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Chapter 5: Wednesday

It was Hump Day, but no one was in the mood for a good humping. Those who did, well, their minds were refreshed and cleared after a delightful afterglow. Keanu did it before and would do it again to clear up his mind, but most people had a lot on their minds, especially with the exams weighing on them, and without knowing their load was reaching a needed release. Hunter had none of that and left for university that morning to deliver his World History essay homework to Prof. Cleveland who preferred to have it delivered physically rather than email. One of the few technophobes on campus. Also, he had an all-nighter study until one in the morning, he was very tired and grew a little bit of black circles under his eyes but managed to wake up nicely and freshen up for today.

Keanu had finished breakfast at home and heard his phone ringing. He picked it up from the dining table and read that it was his cousins, Norbert and Sarah. They nearly replied to him almost simultaneously and both responded with the same answer.

“A new tablet? I already have one. Sorry, Cuz,” Norbert replied.

“Grandma gave you a new tablet and you already have one? That’s funny. But I have my laptop. Sorry, Keanu,” Sarah replied.

Keanu sighed and replied to both the same message. “It’s OK, thanks for knowing.”

Keanu thought this was going to be easy but never thought that at this time and age, everyone nearly already had a personal device. Then came the thought of giving it away to the Montanas… but… “Oh, they already have a device.” He groaned.

For the past two years since he started dating Hunter and visiting his family’s home dozens of times, he saw first-hand the personal devices they carried and owned. Hunter, especially, had his own computer set in his room for gaming. Mr. and Mrs. Montana shared a computer in their master bedroom—the room was big enough to have their own office space. He remembered because one time he saw Rylan and Hunter were helping to have it fixed from a bug issue. Sally always had a habit of bringing her laptop into the living room and connecting it to the TV for online streaming. Rylan had a phone or a phablet but was certain he had a laptop… ah, yes, he did, he remembered, he had it covered in stickers! And Sally’s laptop color was a pastel yellow. Then there was River… ah, he remembered, he sometimes hung out with him in the living room watching some YouTube videos and had his own tablet connected to the TV for better searching.

He was losing here, who was out there who could use a simple, useful device for everyday needs? Keanu sighed as he gave up and left home for classes. Today he had to hand over his nearly completed painting for Art Painting class to Prof. Zamora in the morning while in the afternoon he had an exam for Architecture class. Nothing else was amiss for today.

…

After the morning period, Hunter was the first to arrive in the cafeteria at eleven in the morning before rush hour. The brown wolf’s mind could not stop thinking about his plans to go back to the arcade to win the new tablet and saw how bringing some teamwork could widen the chances of winning the prize. Now that Sol, Broderick, and Xerxes were not available today due to their personal affairs and jobs, it was now to try to reach for Xavier, Sergio, and Milagros.

He saw them gathered on a table near the bay windows and went to buy his lunch. He purchased a turkey sandwich and a bottle of lemon juice and joined them with his usual pretty smile. “Morning, guys, how’s it going?”

Xavier gazed at him before responding, “Guess you’re right, Milagros. He does look in a hurry.”

“Huh?” Hunter quickly lost his façade as he heard Xavier’s statement. He looked at them puzzled as he sat down with them and placed his food tray. “Hurry?”

Milagros explained, “Remember yesterday? You went out in a hurry to the tram station.”

“Oh! That’s because why I’m here, I’m planning to go to the arcade this afternoon to win a prize.”

Sergio got intrigued, “A prize, huh? There’s some competition going on?”

“Not really, it’s just playing those rigged machines to win a new tablet for my little brother, he’s turning sixteen this Saturday and I want to give him something special.”

“Oh, really?” Milagros said. “How nice, but wait… you mean you have been spending money at the arcade instead of buying one?”

“Uh… I’m under budget, so I’m spending what I have left from my summer job.”

“Oh yeah,” Sergio grinned, “you and I spend one day on a shopping spree for miscellaneous stuff after your first paycheck. I bet you have your room nicely decorated.”

“The beauty of consumerism,” Xavier said nonchalantly.

“So, you didn’t save some money for River’s gift?” Milagros. “Jeez, Hunter, you should be saving rather than wasting it on wild random stuff.”

“Hey, in my defense, it was my first paycheck. It didn’t hurt to treat myself for some nice stuff I always wanted.”

“Yeah, and now when you need it for this special occasion, you missed the opportunity.”

