FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The snow didn't stop falling that day. Light flecks blanketed the pathways, trees, and benches for a while until the wind picked up. Blowing snow was a lot less fluffy, but the wind in Rayner's fur felt nice. However, the salt and gravel mix on his ankles made him itchy. The roads were a mess, and it seemed to creep onto everything.

Rayner only realised how cold it was getting when he returned to his apartment and saw all three of his roommates there. They were bundled up in sweaters and hoodies while Rayner walked in shirtless. They were watching the news and how a winter storm warning had been issued that night. Rayner took note but didn't really bother with it like they seemed to be. It wasn't like he was bothered by the cold.

If there was a storm, Rayner knew nothing about it. After he washed his paws and brushed his fur, he retreated to his room and read. What got on his nerves was the number of noises his roommates and neighbours made when the wind picked up or when the lights went out. Skoll, they squeaked. Then there was the unbelievable temperature the apartment was set at. It was blisteringly hot for some reason, but when Rayner looked at the gauge at close to two in the morning, it hadn't been touched.

At around five, he gave up and started his day. He tried to be quiet despite not feeling like it was warranted. In his state, nothing felt warranted. He needed coffee and something hardy to eat. Coffee was easy and cheap, and he had a container for a potful, but he'd haven't to go to the cafeteria for actual meat.

Outside was howling. The feeling of the wind in his fur was better than escaping the stuffy air of the apartment building. The was a fresh clean feeling to it. Rayner thought about just dropping his bags off back in the apartment and curling up one of the corners, and falling back asleep right then and there. He liked that his core temperature was dropping but realised that noise would never allow him to get to sleep. Plus, what if someone found him?

The walk to the cafeteria was a lot closer to home. No crowds and no cars. A couple of sniffs and he could almost imagine a diesel engine somewhere in the distance. Very few were around, either inside or out at six in the morning in a blizzard. Rayner saw a couple of northern dogs, wolves, and one very happy snow leopard in his travels. The leopard was hard to see when they were standing still, but when something is bouncing off buildings it was hard to miss. Cats and parkour were a surprise city thing Rayner was still getting used to. Whoever it was looked happy though and Rayner could relate.

He was grateful too to see his standard spot was empty when he got into the common area of the cafeteria by the hospital. He ordered a breakfast steak and eggs with some of his rainy day funds and guarded his set of tables from the dozen other beings in the hall for the next half hour. Never needed to, but it felt good. After eating, he relaxed a bit and took out his laptop to surf for a bit before starting on studying for his finals.

"Umm," a voice from beside him tried to start. Rayner internally growled at the intrusion but did his best not to vocalise it. Looking up, Rayner saw a thin wolf in a light coat and a hat. At his gaze, the wolf looked away but asked, "May I use one of these tables?"

Rayner looked around at the almost empty hall with a certain disbelief at this poor thing in front of him. He was a wolf, but what wolf lets himself get to a point where he has to bundle up for a day like today?

"I need a plug-in," the wolf explained quietly. Rayner's spot had six, and in a quick realisation, the other beings were sitting at the other locations. One by the other pillar, and two had the centre room outlets.

"Sure," Rayner said simply and watched the wolf almost twitch at the response. In what was the loudest screech Rayner had ever heard a table make, the wolf tried to pull one of the tables away. The wolf froze in place, trying to figure out what to do. Rayner, with a sigh, got up and said, "here, I'll help."

Rayner picked up his end of the table with one paw while the other tried his best with two. They moved it away to be closer to the pillar and then set it down. Rayner returned to his seat as the wolf put his bag beside the table. He felt rather frumpy but at least it was another wolf beside him.

"Sorry, and thank you," the wolf muttered, "I just really need to get this project done, and my laptop doesn't hold a charge."

"No worries," Rayner said, waving it off. He glanced as the wolf pulled out an ancient-looking laptop and tried his best to get set up. Rayner was shocked that it even booted.

Rayner spent the next two hours guarding his spot and the extra wolf behind him while drinking coffee and working. Well, sort of working. He'd pull up his classes every once in a while but then switched back to either streaming or surfing forums. Everyone was taking pictures of this bloody storm, and it filled most of the threads he followed. There was everything from car crashes to the deep trenches that were now on the roads. One was even a cute video of a skidding car with the audio of an old cartoon of someone tripping for an unbelievably long time.

The power flickered a couple of times but never longer than a second. It was nothing Rayner was worried about. The wolf behind him was a lot more like his roommates and made little noises every time it happened. Rayner wasn't sure if he was young or just anxious. He had heard of young pups getting into university early, but Rayner figured they'd be better off. Based on the glance at the laptop, Rayner figured this wolf had struggled to afford tuition.

Unlike his roommates, Rayner felt bad for the poor thing. The wolf seemed like he was trying his best to get by and that was important. School wasn't easy. Rayner had that mantra engrained in him from home. Family wasn't always there, and between courses and figuring out how to support himself, life was hard. Trying to just work was more difficult even when he didn't have a place to retreat to, and large spaces like the cafeteria were havens because he lived tightly packed in the apartments or residences. It was well-lit, and had comfortable chairs and food but with a loud thud outside, the building lost power.

"No," the wolf gasped, "No no no no, come back."

"I'd save," Rayner said, looking up at the access point still blinking, "we still have wifi but that sounded expensive."

"What, how?" the wolf asked, sounding like he was quickly pressing keys.

"Battery backup probably," Rayner explained and pointed out, "Last year, when we lost power, we had wifi for about an hour.

"Shit," the wolf groaned again, "sorry, no, don't power down... fine."

"Did you get your project saved?" Rayner asked, contemplating something he felt like he shouldn't.

"I don't know," the wolf muttered, "batteries dead. Not that it matters much. It's due at noon, and I'm still not done."

Rayner knew that feeling. Around when he broke up with Bell, he had let a couple of assignments slip. It was a hollow feeling filled with Olive talking down to him about getting enough sleep but she had been there. Kacy got the brunt of that time, though, because he hadn't even started. With a small sigh, Rayner glanced at the wolf and then back at his own laptop.

"Here," Rayner said quietly, he closed his tabs, shut down most of the programs he used, and opened up a trackless browser, "Use mine, I'm not doing anything anyway."

"No, y-you don't have to," the wolf stuttered out quickly.

"This isn't coming back," Rayner said, pointing at the ceiling and started moving, "Plus, my first class is at eleven and-"

Rayner paused when he turned around and saw the wolf sitting curled up, with his mismatched ears back, looking between his laptop, Rayner's, and at Rayner's chest to avoid his eyes. He looked familiar. The grey fur on his muzzle and the brown in his one ear was hard to mistake. Rayner had been thinking about them for the past couple of months.

It was the mystery wolf. He was thinner than Rayner remembered him, which was concerning because his winter fur should be in, but it was him.

"You, umm, were working," Rayner tried to finish. His ears and nose felt like they were on fire, and there was now enough pressure in his core that he worried he'd retch up his breakfast.

"Are you sure?" the wolf asked hesitantly.

"Yes," Rayner said a little too loudly and with a small but vigorous nod. He moved his laptop over to the wolf's table and calmed down a bit to say, "Yeah, if you want to continue working, I can read and get some food. FYI, the student-run stores put everything on sale after fifteen minutes."

"Thank you," the wolf almost muttered, his ears pressed so far back it looked like he'd lost them, "I don't know... thank you... you sure?"

"Yeah,' Rayner muttered and pointed to his screen, "Umm, you should be good to go, if you need to sign in, it won't save anything."

The wolf eagerly signed into whatever he was doing and breathed a sigh of relief. He relaxed when he saw whatever had loaded. Rayner smiled, he didn't even have a name, but his crush was using his laptop. That felt good, better than anything he'd ever felt with Bell or really any of the girls he dated before. Going over a small mental checklist, Rayner figured that included a lot.

He sat back after pulling the first thing he could out of his backpack and opened his book. He tried to read, or at least he tried to look like he was reading. Rayner couldn't seem to finish a sentence without forgetting where it started, but in the light of this morning coming through the windows, he was happy just being.

In what seemed like nothing to Rayner, he started to hear the cafeteria workers start to move around and put up signs. He looked to see the specials but frowned when he saw burgers. They were a lot of filler, but a cheap burger was better than nothing, Rayner figured. He got up hungry but hesitated for a second, thinking about the wolf.

"Hey," Rayner said uncertainly and pointed at the stores, "Do you want anything? Sale has started."

"Oh," the wolf looked up, then over at the stores, and then back down with his ears back, "no, I can't really afford anything right now."

"No worries," Rayner explained, "a lot of it's two for one, and I am not going to eat that much."

"Oh!" the wolf looked directly at Rayner this time but then back down quickly, "I'll have anything. You don't have to though. I'm okay."

"Okay, I'll be back," Rayner said simply and went to get food.

Facing away, Rayner could not keep himself from smiling.

He looked back every once in a while to the wolf working hard at the table. Halfway through the line, Rayner realised that what he was doing was actually crazy dangerous. Had he honestly just left a stranger alone with his backpack and laptop in the middle of the cafeteria? Rayner had a sudden worry that the wolf would just run off. Or worse, that he wouldn't tell Rayner his name. Rayner frowned at the thought that not getting this wolf's name was worse than stealing his stuff.

He didn't, thankfully, but Rayner did sort of check himself when he got back.

"Hope you don't mind," Rayner said, setting down the food. He would never say it but he had to confirm the order twice because he had been so distracted. "I got the special and some water. The coffee here is awful and expensive. If you want some, though, I have a container of it."

Rayner didn't technically lie, but he did bend the truth a bit with the burgers. The burgers were the special, but a double bacon mushroom burger was a bit extra. Still, everything came to under a twenty, so Rayner was fine enough with it. He had spent more on breakfast.

The wolf, thankfully, almost seemed to start drooling when the smell hit him. He looked a couple of times between the burgers and the laptop, but when his stomach growled loudly, he pulled his seat back a bit and carefully took the burger. His first bite came with almost a small moan.

"This is so good," the wolf said softly, "thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome," Rayner replied with a wide smile. There was a bit of a pause while they ate as he tried to steal himself to say, "I'm Rayner, by the way."

"Oh, umm," the wolf said with a full muzzle that was the rest of his burger and swallowed quickly, "I'm Gab."

