⚠︎ THE INTERROGATION. R1 S1 Herb squinted as he stepped paw after shaky paw into the dark room, his ears pressing to his head and his nose crinkling just slightly once the single light was switched on. As his eyes adjusted, he looked around the room quickly, as if he was in immediate danger. His tail was fluffed to twice its size. “Am I in trouble?” The question was only half a joke, his voice a strained form of cheeriness. It wasn’t answered. It didn’t seem like he had expected it to be. “Sit.” Herb obeyed, though not without hesitance. His eyes never stopped darting from side to side, his hackles never lowering. “Do you know why you were arrested?” The cat in front of him prompted. He couldn’t quite see their face. “That’s a difficult question, isn’t it? I mean. There’s a lot of reasons you could have brought me in..” Herb trailed off, his grin faltering as he flicked his tail “I- I know the reason *you’re* all citing, if that’s what you’re getting at.” “Do you regret what you did?” Herb tensed. “I didn’t *do* anything!” He said it with a sense of firmness, a slightly bitter bite to his words. “Did you do the right thing?” “That depends on who you ask.” Herb dismissed, fidgeting. His paws shuffled, his tail twitched, his ears rotated. Anything to keep moving, stay alert. “Who did you hurt?” Herb’s face scrunched, an almost hurt look on his face “No one. I- No one! I’ve never so much as- As stepped on an ant!” He insisted, lifting a paw to his face in a show of innocence. It didn’t stop the next question. “Do you believe you are GUILTY or INNOCENT?” Herb’s expression died off, and he dropped his paw back down to meet the other once more. “I’m guilty of a lotta things, but this ain’t one of ‘em. I’m *innocent.* That’s what I’ve been telling you, isn’t it?” He pulled an odd expression, like a grimace. He examined the shadows, refusing to look at the figure in front of him. With a sudden surge of confidence, he puffed out his chest and finally met their gaze, announcing in a voice like he was doing a character “Believe me or don’t, I couldn’t care less! But I’m innocent to my very skeleton and that’s the way it is, sweetheart, take it or leave it.”
