You stand in front of the hybrid shelter closest to your home with a nervous heart, the beating loud and fast in your ribcage as you stare at the door, this is it, right? You're finally doing this, you're going back home with hybrids.

You don't know how many exactly you intend to adopt today, you just know that you want there to be a connection with them, you want to be compatible with their personalities, because clashing with them all the time is not something you want.

With one last deep breath, you push the door open and enter inside the imposing building that has most definitely seen better days, and once in front of the desk, you're greeted by a woman who looks terribly happy when she hears that you intend to adopt more than one hybrid.

When she asks you how many you have in mind precisely, you simply tell her that you don't know, you just know that you want the process to be respectful of the hybrids' wishes. If they don't want to go with you, then you won't force them to leave with you. That seems to please her.

She takes you through a few corridors while talking to you about a small group that has been here in the shelter for nearly a year now, three inseparable hybrids with a very kind personality, if you can get through their cold facade. None of the employees at the shelter have managed to get a smile from them yet, but she said they are very close, the three of them.

They simply struggle in letting anyone else close to them, probably from a lack of trust in humans. That makes you a little worried because you don't know why they would accept you if they despise everyone, but you decide to follow anyway, you never know what might happen.

If the hybrids you end up adopting are already close, that would help you a lot. Sure, you might feel a bit left out sometimes in the beginning, but you want to believe that you could get closer with time and patience.

She makes you stop in front of a door with a tensed smile, and instead of opening it right away, she knocks on the window besides it, the closed curtain from the other side giving the inhabitants some privacy while also allowing them to see who wants to see them before opening the door.

It takes a moment, but a face eventually appears after sliding the fabric to the side, and when the eyes settle on you, you understand immediately why she talked about the coldness, that hybrid does not look happy to see you at all.

The door opens to give you sight into a small room with three beds, and behind the tall man currently standing in the doorway like a protective wall, you can see two other just as impressive hybrids sat on the same middle bed and also staring at you.

Your hands turn sweaty instantly and you hide them in your pockets to try and keep your calm, the way their eyes follow your every moves without a word spoken aloud getting your nerves all over the place, a sentiment the woman working here seems to share, and you briefly wonder if her bringing you to them first isn't her way of trying to get rid of their group because she's scared of them.

You could read the note on the door after all.

Beware, dangerous predators. Proceed carefully.

As if they would try to rip you apart as soon as you open the door.

"T-these are the hybrids I told you about. You can stay here and talk with them for a while if you want, I'll come back to see you in ten minutes, what do you think?" she says with a nervous voice, her feet already fidgeting to take her away from here, and you sigh before nodding your head.

It's no wonder that they can't get close to anyone if everyone's acting like this. You observe as she runs away and you shake your head softly before turning your gaze back to the trio who still silently takes you in with a strange glow in their eyes.

"Sorry about showing up unannounced like this. My name is Y/N and I came here to adopt hybrids and- wait, the opposite would be weird, right? This is a hybrid shelter. Anyway, my house is scarily empty and I thought it would be great to have it less silent and more alive, if anyone was willing to come home with me, that is. I can see that I'm not exactly welcomed here and I understand, I won't hold it against you if you decide to close the door, I'm not here to make anyone uncomfortable" you begin to tell them with a friendly smile, or you hope it looks like one.

You can't deny that your legs are trembling a little, not because you're scared of them but because the man still standing in front of you towers over you like you're but an ant, his eyes are sharp and intelligent and you feel very, very small in front of him.

When the silence continues, you start biting on your bottom lip before making one step back, and you motion for the door, thinking that maybe you were blocking them from closing it. "Should I... should I go? This is going to get very awkward if I stay here in silence".

One of the three hybrids makes a soft sound and you look behind the first one to find the two men inside the room holding a small smile on their lips, ears standing tall and tails waving curiously behind them.

"Let her come in, Jinnie, I'm curious about her" a gentle voice speaks up, the one with the black feline attributes, and the one nicknamed Jinnie stands aside, just enough space for you to enter through the doorway, though your shoulder and arm do brush against his muscled chest on the way, something that brings a light blush to your cheeks.

The one with the curious face invites you to sit on the bed facing theirs, which is right against the wall, and your first reflex, which is to sit at the foot of the bed is denied when the one by his side silently motions for you to sit in front of them.

