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Frankie was living life on easy street these days. The white-furred roo was months away from graduating college at the top of his class and worked hard to keep it that way. He found that this program was easier than anticipated so long as he stayed on top of his work as many of his classmates over the years had succumbed to the allure of not worrying about doing assignments and paid the price for it.

His present was all mapped out and planned, but his future was a bit up in the air. While he didn't know exactly which path in life he wanted to go down after school was done, what he was certain of was that his stellar grades would make him an attractive candidate all around.

For now, Frankie was happy to kick back and relax in his shared apartment, watching the television with his roommate, Kevin. He'd known the dark-furred wolf for a number of years now and knew that he'd rather not live with anyone else but him. The pair got along well to the point that they'd remained friends since they were young, though he might have had feelings for the canine that his roomie didn't possess.

The marsupial, as potentially dangerous to their friendship as it was, had a crush on the lupine sitting next to him. He'd had one for ages but was always too afraid to mention anything as he didn't know if they were unrequited. As much as he was outspoken in certain areas, he was far shyer in a lot of others, this being one of them. It didn't matter to him, though, as he was fine in keeping them private.

"Nothing really good on, huh?" Kevin ran his fingers through his brownish-black hair.

Frankie sighed as he flipped through all the channels with the remote. "It's all trash these days, and anything I actually do wanna watch is airing reruns." He spent a minute clicking buttons until he gave up. "It ain't a mystery why people have switched to streaming. Just about the only thing that looks interesting is the porn stuff and I don't even wanna watch that!"

"I wouldn't even bother with it, all the best stuff's online anyway." Kevin snorted. "Eh, just throw something on as background noise then."

"Can do." Frankie changed the channel to some random sitcom that neither of them had any inclination to pay attention to. "Ugh, this ain't exactly how I was planning on spending my day today. I'm mad bored, and I unironically wish that I had homework to do."

"Now that _is_bored." Kevin smirked. "Guess you shouldn't have done it all at school when you had the chance to."

Frankie couldn't help but chuckle, palming his face with his hands. "Yeah, fuck me for thinking that having free time was a good thing."

Kevin pursed his lips as he thought of a possible idea for the roo to do, though he couldn't really come up with anything. "I mean, you could get a head start on any future work that you have to do."

"Nah, I ain't falling for that one again." Frankie gave the wolf a knowing look. "I was smart enough in school to get all my shit done real quick as a kid, only to be rewarded with more work to do. Not letting myself get tortured like that again."

"Ah yes, I remember those times well. It's amazing how much grade school tried to deter you from excelling." If sarcasm could force your eyes to roll, Kevin's would be somersaulting in their sockets. "I, too, bear those scars."

"Wish those were the only ones I got." Frankie involuntarily rubbed along one of the various scars on his arm. A few years back he had gotten into a bit of a scrap after having a little bit too much to drink at a bar, only to find himself outnumbered in what ended up being a knife fight. Since then he'd gotten far more reserved, not wanting to end up in a situation like that again.

Kevin wrapped his arm around his friend in support. "Well, you know what they say - chicks dig scars."

"That only helps you, jackass." Frankie playfully punched his roomie's shoulder.

"Hey, I'm just giving advice that works!" Kevin laughed, fending off the attack. "It could probably work for guys, too. What about Tony from your Advanced Calc class?"

"Ugh, _that_meatball? I'd rather gouge my eyes out with a rusty spoon than be alone in a room with that dipshit." Frankie gave off an exasperated sigh. "He's got the personality of a mushroom, and the smarts of a creaky, old leather boot fished up from the bottom of a lake."

It took a moment for Kevin to fully process all the details. "How... descriptive."

"Yeah, well, I got a lot of time to formulate how much I don't like him."

"Fair." Kevin nodded. "Also, what's wrong with mushrooms?"

"I don't like them, you know that." Frankie gently shook his head in disbelief.

Kevin could only giggle at the remark. "I do, I'm just teasing."

While neither of them were particularly paying attention to the program on the screen, the unmuted audio brought their attention to the sights that it was displaying. One of the main characters was trying to prove that they were capable of being a risk-taker at the behest of another character, only for the second person to have regrets when they saw that the first person was about to jump over a moving train on a motorcycle.

Kevin could only scoff at the idea of participating in such a spectacle. "Imagine actually doing that."

"What, not brave enough to do a simple jump?" Frankie nudged the wolf in the ribcage.

"Well, for starters, you wouldn't catch me on a motorbike in the first place. That's dangerous enough for me as is. Then you add the train in... and it's just a recipe for disaster!" Kevin ran his fingers through his brownish hair before turning to look at the white-furred roo. "Are you telling me that you'd do that?"

"You just need some practice, that's all." With a laugh, Frankie dismissed the canine's concerns. "The train is irrelevant. All you gotta do is learn how to make the jump, and then you're gonna get it every time regardless of what obstacle is underneath it. Easy!"

Kevin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Since when were you such a daredevil, hmm?"

"Well, I ain't done that before, but I've certainly crossed some tracks as a train was coming." Frankie didn't hear a response and turned to the lupine to see what was up, only to come across his concerned roommate, jaw agape. "What?"

Kevin couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What do you mean, 'What?!' That's scary as fuck, why would you do that?"

Frankie threw his hands up, not understanding what the big deal was. "It was late, I was young and dumb. Sure, I coulda waited, but I really wanted to get home that night and I didn't wanna hafta sit there watching every single car whoosh past me. It was a long train!" He still didn't think that there was anything to worry about. "So long as it's not hurting anybody, I don't see the problem with being a little risky now and then."

Upon hearing those words, Kevin's face seemed to instantly dive into his hands, the longest of sighs indicating his disapproval. "I seem to recall you hurting yourself in the past." His gaze met the kangaroo's.

"Hardly." Frankie dismissed the wolf's distress with a wave of his hand. "Remember when I fell outta that tree when I was a kid and hit every branch on the way down?"

Kevin's expression immediately became quizzical upon hearing that. "Uh, yeah, you sprained your wrist pretty bad, and then immediately started crying."

"But it ain't never broke!" Frankie cackled, still not understanding the gravity of the event. "I was back in the tree a couple weeks later."

"Even though everyone, including myself, told you not to." Kevin felt like he was trying to explain the dangers of crossing the street to a young child for the first time. "Yeah, I remember that."

Frankie sat there, staring at the canine and thinking of how to diffuse the situation. Only one thing popped into his head. "I can show you that there's nothing to worry about."

Kevin's eyes instantaneously narrowed at his roomie, his skin turning cold. "What are you saying?"

"I'll take a risk, right here, right now."

Not fathoming what the roo was talking about. "In our apartment."

"Nah." Frankie leaned forward in the direction of his friend as if he were a mobster discussing the details of a hit. "I'm gonna jump from the top of our building to the one next door."

Kevin's blood ran hot through his veins, feeling like a volcano seconds away from blowing its top off. "Are you out of your fucking mind?!" He bellowed, not caring if anyone else heard.

"Hey, hey, chill out." Frankie clasped the shoulder of the wolf, who had begun standing up over top of him. "It's not as bad as you think. In terms of risky shit to do around here, this ain't even the worst of it." An unintentional wry grin slipped across the side of his face. "Now, running across the street after people are done with work and driving like lunatics to get home? _That_shit's fucking dangerous."

Try as he might, Kevin couldn't bring himself to agree. "I... I don't know..." His body was steeped in panic, more than enough for the both of them.

"Look at me." Frankie had gripped both of his roommate's shoulders and forced their eyes to meet head-on. "I promise that nothing bad is gonna happen. You got word on this."

A million thoughts streamed through Kevin's brain all at the same time, far and away too quick to parse anything meaningful out of any of it. He desperately didn't want his friend to go through with this but felt like he didn't hold all the cards. "I can't talk you out of this, can I..."

"Not a chance." Frankie clapped his hand on the wolf's arm before standing up. "I'm gonna be just fine." He cheerfully stated, rushing to the door to put on his shoes.

