{"sf1_id":122898,"sf2_id":"3egG06eY","title":"Roommates 17: Retracing Steps","author":"pyrostinger","words":4338,"posted_at":"2010-01-29T19:06:00.000Z","tags":["Angst","M/solo","Violence"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/122898-roommates-17-retracing-steps","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/3egG06eY","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/7a/aa/7aaa13d8-db02-4edb-92d5-a87708a04d21","description":"#20 of Roommates","content":"Been a while, I know, since this has existed, but here it is.\u0026nbsp; Next one's on the way.\n\nRoommates  \nChapter 17: Retracing Steps  \n  \nKiyara\n\n* * *\n  \n  \nI had one new message on my voice mail.\u0026nbsp; I'd gotten the call a few hours ago, stared at it as it rang and the little display told me that Croy was calling.\u0026nbsp; I didn't ignore it so much as not answer.\u0026nbsp; Why does he want to talk to me anyway?\u0026nbsp; He won.\u0026nbsp; What does he wanna do, gloat?\u0026nbsp; Shove in my face that Sem rejected me and is going after him?  \n  \nI sighed, because that wasn't right.\u0026nbsp; It wasn't right, and it wasn't fair to Croy.\u0026nbsp; Or Sem.\u0026nbsp; I don't know... I just wanted Sem back so badly.\u0026nbsp; So much so, that I was holding a pillow, the only one left that carried, if very faintly, his scent.\u0026nbsp; It was pretty much all I had left.\u0026nbsp; Ye gods, I felt pathetic.\u0026nbsp; I hadn't really done much for personal hygiene, and my fur was starting to suffer from it.\u0026nbsp; I could just feel snarls where there hadn't been since I was small.\u0026nbsp; All over a guy.\u0026nbsp; Just a guy... not any guy, though, but Sem.\u0026nbsp; Dammit. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; I picked up the phone, more or less with the intent of deleting the message so the notification would clear.\u0026nbsp; The dial tone purred in my ear, then the voice mail message telling me that I had one new message.\u0026nbsp; Tell me something I don't know.\u0026nbsp; Then it started playing and... for whatever reason, I listened to the whole thing.  \n  \n\"Hey Kiyara, it's me.\u0026nbsp; 'Course, you probably know that already but... yeah, um.\u0026nbsp; You know, this is really awkward, you know?\u0026nbsp; You're upset... and you don't wanna talk to me really, outside of telling me to shut up and just go after Sem... but he's really upset, too.\u0026nbsp; You know... the kicker is that, tonight, there's this party... and I kinda intended on taking you up on your offer and actually going after him and seeing what's gonna happen.\u0026nbsp; But uh... my friend talked some sense into me, and I'm thinkin' that's not right.\u0026nbsp; It's... it's really not right.\u0026nbsp; So.\u0026nbsp; I figure I'm gonna get some... uh... liquid assistance.\u0026nbsp; Heh.\u0026nbsp; That sounds fuckin' horrible, doesn't it?\u0026nbsp; I dunno... I guess I'm rambling a little bit.\u0026nbsp; Look, the point is... at this point, I think I might rather see you two happy... then try to take him away from you.\u0026nbsp; Cuz... well, you're a good person, right?\u0026nbsp; 'Course you are.\u0026nbsp; And we've all made mistakes, so... why don't I go and just try to make nice, you know?\u0026nbsp; See... see what I can offer, and hopefully... hopefully, I'll get to him about what's buggin' him.\u0026nbsp; Heh... honestly, I'm not sure why I'm calling and telling you this, but I guess... I dunno.\u0026nbsp; I guess I'm thinkin' out loud to you.\u0026nbsp; I dunno.\u0026nbsp; Anyway... I guess I'll talk to you later, okay?\u0026nbsp; See ya.\"\u0026nbsp; Click. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; By the time the words \"End of message\" sounded, I had already curled into myself, squeezing out a few more tears. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \nSem\n* * *\n  \n  \nI think I heard birds. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \nNo, wait... that was a dream.\u0026nbsp; But I did feel the sun warm on my face, waking me up, and the sounds of the city gently filtering in after that.