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Erin Sherdon would never be accused of being an extrovert. However, the college student attending Anteronian University always had an admiration for people. It is, of course, an admiration she only kept from afar. When her roommate, Melia, introduced herself, it was pretty fascinating. Melia was, after all, the first gender-non-conforming person she had ever met.

Curiously, a girl who grew up in Anteronia would not be exposed to all the various paths in life and expressions of love and desire. When one finds a will to block their children from the world or city at large, one finds a way.

That's Erin's upbringing, one of coddling and fear, and that brought her to keep herself from exploring the world around her when she came of age. She kept her near home, where she would study at the local school. Fortunately for the budding girl of the world, Anteronia University provides many of the experiences and knowledge she had thus far been denied.

As for Melia, the woman had joined the school on the naturalist track, seeking to understand the world of the fey and mystical druids. However, she never had been one.

"Why not find yourself a circle to join?" Erin had asked her.

Melia would shout, "It'd be too much of a commitment."

Erin learned a lot about Melia and her feelings toward commitment.

Erin, meanwhile, studied biology. There are many overlaps in the process, but she was much more interested in the different physiologies and forms, from the various expressions in human society to the other, much more magical, sapient beings.

In fact, she had recently encountered a beetle, a traveler from the distant Insect Kingdoms. It was a fascinating experience, to be sure, but not one that Erin would ever tell anyone.

Then, of course, there is the matter of her current fascination—something she wouldn't ever tell Melia.

Even so, as her plans come to fruition for an expedition she alone would undertake, Erin found herself much more interested in undertaking something much more dangerous, at least socially speaking, in her mind.

Melia.

But that wasn't all she had a yearning for.

Sitting outside on the bleachers, the inquisitive human enjoys her lunch while watching the athletes practice. Large bodies crash into one another in a grueling sport with equal parts strategy and brutality—the perfect contest for one with a strong body and mind.

As the group breaks for the day, one of the athletes heads toward the bleachers. A well-built man with a furred build and broad shoulders plops down a few seats below her, guzzling a mighty drink and sighing.

"You're biting your lip." The voice comes sprite-like to Erin's ear.

The woman squeaks but covers her mouth. Her eyes are wide through her glasses as she looks to the owner.

It is Melia sitting beside her and holding up a book. "Look, if you're going to be oogling the jocks, you might as well get some work done too, right?"

"I'm not oogling," Erin protests. She pulls out some notes, waving them toward Melia. "I'm gaining inspiration for my research."

"Of course, you are," Melia titters. "But, to let you know, Louis, there is quite the catch from what I hear. Very nice… not the most scholarly mind, but," she shrugs, "is that what you're really here for?"

"I couldn't ask him out," Erin says, slumping forward.

"Well, then, maybe I should," Melia says, picking herself up.

Erin gasps, reaching out toward Melia, but she pulls herself back, shaking her head. She watches as her roommate approaches the sportsman, twiddling her fingers as the fey-like girl approaches him.

Twirling a finger through her green hair, Melia giggles as she sits beside him. "Looks like you got a hard workout, eh, Louis?"

Having been guzzling down that cartoonishly massive jug of water, Louis pulls the container free, sniffs the air with that sizeable black snout, and looks down toward her. "Oh, uh, yeah. We're getting ready to take on LaRose in the Finals!"

Melia titters, "Oh, I didn't know. I'm sorry; sports aren't really my thing."

Louis tilts his head. "What… is your thing, then?"

Melia places her hand on his thigh and says. "Plants, mostly. But being out in nature, under the sun or the moon, and enjoying how it feels on my skin. It's really nice. You should try it."

The large male looks down at her, his pointy ears drooping. "I, uh, got too much fur for that," he says.

"Ever let your fur out in the pale moonlight?"

"Oh, I, uh, never really thought of it."

"Ever wanted to get in touch with how your ancestors felt in the world?" She asks this, scooting closer.

His tail flaps around behind the seat, squeezing his knee. "Oh, well, maybe! That… that could really psyche me up, right?"

"Mmm… and I'm sure you had plenty of ancestors out there with other people… together, unclothed."

"Makes sense to me!" He barks. "Gee whizz, miss, you are giving me some good ideas. Where's a good place to go to try it out. You know, where we aren't botherin' anyone."

