Love's Shadow Part 1
#1 of Love's Shadow
******************************************************************** - Love's Shadow c. Grey K. 1997 ******************************************************************** - Love's Shadow - - part I : * * *
>It was a bleary, blustery day. Leaden grey clouds hung like a smothering blanket overhead. A light drizzle had fallen most of the late morning and the temperature had dropped to about 5 degrees C, made worse by the misty rain and the cold breeze. On the whole, not unusual for the second week of November or for the northern area of California close to the Oregon border. Jace Greene slowly plodded across campus lugging his battered back-pack. His rear was sore from sitting and he was feeling generally worn out from the exceptionally long and drawn out physics class. Jace shook his white haired head slowly as he walked, 'How could anyone get into the laws of physics?' he pondered the question sullenly. "Ye canna change the laws of physics!" Jace mocked quietly as he walked, remembering that was Professor Haverman's favorite saying. Jace wished that he could. At least that would provide him with some entertainment during class time, hopefully at the stuck-up physics teachers expense. The young morph wondered if spontaneous human combustion could be incited without being called murder,(or arson at the very least), and whether the class would be canceled for the rest of the semester if Haverman went up in flames. Of course the campus would probably hold a huge celebration, dancing around the scorched pocket-protector and handful of burst pens lying atop a small pile of ashes, but then the dean would just call in a substitute. Either way it looked as though Jace would just have to stick things out for the remaining three weeks of the semester. It didn't make him feel any better to think of all that time off looming if there was a failing grade hanging over his head. Needless to say Jace would have preferred the sword of Damocles to an F(or D at best) in Haverman's class. Everyone the young morph knew hated Haverman, even other teachers. The man was simply just unpleasant. With everyone. Except of course those students who laughed at all his jokes and played up to him constantly. You could pretty much tell who had their heads so far up the man's ass that you couldn't tell where he stopped and they started and who didn't, those that did were all passing. Jace had tried to make friends with the prickly instructor, finding the man cold, distant and having a massive superiority complex over his students. Jace hated people like that with a passion. Even with knowing all that, Jace still couldn't shake the feeling that Haverman was still viciously gunning for him personally. Jace secretly thought that the man didn't like anthropomorphs (being a skunk himself, Jace often had trouble making new friends because of species stereotypes). He felt that it was one of two things; either the man had a problem with morphs (which could get the human teacher in major trouble with the Inter-Species Protection Board on campus), but generally if the I.S.P.B was breathing down your neck you and everyone else on campus knew it right away. Jace himself had seen more than one student get booted from the campus for violating anti-intransigency policies. It was that or Haverman didn't like him personally. Jace figured he knew why if that was the case, gossip had undone several friendships Jace'd had in the past. Who knows what the unpleasant professor had heard through the grape-vine. Jace turned his thoughts to where he would have rather been this morning, either poking around the huge local Botanical Garden and Greenhouses, or on his favorite bench in front of the big cat enclosure at the nearby zoo. Plants and animals interested him so much more than mathematics or physics ever could. Flora and fauna were alive, moving, there, physically real to Jace's sharp senses. The young skunk morph really couldn't care less about matter, inertia, gravity, friction or Isaac Newton. They were so 2-D, so boring, Jace knew that they existed, what they were, and what they did in general. Wasn't that enough? About all Jace cared about gravity and friction was that they held his feet to the floor and his car to the street. That's it, the rest Haverman and his cronies could keep. A brisk wind ruffled the fur on Jace's exposed neck and face, interrupting his thoughts and making him shrink farther into his coat. The depressingly grey sky finally gave in and a light drizzle of cold rain started to fall just as Jace reached the center of campus, barely half-way to his intended destination. He cursed mildly under his breath as a particularly big drop of ice cold moisture scored a bulls-eye on the tip of his black nose. It had been overcast earlier that morning, but Jace hadn't expected rain at all, having left his umbrella at home. Jace quickened his pace across the quickly dampening campus, being careful not to slip or collide with other students similarly fleeing for cover. He exchanged several quick 'Hi/Bye' greetings with some familiar