Going South
#25 of Hockey Hunk Season 3
Cat rivalry!
"Ohhhh Reilly, Stephens, Lambert, hello there!" the lion waved his paw in a big, flamboyant curve.
They were only ten or so yards away, coming up the stairs and chattering to each other, it seemed. The tall fox girl wearing a Taylor University logo T-shirt had her muzzle turned towards the smirking jaguar, whose broad smile told me that he was probably purring as well, maybe in reaction to something hilarious the vixen had just said to him. She certainly looked like she had just said something utterly charming and smart, I thought.
The jaguar's tail was swishing from side to side so eagerly that he was practically flapping it against the more bushy grey-furred extra limb belonging to the one face I recognized in the bunch of eager college kids, and that was Mason.
My paws curled tightly around the handles of my crutches, and I felt my breath catch in my throat and the furs on the back of my neck spike up. My legs tensed, and that caused a dull ache to appear over my poor thigh, and my tail, always a good gauge of my personality and my feelings, I supposed, lashed out and then began to twitch slowly.
Whatever was going on physically with me, the real storm hit me full swing, and filled my mind with the usual swirl of nervous thoughts I could recognize and list, as I did.
I couldn't believe my luck. How was it that one party of that frat boy duo that was Mason and Haakon would always end up being there when I was feeling uncomfortable, and causing extra drama as they did? I knew it wasn't their fault, but as of late, it had seemed that whenever I was doing something social to distract my mind from the general mess of my life, something was bound to happen that included the intervention of either one Mason Stephens or his butt-endowed buddy Haakon Kjerulf.
Of course I should have thought about it. Of course I should have remembered that Mason didn't just work at the bookstore, but he actually studied, too, and in no place other than the Taylor University English department. The risk of running into him should have been exponential in my mind, and should have reminded me to...be ready for that possibility. It's not like it would have been much trouble, really...I was simply here to see the old places, to pass the time, and to come around with my friend Peter. There was nothing about Peter that I wouldn't have shown to all my friends and my co-workers. Hell, I'd asked him to come over many times, but he was too afraid of mould in the books to come, so that was a bit of a fail, but still, I'd never have hesitated to bring him in and tell everyone that this was my friend Peter. He was safe and knew that I didn't want any trouble at work from anything related to my extra-curricular life, and it would have been just fine, and good, too, getting Peter out of his place for once and doing something fun.
But why did Mason have to show up right at the very moment when Nicholas Faye had been talking about his plans of scoring some gay sex in a gay bar, and had probably been most prone to blatant gay behaviour, and especially such directed towards me?
Figures.
The trio of students were approaching, and everything I could do was to put up a brave face and nudge Peter's arm with my elbow, to catch his attention to me rather than the students, for he had turned to look at them the moment Nicholas yelled out for them. Peter's brow rose when he saw what must have been quite the...affected face on my part.
"Isn't that...?" Peter uttered.
I just managed half a nod before Nicholas's chirpy voice filled my ears once again.
"Hey there!" the lion clapped his paws together once the college kids had closed in to about three yards from us, and now positively filled out the corridor in their side by side promenading formation.
Mason's ears perked and his plugs were probably in the danger of falling away, much like Nicholas' beret certainly was threatened by the constant cheerful flicking of the purring lion's own round ears. I could see surprise and shock in his eyes, most likely directed at the presence of another familiar lion face, namely me, and I...I knew that the only way to get out of this without causing any drama was just to see what would happen, and how he would react, perhaps.
Besides being scared shitless, of course. I felt a plenty of that.
"Yo, Mister Faye!" the jaguar yelped in a voice that reminded me a bit of Nicholas', a bit nasal, like many smaller cats' were, I thought.
"Doctor Faye!" the vixen chirped and let her bushy red tail flap about cheerfully.
"Wassup" that was Mason, characteristically, I thought.
Nicholas was practically beaming under the attention of what must have been a bunch of his very own students, judging by the fact that he knew their names and the even more than usually cordial demeanour, not to mention the obviously easy respect the kids paid for him.
It almost made me feel jealous, in a way.
