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Not Exactly a Pledge (Chapter 1?)

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Omega Sigma Alpha; the name of the fraternity sounded like some kind of intersection of sociology and psychology to Caleb. Standing in front of the large, three story building, the young man couldn't help but wonder if he'd made a bad decision. He knew that Omega Sigma Alpha was one of the campus' premier partying fraternities but, unfortunately, he had little choice. No longer able to be in the Freshman dorm after his year as an RA expired, the Human had no choice to find other housing, and everything near the campus was outside his budget... but, despite being a Human and not beast folk, he still had an 'in' with Omega Sigma Alpha.

The door to the building creaked open, and that 'in' appeared. "CALEB! DOOOOOOOD!"

Setting down his bags, Caleb took off his prescription sun glasses, changing over to his indoor prescription ones instead. "Hey, Kel."

Although they had barely seen one another in the first two years of college, Kelvin had changed very little except for a slightly thicker mane... and body. The fact that Kelvin was at the top of the stairs meant very little; the Lion was a good five inches taller than Caleb anyway, and at least half again as heavy-- their difference in size and build was never more evident than when the outgoing Lion picked him up a tight hug. It only lasted a moment before he was put back down. "How's it goin', man? Long time no see!"

Caleb felt his face flush when his friend-from-the-past grabbed him and lifted him off the ground. His heart fluttered for all but half a second until he remembered that he and the Lion had dated briefly in high school but it hadn't worked out-- apparently his brain had an easier time letting go than his heart. Offering a hesitant smile, he waited until the Lion had set him back down. Trying to be as personable as possible without letting his trepidation show, Caleb offered a much more reserved greeting. "Yeah... heh... hey, Kel. You're looking g--" he quickly changed the adjective "-well."

Pleasantries were exchanged in the usual manner befitting high school friends who met back after time apart at college. Caleb made it a point to remain as amiable as possible despite feeling like he was walking into a lion's den--- the nature of the phrase was not lost to him. Omega Sigma Alpha was well known as a fraternity devoted to athletic beast folk students who usually cared more about partying than their grades; it was hardly a good fit for Caleb, who was studying to be a civil engineer. Still, he and Kelvin had been good friends in high school despite the Lion being a jock and Caleb being... well... not. They had gone on two relatively enjoyable dates before Kelvin said it wasn't going to work out-- Calvin was convinced because he refused to have sex with his Leonine friend... it wasn't that Kel blatantly asked him; it was more in the coldness during private moments that had said enough.

The introduction around to the frat brothers went better than Caleb had expected (Kelvin had promised that the guys would be on their best behavior, and, thankfully, they were). The eldest member of the frat was a Bear named Jesse, but everyone seemed to call him Jess-- despite being a lineman for the college team, he seemed relatively down-to-earth and mild compared to the others. Carl, a Hyena, was also on the football team with Kelvin and Jess, but Caleb didn't catch the position he played. The frat's track star was a Fossa named Dakari, and Tyson, a Tiger baseball star, rounded out the house. Tyson, Caleb noticed, was eyeing him appreciatively, and he was fairly sure he saw the Lion lick his muzzle when he thought nobody was looking.

Seeing as the frat house had six bedrooms and five members, which meant that one room was left for Caleb. The fraternity had voted almost unanimously to allow Caleb to stay there, but nobody elaborated on what "almost" meant. In the end, the introductions were quick since it was a Friday morning and they were scheduling a party for that night. Sighing, Caleb retreated to his assigned room; he was NOT a fan of parties and he figured he'd leave the rest of the house to prepare without his interference.

The next two hours passed quickly as he unpacked his meager belongings and tried to distract himself from concerns over the noise and chaos of what he knew would be the generic, Hollywood style kegger. Aside from only being 20, Caleb really didn't have any interest in drinking anyway, and he'd already dealt with enough drunk people to know the scene wasn't the least bit interesting to him. Keeping to himself meant the Human had extra time to set up his computer-- the rooms were all wired for a physical connection to the house's internet, which suited him just fine.

Once he was settled in, Caleb noticed a faint rumbling in his stomach; checking the clock he saw that it was nearing noon. Although he had doubt that a party house would have anything resembling reasonable food he threw caution to the wind and descended the stairs to catch his first REAL glimpse of where he'd be staying. He was pleasantly surprised.