Hunter was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. “Please, don’t rub it in, guys.”

“If you’re short in cash, why not ask your parents to pay half of it?”

“Well… we kind of agreed on buying presents under our own savings without helping. Hehe.”

“You’re hopeless.” Milagros deadpanned. “But I guess, it’s easy for you to risk it all in playing rigged machines.”

“Wow, Milagros,” Xavier said, “that sounded how I would have said.”

“Oh god, I didn’t mean to be blunt! Oh, this is what happens when we hang out together, Xavier.” She blushed, but she stood by what she said. She chuckled thought. “So, you’re going back there to try again?”

“Yup, and I need volunteers. Yesterday, I invited Sol, Xerxes, and Broderick to help me out, but we all came out empty but with a few trinkets.”

“We have exams, you know, especially on a school night,” Xavier stated.

“I’m not asking you all to stay the whole evening, just one session,” he gestured with one finger, “and bring a twenty-dollar bill for eighty tokens, our goal is to win a new Nebula Tab 10.”

Xavier and Sergio glanced at each other and shrugged. Xavier said with a shrug, “Alright, I’ll give it a try, no conditions.”

Sergio was the most enthused and said, “Definitely, I wanna try, it can’t be hard, right?”

“Well… there’s always an opportunity,” said Hunter. “Come on, it’ll be fun. River wished to have a new tablet because his is outdated and incompatible.”

“Wait, what model he has?”

“The Nebula Tab 2.”

The three beast folks gave a weird look of baffling faces. Xavier said, “Eah puñeta, eso es un fosil!” Holy crap, that’s a fossil.

“The Nebula Tab 2? Dude, that’s old as…” the male coyote counted with his fingers, “…as old as, well, he definitely needs a new one.”

“He had it since he was nine, so of course, time has passed.”

“That’s how I felt after my old phone could not work properly and was already outdated,” Xavier said. “My mom gave me her old Nebula Note 2, and by the time it was in my hands, it was already dated. The apps were no longer compatible. And it had an accident caused by my little brother that affected the signal thingy and struggled to get a signal even outdoors. I kept losing a lot of calls and failed to get text messages. I only had it for a whole year and the last quarters were the worst. I had enough and convinced my mom to get me a new phone. It was a new, cheap model but better than that faulty one. So, what about you, Milagros, wanna go?”

Milagros thought seriously as she pouted. “I can’t go; I promised Natasha and others to go to a group study for tomorrow’s exam.”

“Right, right, so it’s just me and Sergio, Hunter.” Xavier turned to his girlfriend. “I’ll get you something nice from the arcade~.” He winked.

“Don’t get too crazy if you lose over a plushie,” she said.

“Tell that to Broderick.”

Hunter confirmed, “Oh yeah, he did. Wish I could have recorded it.” He laughed.

“So, at what time?” Sergio asked.

“At four, if you are all free that time.”

Both Sergio and Xavier shrugged with no problems at the proposed time to meet. “We’ll be there.” They spoke.

The beast folks finished their lunches and went their separate ways to their respective classes or the remaining free time they had to study. Hunter left the cafeteria building and fetched his phone to call Keanu… but second thoughts popped up.

Knowing him so far from their relationship, Keanu had shown himself to take things seriously when it came to stuff like this, especially during busy times such as the current exam week. Hunter had been confidently goofing off in between works because he could make it happen. Some exceptional wolf, Keanu would admit but he would always prioritize work first before leisure. If Hunter were to call him now for a late afternoon playdate at the arcade, Keanu would say, “Hunter, of all times, you’re going to the arcade while we’re packed with exams? Have some common sense! We could do that at the weekend, but not today. I have so much to do, and I cannot afford to goof off,” and hung up before he could say anything else. His little pride did not have time to be scolded when he was trying to get River a birthday gift.

It wasn’t worth it in the end if he knew what he was going to say. Hunter sighed and put away his phone. At least he had Sergio and Xavier volunteer today.

…

Keanu could have sworn he saw Hunter leaving the cafeteria through the leaving and entering crowd on another exit but brushed it off as he was starving for some chicken alfredo pasta.

He purchased his food and carried it to the nearest available table. There he found Frankie and Oliver sitting together.

“Good day,” Keanu greeted.

“Don’t you mean good noon? Because it’s twelve at noon,” Oliver the rabbit said.