"Hey, wait up!" Kevin hightailed it after him.

***

The smell of fresh rain whipped around the pair of them as they stood in the wind on the top of the roof of their building, though the pungent aroma of the dumpster below them kept trying to join the party. "Listen to me, it's fine. I'm fine." He explained to the canine for what felt like the hundredth time. "I've done this before, I know what I'm doing."

"You fucking what?!" Kevin felt like his friend had lost all of his marbles upon admitting that.

"Yeah, you were out doing something one day and I ain't had nothing to do, so I tried it and made it no problem." Frankie shrugged nonchalantly. "Man, the buildings ain't even that far apart. I'll live."

At the very least, the danger inherent wasn't lost to Kevin, who'd begun to plead to the roo. "Dude, I'm telling you, you shouldn't do this!"

"Relax, it ain't that bad." Frankie exuded confidence, more than enough for the both of them. "I mean, we live in a mid-rise apartment complex with a few floors. You wouldn't catch me doing this on the twenty-sixth floor of a building!"

"Still, it rained this morning. Everything is wet." Kevin broadly gestured to the rest of the roof around them.

It got to the point where Frankie felt like his roomie was being too overprotective of him, to the point of being smothering. "A little water ain't gonna stop me. I'll just adjust my footing." That was the last thing that he said to the lupine before turning to the edge of the roof.

Kevin was utterly petrified where he stood, in fear of the inevitability that he'd be watching his best friend jump to his death. He couldn't say anything - neither a word of warning, nor a call to turn around. The one thing that he wanted was for the white-furred kangaroo to stop what he was doing and by that point he knew that nothing could prevent that jump from taking place. He felt powerless.

Frankie looked over the edge of the building at the ground below, noting how clear the alley looked today. The fire escape staircase for both complexes were directly in front of him, which is the only reason why he'd even attempt this in the first place as they provided a bit of a safety net in case he flubbed the length of a jump. Because of that, he hadn't had any close calls.

He took his place at the edge of the roof, his tail stock still behind him as he concentrated his full attention on the building across from him. The wind was present, but negligible. The fire escapes were as sturdy as the day that they were installed. He felt alive enough to even attempt the jump in the first place. Every single thing that he noted on his mental list was getting checked off, with the only question mark being how wet the area was.

But he didn't pay that much mind, as it'd already been hours since it rained and thought that most of the worst of it should be gone by then. With that checked off it meant that he was finally ready. There was no possible way that he could've leapt across from a standing position, though, so he took several long strides backwards until satisfied and then ran full-tilt towards the edge. Everything was on track for a perfect jump. All he finally needed to do was step up onto the ledge and-

Frankie slipped.

***

The dreary white interior of a hospital was the first thing that Frankie saw when he opened his eyes, the world a blurry mess of shapes and colours that took him moments to properly decipher. He groaned weakly, weaker than any time that he'd ever woken up, and he could barely understand why. Consciousness was returning to him, only a trickle at a time. His limbs felt like they were filled with cement and could in no way move them.

"Oh, my head..." Frankie could barely squeak out. Being in a hospital, he knew the reason why he felt the way that he did was probably because of a cocktail of medication, though the fact that he was sleeping definitely contributed to his state of being. The question now was, how long was he out for?

"Oh, you're up!" A voice sounded out next to the kangaroo. Kevin had been waiting by his side, sitting on a chair beside the bed for a lengthy period of time. "Huh, I don't know if he knows I'm here yet."

Frankie's mind swirled from the overload of stimulation and needed to take even more time to fully process everything. One by one his senses returned to him - he heard the beeping from the machinery next to him, felt the rough fabric of the sheet covering his bed with his fingers, smelled the stale air of his room, and tasted something metallic that he eventually deduced was dried blood. The only thing that stayed fuzzy was his vision, which meant that he wasn't wearing his glasses.

"W-Wait, where am I?" Frankie feebly attempted to shift his head in the direction that he first picked up the sound of his roomie, eventually seeing an amorphous blob in the shape of a wolf. "What happened to me?"

Kevin reached out and gently plucked the roo's hand off of the bed and held it in his own, giving his friend something tangible to cling onto. "Well, you're in the hospital right now. You slipped off the roof like I said you would and landed clear in the dumpster, but it wasn't a soft landing. People chucked a lot of glass and metal in there when they weren't supposed to." He wasn't sure if he was going too fast for the marsupial to keep with. "I raced down there as fast as I could, but you were bleeding out fast. You nicked your neck on one of the many broken beer bottles in there."

"Oh god..." Frankie gasped, his mind still sluggish. The sensation of how dry his mouth was just dawned on him, and he motioned for something to drink.

Kevin saw his roommate point to the water on the tray and involuntarily jumped into action. "Only thing I could do at that point was call an ambulance and try to hold the wound as closed as much as I could." He held the drink in his hand when it wasn't needed. "Your shirt somehow got a bit ripped in the process, so I used that to help stem the flow."

Still under the effects of the medication, Frankie attempted to focus his eyes on the canine by squinting. "Was I okay after that?"

Kevin sadly shook his head. "Not a chance. You lost a ton of blood after you fell. The doctor told me your injuries caused massive external haemorrhaging, with you nearly bordering on exsanguination if I didn't jump in to help you when I did. He told me I literally saved your life." He stated matter-of-factly.

"Any broken bones?" Frankie's grip on the hand tightened.

"Miraculously, no, the other garbage happened to break your fall enough. You probably wouldn't have stood a chance if you hit the ground instead."

That was a lot for Frankie to absorb in his disoriented state. Several more moments had passed before he managed to find his words again, though he was barely capable of piecing things together on his own. "Wait, so how am I okay then?"

That made Kevin pause. "Well, you needed a blood transfusion to replace everything you lost."

Fear immediately coursed through Frankie's veins like the IV drip in his arm. "No, I can't afford that!" He attempted to shout, but all that came out was a weak warble.

"Shh, easy." Kevin gingerly rubbed the roo's frail hand, doing his best to calm down his friend. "Just relax. The school's insurance covered your medical stay, and the hospital covered the transfusion specifically."

Frankie registered everything as it was being said, elevating his heart rate from the surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah. They said they couldn't tell me much about it, but it's something experimental that they wouldn't charge you for." Kevin did his best to remember what was explained to him, scrunching up his lips as he recalled all that he could. "They said you have a weird blood type because you can donate your blood to anyone else, but you can only receive from your own type. They told me they were having a shortage of your type, and this was basically your only option, so I said yes on your behalf." He begrudgingly confessed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It was either that or you die, I couldn't say no!"

The toll taken on his body still had Frankie tired; his brain was clearly active, but exhaustion was taking hold of him once more. "Was that all that happened to me?"

"Shockingly, yeah. You're incredibly lucky that you didn't break a bone, or worse, die!" Kevin carefully tugged on the kangaroo's hand, meshing his fingers in with that of his roommate's. "Please, please, please - if you're gonna be risky in the future, make sure you do something that doesn't have the potential to kill you." The weight of the situation was bringing Kevin's emotions out of his body, as evident by the laboured breathing escaping from his mouth. "If not for your sake, then for me. My heart can't take that again."

Tears welled up in the corners of Frankie's eyes as he looked at the concerned visage of his friend. "I'm sorry..." Despite barely even being able to take a breath, he began hyperventilating as he cried.

"Shh." Kevin caressed the marsupial's arm from fingers to shoulder, endeavouring the roo to calm down. "Hey, it's fine. You're alive, and that's all that matters." He watched his roomie's eyelids grow heavy as the conversation continued. "Just try to get some rest. You're gonna be stuck here for the next little bit anyway."

Frankie wasn't about to fight that; he could feel himself drifting off again. "Yeah, okay..." It didn't take long, but he was out like a light once more.

