Anthro sat by himself in a dim hallway, staring at the window as he looked outside at the heavy rain. He could hear the sound of faint thunder; a storm was occurring... He’d sigh, dropping his head and staring down at the carpet placed in front of his chair. He hated heavy thunderstorms, but that wasn’t why he was currently anxious. Something else had been bothering him for quite some time, and he knew that just hoping it would pass off as some intrusive thought wouldn’t help. He needed to talk about it.

Despite being so deep in his thoughts, he was able to hear the sound of footsteps approaching. One of his ears would perk up, before it’d twitch, deciphering which clan mate it could be. It wasn’t heavy steps, and it’s sound was comparable to his own, so it only left one individual it could be.

Jinu, another feline, which actually calmed him down somewhat since he knew he wasn’t completely alone here.

Anthro would turn in his chair, staring into the darkness, watching as Jinu would slowly be visible to his sight. He looked as bored as usual, fixing the glasses on his face as he’d glance over at Anthro.

“Yo.” Jinu said, nodding his head slightly as he’d walk by Anthro.

“Hey..” Anthro responded in kind, staring at the back of Jinu as he’d taken in a deep breath, before asking. “Hey, can we talk about something really quick? If you don’t…mind of course…”

Jinu would pause, stopping and turning around as he’d shrug. “Sure.” And promptly walked back over to Anthro, sitting down on the chair directly next to his. Anthro was just happy he got through the sentence without stuttering, though that small pause was noticeable to him.

“...” Anthro would shift in his seat, thinking about what he was going to say before just grumbling something to himself, most likely to just get it over with. “I’ll be honest with you, I’m conflicted on being here after watching the previous clan I was in basically be killed without merit, especially since the leader of this one is…the one who did it.”

Jinu’s normal expression of being uninterested and flat wouldn’t change, however, he would nod. “I can understand that, though all five of us currently here were in that clan.”

“I know that.” Anthro gave a heavy sigh, gripping the fur on top of his head in a slightly stressed manner before releasing it. “But, I was there close to the beginning. I don’t believe I was the first to have joined that clan, but I do remember I had joined 14 days after it was created, so I was close. We didn’t even get a page set up until October, and that was Takyon who did it…who isn’t here with me now.”

“Close friend?” Jinu asked, simply presuming. Anthro would nod.

“I suppose so. I was just getting back into the swing of things after being away for 9 years. Takyon was coming back after 3 years himself. We joined like three different clans together back then when we first met. It was honestly pretty fun, and now I’ve come to realize just how short that time-frame really was. It honestly felt longer, but it was only a month.”

“I assume you want Takyon to be invited? Because if so, I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t be a problem.”

“No no! It’s not like that, I mean.. If he did join I wouldn’t be complaining, but that’s not what I mean. I’ve been conflicted this entire time if I should really stay under someone who took my clan away.”

“I see. I was only there nearing the end, but haven’t you asked Toga? Wasn’t she the main reason it even stayed afloat during the early days?”

“I did ask….she said she didn't have much of an opinion.”

“I see…” Jinu found himself repeating, giving a tiny nod as he’d blankly glance down at the carpet. He had a small grasp on what Anthro was feeling right now, and he wasn’t even one to be good at cheering up others. “Well, if you’d like my suggestion. If you want to leave and go back, who’s to stop you?”

That would prompt another small sigh from Anthro. “Nothing…But, I know the only reason Styles of Madness was able to grow was because Thou Styles made Toga a leader before going inactive. And now, with nobody else as a leader besides him, I doubt I’d be able to keep it afloat.”

Jinu would momentarily twist some of the fur on his chin as he listened to Antho, before coming up with a question. “Well, let’s say that Thou seemingly comes back for whatever reason and you manage to become the leader again. Would you leave and decide to keep Styles of Madness going?”

Anthro dropped his head, sighing heavily as he pondered. “I’m not sure…I mean, I left the clan under my free will to join this, but I didn’t think it would come at the expense of removing Styles of Madness off the face of the earth.”

“I’m not sure why you feel so strongly about it, you said it yourself you weren’t that active before.”

Anthro’s heart jumped as he froze, that sounded way too close, almost like the voice came from right above him. Looking upwards just to try and disprove his own thoughts, Anthro would shut his eyes, giving a hefty sigh when he realized he was right.

Incubus had shown up, or was here the entire time? Either way, Anthro knew they had listened to their entire conversation, and he always found Incubus to be so smug, always agreeing with whatever Succubus had to say.

Using black tendrils protruding from their backside, Incubus slowly lowered himself down from the ceiling with crossed arms. Leaning down, Incubus would place his hand under Anthro’s chin, lifting it up slightly with two fingers.

“Still worried about that old clan of yours huh?” Incubus said with a sly smirk, as Anthro slapped his hand away with a vexed expression.

“Of course, I am, why would I not be?”

Simply shrugging his shoulders, Incubus continued, “I still don’t know why you even are. You weren’t active for 75% of its lifespan.”

“Okay, so I wasn’t the most active in the clan. So what? I can still care that it was destroyed.”

“Enough.” A feminine, yet stern voice would announce, shutting the both of them up. Slowly walking through the hallway was Succubus, who’s eyes looked so tired it’s as if she was nearly dead. Even the heart glasses she was wearing didn’t hide it well. With her pointy tail slowly swinging back and forth, she stopped in front of the three.

“Anthro, if you feel that strongly about it, you are welcome to leave, nobody will stop you.” She said, her eyes then flicking to Incubus, who’d noticeably flinch after making eye contact... After hearing that, Anthro stared at the ground and thought about it. He had heard similar responses twice, yet it coming from Succubus directly made him think differently.

“Incubus, don’t patronize your own clanmates.” She stated, causing Incubus to nod apprehensively.

“Yes ma’am.” With his tendrils extending to the roof, Incubus would rise back up into the darkness. Jinu glanced up to watch him leave, as Succubus turned her attention to Jinu now.

“How are you doing Jinu.” She’d ask, just attempting to be nice as she had no reason to add any comment about his involvement in the previous situation.

“Chilling, was just helping Anthro out is all.” He said, looking over at Anthro, who still appeared to be thinking as he hadn’t looked up at them since Succubus had talked to him.

“Thanks.” She would lift her glasses up to rub her eyes momentarily, as she turned around and walked away. “I was just making sure nothing got out of hand.”

Watching her leave, Jinu leaned back in his chair as he let out a small sigh of relief, glad he didn’t have to do much as the situation mostly handled itself. Taking a peak at Anthro and noticing they still haven’t moved much, Jinu leaned over to pat them on the back before he stood up.

“Hey Jinu…” Anthro whispered, with his voice barely being audible. Jinu’s ear would twitch, signifying that he was able to pick up the sound.

“Yeah?”

“I think I’ll stay.”