"Gab," Rayner whispered quietly enough that he hoped the wolf didn't hear his tone. He had a name. Maybe not a full name, but it was a start. "So, what are you working on?" Rayner smiled and asked, pointing at his laptop.

"It's umm," Gab muttered, looking at the screen, "English, it's like a midterm project because it's a six-credit course."

"Oh, I hated that," Rayner grimaced, thinking back to last year and the trouble he had with those courses, "I bought a full editor because it came with the auto citation wizard. What are you doing yours in?"

"Just the online editor," Gab admitted.

"If you want," Rayner said, pointing at his screen, "when you're done editing, push the big S button on the taskbar, and I'll show you how to use it."

"Oh my lord," Gab almost chirped, "Really, you have no idea how much that would help."

Rayner couldn't believe his luck getting to be even closer to the wolf. Though the memory of why he got it wasn't great, the guide was fairly easy to understand, and Gab picked it up quickly. Rayner introduced a lot of it and made some suggestions when Gab filled it out. Was it cheating? Rayner hoped it wasn't.

After Gab copied the citation back into his document, he continued editing. Rayner poured a coffee for himself, unscrewed the second cup off the container, and poured a cup for Gab. He seemed to take it without realising anything.

The two went back to silence after Gab got back into editing and Rayner tried to read again for the next half hour without moving away. At this distance, Rayner could smell the lightly scented soap the wolf used and the wolfish smell behind it. It wasn't strong but it made Rayner happy to think about it as he surfed the internet. He only stopped to pull out his phone every once in a while to check the time. The battery life on his laptop was at about sixty percent but he kept glancing up at the access point to make sure it was still on. With a thought, he clicked on his hotspot, just in case.

"Oh," Gab groaned about ten minutes later but then muttered, "oh?"

Rayner glanced up at the access point, now lightless, and then back down to his phone, saying its hotspot was being used. The laptop was set up to auto-connect to his phone last, but every once in a while, it didn't. Rayner was thankful that it didn't seem to bother Gab too much and that he didn't question it.

Nothing really seemed to bother Gab when he was working. More beings were coming into the cafeteria, some talking loudly, and some looked angry. Rayner realised it was getting colder in the building, but he was finally feeling comfortable. Apparently, someone had crashed into a pole outside, and they had to get it repaired. The entire campus was out, as well as a few areas in the city.

"There," Gab said with a satisfied sigh, "Submitted."

"Good job," Rayner congratulated, "and good timing."

"I honestly can't thank you enough," Gab said, looking down and pulling his ears back, "For the laptop, and the help, and the food. I thought today was going to be awful."

"Knock on wood," Rayner instantly recited and tapped the table, "Hopefully, this is wood. Umm, I'm glad everything worked out, though."

"Yeah, I'm shocked the wifi lasted this long," Gab said and looked up at the ceiling. He frowned at it and then looked down at the laptop. Rayner pulled out his phone and turned it around to show him the hotspot screen.

"I turned it on about twenty minutes ago," Rayner admitted, Gab flushed hard enough that Rayner could see it in his eyes and pulled his ears as far back as he could at the comment. Rayner quickly added, "It's fine, I never use it all anyway. There's wifi everywhere here."

"I don't know what to say," Gab muttered quietly. He almost looked scared, "Is there anything I can do? I don't want to owe you," and in a quieter tone said, "I don't really have anything."

"Hey," Rayner said quickly and tried to think quicker, "You know what, text me the mark you get, and we'll call it even."

"Are you sure?" Gab asked, scratching his head.

"Yeah," Rayner assured, not really sure if that was at all reassuring or just weird, "I hated that English course. It's nice to help someone get through at least a part of it."

"Okay," Gab said quietly and got out his phone. It was old, and it was cracked in multiple places. He pulled up his contact list, looked up, and asked, "How do you spell, umm?"

"Oh, yeah it's a weird name," Rayner muttered, "Rayner, r a y n e r."

"Rayner, umm?" Gab asked, but Rayner paused for a second at the question. Most wolves knew what a Pinewood looked like and almost liked to point it out. Did he not know? The not owing Rayner part seemed in Rayner's mind to be evidence but maybe he didn't.

"I'm a Pinewood," Rayner said and gestured to his fur. Gab didn't seem to take note and entered Rayner's information into his phone. Rayner wasn't sure what to make of that. Gab sent a test text to him to confirm.

"Thank you again," Gab said quietly, "like, really, it's almost eleven and I'm done and I really needed this to be a good mark."

"Oh?" Rayner asked and looked at his phone. It was five minutes to and Rayner groaned, "oh. Yeah. Sorry, I have a class like right now."

"I'll text you when I get my assignment back," Gab said, "Stay warm."

"You too," Rayner responded as he got his things together and took off with a wave and a smile.

His class wasn't too far away, but with how much snow, and sometimes beings, were on the ground, it took a lot longer than expected to get there. On the ground floor of the math department, Rayner checked his phone. It was already ten past. Rayner basically growled to himself, but missing the first part of the lecture was worth being able to get Gab's number. When he got there, he was left speechless.

On the door, there was a large paw-drawn sign that said, "Class cancelled," in what was probably a very large marker. What a relief. Today was a good day, Rayner thought he should have probably known that they'd cancel a class with the building not having power, but it's math. They only used the boards, and they didn't need power.

Rayner took out his phone with a smile and looked at the text Gab had sent him. Written in the little bubble was "Gab Wilson." Rayner happily added it to his contacts as he stood in front of his cancelled math class. He had a name, and he even had a number. He also had a smell around him that he wasn't sure if it was noticeable and a wet spot in his pants that he worried about.

"You make it?" a text came through as he held his phone. Rayner smiled and texted back that his class was actually cancelled. Gab only texted back about ten minutes later saying his classes were cancelled too.

Power wasn't restored to the university until late that afternoon. The pole outside the hospital hadn't been repaired, but the second way was fixed. With that start to the morning, Rayner heard from almost everyone that classes were cancelled, and the weather calming down a bit a lot of beings were out and about. Many of them were going to the bar or out to party. Some played in the snow, but it was only really the northern beings.

Rayner walked around campus feeling fantastic. He had been texting with Gab a bit. Nothing serious, mostly about English and how it was going, but it was hopeful. At least, it was more hope than Rayner had had in over a month. Gab was nice; he was shy to the point where Rayner worried he had anxiety issues but was very friendly nonetheless.

RiverBEND sent out a late email saying they were going ahead with tonight's meeting but warned everyone not to come unless the beings were already on campus. Even the trains were having issues. Rayner was shocked to see Lilith in the back corner listening to something loudly.

"Oh lord," Lilith grimaced as she took off her headphones, "you look happy."

"I am," Rayner admitted and almost beamed.

"It's disgusting," Lilith said with a sigh, "what happened? Your dog friends pat you on the head and tell you you're still a good boy?"

"His name's Gab," Rayner whispered and showed her his phone. Lilith almost instantly grabbed it and scrolled through the messages, then looked up at him.

"This like the wolf?" Lilith asked, emphasis on the, as she handed back Rayner's phone.

"Yeah," Rayner whispered, almost bouncing in his seat, "his name's Gab."

"And you got his number," Lilith pointed out, "you promise to buy him dinner?"

"Actually, I bought him lunch," Rayner admitted, pulling his ears back.

"You dog," Lilith chuckled and gave him a sidelong glance, "a surprise date."

"No, it was just lunch," Rayner laughed a little with her, "I let him use my laptop to finish an assignment when the power went out, and his died."

"Well played," Lilith said and shook her head.

"He seemed really happy," Rayner whispered and smiled at the thought, "and he really enjoyed the food."

"Okay, big question," Lilith started and looked at Rayner, "did he know it was a date?"

"It wasn't a date," Rayner argued.

"It was a date, you bought him food and let him use your stuff," Lilith pointed out in a huff, "but if you didn't know that, he probably didn't."

"It wasn't a date," Rayner argued again.

"Alistors?" Mel asked as she turned to face them. Rayner was confused for a second before remembering the lie. When they looked at her, she continued, "Can we start?"

"Yeah," Lilith said with a smile, "Sorry, my cousin went on a date."

"It wasn't a date," Rayner whispered aggressively and loudly as his ears started to flush. The very small group of beings in the room chuckled. One made an aw sound.

"'tis the season," Mel said, and she was right.

It was getting close to the midwinter break when they would enter heat. Schools and a lot of businesses slowed down in order to accommodate the yearly cycle. Each species had their own certain timeframe for when it happened, but the break covered most of it. Most women also artificially triggered the cycle and used prescriptions to tone it down. Males had rut, but Rayner never thought it was the same as what his sister seemed to go through.

Mel started the meeting, which was the last of what they called the serious meetings. After this, it was mostly about socialising, and then they had a drag show at the end of the month. Rayner wasn't sure about that. He felt being in a queer group was exotic enough to be almost overloading. Going to a drag show at a club would be intense.

As for the actual meeting, it was about queer communities abroad and how accepting the world was. Mel admitted a couple of times that there were usually more beings present. Unfortunately, that meant there were fewer experiences shared this time. Due to the weather and all, it devolved into what it was like growing up in different places. Lilith said almost nothing and wasn't comfortable talking about her family. Rayner said the same, which the group accepted without question.

"I don't like lying," Rayner whispered to Lilith as the group transitioned to the next activity.

"What now?" Lilith sighed.

"The names," Rayner explained, "I'm-"

"They aren't lies, they're aliases," Lilith cut him off, whispering but seeming very pissed, "it's different."

With the amount of force Lilith said it, Rayner's only response was to flatten his ears. She may be right. He wasn't sure how at this moment, and he may not have liked it, but he wasn't the wolf to question her. This did affect her too. Rayner let the line of conversation drop as they talked about the activities that could bring about change in the world.

That evening was okay, Rayner was a bit quieter than usual both because he was thinking about Gab and having Lilith silence him. He didn't blame her. Well, it took a bit to get there but eventually, he thought her pack was a lot more isolating than his was. Was lying about his identity wrong? There were probably some philosophical questions he'd have to get into to answer that one.

They said farewells and goodnights fairly early. A lot of the usual group wasn't there, and without David, it was a lot more small pockets talking to each other than usual. It was weird to think the leopard had the effect he did, but there was proof. Hopefully, everyone was okay.

The night came with the inconsistent beeping of plough trucks backing up and moving around. Multiple times Rayner tried to get to sleep, but the stupid things would start working again, making it frustrating to think. Plough trucks couldn't be helped. There was enough snow to make Rayner's travel difficult, and he was happy when he saw the pathways the next morning.