***

It felt surreal for Frankie to be home again after his stay at the hospital. He hadn't been there for more than a day, yet it felt like he'd experienced an eternity due to his drugged state. It was as if time had looped over itself multiple times before the current moment due to how long ago that he perceived the accident appeared to be.

What surprised him on the car ride home was that the canine had said that the reason why he ended up in medical care was already told to him, yet he never remembered that conversation taking place. His friend didn't mind that, and, instead of leaving it there, actually went and explained it all over again, this time sticking in his brain. He was astounded that he managed to survive the harrowing ordeal, and concluded that maybe the lupine knows what he's talking about after all.

At the behest of his roommate, he took it easy, way easier than he normally did. He basically laid on the couch the entire day in front of the television, only getting up to hit the can. The wolf, however, insisted that he'd make the roo's meals and bring them to the living room, no matter how much he fought and contended that he was fine enough to feed himself. It took him a few moments to begrudgingly realize that the canine was right and that he was still running at half speed, much to his chagrin. He reminded himself that this was only temporary.

Frankie's mind spun throughout the remainder of the day, mostly from it constantly replaying the accident. It was almost as if it was trying to pinpoint where exactly he screwed up and if he did make a mistake in not heeding the lupine's warning, but ultimately none of that mattered as the outcome never changed.

More thoughts raced in his head as he then began wondering about the procedure done in order to save his life. It killed him a little bit that he never got the chance to actually have a say in whether or not he'd have such a risky operation done to his body, but on the other hand he likely might not have woken up at all had it not been done. The idea of his bodily autonomy being taken away was terrifying, but there was no way that he'd chastise Kevin for doing whatever it took to keep him alive. It wasn't the canine's fault in the slightest, and he'd have to make sure that he thanked his roomie in earnest when he felt better.

Day eventually turned to night as the natural light in the apartment dimmed, the absence of sun beams hitting his face causing his body to grow tired. He pushed himself up, albeit rather weakly, and tried to make it to his bed on his own, only for Kevin to rush to his side and assist him the rest of the way there. Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes at how well the wolf was treating him despite not listening to him earlier. He felt truly blessed to have someone like that in his life.

His bed was akin to the clouds of the heavens themselves with how quickly he passed out when he flopped on top of it, taking barely a few minutes to lose consciousness; that had to be a record for him. Though, it did make sense with how out of it he'd been over the last day, to the point that he still felt exhausted even though basically all that he did in the hospital was sleep. It just went to show that nothing can beat your own creature comforts.

***

Morning struck Frankie as sunlight streamed through the slit in his blinds due to them not being properly drawn, yet he'd woken up far before that could affect him. Now having had a chance to properly rest, he just lied there in the clothes that he didn't have the opportunity to change out of, thinking of just how lucky he was to still be here. The fall had him pretty scared, but he wasn't about to let that dictate how he'd live his life. It would take some time getting back to how he normally felt, but he was prepared to take baby steps to achieve it.

Slowly, but surely, he twisted his legs over the edge of the bed, letting his feet gently hit the floor, only to stop when the rough carpet contacted his toes. He swore that he'd gone to bed in socks, to which he looked around and verified that, sure enough, he'd kicked them off in his sleep.

With that out of the way, he forced himself upright as carefully as he could and took a few steps out into the hall, hissing when the sole of his foot touched the bare tiled floor of the washroom. In his stupor, he'd forgotten how chilly that room could get.

He'd hoped that the worst was over once he'd drained his lizard. Stopping by the sink, he took the opportunity to splash himself with water to wake up some more. There wasn't a chance to really get a good look at himself since he'd left his glasses in his room, but what little he could make out told him that he appeared... pretty okay, all things considered. He'd have expected some bruising along the areas where he landed hard, but he seemed to be as good as he was before he took the plunge. There'd be no argument coming from him, he was fully accepting this.

The cold of the tiles had begun to agitate him, so he dried off his fur as best as he could before hightailing it back to his room and sliding back into his socks. The warmth that they provided felt good.

Once done, Frankie made sure to don his glasses as he preferred not to live life with everything being a blurry smudge of colours and shapes. It'd been the first time since coming home that he'd perceived any sense of normalcy, to the point where he chuckled because he knew that he was feeling way better than he had any right to be. Maybe he'd be alright after all.

That's when his stomach grumbled and broke his concentration. It made sense that he'd be hungry in the morning, but he only just realized how little he ate in the previous days. His body was clearly telling him that he needed food in him badly, and that he needed it now!

With a skip in his step, he bounded his way to the kitchen like a member of his species normally would. Truth be told, the fact that he was able to do that at all made him feel a bit guilty as he really should be bedridden for days still, if not weeks, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. The faster that he got back his independence, the better.

The question then became what he should eat, but he didn't particularly want to spend so much time thinking about it and instead grabbed the first thing that he could find on the counter. Toast would do him just fine.

That was the moment that Kevin had made his entrance into the kitchen, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Oh, good morning. I didn't realize you'd be up already."

"I didn't either, but it makes sense since I did get over my full eight hours." Frankie adjusted the settings on the toaster before depressing the plunger.

"And you're good?" Kevin asked, trying, and failing, to stifle a large yawn.

"Oh yeah! I ain't had a good sleep like that in ages." Frankie chuckled. "I honestly think a lotta my past problems coulda been solved if I just got more rest."

Kevin - still not awake - yawned again, almost nearly as hard. "That's good. You should do that more often." It was then that his own belly grumbled from lack of sustenance. "Ah hell, should've asked you to throw me in a slice." He shuffled past the island to the main counter, snatching the box of cereal off of the top of the fridge as a way to quickly subdue his hunger. "Truthfully, I didn't eat a whole lot yesterday."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I kinda put it off a bit just to make sure that you were alright." Kevin said as he poured the breakfast cereal into a bowl.

Frankie palmed his face with both hands and sighed, guilt washing over him. "You didn't hafta do that."

"Eh, it wasn't that big a deal. My appetite was kinda spoiled anyway." Kevin flooded his meal with what he'd describe as the perfect amount of milk. "Yours would be too if you were in my position and had to see what the hospital made you eat."

"That bad, huh?" The sound of rhythmically drumming fingers against the granite countertop filled the air as Frankie waited for his bread to transform from the heat.

Without looking, Kevin located a clean spoon and started shoveling the cereal into his mouth. "Believe me when I say that the IV drip they stuck in you looked more appetizing."

Frankie couldn't help but laugh from the description. "They'd probably charge extra for real food."

"I doubt they even have it in the building." Kevin snarked out with his mouth half-full.

The ding signalling that his toast was done startled Frankie, who slightly jumped when he heard it. "Last thing I need is a goddamn heart attack." He panted, clutching his chest. It barely took him any time at all to get the toast on the plate and buttered to his liking, and even less time to wolf both pieces down. His body wouldn't be happy if he stopped there, but it would at least tide him over until he had something a bit more substantial. "That hitting the spot?" He nodded in the direction of the box on the counter.

Kevin shrugged. "It's doing its job, if that's what you're asking."

"Works for me." Frankie grabbed the cereal box and prepared an identical bowl, only to add more milk than his roommate. He always thought that the wolf ate his a little dry.

"Yeah, that should be enough food to take with your painkillers." Kevin slurped the rest of the milk out of his bowl before placing it in the sink.

Frankie's hand stopped before he could even take a single bite, his eyes as wide as saucers. "What painkillers?"

"The... ones that the doctor gave you?" Kevin's breath got caught in his throat. "Have you not taken them yet?!"

"I don't remember getting any meds!" Panic set in as Frankie nearly dropped the bowl onto the counter. "Does that mean I ain't take any yesterday?"

Kevin rushed over to calm his friend down. "I helped you with them yesterday, don't worry." He assured the kangaroo, rubbing his arm. "They're over on the table. Go take your dose now."

"Okay, I will." If Frankie wasn't awake before, he certainly was now. He filled a glass with water as he grabbed a couple pills, downing the tablets with the liquid. His heart rate began to stabilize once he'd finished. "I know I'm supposed to take them on the doctor's orders and stuff, but I ain't feeling any pain this morning."