“That sounds weird, Oliver,” Frankie said. “I rarely hear it.”

“Even people on Bluesky are asking it.”

“Ugh, stop making it happen, I don’t think it’s going to happen.” She sighed annoyingly.

Then Raiden the snow leopard arrived with his food tray of BLT sandwiches. “Hi, guys, what’s up?”

Oliver immediately said, “What sounds better around noon time, Raiden, ‘good noon,’ or ‘good day?’”

Raiden sat down puzzled with his thick-fluffed tail turning into a question mark. He pondered, “Uh, I guess… good day? I don’t know.”

“Oliver, you’re trying to make an indisputable debate about greeting phrases that people hardly use,” Frankie said.

“Well, people say good night when it’s not goodbye. I’m sure nocturnal people use it during their work nights.”

Raiden shrugged. “Can’t argue with that.” He took a bite of his sandwich.

“Good noon sounds weird, maybe practical, but I don’t think most people say it,” Frankie said. “Where did you come up with that anecdote?”

“I was thinking in the shower, and it blew me up,” Oliver explained.

Keanu saw Robin and Joseph paying for their meals at the cashier and walked together toward them. “Any room for two more?” Joseph smiled.

“You two are in a good mood,” Raiden smirked. “What changed?”

“It’s nothing, we have an essay project for Social Science,” Robin explained.

“Everything going well?” Keanu asked.

Joseph assured him confidently with a smile. “Yeah, we’re on time and we can hand it over to Prof. Kleinsmith this Friday. I thought I was in deep trouble but thanks to Robin for starting ahead before telling me, I have nothing to worry about.” He patted Robin’s shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t butter me up.” Robin waved it off.

“What? I mean it.”

He rolled his eyes and tried to embrace it and said, “Well, thanks, whatever.” It was his only card left to play. If Joseph didn’t stop praising and complimenting him, he would turn into a tomato.

“Well, it’s nice to see you both getting along,” Keanu said before he took a forkful bite of his alfredo-coated penne with a piece of chicken.

Oliver said to Robin, “Yeah, you treat Joseph as if he were a himbo.”

“Hey, I’m not a himbo, I’m too smart for that,” Joseph countered.

The others looked at each other for a moment before Raiden said, “Kinda, well, you remind me a bit of Shawn’s weird, eccentric quest when he was using Grindr before we became a thing.”

“Also,” Keanu added, “sometimes you have a weird hindsight that’s very questionable sometimes in class. B-but that’s not a problem. You’re you and that’s part of your charm and we’re okay with that, he-he.” The young wolf smiled, trying to sugarcoat it optimistically.

“Aw, come on!” he cried and flailed his arms.

“Oh, stop it, Joseph,” Robin said as he ate. “There’s nothing wrong with you. Himbo or not, you’re just flawed… and that’s fine what you are.”

Joseph slurped his drink through a straw as he fumed being called a himbo. But he did say, “Thanks though,” before resuming sucking on the straw.

After a long friendly chatter, Keanu finished his meal after he saw a slightly different scene between Joseph and Robin. They were still at odds with each other but ever since they were paired up for an essay in class, they behaved a little better between them, and that was refreshing. Keanu was honestly tired of the two either not getting along or trying to get along, but it finally happened somehow. Whatever happened during their time working on the essay together was not his business, but he sure hoped that they would at least make up something positive.

His next class for the afternoon was Architecture which had an exam today. In just half an hour away, he must take the opportunity to rehearse… and hoped that Joseph would do the same. Keanu sighed as he walked out of the building, ever since Joseph dropped a little bombshell on him that he was taken during the exhibition fair at the end of the semester of his first year became a bit awkward afterward. He was happy to be just his friend, and even if he was not taken, he… unfortunately, would not go out with him as a feline. Keanu had no problems with interspecies couples; it was just his personal preferences toward wolves he found the most comforting. But the most important thing was that Joseph quickly moved on and pursued finding someone else. Now he wondered what happened the other day, he overheard the little banter and Joseph trying to flirt with Raiden but failed spectacularly. He cried out loud the same response when he found out he was going out with Hunter at the fair. Keanu never thought Joseph would dare to flirt with Raiden like that when he was taken. Understatedly he didn’t know and now was stuck in a rut. Keanu hated to admit that he was sounding a bit desperate like Robin said. What were the chances of asking another person who was already taken? Once or twice, but the third could be times the charm.

