told me she was unharmed. Think about it! When I approached you earlier, your tail stood up to protect you, but it did not attack me. Heck, when we first met last week, you mistook me for a hooligan and your tail 'only' squeezed me breathless in self-defense. If your tail was really that horrible monster you believe it to be, I wouldn't be here anymore."
“That's… an interesting theory…" she answers, baffled. “I like it…"
“So, no. I've told you before and I'll tell you again," he says firmly. “You're not a monster."

    This time, Selene doesn't try to hush the white crow. She can feel tears mounting again… But these aren't tears of sadness. For the first time in her life, she's crying with happiness. Relief, that maybe she's not a horrible monster after all. And the thought that finally, after so much torment and self-doubt, she's found someone that understands her. With nothing to say, Selene gently hugs the precious little crow, and her tail, the instrument of her misery, carefully coils around him to keep him warm and safe.