Kevin didn't know what to make of his friend's words, but he wasn't about to argue and possibly make things worse. "Alright, colour me surprised." He took a moment to steady his breathing. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I feel fine right now." Frankie nodded, though he pre-emptively threw his hands out in front of him in defense. "But that don't mean I ain't taking them. I intend to do whatever I was told to do," he swished his tongue in mouth, grimacing as he desperately tried to clear the area of the pills' chalky texture, "no matter how bad they go down."

"Good." Kevin smiled. "Good." He made his way over to the marsupial and embraced him. "I'm really happy you're okay. I was really scared."

"I know." Frankie sighed, admonishing himself for traumatizing the wolf like that. "I can't guarantee that I'll stop doing shit like that entirely, but I'll be way more careful about it in the future." He gripped his roomie tighter. "I know my limits better now."

Kevin pursed his lips. "Not... great, but still good." He sighed, his arm going a bit tingly from being wrapped around the roo's shoulder. "I think we both don't want to go through that again."

"Agreed." Frankie rubbed the canine's back. "I'll just stick to jaywalking from now on." He snickered.

That elicited a loud groan from Kevin, who'd gone and pushed himself out of the hug. "Oh, you piece of shit!" He shook his head at his friend's mischievous laughter, though he couldn't stop a grin from curling the sides of his mouth. "You absolute bastard. I hate you."

"Nah, you love me." Frankie playfully punched the brown-furred lupine's arm.

Kevin waved away the roo, knowing how much the marsupial joked about himself. "How about we don't do that and take it easy today instead, huh? You're not even a day out of the hospital yet."

"Fair enough, I ain't gonna fight you on that." Frankie genuinely didn't mind spending the day in the apartment, though watching television was absolutely out of the question. That's when his gaze lowered to the consoles hooked up to the TV. "Wanna play some?"

Kevin smirked at the suggestion, his competitive nature coming out. "Now that I will join you in."

***

The pair of them spent the entire day gaming away in front of the television, only stopping to either get food or when one of them needed to use the restroom. They both relished in the excitement of playing the day away as they hadn't gotten the luxury to do so in ages.

Any and all games that the two of them could play together were chosen, though frequently switched through so as to keep their interest active. They fumbled their way through puzzles, wandered through open worlds, blasted aliens from other worlds, and fought their way through countless waves of enemies. And while this was all good and fun, their real entertainment came from when they competed against each other.

Both of them strived to be the best at whatever challenge was thrown their way, but each of them seemed to excel in different genres. Frankie dominated party game boards, whereas Kevin button mashed his way to victory in fighters. Frankie skidded his way to wins in kart racers, while Kevin lapped him when the cars that they used were more realistic. The end goal was to tally up their cumulative wins over the course of the day to determine the ultimate victor, only to discover that they'd ended up completely tied.

"Ah damn, we're an even match for each other." Kevin stated after double-checking their totals. "Yup, we're definitely tied."

Frankie removed his glasses in order to rub his face. "Somehow I'm more annoyed than if I lost."

"Because I didn't lose, yet you didn't win?"

"Bingo." Frankie shut down his controller before turning off the console. He pushed himself bolt upright, only to stumble as his foot had no feeling. "Oh fuck!" He braced his hand against the carpeted floor. "I musta been sitting on my leg and never noticed."

Kevin instinctually went to catch the kangaroo, only to see a split-second later that his roommate was stable. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Frankie laid his leg on the ground to try and get the blood rushing back in, "I'm good. My foot's just asleep." An electric tingling sensation gathered at the base of the limb, as if experiencing the physical manifestation of television static.

"What about the rest of you?"

Trying to put aside the strange feeling in his foot, Frankie gave himself a quick mental once-over. "Actually okay." He turned to the wolf, meeting his friend's gaze. "I know, I gotta take the next dose. Lemme just, uh..." As much as he'd like to get up, his body wasn't quite ready yet. "Just gimme a moment."

"I'll just bring it to you." Kevin, unlike the white-furred roo, made sure to shift the position that he was sitting in every so often to prevent that sort of thing, allowing him to get up with ease. He grabbed both a filled glass of water and the bottle of pills in one swift motion.

"Thank you." Frankie downed two of the tablets and knocked back the entire glass in one fell swoop. He'd had prescriptions in the past due to troublesome infections, but those were a cakewalk compared to this one. Nothing could have possibly prepared him for the way that these pills tasted. "I'm so glad I ain't gotta take these for long."

Kevin saw the marsupial trying to get up again and instantly went to offer his help. "That bad?" He inquired, getting his roomie to his feet.

"Not only is the taste bad, but somehow the aftertaste is worse." Frankie stuck his tongue out in disgust. "If anything is gonna stop me from ending up in a hospital again, it's this."

"I'm more than okay with that." Kevin snickered.

***

Bedtime felt just as good as the night before, though this time Frankie managed to change out of his clothes before hitting the hay. One day was fine, but he made sure not to wear anything for two or more days in a row.

The quiet, however, activated his mind now that it wasn't distracted, bringing about all of his repeating thoughts again. His mind replayed the last few days over and over, recalling both the accident and the hospital stay in vivid detail, at least all of the parts that he could remember. They might have happened in the past, but the recency of it still sent shivers ripping up his spine. He was certain that he'd probably be feeling that for some time.

But, Frankie knew that he needed rest since he was technically supposed to be recovering from a serious injury, regardless of how alright he felt. It worked out for him as he'd been meaning to take on a more normal sleep schedule for ages now.

Even then, sleep didn't come easy. He tossed and turned for nearly an hour, doing nothing but warming his body up, to which he threw off his sheets and even cracked open his window a tad to try and let some heat escape. None of it was to any avail.

The only thing that eventually worked was remaining completely motionless. Frankie's restlessness wasn't helping - especially with his thick tail thumping against the mattress in sync with his heart beat - but he managed to overcome it, much to his surprise. Well, as much surprise as he could muster given how relaxed his mind had gotten.

It took mere minutes after that to drift off to sleep.

***

Another day, and another full night of rest for Frankie. This was honestly the best that he'd been feeling for quite some time, and yet he still couldn't piece together why. It was starting to bother him.

Despite that, he was ready to tackle the day. He thought to swing by Kevin's room and say hello before the wolf headed off to class, but a quick glance at the time on his phone indicated that his friend would have already left by then.

Then his gaze landed on his computer. The pair of them kept their desktops in their respective rooms, which served them well when it came time to do schoolwork, but it came with the added benefit of giving them privacy for more _personal_time as well. He was very grateful for that.

But Frankie's thoughts were miles away from there. Booting up his rig, he hopped right onto a search engine to try and figure out why he felt the way that he did after surviving such a traumatic experience. Frustratingly, the only answers that he came across tended to veer towards less scientific explanations. He was certain that divinity had nothing to do with it.

That left him at a total dead end. He tried thinking about a probable cause on his own, but the gears running in his head didn't churn up a thing. It was official - he was stumped. What's relieving his pain?

"Oh, right." Frankie jumped to his feet, bounding his way into the kitchen where he left his pills. Like he'd mentioned the previous day, he had no issue taking the medication despite how he felt, though he couldn't help but think that it might be a tad redundant, Nevertheless, he wasn't one to argue with a doctor's orders.

He became aware of the ticking that the analog clock in the kitchen gave off, which alerted him to the fact that his roomie's classes were over and that the wolf was on his way back home now. It honestly surprised him just how long he'd spent trying to research his condition.

As if on cue, the door jiggled before opening, revealing Kevin as he made his way into the shared apartment. "Hello, hello." He shut the door behind him and dropped his backpack on the floor.

"Oh, you're here early." Frankie looked back at the clock, noting how the time was barely past noon.

"Yeah, today was just review through every class. Last one's the one I'm most confident about so I left early." Kevin slipped off his jacket and hung it over the back of a chair. "What were you up to?"