"So what did everyone do in the great outage?" Kacy asked during their Friday study session at Josh's. His ears were low, and one of his eyes looked half-closed. Rayner was pretty sure he was hungover.

"You first," Josh almost chuckled from the kitchen, "you have been nothing but groans since you walked in the door."

"Yeah," Kacy groaned, "I had three Blackouts at RNI last night. Bad idea."

"You said one was a bad idea last time," Olive pointed out without looking up from her laptop. She and Rayner were sitting on the couch while Kacy was on the floor, holding his head on the table.

"Everyone was having a good time though," Kacy argued.

"What's RNI?" Rayner quietly asked Olive.

"Rules Not Included," Olive whispered, shaking her head, "Bar down the river. Don't go there."

"It's a good bar," Kacy argued, "They have good specials."

"They put the cheapest spirits in almost expired juice," Olive corrected, "Then sell it to business students and frat boys."

"Well, where else am I going to get a triple for under ten dollars?" Kacy looked back and asked Olive.

"I have no idea," Olive admitted looking up, "I'm not an aspiring alcoholic."

"I don't have the money to be an alcoholic," Kacy complained, "What di' you do then?"

"A normal being thing," Olive mocked, "I got soup and read."

"That's not normal," Kacy pointed out, "Not even for this place."

"Kacy, I had a pizza and read last night," Josh said as he put on a pot for pasta. He had been slowly making a marinara as he went through a set of cue cards he made himself. Kacy turned around and narrowed his eyes at him.

"Rayner?" Kacy asked desperately, "you didn't read did you?"

"Actually, RiverBEND went ahead despite the weather," Rayner explained, he had a weird feeling saying it, but he had already told them. It felt like a misstep to take back the honesty.

"Ha," Kacy said triumphantly but then grimaced and held his head.

"Serves you right," Olive said with a smile as she watched Kacy try and comfort himself as he groaned through the pain.

"Any mystery wolf this week," Josh asked.

"His name's Gab," Rayner said softly, smiling to himself.

"What?" Kacy asked loudly. Rayner was smiling to himself until Kacy started almost howling in pain after he turned his head too quickly to look at Rayner. The dog had both paws on his head, eyes shut tight, and his ears folded back enough to disappear as he slumped down. The howl eventually turned into a groan and then into a whimper as Kacy lay on the ground.

"So he showed up?" Olive asked as she pulled out a bottle from her bag and gave Kacy something to ease his existence.

"No," Rayner explained, watching Kacy try and dry swallow pills, "I met him just before the blackout."

"You were outside during that storm?" Olive asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it was like me and maybe a dozen other northerners," Rayner said, waving a paw at the explanation and continued, "I went to the cafeteria, sat down in our spot, and then he showed up and needed a plugin."

"Nerds dating," Kacy muttered as he lay on the floor.

"It wasn't a date," Rayner argued instantly and intensely. Looking up, he flattened his ears as he realised that was uncalled for.

"What did you do?" Olive gave a faint smile as she asked, she looked like she was going to say something else to Kacy but changed her mind.

"Nothing," Rayner argued but looked back down at his computer.

"Definitely a nerd date then," Kacy muttered on the floor.

"Kacy, I know how to get those pills back," Olive threatened to which Kacy whimpered and swallowed hard. With a smile, she turned to Rayner and asked, "What nothing did you do?"

"Nothing. When the power went out," Rayner explained quietly, "I just let him use my laptop to finish his assignment."

"And?" Olive asked instantly.

"I let him use my data when the WiFi cut out," Rayner groaned.

"And?" Olive asked again.

"I bought him lunch," Rayner admitted as he pulled out his phone and showed Olive, "Okay? I got his number, but it wasn't a date."

"Gab Wilson," Olive read out loud, "Yeah, that was-"

Josh sounded like he sucked something in too hard and cut off Olive. They all looked as Josh pounded his chest a couple of times and then started coughing loudly as he threw a spoon into the sink in frustration. The Samoyed sounded distressed but otherwise okay as he lent on the counter and coughed.

"You okay?" Olive asked tentatively.

"Hmm, yeah," Josh coughed out, "He a first year? What the fuck. Gab. Does this guy have like an ancient laptop?"

"Yes?" Rayner said as Josh caught his breath, "It died almost instantly when the power went out."

"Shit, man," Josh turned down the stove and walked over to the couch, "I know him, he's in like three of my classes. I didn't think he was... you know?"

"Gay?" Rayner asked bluntly, and Josh pulled his ears back.

"NO," Josh said quickly but then rubbed his forehead with his paw, "well not entirely, well I mean not like that. I meant, like, the one you were looking for. Gab is... umm... different?"

"Oh?" Rayner asked.

"Nothing bad," Josh explained, clearing his throat again, "he's smart as hell... you know, when he talks, but the wolf is all business and like always walking on eggshells. And, I think he's really struggling. Not that that's a bad thing."

"Oh," Rayner muttered and looked down at his phone.

"Josh just means be mindful on your next date," Olive said when the silence stretched out.

"It wasn't a date!" Rayner whispered hoarsely as he turned to Olive but then asked, "What do you mean, be mindful?"

"Make sure both of you can afford it," Olive explained, "There's nothing more off-putting for some males than knowing they can't reciprocate."

"Not for women," Kacy groaned from the floor.

"Not for all women," Olive corrected, "Bitches be bitches; cocks be cocks."

"That's what Lilith says," Rayner chuckled quietly.

"I like her then. It's from a song," Olive explained, "Spade's a spade."

"Heh," Kacy chuckled from the floor, "Olive likes a lesbian."

"And?!" Olive asked loudly.

"Well, it's-," Kacy groaned.

"Kacy, it's unfortunate that the pills are probably dissolved by now and the only way to get them back would be to flush your system entirely," Olive explained aggressively.

"Sorry, mum," Kacy muttered. Rayner caught Josh looking between Kacy and Olive. He then looked at Rayner with an acknowledging sort of head tilt as he walked back to the kitchen. Rayner guessed he accepted that Olive was the other alpha in this group at that point.

"Good boy," Olive muttered to Kacy and turned to Josh, "what else do you know?"

"Not much," Josh replied as he dumped a bunch of pasta into a pot, now rapidly boiling, "Gab doesn't ask questions, or stay after class, and in the one group assignment we had, he finished all his work first."

"Was he at least nice to work with?" Rayner asked.

"I guess," Josh sort of shrugged, "He was quiet most of the time, but anytime one of us had a problem, he solved it. No idea how he did, but he solved it. That assignment is my highest mark."

"Can I borrow him for my ethics course?" Kacy asked from under the table. Everyone gave either a chuckle or shook their head but didn't respond.

"What assignment was Gab working on?" Josh asked suddenly, "All of mine are past due."

"English," Rayner answered, looking through his texts, "I gave him access to the program Olive had us all buy last year."

"You mean I saved your tails with last year," Olive corrected.

"Makes sense," Josh mutters, "That and his Calc. course are the two I'm not in. He doesn't like either of them from what he said."

"Not even professors like that first calc course," Rayner chuckled, remembering his.

Rayner's first-year prof was a thin old mutt from Eastern Europe, based on his accent. It wasn't thrilling, Rayner liked the math, so he wasn't hard to please, but he felt like the prof was just reading from a textbook. The second semester was way worse, that half-blind Shepard just wrote on the board the entire semester. Her marking was basically all on the exams, and they were easy if you did the work.

"Could be a good way to see him again," Olive looked up thoughtfully and said.

"What do you mean?" Rayner muttered.

"You up for a study session like we do?" Olive asked, and Rayner nodded, "Well, ask him, but probably do it between food, so there's no pressure to pay for anything but drinks."

Rayner nodded, smiled to himself and pulled Gab's thread. He typed in a short message asking Gab if he was free to study on Sunday morning at the cafeteria after breakfast. Rayner needed to study at that time anyway, so that would be a good excuse. At the last second, he added he would bring coffee again.

"Here," Rayner frowned a bit and handed his phone to Olive, "Does this sound right?"

"Very casual," Olive noted but tilted her head at the end. Then with a smile, she tapped Rayner's phone, "Your coffee date is submitted."

"What?!" Rayner whimpered and pulled his ears back in surprise as he went for his phone, "No, it's not a date!"

Olive didn't keep his phone, and Rayner read over the message a couple of times. It didn't sound like a date. It was just to study. Right? Well, thinking about it, Rayner sort of thought of it as a date now, but nothing serious. It was just coffee.

Rayner had Josh read over it as well after Josh finished serving lunch. Josh said it was fine. There was nothing in the message that could be read as overtly date-like but could become if the option was available. Kacy said it was a date without reading the message, which Rayner unsuccessfully tried to ignore.

Josh's food was filling. Rayner thought about some of the food back home and how it was compared but didn't say anything. The Pinewoods had about a half dozen chefs and even more cooks to feed the two or three hundred of them. It wasn't restaurant-quality food, but it also wasn't store-bought. Josh's marinara tasted in that realm, but store-bought dry pasta tasted like the cardboard it comes in to Rayner. He was happy for the food, though, and for Josh's effort. They all ate happily and in relative silence till a little buzz had them all look up from their food.

"Absolutely, that sounds great," Rayner excitedly read Gab's text out loud. He hummed happily to himself, smiled widely, and his tail wagged hard enough it made his whole body almost wiggle.

"You have a date," Olive said quietly.

"I have a date," Rayner happily agreed before catching himself and yelling, "It's not a date!"

--

Saturday's adventure had to be rearranged because the river valley hadn't been ploughed yet. The original idea was another long walk. They settled for just walking around campus and talking about life back at home. Not that campus life was much different from home life for the three dogs. They all lived close to the city.

Kacy's parents had divorced some years ago, and Kacy's father had moved back to Germany shortly after. He stayed in contact, but it sounded like a rough time. His mother had remarried very quickly without much explanation, so there was always that sort of tension at home. He said his stepdad was great, and he tried hard to integrate into their lives. Rayner wondered if there was more to it but never asked.

Josh said he'd visit home but wasn't going to stay. With the condo, it was easy enough to do, and it sounded like it would probably be for the best with everything that had happened. He said he tried to play nice, but his parents wanted to ignore what had happened rather than try and resolve it. Josh figured they thought everything was resolved when they bought the condo.

