"You can't use philosophy to stand against biology. Or else I'd be some lame professor somewhere. Trust me. It never works." He didn't want to sound weak. So he didn't continue with that storyline. Being a professor... well, it was a dead dream. He was a different reptile, now. "It's time for a wake-up call. Hey, Chip!" He drew the attention of the child. "What kind of rabbit are you?"

"Um, I dunno." The snake just smiled. It was innocent. It was sweet. It wasn't correct.

"Wrong. You can't claim to be something if you don't know what that something is." Tyrone corrected. He loomed over the child. Pressure usually snapped animals back to reality.

"Okay, I'm a jackrabbit!" The kid just smiled.

"Wrong. Not with white ears you're not."

"Oh um, okay. I'm a, a dutch bunny then. Oh, no, one of the color-changing ones. That's why my scales are blue." The kid didn't realize how ridiculous he sounded.

Tyrone groaned, his temples throbbed. This was going to be a hard argument when the other member didn't know what reason was, much less how to listen to it. "Okay, let's go with the oryctalagus cuniculus. That's a basic european rabbit," He caught a glimpse of Vincent's confused face, and smirked. 'That's right, I know some big words. I'm not just brawn.' He thought. Whether he impressed them, or made them feel stupid, he didn't mind.

"So, where are the legs?"

The little snake looked down at his scaled blue body. "I hatched without them. It happens sometimes."

"Rabbits don't lay eggs, so they can't hatc-"

"My mommy was the Easter bunny." Chip interrupted with an indignant tone. Of course, Tyrone remembered these kids were orphans. It was possible the kid believed his parent was a fairytale.

"How often do you eat carrots, Chip? Whenever Jerome makes them for you, right?" Tyrone waved a lazy claw at the kitchen. He noticed Vincent glare at him. He didn't care. "Well, you're wrong for that. Rabbits can't have many carrots, if any at all. They get sick. All of them." Part of him wanted to show off his knowledge in biology, but he didn't want to sound too much like a nerd. Maybe just one more Latin phrase to throw the kids off the trail.

"Alright, one more basic question. What would happen if you bit someone?" Even Vincent shrunk away now. Tyrone scoffed quietly. That meant the impala knew full-well not only that Chip was a snake, but what kind of snake he was.

"They would cry, prob-ly?" The little one mumbled. He kept his jaw locked tight. It was like he knew what he was, and denied it. Was that it? Why would he hide his fangs like that otherwise?

"W.R.O.N.G., wrong. Depending on who you bite? They'd die. They'd stop breathing. You are something known as a trimeresurus stejnegeri. A.K.A., a bamboo viper. A death-bringing carnivore with fangs like bullets, an-"

"You're just a liar, an-and a bully! Why're you picking on me?" Now the snake teared up. Vincent trembled angrily behind the couch.

"I admit, those both sum me up. At least, usually they do. Right now, they don't. You don't get it, this is a good thing! You're a powerful carnivore, Chip. You just have to take advantage of it. There's always someone who can teach you venom contro- Ow!" A hoof bashed against his green head. "Hey! I'm trying to be motivational, thank you!" He hissed at Vincent.

"There is nothing wrong with him! Say it!" The impala really was just a ball of anger. Overall, he was a lot like Tyrone. Neither of them would ever admit it.

"He's not transpecies, if that's what you're afraid of." A calm voice broke the argument. "No that it would be any of your business. He's also not an idiot." Jay approached with a hand on the wall, before he stepped out in faith. The walking stick in his other hand grazed the floor so he wouldn't walk into the couch.

"You again. Ugh. So what's your explanation, oh awesome one? Is he in denial of what he is?" Tyrone sunk into the cushions.

"Chip, Vincent, there's a 'MooMoo's Ice Cream' truck outside. I gave the driver a twenty. Go get your sugar." Jay smiled at nobody. The kids cheered, and dashed out the door. All was forgotten, apparently.

"Ty," The large lizard rested against the couch. "You lived here with Vincent before. Do you remember why he hates you so much?" It sounded rhetorical.

"I dunno. Because kids are annoying?" The croc decided to be difficult. Fortunately, Jay was very patient.

"Humor me, Tyrone." He finally sat down. It upset the croc. He gritted his teeth, though he knew Jay couldn't see it. "He was orphaned when his parents were eaten. He was at school at the time. Of course, the criminals were caught, but he was terrified of carnivores after that. It turned into violence. Does that sound familiar?" The lizard had the audacity to smile. What was funny about this? "Anyway, when Jerome found a starving fawn in the street, he was attacked. Vincent has always fought for his life. Every encounter he's had, to him, it's to the death. So it took many years of care before Vincent trusted Jerome. Though he was scared of you when he first met you, he tried to be friendly. But if I remember correctly, you told him not to be worried unless you wanted a midnight snack?"

Tyrone smashed a fist into the couch, even though he knew it wasn't intimidating to the one who couldn't see. "It was just a joke! I was joking!"

"He was eleven and traumatized, Tyrone. And like I just said; he took it as a death match. As far as he's concerned, you were and still are serious about that. I'm not even sure how he and Chip hit it off so quickly."

That terrible reptile. "How'd that stupi- how that's snake even end up here? You know how uh, Jerome, feels about reptiles." The croc realized that he hated this calm discussion just as much as the kids hated his confrontation earlier. Not that he'd ever apologize for it.

"Well, Chip was found in the woods with the boyd of an old rabbit woman. He said she fell asleep. Jerome was there to deliver her flowers, I think. She had two small, needle-like holes in her neck." The room went quiet. Even now, Chip was so little that his venom was completely out of control. Not to mention, he'd lived here for some time. So he had to have been almost a newborn when he killed the old rabbit who took care of him.

"So he's either too young and naive to know the difference, or he's in denial that he killed her. That explains a lot, actually." A metallic taste formed in Tyrone's mouth. The bitter taste of guilt was impossible to swallow. Yet, it anchored heavily in his belly. That was why the kids were so upset about it. It wasn't because he said fancy words or confronted them, it was because they knew something. Tyrone had childhood memories he'd never want to visit. He'd made them relive theirs.