Keanu kept walking and headed to the library, maybe he would meet up with Urwin and Yestin there.

…

Hunter became the first to finish his Social Science exam in class before anyone else did which gave a concerned look from the professor for rushing the test. Hunter awkwardly turned back and rechecked all questions and answers thoroughly carefully and confidently handed over the test and left on a whim. The professor was confused as she had never seen Hunter acting this way in previous tests and whatever it was it might be personally urgent. She did check Hunter’s exam, and it looked like he answered very well for now.

Around four in the afternoon, as instructed, Hunter saw Sergio and Xavier waiting at the campus’ station. Timing was not on their side as Hunter arrived to meet with the two, the tram’s doors closed and left the platform.

“Just in time just as the train left,” Xavier said. “Did you have trouble on your way?”

“No,” Hunter panted after half-running through the near length of the campus, “I just left from the farthest building.”

“Well, no problem, we got here just in time, but we have to wait another ten minutes for the next tram.”

“So, what’s our goal, Hunter?” Sergio asked. “I brought twenty bucks as like you said.”

“Alright, first, which machines do you want to play? The Block Stacker, the Claw Machine, or the Key Master? You pick.”

Xavier raised his hand, “I call the claw machine. I have my share of winning a few prizes back then.”

Sergio said, “Uh, I have played Block Stacker before, but I only won a minor prize.”

“And what about Key Master?”

Sergio shrugged with uncertainty. “Uh, once I won a bag of candy in the minor prizes, it was easy.”

“Sol also won a bag of candy yesterday. Those prizes are easier to win than the major prizes.”

“All it takes is to cover the price of those toys, especially the devices. If I recall, they double it to break it even,” Xavier said. “Face it, Hunter, the chances are very slim to win something cool from those machines.”

“It doesn’t hurt to try.” Hunter optimistically shrugged. “You know, you guys helping me, helps to save me another twenty each day if you volunteer.” So far, since Sunday, Hunter had consumed fifty dollars… and now seventy for his latest quest. He knew he was paying the price, but his dumb little pride was making him forget his last remaining savings for the sake of giving his little brother a new tablet he could not afford.

The next tram arrived, and the three beast folks boarded for Rexville Mall Station.

The ride only lasted for twenty minutes from the campus station. Once the group arrived at the movie theater, Hunter spotted Rylan in the ticketing booth with people waiting in line to buy tickets. Just passing by, they stepped into the arcade section.

“What was the last time I’ve been in an arcade?” Xavier said.

“What about the pizzeria place we invited you last week?” Sergio said.

“Oh, that one count? I meant a real arcade. It only had a small section with three arcade games and a jukebox.”

Hunter received a text message from Rylan. He must have seen him coming in through the crowd. He opened his phone and read, “An hour ago, someone won a tablet b4 you came. There’s still two more in stock.”

Hunter gulped and texted back. “Wish me luck.” He turned to the parrot and coyote. “Listen, guys, my brother Rylan texted me and said someone won a tablet before we came.”

“Oh-oh, that can’t be good…” Xavier checked the machines but all three still carried the prize. “They still have more, right?”

“Rylan said they got two more in stock, so get your twenty dollar bills out, we’re playing.”

They exchanged their money with tokens, each with eighty golden coins in their pockets, and proceeded to their respective machines. Xavier picked the claw machine but had to wait for a couple playing to win a prize. Sergio went for the Key Master as he had his share of experience with the machine in the past. Hunter took the Block Stacker but had to wait for his turn as one young teenager was playing.

So, this left Sergio playing before them and inserted four tokens into the machines and the game began. The controls were as usual with limited precision and only going up from down and only moving to the right until finding the targeted prize which was at the far and top right corner. To Sergio, it looked easy, and the key was aligned as precisely as he believed. He pressed the button to insert the key through the wide keyhole.

“Uh, is this it?” Sergio said in doubt. The key stopped and touched the top corner of the slot and retrieved back to the base. “Ugh, what gives?” he said as he picked another four tokens from his pockets.

Hunter finally took over after the teenager finished playing and came out empty-handed and moved on. Hunter inserted four tokens and pressed the start button. The machines made the jolly music again and the blocks on the screen started dancing left and right teasingly.