faces. The cold drizzle was quickly turning into a steady light rain, soaking his coat and exposed fur. The skunk was glad that his pack was water proofed as he felt a trickle of water sneak down the collar of his shirt. The jet black fur on Jace's hands and face was becoming matted with water and his hair was getting plastered against his head and fore-head by the cold rain. "Shit," he muttered, once again picking up the pace, seeing the huge library loom up in front of him as he ran. Finally reaching the safety of the covered walk-way outside the main doors to the library, Jace stopped, having to lean on his knees and panting slightly at his run. He felt mildly irritated, back in high-school when he was running track a medium sprint like that wouldn't have worked him over so bad. The young skunk cursed inwardly, thinking that he was letting his edge slip here in college by not restarting his track career. His physique was still as good as it was in high-school, Jace just assumed his fatigue was from him not having run a sprint in so long. Jace had quit running for good his junior year in high-school, he had found the competitions boring and bothersome. The skunk had also found the awkwardness, embarrassment, distractions and sometimes malice with the other athletes and in the locker-room hurtful and tiresome. As if in some grand joke while Jace recovered his breath the rain eased back into the steady grey mist. "Friggin' figures!, Damn!" Jace shook his head, tilting it to one side to clear his ear of a trickle of rainwater. As the young skunk entered into the warmth of the heated library he saw his fur steaming slightly from the sudden change in temperature. Jace looked around, seeing that the cavernous building was almost empty except for a few foreign faces milling through the stacks. He saw the librarian seated at her desk as he passed into the spacious lobby. A portly, congenial black woman, Jace liked the librarian a lot. She had known his older brother, Thomas when he had attended the college and the two often spoke of him. Jace gave the librarian updates on Tom, who now lived and attended school in Washington state. The large librarian looked up as Jace approached, smiling as she recognized the young skunk. "Jace ?, Honey is that you under all that wet fur?" Jace nodded, using the motion to flip a wet strand of white hair out of his eyes, "Yeah it's me. Hi Mrs. Dewitt." Mrs. Dewitt stood, appraising the youth and stating the obvious, "Goodness, your soaked to the skin." Jace smirked wryly, "Yeah, either it's raining or I have a very serious drinking problem." The comment went right over the librarian's head, she just looked at the skunk oddly for a moment then continued as if he had never spoken, "Well, here, come in back and get dried off a little." The rotund woman lifted the counter divider, allowing Jace access behind the check-out. She took him gently by the arm and led him to the staff break room/lounge. Standing the skunk next to a heating grate Mrs. Dewitt retrieved a towel from the bathroom, handing it to Jace. As the librarian stepped close Jace saw the barely noticeable wrinkling of the woman's nose and brow. He smiled as she stepped back quickly, looking slightly embarrassed at the being caught in the skunk's scrutiny. Jace looked at her, not bothered at all, "Sorry, I hardly notice it but I know wet fur bothers some people." The librarian sighed, looking relieved, "That's OK Hon. You just get dry. Oh, you're dripping a little on the linoleum, careful not to slip." Jace nodded at the woman, shedding his wet coat, exposing his bare arms and tail to the warmth in the room. He looked around, seeing that only the tip of his bushy black and white tail had gotten wet where it stuck out below the hem of his long coat. Jace flipped his tail back and forth, shaking it to free it of excess moisture and to get it to fluff back out more normally. He turned at hearing the librarian snort slightly, trying to stifle a laugh. The large woman caught his eye, "Sorry. You just reminded me of a cat I had when I was your age, she used to do the same thing when her tail got wet." Jace shared the librarian's amusement as he continued to dry his lower arms and neck, finally finishing by rubbing at the short fur on his face and the white and black streaked hair on his head. Slinging the towel around his neck, the young morph fished a small brush out of his bag. He used it to smooth the fur on his arms, neck and face, then brushed his hair back out of his eyes. "There." He pronounced, shaking his head slightly to get his white hair to relax a little better. Putting the brush back and draping the towel over the back of a chair to dry, Jace settled himself across from Mrs. Dewitt at the small break-room table. "Feeling better ?" she asked, seeing Jace nod. Other than being a little cold Jace did feel better. Almost as if reading the skunk's thoughts the librarian asked, " You want some coffee or tea, Hon?" Jace perked his ears forward at the mention, "Uh, tea., Please., Thank-you." Jace liked coffee well enough, but not the instant stuff