\u0026nbsp; Not many sounds... just some guys yelling or whatever.\u0026nbsp; I'm just glad they aren't doing construction work anymore.\u0026nbsp; Mostly because as my consciousness faded in, a big\u0026nbsp; headache was right behind it. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \nDamn... this must be what a hangover feels like.\u0026nbsp; Ugh... and it was just as advertised; very, very not pleasant. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \nSo, I just lay there in bed, willing the headache to go away and feeling generally miserable.\u0026nbsp; My mouth tasted awful... I had no idea what went in or out of it last night.\u0026nbsp; Not completely, anyway.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Gods... what the hell did I do?\u0026nbsp; I felt... I remember just... wanting to get drunk to see what that was like and to see if it helped you... forget or something.\u0026nbsp; I don't know.\u0026nbsp; I don't think I was turning into an alcoholic because I just felt terrible.\u0026nbsp; Why would anybody want to do this to themselves?\u0026nbsp; There was this big, black fog between what happened last night and now, and what brain cells weren't crying out in pain were wondering what the hell happened?\u0026nbsp; And, for that matter, what was that smell?  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;I grimaced, and finally decided to stir myself, lurching my body upward.\u0026nbsp; Immediately, I got dizzy and ended up falling out of bed, narrowly missing the trash bucket that was beside it.\u0026nbsp; Ew.\u0026nbsp; That's what the smell was.\u0026nbsp; I didn't even wanna know what came up, I just gathered the bag and winced, picking myself from the floor and staggering out of my room.\u0026nbsp; The bag and it's unpleasant contents were disposed of, and I got myself some water to wash out my mouth.\u0026nbsp; My breath was probably just as bad, but honestly I was hoping there was some aspirin or something to help with the headache.\u0026nbsp; Didn't I get some a while back for the TV headaches?  \n  \n\u0026nbsp;Soon, I had a cup of water in my paw, the pills settling in my stomach, and I just sat in the TV room, trying to will the headache to go away.\u0026nbsp; Jeez, what day was it?\u0026nbsp; There's so much that I'm not even... what the hell happened last night?\u0026nbsp; All I could remember was one big, fuzzy, alcoholic haze sometime after I went to the party.\u0026nbsp; Crap.\u0026nbsp; Why the hell was I drinking so much anyway?  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Oh... dammit.\u0026nbsp; Kiyara...\u0026nbsp; I sighed and leaned forward, looking into the cup before sipping on it.\u0026nbsp; I didn't want to think about Kiyara, but I forced myself to think in that direction.\u0026nbsp; It's unavoidable; she has one of my classes and I can't just stop seeing her.\u0026nbsp; I didn't even know if I wanted to stop seeing her.\u0026nbsp; With her, do the ends truly justify the means?\u0026nbsp; I mean, yeah, she's a kinky bitch, and she forced me to find out a few things about myself... but was it really so bad?\u0026nbsp; I mean... Kiyara... and Kiyara and Morti both...  \n  \nBut the fact of the matter is that she still forced this on me.\u0026nbsp; Or something... ugh, I was probably just thinking too hard about this.\u0026nbsp; Well... I mean, I still like her.\u0026nbsp; I think of her fondly.\u0026nbsp; And really, it wasn't like she wanted to be mean or anything.\u0026nbsp; If she wanted to be mean, there were so many other things she could do.\u0026nbsp; I'm probably blaming her for my nerves.\u0026nbsp; I mean... it was nice and all but... out in public?\u0026nbsp; That's too much for me. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \nUgh.\u0026nbsp; Gods, what a night.\u0026nbsp; I needed some more sleep.\u0026nbsp; Or something.\u0026nbsp; My head still felt fuzzy as I got up from the table, leaving the cup there.\u0026nbsp; I mean, I don't even know how the hell I got back to the dorm last night. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; It was hard to think.\u0026nbsp; Really it was.