You get to feel the heat of their bodies from very close as you slowly and carefully fit in the space separating the beds to sit in front of the two of them, and you hear the door close but not shut, a small gap all that keeps it from being closed all the way before the most imposing of the three comes to sit besides you, hence trapping you between them and the wall.

Predators, that goes without saying, you can't believe you let yourself get trapped so easily, you, the small human now surrounded by three big men.

"So, Y/N. I'm curious, you didn't run away even though you were trembling and now you're sitting with us, with no escape possible, completely on your own. How does it feel?".

You turn your gaze to the black hair, he must be a panther, right? And the one sitting next to him must be a puma. It's the one sitting next to you that leaves you unsure, you don't recognize the ears.

"How does it feel? I'm a little uncomfortable, I won't lie, but I understand that it's probably your way of having the upper hand on me so you can feel more comfortable in your private space, you don't know me after all so I don't mind, I would probably do the same if our positions were switched".

The panther hums with a tilt of the head while the puma purses his lips softly. "You're not scared of us? You keep talking like we have the ability to decide with you, most humans are too focused on staying away from us to even take the time to think about what we want, why are you doing that?".

You bring your gaze to the puma and smile bashfully, were you that obvious? "I'm not sure what kind of experience you're used to having with humans, but I'm not... I guess you could say that I'm like the black sheep that stands out of the lot? I never did fit in much with other people because my way of thinking... well, they don't particularly agree with my beliefs".

"And what are those beliefs?".

It's a clear yet strong voice that speaks up from besides you, and you look up to find the hybrid staring at you with... it's not quite hateful eyes, more like wary? You hum at his question before shrugging lightly.

"I for one believe that hybrids deserve just as much freedom as humans have. I'm not into that power trip that my kind has over hybrids, I never understood why they have to be treated like slaves when they breathe and feel just like us. The second belief I have that gets frowned upon often is that woman should get the same salary as men when the job they do is the same. If all you do is answer calls and reply to emails, why the hell should they get paid more than me? I do the same fucking shit and-" you pause when you realize just what it is that you're talking about.

"Sorry, that one got personal. Anyway, yeah, respect is a huge thing for me. I give it and so I expect to receive it in return but sadly, most people expect to receive respect without having to give it, which makes them into total assholes. That's what I hate the most about humans".

The three men remain silent for a moment before the one whose animal is unknown to you makes a sound. "So you want to adopt hybrids so you can have someone who hates them as much as you do by your side".

You gape at him before letting out a hum in soft acknowledgement.

"Wow, you know what, I think you might be right? At first I thought maybe it was so I could prove to myself that I'm not like everyone else, that I can treat hybrids right unlike what I saw from my family while growing up, then I also thought that maybe it was for the simple reason that my life felt too boring, but maybe you have a point there. I guess I was just hoping to find in hybrids people who could share my point of view. I'm shameless, aren't I? Not quite the kind of speech you give to go back home accompanied" you let out the end with a dry chuckle, maybe you're not that different from your kind after all.

What a shitty realization that is.

You stare at your hands as you try to process that new bit of unlikable information, unaware of the three hybrids who share a look to silently communicate, because unlike what you seem to believe, your speech actually moved them more than you think.

People. You called them people.

Not animals, not slaves or even pets, but people.

And they find you refreshingly honest, you're not trying to pretend to be someone you're not, you are here showing them who you are without a second thought and treating them the way they imagine you would treat anyone else, it feels good.

You are not like the humans they have known and they can already share at least one thought.

Refusing to leave with you would be their biggest mistake.

The Jinnie man turns on his seat to face you properly, and his tail hits the surface of the mattress a few times as he stares at you some more, the acceptance he can see in your eyes a rare thing in this world, it's the first thing he noticed when he first saw you.

"Are you willing to adopt us, Y/N?".

You pause at the unexpected question, eyes widening and then sparkling with excitement before you nod your head quickly, a bright smile on your face as you gaze at the other two to make sure they're okay with that.

"Of course! I wouldn't have stepped inside your room if I wasn't hoping for that outcome, I would love to adopt you".

They feel their own lips twitch into a light smile, some ray of hope shining on their soul when they imagine what it would be like to live with you.

This should be fun.