"Oh I'm just great, thank you, Reilly, Stephens, Lambert!" the lion grinned broadly. "I was just having a chat with some very old friends of mine."
Oh God...
The lion's paw swept over us, drawing eyes from the three politely curious furs standing side by side.
"Here's Sinclair and Gliese, we used to go to this very same college together!" Nicholas beamed.
Peter lifted a quick paw.
"Hey," he rumbled. "Nice to meet you."
I gave him a quick look, probably a rather bewildered one, before I quickly turned to face the college kids and plastered a good happyhappy smile on my face...my first in a long while, I realized, idly. Peter didn't have to smile, considering the surgical mask obscuring his face. I wondered what the kids thoughts about that.
"Hello", I rumbled, and thought it was the safest not to say anything else now, and give Nicholas something to hang onto.
Nicholas kept on smiling broadly, but the three college kids, perhaps predictably, gave much smaller smiles, and polite nods, which were probably much more suitable for the total strangers that we were to him, and besides...if we were friends to one of their (presumably) teachers, it had to mean that they should show us some respect as well. Maybe. I wasn't sure how these kids saw these kind of things nowadays. Maybe everyone was supposed to be buddies nowadays.
The jaguar waved a little, and smiled, at least.
"Had a nice lunch, you guys?" Nicholas kept on smiling as he folded his arms casually over his chest and kept on interrogating his kids.
"Ohhh yes," the jaguar licked his lips audibly. "Some very nice pork chops. Mason ate five!"
The jaguar's paw flashed out, across the space occupied by the vixen between the two guys, but not to touch her, no, but to pat Mason's T-shirt-covered belly, quickly, all pads, before the paw was withdrawn.
My frat wolf co-worker gave a definitely surprised look, and his ears jumped a bit, I could see, but the jaguar, and the vixen, for sure, just smiled and grinned, almost to rival Nicholas' steadily beaming smile.
"And some really nice mango ice cream," the vixen smiled, and much to my continued astonishment, lifted her own paw and quickly brushed a padded finger over the corner of Mason's muzzle, as if searching for any telltale stains there.
Now the wolf looked positively flustered.
"Ohhh that's very nice!" Nicholas declared with a myriad of purrs, ear flicks and happy tail flaps. "Though my personal favourite is rum and raisin flavour, I must say!"
The lion licked his lips happily.
"Nice and creamy," the jaguar nodded and licked his own in a broad swipe of his pink tongue.
The vixen clasped her paws over each of the frat boy's shoulders and gave them a squeeze while smirking broadly and letting her tail swish back and forth.
"So when are you guys taking me out for an ice cream huh?" the vixen exclaimed.
The jaguar purred and lifted his own paw to the girl's shoulder, to mimic the limb that still rested over his own broad shoulder.
"Whenever you want, Megan," the jaguar grinned. "We'll make sure that you won't feel like a third wheel."
"Sure," Mason rumbled, and gave her a smile, and a canine ear flick to match.
"Thanks, boys," the vixen smiled and blew and air kiss to each of them in turn, much to Nicholas' amusement, I could definitely see, from the way his eyes went a bit lovey-dovey as he observed the college kid behaviour to his amusement.
"I think we have to go now, though," the jaguar said, after a small pause I suspected could have easily turned pretty damn awkward, if all six of us would've just stood there in the corridor, saying and doing nothing.
Nichols smiled and snapped his fingers together, sharp enough to make my ears dive for cover.
"You hurry along then," the lion smiled and stepped one step backwards, to make more soon on the corridor, and lodge himself next to me. "And don't forget 1 pm, guys, I've got a special guest coming over to help us out a bit!"
The vixen flapped an ear in the direction of her teacher and smiled.
"I'll make sure these bozos make it," she spoke and sounded confident.
The jaguar grinned and flapped his tail against her calves.
"Well now that you mention it, I think I forgot my book..." the frat boy pouted a little.
The vixen gave him a look.
"You can borrow mine," Mason's voice rumbled. "I kinda now it by heart already, the first part."
Nicholas grinned and patted the wolf's nearby shoulder, quickly.