they would most likely have there. Jace was one of those morphs that felt no matter what the administration people said he could definitely tell the difference between freshly ground and brewed coffee and what-ever the Hell it was that came out of the machines around campus. If given a choice the skunk preferred a substance that was meant to be dried and packaged then brewed, not something that was ground up, treated with a myriad of noxious chemical preservatives and then freeze dried to be stored on some shelf for God knew how long. He didn't want to be involved with any type of 'coffee' that required a can-opener, had a screw top lid or included an expiration date or the words 'instant' or 'vacuum sealed for freshness' anywhere on the packaging. Mrs. Dewitt stood, venturing over to the coffee maker and rummaging in a cabinet above, "Orange Blossom or Ginger ?" she asked looking back at Jace. "Uh, Ginger I think, please." A few moments later the woman came back with two mugs of steaming liquid, one fresh tea for Jace and the other a rather noxious substitute for coffee that the skunk was glad he had passed up. He couldn't help but grimace as the librarian sipped at her mug, apparently oblivious to the quality of the beverage that Jace had picked up on. The young skunk often wondered how humans had survived so long with such poorly developed senses of smell and taste. He thought it was a wonder they didn't all die of chemical poisoning if they drank things like that which the librarian was drinking. Jace dismissed his thoughts as the librarian began to speak, "So, how are things with you?" Something about the tone of the librarian's voice made the fur on the back of Jace's neck itch. He shrugged slowly, suspicious, "Oh, you know. Doing the best I can and all that." The librarian nodded slowly and it was all Jace could do to keep the fur on his tail and arms from standing up, what ever she was getting at Jace sensed discomfort ahead for himself. "Uh-Huh. Good, good, but..." 'Oh shit,' was the only thought that sprinted screaming through Jace's brain, "Here we go.", he muttered without moving his lips. "Grape-vine says you're not doing so good in Haverman's class." Jace choked slightly on a mouthful of tea, feeling like he had been round-housed in the gut. He hadn't been expecting that one particular topic at all, "Who's the narc?!!" "Never you mind, you know I'm worse than the FBI around here. If something's going on I hear about it." As the librarian finished Jace heard a new voice from behind him, "Actually it was me Jace." Jace turned seeing Tracy, an old friend who shared some of his classes (including Haverman's) and who often helped out in the library as part of her work-study. Jace stared at the sleek otter morph looking hurt, "Et Tu., Tracy? What?, Do I have a target painted on my back, that says 'Place knife here'?" Tracy shook her stream-lined head, "No, but we all know your brother, he would come back down here and kick all our asses if we let you slip and lose your funding." The large librarian was nodding, "I promised Thomas I would look out for you after he left. I know facts and figures aren't and haven't been your forte but you can't afford to fail a general ed. class so soon." Jace stared at the cooling mug of tea in his hands sullenly, "I know, it's just that Haverman hates me and he doesn't have any patience at all for people that aren't physics majors. He just stands there and talks like you're supposed to just know exactly what he's saying." Tracy had disappeared again and the librarian was nodding at Jace, patting his hand amiably, " I know, it's hard for a Bio buff like you to get saddled with all those numbers and equations, things that only sit there on the paper. Have you ever thought about a tutor?" Jace shook his head, "No., That's too embarrassing, you look stupid in front of people who actually know what they're doing." Mrs. DeWitt looked at Jace knowingly, "I know honey, but sometimes we need to do things that pride wouldn't normally allow," she paused thinking, "Now that I think of it, I might know someone. He's new here, 19, the same age as you are. He's a Literature major but he's good at math and physics. He might be willing to help you." "But...." Jace started to protest, closing his mouth when a glare from the librarian indicated she wasn't finished, "As, I was saying; He's new here, doesn't really know anybody on campus, much less you. Kind of an odd boy, elusive, hard to pin down and talk to. Kind of jumpy, skittish. I haven't been able to find out why., No one knows him, and he really seems to keep to himself. "His name is Patrick. I'll see if I can talk to him and get him to think about tutoring you in time for the last few weeks of the semester. You definitely need the help and he really seems to need a friend." Jace shrugged, knowing better than to protest, the matter had been settled regardless of his opinion. Still the skunk really didn't want to play up to some psycho the congenial librarian had befriended, and planned on avoiding or slipping out of the arrangement as soon as