\u0026nbsp; So I just came in, snapped the shades shut to the window that was right behind my bed, and in the welcome darkness sat down heavily on it.\u0026nbsp; Weird thing was, I saw something staring back at me, in a matter of speaking, when I looked between my legs.\u0026nbsp; This wasn't exactly the ideal time, but... endorphins often make the body feel much better, and since I felt like crap, I figured, hey, what's the harm to rubbing one out, right?\u0026nbsp; At least, however I got here, I had the presence of mind to strip down to my boxers. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \nIn short order, the boxers were gone and I was feeling better.\u0026nbsp; The endorphin rush was nice, so so nice, and counteracted the throbbing head and other stuff from the hangover, whatever wasn't being taken care of by the pills.\u0026nbsp; But it started to fade.\u0026nbsp; That, and I had a little difficulty getting that final rush.\u0026nbsp; I started thinking, and I was kinda hoping it was alcohol making me seem all sluggish in that department.\u0026nbsp; Still, I had a thought as to what would put me over the top.\u0026nbsp; I sorta... didn't quite like the idea, but it was much, much better than having a throbbing headache.\u0026nbsp; But really, I should try and get over this.\u0026nbsp; I mean, it's just... it's just a method of getting off.\u0026nbsp; I think too much, even when I'm in a hang over. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; 'Course, thinking too much about such minutia as to whether or not a desire for a dildo in the ass in order to get me off left me open to the possibility that I wasn't exactly alone in my own bed.\u0026nbsp; So when I reached over to the far dresser, where I kept all that stuff (Kiyara lent it to me, and lube also), I was surprised when I bumped into a body.\u0026nbsp; And screamed, jumping up, upon learning who it was. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \nCroy\n* * *\n  \n  \nI was having a nice dream. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \nI forget how we got there, but me and Sem were in bed together.\u0026nbsp; We were making out... it was getting really hot.\u0026nbsp; I felt his paws caressing my body, and mine on his, and... it was just... too much, almost.\u0026nbsp; Of course I was rock hard, and when I snuck a paw south, I felt him just as bad.\u0026nbsp; Eventually, clothes were discarded, and it was him and me, naked as hell, both of us kinda checkin' each other out.\u0026nbsp; Thing was, Sem wanted to be on the receiving end, something I was more than happy to give him.\u0026nbsp; Ye gods, he was cute.\u0026nbsp; I went between his legs, with him all squirmy and blushy and biting on a finger, staring up at me with his big blue eyes, and I stroked over his belly, tellin' him everything was gonna be just fine.\u0026nbsp; I was gonna take good care of him, and I mean good.\u0026nbsp; I don't think I remember a time when I was harder, either.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; It was really a simple thing to just... stroke at him, squeezing around his base.\u0026nbsp; I pulled him into my mouth, and his moans were so delicious.\u0026nbsp; I pulled from him, kissing at his cute little head, then down the shaft, to his balls, and giving my tongue a swipe around his backdoor.\u0026nbsp; He squirmed, but he trusted me.\u0026nbsp; I knew that Kiyara'd stretched him already, but I still went slow, lubing up a finger and easing it inside him.\u0026nbsp; He squirmed even more, but he was drooling, and not from his mouth.\u0026nbsp; Gods, he was beautiful.\u0026nbsp; He had his arms stretched out on the bed, his eyes half-closed, staring down at me.\u0026nbsp; Even when I was putting most of my attention into sliding first one, then a second finger into him, I could feel his gaze on me.\u0026nbsp; It was so pure, his attention.\u0026nbsp; And here I was, showing him the pleasure that a guy could bring another guy, pleasure he hardly knew himself.\u0026nbsp; I know it sounds cliche but... It just was.\u0026nbsp; I didn't care.