Walking through the house, he notice that it was surprisingly clean and well-maintained. There were no empty beer cans or pizza boxes lying around, and the furniture appeared to be in good condition. Making his way to the cooking area, Caleb began to hold out hope that he'd find something other than chips and pretzels. Stepping into the generously appointed kitchen, the Human saw that it was already occupied.

Kelvin had a plate down with a half a sandwich on it, the other held in his paws. The Lion's muzzle was open, just about to take a bite, but he withdrew the food, offering a big grin instead. "So...all settled in, Dude? Cool room, am I right? I mean... it's the smallest one here, but it has the best view of the backyard."

Caleb smiled, moving over to stand on the opposite side of the kitchen island from the Lion. He offered a faint chuckle. "It's larger than my freshman dorm room was."

His high school friend winked. "Told ya you'd like it here..." Raising his paw back up to his muzzle, Kelvin took a huge bite of his half-sandwich, making almost 2/3 of it disappear in one go. As he chewed, the Lion used his other paw to give the plate on the counter a light shove in the Human's direction, speaking as he chewed. "ungee?"

Looking down at the other half of the sandwich, Caleb realized that there was lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and what looked like a chicken breast. The young man smiled at the offering. "Wow... I figured you guys'd be eating pizza and burgers for every meal or something."

A deep voice spoke up from behind him, causing Caleb to jump. "Hard to keep in shape pounding down junk food ALL the time."

Turning around Caleb looked up... and up... and up, until he saw Jesse's intense stare glaring down at him, the big Bear's eyes seeming even larger through the magnification of his muzzle-perched glasses. The Human offered a hesitant agreement. "Uh... right."

The Bear stepped around him, giving Kelvin a pat on the shoulder. "Hey, Kel... I grabbed the Gold Label you wanted... should be in the cooler chilling down."

The Lion turned, raising his paw in time to get a high-five from his teammate. "You're a rock star, Jess. I just can stomach that crap stuff the other guys drink."

The Grizzly chuckled, heading out the other side of the kitchen and into the back yard with a small bunch of bananas in one paw. "Yeah... I know."

Watching the large Bear go, Calvin absently took a bite of the half of the sandwich given to him by Kelvin. He was surprised at just how good it was; there was a tangyness to it. "Is... is that honey mustard?"

Kelvin nodded his head, finishing off the last piece of his own half, barely even chewing before swallowing. "Yep! Homemade... Jesse's a fucking MASTER of marinades, spreads, and what-not... you should taste his BBQ sauce... god damn orgasmic."

A voice Caleb recognized as belonging to Carl called from the front room mirthfully. "But NOT to be used in conjunction with sex!"

Caleb smirked; Kelvin had always been 'a bit much' and it was a little reassuring to see that the Lion's over-the-top attitude hadn't changed; his frat brothers were also apparently a good fit for him. "Well... I may not be a master of sauces, but I don't mind carrying my own weight around here. You guys are being great about letting me stay here, so the least I could do is help out... who usually handles the cooking?"

The Lion waved away the offer. "Relax, bro. We're all pretty self sufficient. We're all pretty specific about our diets so we handle those kinds of things... 'sides... you're paying your way with rent!"

The Human frowned. "Three hundred a month? Is that even fair?"

Kelvin stepped up, raised his paw, and ruffled Caleb's hair-- just like he used to and, just like before, the Human didn't much care for it. "Relax, Dude... three hundred's just fine. You don't have to go all frat housewife and shit."

Dakari passed by Caleb, the Fossa's bare paws on the floor making no sound, but his presence caused the Human to jump in surprise when the track athlete gave him a broad open-pawed swat on his rump. "You know... unless you WANNA be the frat housewife... got smooth skin and everything... bet you could pull off the 'wifely duties' in a pinch."

Caleb took a step away from Dakari, who stuck his tongue out and offered a wink. He got a paw towel in his face for the trouble as Kelvin reprimanded him. "Hey, D! You know the rules about keeping your paws to yourself... besides, Carl might get jealous."

The Fossa smirked, dropping the towel to the counter. His tail brushed agasinst Kelvin's ribs as he walked by. "Don't worry, Kel... I'm not going after your friend unless he gets all hot and bothered on his own first." Grabbing a bag of carrots from the fridge, Dakari lingered for another moment, glancing over his shoulder. "Besides... Carl doesn't mind sharing one bit... so it's all good."

Caleb, standing off to the side, realized that not even three hours had passed since he'd moved in but he was already starting to wonder what he'd gotten himself into.