"Well, there's a small path off the main trail in the woods. I can lead you there tonight if you meet me in my room and—"

CLANG

The two speakers leap up, whirling around to see Erin fall forward, her chest resting on the seats above them. "What a wonderful idea!" Erin says. "Can I join you?"

Melia frowns. "I was thinking maybe Louis and I—"

"That sounds great!" Louis says. "You were smart when you presented that report on nocturnal hunters!"

Erin's eyes widen. "Y-you listened to that report?"

"Yeah, I did!" Louis says, thumping his chest. "After all, I'm a nocturnal hunter as well. Well,… maybe I would be… but practice is very early!"

Melia pulls her hand away, resting her finger upon her cheek. "Well then," she says, "It's a date."

* * *

When Erin returns from a day of classes on the promised day, Melia is there to greet her, arms crossed over her chest leaning against the bedframe. "Are we going to talk about the other day already?" asks the earthen gal.

"What's there to talk about? Erin says, shrugging."

Through her glasses, Melia stares with a sharp, glowing glare. "Oh, well, there's the whole thing about sniping my date with Louis," she says. "Here, I thought you were the introverted one."

"And what happened to you being a wallflower?" Erin asks, placing her books down.

"Guess we're both full of surprises today, aren't we?" Melia says, sighing and sitting on the mattress. "You know what it means to go out at night, embracing the moon in all its beauty."

"I think I do."

"Naked."

Erin blushes, nervously pushing her books around to get them in perfect shape.

"Right."

"As in you and me… and a hunk of a doggy guy, out there, alone, together."

"You have a problem with that?" Erin says, turning around and adjusting her own glasses."

"Aside from you being unable to see, none," says Melia. "I just wonder why you don't."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Come on. You're Erin, Erin. When did you last shower in the locker room or wear anything less than that long-sleeved two-piece set of pajamas you got?"

Erin breathes deep. "Maybe I'm full of surprises."

"Maybe," says Melia, crossing one leg over the other and leaning back. "I just don't want you, or me or Louis, to be too surprised." She pauses a moment. "I won't get in the way of you two."

"What?"

"I was trying to convince you to ask him out. If you didn't jump in, I would have totally nailed that. But now, we are in a weird romantic triangle where you want to get laid, but I do, too."

Erin blinks. "Well, I mean…"

"It'll change our relationship, you know?"

"I… I know."

"And you know what you're getting into, under the clothes and in my head, I mean?"

"You're being really roundabout, so, noo…?"

"Well, of course, I am, silly," Melia says, tittering softly. "I am a fairy, after all."

"Really?"

"Well, in here," Melia says, tapping her head, "and in here," she continues, pressing to her chest.

Erin sighed, "Must be wonderful to think that way. I'm just boring old me," she said, holding her hands out.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Melia says."

"Flattery will, in fact, get you nowhere," Erin says. "Now, I need to get ready for tomorrow."

"Suit yourself," says Melia, frowning as her roommate leaves the conversation.

When the lights turn off, and she's left alone to think about things, Melia stares at the ceiling. "He just went for it," she says, her hands upon her stomach, which slowly rises and falls at its steady pace. "But I didn't tell him. I didn't warn him." She shifts over to her side. "I laid it on too thick. He's definitely going to think I'm into him. I am, but that's not the point, right?"

"Why are you talking to yourself?" Erin asks in a groggy voice. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

"Ah, Erin! You're still awake?"

"I wasn't, grumbles the other girl."

"Ah, right, sorry," Melia says. "Sometimes, it's good to have someone to talk things over with, even if it's yourself."

A click and the light comes on, Erin rubbing the sleepiness from her. "What's the matter?"

"Oh, me? Well, it's weird to have to bring this up. Do you think Louis is bi?"

Erin frowns. "What makes you think I have any idea about that?"

Melia quirks a brow at her.

Erin shrugs. "I don't know, really. I only really watched him during games, and it's the typical dude-bro stuff with other guys. You know, slapping butts and yelling "nice cock” or whatever else guys do around each other while shouting 'no homo!"

Melia snorts.

"Yeah, it's ridiculous," Erin says.

"Kinda, but funny for me.

"How so?"

"I've told other people, but for you, I guess it's better now than a surprise. I, uh, have boy parts, and well, I'm kinda gender fluid?"

"Kinda…?"

"It's hard to explain."