\u0026nbsp; Even if it was kinda the opposite of my original fantasy, dammit, I just wanted to be in bed with him. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; He was leaking now.\u0026nbsp; Almost like a faucet.\u0026nbsp; What amounted to a little puddle was building up on his crotch.\u0026nbsp; He had his face all scrunched up, and it was just... cute.\u0026nbsp; He was breathing, but a little heavy, but I could tell that he was ready.\u0026nbsp; Hell if I wasn't ready, too; it almost seemed like I didn't need the lube.\u0026nbsp; But I slicked up anyway, and he spread his legs, and then I pushed.\u0026nbsp; He started to screw up his face again, but I went slow.\u0026nbsp; \"You okay, Sem?\" I asked him.\u0026nbsp; In response, he screamed.\u0026nbsp; When he screamed again, I was jolted from my sleep, flailing and falling off the bed.\u0026nbsp; It took me a few moments to realize where I was, and I peeked up over the bed to see Sem staring at me from the other side. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\"Croy?\" he said, staring at me in obvious disbelief. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\"Uh... hi?\" I ventured.  \n  \n\"What the hell are you doing in here?\" he demanded.\u0026nbsp; And that was a fair question.\u0026nbsp; I probably would have answered it in a timely manner except as I went to stand, I noticed that I was still a little disoriented from the tumble.\u0026nbsp; So I ended up shifting and crouching behind Sem's bed in just my boxers.\u0026nbsp; This is gonna be the start of a beautiful mornin', folks.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Um.\u0026nbsp; Well.\u0026nbsp; I slept here,\" I offered. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\"You have your own bed,\" countered the panther in no uncertain terms. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\"Yes, but you were drunk.\"  \n  \n\"I was drunk?\"  \n  \n\"Very drunk.\u0026nbsp; Very very drunk.\u0026nbsp; Throwing up drunk.\"  \n  \n\"Oh.\"\u0026nbsp; His ears flicked back, now looking to the side and thoughtful.\u0026nbsp; \"And you...\"  \n  \n\"...was takin' care of you, makin' sure you had anything you needed, gave you water, that kinda deal.\"  \n  \n\"Well, alright,\" he said.\u0026nbsp; I was feeling a little better, and I stood up.\u0026nbsp; And then he looked at me, his face suddenly contorting.\u0026nbsp; That was a very visceral dream, I thought briefly.\u0026nbsp; \"Why do you have a boner?\" he cried out, and I hid myself with my paws. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\"Sem, I can explain--\"  \n  \n\"Get out of my room!\u0026nbsp; Get out of my room!\"  \n  \nI got out of his room, trying to stammer apologies.\u0026nbsp; He slammed the door behind me.\u0026nbsp; Sighing shortly, I tried to remember where I put my clothes when my shirt and pants came flying out the door, followed by another slam.\u0026nbsp; Great.\u0026nbsp; Just great.\u0026nbsp; \"Just, uh, just make sure you drink a lot of water!\" I called out helpfully.\u0026nbsp; I heard nothing in reply.\u0026nbsp; That, and I had another problem. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; I really, really needed to rub one out now.  \n  \nSem\n* * *\n  \n  \nI didn't really understand what I felt.\u0026nbsp; I didn't really wanna know, either.\u0026nbsp; All I know was that I was in turmoil.\u0026nbsp; I think I blacked out for a few minutes, too.\u0026nbsp; Immediately after, I felt relieved, a little tired, with my messy paw wrapped around my cock and a dildo shoved up my butt.\u0026nbsp; That was weird for me.\u0026nbsp; That, and the fact that I was desperately in need of a shower or something, especially since there was a line of cum that had reached my nose.\u0026nbsp; I licked it off.\u0026nbsp; It tasted funny.\u0026nbsp; Everything was funny... and off.\u0026nbsp; I felt horrible, but still had a little endorphin rush going.\u0026nbsp; It... definitely wasn't the best thing in the world to be experiencing, ever.  \n  \nI was confused.\u0026nbsp; Mind and body.\u0026nbsp; That's probably the best way to describe it, because I couldn't think of anything else at the time.