"So what you're saying is you can't express your emotions because you don't have the right facial muscles?" You asked as the fox finished the rest of your bowl of eggs. She had seemed a lot hungrier than you, and you wished you had eaten less to accommodate her.

"Right."

"Must be nice." You sighed as sat against the iron-wrought head of your bed.

"It's not." She quickly replied. "It might be nice not to show embarrassment or fear... but everything else is extremely necessary."

"How so? If I'm honest... most of my life I've been trying not to show my emotions. They always seem to cause trouble."

"That's because you're not not having them." She clarified. "You still have them, you just don't want others to see. But it's better if people know how you're feeling because then they can have a more appropriate response."

"How so?" You asked again.

"Say you're sad at the news that your best friend's parents have died. She tells you and you feel like you want to frown, maybe cry. Instead, you give her this blank face." She pointed to her own face. "And tell her it'll be okay. What do you think happens?"

"She gets angry..." You sighed. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Animals go off of body language a lot. So if you're not doing what they want you to do, they'll be mad."

"Not only that." She continued. "You're angry at someone. Not screaming mad, but more so irritated. You want them to stop something. You say stop, but again, with this face." She pointed again. "Do they stop?"

"No... I know how that one feels... they don't think you're serious... I have... or maybe had... a friend who never stopped when I told him not to tease me. I tried not to be upset about it ever, but he just never took me seriously. A lot of animals didn't."

"You make love but your face is blank. Your partner..."

"Thinks you don't like them as much as they like you."

"Leads to them replacing you with someone else. Someone more forthcoming with reciprocation." The fox nodded. "Better to express yourself."

You sat back and thought on it for a moment before speaking again. "So why are you in here? Did you get so mad at someone that you hurt them?"

"Close. I was frustrated with never being understood. I also got taunted a lot-- I went to an herbivore-majority university. Then, some homeless herbivore just said the wrong thing to me... And I ate him." You sat in silence with the Tibetan fox. What could you say to that? "So who did you eat?"

Taken aback why the question and the glint of interest in her eyes, you stammered a response. "I-uh-I didn't eat anyone!"

"Uh-huh. So you're at the predators clinic for what?" She seemed skeptical.

"I mean, I've eaten meat before... although not fresh... I'm here I guess because I'm fucked up in the head..."

"Like you want to eat meat?"

"No. Like I want to be eaten."