A few weeks passed and Adrian's speech evolved with bounds and leaps. It was almost eerie how quickly the boy made connections to words and items, what things meant and how to use certain phrases.

There were even times where Adrian had surprised his teachers, having picked up words from listening to others, guessing the correct context and was able to copy the right use.

While his speech wasn't grammatically correct at times, he was at least able to communicate in limited ways.

Adrian let his nostrils flare, head dropping on his folded arms while ignoring the monotone drone of the teacher in the front of the room. The class.

He had thought that learning how to speak would satisfy these adults, being able to converse with him. But now they wanted him to deal with stuff like numbers and fishology...philosophy?

He shook his head, nuzzling against his skin before he huffed. Adrian could understand why he needed to learn about basic biology, how his body and other ferals' bodies functioned.

But why did he need to learn how much four times three was? Adrian was smart enough to know how many siblings he had, that he had two parents but he didn't count beyond ten.

Beyond ten was much. Well, depending on the situation. Adrian smirked lazily against his skin. Ten mice compared to ten cougars to eat? Quite a difference.

"Adrian? Could you give the answer to four times five?" The female rhinoceros asked, peering down her glasses at the Feral.

He snorted, feeling the entire class shrink back as he straightened his spine and yawned. Five was one hand...but she didn't ask five...

Flexing his fingers, Adrian looked up in absolute boredom. "Four hands."

A few teenagers snickered in the back while the teacher let out a frustrated sigh. "Yes, you are correct, four hands. But how much is that?"

Adrian shrugged, muttering, "Four hands." before he rested his chin on his arms once more, looking out the window.

Several other kids raised a finger, making Adrian snort at the odd gesture. He still didn't understand why the hell they needed to poke the air for a while until the teacher called their name...

"Yes, Ashley?"

Adrian blinked an eye in the blonde's direction, nostrils flaring to catch and analyze her scent. Amber eyes were partially lidded, lips moving without sound as she counted to herself before hesitating... "Two and zero....uhm....T...twenty?"

Two hands and no hands doesn't make four hands....

Adrian's mind reeled with confusion when their teacher nodded, giving the Serval cat a brilliant smile as she chalked the answer on the board.

Adrian eyed the scribbles on the board tiredly, not seeing any difference between letters or numbers. To him, it looked like the same undefined scribbles that resembled sound.

He was getting annoyed and frustrated by all these nonsense rules. An o was also a zero but not always, just in certain moments? He didn't even understand why he needed to count beyond ten, why they were trying to teach them stuff like history.

Stretching, a low rumble vibrated through his chest and rattling everything on his desk. Several worried squeaks resounded through the room as Adrian simply nuzzled against his skin, wishing he could shift and preen his feathers.

Perhaps even enjoy a sand bath before allowing himself to bask in the sun.

Anything was better than this annoying math.

"Uhm..." Adrian flicked an eye open, surprised that the young Serval had managed the courage to speak to him. He could tell from the tufts of fur in her neck that she was anything but calm.

Still, the amount of courage coming from the small feline made Adrian feel more respect for the tiny carnivore than most bigger ones.

"I, uh... I had a lot of issues with math too. But, I learned this little...trick." She fell quiet, making a halfhearted motion with her hands. Fingers splayed out and wiggling for a moment before stilling.

Licking his lips, Adrian didn't even bother lifting his head from his arms. "Trick?" The girl squeaked at his scratchy voice, eying Adrian's fingers as they tapped a lazy pattern on the table.

"Oh, ah, yes!" Ashley scooted her chair a little closer, showing her dainty hands. "How far can you count?"

Adrian huffed, tongue flicking over his teeth as he thought about the correct word for a moment. "Ten... two hands."

"Oh good, this'll make things easier." Ashley smiled, lowering her voice as the teacher gave the pair a look but didn't prevent them from talking.

"So, all the fingers on both your hands is ten. That's written down like this." Ashely quickly scribbled something down, showing Adrian the one and zero before she continued.

"But, you can count more than that. If you count your fingers again, they replace that zero behind the one..."

Adrian watched and listened as Ashley proceeded to explain her trick. Count both your hands once, it's ten. But count them twice, and you remove the one and instead place a two there to form twenty.

It made more sense to Adrian, as that allowed him to put more logic, and less effort, into this math issue.