"That's the spirit, Stephens!" the lion grinned. "You run along now, and I'll see you at 1 pm!"
"See you, Mister Faye!" the vixen added.
The trio started on their way down he corridor, at a good pace, so that after a few seconds, they were only three backs and tails going side by side.
Nicholas didn't seem to mind. He waved his paw in a big curve again, and crowed out.
"Toodleloo!"
I cringed quietly. I couldn't believe that the lion still said that. He'd started around the second year, and...I kinda had assumed that he would have stopped at some point.
What did I know?
Nicholas, still smiling, turned to face the two us again, his paw still somewhat raised in the lingering remains of his staggeringly camp farewell to his students.
"Great kids, really great," the lion smiled. "I run this really fun little course to them, really nice...but hmmmm..."
He pulled on his sleeve again and peered on the face of his wristwatch, and let his brows jump.
"Oh, goodness, it's almost 11, I think I have to dash," the lion said as he put his paws down and then proceeded to grab his leather case from the floor. "Shame that we didn't have enough time to natter... but maybe we could catch some coffee and catch up at some other time! Surely there are still nice places to go in town...I must admit I haven't been there yet, been too busy setting up my shop here but... heheh...yes or maybe even a couple of drinks at the Ramrod..."
"I don't do public places," Peter said almost immediately.
It was up to me to receive the gaze of Nicholas' eager, friendly eyes now, all curious as he faced me and expected an answer to him asking us for a gay night out. Peter already said no, obviously, so who else but me could he have wanted?
Figures.
"Maybe once I get back to my paws properly," I snuffled, and gestured with a crutch for best emphasis.
Nicholas' smile didn't waver.
"Of course!" he declared. "And if the club is a bit too much for you yet, it can always be a bottle of wine in a nice place and the right atmosphere. I heard the best thing about this new place, the Lefties, from someone..."
I almost puked.
"Yeah, maybe," I hurried to say.
"Well I'm afraid I must be off now," Nicholas said and gestured with his case. "It was so much fun to see you guys, such a real, nice surprise."
"Yeah," I smiled politely.
"Really been a long while," Peter mused quietly.
"And maybe we'll see each other soon as well, Sinclair, considering that we both work here!" he gave Peter such an inclusive smile that I almost felt jealous that I didn't belong together with them in that sense.
Almost.
"Well, either way, you can find my phone number and email from my page on the faculty web page!"
Getting jealous over anything about Nicholas would have been way too childish, I thought.
"Have a nice day," Nicholas grinned. "Ta-ta!"
With a dip of his head he was off then, going down the corridor at a breakneck pace, tail, beret and case swinging as he did, with his corduroy-clad butt put into a similar sway while he ran his personal gauntlet.
I turned to face Peter and let out a deep, weary breath.
"Good God," I rumbled, and felt some of the tension leave me in the rush of air out of my tepid lungs.
Peter chuffed loudly and made his mask bulge with the effort. I shook my head and hissed between my clenched teeth.
"Well I'll be," Peter rumbled.
My drooping ears began to recover a little, and managed to rise to about 20% erected state.
"Didn't you know?" I gasped.
Pete's ears jumped.
"Can't say I did," he mused. "Must've neglected the email on the mailing list about new faculty members."
I huffed, open-muzzled.
"Doctor Faye..." I made a face.
"Doctor Faye Junior," Peter mused.
"Faye Senior must be proud," I mused.
"Professor Faye..." Peter rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
I gave a suitably outraged look.
"Professor Doctor Faye Junior," I grunted.
"Yeah."
"Since when did he..." I huffed.
Peter shrugged.
"Guess he got lucky with the postgraduate program," he said. "I might've done the same if I hadn't had different priorities in my life."
I gave Peter a quick look, to make sure that he was alright. Saying it like that was...one way to put, I guessed, if careful to deal with the fact in a way that didn't really leave room for pity. I'd never heard him say it like that, to be honest, and I wasn't sure what to think of it, and whether to assume that Peter felt alright about it or not.
I decided not to get tangled with it. That wouldn't do any good for any of us.