Olive complained that they didn't have to deal with this time of year like she did. She had two sisters, one older and one younger, to try and contend with as well. A house full of huskies in heat was loud and whiny, and the amount of aerosol her mother used was overpowering to the point where her father went to the cabin to escape. It was without heat, power, and plumbing but Olive said it was an attractive option for him regardless. She did admit at one point that her parents were fairly religious, and heat was only for pup making. Her mom sounded like Rayner's aunt to him, though, as they liked to say spiritual a lot.

Rayner didn't say much about the Pinewood pack during heat. Most of his comments were that life went on regardless of how they felt. There was a lot more attention given to the pups experiencing it the first time, of course, but if you were an adult, you were expected to act like one. Not like there was anywhere to escape to in Pinewood. Pinewood was the escape. It was to the point where his family sent packages to him to pick up because mail out there was complicated. It was fine if you used regular post but online used third parties, and they sometimes didn't deliver directly to Pinewood.

"That's awful," Olive almost groaned, "How often do you have to pick up stuff?"

"This time, it's just my sister," Rayner explained, "but last year, it was more mail than my stuff in Dad's truck."

The rest of the day, Rayner was mostly lazy. He studied a bit in the early afternoon but never delved too far into it. He figured he'd work with Gab tomorrow, and that would make up for it. Rayner was excited to talk more to him. If Rayner had to, he'd power through it in the afternoon. That train of thought got him more focused on studying now, just in case.

Rayner grabbed his table just after sunrise the next day with two breakfast wraps and water. He'd got up early to make two pots of coffee, which he filled his large container and two smaller ones with. One of his roommates, a fox, told him that much would give him a heart attack but then seemed surprised when Rayner said it was to share. Rayner wasn't sure which scenario was better.

He ate his wraps while rereading the course outlines and making sure he could answer all the points the courses said they would cover. Rayner jotted down a couple of notes when he came to some that he felt were covered either well in class or the homework. That was always how they got the marks down.

"You're early," Gab said quietly, almost to himself, as Rayner was finishing his second wrap. Rayner was a bit shocked he couldn't hear Gab approaching until he talked but swallowed as fast as he could.

"Morning," Rayner tried hard to say something other than that he was excited but settled on, "I like this table, and it's usually taken quickly."

"May I sit?" Gab asked quietly after he nodded.

"Of course," Rayner said and pushed out a chair. He glanced at a clock as Gab sat down and then realised, "You're early as well. It's just after eight."

"Yeah," Gab muttered, "I couldn't focus at the Dorms."

"Dodgeball tournament?" Rayner asked, thinking fondly back to last year.

"Yes," Gab looked up and almost groaned, "and they are so loud about it. It started yesterday."

"You participating?" Rayner asked, knowing the answer.

"No," Gab said with a frown, "I wouldn't be any good."

"That's not the point," Rayner chuckled, "My team was destroyed in all three qualifying matches, but we laughed about it."

"Really?" Gab asked, looking up in surprise as he pulled out his laptop, "why?"

"You mean, why did we lose, or why did we laugh?" Rayner asked with a half-smile.

"Both?" Gab half asked, half answered.

"Wolves and big dogs don't win dodgeball," Rayner explained, "Cats always win. And we mostly laughed because Kacy caught one of the balls with his muzzle and was out for damaging it."

"Oh," Gab sort of chuckled.

"But if it's not for you, then it's not for you," Rayner said with a shrug and looked back down at his notes.

"Sounds like fun, but this semester has been really hard," Gab finally admitted quietly, "and I'm not good at... well, talking to beings."

"First term is rough," Rayner agreed, "and it takes practice."

"It gets easier," Gab quoted.

"I hate that first-year mantra," Rayner perked up quickly at the phrase, "It doesn't get easier; you get stronger."

"I know I haven't," Gab muttered quietly to himself.

"That takes practice too," Rayner explained, basically quoting what his father always said, "Practice, a mentor, a good diet, and determination are keys you'll unlock the world with."

"Ha, I have two of those," Gab chuckled to himself until he thought about what he said; "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"Hey," Rayner said as calmly as he could, "I'm a realist. I try to be, at least. Some beings win the birth lottery. I know I'm luckier than most, even with what I have been through. We make do with what we have and are not ashamed of it."

"Yeah," Gab said quietly, "but I still feel like I owe you from last time."

"Because you haven't given me your mark," Rayner pointed out, questioning his phrasing of that before quickly adding, "Not that they'd have marked it yet."

"I can't buy you anything," Gab explained quietly and defensively.

"Hey, look," Rayner looked up and tried his best to meet Gab's gaze. Gab looked scared but was also doing his best. "I don't expect you to. Okay?"

Gab nodded but stayed silent. They broke their gaze and pulled out some plans to study with. It was an awkward half an hour until Gab's phone buzzed indicating they should be studying. Gab flinched, but Rayner chuckled at it as he pulled out his phone and showed that he had silenced his alarm just a couple of minutes before.

"Do you want some coffee?" Rayner asked tentatively. He worried now that even this would be a bit much.

"If you don't mind," Gab said quietly. Rayner smiled, poured two cups, and they went back to studying a little easier.

Rayner was going over mostly his graph theory course. It sounded hard, but like most math courses, if you followed along, did the homework, and came in with a good foundation, it was just the next step in a long staircase. A lot of his class felt otherwise, though, and the prof was rather adamant that this would be a make-or-break course.

Looking over the table, he saw Gab with his first-semester calc course. He was doing the class without extra help, so Rayner reasoned you would have taken the high school course. Gab looked highly organised, and his notes were neater than Rayners. It wasn't until Rayner saw the prof that was teaching it that he got worried.

"Oh, Skoll," Rayner muttered, "You have the Shepherd teaching you."

"What?" Gab looked up from his work, back down at his work, and then up at Rayner, "Yes?"

"That's probably the worst way to be introduced to Calculus," Rayner explained, "I am so sorry."

"Really?" Gab asked with a sigh.

"Yeah, does she just write on the board the entire class?" Rayner asked.

"Yes," Gab said and nodded.

"Barely says anything?" Rayner continued.

"Yes," Gab said emphatically, "I think in two of the classes, she didn't even say anything."

"She did that in my second-semester course last year," Rayner explained, "Her entire course is based on ten assignments with the weight skewed in the most messed up way possible."

"No, I have eight assignments and two exams," Gab explained and pulled out his outline.

"Oh," Rayner said calmly, "how was the midterm?"

"Fine enough," Gab answered cautiously.

"Eighty minutes for ten questions?" Rayner asked knowingly.

"Exactly," Gab answered, now frowning.

"Just like the assignments?" Rayner asked as he tugged on one he recognised from Gab's stack of papers.

"No," Gab answered shocked but looking closer at the assignment and repeated, "No?"

"Yup," Rayner said with a knowing smirk, "The final, as she calls it, is mostly on the last section."

"Oh shit," Gab muttered and then grabbed his muzzle quickly but apologised, "I'm so sorry. I was going to skip section ten because I thought it was extra."

"Do not do that," Rayner warned, "I think I had three students in my class walk out of the exam whimpering. I would not be shocked if it was for that reason."

"No doubt," Gab said, looking down at his work.

Gab quickly pulled up something on his computer, and for the next couple of hours, the two of them worked and drank coffee. Rayner figured Gab had an electronic copy of the textbook. He preferred the physical books even if they were second-hand. Rayner figured he'd display them all one day like Sigmund, the Packs lawyer, did in his office.

Around eleven, Rayner took a long hard look at his paw and realised he probably had too much coffee. It was now shaking a bit, and he had been having trouble concentrating for the last half hour. The noise of the cafeteria began to rise, but it wasn't like a weekday. On weekdays, there would be easily triple the number of beings around him at this time.

"I think I need a break," Rayner admitted eventually.

"Oh," Gab said as he looked up but then pulled his ears down, "Call it a day then?"

"For now, at least," Rayner said and asked, "What are you doing for lunch?"

"I have," Gab said with a twitch but continued, "I have leftover soup back at the dorms."

"I'm sorry," Rayner said, mentally kicking himself for asking, "I shouldn't have."

"I'm getting by with what I have," Gab quoted earlier.

"It's not my business," Rayner said quickly, "but I know Olive, my friend, volunteers at the food bank. She says it's a lot more common than beings realise."

"That's where I got the soup," Gab muttered. There was a moment of silence when Rayner realised how far he'd put his paw in his muzzle.

"I'm sorry," Rayner muttered, "I'm an ass-"

"No," Gab said quietly, "You aren't. Honestly, you'll be the only being I've told, and I just met you. I'm sorry... You probably didn't want to know that. I don't... I'm not good at talking to beings."

"Yeah, well, my fur usually keeps beings away from me," Rayner said almost angrily to his arm, "If my muzzle doesn't do the job for me."

"Why?" Gab asked.

"Look up the Pinewood Pack," Rayner told Gab and nodded toward his laptop. It wasn't even a couple of minutes into searching that Gab looked up at Rayner.

"You're in a cult?" Gab asked loudly, and more than a couple of beings turned toward them. They all looked at Rayner with a variety of unpleasant expressions. Rayner gestured to the beings now gawking at him and shrugged.

"We aren't a cult," Rayner said loudly, "We are a very large wolf pack with an unfortunate history that we are trying to fix."

"That sounds like a cult," Gab whispered as the beings around them either scoffed at Rayner's comment before going back to their own lives.

"Most of those articles are very old," Rayner explained, looking over at Gab's laptop, "and yeah, the old elders were a piece of work, but we've spent the last twenty-five years trying to change. I wasn't even born when that article came out."

"Oh," Gab said quietly, "it's from the eighties. I'm sorry, that's... I had no idea."

"Now you know," Rayner said quietly, "you don't seem to mind me being around. That's all I want. If that's changed, I understand."

There was an extremely long silence for Rayner as Gab thought it through. Rayner had experienced this last year when beings started to whisper where he was from. Back home, it wasn't a problem because the neighbouring towns knew the Pinewoods, but apparently, the city still felt like they were an oddity. They were, Rayner admitted but not in the same way.

"Argh," Gab groaned suddenly, shook his head and almost chuckled before asking, "Would I have to buy my own robes?"

"Again," Rayner said coldly, "We aren't a cult."

"Sorry," Gab muttered and looked away, "It's just I'm broke, hungry, and alone. For some reason, being invited to join a cult sort of makes sense."