"Did a little researching of my own to try and figure out why I feel the way I do." Frankie studied the label on the front of the pill container, not able to glean any new information off of it.

"And?"

"I ain't found a goddamn thing." Frankie shrugged his shoulders. "I thought making medical history woulda been cool, but this kinda sucks."

Kevin nodded along with everything that the marsupial said. "So you feel fine then?"

"Just like yesterday." A sigh escaped past Frankie's lips. "Nothing outta the ordinary."

"Huh." Kevin rubbed his chin in thought. "And if you couldn't find anything online, could you maybe try calling the doctor and see what he says?"

"That's not a bad idea, but I ain't sure if I can even get a hold of him." It always amazed Frankie how frustrating it was to try and get medical attention when he wasn't already at the hospital itself. One time he randomly woke up and felt a throbbing pain on the right side of his body and called to book an immediate appointment, only to be told by the receptionist that the earliest that he could see someone was half a year later. There was no chance that he'd wait that long, especially since the soreness vanished after a week. He felt like pulling his teeth out would have been a better use of his time instead of waiting to get looked at.

Kevin viewed the time on his phone as he hadn't had a chance to since stepping into the apartment. "Well, I'm not sure what their hours are so there's a possibility that they're on lunch right now, but it wouldn't hurt to try anyway."

With a sigh, Frankie pulled out his own phone. "Yeah, I suppose." He nearly had a small heart attack when he realized that he was about to call the emergency service line after autopilot entering their number into the field, only to realize that he actually didn't know what the hospital's number was. Once that was sorted out, he called and waited, eventually hearing the receptionist greet him and ask what ailed him. "Uh, hi, I was there recently after an accident, and I was wondering if I could speak with the doctor who attended to me."

"All our doctors are fairly busy at the moment, but I'll see what I can do." The receptionist admitted. "I'll need your full name."

"I had a blood transfusion if that helps. First name - Frankie, last name-"

"Oh, I was told you might call!" The receptionist interrupted. "Just a second."

In the blink of an eye, Frankie was placed on hold, barely able to process what just happened. "Uh..."

"What?" Kevin got up off of the chair that he was sitting on. "What's going on?"

"Apparently it was known that I'd call them." Frankie gave the lupine the most incredulous look.

Kevin felt his hackles raise almost instantaneously. This felt off to him - way off. "I'm not sure if I feel comfortable about this anymore."

"You and me both." Frankie looked back at his phone. "You'd think we'd have been told about this when we were last there, not learn about this outta the blue." Suddenly, he heard a voice call out from the other end of the line, prompting him to shoot his phone back to his ear. "Yeah?"

"Okay, Doctor Mason has time to see you at ten in the morning tomorrow." The receptionist stated. "He hopes that you can make it."

"Yeah, I can be there." Frankie replied, but before he had the chance to ask any further questions, he was hung up on without another word being uttered. "The hell?"

Not wanting to be left out of the loop, Kevin walked over to where the roo was standing. "So, what's up?"

"I'm in." Frankie's eyes met the canine's, his expression one of bewilderment. "Tomorrow at ten."

Kevin's eyes lit up while his mouth contorted into a genuine smile. "That's fantastic! I'm glad that you were able to get in so soon."

A staccato blast of air was forced from Frankie's nose, as if indicating his agreement. "Yeah, no kidding. I dunno what I'd do if I had to wait." He slid his phone back into his pocket with one hand while the other slowly rubbed down his face. "Still feel kinda weird about this."

"So what exactly happened? What were you told?" Kevin wore a worried visage as he watched the kangaroo rub his arm.

"I told you everything I know! They anticipated my call for whatever reason, and then - BAM! - I got the appointment outta nowhere." Frankie pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose. "I ain't got the foggiest clue why though."

That, too, bothered Kevin, who'd started thinking of an explanation independently. He combed over every detail that he remembered about the last few days, trying hard to recall everything that he'd experienced while at the hospital. It all led to one thought in particular. "You mentioned over the phone that you got a blood transfusion recently. They told me it was something special when I was waiting for you to wake up." His body seemed to radiate confidence as he came to the conclusion. "That has to be it!"

"Hey, yeah! I think you're onto something." That got Frankie to feel a little better about his current condition, but not all of the pieces to the puzzle were laid out in front of them. "Do you think they'll tell us what kinda medical stuff they put in me?"

Kevin shrugged. "I guess we'll find out tomorrow, won't we?"

***

Frankie barely got any sleep during the night, yet he wasn't nearly as tired as he expected his body to be. His best guess as to why was because of the appointment; the anticipation of getting some closure regarding the procedure had him wired like he drank several cups of coffee.

His anxiety wanted him to get there well ahead of time, to the point where he'd already begun getting ready hours before the time that he was intending to leave at. Fingers tapping, blood racing, mind spinning - he craved the answers to all the questions that he had, but he wasn't sure that he actually wanted to hear them.

A knocking at his door broke his concentration; Kevin was standing in the frame, fully dressed and ready to go. "You doing alright?"

"I'm mad stressed, but I know I gotta do this." Frankie meshed his fingers together, but he was too jittery to clasp his hands shut. "Or maybe I don't. Maybe ignorance is bliss."

"Any pain?"

Frankie shook his head. "None." His lips pursed after he said that, his hands vigourously rubbing his eyes. "Nope, I gotta go. I need to know what the hell's going on with me."

"Hey," not wanting to see his friend agonized with worry, Kevin took a seat beside the roo, "take a deep breath and relax. You're not going alone. I'm gonna be here with you every step of the way."

Frankie listened to his roommate and sucked in a lungful of air, waiting a few seconds to release it all. "Okay, okay. I can do this." Just then, a single thought pierced its way through his mind, a sudden realization that might jeopardize their plans. "Hey, don't you have class today?"

"Just the one, but I'm not required to be there today." Kevin slung his arm around the marsupial. "I'm not abandoning you so that you can do this alone. I know you need moral support."

Frankie was truly grateful that the brownish wolf was there for him, leaning his head on the canine's jacketed shoulder as a token of his appreciation. "Thanks."

Kevin smirked. "Don't mention it." On a hunch, he checked the time on his phone, noting that it was about the point where they should have gotten going. "You ready?"

***

The sound of the clock in the physician's room was the only thing that both Frankie and Kevin could hear, the constant ticking drowning out their thoughts. The kangaroo's eyes scanned the room, noting the drab colour palette chosen and wondering why all hospitals looked this ugly. Surely they'd want something more vibrant to make patients feel more comfortable.

Kevin rested his head against the wall with his eyes closed, already feeling like falling asleep despite not sitting for long. The air in the room was a bit chilly, only adding to his exhaustion. He genuinely hoped that the doctor was on his way soon.

"And here we are." A voice called out as a man entered the room. The middle-aged badger was clad in a lab coat, obscuring everything that he wore underneath save for the bottom half of his pants. He adjusted his glasses as he looked over the roo's file. "Ah yes, Franklin. It's good to see you're doing well."

"It's good to be doing well!" Frankie beamed. "I dunno what you guys did to me, but it worked like a charm."

"I'm glad to hear that." Doctor Mason took his seat at the computer, loading up the data entry software. "Do you mind telling me how exactly you're feeling right now?"

Frankie was at a loss for words as he tried thinking of what to answer. "I dunno what to say, doc. I'm told that the injury was traumatic and stuff, but I ain't feeling a thing." He chuckled at his good fortune. "In fact, I feel great!"

Dr. Mason took a moment to record the marsupial's comments, only to eventually turn around and drop a bombshell on the younger guys. "For the record, I believe you."

"You what?!" Kevin's jaw dropped when he heard that. He may not have been the most medically savvy, but he had a pretty good feeling that someone who suffered a hemorrhage as bad as his friend did wouldn't be back to normal quite this quickly.