Fail upon fail and upon fail blasted and blared from the Block Stacker as Hunter barely passed the minor prizes levels. He wanted to keep going but he soon realized he had about five more rounds to play. He checked on the others, Sergio was rather slow as the machines required patience and precision… and maybe luck and skill. Xavier was still fiddling with the claw machine and was cursing under his breath.

Xavier tried another round, giving him three rounds from four tokens, and focused on Hunter’s goals. “Why is it so far away in that corner? Of course, it should, so people don’t win it,” he mumbled. He moved the claws towards the empty box with the Nebula Tab 10 printed on it and hovered over it before pressing the red button to descend. The claws opened wide and contacted the box. Xavier held his breath and watched the claw ascending for retrieval, but the prongs just slipped its grasp. “QUE!?” he blurted. “Don’t tell me they put rocks inside on that thing.”

He tried again, second round, and hovered it over, pressed the button, and watched the ridiculous momentum. “It’s not going to pick up, it’s not going to pick up,” he said in total opposite to see counteractive results. “Don’t pick it up, don’t pick it up.” The claw grasped the rectangular box. “Now slip that damn thing and don’t bring it to me.” The claw got a hold of it and… it grabbed something with it as well. “QUE!?”

His shouting was enough for Sergio and Hunter to check on him and both watched the claw grabbing two items. One was the Nebula Tab 10, and one was a set of headphones. “Talking about two for the price of one. Hit me, baby,” Xavier said.

“You got it!” Hunter said with joy but then…

The claw could not hold it any longer and dropped the Nebula Tab box but held the other one.

“NO!!!” Hunter cried.

“Que jodienda…” Xavier let out an exasperated sigh.

Hunter could not believe it again. For the second time, the claw betrayed and gave them an alternative item. The claw came back and dropped the unwanted item. Xavier kneeled to pick it up and looked at it as he felt it with his green-feathered hands. “Well, at least I know they don’t put rocks on these things.”

“What did you win?” Sergio asked.

“A new headset for gaming.” Xavier turned to Hunter. “Does your little brother want a new headset?”

“River already has one from last summer. It works just fine, I think,” Hunter said.

“Can I have it?” Xavier guiltily said.

Hunter shrugged in defeat. “Sure, go nuts.”

Xavier went to claim his prize in the prize section with other teenagers counting a pile of tickets.

“This is exactly what happened yesterday with Broderick,” Hunter said to Sergio. “He almost got it, but it fell and also grabbed another prize.”

“What did he win?”

“He won a pack of gift cards yesterday from the claw machine, and then Sol won a bag of candy from Key Master because he was testing the machine’s tricks. And Xerxes won a pack of baseball cards from Block Stacker.”

“Heh, either it’s bad luck or weird fate… but… might as well try again because if they can win something, it had to let us win if we keep wasting over eighty tokens in the machines.”

“Ugh, I wish that were the case.”

“Hey, cheer up, so when’s your lil’ bro’s birthday?”

“Uh, it’s this Saturday.”

Sergio looked at him as if he had forgotten it was this very Saturday or had misheard it for another week. It could be both. “Dude, why are doing this at the last minute?”

“Uh, because I forgot,” Hunter rubbed the back of his head. “It was an honest miscalculation—all on a whim at the last minute. Time sure flies before you know it.”

“Hah, in hindsight today, you could have saved money instead of wasting it on dumb things and you could have bought River the fancy tablet.”

“Don’t pretend you weren’t there, Sergio, you’re practically an accomplice and encouraged me.”

“Touché, well, let’s get back to playing then!”

Xavier came back from the clerks with a brand-new headset and resumed playing on the machines with their remaining tokens in their pockets.

Sergio decided to play Block Stacker, Hunter switched with the Key Master, and Xavier continued playing the Claw Machine for their main prize. Poor luck was on their side, the machines were always a step ahead of them, trolling and messing with them from getting the good stuff.

Xavier was the first to run out of tokens and sighed tiredly from standing too long. “I’m calling a day, I’m done… excused me.” Xavier pulled out a one-dollar bill to the token machine to collect four coins and made for another claw machine that was full of stuffed animals, fruits, and other inanimate objects that looked cute with a beady smiley face. He promised Milagros that he would give her something nice from the arcade.

Hunter once again lost to Key Master and his shoulders slumped limply in defeat. That golden plastic key was one nasty teaser, poking fun at him every time he tried to penetrate the keyhole deeply inside to win the new tablet.