"That's rough," Rayner muttered, realising where Gab was coming from, "Well, if you want to join, it's like a family. You have to marry one of us."

"That would require me dating," Gab laughed, "Which I'm really bad at, can't afford, and don't have time for. Then there's my family."

"Oh?" Rayner asked.

"My dad's a speciest, sexist, purist," Gab explained almost angrily, "and... a bunch of other things. Men are men. He keeps saying I'm not... only reason he sent me here is that he said I'm worthless in the shop."

"That's awful," Rayner said quietly, twisting his ears back as he listened, "You know there's loans you-"

"Tried that," Gab muttered, cutting Rayner off, "Dad said he didn't want the government in the family business. Didn't want me coming back a faggot loving liberal."

The word hit Rayner hard. Far harder than he expected it to with how much he'd heard it throughout his life. In Highschool, pups used it freely. Even now, he'd hear it on occasion. The venom Gab had used with it stuck.

"I'm sorry," Gab groaned and started to pack up his stuff, "I should go, I shouldn't have said any of that. Please don't tell anyone."

"I won't," Rayner said quickly, shaking his head before looking down. He chuckled at something Lilith had said a while ago before saying in the way she did, "World's a shitty place."

"Yeah," Gab muttered, pausing for a second as he packed, "I wish it would stop being scary, though."

"Hopefully, I'm not part of that issue," Rayner asked quickly.

"Ha, no," Gab laughed but then hesitated, "sort of. I'd join your cult, though."

"Again," Rayner said with a laugh and, without thinking, explained, "You'd have to marry me to join."

Gab froze for a second and frowned, trying to figure out if he heard that right. He started to try and say something but stopped a couple of times. Rayner saw it in his peripheral vision but didn't move. He was frozen, absolutely and completely motionless, as his insides burned. Did he really just say that after Gab's comment about his dad?

"You could do a lot better than me," Gab laughed half-heartedly as he finished packing up, "Plus, dad would kill me. But I should go. I got soup waiting for me."

"Yeah," Rayner muttered, "Sorry. Thank you?"

"Take care," Gab nodded and said as he waved and walked away from the table.

Rayner sat there watching him go. He breathed out everything in his lungs when Gab rounded a corner. Scratching his head wildly, Rayner panicked and thought about what he could do to salvage something after that conversation. Nothing came to mind.

"What the fuck is wrong with me?" Rayner whispered to himself.

He spent more time that day replaying what he said than he did anything else. It was pointless to work on anything because anytime he tried to put Gab out of his mind, the marry me comment came back. Did wonders killing any discomfort he had in his shorts, though.

"You said what?" Olive scoffed at Rayner as they sat in a cafe across from the library a couple of hours later. Rayner's mood hadn't improved. He texted Josh but Josh hadn't responded so the backup was Olive. She listened to his retelling of different states of shock.

"To join my cult, you'd have to marry me," Rayner whispered raggedly and looked around. Olive chuckled, sipped her latte and shook her head.

Rayner tried to find something to fidget with but only had his half-packed bag beside him with the work he quickly crammed into it. The two small containers of coffee were full at the bottom, but the large container that was strapped to the bottom was empty. Unlike the loose papers inside his bag, the coffee container was tied on as tightly as Rayner could pull the strap.

"And?" Olive asked impatiently.

"He said I could do better than him," Rayner muttered.

"Shit," Olive said quickly, "was he serious or did he laugh or what?"

"He laughed?" Rayner explained, "I don't know, it was very weird... I think, just everything."

"What happened to you?" Olive asked suddenly, "with Bell you were romantic and thoughtful. You look like a train wreck."

"I don't know," Rayner argued, "I could think with Bell around... I could plan. There's rules."

"Oh please, all the same rules apply," Olive shot back.

"No," Rayner muttered, "I don't think... I don't think he's comfortable... I don't think he's out."

"His dad doesn't want him to be a faggot loving liberal," Olive whispered, "Of course, he's not. That's his support network."

Rayner didn't say anything. He couldn't see anything other than the table in front of him. This was all going so sideways, and it had only been three days since meeting Gab. Last weekend, Rayner had thought about making an online dating profile and trying to see if there were other wolves that Lilith knew that he could try dating.

Olive said something Rayner didn't hear and got up to get something at the counter. Rayner looked around and listened to the cafe. There were so many beings all happily doing their own thing. A couple of them looked like they were on a date, and Rayner felt a pang of envy at that. He wished he could be with Gab the way he was with Bell.

"Drink this," Olive said suddenly, putting a small glass of clear liquid in front of him and another in front of her. It smelt strong.

"I don't drink unless it's the high holidays or a celebration," Rayner explained, looking at the glass. His tolerance for alcohol was low.

"It's to celebrate," Olive said with a smile and held up her glass, "To your second date ever with someone you actually like." Rayner whimpered, but Olive poked his glass and added, "He never actually closed the door."

Rayner, begrudgingly, picked up the glass Olive set in front of him, touched it to hers and downed the entire thing. Olive's eyes went wide as two things happened suddenly, Rayner's insides felt like they were burning for an entirely different reason than emotion, and he started to groan at the sensation. Olive did try her best to stop all of this but didn't take into account that he might take it all at once.

"No, Rayner," Olive almost hissed as she watched and then slowly explained, "that was for sipping."

"What is this?" Rayner whimpered and coughed lightly.

"A double gin," Olive said quietly.

"I don't think I like it," Rayner continued to whimper as his stomach started to feel warm.

"You will in a bit," Olive said, getting up again, "I'm going to go get you food, so that doesn't all hit you at once."

Rayner had the most unpleasant, pleasant experience while Olive got food. He first realised he was getting tipsy when he felt himself relax against the chair he was sitting in. It was a large, red, high-backed fabric chair that felt and smelt well worn in.

Olive came back with what Rayner could only describe as fluffy sheets of bread with some sort of flavourful sauce in a very large bowl. In his slow descent, Rayner ate it happily and over the next half hour, the worries he had been feeling seemed to melt away. They didn't talk while Rayner ate, but Olive watched him cautiously. Eventually, Rayner put his head on the table and just became one with it.

"Why do I feel like this?" Rayner asked suddenly.

"Your first real crush and your first real drink," Olive explained, smiling at him.

"How do you know?" Rayner asked, annoyed that she'd just assume both.

"You kept telling us you don't drink," Olive answered but hesitated on the second, "and Bell told me a lot after you two broke up."

"What?" Rayner looked up at her and frowned.

"Yeah, she blamed me for your troubles," Olive explained, "Came in yelling that she broke up with you so we could be together. She was very drunk. Angry. The more she talked though the more I suspected you didn't want to be with her for reasons other than me."

"Is that why you and Josh seemed to understand so much?" Rayner asked quietly.

"Yes and no," Olive confirmed and tilted her head back and forth, "I told him back in August that you might be struggling."

Rayner whined quietly at the last word and closed his eyes but didn't say anything.

"I looked up a bunch of things about helping friends come out," Olive continued after frowning at his whine, "Talked to Josh a lot about it, and when you did, we mostly tried to support you the best we could... and kept Kacy quiet."

"Thank you," Rayner whispered.

"Of course, you're our friend," Olive said simply.

"You didn't tell Kacy?" Rayner asked after a long pause.

"No," Olive scoffed at the question, "Kacy can't keep things to himself. Actually, I'd keep Gab away from him until you tell him about your crush."

"I don't think that will be a problem," Rayner groaned, frowning at the table.

"Give it a day or two," Olive shrugged, "then text him."

"What if I'm supposed to take the hint?" Rayner argued.

"Do men do hints?" Olive asked with a smirk. Rayner looked up at her and frowned, but when he thought about it, he wasn't entirely sure. Olive continued when Rayner didn't say anything, "In my experience, men only hide what they want hidden. Not what they want found."

"I told you the rules are different," Rayner grumbled.

"Fair," Olive said with a frown, "You're still ahead of Kacy, though."

"Kacy dates a lot," Rayner argued.

"Correct," Olive said and then moved closer to quietly say, "But he doesn't understand the rules. Or that there are rules. Or that sex isn't transactional unless in very specific situations."

Rayner chuckled and lifted his head, and sat back into the chair comfortably. Olive smiled. Maybe she was right. Rayner asked her if she had any other wisdom about dating guys, and she apparently had a list. It was comforting to think that he could talk to her. She had always seemed stern but going through the things she had to try and understand about guys, she seemed softer. Not gentle, mind you, but more open.

The cafe got busier as supper got closer, and Rayner sobered up. They each got something small to eat, Olive got something else to drink, and they continued talking about dating and the rules. Olive went through what her experiences had been like, why they had ended, and what she wished she had known beforehand.

Rayner was shocked at how they varied. Olive's first relationship was with a German Shepard from school that went on for a long time, but it sounded like neither of them knew why. They were young, though. Her second was with a smaller shepherd, and it ended very abruptly after things got more serious. She didn't say why and Rayner didn't ask. Her last was with what she called a true mutt, and he broke it off because he thought their relationship was only for high school.

"What a jerk," Rayner commented when she grumbled about how the mutt told her through a text message.

"He was an asshole, but it was probably for the best," Olive muttered into her glass, "He wasn't that great in any department."

"Another Maddis?" Rayner asked, mentioning the Shepherd.

"No," Olive quickly said with a chuckle, "Maddis slipped out, Brian at least wasn't that bad."

"Oh, that's frustrating," Rayner said with a frown. Tying is an important part of mating for both dogs and wolves, and not having that connection was a deal-breaker to most. "Maddis makes sense now."

"Sorry," Olive muttered, looking at the table intently, "I didn't mean to get that graphic."

"Farm pup," Rayner said with a shake of his head, "and a Pinewood, there is literally nothing you can tell me that would be considered graphic."

"Don't challenge me," Olive looked up and narrowed her eyes at Rayner, "I'm tipsy and burnt out."

"Literally nothing," Rayner leaned in closer and challenged her with a smile.

"My thumb is bigger than Maddis at his biggest," Olive whispered and gave him a thumbs up, but Rayner just smirked disappointedly, "I have a variety of dildos?"

"Don't most women?" Rayner asked.

"One of them's a cat," Olive whispered.

"That doesn't sound pleasant."

"It isn't," Olive whispered and groaned as she looked at the table, "Okay, nuclear option, I don't hate heat. I hate what comes afterwards and how much I have to spend on basic supplies for it."

