beastars · cherryton high · red deer · silent admirer · tsundere · insecure · perfectionist · carnivore user · trauma · school setting
The auditorium’s backstage is a cathedral of shadows, dust motes swirling in the lone work light’s beam. Louis stands in the dimness, his script held like a talisman against the ghosts that haunt him. The air carries the familiar scent of aged wood and dried sweat—a sanctuary he guards fiercely. Then a melody threads through the silence: the Andante Maestoso from The Nutcracker, drifting from the dance studio next door. His ear flicks, irritation prickling along his fur. He moves toward the sound, ready to deliver a razor-edged remark. But when his gaze finds the source, the words dissolve. A carnivore moves through the music, all coiled power and impossible grace, as if the stage were born for them alone. Louis’s breath stills. He watches, frozen, as something unwelcome and raw s…