\u0026nbsp; I needed to get this taste out of my mouth.\u0026nbsp; I needed a shower.  \n  \nI somehow retained the presence of mind to grab some clothes as well as a towel, plus I remembered about the creepy hole and tried to stay far away from it.\u0026nbsp; Who did something like that, anyway?\u0026nbsp; That's just not right.\u0026nbsp; Thankfully, there were no holes of any kind in the stall I had chosen, though there was somebody else taking a shower when I went in, and they were in that stall.\u0026nbsp; Whoever it was was still going when I finished up and left.\u0026nbsp; The hell were they doing, waiting for something?\u0026nbsp; Ugh, whatever.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Still, the shower provided some measure of calm, and when I left I had actually started to feel a little better from my crappy state.\u0026nbsp; I wasn't exactly thrilled about going back to my own dorm, but I at least felt ready to face whatever was there.\u0026nbsp; Not that I had anything to expect; Croy was in his room.\u0026nbsp; Fine by me.\u0026nbsp; There was some orange juice in the fridge that was still good, so I finished it off and tossed it in the trash before I went back to my room.\u0026nbsp; It wasn't until I had gotten some clothing on that I felt ready to talk to Croy again. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \nCroy\n* * *\n  \n  \n\"Croy?\"  \n  \n\"Yeah?\"  \n  \n\"Could you come out here, please?\"  \n  \nThankfully, I had taken care of business a little after Sem had left for his shower, and I has buried my nose in a book trying to keep my mind off of... well, him, and everything.\u0026nbsp; I also opened a window for a little bit because my room was starting to smell again.\u0026nbsp; Even so, I couldn't help but be very aware of Sem's re-entry into the dorm, as well as his movements around in there. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \nWhen he called me out, I put the book down, took a breath, and opened my door.\u0026nbsp; He told me to sit at the table, so I did.\u0026nbsp; He looked a little better, but had his head down, fingers interlaced across his forehead while his elbows held them up.\u0026nbsp; He didn't look up at me when he spoke.\u0026nbsp; \"I feel nauseous.\u0026nbsp; I have a huge headache.\u0026nbsp; In general, I feel like crap.\u0026nbsp; There's also a big, fuzzy hole between last night and this morning.\u0026nbsp; What happened last night?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; I smiled a little, though he couldn't see it.\u0026nbsp; \"Sounds like a pretty bad hangover to me.\u0026nbsp; I got some aspirin in the cabinet, if you want.\"  \n  \n\"Please.\"\u0026nbsp; I got the pills for him and one of my bottled waters from the fridge.\u0026nbsp; He washed down two of them before speaking again.\u0026nbsp; \"Alright.\u0026nbsp; While that's working, I still don't know what happened last night, Croy.\"  \n  \n\"You kinda drank yourself pretty stupid, dude.\"  \n  \n\"Feel free to elaborate,\" he told me with some heat.\u0026nbsp; So I did. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \nI had stumbled out into the street, trying to decide which way to go before going back toward campus on a whim.\u0026nbsp; I didn't know where Dail stayed.\u0026nbsp; Hell, I didn't even know if the otter was even going to take Sem back to his place.\u0026nbsp; I was scared and angry.\u0026nbsp; Angry at myself mostly for losing track of him, and allowing myself to throw more beer back.\u0026nbsp; I could almost feel the guilt sloshing around in my gut as I half-ran, half-jogged back toward campus, looking, looking, calling out his name.\u0026nbsp; It was dark that night, and I don't know if it was just my imagination's fault.\u0026nbsp; After all, I was picturing my roommate dead in an alley somewhere, his body mutilated or stabbed.\u0026nbsp; And that's not even counting what I was trying to anticipate Dail doing. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; An alley is actually where I found Sem.\u0026nbsp; And Dail.\u0026nbsp; I took about a second to look at everything, and it was all I needed.