"Well it is an accomplishment alright," I said, "considering that he spent so much of his time chasing tail and not studying."
Peter chuckled.
"We spent two years chasing tail and studying very little," he said. "Each other's tails, among others, to say the least."
And then during the third year, there was some studying to do, leopards to go steady with, and dialysis sessions to attend. Life couldn't have been different for us, while Nicholas, and everyone else, went on doing everything exactly the same as they did before.
The contrast was almost scary.
I brushed the thought away from my mind, but to much to my displeasure, what came back to fill the void in my active thought process was the appearance of Mason, out of the blue, and completely unexpected, though likely due to my own oversight. The return of the thought added some tension to my belly, but I decided to be brave about it, and not to go into shambles over something that had gone...well enough, I supposed. Nothing discriminating had been said...or so I thought. I sure hoped so. I really didn't want Nicholas to be the one to choose that particular thing for me, after all.
"Yeah," I rumbled.
"Come on," Peter flicked his ears towards the corridor. "I have to be with Professor Hartnell at 11 sharp. He doesn't like furs being late."
"Neither he does like their term papers to be late," I added, quickly, as Peter urged me to get moving, and I did so, somewhat reluctantly on my stiff paws.
"Yep," Peter said.
We went along the corridor for a little while, before I spoke again.
"That was Mason," I said, knowing that Peter knew enough of my co-workers to connect the name.
Peter nodded, sideways, and I nodded as well.
"Thought as much," he said, "Seen him on your Facebook."
"Yeah," I shook my head a bit.
"Seemed to be an okay guy," Peter said. "Pretty cute, too."
I snuffled.
"Can you really be thinking something like that now?" I made a face.
Peter flicked an ear at me.
"Why not?" he stated. "It's not like I was planning to ask him out."
"Well he already asked me out and you know how that ended up," I huffed, still puzzled by the memory of that particular incident involving the wolf, a girl, and a nosebleeding lynx best friend.
"Don't think you ever ended up in the middle of a lover's quarrel that big before," Peter mused.
I grimaced. Sometimes his humour was particularly acerbic, as it was, probably now to try to cheer me up...for all the good it did.
I snuffled.
"Whatever it was, it wasn't nice," I huffed.
We rounded a corner in the corridor, and the still very much familiar arrangement of offices met my eyes. I had walked down this corridor many times during my own student years, going to seminars, doing whatever business I might have to attend, relating to my studies, and sometimes to just hang out, and catch up with study buddies, if I happened to run into them.
Yeah, the corridor had seen me many times, and now I was back here, and still I wasn't sure what to think of it all. Nicholas' appearance had certainly made me forget any vestiges of nostalgia that might have remained there for now.
"I won't be long," Peter spoke after a few steps, "maybe thirty minutes or so. Hartnell's a busy man."
"I don't mind waiting," I rumbled.
"Well there's a nice-looking couch," Peter waved his paw towards a purple couch that stood next to the brightly lit soda machine. "And the soda I promised!"
I chuckled.
"Woo," I said.
"I don't have money, though," Peter chuckled. "I don't do well with coins."
I let my ears flop down.
"Figures," I grunted as I carefully placed myself onto the couch earlier indicated by Peter, and positioned my crutches well within my reach, and out of the way of any passers-by.
Peter winked.
"See you soon," the cougar mused, and then he was going on his merry way, down the corridor to meet the professor, and I sat there on my own.
Yeah.
I didn't mind, really. Being somewhere quiet with minimal distractions might do me well, too. Nothing to remind me of the recent shitty turns in the soap opera that was sometimes titled The Life of Rory Gliese, and instead, only an ugly brown wall with a "SO DO YOU WANT TO BE AN EXCHANGE STUDENT? APPLY NOW!" poster showing the Eiffel Tower and the faces of laughing furs, all happily beaming together.
So much happiness I wasn't part of.
Yeah.
I yawned and scratched my belly, and tried to make myself comfortable on the hard couch.
"Uhm...Rory?"
My ears snapped up.
My head turned.
Mason had just stepped out of a door, clutching a thick book on his paw.
*