"Do you...I mean, I can write it down for you...to help you...remember..." Ashley murmured when Adrian didn't make any motion to do so. Looking at the Serval, Adrian smiled slowly, tapping a finger against his forehead.

"Remember here."

Ashley nodded hesitantly, her eyes showing that she wanted to believe him but wasn't really certain. Adrian didn't mind, had seen the same expression on several of the adults' faces throughout the past few weeks.

A mix of awe and fear that bloomed in their eyes whenever his mind easily made connections. How quickly he was able to memorize complex concepts.

He was a predator that relayed on his sight and problem solving skills. His mind needed to be fast enough to react in a split second, to calculate if he was outnumbered and to get him out of tricky situations.

His stomach gurgled audibly, making Ashley jolt slightly as Adrian sat up and glanced outside. He was getting increasingly more frustrated, being forced to stay in these classes until the teacher let them out, learning new, useless things...

And his annoyance only grew when a wave of putrid fear spread quickly through the room. The thick musk only grew in power as his stomach protested louder.

"I think you've reached your limit for today, Adrian. Why don't you go to the dining area and get some food?" Adrian pushed off the chair as soon as he got the confirmation, shouldering past the door.

He huffed, catching several students eying him worriedly and giving him a wide berth in the hallway. Hell, even several of the teachers coming down the corridor suddenly found a good excuse to turn tails.

It made Adrian chuckle slightly, fingers tapping against the pockets of his pants. His stomach complained noisily as soon as he walked outside, nostrils flaring to catch the scents coming from the dining hall.

"Hungry, huh?" Adrian blinked at the sudden voice, turning and letting out a low thrum in his throat when Darius grinned at him. The man gave him a lazy wave as he approached, matching Adrian's pace.

"I could do with some food myself." Darius grinned while patting his stomach, tilting his nose to the wind to catch the scent of the cooked meals awaiting them.

"How was school?" Adrian snorted, his shift showing its annoyance through the animalistic sound before he scratched at his jaw.

Rolling his shoulders, the man huffed out a short "Pointless.", resulting in a surprised bark of laughter from Darius. Adrian didn't quite see what was so funny about it though.

Yes, it was useful to learn how to speak, but he already understood these people. He didn't feel the need to speak to them.

Especially when they started their attempts of teaching him math, history and other useless subjects.

The only subject Adrian had taken an interest to, was biology. Learning more of his prey and enemies would give him advantage in battle, would keep him safe.

"It's ironic how all carnivores find school pointless while the herbivores are totally fine with it." Darius snickered, moving aside to allow the small group of gazelle shifters to dart around them.

Adrian's eyes followed the group before he huffed. "They are...social... animals." He hesitated over the word, not having used it much and only heard it from teachers, so he was hoping he was using it in the right context.

He had overheard the teacher saying it to one of the smaller herbivores, a rabbit shifter. Telling her to try and be a little more social, as there were strength in numbers that would help her feel better.

Darius proud look made Adrian shiver with glee, appreciating the recognition he got instead of the scorn and anger he was used from his sibling.

"It's a very plausible reason why they take to school life so much. Learning the language, learning any new attribute can give them an edge in life. Plus, they're more likely to fit in with the humans."

At that, Adrian shook his head with a low sound of disgust rumbling through his chest. Every interaction he had with humans had been bad, most things he had seen from them, hadn't quite attracted Adrian to live with them.

Why would he want to live with creatures that had shot at him? It just didn't make any sense.

Darius chuckled, giving Adrian a friendly pat on the shoulder as they reached the doors leading into the dining hall. "Not all of them are bad." He shouldered past the doors, holding them for Adrian to move through. "Some of them just..."

"Stink." Adrian finished with a curled nose, remembering all too well the scent that had clung to his nostrils from the jacket that had been draped over him. For several hours, the scent of cigarettes had lingered and had forced him to snort several times to clear his nostrils.

The Utah raptor gave him a questioning look, making Adrian go through his limited vocabulary to explain. "Fire smoke but worse. Cl...clings to skin? Is....thick....strong." He produced a set of deep thrills from within his chest, conveying his utter disgust for the scent.

"Ah." Darius nodded with understanding, "Cigarette smoke. Humans tend to smoke it for whatever reason. It's a small stick pressed between their lips, the end glowing?" He stated questioningly, probably wondering if Adrian had ever seen something like that in the past.