Sergio wasn’t any better, he generally sucked playing Block Stacker and made him a bit dizzy from looking at the swinging blocks jumping left and right before he stopped them with the button. He never even made it to the minor prizes on this machine before, maybe he should switch back with Hunter on Key Master.

Hunter tried again, only four tokens left for one more round. He controlled the key once again towards the Nebula Tab 10 and tried to be as precise as possible before pressing the insert button.

The key moved forward and touched the lower corner of the wide opening. Hunter steadily punched the dashboard as he pouted in frustration.

“Fucking piece of—” He heard the cries of victory when he saw on the Claw Machine that someone won something.

It was a young adult lioness excitingly pulling out a prize box to claim… the Nebula Tab 10!?

Hunter tried not to gasp as he stared at the lioness in disbelief. He mumbled, “Oh no.”

“I can’t believe it!” she said happily. “No one will believe me!” she said and pulled out her phone to call someone as she went to claim her prize.

Hunter tried to make sense of this and realized Xavier was not there but was holding a stuffed pineapple with a happy face. He also saw the lioness winning the prize as he stood there with an incredulous look on his face as he realized he had screwed up.

Hunter approached him. “What were you doing!?” He raised his voice.

Xavier was startled. “I-I ran out of tokens and went to get something for Luisa.”

“And you wasted your last coins on a pineapple!?”

“I didn’t know she would have won it!”

“You missed your chance to win it!”

“I-I didn’t know I was that close!”

Sergio ran out to them, abandoning his round of Block Stacker to stop and keep a distance between the parrot and the wolf. “Hunter, calm down! It’s just a stupid game!”

Hunter kept his frustrated anger at bay and let out a short dissatisfying growl. “Fucking damn it!”

“I still have some more tokens left, it’s not too late, right?” Sergio assured him.

There was now one more in stock left. The limited time was slowly intensifying as Saturday was coming in and it was only Wednesday. Hunter mentally cursed this busy week piled with exams and all, but he did not want to give up until the end.

The Claw Machine was out and left with Block Stacker and Key Master. Xavier tried to make up for it by taking a turn to play if Hunter really wanted that tablet dearly.

The tension was gone and replaced with the usual frustrations of losing against the machines over and over again. Sergio nearly reached the major prizes as the blocks danced faster and faster and missed his only block over the edge. This was the first he had ever reached so far, and the machine offered to give away a minor prize this time, Sergio reluctantly accepted it and watched what it offered. He kneeled to pick it up, it was a pack of bubble gum.

A few more rounds later, they came out fruitlessly from the movie theater. They only carried a few prizes but no fancy tablets. A headset and a pack of bubble gum. Xavier’s pineapple plushie was a secondary quest.

Sergio tried to keep it easy; he sensed Hunter a little tense. “Well, we tried our best, Hunter, those machines are always unpredictable.”

Hunter asked, “Xavier, how did you win that pineapple?”

“Sincerely, I watched a YouTube video on how to win a plushie without hitting the button, but that method is impossible on the other machine because it’s too deep to reach the hatch while the other is full of plushies that some are about to fall into the hatch, so all I did was just push the pineapple with the claw without grabbing.” Xavier pulled out his phone to show the said video. “I did it on my third round in doubt, but it actually worked.”

Hunter felt defeated once again, reconsidering his thoughts about trying again to win the prize if was all worth it in the end…

Xavier put down his phone and said, “Hey, I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t know… I didn’t mean to be selfish—”

Hunter countered, “No, no, I’m the one who should be sorry for yelling at you,” he sighed apologetically, “You did your best, Xavier. It was just bad timing. Okay?”

Xavier felt better and patted him on the shoulder with a smile. “You’re a good friend, Hunter.”

Hunter smiled and returned the gesture on his shoulder. “Now you have something to give to Milagros, right? Does she like pineapples?”

They stared at Sergio in wonder since he was her twin. But the male coyote just shrugged. “I don’t look at me, we like eating all types of fruit and all, but we never picked a favorite or is it just me.”

“I think it’s just you,” Xavier said. “I’m sure she’ll like a cute smiley piña.”

“It’s ananas.” He corrected.

“You know what I meant, and we call it piña,” Xavier retorted. “Wait a minute! You Mexicans say piña!”

“I’m just messing with you~.” Sergio grinned.

