Chapter 25: A Little Gray
"You... don’t need to be so close, Riley."
"How else would I learn your amazing knife skills, Ms. Pauline?"
Professor Jordan Ramsay had just finished demonstrating how to fully butcher and fillet a chicken. And to everyone’s surprise, the class was able to provide each student with their own carcass to practice on.
Pauline had just finished slicing the breast and was neatly arranging the parts across her station. But she wasn’t done—despite most of the meat being stripped, she returned to the chicken, focused on extracting every usable piece. Riley, of course, had his face almost unreasonably close to her work, leaning in even further as she skillfully scooped out a morsel from beneath the thigh.
"Oh? What is that part you are cutting, Ms. Pauline?" Riley narrowed his eyes with intense curiosity.
"Uhm..." Pauline carefully adjusted the knife, mindful not to bump into him. "Most people call it the oyster of the chicken."
"Hmm. Do you think humans also have them?"
"What...?" Paulin’s knife froze as she blinked at him. "I... don’t know?"
She quickly filleted the second oyster, placing it with the others before setting her knife down. She let out a breath before turning to check on Riley’s progress... and a loud gasp immediately escaped her lips.
How could she not, when his apron was soaked in blood? Splattered, dripping. His knife was wet, its red trail pooling onto the floor.
"How...?" She stammered. She hadn’t even thought chickens contained that much blood—especially when the school had already drained them.