#also rayan is usually kind of a pushover but i feel like genuine pet abuse would really rile him up

[urlocalwhumper]

OK LAST ONE FOR NOW. MAYBE. DEFINITELY NOT FOR GOOD THO LOL I WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY WRITE MORE EVENTUALLY

as always, rayan belongs to @sowhumpshaped

rayan felt horrible.

nana had only been with him for a few days when he noticed that her tail was bothering her. a little glint of pain in her eye whenever it wagged, she way she took great care not to sit or lay on it, and, most recently, how she yelped and flinched away when he, idly fidgeting with her tail while sitting on the couch, brushed his fingers over the unnatural bend near the middle.

he'd wanted to give her at least a week to settle in before taking her to the vet for a check-up, but he also wasn't just going to sit there and let her suffer when she was clearly in pain.

so, off to the vet they went. nana really didn't like it there, she shook like a leaf and stayed glued to his leg for their entire time in the waiting room, and once she was up on the examination table, he had to be at least holding her hand for her to stay somewhat calm.

even the vet winced once her x-rays appeared onscreen.

"oh yeah, no wonder she's in pain." the vet grimaced. "this is a really bad break, the bone is completely shattered around where that bend is." he said, pointing on the screen to what he was talking about.

"this kind of injury... the most likely cause is crushing." the vet glanced at nana's papers and pursed his lips. "repeated impacts. like being stomped on, perhaps."

rayan felt sick. he could tell, from the look in nana's eye and the way she curled further into herself, that the vet's assumption was correct. he trailed a comforting hand across her scalp and pressed a little kiss to the crown of her head.

the vet continued. "either way, for a break this severe, there really isn't much we can do to fix it. your best option is to amputate."

nana went stiff as a board. rayan felt her breathing quicken as she started to whimper under her breath. her loose grip on his shirt turned into an iron vice and she looked up at him with a fearful, pleading gaze.

he continued to scratch at her scalp and behind her ears, soothing and gentle, but internally he was just as frazzled as she was. he was expecting the worst case scenario to be needing to re-break a badly healed bone, not amputating most of her tail.

"can... can we have some time to think about it, please?" he said, wanting to at least get nana out of the examination room and hopefully calm her down.

the vet nodded. "of course. you know how to make an appointment, once your decision has been made."

it took hours for nana to calm down fully. once they returned home, she immediately retreated to her bed, curling up under the blanket like it would hide her from the world. rayan sat beside her, nearly lost for words.

"... i'm so sorry, nana." he said, resting his hand, palm-up, on the edge of her bed. her shaking hand reached out from under the blanket and gripped it tight. "this isn't fair, you shouldn't have to deal with this at all."

he sighed. "... but... your tail's just gonna hurt forever if we don't do anything. and it might even get worse." he squeezed her hand. "getting it amputated is scary, but it's the only option we have."

he felt horrible, trying to convince her like this. he knew that if he was in her position, he'd be just as terrified and reluctant to have a part of him cut off. but, he also knew that, for her health, it needed to be done.

and when he looked over and saw her peering out at him from under the blanket, her eye hesitant but trusting, he knew that she understood too.

nana was a nervous wreck on the day of her surgery. even though he could tell she was trying to be brave, the vet informed him that she wet herself out of fear the moment she was in the prep room, completely separated from him.

but it was finally over. the amputation had been performed with no complications, and now nana was at home - short half a tail and loopy from the meds they'd given her, but no longer suffering from a painful shattered bone.

she was napping at the moment, her head in his lap as he absently pet her hair. he frowned at the bandaged end of her newly shortened tail. it was the right decision, he knew that, but... it was just so unfair. for her to lose most of her tail just because some jackass decided it'd be funny to stomp on it... it made him angry.

angry that such a monster could get a pet license, angry that they'd been so cruel to a pet as sweet and loving as nana, angry that they even existed. it made him so angry that he felt like he could just- !

nana stirred in his lap, mumbling something unintelligible and snuggling further into him. right, he needed to calm down. all of that was in the past now. right now, she was safe and comfortable and happy with him, and that was all that mattered.

#I CAN'T STOP HELP ME #anyways! yeag. #nana wagging her tail so hard it audibly thumped against the wall last time was extraordinarily painful. btw. #but she was just so happy in the moment that she didn't care :') #this is as angsty as this series is gonna get tbh i mostly just wanna write fluff lol #also rayan is usually kind of a pushover but i feel like genuine pet abuse would really rile him up #he's wanted a pet so badly for so long it disgusts him that someone would get one just to mistreat it #also he already pampers nana but while she's healing he turns it up to 11 lol #world's most loved pet #also i don't know how broken bones or vet surgeries work so if i'm wrong abt smth. uh. in this universe no i'm not. #mine