Tensions had ceased and the three beast folks returned to the station. Hunter took the eastern route while Sergio and Xavier took the western route to the campus. They bade goodbye to each other and went their separate ways. The sun was at dusk, so Hunter still had plenty of time for the evening to take some rest and to study for tomorrow’s exam. All he could think about was taking a slump on the living room couch after the intense session at the arcade. Prize machines were really merciless.

…

Robin came to visit Joseph for another meeting with their essay project this evening to exchange their latest work. Robin was having those funny feelings in looking forward to meeting someone he liked. In this case, it was Joseph who caught his eyes on him for just his looks alone. He had come to accept that he was kind of handsome with those long and tufty ears and black markings around his feline facials. But that damned twunk body of his was the real deal. He was feeling guilty that he wanted a piece of him in plain sight and cop a feel deviously without getting to know him better. He kept telling himself to get to know him better before acting upon it or he would suffer the consequences.

He took a deep breath and exhaled before knocking on Joseph’s dorm room door. The caracal answered and there he was once again wearing his usual wear, a white tank top and gray sweatpants.

Joseph smiled and welcomed him. “Hi, Robin, you got your essay today?”

“Yeah, I did,” he said. “I made some progress before coming here, but I think I need a checkup since you seem to know more about this subject than I do.”

“Sure, no problem, come.”

Robin walked inside as calmly and collected as he could. He hoped nothing weird would happen this evening.

Time went on and it helped to calm Robin down and focus on their essay. He just mentally forced himself to accept that he would never get near him like that after this two-person project was over and to move on with his life. All he had was to observe with his hungry eyes scanning every exposed corner of Joseph’s attractive physique leisurely. The toned arms, the shoulders, and his semi-exposed chest sported the nice cleavage of his low-collar tank top as Joseph was just being himself casually.

Joseph finished checking on Robin’s work and praised him, “You’re doing well, Robin. Maybe dump these filler words and we will get a better streamlined sentence and paragraph.”

“Okay. Thanks, Joseph.” Robin sighed. “I rarely get critical criticism from my works aside from teachers. I’m glad I’m doing well.”

“No, problem, buddy, I totally get that. I’ve been there too.”

Even more so was that Joseph could relate to him, which made his heart flutter. Maybe he had a tough childhood and teenage years, too, in the past and managed to turn out well. He really didn’t want to ask him personal stuff but was glad to hear they both could relate to some degree. Or maybe it was just all in his head. He hoped.

Why was he afraid to fall in love?

“Hey, can I use the bathroom?” Robin asked.

“Sure, you can, just flush the toilet, will you?”

Robin gave him a weird look. “As if that wasn’t in my muscle memory.”

“It’s just my roommate being lazy to flush a fucking toilet.”

“Gross,” Robin sat up from the couch and walked to the bathroom.

It was only the number one and flushed the toilet as instructed. He washed his hands and face to refresh himself after spending what felt like an eternal session of just the two of them working on their essay together and feeling himself hot on his cheeks. Why was he feeling as if he were planning to make a move on him on the bed? Or expecting him to get something in return when he obviously was not the type to do such things? Robin washed his face again with cold water to snap himself off. He grabbed a hand towel, but he caught a familiar scent from the caracal… he promptly put it back and picked a cleaned one that smelled of chlorine and lavender detergent. Much better…

Robin, now all composed, opened the door calmly and went out of the bathroom. He sighed as he looked down on the carpeted floor and when he met up with Joseph in the sitting spot, his mind went numbed before his eyes…

Robin’s breath caught at the sight of Joseph about to take off his tank top, judging the way his arms were crossing around on the hem of his shirt, lifting to reveal his navel. It all fell into slow motion and Robin did not know that his heart was pounding loudly as his eyes embraced the moment.

What made Joseph remove his garment of clothing while he was having a visitor? Did he not mind, or was it hot here? Well, Robin did not mind as he stood there passively.

His eyes scanned frame-by-frame like an imaginary photographer, etching on his vision and memory to encase it forever as this was a pure, rare, and unexplained occasion. There was little context to explain as to why Joseph was lifting his shirt off…

The white tank top covered the caracal’s face as it went over his head and exposed his whole fairly toned body of a runner… or a swimmer? He didn’t care which type it was as all he could do was marvel at his semi-toned stomach and chiseled chest of his lightened color underside. The lats looked simple but visibly manly with those small tufts of armpit hairs breathing some cool breeze. His pectorals weighed and carried the shape of his chest as it curved down along with his arms after throwing away the shirt.