possible. Seeing the young skunk dropping quickly into gloom the large woman decided a quick change of topic was in order, "So, how is Thomas?" she asked seeing Jace's ears and tail return to a more neutral orientation. "Oh, he's fine, I talked to him last week. He's really getting to like it up there and I guess he started dating someone last month." "Did he?, What has he said about 'them'." Jace hated when Mrs. Dewitt did that, "Thomas said that HER, with Tom it's always HER, name is Jenna something-or-other. I forget what her last name is right now, and that she's really nice. I guess he met her in school and they've had dinner and such together. Evidently he's had dinner at her house more than once., Tom was saying she lives in a big house with some of her friends. He hasn't said too much about them yet." The rotund woman was nodding her head and smiling, "Any pictures yet?" Jace nodded, "Just this one, so far." He reached for his wallet, pulling out a small photo of his brother, Jenna and someone he couldn't identify, he assumed one of Jenna's room-mates. "I guess they had a bar-b-Que with Jenna's room-mates." He handed the picture to the librarian, who peered at it approvingly. "You are the spitting image of your brother. Only thing different besides size and hair is that little white mark on your brother's fore-head. The girl looks nice enough. Calico huh? Very pretty, but who's that other, uh..., fellow off to the side there?" Jace assumed that she was talking about the as of yet nameless morph he wasn't familiar with. The librarian's cause for hesitance when discerning whether or not the morph had been male or female was obvious, Jace himself had to look carefully before he was sure that the morph was indeed male. The nameless morph was a stunning cheetah, looking about average height and size, with a full, slightly muscular build concealed beneath his clothes. The only thing more eye-catching than the morph himself was his hair. Jace noted from the picture that it hung down to almost waist level on the cheetah. It was thick, lustrous, wavy and, to Jace's surprise when he had first seen the picture his brother had sent, a light, eye-catching green color, with sharper green highlights. Needless to say not something one sees every day. The young skunk looked forward to his next visit to his brother if only to meet his new girlfriend and her alluring green haired friend up close. "I really don't know, Tom didn't get real specific with names in the note he sent along with the picture." Mrs. Dewitt shook her head still looking at the cheetah, "Land-sakes, if that hair isn't the damnedest thing I've ever seen on someone's head. Funny thing is that it doesn't really look that outlandish or silly like it should. The boy really seems to be able to make it work for him. Handsome too. Would look better with normal colored hair but not too bad either way, Hmm?" Jace chuckled dryly, the librarian had been trying to find out what Jace liked for months, trying to set him up with various people. Thus far it hadn't been working too well for either her or the skunk. "Yeah, but it seems like he's taken, look there." Jace pointed to the morph's hand, where a complex looking ring encircled the cheetah's finger. The librarian raised an eye-brow, "I see what you mean, oh well..." she paused, "Hmm, that ring looks a lot like the one here on this person's hand, who-ever he's talking to off side here." Jace looked, seeing that the librarian was right. Whoever had done the photography had cut most of another individual at the table out of the photo. The person was sitting across from the cheetah, it looked as though the two were conversing about something. The other person's hands were gesturing to the cheetah. As to what the other individual looked like, however, was of some debate. All Jace had to go on were their hands and arms below the elbow. The fur on their hands was black, slowly shifting to an eye catching scarlet on the arms at about mid-forearm. A ring almost identical to the one the cheetah wore rested on the person's hand. This led the young skunk to believe that the two were either engaged or married. But with not knowing what species the other person was, much less their gender, Jace didn't want to jump to any conclusions. "Looks like maybe a fox to me, but you're the wildlife expert." Jace was stirred from his thoughts by the woman's words, "What?" he asked. Mrs. Dewitt gestured to the picture, "The hands, the red and black markings on them look like whoever the cheetah is talking to is probably a fox. I don't know of any other species that has markings like that and is that size. A wolf would be larger normally, and I've never seen a feline with markings like those before." Jace nodded, realizing that the librarian was most-likely correct in her assumptions. "I think you're right, it's probably a normal red fox he's talking to." Mrs. Dewitt nodded and handed the picture back to the young skunk, "Your brother sure is meeting some interesting looking people up there. If they're half as fun to be around as they look we may never get him