\u0026nbsp; A dark, dank alley, the only light streaming in and Sem and Dail just beyond it.\u0026nbsp; Heavy breathing, and Dail --\u0026nbsp; about a head shorter than Sem --\u0026nbsp; had the panther pinned against the wall with an arm around his back.\u0026nbsp; I didn't know what he was saying, but he was muttering something.\u0026nbsp; Sem didn't like it; I saw him try to push off Dail but he wasn't as coordinated.\u0026nbsp; In that second, I was also painfully aware that the otter had worked down both pairs of pants to pool around ankles. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \nI reacted.\u0026nbsp; Dail didn't even see me coming, probably because he was too busy trying to stick it into Sem, dry.\u0026nbsp; I caught him square on his jaw, and he fell over cuz of his pants.\u0026nbsp; He looked at me in surprise, and he didn't get scared until I picked him up and punched his face again, letting him drop on the ground.\u0026nbsp; Picking him up again, I slammed him against the wall, holding him up by his shirt and baring my teeth with a growl I didn't even know I was doing until I felt it in my chest.\u0026nbsp; He looked scared now, but moreover I could smell fear on him.\u0026nbsp; That's hard to fake. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"If I ever see you near him again, you're gonna wake up in a hospital, if you wake up at all,\" I said, growling still.\u0026nbsp; \"Understand?\"\u0026nbsp; He was bleeding from his nose, I noticed.\u0026nbsp; Good. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \nDail nodded, so I pulled him from the wall and threw him out of the alley.\u0026nbsp; He pulled his pants up and ran off in the direction of the party, so I went to go check up on Sem.\u0026nbsp; The adrenaline coursing through my body was starting to go sour.\u0026nbsp; \"Sem, you alright?\"  \n  \nHe was still leaning on the wall, his tail with an arch to it near the base, but otherwise lifeless.\u0026nbsp; I called his name again, and then he moved, waving me off somewhat violently.\u0026nbsp; \"I'm supposed ta be mad atcha.\" he told me.  \n  \n\"Look, Sem, you're gonna feel this in the morning.\u0026nbsp; I was trying to help you avoid that, but you kept throwin' 'em back.\"  \n  \n\"Wanna be drunk right now,\" he mumbled at me. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\"Why?\"  \n  \n\"'Cuz I don't wanna think,\" he said, pounding the wall with his fist.\u0026nbsp; \"'m sick of thinkin'.\u0026nbsp; Too much shit goin' on in m'head, and I wanted it out for a few hours.\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; My ears were pretty firmly plastered on my head.\u0026nbsp; Yet I couldn't help but continue to be distracted by his pantsless state.\u0026nbsp; \"Sem, your pants--\"  \n  \n\"FUCK pants!\" he yelled.\u0026nbsp; \"Fuck you, too!\u0026nbsp; Fuck Kiyara, fuck public blowjobs, fuck surprises, fuck everythin'!\"\u0026nbsp; He made another wild gesture, stumbling a few steps to the right and catching himself on the wall again.\u0026nbsp; I hovered closer to him.\u0026nbsp; \"Why're my pants down?\" he asked, though who he was asking I wasn't sure. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\"Let me help you,\" I offered.  \n  \n\"I can do it,\" he said, waving me off as he bent over.\u0026nbsp; He overbalanced and would have fallen had I not caught him.\u0026nbsp; He grunted, pulled up his pants, then blew chunks, some of it on my foot.\u0026nbsp; I sucked it up, shook my foot some to get the worst of it off, then helped Sem walk back to the dorm.\u0026nbsp; He leaned pretty heavily on me.\u0026nbsp; Guess he knew that he wasn't as stable as he claimed.\u0026nbsp; Near the doors to our dorm building, he decided to make conversation. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\"Yo, Croy?\"\u0026nbsp; His voice sounded a little too gravelly to be his, and if his head wasn't about two inches away from my own I'd have a hard time believing it was his. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"What's up, Sem?\"  \n  \n\"You like me, right?