"The transfusion that you received is a top secret experiment in rapid healing technology that's been worked on and researched for years now. We've done everything but test it, which is why we suggested it in your case because you were knocking on Death's door when you came into the hospital." Dr. Mason nodded. "We can absolutely guarantee that you'll make a full recovery, to the point where it'll be like you've never had the accident at all. The only thing is that we'll require a small blood sample for further testing."

Frankie quirked a brow. "Wait, why do you need my blood sample if you know that I'll be okay?"

"As this operation was an experiment, we'll need to monitor your condition just as a precaution. For all we know, you could end up having some sort of reaction that we didn't conceive of."

Kevin didn't like the sound of that. "A fatal reaction?"

Dr. Mason shook his head. "The transfusion won't make Frankie experience anything life-threatening; if something does happen, it'd be minor. But like I said earlier, this will just be a provision in case we do catch something."

"Better safe than sorry, I guess." Kevin was thrilled that he didn't have to partake in this.

"Now," Dr. Mason rummaged around the bag of things that he'd brought with him and pulled out a syringe that he fitted a needle with, as well as a small vial, "are you alright with needles?"

Frankie grimaced when the full scope of the situation finally hit him. "I ain't a fan of them, if that's what you're asking." He stated, rolling up his sleeve.

"So long as you don't have a problem with them, then it should be okay." Dr. Mason readied the needle. "Just be thankful that I'm not required to draw from your hand!"

With a laboured huff, Frankie turned his head away from the action. "Last time I had to do this, the nurse taking my blood punched a ton of holes in my arm trying to find a vein. I looked like a goddamn junkie afterwards!"

Dr. Mason could only smile at the thought, knowing full-well that he'd been there once upon a time. "Well, you won't have to worry about that with me. I've done this for longer than quite a few people have been alive, probably including you two. Just hold still for me now."

Frankie couldn't tell what exactly the good doctor was doing, but the anticipation that he received from the touching alone nearly killed him. He did his very best to remain calm, only for a spike of adrenaline to rush through him when he felt the needle pierce his skin. Like he imagined, it didn't hurt, but that didn't stop his heart from beating wildly, almost out of his chest.

"I think that's the most relaxed I've ever seen him with a needle around." Kevin noted, impressed with how his roomie handled everything. "I remember when we had to get shots in school, and he fainted while we were waiting in line. The nurse had to pull him out of the room to try and wake him up because he just wouldn't."

"It's an age thing, maybe?" Frankie covered his arm again, only feeling a little bit of soreness at the puncture point. "I still ain't gonna ever like it, but I feel more confident about this for whatever reason." Regardless of how much more comfortable he was with the idea, his body still thought differently as he could feel how dry his mouth had gotten.

Dr. Mason plunged the entire contents of the syringe into the vial, making sure that it was sealed and secure from the outside world as much as possible. "Well, you won't have to worry about this anymore. I drew more than enough blood to do our testing with, so there will be no more needles in your immediate future!"

"And what about us now?" Kevin inquired. "Anything else we have to do while we're here?"

"Nope, not a thing. You two are free to go home."

"Awesome." Frankie sighed in relief, his heart rate finally dropping. "I'm hoping nothing serious is gonna happen to me now."

Like a man with a thousand things on his plate, Dr. Mason hurriedly gathered all of his belongings. "I hope so too, though I'm not thinking we'll find much in your blood sample. Don't hesitate to call if something happens!" He announced before exiting the room, leaving the pair of roommates alone again.

Kevin looked at the white-furred kangaroo. "Home?"

"Home."

***

"What a day!" Frankie puffed as he let himself flop down onto the couch.

Kevin laughed. "Day? It's hardly noon right now."

"Well, I feel tired enough for bed already. Hospitals always drain my energy." A long, drawn-out sigh escaped past Frankie's lips as he rested his arms across the back of the couch.

"At least it's over now." Kevin nonchalantly hung his jacket over the back of his usual chair before leaning on the table in the direction of his roomie. "You know, you're extremely goddamn lucky that you got that experimental transfusion. You'd likely still be in a medical bed right about now, maybe not even conscious."

"Fuck, I know..." Frankie palmed his face, slowly rubbing his eyes. "Everything happened so fast, I ain't got a chance to process it all yet." He sighed, then leaned forward so that his eyes met the wolf's at a glance. "Like the fact that they knew I was gonna call. Ain't that weird or what?!"

Kevin scoffed at how that wasn't even the end of it. "And the doctor being so confident in a procedure he'd never tested before. I'm not even that sure of myself when I do math calculations that were proven hundreds of years ago!"

"God knows I've been there in the past." Frankie snickered. "At least I'm getting the best case scenario here. I ain't ready to die just yet."

"Yeah, and I hope this whole adventure taught you a valuable lesson." Kevin's eyes narrowed, implying how rough the entire experience was for not just the roo, but for him as well.

"It did," Frankie slid himself off the couch and ambled over to the black-furred wolf, slinging his arm over the canine's shoulders, "and I appreciate you being there for me every step of the way. You ain't had to, but you did anyway."

Kevin reciprocated, wrapping an arm around the kangaroo's torso and pulling him in close. "And I'd do it again. You've been there for me enough, it's my time to do the same for you."

Frankie let himself get yanked into a hug, not resisting in the slightest. "I mean, Jessica breaking up with you ain't anywhere near as bad as this was. Last time I checked, you weren't even close to dying."

"Certainly felt like it. My world was crashing down around me, and I had no one to help me."

"Oh, so I'm 'nobody' now?" Frankie guffawed, gently squeezing the lupine enough to send a message.

Kevin didn't mind, in fact he repaid the marsupial with an even tighter embrace. "Yeah, you were something. You were enough. I'm lucky to have you." An idea then crossed his mind, making him ease out of the hug. "And now that I have you, I think we oughta get started on dinner."

Frankie groaned. "But that's hours away!"

"And neither of us have thought of anything yet." Kevin drifted towards and opened the freezer, looking at their protein options. "We have basically everything, so go ahead and think of something."

Frankie scrunched up his face as he tried to think of a possible meal for the pair of them, but it felt like every single one of his thoughts just slipped away whenever they initially popped up. It soured his mood. "You know, I kinda don't even feel like cooking today."

Kevin craned his neck past the freezer door and glanced at his roommate. "So... what then?"

Frankie wryly smiled. "Maybe we could order a pizza?"

***

Last night's feat fueled Frankie's dreams, though he was a tad surprised that they weren't as crazy as they normally were whenever he ate before going to bed. That wasn't to say that they weren't strange this time as he wasn't even himself!

In fairness, he was mentally there, but he wasn't a kangaroo like he normally was, instead he took the shape of some sort of anthropomorphic snake, most likely a cobra if the hood was any indication. It wasn't much of an alarming dream, but it was weird enough to wake him up in a bewildered state. He'd had transformation dreams in the past, but none were this vivid. And the sad thing was that he wasn't even an animal that he liked; sharks were way cooler!

Regardless, the sun was coming in through his window at full blast, glinting off of the imperfections in the panes of glass. The rays of light made him feel warm in an otherwise cool room, the reason being that he kicked his sheets onto the floor in his sleep. Whoops.

Carefully making his bed, he slipped onto his glasses and completed his normal morning routine in the washroom before popping onto his computer to see if his school had any updates that he needed to know about. These past few days had been a total blur to him.

Lo and behold, there was a notification for him, and an important one at that - one of his classes had its midterm that afternoon, and he'd totally forgotten about it! He scrambled when he read the news, trying to figure out which course sent it out, then relaxing once more when he realized that it came from a class that he'd been acing thus far. Any homework given to him was finished the day of, sometimes not even making back to his apartment. Yeah, he had this in the bag.

Content, Frankie hopped off of his computer chair and made his way into the kitchen, looking for a bite to eat before the exam. He wanted something a bit more substantial than a breakfast cereal or a granola bar, but there didn't seem to be much to grab that he didn't have to spend an hour making. Oh well, he could at least tide himself over until he could pick up some grub along the way.