back here for good." Jace smiled, looking at the picture for a moment before putting it away, " Yeah, I'm looking forward to visiting Thomas as soon as I can, even if only to meet these people face-to-face." The librarian laughed softly, "I know you, you're just hoping your brother will introduce you to that cheetah. Aren't you a little above being such a lecherous, hormone crazed adolescent?" The young skunk's ears reddened above his pained expression, "You're the one who's been encouraging me lately." Jace tried to needle the librarian a little, she didn't take the bait, "Yes, but only because I think it would be in your best interest to find one person, settle down and put your attentions toward them." The portly woman paused, leaning back a bit. Jace was familiar with her body language, she was getting ready to pull a wicked punch in exchange for the needling he had given her. She frowned and looked at him seriously, "Like I was saying you, should find one person instead of having a new bed-toy every couple of months. If your brother could only hear some of the things I've heard about you floating around campus. Accepting as he is, he'd die." It was score one for the librarian, Jace felt his ears getting hotter, "Oh come on!, I'm not that bad!, It's not my fault the last few people I've seen have been brain-dead jerks. I didn't even make it a full date with this last one., He was just plain ridiculous. Why is it that the ones I pick look perfectly normal till they open their mouths? I got him home and he was re-arranging my furniture for Christ's sake! "I finally kicked him out when he suggested my living-room could use more PASTELS!, For the love of God, you know I'm not like that! Who am I, friggin' Martha Stewart?!, I hate that kind of shit! People just make wild assumptions that because of who I am, I'm into crap like that. The general public watches too many movies! Not that a lot of them haven't been positive, but I'm nothing like people think I should be!, Thank-You Hollywood, Aghh!, Christ!" The librarian was smiling in a resigned manner, letting the youth vent his frustrations. She often thought that the skunk didn't allow himself to vent his feelings often enough. The woman understood that under the circumstances he had to be careful about what he said and who was in ear-shot when he was on campus. Unfortunately not everyone was tolerant as she about the young skunk's personal life. "I know, it's tough being your age." They both knew that age had nothing at all to do with what they were discussing, but it seemed like the thing to say at the time. "And it's even harder without your brother around for support. You just need to find someone special." She tried to maneuver the young skunk into the right topic to get him out of his frustrated mind-set. She thought she knew what might do the job, "Speaking of your brother, when do you think you'll go down for a visit?, Christmas is coming up soon." It worked. Jace calmed down, trying valiantly to remember what day it was, "Oh..., I don't know. We've got what, like three and a half weeks left on the semester, probably not for ThanksGiving. Maybe for a week or so around Christmas." The rotund woman nodded, "That should be nice. Will you need someone to watch Cherokee this time?" Jace blinked, "Oh, yeah. I probably will, I forgot that Gary watched Cherokee last time I went out of town. If I do go see Tom, do you think you could watch her for me? She seems to be a handful with anyone else but you and Gary, not even William can handle her for too long." Mrs. Dewitt nodded, "She's not that much trouble, I'll watch her for you when you go." "Thanks, I'll let you know." The librarian nodded again leaning back in her chair, "So, what are you in for today. Last week it was something on the growth patterns of rain- forest hardwood trees." Jace laughed, surprised at the librarian's recall, "Yeah, that one was real exciting. Professor Duran was telling me about a new book that you just got on inter-tidal eco-systems." Mrs. Dewitt nodded, fiddling with the cold coffee in her hands as she recalled the book Jace was referring to, "Oh, yeah, we just got that one in last week. I think it went out into the stacks yesterday. I'm pretty sure no one's checked it out yet. If you hurry you might luck out and be first." The young skunk stood, stretching out to his full height of nearly six foot, stifling a yawn as he did so. He was beginning to feel how long a day it had been. The large librarian stood as well, patting the youth's arm amiably, "Well thanks for the chat, you better go and get your book before someone beats you to it." Jace nodded, "Thanks for the dry off and the tea, I'll see you later." "Bye Honey, and I'll keep my eye out for Patrick., His last name is Lauren if you happen to hear of him or run into him yourself." The young morph cringed inwardly as he pasted on a weak smile and nodded over his shoulder at the rotund woman. Then he collected his pack and drying coat, venturing deeper into the cavernous building heading for the library filing computer........ * * *
> end part I