"Look through the stuff my sister has me get every year," Rayner pulled out his phone and handed it to her, "It should be under Tess unless Carl changed her name again."

Olive didn't say anything but whispered a couple of things that Rayner didn't pay attention to. His sister was more open about everything than Rayner ever was, but he was comfortable enough walking through city stores looking for supplies.

"Why five? Could probably get a bulk discount at that point," Olive muttered as she looked at his phone before stating, "That's a weirdly open relationship. I mean, mom has us paint with her, but I can't imagine talking to like Josh or Kacy like that."

"Not knowing is what got us in trouble," Rayner quoted a lot of what the Pinewoods said, "And Tess know everything. Education is what will make sure we don't get in trouble again. I know too much because I listen."

"Yeah, but I thought your pack would be conservative," Olive pointed out.

"Oh! They are," Rayner said, "But The Counsel, The Circle, and whatever Sigmund is, seem to go out of their way to find the most up-to-date information. At least on some things. That's why I'm here, actually. Pinewoods never used to go to university."

"So Sigmund isn't a Pinewood?" Olive asked.

"No, he is," Rayner explained, "He left the Pack to go to university, it was a big thing years ago. He became a lawyer. Says he did well enough before, but when the Pack was investigated, he was invited back. After all, was said and done, he became sort of a third pillar to the leadership."

"But you're worried about you being gay in what sounds like a liberal haven?" Olive asked.

"It isn't," Rayner corrected, "Sex is to be understood, respected, and be used with the intent to make pups. The other side is there's still a number of the old guard in the pack who disagree with the current direction the Pack is moving."

"What do you mean?" Olive asked.

"I'm here, but," Rayner said but tried to think of a good way to put it, "there was a lot of argument about using Pack funds to put me through university."

"It is expensive," Olive agreed.

"And having a computing science degree isn't something a lot of them see value in," Rayner said coldly, "Even if I did save them a ton when I built their scheduling system."

"That's rough," Olive muttered.

"Definitely rougher than Maddis," Rayner chuckled, Olive clamped down her muzzle to make sure she didn't laugh too loud. Olive shook her head a couple of times and looked away before eventually turning to Rayner.

"You know, I spent like a month thinking I did something wrong," Olive admitted quietly, "That us not being able to tie was my fault."

"I'm sorry," Rayner said quietly, "You know it wasn't right?"

"Yup," Olive said coldly, "but back then, I thought God was punishing me for it. Being with him. Like that, I mean."

"That's awful," Rayner muttered.

"I'm sorry," Olive whispered as she shook her head.

"No," Rayner whispered back, "I just, I don't know, I don't know how I'd react."

"Well, hopefully, your first time was better than that," Olive muttered, "I'm pretty sure it is for most guys regardless, but I took what I could get. I complain, but I think the mystique of it all made up for Maddis's size."

"Wouldn't know," Rayner admitted quietly.

"Right," Olive said with a nod, "Well, hopefully, it goes better than that when you get the opportunity."

"Honestly," Rayner started with a bit of uncertainty, "I have had the opportunity."

"Oh?" Olive asked.

"Yeah, I have just also had to pupsit," Rayner explained, "and calving is always an eye-opener. Then there was this video of a wolf giving birth that we had to watch. Mom describing her pregnancy with Carl sounded awful. Like I know if birth control is used correctly, it's fine, but there's not really much unknown about any of it to me."

"Even the gay part?" Olive asked quietly.

"Not from the pack," Rayner admitted, "but I look up a lot, and RiverBEND has been good for breaking down some walls. It's a bit more complicated, like emotionally, but I'm just... it still freaks me out. Is there anything you wish Maddis or Brian would have done differently?"

"Gone slower would have been nice," Olive said with a chuckle, "or didn't think we were done just because they were."

"Anything you'd go back and tell yourself?" Rayner asked quietly, "you know, about something being in you."

"No, but something being inside me wasn't new," Olive said carefully, "honestly Rayner, same advice I was given. Get a mirror and look at yourself and explore. Start small, though."

--

"So?" Kacy asked expectantly as they all sat in the cafeteria Monday morning. The hall was busy with the noise of students going either to grab a quick bite to eat or rush back to class. Most of the students studying either had headphones in or were talking quietly at the tables. Kacy being an exception. He sort of bounced in anticipation.

Olive and Josh were on the other side of the table from Kacy and Rayner. Rayner now regretted his spot immensely as he was within the sensory range of the dog. He wondered quickly if he could just call into this meeting.

"How di' go?" Kacy asked a little clearer this time.

"I blew it," Rayner grumbled.

"Go, Rayner," Kacy almost cheered with wider eyes than Rayner had ever seen.

"No, it didn't go that bad," Olive scoffed quickly, pointing a finger at Rayner and then moving it to Kacy to almost growl, "and he definitely didn't do that."

"Oh," Kacy's look disappeared into disappointment.

"What?" Rayner asked as he looked at Kacy but then realised what the dog must have thought. Rayner turned and ask Olive, "can I hit him?"

"Could you? I'd be willing to drag him to the hospital afterwards," Olive said with a shrug, "you're entirely one of us now, which means keeping Kacy in line."

"What does that mean?" Kacy asked, cringing away from Rayner as the rest turned to face her.

"I told him about Maddis," Olive admitted. Josh put a paw on her shoulder out of instinct, but she continued without acknowledging it, "and Brian."

"When?" Kacy asked.

"Yesterday," Olive answered, she shook her head and lifted her paw in disbelief.

"I didn't," Rayner started but tried to think for a second on how to put this so Olive wouldn't argue with it, "the study session with Gab was less than smooth. I freaked out and texted Olive to talk."

"Yes," Kacy said with a turn and started wagging his tail again, "but what happened."

"I brought coffee," Rayner explained slowly, "said a bunch of dumb things, tried to make a joke that was really off-target, and made it awkward multiple times."

"You also probably saved him from getting an awful grade in a final," Olive pointed out, "and you listened... and he trusted you. It wasn't all bad."

"To join my cult, you'd have to marry me," Rayner whispered to the table. Both Josh and Kacy winced at the retelling.

"Bad Rayner," Kacy muttered, "Even I wouldn't say something like that."

They looked up at him and stared.

"Oh god, have I?" Kacy asked, a little worried by their stares.

"Yes," all three said in unison. Kacy put his ears down and looked at the table but didn't respond. His wagging tail was suddenly very still.

"Mine gets worse with context, though," Rayner added, "He has a less than supportive home life."

"Well, buy him dinner, try and make it up," Kacy suggested, both Olive and Rayner, however, gave him a knowing look, "Okay, well, what's your plan then?"

"Offer another study session," Rayner said with a shrug. He had thought hard about what else he could do but Gab didn't look athletic so adventures were unknown, he was broke so buying him stuff was risky, and he wasn't out so bars and clubs were a no-go. Rayner added, "I'll text him soon."

"Tomorrow," Olive directed, "at the latest."

"Fine," Rayner grumbled but didn't argue.

"Oh, third date," Kacy said happily, his tail finding life again until all three turned on him and narrowed their eyes. Kacy, with his tongue half stuck out, made a show of biting it.

"Huh, you're learning," Olive said, mildly amused.

The rest of Monday sort of dragged on for Rayner, and Tuesday didn't get any better. The thought of what he could say to Gab weighed on his mind as he studied the best he could. Rayner thought more about what Olive said, though, and Gab did seem to trust him. Meeting him only twice, it was hard to be sure.

Tuesday evening, alone in his room, Rayner had his phone, a simple text written out and ready to go for over an hour. It asked if Gab was free Thursday morning for another study session. It promised two things, coffee and a less awkward Rayner. Rayner knew he could only actually deliver one of those, but he'd try his best on the other.

In practising hitting the send button, he accidentally tapped it for real, and the chime on his phone indicated it went out before Rayner could do anything. Rayner froze, staring at his phone intently for the next five minutes, but nothing happened. Over the next twenty minutes, his heart slowly sank until he put his phone on his dresser and sighed. It wasn't until about ten minutes after Rayner started staring at the ceiling did he hear his phone chime again.

"Thank you," Gab texted, "that would be great. I am having trouble with my calculus course and I promise not to be as weird as last time."

"Thank fuck, Skoll, yes," Rayner hoarsely whispered and then bit down into a pillow in excitement after he read the text. He buried his head in his other pillow and almost howled but nothing escaped. The sound of his tail wagging about caused more noise than he did.

Rayner, after gaining some level of composure, texted the rest of the group the news. Olive and Josh both wrote nice things about how they were happy for him and that he would do well. They both ended with, "be more confident." Kacy, to his credit, said Gab would be a fool not to see Rayner the same way they all do.

Thursday appeared, somehow, faster than Rayner expected. Wednesday's study session went like a real study session. Olive had to actually finish her courses so she pushed them all hard when they started getting off-topic. Josh and Kacy were themselves, though. The Samoyed just smiled and worked. Kacy was unfocused at the best of times but got a lot accomplished.

Gab and Rayner were supposed to meet up again at nine but Rayner showed up to grab the spot just before seven. Figured he'd get breakfast out of the way first and get comfortable. Wraps and water, a laptop and a pad of paper, and both power and wifi completed all his sets. Plus, the chairs were nice, not having smelly and loud roommates were nice and in the big open space, it felt a little like home.

Looking around there weren't many here yet. It was more than the ones that showed up last week but it would get packed before he left. A lot more cats this time. There were the same amount of wolves and dogs crowded in different areas but there were enough cats gathered around one of the heaters that Rayner wondered why they went out at all. In looking he even saw Gab walk around a corner.

Rayner was mildly shocked and looked at the time. It was only seven-thirty. He didn't know why Gab was this early, but then again, he was earlier. Gab looked up at the table and frowned when he saw it was taken but perked up when Rayner waved at him. Gab rubbed the back of his head with a paw and came in closer with his bags.

"Good morning," Rayner said cheerfully. It felt forced, but it was the best he could do.

"Good morning," Gab replied quietly as he sat down, "sorry... I'm early."

"So am I," Rayner pointed out, "that okay?"

"Yeah. I think. Umm, well. I made you a card," Gab said with a nod and put the slip of paper beside Rayner, "I didn't know if you had other things to do before we met up, though."

"Oh, thank you," Rayner said with a smile. Opening the folded printer paper, Rayner read the little thank you note that Gab had made. His script was even better than his printing. Rayner chuckled to himself before saying, "Thank you. This is really sweet."