Kevin walked in at that moment, attracted to the noise of the cupboards being rooted through. "Oh good, you're finally up."

"Eh, I've been up for a little bit." It took Frankie a second, but he eventually found the half-eaten bag of pretzels that he'd shoved in the pantry the day before his fall.

"That's not actually your breakfast, is it?" Kevin looked a little skeptical when he saw the opened bag in his friend's hand.

"It's just a snack. I'm gonna get an actual meal when I get to school." Frankie stated before shoveling in a handful of the salted junk food into his mouth.

Kevin was pleasantly taken aback. "Oh, you're feeling good enough to actually go in today?"

"Yeah, but I got no choice in the matter." Frankie finished chewing and gulped. "I got a test in a couple hours."

That elicited a concerned gasp from Kevin, who'd forgotten that the roo started his exams earlier than he did. "Oh shit! Uh, you know that you can get them postponed to a later date, right? You have a really good reason to do so, and I know they'll go easy on someone that spent a lot of time in the hospital recently."

It should've been something that shot anxiety through his veins, but Frankie was unfazed by the prospect of writing his midterm that afternoon. "Ah, don't worry about me. I know I'm not because I ain't got nothing to fear."

"Uh, it's kinda my job to worry about you considering I live with you." Kevin swooped in, clasping both of his roomie's arms. "Don't you wanna take another day to rest at least? It hasn't even been a week since your accident!"

Frankie sighed, though leading it into a chuckle as he placed the bag on the counter. "Listen to me. I'm fine, just like yesterday and the day before that. I can't feel better than I already do, especially not by sitting around and doing nothing for another day. I need to get out into the world again!"

A look of trepidation adorned Kevin's face, but he ultimately knew that the roo would do things regardless of what he said. "Alright, if you think that you're good to go, then I suppose you should go." He looked up at his friend's face. "Are you gonna study a bit beforehand though?"

Frankie flashed the canine a winning smile. "I ain't gotta. All the info I need is up in here." He pointed to his head.

"Seriously?" Kevin's demeanour dropped at the same time that his hands did. "At the very least, you should crack open your books and go over your notes. You don't wanna be surprised by something that you didn't expect."

"You're adorable when you talk like that." Frankie gently booped the wolf's nose, to which his finger was swatted away. "I'm gonna be completely honest with you, I could fail this test and still be passing the course. That's how much of a safety net I got going on for me."

Kevin took a moment to mull over what his friend was saying. Something immediately stuck out to him. "It's not a test that you need to pass in order to pass the class?"

"That course is the only one that don't have something like that. Every other one does, but they're all several days from now."

"Well, I suppose it's okay if you go then..."

"Hey, I ain't need your permission to go to school." Frankie chuckled, nudging the lupine in the ribs.

Kevin rolled his eyes. "You would've gone anyway had I said that you can't, so what difference would it have made." He then looked over the kangaroo and saw how unprepared his roomie was. "So you're going in your pajamas without showering then?"

Frankie's gaze instantaneously dropped, observing that he, indeed, wasn't ready to leave the apartment yet. "Oh shit!"

***

Birds chirped merrily in the trees by Frankie's apartment complex as he rounded the curb to the front entrance, a grin on his face as he rummaged in his pockets for his keys. He was on cloud nine, his jaunty swagger evident that his exam went well. Hell, the test was technically still ongoing right now, so with the amount of time it took the bus to take him home, he finished well ahead of the scheduled end point!

He wrestled with the lock to his apartment door as the key tended to get stuck in during certain times of the year; it was likely installed ages ago and had gotten warped due to years of changing temperature deforming the malleable metal. With a grunt, his key was free, and he was inside.

On the couch with the television blaring was Kevin, who'd grown tired of studying his material and needed something mindless to watch to soothe his aching brain. "Oh, you're back early!" He did a double-take when he saw the door open.

"Yeah, that test was nothing." Frankie boasted, his braggadocious demeanour written all over his face. "Total piece of cake."

"That... That was genuinely quick, almost too quick." Hand already reaching for his phone, Kevin checked the time, doing the mental math in his head for how long it took the white-furred kangaroo to actually complete the midterm. "The bus takes a little over a half hour to get here, so that means you weren't even in there for an hour!"

Frankie could only shrug. "What can I say? Am I good, or what?"

"But you were barely in there. How can you say that you're good if you didn't even give yourself time to check over your answers?"

"I can assure you I ain't got a lot wrong on that exam, if that's what you're implying." Frankie slung his jacket over the back of a free chair. "If I ain't getting over eighty percent on that test, then I'll be hella pissed at myself."

Kevin sighed, clearly not getting his point across enough to his roommate. "But how can you guarantee that you did that well in the first place?"

"Because I know my shit." Frankie declared as he took a seat beside the wolf. "Trust me."

Kevin knew that there wasn't anything that he could say to get the marsupial to understand the seriousness of the situation, but that didn't stop the whole thing from feeling very strange. "That's extraordinarily confident of you. Like, almost uncharacteristically so."

Frankie's expression dropped when he heard that, having not considered his behaviour to be anything out of the ordinary. "I dunno, I guess I'd chalk it up to how I've been feeling recently." He eyed the canine with an inquisitive look. "Is it really off-putting?"

"I wouldn't say that it's bad in any way, it's just... different, I guess." Concern began to overtake Kevin once again. "And you're sure you're feeling okay, yeah?"

"Absolutely, I wouldn't have gone out if I didn't." Frankie pursed his lips, unable to think of what to tell the lupine. "I just feel... good, you know?"

As much as it seemed bizarre to Kevin that his roomie was so enthusiastically sure about how well he did on a test that he barely took the time to write, he wasn't about to argue the matter. "Alright, I have no reason not to believe you." He patted both of his legs in sync with one another. "For your sake, I do hope you did well."

"Thanks, man. Should find out my grade in a couple days if the prof is fast at marking. It's the first time having him, so I got no clue." Frankie only just noticed that the television had been muted, with some inane medical drama playing. "You enjoying it?" He gestured in the direction of the screen.

"I thought this was taken off the air years ago. This shit's almost as old as we are." Kevin groaned, rubbing his exhausted face. "I think I'd rather gnaw my hands off than watch, but I'm not ready to go back to studying again."

An idea instantly popped into Frankie's mind. "You up for some games then?"

Kevin smirked. "You're on."

***

The following day was less exciting for Frankie, as he had a ton of downtime before his next midterm. He had the option of hitting up his classes to review the material that was most likely to be on the tests, but he found it way more productive to do any of that on his own. People asked way too many questions for his liking.

That left him wallowing in his own boredom at home, but not for very long as that day was the day that he and the wolf had scheduled to clean up their kitchen. They normally kept it pretty immaculate and cleaned up whatever mess they made the instant that it happened, but dirt, food debris, and other grime still accumulated no matter how cleanly the pair of them tried to be. The only problem was that neither of them could agree as to whose task it was.

"Nah, it ain't me this time." Frankie dismissed the accusation that it was his turn up to bat.

"Well it's not me." Kevin brushed off the chore. "I did it the last time, and I kinda don't wanna do it again."

Frankie felt himself losing his patience. "That's impossible because I did it the last time. And newsflash, I don't wanna do it again either."

"Maybe this would be a good time to keep track so that you'd know it's your turn to do it."

"No, I'm not fucking doing it again! It's just like you to pass on your shit to other people so that you can fuck around all day!" Frankie slammed on the counter, seething with rage, the skin on his knuckles turning white from his intense grip.

The display left Kevin speechless; not once had ever seen this before, so there was no possible way that he could've ever predicted this to occur. He stared, a bit fearful, at the kangaroo.

Frankie, to his credit, immediately realized what he just did as his expression completely flipped. He looked mortified as he covered the front of his muzzle with a hand. "Oh my god..." He mumbled under his breath.