Adrian instantly nodded, remembering several occasions where he had observed the humans in the cover of the darkness.

It had always stumped him to see their faces in a soft glow when they created a small fire within their hands. Only to leave a slight smolder on that weird stick pressed firmly between their lips.

"Humans are... weird..." Adrian muttered, shaking his head. He never understood why the hunters were smoking those sticks before or during the hunt.

Prey animals thrived by using their senses. They tended to have excellent senses of smell and that pungent stench of cigarette smoke would easily alert any prey.

"I mean, everyone is weird in their own way." Darius mumbled, casting a look around the room before pausing on the familiar set of fox kits.

They had drawn Adrian's attention too, who gave them a sideways glance before heading towards the cooks. He simply followed his nose to whatever smelled the best, the cooks grinning as they eagerly offered their dishes.

During the past few weeks, they had taken great joy in letting Adrian sample from their cooking. They saw him as an interesting challenge to their skills and at the same time, wanted to test the boy's palate.

While he still outright refused any vegetarian dishes, Adrian had slowly grown accustomed to some vegetables in the cooked meals.

Darius followed his lead, taking multiple dishes on his tray before guiding Adrian to one of the tables further away from the eating kits.

"The hyena clan will be here in a few minutes." Darius announced to the caretakers, making them nod and urgently draw the kits focus back in the remainder of their meals.

Hyenas were notorious for going after the young and weak animals. While most of the clan had excellent self-control, everyone know that accidents lurked in small corners.

And nobody wanted to take a chance if the accident was highly likely to result in death.

The fox kits barely finished their meal before they were gently picked up and, at audible protest from the toddlers, desserts were taken along with the caretakers.

Meanwhile Adrian was sipping from the warm beef broth, finding the warm sensation of the ceramic bowl against his fingers rather pleasant.

He inhaled the fragrant scent of the broth, glad that it wasn't too hot to burn his mouth. Adrian had learned his lesson after the lasagna, had learned to test the heat of the food first before just shoveling it down his gullet.

But to be fair, he couldn't quite be blamed. Where would Adrian ever encounter that hot a meal in the wilds? All his meals had been, quite literally, at body temperature.

"Oh, I'll warn you now." Darius chuckled as Adrian reached for his spoon to start the main meal. "You've never encountered spicy foods before and the cooks make it as mild as possible but still..."

Adrian frowned, giving the orange sauce a hesitant poke with his spoon before lapping at the stained utensil. His tongue instantly tingled oddly, a slight burn that spread to his lips and throat but didn't grow unbearable.

He snorted at the odd sensation, licking over his tingling lips before eying Darius as the man grabbed a spoonful of the rice and chicken curry and plopped it in his mouth without a care.

Adrian hesitantly followed his example, enjoying the taste even if his nostrils flared from all the different spices that were used.

It tickled his throat and tongue, making his nose oddly runny as if he was sick. Adrian sniffed, reaching up to wipe at his nose before stilling when Darius had snatched his wrist.

A low warning growl rumbled through his chest as he glared at the man holding him. "Sorry, it's just, you really don't want any of those spices smudged in your nose or worse, your eyes."

Following Darius' look, Adrian spotted the few droplets of sauce that had splattered over his hands when he had spilled some of his food back in the bowl.

Letting his gaze wander back up, Adrian's growls only stilled when Darius finally released him. "Personal...know?"

Darius understood what the question was, even if Adrian struggled to find correct words, intending to ask if perhaps Darius spoke of personal experience.

"You could say so." Darius snickered, eying Zev further down the table, to which the honey badger rattled in annoyance.

Adrian cast a questioning look at the pair, especially when Zev's rattled only grew until the man bared his teeth.

"Go on, tell him then. I had helped the kitchen once day cleaning chili peppers and forgot to wash my hands before needing to take a piss." Zev growled, rubbing his hands over his face as Darius snickered.

"Hey, it's a tale that has been a good reminder for anyone." Darius smiled while Adrian blinked before realizing that the mild burn he felt on his lips would be unimaginably worse in such a sensitive space.

Especially so in human skin.

He cringed at the thought, making a mental reminder to wash his hands thoroughly before using the restrooms. He was still getting used to being a human; the last thing he wanted to experience was the pain of burning chili.

People are... weird.