"I'm glad," Gab said quietly.

"I just needed breakfast," Rayner said, answering the earlier question, "Do you want to get something to eat?"

"I'm," Gab muttered, "I'm good."

"Well," Rayner groaned and sighed, "managed to make it a whole minute before saying something I promised not to. Honestly, I'm sorry."

"No," Gab said quickly and shook his head, "I'm sorry, I told you a bunch of things last time. My life's... well, my life... I'm just bad at this."

Rayner sighed. He felt like he was the one failing at trying to make friends, but Gab kept blaming himself. This never happened with Bell or anyone that Rayner had met before. Why was this so hard?

"Thank you," Gab said while looking at the table, "For, umm, studying again. I really thought I messed up last time bad enough you'd see the red flags and delete my number."

"That's almost funny," Rayner chuckled and sighed, "I actually felt the reverse."

"You helped me," Gab scoffed, "let me borrow your laptop, bought me food, listened and told me how my final would go. What have I done?"

"Not treating me like an oddity," Rayner admitted quietly, "You've helped me too. It's just that everything is complicated."

"And shitty," Gab added, "and scary."

"Just tell me if I am being any of them," Rayner asked, "okay?"

"You haven't been," Gab responded, "But same with me, okay?"

"Yeah," Rayner said," You haven't been either, though. I just don't know what to say when it comes to... when you don't have enough for food."

"That part's fine. I just don't want to owe beings," Gab explained with a shrug, "You know? And, I already feel like I owe you a ton."

"You don't," Rayner said simply.

"Why?" Gab said exhaustedly.

"Because I like you," Rayner explained through clenched teeth, "and I'm trying to get you to like me too."

"Not even my own family likes me," Gab muttered with a frown and hugged his pack. Something moved around inside the bag and made a clinking sound, but Gab didn't do anything about it. "Why the fuck did I say that?"

"It's okay," Rayner said quietly, "I at least want to be your friend."

"I have more red flags," Gab said sharply, "these are just the ones leaking out of me. Some of them aren't even red."

"I do, too," Rayner shrugged, "a lot of mine are well documented in court hearings if you want to research them."

"You aren't a broke, neurotic loser like I am, though," Gab complained, "God doesn't even like me."

"And I'm not Christian," Rayner shot back, "We got into Reclaiming, but I saw Skoll's name a lot. I know I'm weird, and if you don't want that, then that's fine but just tell me. Do you want me as a friend, or should I leave you alone?"

"I'd really like a friend," Gab said a bit unsteady but then grimaced, sat up straight and breathed deep. He sat still, breathing for a moment till Rayner put one of his wraps in front of Gab and then put a paw on his shoulder.

"Here," Rayner said quietly, "Eat, you'll feel better. No strings attached."

"Feels like there should be," Gab muttered, "Isn't there something about not eating what cults give you."

"No, it's don't drink the juice in crazy Christian ones," Rayner offered, "Technically, I think there's a story about our beliefs and Mead. Pretty sure you're fine, though, with fast food and coffee."

Gab nodded, took the wrap, almost hugged it before setting it down, and finished putting his stuff in the right places. Under his coat, Gab was thin, not gaunt or sick, but definitely underweight. They ate in relative silence. The breakfast wraps were large, but so was Rayner compared to the city wolves. Probably not doing his fur any favours, but it was good comfort food.

After they finished, Rayner asked Gab what he wanted to know about the calculus course. Gab almost seemed to excitedly dive into it. He was having difficulty with the last section of the course, which was application. The theory made sense but how the book laid out the practical application to integration left more questions than answers.

Rayner spent half an hour talking about what his Prof went through last year and pulled up his notes from semester one. Gab wrote more than Rayner had. Gab then added questions he wanted to be answered that neither of them could figure out. Rayner was shocked that someone could be so interested, and he was the one that was supposed to like math.

"So," Gab started hesitantly as they finished up calculus, "What's your pack actually like?"

"Loud, smelly, in your muzzle all the time busybodies that either feel too many emotions or not enough," Rayner blurted out what he had strung together anytime anyone asked, "I love 'em, hate 'em, and miss 'em. Anything specific?"

"Wow," Gab muttered and then laughed as he was sort of taken aback by the speed at which Rayner talked, "Well, is it all, like, family?"

"I'm related to many of them by blood," Rayner explained, "the rest by marriage. There are sometimes contractors, or friends of the pack, or others around, but Pinewood is like all Pinewoods. Even though we are technically not supposed to be. It's more no one moves there."

"And you do farming?" Gab asked.

"Yup," Rayner said, nodding, "We also have a lot of cows. There are tradesmen and a huge range of other things like one or two pack members do. I mean, most of it is that we feed, clothe, and build our own stuff, so it's sort of like we sell what we don't need. How about you?"

"That's really cool," Gab said with a smile that seemed to turn when he continued, "my dad and my brothers are mechanics."

"Ah, mechanics can be a rough group," Rayner said knowingly, "do you own your own shop or are you part of a larger business?"

"Own shop," Gab said with a smile, but Rayner saw it wasn't in his eyes, "We actually live above it."

"Old school," Rayner commented, and Gab let the smile drop, "must be getting difficult with everything changing to electronic monitoring and diagnostic systems."

"It is," Gab said quietly, "my brother Mal is really good at setting them up, though. They can fully do all the local brands and six of the fourteen common international brands. If we can get the parts."

"They must be very proud you're in engineering then," Rayner tentatively said.

"Nope. They aren't," Gab said coldly, "but I wasn't very good in the shop, and with how many scholarships I got, they thought it best to send me than make me stay."

"Well, I'm proud of you," Rayner said quietly, "and I'm glad you're here. They should be too."

"Thank you," Gab said with an actual smile but then swallowed, "I'm not looking forward to going back over break."

"Work awaits?" Rayner asked.

"And three greasy, pent-up idiots," Gab groaned, "with more testosterone than brains. I swear, my oldest brother will get some bitch pregnant."

"That sounds," Rayner tried to think of something but ended up just saying, "ew."

"That was probably too much," Gab admitted with a groan, "What about you?"

"Fieldwork if I'm lucky," Rayner explained, "barn work if I'm not. With the cycle, all the men are kicked out of butchering, so women don't have to worry about being in heat. I'll get to program a bit, but that's more one my downtime. Also, I meant ew in empathy, not that I'm uncomfortable."

"You have something worse than three greasy men?" Gab asked sarcastically.

"Want oversharing? If I have to stick my arm past my elbow into a cow again," Rayner explained with a frown, "I will definitely be finding some way to stay on campus next year."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Gab asked, shocked. He opened and closed his muzzle a couple of times in a chomping motion.

"Oh," Rayner shook his head, "I wish it were the mouth. It's to get them pregnant. We have this tube thing."

"There isn't a glove thick enough," Gab grimaced and shook his head.

"Yeah," Rayner muttered, "Sadly, it's much thinner than you'd assume. It's the pack, though, and you do what you're told."

"Or they will smack some sense into you," Gab said quietly.

"We don't," Rayner said slowly and shook his head. At least, most of the families in the Pack didn't. Gab silently tucked his ears back, and Rayner noticed him reach to cover part of his side before looking away. The pack used to use physical punishment many years ago, but a change in culture and a dive into research led them to different means of punishment. Now it was only used for immediate punishment for something that could have been life-altering.

Rayner's stomach grumbled loudly in the silence. The hall wasn't silent, but the two of them were close enough together that both heard it. Gab winced.

"I'm not like them," Rayner said quietly.

"No," Gab said and shook his head, "you're just bigger than them."

"The bigger you are, the more responsible you have to be," Rayner said quietly, "I'm actually quite small in my pack, and I know a lot of them look out for me."

"I'm not in your pack," Gab muttered.

"You're a wolf," Rayner countered, "I want to be at least your friend."

"And you'll just keep accepting what I say?" Gab asked.

"No," Rayner said, looking at him directly and talking quietly, "I'm concerned by what you're saying. You're struggling. You need to talk to someone."

"I like talking to you," Gab muttered.

"I like talking to you too," Rayner said quietly, "but I can only help so much."

"My floor something," Gab said quietly while bouncing anxiously, "she keeps saying that there are counsellors that can help. She helped me with the food bank."

"She's probably right then," Rayner said with a nod, "Are you willing to talk to one?"

"Maybe after the break," Gab whispered, "I can't... I can't right now."

"Okay," Rayner sighed and tentatively touched Gab's shoulder with a paw. Gab flinched, but Rayner figured he would. When Rayner didn't move his paw, Gab looked up at him. At the moment that Gab met Rayner's gaze Rayner saw the fear behind them. It wasn't directed at Rayner, though. Rayner breathed deeply and added, "Let me buy us lunch. I made this session what it is, and I'd like to make it up."

"I'm the one oversharing-" Gab argued.

"Talking about your life isn't oversharing," Rayner interrupted, "especially not when I'm asking about it. About you. I'm sorry I keep making you uncomfortable."

"I make me uncomfortable," Gab grumbled quietly, "I honestly don't know why I keep talking. I'm just scared I'll say something bad enough that will actually make you reconsider."

"And yet every red flag you have brought out hasn't actually seemed that bad," Rayner explained with a smirk.

"I have other flags," Gab argued, looking up and frowning at Rayner.

"When you're ready to show me," Rayner said, still smirking, "let me know."

"At this point," Gab pouted, "They'll all be on the table regardless of me being ready."

"That's what happens when you're under too much pressure," Rayner explained, "but let's go get food. Have anywhere special, you know?"

"Grrr," Gab growled quietly and then shook a little in his seat. Eventually, though, he looked up at Rayner hopefully and asked, "Do you like Vieteniemes?"

--

Lunch went well, Rayner and Gab mostly talked about the food. Though Pho was the standard dish that everyone had, Gab said he didn't want more soup. So they settled on a meat and vegetable dish. It came in this massive bowl that Rayner was shocked by. Gab asked if they could remove something from the dish so, as Gab put it, it wouldn't taste like soap. Rayner was very confused. The meat was good, and there was a lot of it.

In talking, they set up a schedule to meet up on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday mornings. Rayner realised he now had something planned every morning and wondered how he went from only when invited to this in a semester.

Lilith and RiverBEND that evening were fun. It was a group trivia contest where they all played on their phones but had a projector set up for the scoreboard. Rayner lost badly. He knew a lot less about pop culture than he would have guessed. Lilith leaned over every once in a while, said she had met the being that the group was discussing, and added what they were like.