Maybe it was Robin’s imagination, but Joseph’s heavy breathing echoed and vibrated the whole room and his ears. He licked a bit of his lips as he ogled every moment of it before things got awkward once he noticed him standing and staring, which was inevitable.

His overall fur was a reddish tan while his underside was a lighter shade of tan or white. The arms and chest muscles dismissively flexed and rippled as he adjusted his sweatpants’ waistband for comfort and stared aimlessly around before finally noticing Robin out of the bathroom.

Robin enjoyed his new eye candy for as long as he could to remember it forever mentally without taking a picture. Now paying attention to his handsome features like his copper eyes which were enough to snap out of his stupor.

Of all things, Joseph gave him a sheepish wink as he chuckled.

The raccoon shook his head and ignored his embarrassing blush heating hotly on his cheeks as he tried to say something. “Uh, what are you doing?”

“Sorry, it got too hot in here, the thermostat is a little janky,” he explained. “Well, not the thermostat but the cooling ventilation is not reaching far enough here somehow.”

“Uh, I think I’m gonna go tonight.”

“Don’t you wanna stay and play some games? We had fun like yesterday.”

“Yeah, but I’m too tired. I should go. We’ll do another meet-up tomorrow evening, right?”

“Yeah, sure, no problem.” He shrugged.

Robin picked up his things and ignored the topless caracal unintentionally exhibiting near him in his peripheral vision. This guy is going to be the end of me, he thought. Should I tell him? I mean, he kind of knows I’m gay and he is too. Duh. I even used Grindr in front of him to mess with him… maybe he did that on purpose to tease me… or was he being himself naturally from his habits? Ugh, I cannot read people’s minds! He mentally sighed and focused on leaving and said good night to Joseph.

Joseph replied to good night, too, and stood there indifferently but shirtless. He saw how he reacted but did not think much. He knew he was gay—but recently—after being teased from the Grindr thing last Monday. Guess his weakness was being shirtless around to fire up his hormones. He scratched his cheeks in wonder but shrugged it off and assumed he was just shy around a half-naked guy. He hoped he did not offend him, but then again, he was coming back again tomorrow.

…

Hunter spent the evening having dinner with his family and returned to his room to study for tomorrow’s exams. He had an engineering test, but that was a piece of cake, and had nothing to worry about anymore for tomorrow, except his secondary but important mission to get River a birthday present. That was bothering him and could feel his head throbbing intensely and worried about the worst-case scenario. It was so unfair; he wished Xavier did not miss the golden opportunity to win the tablet from the Claw Machine and claim it victoriously. His sharp ears sunk on his head. Today, or tonight, was Wednesday and next was Thursday, and soon Friday. He had two days left until the deadline. He really did not want to disappoint his youngest sibling, especially on his birthday.

His phone, on a phone stand, rang to notify him that it was eleven thirty PM. Hunter sometimes would ignore it and call it an all-nighter until one AM, but he could have a good sleep after losing another battle against the machines.

He stood up from his seat, he still wore his usual clothes and had not taken a shower. He looked disheveled, mostly his fur and some loose buttons on his shirt. He pulled the shirt off and took a deep breath and sighed exhaustedly from a tough day. Good thing he didn’t sweat a lot today, but the shirt insulated the musk and the deodorant inside and it flew out of his smelly hunky body of a wolf. He needed a shower.

The pants, the underwear, and the socks fell on the floor and picked up a towel around his waist for the short trip to the bathroom.

It helped, the warm water cascading his whole frame in every corner and lathered himself up with soap and felt refreshed. His mind was cleared but the pocking and nagging feeling deep in his brain did not cease. He was unsure what was going to happen next.

He came back to his room all dried up and refreshed and looked for another fresh pair of underwear. Tonight, he would wear a plaid boxer that was a bit loose but still comfortable to wear for sleep. Sometimes, his privates would flop out from the fly while switching positions in bed, but he did not care.

Sometimes at night, Hunter would chat with Keanu before going to sleep but around this time, he was now sound asleep. He did not want to bother and decided to lie down on the bed. He snoozed quietly, keeping his future troubles at bay, and would deal with them tomorrow Thursday.