Now it was Kevin's turn to well up with anger. He wasn't one to get upset, but an unnecessary outburst like that was something that effortlessly pissed him off. "What the fuck was that?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I..." Frankie clutched his face in panic as tears built up in the corners of his eyes. "I don't know what that was." He looked up at the scowling canine, only to launch himself into a hug. "I'm sorry about that, I really am!"

This was extremely atypical for his roommate - Kevin understood that. He knew for a fact that this definitely had something to do with the procedure that the kangaroo had undergone recently, but that didn't mean that he wasn't still peeved. "I-It's fine," he slipped his arms out of the embrace and wrapped them around the roo, "just don't do that again."

"Yeah." Frankie nodded, his tears leaving wet spots on the lupine's shirt. "You know what?" Once again, he felt an emotion intensify inside of him, only this time it wasn't anger. A strong current of regret washed over him like a wave at the beach, only it came tinged with a shade of determination to make things right. "I'll handle the kitchen. You ain't gotta worry about it."

"You sure about it?" Kevin, meanwhile, felt a rush of uncertainty shoot through his nervous system. The marsupial felt too unstable now.

Frankie forced a smile onto his face to show that he really meant it. "Yeah, yeah, I can do it."

"Okay then." Kevin sighed, releasing himself from the hug by grabbing onto the roo's shoulders. "For real though, what was that? It was totally uncalled for."

Frankie got choked up as he struggled to come up with an answer to explain his startling eruption of fury. "I ain't got a clue where that came from. That's not me at all!"

Kevin, on the other hand, had a hypothesis ready to go. "I wonder if that has anything to do with your unearned confidence."

"Oh shit..." Frankie hadn't considered that at all. "What if this pops up again? I ain't never dealt with this before."

"I don't know, just..." Kevin sighed. As much as he liked his roommate, he wasn't thrilled to find out if this was going to be a constant in his attitude now. "I guess bite your tongue or something. Just calm the hell down."

Frankie took the opportunity to clear his eyes of tears so that they didn't streak his glasses. "Yeah okay, I'll do whatever it takes to calm down." He sniffled. "I think that scared me as much as it did you."

"Maybe you're not feeling as fine as you thought you were."

Frankie gulped. "Yeah, maybe."

***

The rest of the day went swimmingly for Frankie, who'd more than made up with Kevin by taking the wolf to his favourite burger joint in town. They never got a chance to go there much as the prices were a bit steeper than the two of them liked to normally spend on restaurant grub, but the way that the food was prepared there spoke to the canine like no other place in the city could.

Now thoroughly stuffed, the both of them had complained on the car ride home how they didn't ever want to eat again, yet they simultaneously stated how they'd easily go back the next time that they could.

"And that's probably the only place we'll be able to go to this month." Kevin huffed as he walked through the apartment door. "Kinda ate through my food budget, but the quality is way worth it."

Frankie groaned. "I'll say. I don't think I ever spent that much on a meal before."

"To be completely fair, you ate way more than you normally do for some reason."

"Yeah, I dunno what the hell that was about." Frankie ran his fingers through his hair. "Guess I was just super hungry or something."

Kevin snorted. "You would've had enough food for a snack later, but you really wolfed everything down without stopping."

"And now I regret it." Frankie laid his head on their table, chuckling to himself through the pain. "Why do I do this shit to myself?"

"Because you wouldn't be you if you didn't." Kevin patted the kangaroo on his back before stifling a yawn with his hand. "Oh god, I think it might be an early night for me at this rate. I haven't gone to bed this early since I was young and forced to by mom."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Dying from the heat, Frankie stripped off his coat and unceremoniously threw it onto the table. "I gotta go lie down for sure. I ain't doing so hot standing up like this."

Kevin did the same, not caring that his slid onto the floor. "I bet your mom would be thrilled if you ate her cooking like that."

"Maybe I'd set the record for most tamales eaten in fifteen minutes, but I'm sure that number ain't easy to beat." Just the thought of food was enough to make Frankie feel sick. "Nope, I'm done. See ya tomorrow."

Kevin could only chuckle at how queasy the roo looked, a hint of green showing through the fur. "Jeez, take it easy tonight." He watched his friend slowly wander to his own room.

Now that he had the chance, Frankie gently laid himself onto his bed, the sheets feeling heavenly on his aching body. Truth be told, he did find it particularly strange that he was so hungry, but he figured that it happened every so often to people, especially since he didn't eat much earlier in the day.

The only problem was that he wasn't tired yet. His body might've reached the point of wanting to pass out, but his mind wasn't following the same program and had thoughts racing through it no matter how comfortable he got.

As cozy as his bed felt in the evening, needing to use the washroom forced him onto his feet without a second thought. It was required though, and he instantly felt much better when it was taken care of. Now he might still have a night of fun ahead of him.

That might not happen right away as Frankie happened to notice something strange in the mirror while washing his hands. He had his mouth open momentarily, but it was just enough to gain his attention. Opening his mouth he inspected his teeth, not seeing anything out of the ordinary until he got to his canines - they seemed longer than he remembered.

As much as he wanted to inspect further, he chose to believe that it was a trick of his tired mind and didn't think much of it. They were already pretty long as it was, right?

Frankie didn't dwell on the question too much as he dried his hands off and went back to his room. He hadn't been at his computer since that morning and had a ton of things that he wanted to catch up on.

It turned out that he hadn't missed much after all. Social media was a bust, with barely anything new being posted from the people that he followed, as was some of the hobby forums that he often browsed. He shut off his computer and sighed, leaning back in his chair with one leg dangling over the armrest. What's a guy to do when he's awake and bored? In the privacy of his own room, it gave Frankie the perfect idea.

Collapsing backwards onto his bed, he hastily shucked off his clothing onto the floor, leaving him buck naked with his hand on his chubbing cock. It'd been some time since he took care of this urge.

He huffed when he felt the stimulation from his shaft shoot through his body, so powerful due to not touching himself since before his fall. It would've knocked him on his ass had he not already been laying down.

Frankie stroked, slowly at first, building up a pace until his hand was rhythmically bobbing up and down his turgid prick. It felt so good to have these spots caressed again that he moaned, though stifled at the last second when he remembered that his roommate was most likely asleep at that point. He respected the wolf quite a bit.

His hand was feverish as it grasped the throbbing cockflesh, rocketing pleasure through his nerves, but he had an idea as for how to make it better. He'd discovered that he enjoyed having his nipples played with after getting drunk one time and experimenting with his body, and then made an effort every time after to try it again whenever he remembered to do so. This happened to be one of those times.

He let his free hand wander up his torso, eventually finding purchase at the bottom of his chest on one of his nips. Air got sucked in through his teeth at the touch alone; he couldn't believe how sensitive he was there. Then, he gently teased it, causing his dong to pulse in his grip. How great would it be to have someone else do this to him at some point? Very - the answer was 'very'.

Frankie then grabbed a little tighter, gently squeezing it and coaxing out another low moan. He began to twist it slightly one way, feeling his entire body tense from the euphoric stimulation, then twist it the other, and squirm all over again. He considered himself lucky that he was so perceptive to this kind of titillation.

But all the playing that he did with his nipples was starting to take effect - his release was arriving that much faster than if he hadn't done it at all. His eyelids had trouble staying open all the way while most of his muscles spasmed, especially around his pelvis. He tugged and yanked at his dick until his arm involuntarily slowed down, signalling his climax.

He bit his tongue to keep himself from crying out, especially as he hadn't had an orgasm this powerful in ages. What he lacked in output he certainly made up for in feelings. His whole body was wracked with frenzied bliss, his tongue lolling out of his mouth from being rocked by that intoxicating sexual ecstasy. He might have to stagger the times that he jerked off more often now.

Finally exhausted, Frankie buckled onto his bed, panting like he'd just run a marathon. A quick once-over let him know that he'd cum completely onto himself, meaning that it'd take no time at all to clean his fur up. He'd do that right after-

He didn't have the time to finish the thought before he fell asleep.