Friday and Saturday with Josh, Olive and Kacy were interesting. Rayner showed them all the meetings he had scheduled with Gab. Josh and Kacy were happy for him. Olive said that's what should happen, so she was relieved that it did. Afterwards, Rayner thought he saw her smiling to herself, but exams were coming, and they needed to study. Talking was kept to mostly a minimum.

It was the same way with Gab on the days that they had scheduled. Gab worked like Olive did. When they did talk, they agreed to try to keep it light. Gab's red flags, as he put it, stopped spilling out of him after Tuesday. Not that what he said was shocking. Growing up the youngest, his brothers weren't all that nice to him, which was difficult enough, but Gab's mother had passed when he was a young pup. Gab said he worried his family blamed him for his mother's death. Rayner wasn't exactly sure what to say beyond that in a good world they didn't.

On Thursday, Gab showed Rayner his mark for the English assignment that had started all of this. He got an eighty-seven, which put the mark in the A range, but he still went over it meticulously. Rayner was a bit jealous. He had never gotten over eighty-five, and this wolf was acting like it was a disappointment. They ate lunch together happily, though. Rayner had started bringing a container of meat and spices, and they would mix it with the soup Gab brought to share.

The finals started after that. With Lilith's permission, Rayner skipped the drag show at RiverBEND with the promise that he would attend next year. She kept saying it was freeing, but it terrified Rayner to think about it. Each group studied hard during the period. After it was all said and done, they were fairly happy with themselves.

"You know," Kacy commented as Olive, Josh, and Rayner sat on the upper story of Thestor's Dome. It was just a large gymnasium, but it was the primary location to write exams as it was the only real space to proctor so many beings at once. The last exams were scheduled for today, and the break would start in a couple of hours. Kacy looked at his phone with a bit of a frown and continued, "I think I'm actually going to get higher than a B this semester."

"You're welcome," Olive said immediately.

"She means, good job Kacy," Josh quickly congratulated Kacy before the two could argue, "You put in the time and the effort, and you earned it."

'Thank you," Kacy beamed but then shot Olive a dark look, which seemed to amuse her greatly.

"How's it feel to have all those labs done?" Rayner asked Olive.

"Amazing," Olive turned and admitted, "Never take three in one semester."

"You know there are easier ways to be punished?" Lilith asked from beside her. They all turned, but Kacy almost jumped and said something quietly. She ignored them and walked up to Rayner, "You missed a good party. David got way too drunk again and started singing."

"Oh?" Rayner asked before saying it again with more emphasis and shock upon seeing the pictures, Lilith quickly flipped through. David did look very drunk, but they all looked like they were having fun. Most of the pictures were very dark.

"Anyway," Lilith said as she put her phone away, "figured since I saw you, I should say something before the beginning of the break."

"You off home?" Rayner asked in shock.

"Probably," Lilith answered with a shrug before turning to Kacy, who flinched hard at her gaze, "Rayner warned me about you."

"I complained about him," Rayner corrected as Lilith stepped up to Kacy, but when Olive and Josh looked at him, he added, "What?"

"Fuck, dogs are cute," Lilith said quietly, then turned to Olive and asked, "Has he been a good boy?"

"Yes?" Olive asked back, sort of stunned, "-ish?"

Kacy whined hard at Olive's answer. To everyone's shock, Lilith took off her collar and strapped it onto Kacy. He didn't move. He whined a lot, but he didn't move.

"Be a good boy, and don't take that off until you get home," Lilith looked down, locked eyes, and commanded Kacy before laughing and turning away from them. She added, "See you after the break Ray."

"I like her," Olive stated loudly, her tail moving faster than Rayner had ever seen it before. All but Kacy turned to look at her, but she turned to Rayner and asked, "Ray?"

"Yeah," Rayner muttered. Olive seemed to understand and nodded. "You okay, Kacy?"

Kacy nodded but didn't speak. He swallowed hard and felt the collar a bit. It didn't look tight, but Kacy looked wound tight.

"Well, we should probably get Kacy home then," Josh chuckled. Kacy nodded emphatically at that suggestion, and they walked toward the exit finishing the conversation about how they were doing.

Josh felt good about his marks. First-year engineering went better than he had expected, and he was really happy to be doing something he liked. He was also happy all the work he put in last year to become competitive enough paid off.

"Rayner!" a voice by the entrance called as they passed. Gab waved and then almost ran to Rayner with his books and his bag. Stopping directly in front of him, Gab hesitated for a second and hugged Rayner. He pulled back and looked away before saying, "Sorry, you were right about the Math final! I was going to text you."

"Oh?" Rayner asked, but his smile beamed, and his tail was wagged hard.

"It was all the last section," Gab explained, "all of it. I would have absolutely been done if you hadn't told me what she does."

'I'm glad," Rayner said softly but then changed his tone to be a bit harder, "not about that old Shepherd's final. That I was able to help."

"No, you don't understand," Gab tried to continue but looked embarrassed, "it was a fifty percent final. My scholarships would have been done."

"You can rewrite those, though," Olive chimed in when Gab couldn't seem to continue, "University policy is you have to apply, but for any exam over forty percent of your final grade, you can rewrite."

"I didn't know that," Gab muttered only loud enough that Rayner could hear.

"Oh, umm, Gab, these are my friends, Josh, Olive, and Kacy," Rayner introduced them and motioned to Gab, "everyone, this is Gab."

"Sorry," Gab said quietly, "I didn't know you were busy."

"No worries," Rayner reassured, "We were actually just finishing up."

"Want to come to my place for food?" Josh offered, "I can pay you back for the mark you got our group."

"Yeah," Rayner agreed, turned and smiled at Josh before turning back, "Josh is a really good chef."

"Cook," Josh corrected, "no formal training."

"Self-taught chef," Rayner teased Josh but turned back to Gab, "What do you think?"

"If you don't mind," Gab said quietly.

"Not at all," Josh said with his smile on full, "Come on, Kacy, you'll have to wait a bit longer to go home."

Kacy whined but followed. Olive watched him intently, fascinated by the submissiveness that had come over the dog. Gab sort of watched too, but he never asked. Rayner was happy that Kacy didn't seem to be in the mood for his usual questions.

Even though Gab was shorter than Rayner, it still put him about a head taller than Josh. Kacy and Olive were smaller, walking behind them. Kacy seemed to prefer it. He almost hid behind Rayner. Rayner worried about bringing Gab along for a bit, but he trusted Josh.

They ate a large tray of nachos with extra meat together in Josh's condo and talked about school and plans for next semester. Olive was excited about only one lab next year. Josh and Gab agreed a lot of their new courses looked interesting. Rayner talked about how the math and comp sci opened up the next semester, but once he started on how everyone went from listening to trying to understand. Kacy made vague comments and felt his collar a lot.

"Kacy?" Rayner asked quietly as they were clearing the food away. Kacy had got up to help but was off to the side, still feeling around his neck, "You know you can speak, right?"

Kacy nodded and softly said, "I know."

"You can also take that off," Rayner offered. Kacy nodded but didn't say anything. Rayner continued when Kacy didn't move, "then why do you still have it on?"

"Because... I feel... weird," Kacy whispered and sort of shook, "it's very... different."

"It's okay to say you like it," Rayner whispered, "plus, I think Olive likes it too."

"She won't like the reason," Kacy whispered quickly, glancing at Olive and then back to Rayner.

"She'll like it less if she has to point it out to you," Rayner whispered.

Kacy tucked his ears back and brought his tail toward him but nodded. Kacy's loose pants hid what he was trying to hide, but Rayner had been close enough to smell that Kacy had been excited about it for a while. If it made him quiet and submissive, though, Rayner was all for the dog getting himself worked up.

Rayner went back and sat with Gab. Olive had taken her standard seat in the corner of the sectional, and Kacy eventually came and sat on the floor. Josh talked from the kitchen while he put all his stuff away. He hadn't packed because he wasn't leaving like the rest.

Gab eventually said that he should be heading out. He had an early bus tomorrow to take him home as he didn't live within Riverview but in a neighbouring city that was much smaller. They thanked him for joining them, Josh thanked him again for how much he put into the project they did together, and Rayner followed him out.

"Hey," Rayner said before Gab got too far, "Be safe and if you ever want to talk, just text or phone. I'll call you back if I'm out of range when I get your message."

"Thank you," Gab almost whimpered and nodded, "I'll miss you."

In the hallway, Rayner pulled Gab into a hug. Gab went stiff, to begin with, but melted into Rayner's arms and rested his head on the edge of Rayner's shoulder and neck. They held like that for more time than Rayner had expected but shorter than he wanted. Gab smelled nice. His fur was thick but soft. He felt as thin as he looked, though.

"I'll miss you too," Rayner said when they let go, "I'll text you more than you want, though, so be warned."

"Thank you," Gab almost whined but swallowed hard, turned around, and headed out. Rayner felt numb when Gab passed the stairs and was out of view. He hoped everything would be all right.

Back inside Josh's, Rayner was met by three stares from his friends. Rayner sort of breathed out a sigh but didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. He felt like it went well, but now it felt almost feeble.

"You two looked good together," Olive said, breaking the silence, "he knows you're dating yet?"

"We aren't dating," Rayner argued, "we are friends, and for now, that's okay."

"I'm just glad he isn't as scary as Lilith," Kacy commented, "actually, I'm just glad you aren't as scary as Lilith."

"I'm glad we could meet him," Josh added, "you know, as you non-boyfriend, boyfriend.

"Yeah," Rayner said quickly, giving Josh a bit of a frown, "Thank you for inviting him over like you did. I really, really appreciate being able to see him off like that."

"I did actually owe him," Josh said with a wave of his paw, "You know."

"You say that, but we all know better," Olive told Josh, then turned back to Rayner, "When you get back, you have to ask him out, though."

"I think I will," Rayner nodded.

"On an actual date," Olive added.

"I will," Rayner agreed.

"That you both know about," Josh added.

"Yes," Rayner groaned.

"Just make it a happy nerd date," Kacy suggested. Rayner, Olive and Josh all turned and gave him a surprised look. Flinching back, he asked, "What?"

"Good boy," Olive chuckled, she glanced at Josh and chuckled, "Is it weird not to have to say bad Kacy?"

"Yeah," Josh smiled and nodded.