\"  \n  \nI paused in answering while I manipulated us through the double doors.\u0026nbsp; Sem was at least some help, so maybe he wasn't as gone as I thought he was.\u0026nbsp; \"'Course I do.\u0026nbsp; You're my friend.\"\u0026nbsp; I started to get out my school ID so we could get through the last door. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\"Mean, like... fuck-me, like me.\"  \n  \nThis qualification threw me hard, and I almost dropped my ID and Sem both.\u0026nbsp; I wasn't sure how to react, or even if the reaction would take with Sem being so sauced.\u0026nbsp; So I decided not to say anything.  \n  \n\"Heh.\u0026nbsp; I knew it.\u0026nbsp; Yeah... 'course you like me.\u0026nbsp; Oth-- otherwise th' shit you've been doin' wouldn't make no sense.\"\u0026nbsp; I grunted, wrestling Sem's body through the last door, then got us both into an elevator.\u0026nbsp; Silence seemed like the best thing to do right now.\u0026nbsp; \"Didn't see it b'fore... not sure I wanted ta see it... but I see it all now...\" \u0026nbsp;  \n  \nIt's at this point that I wonder whether or not I'm transparent.\u0026nbsp; And whether or not it's a good thing that Sem when drunk seems more observant than Sem sober.\u0026nbsp; I try and put it out of my mind as the panther falls silent and I drag him through the doors and into an elevator.\u0026nbsp; He started mumbling again, but I didn't catch all of it.\u0026nbsp; Our floor came and it was another task to get him to walk to our dorm, where I unlocked it and brought us in. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; \"Yeah, you're a good frien', Croy,\" I heard him say. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\"Hush.\u0026nbsp; Drink this.\"\u0026nbsp; I brought out a bottle of water that was in the fridge.\u0026nbsp; I didn't know whose it was, but it was there and it was cold. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \nHe took a swig.\u0026nbsp; \"Really, man.\u0026nbsp; You're... you're a good frien'.\u0026nbsp; 'M serious, man.\u0026nbsp; All... takin' care a me when I'm like this.\u0026nbsp; Bein' drunk ain't that fun, though.\u0026nbsp; It's like... I can't feel nothin'.\"  \n  \n\"What?\"\u0026nbsp; I was immediately alarmed.\u0026nbsp; \"Sem, whaddya mean?\"  \n  \n\"Like,\" he paused and took another drink, \"can't feel nothin'.\u0026nbsp; Like, can't feel happy or sad or nothin'.\u0026nbsp; Don't like bein' sad, but I don't like this, either.\u0026nbsp; Can't really think or nothin'.\"\u0026nbsp; His head swiveled to look at me.\u0026nbsp; \"You know what, though?\"  \n  \n\"What?\"  \n  \nHe grinned.\u0026nbsp; \"Bet if I wasn't thinkin' so damn much, we probably woulda fucked already.\"\u0026nbsp; He started to giggle, and then the smile was suddenly wiped from his face.\u0026nbsp; \"Don't feel so good,\" he said.\u0026nbsp; I ducked into his room and got his trash can, giving it to him.\u0026nbsp; Sem smiled at me again.\u0026nbsp; \"You're a good frien',\" he told me, before he threw up. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; I didn't tell him all of that, obviously.\u0026nbsp; The less he remembered about Dail, the better, so I just told him I found him in an alley.\u0026nbsp; The other part, about our little conversation, well... that I left out, too.\u0026nbsp; Besides, he was drunk.\u0026nbsp; You probably can't count on anything said while drunk. \u0026nbsp;  \n  \nAfter that, though, he nodded, then told me \"thanks\" before going off to his room again.\u0026nbsp; Shortly after that, he walked out with a coat on.\u0026nbsp; \"Where you goin'?\" I asked him.  \n  \n\"For a walk,\" he said, then left.  \n  \nThings didn't get much better as a bit later, my phone rang.\u0026nbsp; \"Hello?\"  \n  \nIt was Icarus.\u0026nbsp; \"Hey Croy.\u0026nbsp; How'd the party go last night?\"  \n  \nGreat.\u0026nbsp; So what do I tell him?  \n\u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"Roommates","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/69282-roommates-16-party-hard.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/125845-roommates-18-an-understanding.json"}}