"You're... you're really going to do this, aren't you?" Roxanne asked Oscar, as though there was any remaining doubt.
"Yep! Both parts of it. Earning my stripes... and filling your belly," he answered, gazing at her shirt above her waist. She adjusted her clothing uncomfortably. Sure, they'd talked about this. But the idea that her best friend was soon to be just meat, inside her body, well, the pressure was starting to get to her. A little.
"Unless you don't want to," he continued, looking away. "I know it's a lot to ask."
"It's... it's fine, Oscar. I want to be a lion anyway, and my first meal as a lion will have to be something. And if turning into prey is what you really want, then well, maybe it won't be so bad, knowing it's you."
The pair smiled at each other as best they could, still nervous, more for each other than for themselves, but realizing they both really did want this. Their eyes were soon redirected to the Animalia employee that was entering their exam room at that moment.
"Good day, sir and madam. So what is this we have here," he glanced at two papers on a clipboard, "a human female wishing to become a lion, and a human male choosing to become a zebra. Am I right?"
"That's the way we want it!" said Roxanne confidently as Oscar sheepishly nodded and turned is head sideways. Sometimes he felt almost feminine compared to her outgoing dominance. Maybe that's why he felt that she would such a good lion. And why it felt like such an honor for him to become her prey.
"Both anthro, it looks like," the employee continued reading aloud, "no gender change, and human speech intact, right?"
"Yep! We, um, really want to be able to communicate with each other, during what we are planning to do..." Roxanne's voice trailed off as she looked over at Oscar. He turned to his other side to look at her, nodding again. They didn't want to be just animals, not entirely. They wanted enough humanity to be THEM. To tell each other what it was like, during the... upcoming experience.
"I see," said the man, blinking a couple of times. "But you realize that you will still be considered legally as though you are animal even though you can talk, right?"
"Of course!" said Roxanne. "I want to be live in a zoo after this. I don't need or want to be treated as a human."
Oscar finally spoke up to the man: "... and, I request that we, um, be kept in the same holding area until you take her there."
The employee raised his eyebrow. "I know you'll have your human minds, but... you aren't afraid of being penned in with a lioness? As a zebra?" And as what appears to be a VERY timid man, the employee wants to ask, but doesn't.
"No, I'm not afraid. I'm, uh, actually looking forward to it. But, well, I'm not exactly planning to, you see, leave the pen alive..."
"Oh. OH. Well, um, I won't exactly pretend the other employees will be happy with that, but we can't exactly punish Roxanne for, well, being a lioness. I'll make sure the other staff won't interrupt, if that's really what you want. As I'm sure you know, we have nice and spacious outdoor areas for our patients to change into larger, wilder animals and stay comfortable until we release them into your new home. But just be aware, getting eaten by a fellow patient can be a lot more (shall we say) complicated than simple death, for the both of you. There's really no telling what will happen. Sometimes the predator reports hearing the prey's voice inside their head, sometimes their body starts getting aspects from the prey's formerly living body, and sometimes nothing weird happens and its just a normal digestion. I wish I could give you some guidance."
Both Oscar and Roxanne nodded knowingly. They'd read the brochure. They knew the risks of realizing their fantasy. They were each examined, poked, prodded, and finally injected with strange glowing liquid before being led out of the room and then outside to a fenced-in-area all their own. Sunlight on their skin, pretty grass beneath their feet, they were on top of the world, waiting for what was about to happen to them.