"Hm… well, I've learned that if you can explain it to yourself, you can explain it to others.

"Woooo, boy. Well, it's a long one," Melia says, holding back a yawn. She fails as she continues to speak in an exaggerated voice. "Best leave it for another day, but I just wanted you to know you're the only one of us rocking out with her pussy out."

"Hey! Don't put me on the spot like that!" Erin yelps, covering herself up in her blankets.

While Erin was fumbling around in embarrassment, Melia sighed slightly, a hand upon her chest. Why is it easier to come out to some than to others? Why is it so strange to come out at all in full? Especially when her other half is eager and willing to participate in that moonlit dance.

Would it betray her friendship if he were to come out?

Louis lies on his bed, dressed down to his underclothes, staring up at the ceiling. His hands rest on his stomach, softly rising and falling as he keeps his gaze on one spot.

"Copper for your thoughts?" comes the soft voice of his roommate. Jasper sits at his desk, the feline working by candlelight. His ink scribbling upon his paper is the only sound to break the canine's meditations.

"I was just thinking," Louis says, inhaling deeply, his gaze transfixed.

A silence passes between the two of them, Jasper's tail swishing in slow, languid strokes. His smile remains, though it twitches once or twice in the quiet. Soon enough, he could wait no longer. "And?" he asks.

"Hm? Oh. Just stuff," Louis says. "Like, does the pattern on the ceiling look like a tree to you?"

Jasper leans in, his cheek resting right beside Louis's. "You know what I think?" the feline says, a large, nearly glowing eye looking at Louis.

"What's that?" Louis says, continuing to stare up at the ceiling.

"I think you need to get glasses. And the RA needs to get someone to look at that, and that I need to get my work done."

"Sorry, I guess I had trees in mind," Louis says, bringing his cover up to his chin.

"Big botany class assignment?" Jasper asks, capping his pen.

"Nah, not that. Just gonna meet a couple of gals alone in the night."

"You bragging?"

"Huh?" He blinks, furrowing his brow. "No, just stating what's happening."

"Of course you are. And are you worried about this little adventure? Excited"

"Dunno!" Louis admits. "Is it weird when two separate girls invite you to the same thing at about the same time?"

"Eh, kinda, yeah," says Jasper, crossing one leg over the other and leaning his arm over the back of the chair. "What exactly are the three of you going to be doing?"

"Absorbing moon rays," Louis says without hesitation.

"I… huh, do you know what tracks these gals are in?"

"Nope."

Jasper's ear twitches. "Do you know their names?"

"Melia… and Erin? Yeah, that's right."

"Never heard of 'em." He shrugs. "Well, proceed at your own risk. A big, strong athlete like you, who knows who might be coming out here to poach you or break your leg."

"What? That doesn't happen!"

"Look, I only know what's in the stories."

Louis leans off the edge of his bead, reaching out to their shared library and pulling a volume from it. He taps the cover, "Locker Room Love," and shakes his head. "Stories like this?"

"What? So, I indulge in a little romance. Is that so wrong?"

"Dudes aren't standing around naked all day in there, admiring each other's dongs," Louis says.

"To some people, that would be a crying shame. "But that tome is about what happens in the ladies' locker room."

Louis blinks, looks to the cover again, and pulls it in close to him. "Maybe I need glasses after all," he mutters.

"It'd sure make you look smarter. Maybe even feel it, too," Jasper says.

Louis flips through the book, squinting his eyes, pressing his nose to the pages. "No illustrations? Aw, come on! Those are the best parts!"

"It's certainly eye-catching," admits the feline. "A writer's life is fraught with worry that an illustrator cannot fathom. After all, the regular art appreciator can view and discern the likes of any piece with a glance. Still, to enjoy a book, one must devote much of their life and focus to seeking the understanding of the craft."

Louis pokes his nose up from above the pages. "You enjoy inflating yourself?"

"Don't you mean 'fellating?' and no, it's too much of a pain. I just speak the truth. People like pictures painted with a brush instead of the stroke of a pen."

"I'm pretty sure if it's in a book, it's going to use ink."

"Truly, yours is an indomitable will, my sporty friend."

As he says this, he turns toward Louis, finding him fully covered in the bedding, soft, slow breaths rising up from the mattress.

The "Goodnight, buddy," the feline says, shaking his head.